tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67183296067561058872024-02-07T20:22:13.886+00:00Hazels-HomegrownThis is site is dedicated to everything to do with growing and eating your own fruit, vegetables and herbs.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger177125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-1934019319019158832012-05-13T22:27:00.000+01:002012-05-13T22:34:20.278+01:00Are carrots hard to grow?Back in 1997 when I first took over my allotment plot I sowed some carrot seeds which duly grew into carrots. It was only after that that I read how difficult carrots are to grow and ever since then I have struggled to grow carrots. Not withstanding the blasted carrot root fly that can turn perfectly decent carrots into riddled sticks of infestation, the biggest problem seems to be getting the seeds to germinate. I have tried all sorts of things to coax them into life, including pampering them with a soft sand lined drill to sow them into. I was also once advised by someone on the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kitchengardens/">kitchen gardens group</a> that carrot seeds need to be watered every day for a fortnight after sowing. Ha! Who has got the time to pander to plants like that?
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Now, let me see, it has been 3 weeks since I sowed my carrot seeds. And since then it has rained every day. Oh what joy to behold on the allotment this Saturday - neat rows of lush green vegetation... Oh, I wish!! No, instead, bare soil where the carrots should have been. So what happened? Did they germinate in the lovely rain only to be eaten by the few slugs that hadn't succumbed to the deathly lines of slug pellets? Or maybe they germinated but got stuck beneath the hard packed crust of clay soil that seems to have developed due to the rain and sun combo. Or maybe they just failed to germinate altogether. Ho hum.
I have now resown the carrot seeds in the same place and hope that whatever caused the problem first time is no longer an issue. I notice that the few I sowed on my girls veg plots have germinated just fine so at least I know the seeds aren't duds. And I can, of course, comfort myself with knowing that you can in fact buy carrots from the supermarket so if all else fails we won't go carrotless this year but by God I'm determined to get a few to grow!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-85738488831505689722012-03-06T10:40:00.002+00:002012-03-06T10:50:33.606+00:00Happy New Year!The other day I was listening to the radio when they reported that that day was the new year for some part of the world (I forget where, but it's not important). I smiled and thought what a weird day to choose for the new year. But then I thought a bit more about it and realised that there is no particular set way to work out when one year should end and another begin. It is after all a complete cycle with no end or beginning and that as long as your year has 365.25 days in it (in one way or another) then it is fine. So why, indeed, do we change our year on 31st December? What's the significance of that day? It's not even as if it is the shortest day. It is surprising really that with the ancient people were so reliant on the changing seasons that we don't have some historically set new years day that is linked more with the seasons.<br /><br />This weekend I went around to the allotment for a spot of light weeding. With the sun shining and the first signs of spring all around, quite a few other allotment holders had come out that day too. I stopped to chat with one fellow allotment holder and she said, "Here we are then about to begin again." And then it struck me that now is the new year. Back home, the first tomato seedling had germinated on my window sill. See, nature knows best. So, I would just like to wish everyone a happy new year and hope that you have a productive and fruitful one.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-52086578194334906182012-02-26T22:09:00.002+00:002012-02-26T22:29:30.493+00:00Feeling like a novice again!I first grew vegetables on a fairly small scale in the back garden of my first house, way back in 1996. Shortly after that I took on my first allotment and the following year I took on a second one. Since then I have grown probably tons of fruit and vegetables and written several books on the subject. However, never in that time have I had the use of a greenhouse.<br /><br />At the end of last summer Steve bought us our first greenhouse - a beautiful wooden octagonal thing. We only have a small garden so we figured if we were going to be looking out of our kitchen window at the greenhouse, it ought to be attractive. Now spring is fast approaching and it is time to start sowing... and using the greenhouse for the first time.<br /><br />I went out into the garden with enthusiasm (and two children) this afternoon, armed with a bag of seeds and some potting compost and ready to get growing. My eldest helped me sow our usual handful of peanuts (for the fun of it!), and my youngest sowed some leek seeds. But then I stopped and found myself staring into the bag of seeds wondering exactly what should I be sowing at the tail end of February now I have access to a splendid greenhouse.<br /><br />I really didn't know what to sow. Could I sow anything or should I wait until the nights are warmer? Should I still germinate things inside on my windowsills and move them out to the greenhouse as seedlings? Was it worth starting off broad beans or beetroot in pots in the greenhouse now my internal space wasn't restricted to a windowsill and tiny cold frame. 16 years of successful kitchen gardening in the bag and suddenly I find myself feeling like a novice again.<br /><br />In the end, I sowed peanuts, peppers and tomatoes and put them inside on my windowsill. And I sowed broad beans, leeks and beetroot and put them inside the greenhouse. Then I retreated to the safety of a warm bath to mull things over, ready for more sowing next weekend. I guess I shall make a few mistakes this year as I learn how to make the best of this useful new facility but hopefully I will soon get the hang of it. Every year when I sow seeds there is a nagging doubt in the back of my mind that they will never germinate yet every year I'm rewarded with a wonderful bounty. I suspect this year will be the same. Still, if you're an old greenhouse buff and would like to offer my words of wisdom I will be willing to learn!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-3195898171056697852012-02-21T21:25:00.003+00:002012-02-21T21:48:41.198+00:00National Chip WeekI don't know who sits on the committee that comes up with these "National" weeks or days but the people who decided to hold <a href="http://www.national-awareness-days.com/national-chip-week.html">"National Chip Week"</a> in February were clearly clueless. Don't get me wrong, I love chips - probably more than I should! And a tummy full of stodge in the depths of miserable winter has its appeal. But, come on, potatoes are not at their best in February!<br /><br />Take a potato out of a bag at this time of year and what have you got? Something big, possibly a little bit springy to the feel and probably with a few sprouts growing out of it. This thing came out of the ground half a year ago. It has lost water and a good deal of the starch inside it has been converted into sugars and neither of these things make for a good chip. Try deep frying that and it will brown too quickly and never crisp up. Just don't even bother. Unless the potatoes were previously chipped and frozen months ago I'd say don't waste your time.<br /><br />The perfect chip is a fantastic food. Take large a potato, straight from the ground, scrub it, peel it you must, then cut it into long chips. Rinse the excess starch from the cut edges and pat them dry on kitchen towel. Now for deep frying, although I prefer to use a <a href="http://www.tefal.com/All+Products/Cooking+appliances/Fryers/Products/ActiFry/Actifry.htm">Tefal Actifry</a> which works remarkably well with only a drop of oil. Twenty minutes later you will have golden, crisp on the outside, soft in the middle chips. And just writing that makes me fancy a plateful. Alas, this moment is 4 months away because those gorgeous fresh, maincrop potatoes won't be ready to harvest unless then. <br /><br />Chips in February... well yes, I shall probably have some but they won't be chips deserving of their own special week. That's a treat for the summer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-22322075801457425812012-02-02T21:23:00.003+00:002012-02-02T21:29:32.937+00:00Book Review - Preserves by Jill NiceBook review – Preserves: A Beginner’s Guide to making jams & jellies, chutney & pickles, sauces & ketchups, syrups and alcoholic sips – by Jill Nice<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYlZrEeMDUeacMN-HpQyxZfZXnqIvJ1wCPL9fwNamhKTrjqasKlaSNnyaCgJSc0aoXs2l-x3Oh0nY5IyEmY_si1D0CytbADXF836pI1Zl_P7USd_CX0KI8VXqTRx8kNKRgZ9x_SDYsQM/s1600/Preserves+by+Jill+Nice.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 198px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYlZrEeMDUeacMN-HpQyxZfZXnqIvJ1wCPL9fwNamhKTrjqasKlaSNnyaCgJSc0aoXs2l-x3Oh0nY5IyEmY_si1D0CytbADXF836pI1Zl_P7USd_CX0KI8VXqTRx8kNKRgZ9x_SDYsQM/s320/Preserves+by+Jill+Nice.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704652735733024946" /></a><br /><br />Despite the number of <a href="http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_home_tbp?storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100">books</a> I have read (and indeed, written) on the subject of preserves, I was nonetheless excited to come across <a href="http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100&productId=245237&searchTerm=preserves">this book by Jill Nice</a>. I’m always on the look out for new recipes and tips for jam and chutney making and this book looked like it was bursting with ideas.<br /><br />Many <a href="http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_category_tbp?categoryId=48148&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100">recipe books</a> these days are stuffed full of glossy photos, sometimes at the expense of information. This one, in contrast, has no photos at all but instead the occasional monochrome line drawing. When I say, monochrome, I don’t mean black on white, for the text and illustrations throughout this book are green and purple. It is a simple design that works well, giving colour but also a feeling of authority, like an old-fashioned reference book.<br /><br />There are 47 pages of information about various aspects of different preserving technique before the recipes even begin. This offers in depth explanation as to why all the various parts of the preserving technique are required and I have to admit I learnt a thing or two from reading this section. The recipes themselves include serving suggestions as well as advice on how to adapt the recipe and when it should be followed without fiddling. There is also extra information within the recipes about the main ingredient and these paragraphs are both informative and very readable. There are a few recipes included that have non-British ingredients such as bananas, pineapples and mangoes but most recipes are made with British ingredients and give a nod towards dealing with gluts and using the freezer to bring together non-seasonal ingredients.<br /><br />The back cover boasts that the book contains an impressive 140 recipes. Many of them are the basic recipes that every preserving book needs to contains, such as raspberry jam and piccalilli , but there are also recipes in there that I have not seen in any other book. I have to admit that I’m quite excited about the prospect of trying to make my own Worchester Sauce or Mushroom Ketchup, but I may not bother with Pickled Broad Beans!<br /><br />Having read this book I’m left with a feeling that Jill knows her onions. She has clearly been making preserves for a long time and has had her share of successes and failures. In this book she attempts to impart this experience to her readers. For someone like me, it is a useful reference that has provided a few insights and given me some new ideas to try in the summer. As for it being a guide for beginners, well, it certainly is thorough and does provide the beginner with everything they need to know. However, I think in some ways there is perhaps a little bit too much information and anyone considering preserving for the first time might decide to jack in the idea before they get to the recipes. <br /><br />When I pick up any book on preserves I want to see if it ticks certain boxes. Does it deal with realistic seasonal British ingredients? Does it explain why you should do the different parts of the method? Does it suggest ways to eat the preserve once you have made it? And does it allow for recipes to be adapted? I’m pleased to say that this one does tick all those boxes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-29498957389288743362012-01-17T16:14:00.003+00:002012-01-18T16:29:46.369+00:0020 meals from one chickenIs it really possible to get 20 meals out of a medium chicken? And are those meal worthwhile and filling? I think so.<br /><br />When Steve was growing up his mother would put a couple of ounces of corned beef into a mound of mashed potato and call it corned beef hash. He said it was mash potato with the occasional pink fleck. But that was one way to feed the family with not much. I would like to point out that we're not poor and don't need to eek out our food in this way (thank goodness), but I do feel a moral duty to make the most of what we have. So when I bought a chicken to roast last week I knew it would make more than one meal and I planned for this in my shopping and cooking.<br /><br />On Sunday I roasted the chicken but at the same time I planned for the leftovers. This started by making the chicken tasty with the use of two different types of stuffing. The first type of stuffing is for the cavity to infuse flavour into the chicken but not to be eaten. To make this you need do little more than roughly chop up an onion, some fresh sage from the garden and a limp piece of celery that is no good for putting in salads anymore. Just drop this inside the bird. The second type of stuffing is for eating so needs more care. One small onion, some fresh sage, salt and pepper and either breadcrumbs or sausagemeat for this one. Finely chop the onion and then the sage in a food processor then mix together with the breadcrumbs (and a little water) or the sausagemeat. I tend to make a large batch of this in one go then divide it into portions and freeze it until required. This stuffing needs to be stuffed into the crop.<br /><br />The next flavour consideration is the gravy and for this reason I also boiled a leek from the allotment to have with the dinner. When it was almost time to dish up, I made some gravy to go with the meal. This was just the usual Bisto granules but I put in enough to make half a pint of gravy more than we needed for the meal. Rather than just pouring water from the kettle for the gravy, I drained the leek water into the jug and then the water from the carrots too. It is a good idea to use vegetable water to make the gravy as some of the nutrients from the vegetables get leached out into the water so using it returns those nutrients to your meal. In the case of the leeks, it also adds flavour to the meal. Unless everyone in your family likes cabbage, I would avoid doing this with brassica water as it does tend to make the gravy taste like cabbage water! For further flavour, after the chicken was carved, I pour the juices from the meat into the gravy too. A very tasty gravy for the meal and for the leftovers.<br /><br />That meal we ate both legs and slightly more than half of one breast between us. I do love meat myself but it is worth remembering that a portion of meat for an adult should be roughly the size of a pack of cards and the rest of the meal should be bulked out with vegetables.<br /><br />On Monday afternoon I took a block of ready made puff pastry out of the fridge to come to room temperature and later that evening I made chicken pies. I make these pies for my girls because, although they like pies, they are a bit fussy about them and there are only certain ones they like. Buying a pie is a bit hit and miss but they always love my homemade pies. They are really easy to make too and I make 12 at a time so they last for weeks before I have to do them again.<br /><br />Chicken Pies (makes 12)<br /><br />The meat from a breast of roast chicken<br />1/2 pint of gravy<br />1 block of ready made pastry<br />Egg or milk to glaze<br /><br />Take the meat from the breast of the roast chicken (or use the leg meat if you prefer to eat the breast for your dinner) and break it into small pieces with your fingers. Put this in a bowl and mix it with the cold gravy (left over from the roast). Cut the pastry block in half and roll it out into a rectangle. Cut the pastry into 6 roughly equal squares. Dollop a tablespoon of the chicken mixture into one half of each piece of pastry. Brush the egg or milk around half of the edge of the pastry then fold the pastry over the top of the filling to completely it. Brush the top edge of the pastry then turn over the edges of the pastry to seal the pie into a pastie shape (about the size of a Findus Crispie Pancake but sooooo much tastier!). Make a couple of vent holes with a knife and brush all over with egg or milk to glaze. Repeat for the second half of the block of pastry and until all the filling is used. Place the pasties on a tray and freeze then remove from the tray and put into labelled bags. Can be cooked from frozen for 20-25 minutes at 200°C, gas 6.<br /><br />Having fed 4 people with a Sunday roast and made 12 pies, that was 16 meals from one chicken. Just another 4 to go then. There are so many possibilities - chicken soup maybe? I do on occasions boil up the chicken carcass, complete with its tasty cavity stuffy to make chicken stock which would be a good basis of soup or even a casserole so a meal or two from that. But I also picked the chicken over to remove the remaining meat to make chicken spud pies for dinner on Tuesday. This recipe is for 2 but I had just enough meat left to stretch it out to 2 smaller spuds for the girls but for them I mixed a little chicken with a bit of ham and pasta sauce and grated some cheese on top to call it a pizza potato pie instead.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheW0rLVG_Za3WFw_rFSvL9gX8Ljm5ZqGFeXOv1nx010v1E5VRAcnOKvR1Guv3D37mwWrNjgHF6k3l_EwLB33PmtS4gjuTformOrte3ETXntytB3gOjF8pwST1QpFVfRMl2KoFAT7aqwpQ/s1600/Chicken+pasties.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 153px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheW0rLVG_Za3WFw_rFSvL9gX8Ljm5ZqGFeXOv1nx010v1E5VRAcnOKvR1Guv3D37mwWrNjgHF6k3l_EwLB33PmtS4gjuTformOrte3ETXntytB3gOjF8pwST1QpFVfRMl2KoFAT7aqwpQ/s320/Chicken+pasties.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699009985042211810" /></a><br /><br />Spud Pies (serves 2)<br /><br />2 large baked potatoes<br />About one breast of roasted chicken<br />Butter<br />A slurp of milk<br />6-8 mushrooms, quartered<br />1 small leek, sliced <br />5 fl oz chicken stock<br />2 teaspoons of cornflour<br />Oil for frying<br />Salt and freshly ground black pepper<br /><br />Bake the potatoes using your preferred method. Turn the oven to 220°C, gas 7. Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the potato from the skins. Place the potato in a bowl and mash with the butter, milk and seasoning. Mix the cornflour with a little cold water in a glass. Fry the mushrooms and leeks then pour in the chicken stock and the cornflour. Add the chicken and seasoning and stir until heated through and the sauce thickens. Spoon the chicken mix into the potato skins then top with the mashed potato then place in the oven for 10 minutes until the top of the potato is just beginning to brown. Serve immediately with a salad or hot vegetables.<br /><br />It was £6 for that particular chicken. I think I got value for money.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-7406354238661161382012-01-14T21:27:00.002+00:002012-01-14T21:49:32.869+00:00Stuff the rushThursday night I had a meeting at my daughters' school that started at 6.30pm. I could have gone down the easy option of having a ready meal for dinner but that's not my style. Instead, I opted to just start making dinner extra early. Just before 5 I put a couple of spuds in the oven to bake then set about preparing stuffed mushrooms whilst my eldest got on with making a scone-based pizza for her and her sister. <br /><br />Stuffed Mushrooms (serves 2)<br /><br />4 large flat mushrooms<br />1 leek<br />2 rashers of bacon<br />Pepper<br />Breadcrumbs<br /><br />Preheat oven to 180°C, gas 4. Pull the stalks out of the mushrooms and finely chop. Slice the leeks finely and snip the bacon into small pieces. Next, fry the mushrooms stalks, leeks and bacon together for about 5 minutes, adding a little pepper for seasoning. Divide this mixture between the 4 mushrooms then sprinkle breadcrumbs on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes and serve hot.<br /><br />Scone based pizza is a really handy recipe to have up your sleeve because it means you can make a pizza from scratch with basic food cupboard ingredients - no need for strong flour and yeast. You just need self-raising flour, butter and milk to make the base and then some pasta sauce or passata, cheese and toppings.<br /><br />Anyway, despite my best efforts and estimates, it took slightly longer to prepare and cook all this than I had anticipated and I ended up sitting down to eat at 6.10. I don't know about you, but I hate eating in a rush but that was what I had to do. I managed to cram most of it in ten minutes flat but decided to admit defeat on half my baked potato.<br /><br />Half a baked potato is a good starting point for a left-overs lunch. You could put all sorts of things on that a make a complete meal. Baked beans maybe - only that would leave a part open tin as left overs for another day. Instead, I decided to make pizza-style baked potato for my lunch, using some left over pasta sauce from the girls' pizza and left over cheese from the Christmas cheeseboard. There seems something luxurious about a 3 cheese topping!<br /><br />So for this I heated the half potato in the microwave for a minute then spooned on some pasta sauce and grated over plenty of cheese before returning it to the microwave for another minute to heat the sauce and melt the cheese. Two minute lunch from left-overs - yum!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-43874575070643283072012-01-05T22:23:00.002+00:002012-01-05T23:01:23.499+00:00Winter warmersDespite the stormy weather today I nipped over to the allotment this afternoon to fetch a leek for a casserole. The meat for the casserole tonight was left over goose from the Christmas dinner (thawed from frozen) but any meat would do just as well. Left over roast meat work best but you could also use fresh, raw meat but you would have to brown it off in a frying pan first. I, of course, love making good use of left over meat, combined with loads of seasonal vegetables.<br /><br />Casserole (serves 2)<br /><br />100-150g cooked meat<br />1 vegetable stock cube<br />2 carrots<br />1 parsnip (or some swede or turnip)<br />1 stick of celery<br />1 leek<br />2-4 potatoes (depending on size)<br />4 mushrooms<br />1 small onion<br />1 teaspoon mushroom ketchup<br />1 teaspoon soy sauce<br />1 teaspoon sweet chilli sauce<br />2 teaspoon oyster sauce<br />Freshly ground black pepper<br />Worstershire sauce<br /><br />Preheat oven to 180°C, gas mark 4 and get out a suitable ovenproof dish. Crumble the stock cube into boiling water in a pan then add to it the peeled and chopped carrot, parsnip, celery and leek. Simmer for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, peel the potatoes and cut into discs about half a cm thick. Remove the vegetables from the pan with a slotted spoon and place them in the casserole dish then put the potato slices into the pan of vegetable stock. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. In the meantime, slice the mushrooms and onions. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside then quickly fry the onions and mushrooms for about 3 minutes then turn down the heat and add the mushroom ketchup, soy sauce, chilli sauce and oyster sauce and stir. Add the mushroom mix to the casserole dish, along with the cooked meat. Pour the vegetable stock over the contents of the casserole dish until covered then layer the potatoes on top. Grind over the pepper and splash on some Worstershire sauce. Place in the oven for 1 hour and in the meantime go and have a lovely bath whilst delicious smells fill your house.<br /><br />Once the casserole was cooked, I popped a bread and butter pudding into the oven to cook whilst we ate and to make good use of the hot oven. Bread and butter pudding is the ultimate use of leftovers - no one ever buys ingredients especially to make it! I decided to make it because I had nearly a whole pint of full fat milk left in the fridge from my mother-in-law's stay with us and half a jar of my rather yummy Figgy Pear Mincemeat to use up. Oh, and there were 4 slices of stale white bread left too. Perfect!<br /><br />Bread & Butter Pudding<br /><br />2 eggs<br />1 tsp caster sugar<br />2 tsp custard powder<br />12 fl oz (350ml) milk<br />1 oz (25g) butter<br />4 slices of white bread<br />4 to 6 oz (110-180g) mincemeat<br /><br />In a jug, beat the egg, sugar and custard powder together then add the milk. Lightly butter a suitable ovenproof dish (wide and shallow is better than narrow and deep). Butter the bread and then cut the slices of bread into 4 triangles. Layer two slices worth of triangles into the dish then spoon over half the mincemeat. Lay the remaining triangles on top and spoon over the remaining mincemeat. Pour over half the milk mix and place the dish in the refrigerator until needed or for at least 15 minutes to soak. Preheat oven to 180°C, gas 4. Pour the remaining milk mix into the dish and bake for 20 minutes then increase the temperate to 190°C, gas 5 for 5-10 more minutes until the bread on top is crisp and golden. Serve hot with custard or cream.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-6500437838009373002012-01-04T21:29:00.002+00:002012-01-04T22:07:13.938+00:002012 - the year to reduce food wasteRegular readers of my blog will know that I often find myself making one recipe, which leads onto another recipe and then another and so on, using up as many ingredients as possible. During the summer you will find me tirelessly trying to come up with new and inventive ways to use up the gluts that come off my allotment. I hate food waste and always do what I can to avoid throwing food away. <br /><br />In Milton Keynes we have been provided with a green wheelie bin in which to put garden waste and food waste. I hardly ever put garden waste in it as that goes into one of the 3 compost bins I have on the allotment. In theory, all food waste can go into the green bin, including animal products, meat and bones but all my fruit and vegetable waste from the kitchen finds its way into the compost bin on the allotment so again doesn't go into the green bin. That just leaves the food waste that can't go into the compost because it would attract vermin and become very stinky. The combination of my compost bin and my efforts to avoid wasting food means that all that does go into the green wheelie bin once a week is one small paper bag of food waste. It is quite nice to have it all gathered together like this so that I have a measure of it to monitor.<br /><br />Anyway, having decided that I'm actually quite good at avoiding buying too much food in the first place and using up leftovers in a practical way, I thought I would share with you on this blog any instances where I have made good use of leftovers along side my usual recipes for using homegrown food. Hopefully, you'll find this useful as well as inspiring and that 2012 will be a good year for reducing food waste.<br /><br />So to get started, here is a short tale of using up excess potato.<br /><br />My parents went away for 3 weeks over Christmas and asked me to pop into their house a couple of times whilst they were a way to check on things. On my first visit, I discovered a bag of huge onions and half a bag of huge potatoes under a t-towel on the kitchen counter with a note asking me to take them away and make good use of them. So on Monday night I used three of these huge potatoes to make some mashed potato to go with our sausages. It was the usual stuff - boiled potatoes, mashed with butter, seasoning and a little finely grated mature Cheddar. But because the potatoes were so huge I had over estimated the amount we needed and had made enough mash for 6 people. The left over potatoes went into a box in the fridge for the night. The next day, I cut it into slices and fried it as potato cakes. This I served with a mix of mushrooms and the left over bacon lardons from Christmas. Not a great meal for anyone trying to lose weight but, hey, my New Year's Resolution is to avoid food waste so I'm happy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-59506160456986727842012-01-02T21:16:00.003+00:002012-01-02T21:53:06.401+00:00Thinking aheadIt's funny how our brains change over the Christmas holiday. We start off focusing on preparing for the "big day". Organising presents, buying and making food and co-ordinating various visits. And then for a few days after Christmas we sit around, rubbing our fat bellies, feeling lazy and cosy. It all seems like we are right in the middle of winter, winding down as the year comes to an end...<br /><br />And then, suddenly, New Year's Day arrives and we wake up. We chastise ourselves for our gluttony and make promises about how we will be better people in the coming months. We begin to look forward. For the kitchen gardener, it is all about the move into spring and the new growing season. It was hardly a surprise then to find me sat on the sofa this new years eve, with one eye on Jules Holland's Hootenanny as the minutes ticked past towards midnight, the other eye on my laptop as I placed my seed order.<br /><br />It is a serious business buying the seeds for the coming season. Some people do it by going into a garden centre and selecting seed packets from the racks. For me it is a slower, more meticulous and enjoyable task done at home. I start by gathering together all the seeds that I still have left from the previous year. I go through the lot, making a note of anything I still have a good supply of. I use my judgement too as to whether the seed has become too old to keep. Most seeds will be good for a second year (although parsnip seeds should be fresh every year). Many seeds will be good for three years. You can usually tell when seed is too old because the germination rate will become poorer and poorer with age. <br /><br />As I go through my old seeds and empty packets I make a note of anything I remember I definitely want to grow so I don't forget to order more later. Next I get out the collection of seed catalogues that started coming through my door in October and which I have carefully stashed away for this moment. I share this task with my girls too so they get a say in what they grow (with guidance) and feel ownership of the whole experience. We go through the catalogues and star those things we think we would like to order. These are a combination of things we have grown before and we know are reliable in our conditions or produce a particularly lovely crop. They may also be things we have grown before that failed but which we would love to try again to see if we can get them to work this time. And there will be selection of things we have not tried before but we fancy because of their description (and/or picture) in the catalogue.<br /><br />The next task is the make a list of all the seeds (with their order codes) that we want to order from each catalogue. This gives me a chance to check that I'm not ordering the same thing from different catalogues, and checking I'm ordering the one at the best price. Finally, armed with this list, I can sit down at my computer and place my orders via the companies websites.<br /><br />Once again my youngest daughter has chosen a selection of yellow vegetables to grow in her veg patch. I love this idea and it has led me to discover some very good crops that I might not otherwise have tried. The yellow mangetout and yellow climbing beans have been very good and this year I shall only be growing yellow courgettes as they taste better and have a better texture. Against that, I won't be ordering either of the Mayan potato varieties the girls chose last year as they provided too tempting for the slugs and gave a very poor yield of thoroughly munched potatoes.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioaE-3jawIH_5Qji8bv0AGV01LYO2ZyLjf4UMAXueuRs59Idu8HDXcunLr5ovh3ZTuzVmmTFrcVPLTN1QHmneqVODpmeAOa7gNld4poDat6K7TOnDz0pGQ-3IN6cTsJHAZDEdkLDzg450/s1600/Yellow+veg.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioaE-3jawIH_5Qji8bv0AGV01LYO2ZyLjf4UMAXueuRs59Idu8HDXcunLr5ovh3ZTuzVmmTFrcVPLTN1QHmneqVODpmeAOa7gNld4poDat6K7TOnDz0pGQ-3IN6cTsJHAZDEdkLDzg450/s320/Yellow+veg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693155867504314930" /></a><br /><br />I have ordered my usual favourite, reliable varieties, of course, such as Early Nante carrots, Boltary beetroot, Marathon calebrese, Mussleburgh leeks, Jack O'Lantern and Baby Bear pumpkins, Burpless Tasty Green cucumber, Blue Lake and Hunter French beans, Scarlet flowering broad beans and Sutton broad beans, Kestrel and Charlotte potatoes. But I'm also looking forward to trying out some new varieties, particularly as this year will be the first year ever that I've had a greenhouse. Placing the order is always exciting and as usual I'm eager to get started. Roll on spring!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6fBoIcMv21SRAyJs-301n2WT1UTUOU7ASoSgpW1J77Ah31EaDofLPbz9xXG2BT1hZnLAxeuKEFkuhGlRAodnIUYJa3aKQND3yYedyny5qdPeAfoStVgeYvrjanxzzcw-E18SHzTc_Wk/s1600/Crimson+broad+beans.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6fBoIcMv21SRAyJs-301n2WT1UTUOU7ASoSgpW1J77Ah31EaDofLPbz9xXG2BT1hZnLAxeuKEFkuhGlRAodnIUYJa3aKQND3yYedyny5qdPeAfoStVgeYvrjanxzzcw-E18SHzTc_Wk/s320/Crimson+broad+beans.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693155181504503778" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-49396601228940355542011-12-21T21:43:00.006+00:002011-12-23T21:57:52.326+00:00Jelly, jelly & jellyJelly is a funny old word with a surprising range of meanings. In my world it usually refers to an amusingly springy fruity dessert stuff, a jam without seeds in it or a soft, fruity, sugar coated sweet. Oh, and I guess it is also that stuff you get inside pork pies that some people love and others fund totally gross.<br /><br />All of these types of jelly will be featuring at my table this Christmas.<br /><br />The first will be made from homegrown raspberries from the freezer, pureed and mixed with powdered gelatine to provide the "jelly" set. This will be poured over slices of Swiss roll and topped with custard and cream to make a classic trifle. We all love trifle in this house and you can't beat the lovely fruity flavour you get from a homemade jelly rather than the weird artificial flavour of the stuff you just mix with boiling water.<br /><br />Raspberry Jelly<br /><br />3 tablespoons cold water<br />1 tablespoon or 1 sachet powdered gelatine<br />8 oz (225 g) raspberries<br />4 oz (110 g) granulated sugar<br />12 fl oz (400 ml) cold water<br /><br />Put 3 tablespoons of cold water into a small pan and sprinkle over the gelatine, then stir and set aside for 5 minutes. Put the raspberries, sugar and 12 fl oz of water into a large pan and bring to the boil. Leave the fruit to simmer for 5 minutes until soft then press through a sieve to make a puree. Heat the gelatine over a low heat for a minute or two until clear then stir this into the raspberry puree. <br /><br />Raspberry Trifle<br /><br />1 pint (600 ml) of raspberry jelly (see recipes above)<br />1 small Swiss roll<br />Sherry or apple juice<br />1 pack of ready to make custard powder<br />150ml double cream<br />100ml creme fraiche<br />12g (1/2 oz) icing sugar<br />Decorations<br /><br />Make raspberry jelly as shown in the recipes above. Slice up the Swiss roll and layer it into the bottom of suitable containers and pour over enough sherry or apple juice to cover. Allow the cake to soak up the liquid and become mushy. You could also add a layer of fresh raspberries too at this point. Pour the jelly over the cake and refrigerate for 2-3 hours until set. In the meantime, make up the custard as instructed on the packet and allow to cool completely to room temperature - placing a piece of clingfilm on the surface of the custard will stop it forming a skin. Once the jelly has set, pour the custard over the top and level off. Return to the refrigerator for at least another hour. Combined the cream, creme fraiche and icing sugar together and whip until it forms soft peaks then spoon this on top of the custard layer. Add any decorations just before serving.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMISsSMI6xlbh624dbKHUTbHAcs1C4hxjNTH7vbG5koelMgZLccbIwP3fk824H3naUCe_yWIMlI0w6O9-vCKxnV3AxIMI0hCkGOYVSB3_AfbNhuE8K8208UDew1BQGSNfVWAqioiQt9eQ/s1600/Trifle.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMISsSMI6xlbh624dbKHUTbHAcs1C4hxjNTH7vbG5koelMgZLccbIwP3fk824H3naUCe_yWIMlI0w6O9-vCKxnV3AxIMI0hCkGOYVSB3_AfbNhuE8K8208UDew1BQGSNfVWAqioiQt9eQ/s320/Trifle.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688716853479387074" /></a><br /><br /><br />The next kind of jelly will be redcurrant jelly, made from our homegrown redcurrants earlier in the year. Some people seem a little confused by the name "jelly" on a jar and it can put them off as they seem unsure how to use a jelly. Well, it really is just a seedless jam, usually strained to produce a beautifully clear end product. If you fancy spreading it on your toast then do so but it can also be eaten as an accompaniment to meat or a flavour added to it when cooking. Undoubtedly, we will use some redcurrant jelly to accompany a nice bit of lamb but I shall also use it for redcurrant cheesecake.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgts6EkxFaWfQ6V3KiTDEeKFPThsxR5HulS5Sx0kSowXx44_49SYzH_F2RnZAw62a6EfL1-DY93IxSGPbKi8JN7BiQ1jcOnOjnY5SbXibLY9xucS9QjSqb9JVwj35OGgwrtnTyHBIqrV80/s1600/Redcurrants.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 277px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgts6EkxFaWfQ6V3KiTDEeKFPThsxR5HulS5Sx0kSowXx44_49SYzH_F2RnZAw62a6EfL1-DY93IxSGPbKi8JN7BiQ1jcOnOjnY5SbXibLY9xucS9QjSqb9JVwj35OGgwrtnTyHBIqrV80/s320/Redcurrants.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688717409025458114" /></a><br /><br /><br />Redcurrant Cheesecake<br /><br />Base:<br />6 oz crushed digestive biscuits<br />2 oz melted butter<br /><br />Filling:<br />7 oz soft cheese<br />3 oz caster sugar<br />1 egg<br />4 fl oz whipping cream<br /><br />Topping:<br />4 oz redcurrant jelly<br /><br />To make the base: Put the biscuits in a bag and crush them with the end of a rolling pin until finely crushed. Melt the butter and mix it with the biscuit crumbs. Press the mix firmly into the bottom of a flan dish and chill for about 1 hour.<br /><br />To make the filling: Preheat oven to 180 °C, gas mark 4. Cream together the cheese and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and cream and whisk until thick. Dollop the creamy filling onto the biscuit base and spread out evenly. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes then turn out the oven and leave it in the oven for another 10 minutes. After that open the oven door and leave the cheesecake inside to continue its slow cooling so that it doesn't crack. Once cooled but still slightly warm, carefully heat the redcurrant jelly in the microwave (2 x 20 seconds) or a pan of hot water until it is runny. Pour the warmed jelly evenly over the surface of the cheesecake. When sufficiently cool, refrigerate until ready to serve.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXaWXl2S2HzWxtvuW4j8YSc3A2zOhBKYPNchfcM877_Wd0FAOj3_bSt3a79JtxGKqW9GwF7qlyQKN6Fn-9ABUpiMrHV2zh2bqrbYE02orU2Ouk6q-caM4aBPjCGIPe_ctXnw5RtSnyHk/s1600/Redcurrant+cheese+cake.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXaWXl2S2HzWxtvuW4j8YSc3A2zOhBKYPNchfcM877_Wd0FAOj3_bSt3a79JtxGKqW9GwF7qlyQKN6Fn-9ABUpiMrHV2zh2bqrbYE02orU2Ouk6q-caM4aBPjCGIPe_ctXnw5RtSnyHk/s320/Redcurrant+cheese+cake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689446140817160002" /></a><br /><br />When I was a kid my lovely next door neighbour (Mrs P, we used to call her), used to give my brother and me a large tube of Fruit Pastilles every Christmas. A lovely treat, although back then they were full of artificial colours and flavourings. I'm pleased to say that, as so many food items have, they have vastly improved since then. Even so, they do not taste anywhere near as fruity as the homemade fruit jelly sweets I have made this Christmas. Using little more than fruit and sugar, I have concocted both blackcurrant and raspberry flavoured blocks of fruit jelly. They need to be stored in the fridge and they aren't quite as robust as the ones you get in a tube but, my God, they knock your head off with their lovely ziggy fruity flavour. And as an added advantage, they are a jelly that doesn't contain gelatine so are suitable for my vegan step-daughter. Hmmm... makes me wonder if I could make a vegan trifle... now there's a challenge!<br /><br />Real Fruit Jelly Sweets<br /><br />300-350g blackcurrants (or other high pectin fruit - e.g. gooseberries)<br />300g of apple or crabapple pectin stock<br />2 tsp lemon juice<br />250g granulated sugar<br />2 tbsp glucose syrup<br />Granulated sugar for rolling<br /><br />Blitz the blackcurrants in a blender until it forms a thick liquid. Add the apple/crabapple to it then strain through a sieve to remove the seeds and skin. Pour the liquid into a large saucepan and add the lemon juice, sugar and glucose. Gently heat, stirring all the time, until the sugar is dissolved and it no longer feels gritty. Bring to the boil and boil vigorously for 15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Remove from the heat and pour into a greased plastic food container. Leave to cool then refrigerate until set. Use a spatula to loosen the jelly from the container then turn out onto a surface sprinkled with sugar. Cut into stripes then cubes. Roll each on in sugar then place in a container and keep refrigerated until ready to eat. The jellies do not melt if left out of the fridge but they do become softer and harder to pick up. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEissMeJVTv-HWTRpgJ-lV9avqjF55NCcDEfTGAKJM0_c9sQWwEBqEs4Z71nl57p9-VmzwmlhJsxMzDoL9Y2XIP6hvEXeWHoQtdQU-Gu03uwcVVhV_OKLvRHZGntxJGG9EGdZythaKXlOl8/s1600/Fruit+jellies.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEissMeJVTv-HWTRpgJ-lV9avqjF55NCcDEfTGAKJM0_c9sQWwEBqEs4Z71nl57p9-VmzwmlhJsxMzDoL9Y2XIP6hvEXeWHoQtdQU-Gu03uwcVVhV_OKLvRHZGntxJGG9EGdZythaKXlOl8/s320/Fruit+jellies.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688717603833405778" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-27008825880268998042011-11-19T17:00:00.002+00:002011-11-19T17:25:18.796+00:00May I introduce HermanI was first introduced to Herman on 6th November by my friend Sue. She popped around with him unannounced that Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, I was out at the shops at the time so Sue left him with Steve, and an A4 page of care instructions. Despite the unexpected and unannounced way he came into my life, I was nonetheless pleased to take Herman into my care.<div><br /></div><div>Herman, tucked up in his box, was in fact a sour dough starter for something called "A Friendship Cake". I am quite surprised I have never come across him before as he has obviously been around for years but I'm glad I have now made his acquaintance. </div><div><br /></div><div>The idea is, for 10 days you follow the care instructions, which largely just involves a daily stir with a wooden spoon. On the fourth and nineth days he needs feeding with flour, sugar and milk. This allows the yeast within the mix to keep on reproducing as well as adding to the bulk of the mix. On the 10th day Herman is divided into 5 equal portions. One of these can be used to make a cake, whilst the remaining 4 can be given away to friends to continue the chain. It is, in fact, like a cake chain letter but without the menace.</div><div><br /></div><div>The whole idea instantly appealed to me. Firstly I was pleased that someone had decided to give a "friendship cake" to me. Secondly, I had never made a cake based on sour dough so I was looking forward to experimenting with this new cake making technique. And finally, I liked the idea that I could pass on "friendship cakes" at the end.</div><div><br /></div><div>My girls were fascinated with the whole idea too and asked after Herman daily, checking that I was caring for him appropriately. It was like having a pet but with the added advantages of only having to care for it for 10 days and getting to eat it at the end!! </div><div><br /></div><div>I had always seen the 10th day as the end of Herman but of course I was wrong to think like that. I was merely a link in the chain and Herman was passed on to more people on the 10th day. I was pleased by the response that I got from the friends I passed Herman onto. He does seem to bring delight into people's lives, as long as you choose your friends appropriately! I also decided to keep one of the little Hermans to start off another one. However, the girls decided this one ought to be called Hermione as it made more sense for Hermione to have babies than a Herman!</div><div><br /></div><div>The recipe I was given ended in a fruit cake, made with a little mixed dried fruit and two grated apples. Perfect for me as I was able to use a couple of apples from my stored harvest. But upon googling Herman I discovered a whole load of different end recipes for Herman, hence why I decided to keep Hermione for myself.</div><div><br /></div><div>The fruit cake version was lovely. I cooked it in a 2lb loaf tin but obviously slightly overfilled the tin with mixture as Herman managed to have another baby in the oven, producing a blob on the bottom tray of the oven. As it happened, this blob cooked perfectly so that night when the girls got in from school we ate Herman's baby, "The Blob", leaving an untouched loaf of Herman intact for Steve when he got home. We all enjoyed the cake and it was eaten up within 3 days, whilst Hermione continues to grow in her bowl.</div><div><br /></div><div>Below is the instructions for Herman. Should you not be lucky enough to have a Friendship Cake delivered to you, you can google for a Herman starter and become the start of a whole new chain.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>HERMAN THE FRIENDSHIP CAKE</div><div><br /></div><div>Herman is a friendship cake which you can’t buy, but you can give him away. He grows slowly but surely because of the yeast in him. It is usually 10 days before you can eat him.</div><div>Herman doesn’t have to be kept in the fridge and doesn’t require a lid – just covering him with a tea towel is sufficient. Herman grows at room temperature.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you would like to spread a little friendship follow through instructions below and at end of 10 days you will have a cake to eat and four starter kits to pass on.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you cannot wait to have your cake and eat it, go straight to day 10, but you will forego the opportunity to pass on some friendship.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Day 1: Today Herman is given to you. Put him in a big bowl (At least 4pt capacity). Cover Herman loosely so he can breathe. A tea towel or loose lid is ideal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Days 2 & 3: Stir Herman 2-3 times a day with a wooden spoon (do not use metal, and which you can leave in the bowl)</div><div><br /></div><div>Day 4: Herman is hungry. Give him the following:-</div><div>200mls milk</div><div>200g self-raising flour</div><div>250g sugar</div><div><br /></div><div>Days 5, 6, 7 & 8: Stir Herman 2-3 times a day.</div><div><br /></div><div>Day 9: Herman is hungry again. Give him the same ingredients you gave him on Day 4. Stir well then divide him into 5 equal parts. Give 4 baby Hermans away with a copy of this sheet. (or keep one back for yourself to grow and redistribute to other friends) Keep the 5th portion to bake.</div><div><br /></div><div>Day 10: Herman is absolutely starving. He needs a holiday. He likes to go to a hot resort. The oven is his favourite. Pre-heat oven to 170ºC (150ºC fan-assisted oven) and grease a cake tin generously. Prepare him for his holiday using one of the following:-</div><div><br /></div><div>1. Fruit cake Recipe:</div><div>150g self-raising flour,</div><div>100g finely chopped nuts/raisins,</div><div>100g light muscovado sugar</div><div>150mls oil,</div><div>half teaspoon of baking powder,</div><div>2 teaspoons cinnamon,</div><div>3 eggs, 2 grated apples,</div><div>Bake in loaf tin or 9” x 9“ cake tin</div><div><br /></div><div>2. Chocolate Cranberry Cake Recipe: 150g self raising flour, 250g sugar,100ml oil, 1/2tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1tsp ground cinnamon, 1½ tsp baking powder, 2 eggs, 3 oz melted semi-sweet chocolate, 100g semi-dried cranberries. Bake 30-35 mins in loaf tin or 20-25 mins in two 8-inch sandwich tins, and sandwich together with cream &/ thick cooked cranberries sauce .</div><div><br /></div><div>3. Double chocolate Cake: ¾ cup butter at room temp,1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 4 eggs, ½ cup unsweetened cocoa, 1½ cup self raising flour, ½ tsp salt, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, ½ cup chopped nuts. Bake in 9 inch square pan.</div><div><br /></div><div>4.Ginger Cake :150g self-raising flour,1½ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp bicarbonate soda, pinch of salt, 125g golden syrup, 60g finely chopped stem ginger, 1 tbsp ginger syrup from stem ginger jar, 2 heaped tbsp sultanas, 75g dark muscavado suger, 2 eggs, 150 ml milk, 75 ml butter at room temp/softened in microwave</div><div><br /></div><div>Mix everything together and pour into a very well greased cake tin. Bake for 40 mins to one hour, depending on your tin. Cool in tin for 10 mins then turn out.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-50450236868025815442011-10-22T21:47:00.003+01:002011-10-22T22:32:07.727+01:00Hello Autumn<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>I think autumn has finally arrived. It has been a funny old October, what with the heatwave at the beginning of it. Usually we enjoy a hot, sunny birthday in July for my youngest daughter and a damp, grey birthday for my eldest in October but this year the two were swapped. It confused us and it certainly confused the plants too. <div><br /></div><div>Last week I wandered around to the allotment mainly to empty the compost bin, carrying 4 empty carrier bags just in case there was something to harvest. Much to my surprise, half an hour later each bag contained several different crops. There were still a few ripe tomatoes, amongst the depressing remains of blighted plants. There was one butternut squash, previously hidden but now revealed as the exhausted plant succumbed to mildrew, and some skinny yellow courgettes. There were 4 more cucumbers and half a bag of French beans. There were carrots and beetroot and thought I would just see how the parsnips were doing so I pulled two of those up. In the brassica patch the broccoli, cauliflower and Romanesco were still offering a few heads. A few more pears had fallen from the tree too. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was pleased with this yield in the middle of October - a mini harvest festival of crops for the kitchen. Somehow these are more rewarding than the bags and bags of fresh veg picked in June, July and August. But what surprised me most was the bowlful of strawberries and raspberries I managed to bring home! That afternoon I treated my girls to a fruit salad more suited to July than October. And what a treat it was - a taste of summer in autumn.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FQF4qZec6zqIbJctsoP8YoCFJhdo_qpPp92eQZ_hh4HGbMS66haWPIIgV7WgpasGlNqrye-z20ivK-VDwnG8CR7pmRLEbumrdfK8on3T-8AdTEAVIrS2zGgMz4DZetioSZUBRUAmVgw/s1600/Autumn+fruit+salad.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FQF4qZec6zqIbJctsoP8YoCFJhdo_qpPp92eQZ_hh4HGbMS66haWPIIgV7WgpasGlNqrye-z20ivK-VDwnG8CR7pmRLEbumrdfK8on3T-8AdTEAVIrS2zGgMz4DZetioSZUBRUAmVgw/s320/Autumn+fruit+salad.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666432113749035586" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 261px; " /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>They threatened frosts by the end of this week. It did indeed get colder, forcing us into our winter coats but there wasn't quite a frost. I shall go out tomorrow and see what delights I can harvest before the frosts really do arrive but I don't expect there to be much left and I certainly won't be pinning my hopes on another crop of strawberries! But that is no bad thing. I love what October's seasonal kitchen has to offer. It is all about warming, comfort food, tree fruit, root vegetables, spices, chutneys and things from storage. I still have apples, pears, cucumbers, courgettes, onions, shallots, garlic, butternut squash, pumpkins and even a few tomatoes in boxes in the shed. Last week I made a fantastic pumpkin & ginger cheesecake (yes, really!) and today I whipped up a wonderful batch of butternut squash & cinnamon muffins. With such wonderful autumn fayre on offer who would miss strawberries anyway?!</div><div><br /></div><div>Pumpkin & Ginger Cheesecake</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Base:</div><div> <div>3 oz crushed digestive biscuits</div><div>3 oz crushed gingernut biscuits</div> <div>2 oz melted butter</div> <div><br /></div> <div>Filling:</div> <div>7 oz soft cheese</div> <div>3 oz light muscovado sugar</div> <div>1 egg</div> <div>4 fl oz whipping cream</div> <div>4 oz pumpkin puree</div><div>1/2 in root ginger</div> <div>2 tablespoons icing sugar</div><div>1 tsp ground ginger</div> <div><br /></div> <div>To make the base: Put the biscuits in a bag and crush them with the end of a rolling pin until finely crushed or blitz them in a food processor. Melt the butter and mix it with the biscuit crumbs. Press the mix firmly into the bottom of a flan dish and chill for about 1 hour.</div> <div><br /></div> <div>To make the filling: Peel and cube the pumpkin and steam for 10-20 minutes with the piece of root ginger until soft then blend in a food processor with the icing sugar until smooth. Preheat oven to 180 °C, gas mark 4. Cream together the cheese and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, cream, pumpkin puree and ground ginger and whisk until thick. Dollop the creamy filling onto the biscuit base and spread out evenly. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes then turn out the oven and leave it in the oven for another 10 minutes. After that open the oven door and leave the cheesecake inside to continue its slow cooling so that it doesn't crack. Serve chilled with cream.</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0B1Zh5bv718UusfnayKasvr5pkacdvTvuuuNNALhx2yZ9Z52kjeaxohYognANlVH13NWTakVjx_hmBuwUIN_fhudALAHfYYWAYOn31JO-QDYZhBezPySLKgoC38bYpQ5X2tZYxpNwwiE/s320/Pumpkin+cheesecake.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5666432377016527266" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Butternut Squash & Cinnamon Muffins</div><div><br /></div><div>6 fl oz (175ml) sunflower oil</div><div>6 oz (175g) light muscovado sugar</div><div>3 eggs</div><div>1 tsp vanilla extract</div><div>8 oz (225g) fresh pumpkin</div><div>4 oz (110g) sultanas</div><div>1 orange, zest and juice</div><div>2 tsp ground cinnamon</div><div>8 oz (225g) self-raising flour</div><div>1 tsp bicarbonate of soda</div><div>200g tub of cream cheese</div><div>3 oz (85g) icing sugar</div><div><br /></div><div>Preheat oven to 180°C (gas 4) and place paper cases in a muffin tin. Put the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a bowl and beat together. Grate in the pumpkin and orange zest then add the sultanas and the juice of half the orange. Sieve in the flour, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda and mix until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases then bake for 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. In the meantime, whisk together the cream cheese, icing sugar and the remaining orange juice until thick. Refrigerate until required. Dollop some of the cream cheese frosting onto each muffin just before serving.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-72267729506690707132011-09-24T21:59:00.002+01:002011-09-24T22:26:45.124+01:00What use is a conker?Conkers are funny things, aren't they? What is it that makes them so appealing when they are completely useless? Why do children (big and small) love collecting them with such enthusiasm?<div><br /></div><div>I have pondered these questions this past fortnight as I have sat on my usual spot on the bench in the park whilst my girls have proudly brought me their collected conkers to show me. They are undoubtedly beautiful things, especially when first released from their prickly shells, all shiny and with their grain still showing. They feel lovely in the hand too and if you hold two or three of them you can't help but rotate them round and round in your hands.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is no question of course that the girls will want to take them home. But what then? What can you do with conkers? With my hazelnut tree producing such a bountiful harvest of edible nuts it strikes me as a shame that conkers are not edible. Indeed, even squirrels don't seem to bother with them. In fact, if it weren't for children collecting them all up, the footpaths would be awash with conkers at this time of year.</div><div><br /></div><div>So inevitably the conkers accumulate in the corner of the garden, eventually to rot.</div><div><br /></div><div>But then this week, one of my friends commented on the large numbers of spiders in her house at this time of year. It is the same here, as I imagine it is in everyone else's houses at this time of year - unless you have a cat, as I am told they enjoy these crunching snacks. Generally speaking I'm not that bothered by spiders. Having to remove their cobwebs is a nuisance but their fly catching abilities are useful, particularly in my household where the excessive amount of fruit and veg that passes through my kitchen leads to annoying fruit flies in the kitchen. They really are annoying actually. Within minutes of bringing in a punnet of raspberries from the allotment this afternoon, a cloud of fruit flies were circling above them. Then with the raspberries used up in a crumble, the fruit flies were left circling the kitchen for the rest of the afternoon. I have two sticky fly tapes up (not the most attractive addition to my kitchen, it has to be said) and one of those electric fly traps that kills flies with a satisfying zapping sound, yet still they circle. And right outside my kitchen window lives a big fat garden spider, getting bigger and fatter daily on a feast of flies. So I have a happy relationship with this spider but I'm not so keen on those great, big, enormous black things that suddenly appear from under the bookcase and scuttle across the living room carpet whilst we are watching TV of an evening. Steve has put 4 of them out this week and my eldest was somewhat alarmed to find a shed spider skin on the kitchen floor the other day as she was quick to realise that this merely meant that the spider was now BIGGER!!</div><div><br /></div><div>So what has all this got to do with conkers? Well... in my friend's discussion about the spiders, I found out that there are quite a few people out there who firmly believe that scattering conkers around your house keeps spiders at bay. Apparently, they don't like the smell. Is this true? I don't know but it sounds like it is worth a try. So one of the jobs on my to-do list this weekend is to dust off the conker pile and scatter them under the book case, on the window sills and under my bed. An end to spiders in my house and a use for the conker - sounds good to me!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-21537686139902380822011-09-16T21:45:00.003+01:002011-09-17T22:12:25.294+01:00Hooray for hazelnuts<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUfDvVG3OR8yfQ45TTp_D0Zjdh-81aNq5pcrIMc_-ji5Q5q3aW-aDQqjm_shp7EVwfCLWDHWHUIz9CKv6PzWnFSPlL0jzGhKrBpxhDxHfciCOecazz20KtO345LEFZ626oRQUytjrBCY/s1600/Hazelnut+cheesecake+2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>During the course of my childhood at various points we had in our garden a rosemary bush (my mum's name), sweet william flowers (my dad's name), and house martins (my brother's name), but we never managed to plant a hazel tree. So when I finally got my own home I planted one. It took it about 10 years before it yielded its first handful of nuts and now, at 13 years old it produces quite a reasonable crop of nuts.<div><br /></div><div>I expect I'm bias, but I do love my hazel tree. I love the way the hazelnuts conveniently drop to the ground when they are ready, without damaging themselves. And how they patiently wait for you to get around to eating them without threatening to go rotten in the meantime. And just a gentle squeeze of the nutcracker lets you through their shell to the nut inside.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back in 2009 I proudly blogged about using my first handful of hazelnuts; a yield of just a couple of ounces that I turned into hazelnut & sesame florentines. It is a delicious recipe so I started with it this year but it barely made an impression on the nut harvest.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hazelnut and Sesame Florentines (makes 12-16)</div> <div></div><br /><div>1 1/2 oz (40g) unsalted butter</div> <div>1 1/2 oz (40g) golden syrup</div> <div>1/2 oz (15g) plain flour</div> <div>1 1/2 oz (40g) chopped hazelnuts</div> <div>1 1/2 oz (40g) sesame seeds</div> <div>1 oz (25g) glace cherries</div> <div>1 oz (25g) dried mixed fruit</div><br /><div>Preheat oven to 180°C, gas 4 and line a large baking sheet. Melt together the butter and the syrup in a pan over a gentle heat then remove from the heat and add all the other ingredients. Stir well and leave for 2-3 minutes. Dollop teaspoons of the mixture well spaced out on the baking paper then bake for 5-8 minutes until golden. Cool on the sheet for 2-3 minutes then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4ePa6cyUYt4irCJYmIyVMMjlZ5gS0k4P5iwS0l0JTUqKCyWMjm1snWEl-Ec-adnhm1E1T6zZpw_BDmBTTKRWz51ErfFB1QO9zKbSIS5vfTQWVjztlRDCIHDTjhZBD_9fytIa6oPsBzc/s320/Florentines.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402608135269899170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 251px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" border="0" closure_uid_2rw74w="8" /></div><div>After that, I scanned my blog archives to remind me what I did with my hazelnut harvest in 2010. Back in October 2010 I made a harvest fruit cake with hazelnuts, courgettes and an apple. With the same ingredients in abundance this year I decided to do the same. A lovely, substantial fruitcake, which lasted us all week but which too did not use up all the hazelnuts.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Harvest Fruit Cake</div> <div><br /></div> <div>2oz (55g) shelled hazelnuts</div> <div>8oz (225g) unsalted butter</div> <div>8oz (225g) light muscovado sugar</div> <div>8oz (225g) self-raising flour</div> <div>3 eggs</div> <div>1 teaspoon vanilla extract</div> <div>2 teaspoons mixed spice</div> <div>1 teaspoon baking powder</div> <div>6oz (175g) courgette or marrow</div> <div>1 apple</div> <div>9oz (250g) mixed dried fruit</div> <div>1 teaspoon cinnamon</div> <div>1 tablespoon demerara sugar</div> <div><br /></div> <div>Preheat oven to 180°C, gas 4 and grease or line a 20cm round cake tin. Place 1 oz of the hazelnuts in a food processor with a spoonful of sugar and a spoonful of flour and blitz until the nuts are finely ground. Add the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour and baking powder and process until a smooth batter forms. Remove the blade and grate in the courgette or marrow and the apple then add the dried fruit. Stir thoroughly and spoon the mix into the cake tin. Coarsely chop the remaining hazelnuts and mix these with the cinnamon and demerara sugar. Sprinkle this mixture onto the top of the cake. Bake for 45 minutes then cover with foil and continue to bake for a further 25-30 minutes. Test with a skewer. Cool in the tin for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.</div> <div><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531906893442578626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 239px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5EOxCUvBe8reVLqqTKJgKMqTCd3i4D5xL0v1xmY_D6pmYW2bQUZqwwYNCK3a60tDIfMg0ouIxg0-pjTtzaiJgWlTPPzIxNFAJ6BxCvyd6dhYMDJWg9fBAj1vbKURSxUw_24LKr-i600w/s320/Harvest+cake.jpg" border="0" closure_uid_wibpb="17" /></span></div></div><div><br /></div><div>So, with my eldest daughter's challenge of making a cheesecake recipe book still in my mind, I decided to have a go at making a hazelnut cheesecake.</div><div><br /></div><div>Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake</div><div><br /></div><div>Base:</div><div>2 oz shelled hazelnuts</div><div>4 oz digestive biscuits</div><div>2 oz melted butter</div><div><br /></div><div>Filling:</div><div>8 oz soft cheese</div><div>3 oz caster sugar</div><div>1 egg</div><div>4 fl oz whipping cream</div><div>1 dessert spoon cocoa powder</div><div>Few drops vanilla extract</div><div><br /></div><div>Topping:</div><div>2 oz roasted hazelnut, chopped.</div><div><br /></div><div>Blitz the hazelnuts, then the biscuits, in a food processor to make crumbs then mix with the melted butter. Press into a suitable ovenproof tin. Refrigerate for 1 hour or more. Preheat an oven to 180°C, gas 4. Cream together the cheese and sugar then mix in the egg and cream. Pour 8 fl oz into a jug and add the cocoa to this portion. Add the vanilla to the remaining portion. Independently whip each portion until thick. Dollop the two portions of cheese mixture onto the biscuit base and gently fold them together to produce a marbled effect. Bake for 20 minutes then switch out the oven and leave for another 10 minutes. Then open the oven door and leave the cheesecake inside to slowly cool to prevent it cracking. Once cool, chill for an hour or so until ready to serve. In the meantime, roast the raw hazelnuts in their shells for 15 minutes at 180°C, gas 4. Leave to cool then whizz in a food processor to chop. When ready to serve the cheesecake, scatter the hazelnuts on top. Serve with cream or ice-cream, if desired.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUfDvVG3OR8yfQ45TTp_D0Zjdh-81aNq5pcrIMc_-ji5Q5q3aW-aDQqjm_shp7EVwfCLWDHWHUIz9CKv6PzWnFSPlL0jzGhKrBpxhDxHfciCOecazz20KtO345LEFZ626oRQUytjrBCY/s320/Hazelnut+cheesecake+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5653439286211003954" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 222px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div>I'm pleased to report the cheesecake was a success. I'm also pleased to say that I still have enough nuts left to make another one!</div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-67909212307517382602011-08-18T22:32:00.004+01:002011-08-18T22:40:12.344+01:00Award winning hand-made ice-cream<div style="text-align: left;">Regular readers of my blog will know that I enjoy making ice-cream but I never expected to get an award for it! This changed the other day when I entered the Farr Beach sandcastle competition. Inspired by a beach ice-cream set that I picked up in IKEA for a few pounds, we decided that this year’s entry would be a sand ice-cream van.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>First we dug out a large hole and built up walls to make the outline structure of the ice-cream van and then the girls created a series of different ice-creams in cones and ice-cream sundaes to “sell” at the counter. This was the most fun part, trying to find suitable substitutes for yummy ingredients on the beach. Dry sand for vanilla, damp sand for caramel flavours. Green seaweed for mint. Small sticks as chocolate flakes, red pebbles as cherries, seaweed as chocolate sauce.</div><div>
<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXLj3J_qLFQPjC-5hIEqk0z-p6dxepoexbz2SgK9UMStO6RRO0wJwwii9hX-jXvZN6QHAX-IIivmKdSXAFHVJt7CkOrHoxzaXctkDuqslINS02XKXf4QGjrRZuIH8BeqEEQXaJ-GNppNA/s320/CIMG9280.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642313118830925698" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 221px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
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<br /></div><div>After an hour of digging, sculpting and creating, the ice-cream van and its stock was finished. Then, the judges walked up and down the beach, assessing each castle. We all gathered together at the end of the beach to hear the announcements – in reverse order of course. 3rd then 2nd places… then finally, 1st place for the ice-cream van! What a lovely surprise and a brilliant way to end an enjoyable, fun, family day out on the beach. Funnily enough, as we left the beach that afternoon we all fancied an ice-cream, sadly though my stock of real home-made ice-creams was in the freezer at home 600 miles away!</div><div>
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<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJZbohr9gUoqAM7e6daHtQ-qtDcnqVYIiWZwgXw3yJoiboQpUFf4do10VSaXqFLtk1emA7sT-5nkFMWmgMtvK0AmmA4-wT267Rd4q5z3MidXnmNfaFYazDmBD9ZHQPmtbIvLaCmsgNcA/s320/CIMG9299.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642313417809236226" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-2236118405765010022011-08-16T22:05:00.003+01:002011-08-16T22:11:52.185+01:00A Kitchen Gardener on holiday- Part 2<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3CLlwRKOdlnOXJwjTZG6vQy_ynxp001sGLXVjx4CkoTxrR2Xctv4oAzvlDkJqU1ojrYdeGmv6LEvHbjBYWBUf8u_BLDFGEeVNJnROa2QtGDO5pUsZWizUnidRMwGzFg0EbwvIu3cxeO8/s1600/CIMG9243.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><div>By the time we needed to visit the supermarket again we were running low on homegrown vegetables too. There were still plenty of spuds and alliums, courgettes and French beans but the broad beans, peas and beetroot were eaten. It is somewhat surprising that vegetables such as courgettes and French beans should still be edible after a 600 mile car journey and 6 days out of the ground but compared to the journeys some fruit and vegetables have to arrive in supermarkets its nothing.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>When homegrown is not available I like to shop local instead and this is probably easier here than anywhere in the UK. The Scots are very proud of anything Scottish so supermarkets are stocked with Scottish products including everything from haggis to cheese to carrots. And with the different pace of life up here, where Tescos only arrived a couple of years ago, there are still thriving local specialist shops such as butchers and fishmongers. It makes a pleasant change to shop in places like this and the whole family actively enjoys our shopping trips.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>So a 40 minute, 30 mile drive to Thurso isn’t the chore it might be if this was something I had to do every week of the year. Instead we look forward to it, made more enjoyable by the ease of parking near to each of the shops we visit. First to MacKay’s the butchers – a large, rotund man with ruddy cheeks who was clearly born to be a butcher. He greeted us in his usual friendly way, recognising us from previous annual visits. All his meat is local, of course, and can be cut to order if necessary. His sausages are the highlight of our trip and my daughter claims they are the only sausages she likes. Here we stocked up on fillet steak, leg of lamb, a chicken and sausages as well as “olives”, pieces of frying steak wrapped round a sage and onion stuffing. I’ve never seen these anywhere else so enjoy having them when I can just because they are a bit different. We also bought half a dozen local free-range eggs and a punnet of Caithness grown strawberries.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>A very short drive to the quayside and we parked this time outside the fishmongers. It is also right by our favourite café “The Tempest” and although we were all starving we decided to visit the fishmongers first as this, like the butchers, still have the quirky habit of closing for lunch. Like so many places up here this is also called “MacKay’s” but a different and unrelated MacKay to the butchers (Sutherland is of course Clan MacKay country). Here Steve stocked up on a pot of crabmeat, some enormous fresh scallops and a wedge of Orkney cheese before we headed into the café for lunch. I can’t help marvelling at the car park – a huge expanse of tarmac at the quayside, next to several shops and a popular café and with a seaview, overlooking the Orkney Islands. Firstly, it is remarkable because there are absolutely no road marking in it so you can park wherever you choose. Secondly, it is completely free of charge. And thirdly, it is almost entirely empty. Imagine such a car park in Cornwall, closely packed bay markings, pay and display and full by 9am.</div><div>
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<br /></div><div>Nicely stocked up with a variety of fresh, local produce we drove back to the cottage in excited anticipation of our next meal.</div><div>
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-30668927791623827612011-08-14T22:44:00.003+01:002011-08-14T23:00:37.033+01:00A Kitchen Gardener on holiday- Part 1<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div><div>When you love kitchen gardening as much as I do, it is a bit of a strain to leave it behind for 3 weeks to go on holiday. To lessen the strain, firstly, I have perfected the timing of my summer holiday to slot neatly between the end of broad beans and the beginning of the French beans, and between the end of the soft fruit and the beginning of the tree fruit. Secondly, I make sure there are people back home who can keep an eye on the plot whilst we are away and to keep picking the produce to stop them going over.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Before leaving on holiday I went around the plot picking everything that I could to take away. The peas and mangetout were winding down but I got a small bag of each. The broad beans I thought were over but got a few new pods from re-grown shoots. The first of the French beans were ready so I picked everything I could from these. I pulled up a few beetroots and cut all the courgettes. When freshly picked like this, it is possible to expect these vegetables to last at least until the end of the first week away. I added these last pickings to my previously harvested onions, garlic and 3 different variety of potatoes. Three varieties of potatoes may sound excessive, but when you are away for 3 weeks it is nice to be able to cook potatoes in different ways and each variety is particularly suitable for certain cooking techniques.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Our holiday destination was our little cottage on the north coast of Scotland. It is a very basic affair with a tiny galley kitchen but the kitchen is well stocked with utensils and vessels. It has an old but spacious fridge, with a dodgy door that has to be held shut with a bungy cord. It also has an electric cooker with an oven and 3 working hob rings. Work surface is almost non-existent but it is surprising what you can cook when you put your mind to it. I could, of course, live on ready-meals for a week, simply reheating them in the microwave that’s so old it doesn’t even have a rotating turntable and probably microwaves the kitchen as much as it does the food inside. But I’m a foodie at heart and part of being on holiday is enjoying lovely evening meals. I’m happy to cook as long as Steve does the washing up. And he’s happy to do the washing up as long as he’s well fed!</div><div>
<br /></div><div>When on holiday we tend to choose luxury items that we wouldn’t normally eat every day so our first meal was roast duck, roasted Sharpe’s Express potatoes, carrots, tiny broad beans and peas. If cooking duck at home I would have strolled into the front garden and grabbed a bundle of fresh sage then stuffed the cavity with sage and onion. In the absence of fresh sage I decided to concoct a stuffing from the flavours I did have to hand. I finely chopped up a red onion, a clove of garlic, some root ginger, an inch of celery, a small yellow courgette, a mushroom and a rasher of bacon. This I stirfried for a few minutes in some olive oil then put it in a bowl with breadcrumbs made from two slices of wholemeal bread. I squeezed it together before stuffing the crop and the cavity with the mixture before roasting the duck. And very tasty the stuffing proved to be.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>The next day we headed west around the coast. It was a beautiful sunny day and as we drove home later that evening I was struck by the picturesque beauty of the Kyle of Tongue in bright sunshine. We pulled off the road to take a photo and to my surprise there was a huge fennel bush growing at the edge of the layby. I guess not everyone would recognise a fennel bush when they see one, but for a kitchen gardener it was an easy identification. As megrin sole was on the menu for that night’s dinner I took the liberty of gathering a few sprigs of the fennel and back at the cottage I grilled the fish on a bed of fresh fennel.</div><div>
<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVsbjUzbiL0iWz1IyDUbIAcLmi0dANcYjGBDHLkuQlYXy7QqFPngcxPcVEctxsoEd3ZqZASjxv0yCRVKzIg2BeosQ3DVMRSCaVQurOe2nju8ctZlNPtNEKYkYQOrWkL-oLXtfX5MJ_xmI/s320/CIMG9204.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640834803422994690" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
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<br /></div><div>The next day was another epic roast meal but this time it was a beautiful Scottish leg of lamb. Again, at home, a trip to the herb garden would be in order to pick a sprig of rosemary and then I would stab the leg all over, pushing in a slice of garlic and a piece of rosemary into each slit. With no rosemary to hand I sent Steve out to retrieve some of the wild thyme I could see growing outside the kitchen window. As usual I inserted garlic into every slit but this time a piece of thyme went in with it. Then I seasoned it all over with salt and pepper before spreading a good dollop of mustard all over it. This was accompanied by Kestrel roast potatoes, the last of the peas, carrots and some roasted yellow courgette. I had never roasted courgettes before but it was simple to do. Firstly I cut the courgette into chunks then tossed them in a mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper and dried mixed herbs. I then placed them carefully in the roasting tin with the potatoes, skin side down, and cooked them for the last 20 minutes of the roasting time. They were beautifully sweet with a lovely herby flavour.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>After that, the next meal was a little simpler. Boiled gammon and baked potatoes. It still took an hour to cook but an hour when I could get on with other things. The potatoes, by the way, were overgrown Charlotte potatoes. Usually known for their boiling ability, I discovered last year that when left in the ground too long and grown too large, they actually make brilliant baked potatoes with lovely crispy skin. The secret to a crispy skin on a baked potato is to rub it with oil and a little salt before baking. Then to finish the meal, a few salad items such as tomatoes, cucumber, celery and some homegrown beetroot, cooked that morning after breakfast.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>So for the first week at least, we managed to eat homegrown vegetables and enjoy the lovely flavours of the season.</div><div>
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-37162124884516709322011-06-28T21:56:00.004+01:002011-06-28T22:23:41.666+01:00The Broad Bean Harvest<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5rUtrUXroiL86TU244AkeRFJtz1jc-2FevtwoVfWtNYqw9inrisiBXipAuxfs0dZx3NaTJGlxkULdOBgUUBXlsxIfe9Fs8XDODevWRXusnjuwnOKMpasIGiH3SZwRlr7PRUDrJaOhoE/s1600/Broad+bean+bags.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>We're having a lovely broad bean harvest this year and I plan to make the most of them. I sowed 5 different varieties in the spring and kept them under plastic cloche tunnels until the heatwave in April when the first flowers started to appear. Obviously, the pollinating insects wouldn't be able to do their jobs if the flowers were kept under plastic. <div><div><br /></div><div>When there were just a few remaining flowers and most of the beans had formed I went round and nipped off the top bunch of leaves from every plant. I don't know how or why but doing this significantly reduces the blackfly infestation. If you leave it too late and blackfly have already arrived by the time you do it then it doesn't work and if you don't do it at all then you can expect blackflies to inundate your broad beans, starting at the top and eventually swamping the bean pods themselves. With the top nipping done at the correct point this year we have a lovely healthy looking crop.</div><div><br /></div><div>When growing lots of plants, as were are, it is worth eating the beans from the earliest possible point when the beans inside are still tiny. Some people actually eat the bean pods before the beans have begun to form but I'm not a fan of furry food! It seems a bit wasteful at first to split open the large pods to extract tiny beans that in no way attempt to fill their cosy sleeping bag. But, with steady eating from this stage you will still end up having beans on the plants that become old and unpleasant to eat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Broad beans are nicest to eat when they are young and become increasingly less pleasant the older they get. When young they should pop out of their pods with their little green hats still with them. As they get older the hat begins to turn yellow and eventually the beans come out without their hats, leaving a black scar on the bean. At this point it is best to cook the beans then squeeze the inner bean out of the now tough outer skin. This is another fiddly stage in the preparation so it is obviously easier to avoid this by eating them before they reach this stage. Personally, when they reach this point I usually cook them up and turn them into pate or houmous (see archives for the recipes).</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIM7nP4F3uTKshLPo3V7t0pbixFY5WGjNqtNmo7HOavqTHk6HF8QjvXax2G5eaNvV3GFDi6ImTDcrp0i-cscY7OmVNI47r0Dgr45mimOmPf6TOWr4YG_h6jrcJ6ZvL9gU6CQxFDNAitEM/s320/Broad+beans+big+small.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623384259998626402" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 159px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div>By this weekend the beans had grown quite large but they still had their little green hats and were pleasant to eat. It struck me that now would be the perfect time to freeze some beans for the winter months - rather than leaving it until they go past their best. So I set about harvesting half of what was left on the plants and came home with a bulging carrier bag full. These I podded until I had a huge bowlful of the things. Then I got a big pan of boiling water going and blanched the lot. Then I plunged them into icy water to cool them quickly then dried them roughly and lay them out on trays to freeze. The next morning I rubbed them off the trays and dropped them into freezer bags as handy individually frozen beans. It was very satisfying to put 3 bags of broad beans into the freezer for the winter. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5rUtrUXroiL86TU244AkeRFJtz1jc-2FevtwoVfWtNYqw9inrisiBXipAuxfs0dZx3NaTJGlxkULdOBgUUBXlsxIfe9Fs8XDODevWRXusnjuwnOKMpasIGiH3SZwRlr7PRUDrJaOhoE/s320/Broad+bean+bags.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623383825413786882" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 266px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div>The remaining beans on the plants are continuing to feed us and of course are continuing to mature. We will eat them fresh until they become tough then I shall make & freeze my pate and houmous for Steve's sandwiches throughout the year. What a handy bean the broad bean is.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-76022033014914921772011-06-17T17:43:00.003+01:002011-06-17T18:26:09.125+01:00I feel a cheesecake coming on<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihRLEb1NdWNgDnENeqtsCzoN6dILLeImQI3-rhNvQnfdwgwsRqYudp-OgQr-DwSRSS9NBcqQmr3KI7W3doMw346RmzsAGvAhBe4wk3ZPnL916W8DG8lWCJZiZYGzeQqnP-d4Q8QrWh0A/s1600/Gooseberry+%2526+elderflower+cheesecake.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>Often when I'm baking it is one of my own recipe books that I refer to. I love creating and writing down new recipes. It is lovely to be able to share my kitchen creativity with others through my books but it is also really handy to have them to refer back to myself. Blogging is another useful way to make sure I don't forget my recipes. <div><br /></div><div>Earlier this week I decided to turned the latest harvest of strawberries into a strawberry swirl cheesecake. Regular readers of my blog will know that I created this for the first time last year at the request of my eldest daughter. Having blogged about it back then I knew that now I need only delve into the archives of my blog to find the recipe again this year. This I did and printed it out for reference in the kitchen. </div><div><br /></div><div>As usual, just as I got started my eldest daughter sprung into the kitchen to see if I required any help. I'm never one to turn down help so she found her apron and washed her hands. Then she spotted the recipe on a piece of paper and asked why it was only on paper and not in one of my recipe books. I pointed out that I'm always coming up with new recipes and the new ones aren't in recipe books yet. "Well," she said, "in that case, you need to write a cheesecake recipe book."</div><div><br /></div><div>That night as I lay in bed, drifting off to sleep I started thinking about cheesecakes. Well, there are worse things to think about as you fall asleep. By the morning I had decided that a cheesecake mini recipe booklet would make a useful addition to my mini recipe book range but I am going to need more recipes. So what's seasonal, tasty and not something I have already done?</div><div><br /></div><div>By the time I went to bed again the next night I had come to conclusion that an elderflower cheesecake was a strong possibility. And by the end of the next day I had elderflowers infusing in whipping cream in the fridge. Later, the idea of including gooseberries in the recipe too occurred to me so that night my daughter and I made gooseberry and elderflower cheesecake.</div><div><br /></div><div>I couldn't wait to try it so had a sneaky slice after my lunch the next day. Straight after school my daughter asked to try it and she quickly gave it her seal of approval and informed me it was good enough to go into my cheesecake recipe book. That's a long term project but here's the gooseberry and elderflower cheesecake recipe in the meantime. By the way, if you have a cheesecake recipe that you think would make a good addition to my recipe book, please get in touch.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Gooseberry & Elderflower Cheesecake </div><div><br /></div><div>Base: </div><div>6 oz crushed digestive biscuits </div><div>2 oz melted butter </div><div><br /></div><div>Filling: </div><div>5 fl oz whipping cream</div><div>5 elderflower heads </div><div><div>4 oz gooseberries </div><div>2 tablespoons granulated sugar</div></div><div>3 oz caster sugar </div><div>1 egg </div><div>7 oz soft cheese</div><div> </div><div>Snip the flower heads off the stalks and place the flowers into a container with the whipping cream. Place a lid on it then place it in the fridge overnight to infuse.</div><div><br /></div><div>To make the base: Put the biscuits in a bag and crush them with the end of a rolling pin until finely crushed. Melt the butter and mix it with the biscuit crumbs. Press the mix firmly into the bottom of a 20cm flan dish and chill for about 1 hour. </div><div><br /></div><div>To make the filling: Preheat oven to 180 °C, gas mark 4. Place the gooseberries in a small saucepan with a couple of tablespoons of water and the granulated sugar then cook for about 10 minutes until the fruit is soft. Set aside to cool. Cream together the cheese and the caster sugar until light and fluffy. Next, strain the cream through a sieve, squeezing the flowers to extract as much cream as possible - you should have approximately 4 fl oz of cream. Discard the elderflowers. Add the egg and cream to the cheese mix and whisk with an electric whisk until thick. Dollop the creamy filling onto the biscuit base and spread out evenly. Place a sieve over a bowl and pour the gooseberries through the sieve, crushing the fruit with a spoon to leave behind just the skin and seeds. Spoon a tablespoon of the gooseberry sauce onto the cream mixture then use a chopstick or skewer to carefully swirl the sauce through the cream mixture. Put the remaining gooseberry sauce into the refrigerator until serving. Place the cheesecake in the oven and bake for 20 minutes then turn out the oven and leave it in the oven for another 10 minutes. After that open the oven door and leave the cheesecake inside to continue its slow cooling so that it doesn't crack. Once cool, refrigerate the cheesecake to chill before serving. Serve each slice of cheesecake with a serving of gooseberry sauce.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihRLEb1NdWNgDnENeqtsCzoN6dILLeImQI3-rhNvQnfdwgwsRqYudp-OgQr-DwSRSS9NBcqQmr3KI7W3doMw346RmzsAGvAhBe4wk3ZPnL916W8DG8lWCJZiZYGzeQqnP-d4Q8QrWh0A/s320/Gooseberry+%2526+elderflower+cheesecake.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619241114648439346" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 243px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-59312649496588742992011-06-14T21:47:00.003+01:002011-06-17T17:42:23.776+01:00Freshly cut herbs<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0iAVr-r8Had_lA1DEQMnC04_kURF-kTJguxDjEjD2IIQp8NweJ5XeoeBldYcQsettvSeUdewEyKNEGnmOeThlu2t8N13xTOToKp7e9FHPVMG8Kz-8f5wV6yvRYc5dwh4qRVGP-xU4ELQ/s1600/Herb+garden+before+after.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>Most of my front garden is dedicated to herbs, which is quite a contrast to my next door neighbour's garden which is mostly dedicated to gravel, dotted sporadically with dandelions and thistles. I like my herb garden so was somewhat surprised the other morning when my neighbour knocked on the door to ask me if I could cut back the herbs that were overhanging her garden. Of course I said I would and later went out to see what she was fussing about. Yes, the herbs were definitely overhanging but in what I would consider an attractive way. Nonetheless, I was obliged to meet her wishes and cut them back.<div><br /></div><div>Funnily enough I had also noticed this week that the postman was now taking a slightly different route to my front door. The reason for this became clear when I stood on my doorstep this afternoon and looked up my normal pathway - now almost completely closed up by herbs on either side - quite pleasant to walk down on a warm day but less so in the wet. Clearly, the herbs were getting out of control. With this in mind, I bought pack of sausagement and a few more onions; if I had to cut them back then I wanted to make use of what I could. </div><div><br /></div><div>After school I said to my girls that I was going to trim back the herbs in the front garden and I would really appreciate their help and if not help, then company. Then, armed with shears, I nipped around the my neighbour's garden a began snipping. I was soon joined by my girls and my eldest got stuck in to scooping up the cuttings and loading them into the wheelbarrow. My youngest plonked herself down on the gravel and began playing. After several minutes my eldest said to her sister, "Are you going to help?" to which she replied, "I'm company." That made me chuckle.</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqov7vl3F1oELjcHG_LFSZDC3knRNTkIoOkrs-CGIr6N8tuKnx3tpaFy1Scym8zUXjeGxoX0R3QWkX-ZG7S934nf70jpAKI14BF7nEj4vYVw54LAB27AQFk9LD76cV77jd0P552s5vM-U/s320/Herb+overhang+before+after.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619228948498997618" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 222px; " /></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div>They continued to help and provide company for the next hour as we trimmed back both the overhang into the neighbour's garden and the footpath. It was quite a heap of herbs in the wheelbarrow by the time we had finished but I also had several bundles for the kitchen. We were just finishing the sweeping up when my husband arrived and as he wheeled the lot around to the compost bins, I took the saved herbs indoors to sort them out.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0iAVr-r8Had_lA1DEQMnC04_kURF-kTJguxDjEjD2IIQp8NweJ5XeoeBldYcQsettvSeUdewEyKNEGnmOeThlu2t8N13xTOToKp7e9FHPVMG8Kz-8f5wV6yvRYc5dwh4qRVGP-xU4ELQ/s320/Herb+garden+before+after.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619227938723964034" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 218px; " /></span></div><div>My first job was to put the lavender flowers into a pot as a lovely centrepiece of the table. It both looked and smelt gorgeous. I didn't add any water to the pot and so over the next few days the flowers will slowly dry out and become preserved dried flowers, retaining most of their lovely colour and fragrance.</div><div><br /></div><div>Next, I chopped up the sage and mixed it with finely chopped onion, breadcrumbs, sausagement and a bit of salt and pepper to make stuffing. This I placed in the freezer in handy portions. Tomorrow I shall use some of the rosemary to make herb mustard - this is lovely smeared on lamb before grilling or roasting it. Later, a couple of sprigs of savory went into the pan with the freshly picked broad beans we had with dinner.</div><div><br /></div><div>Herbs are growing rapidly at this time of year so should you find yourself in need of trimming some back, enjoy the cuttings in the kitchen.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-43854813194137500172011-05-30T21:45:00.003+01:002011-05-30T22:07:24.626+01:00Does it get any better?<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3DbLEdzAyd7uuu_vzmQjA5y5A7v7pEA2tmaxsZqNPrbH_GfOmlcNSWEN7OVqh3I7Oky5c_AmuOr6DqBujkTTeW_ZxXwN8JLLdgqhve-U7lVOjRdGTq4lhNeq9ECJP_tqxA-X9KB0Qi8g/s1600/May+new+potatoes.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>With the beginning of June fast approaching it is now possible to plant tender seedlings out on the allotment. For us, this the brassicas, French beans, sweetcorn, cucurbits and tomatoes. That is a heck of a lot of planting so Steve and I got cracking straight after lunch on Saturday.<div><br /></div><div>Whilst I started planting the brassica seedlings, Steve dug over the bed in readiness for the French beans. The bed was mostly weed free but was peppered with volunteer potato plants. It doesn't matter how carefully you remove the potatoes when you harvest a crop, it is inevitable that you will leave a few tubers in the ground. It is also inevitable that these forgotten spuds will grow the next spring. This is particularly annoying when they pop up in the middle of your onion sets or carefully sown row of carrots as they represent quite a tricky weed to remove. However, on this occasion they weren't much of a bother as the bed wasn't required until now. As such, we had left them to grow, hoping there might be the beginnings of a few new potatoes when we removed them. And so it was. As I methodically planted out row after row of brassica plants, Steve methodically dug up the potato plants, plopping any new potatoes found into a flower pot as he went.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the end of the afternoon, I had a bed full of brassica plants (netted against pigeon attacked and slugs & snails protection measures in place), and Steve had a flower pot overflowing with lovely new potatoes. Anyone who reads my blog regularly will know I'm forever banging on about the joy of eating with the seasons and there is no better moment than that when you eat the first of something. They are always at their sweetest and tenderest and the months of waiting make them even more delicious. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3DbLEdzAyd7uuu_vzmQjA5y5A7v7pEA2tmaxsZqNPrbH_GfOmlcNSWEN7OVqh3I7Oky5c_AmuOr6DqBujkTTeW_ZxXwN8JLLdgqhve-U7lVOjRdGTq4lhNeq9ECJP_tqxA-X9KB0Qi8g/s320/May+new+potatoes.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612618578326159122" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 225px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Back in the kitchen, I washed the new potatoes, their skins slipping off as easily as... "silk knickers", as Steve says. Then a bit of gentle boiling and a dab of butter. Yes, there are a hundred and one ways to cook a potato but quite honestly, it doesn't get better than that.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-16157763267720778622011-05-20T21:26:00.002+01:002011-05-20T22:04:00.323+01:00It burns... it burns!I don't know how many jars of preserves I have made in the 12 or so years that I have been making jam and chutney but it must be a fair few. When you think about it, it is quite a hazardous occupation, particularly when it comes to decanting the finished preserve into jars. I do take the precaution of not wearing sandals when I do this, even though it is something I often do at the height of summer. I also use an oven glove when handling the hot jars, a jar funnel and a ladle to lessen spillages and drips . I should perhaps also wear googles but somehow that just seems a bit silly. So far, these precautions have been sufficient to prevent injury.<div><br /></div><div>This week, I made a rather spicy tomato sauce with a good chilli kick. I don't have much tolerance for chilli but I do believe in tasting everything I make so I had tried this one with a tentative dab on the tongue. Several minutes later as I was bottling it my tongue was still gently humming to the chilli tune. </div><div><br /></div><div>My usual technique for bottling is to ladle the preserve, hot from the pan, into the jar through an jam funnel into jars warmed in the oven. When the jar is full, I remove the funnel, place the lid on the jar and gently twist then pick the whole thing up by the lid into a gloved hand to give the lid a final twist to firmly close. Potentially dangerous maybe but I have never burnt myself doing this...</div><div><br /></div><div>... until this week when as I picked up the jar by the lid the lid came off and in one graceful movement I dropped the jar the short drop to the work surface and stuck the full length of my thumb into the jar of hot tomato sauce.</div><div><br /></div><div>Reflexes are undoubtedly a good thing and do on the whole save you from injury and danger. Unfortunately, they occur without wasting time consulting the brain. In this situation I had two reflex reactions. The first was to pull my thumb rapidly out of the hot liquid (sensible). This had the unfortunate side-effect of sending the jar of sauce toppling over, spilling its contents all over the work surface, splashing hot sauce onto my other arm in the process. The second reaction was to stick my thumb in my mouth, complete with its coating of chilli sauce!</div><div><br /></div><div>For the next few minutes I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself but it did involve copious amounts of cold water.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm pleased to say that no serious harm was done. I had a couple of very small burns on my arm and my thumb kind of felt like I'd trapped it in a door for the rest of the day. My tingling tongue stopped buzzing after about an hour too!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-76285772077367499902011-05-14T22:16:00.006+01:002011-05-16T21:45:20.995+01:00Amazing May<div style="text-align: left;">I was so tempted when I was Tescos earlier this week to buy a punnet of strawberries. Usually I have a strict rule about not buying strawberries as I think it is so important to enjoy fruit in season and at its best. But, these were in season British strawberries and it had been MONTHS since we last ate fresh strawberries. We even finished off the last of the strawberry & marshmallow ice-cream last week. Sigh... but with our own plants already bending with green fruit it seemed silly to spoil the moment by having shop bought ones a bit ahead of time.</div><div><br /></div><div>And how glad I was that I didn't buy them in the end when on Wednesday afternoon a quick visit to the allotment revealed that several strawberries were already beginning to turn red. The girls were very excited by this and rushed round, checking for any signs of redness. Then this afternoon, with the girls slopping around the house lethargically, it was the possibility of ripe strawberries that enticed them out of the house and onto the allotment. They rushed straight to the ones that had been most promising on our last visit and a moment later they reappeared at my side with a beautiful perfect specimen. After months of waiting, I made them wait just a moment longer whilst I photographed it then they tore it in half and shared it. What joy! We have never had ripe strawberries in mid-May before. There is a lot of promise for the soft fruit this year.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9wm7x3U2pehyP78G5IrnMZ8dJNMkwBzjYwnqo1MpCKvLftwa2Khjnrd6_AoXA6OXMZDJFy0dpcraNxmkdiYzPN07E9Bykb0R6Eofa18mYunHks5Td1wCbIoMfb0YkJD8DwtDtCqm52uY/s320/May+strawberry+11.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606695853650428530" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Barring the occasional early strawberry, May is probably the leanest month in the kitchen from the kitchen garden but there are a few exceptions. Our asparagus is still going strong, despite the best efforts of the asparagus beetle. Rhubarb is still available, although we don't currently have any growing on our plot. We did, however, manage to do a mutually agreeable swap with an allotment neighbour for his rhubarb in exchange for our asparagus. Herbs, if they are not flowering, are at their best now so it is a good time to cut some for drying or to make herb mustard. Most of our herbs grow in our front garden and right now they on the verge of closing up the footpath. Still, brushing past them on the way to the door is an aromatic delight!</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGtIFpJEBmkEk6XI5ASOOu3-_Laepg1PENHo8u-QnJmXpZIetINgKunva9Iu08XMJVgm3zGnZ48-YQclHREikFPJA50j5zzRA_y4X4KCJP9uhP8q4qTBV9ThVyIag5Kq4_mmtXdhInNQg/s320/Herb+pathway.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606695626495241682" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div>We have a few herbs on the allotment too - though this is less convenient. I noticed that the mint we grow as a marginal at the edge of out teeny pond was in danger of swamping the whole thing so this afternoon I took the secatures to it. Back in the kitchen I chopped the whole lot up and it is currently infusing in 10 fl oz of milk in the fridge. Tomorrow I shall add double cream, sugar and chocolate chips to make mint choc ice-cream - not like the stuff you buy in ice-cream palours, this stuff tastes of "proper" mint.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZdprDU9jHHzJbQoW0q_Oo1giMkFsKt86h8hQurLLBaZYPAX0tuJZfAxBrCMmG8ZEZKzpcsXkyKCKXUn7SWJykw1R5mcRGSYPH44Ad3kAFbn654hjUpWbAjGyppc94YpBPC7qtHbGlGs/s320/Minty+pond.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606696361200926098" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">Mint Choc Chip Ice-cream</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><div>A big bunch of mint</div><div>10 fl oz (284 ml) milk</div><div>2 oz (55 g) icing sugar</div><div>10 fl oz (284 ml) double cream</div><div>Green food colouring (optional)</div><div>4 oz (110 g) chocolate chips</div><div><br /></div><div>Remove the mint leaves from the stalks and coarsely chop. Pour the milk into a non metallic bowl and tip the mint leaves into it, pressing down so that they are covered. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight to infuse. Pour the milk through a sieve to remove the mint leaves. Add the sugar to the milk and stir until dissolved. Add the cream (and food colouring if using) and stir. Pour into suitable containers and add the chocolate chips. Freeze the mixture for 2 hours until beginning to freeze then stir with a fork to break up the ice-crystals. Return to the freezer for another 2 hours then stir again, making sure to stir the chocolate chips through the ice cream. Repeat again 2 hours later than return to the freezer until solid.</div><div><br /></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilnUDXhmQzRajmxR0sdTCHEK5w22C6DgzOCpFWscAO053Ua33rkEaHgoJrbAZPMWgNVn_eSeyijBd46jfbTDWgNRWaSi1Go3ZpjlrMBMALQB3PcDUL4JBPmcEHJHTl_1vqqkT-Zp6ORE/s320/Mint+ice+cream.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607416066478691170" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div>On the school run earlier in the week I noticed the elderflowers were just beginning to bloom so before leaving the allotment we walked over to where the hedgerow grows over the fence and harvested some. Then we took a slight detour on the way home to harvest some more from the nearby hedgerow. The gorgeous smell alone makes me want to drink thirstily from a glass of sparkling elderflower cordial.</div><div><br /></div><div>Elderflower Cordial</div><div><br /></div><div>2lb 4 oz (1kg) sugar</div><div>1½ pints (900ml) boiling water</div><div>1 tablespoon lemon juice</div><div>1 tablespoon lime juice</div><div>about 15 large elder flower heads</div><div>1 lemon, sliced</div><div>1 lime, sliced</div><div><br /></div><div>Put the sugar in a non-metallic bowl with the boiling water and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon and lime juices. Wash and flick dry the elder flower heads then snip off the flowers into the bowl. Add the sliced lemon and lime. Stir then cover the bowl with Clingfilm and leave to stand for 24 hours. Scald a jelly bag and drain the mixture through it into a clean bowl. Funnel into sterile bottles then refrigerate. Dilute to taste with chilled water (sparkling if you prefer). </div><div> </div><div>So our mid-May harvest consisted of rhubarb, elderflowers, herbs and asparagus... and a strawberry.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivNZCFUeYg6pSkI7Q4Qa2eaCNKx4osWXSN6QDeM3JLK-QJyhbU8HL_LfMyRp3ldD-YB3Jg8161fOozMdHjbY79cH5DZtL7_H8cVF43gy34fkQdlssLJkL-LbIlt_W6OSLGZNWPgJszaWI/s320/May+harvest.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606696047397721666" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div>Tonight I have mint and milk infusing in the fridge, elderflowers and lemons infusing on the counter, and rhubarb and ginger steeping in a bowl. I don't need a fortune-teller to know I shall have a busy day in the kitchen tomorrow but hopefully by the end of it I shall have mint choc chip ice-cream, elderflower cordial and another batch of rhubarb and ginger jam.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6718329606756105887.post-80817135100586920552011-05-08T13:47:00.002+01:002011-05-08T14:05:32.573+01:00Tomberries and profiteroles<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9KU99yEOg6E3JBw60AqJbAMhzjZ1pIaiVn56fqwyS-IJpznnv25QieNBxqqb84M_bDAD2LSbH1O7EgoXlZbtbmfozLy687y24c5Hd2fgm-sAvdddYk8ELUce0sWoVLLlk7Ab4Ga-sErQ/s1600/Pofiterole+greenhouse.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a>There I was standing in Costco the other day contemplating buying a huge bag of Rooster potatoes when I spotted something that looked like a pack of teeny tiny tomatoes. I moved closer to inspect and discovered that that is just what they were. About the size of a fat redcurrant, these tiny tomatoes were called "Tomberries". I knew then and there that I had to buy some as it was bound to appeal to my tomato-loving youngest. Sure enough she loved them. So I have served them up to her on several occasions now - a handful in a small sauce/dip dish to stop them from rolling all over her plate.<div><br /></div><div>It has been a couple of weeks since I bought them now and some of them are getting a bit wrinkly (hardly surprising). I took a wrinkled one the other day and squashed it onto a piece of kitchen towel to extract the seeds. I have never seen "tomberry" seeds available to buy from seed catalogues so I thought I might try growing these. Of course, I don't even know whether "tomberries" are a particular variety or just the very small ones of a cherry tomato of some kind. I also don't know if whatever variety of plant it came from is an F1 or not. If it is, then the seeds of these berries are unlikely to come true and I could end up growing some unexpected tomato plants. Nevertheless, worth a try I reckon.</div><div><br /></div><div>At about the same time that I bought the tomberries, I also bought a stack of profiteroles. These weren't on my shopping list as it happens but they were reduced and... Well, anyway, the girls and I enjoyed them! Having emptied the stack I couldn't help noticing that the container looked like a mini greenhouse - similar to one of the <a href="http://www.edenproject.com/">Eden Project</a> domes. It even had circular indentations on the base that looked perfect for holding flower pots. So I washed it out and put it in the shed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Having squashed a tomberry I decided now might be the time to try out the profiterole greenhouse. Back into the shed I went and retrieved the dome, plus several tiny flower pots that had once homed small cactus plants. These fitted perfectly into the indentations on the base so I filled them up with potting compost and placed a tomberry seed in each. The dome top didn't fit perfectly back on now that the flowerpots were inside but it slotted over them quite well with a bit of an air vent at the bottom.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9KU99yEOg6E3JBw60AqJbAMhzjZ1pIaiVn56fqwyS-IJpznnv25QieNBxqqb84M_bDAD2LSbH1O7EgoXlZbtbmfozLy687y24c5Hd2fgm-sAvdddYk8ELUce0sWoVLLlk7Ab4Ga-sErQ/s320/Pofiterole+greenhouse.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604330576119997714" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 274px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div>A week later I see that 3 or 4 of the seeds have germinated already. But now I'm wondering if I should eat another stack of profiteroles in order to complete the Eden Project look. It really wouldn't be too much of struggle!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4