INCREDIBLY EDIBLE :)

 

    

I’ve still got a hidden stash of home-grown courgettes.    I didn’t really believe they’d be useable when I was advised to freeze them by a fellow allotment holder but they worked a treat in a recipe for a minced beef and courgette casserole that I tried out yesterday. Topped with cream, eggs and grated cheese in the mode of a moussaka - definitely one to add to the repertoire to use up the seasonal glut we are blessed with every year!

 

 

https://ohmydish.com/recipe/minced-beef-zucchini-casserole/

 

 

I used 375grams of mince and halved the other ingredients and it worked perfectly for the two of us:)

BLOWING RASPBERRIES ( A FRUITY FANFARE!)

 

 

If, like me, you have surplus raspberries lurking in your freezer, then this white chocolate cheesecake,  dreamed up by the Philadelphia cream cheese company, is one to try.

 

I used half the ingredients and half again and we had six good sized portions to tempt us.  A nice way to prolong your enjoyment of the  tastes of summer.

https://www.philadelphia.co.uk/recipes/white-chocolate-and-raspberry-cheesecake?r=51

JUST LIKE MAMA USED TO MAKE!

 

 

Well have you ever tried to stuff a cannelloni tube? I can assure you it’s not an easy task!

 

I gave short shrift to the instructions suggesting I put the filling in a plastic bag, snip off the end and pipe it in. Knowing how cack handed I am I couldn’t imagine what kind of a mess I’d end up in! So I opted to use a teaspoon instead, but then because the tube is thinner than you expect it only goes so far in and you end up with a tube about a third full. So I resorted to using a skewer to push it down and thankfully got into quite a rhythm.

 

 And boy was it worth it! Once those tubes were filled with cooked chicken, spinach and a cheese and mustard sauce, topped with tomato, fragrant basil and garlic sauce and heaped with grated cheese, it was one of those dinners that had me going into raptures every few minutes about it’s deliciousness! Definitely one worth the fiddling! 

 

 P.S.  I used my fresh spinach instead of frozen and  I think the chilli flakes are definitely a 'must have' addition.   The recipe is from the cookbook ' Save with Jamie' (Jamie Oliver)  but there is no direct link so am posting the link to another blog so you have the recipe and method.

https://morganmwoods.com/save-money/frugal-recipes/leftover-chicken-recipes/chicken-cannelloni/

GREEN CUISINE (GREEN GODDESS)

Our Curly Kale has grown more vigorously this year than the Cavolo Nero, which was so successful last season.  So it has been interesting finding new ways to cook with this nutrient-boosting vegetable.

Two contrasting recipes, one more suited perhaps to a dinner with guests and the other a quick Saturday night 'takeaway' tea, fit the bill perfectly.
 

Wholemeal calzone with greens pairs chorizo with garlicky kale and mozzarella. 

 

Add a colourful salad and it becomes even more of a healthy option

 

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/237610/calzone-with-greens

 

Mixing the kale with mascarpone and garlic gives a beautiful green hue to a stuffing for chicken wrapped in bacon. 

 

Moreish home-grown parsnips and sweet potatoes, roasted with red onions, make a wonderful sticky accompaniment.



https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-kale-chicken-traybake

 

With the evenings drawing in it might even be time to start considering popping some soup in the freezer.

 

Hints of lime and ginger put a delicious  twist on this kale and broccoli offering - so green and gorgeous it even dyed my blender.  Hopefully all that goodness will rub off on me!

 

 

 

 

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/alkalising-green-soup

 

CABBAGES AND KINGS

Well if someone had told me a few years ago how excited I'd be when I grew my first cabbage I'd have laughed out loud, but chuffed to bits I was when I cut my first one, eagerly anticipating the crispy heart tucked inside it's floppy leaves and immediately making plans for coleslaw with our weekend barbecue!

 

I enjoyed the normal bog standard recipe with salads and sandwiches, particularly when I added home-grown grated kohl rabi and baby turnip,  but if you want to put a twist on things you might like to try this spicier alternative for those that like a bit of heat.

 

 

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/red-cabbage-pickled-chilli-slaw 

 

 The recipe uses red cabbage but I used the white variety and it still worked a treat.

Our harvest finally arrived with a vengeance! After lots of doom, gloom and pessimism that nothing would grow because of the changeable weather we have been dropping off veg baskets to family and friends on a regular basis as we try to keep up with the glut.  The only failure so far has been the cauliflowers but I don't feel too downhearted about that as apparently,  according to BBC News, it is a countrywide problem causing a shortage in the supermarkets!

These pictures just capture the start of the mayhem.  Since then we have been deluged with beans, dwarf and runner,  an incredible sweetcorn harvest, enjoyed the beauty of the rainbow chard, (not the eating of according to my nearest and dearest!)  not to mention the inter-breeding of courgettes in my fridge!

 

This vegetable onslaught has put a time constraint on blogging, although I have tried lots of delicious new recipes, but hopefully now we are more on top of things I will be able to put that right and share some of them with you.





 

BLOWN AWAY BY BLUEBERRIES

 

Can’t believe that very soon I’ll get a big shot of another of the superfoods that I’ve grown myself.

 Our blueberry plants make me swell with pride - we only bought them last year -  but with a little nurturing and the right watering looks like we will soon be looking forward to our first crop. As long as the birds or our two resident foxes don’t spot them first!  Our cage has protected the gooseberries and went home with a little box today -not enough for a crumble yet though!!

The growing season is still confusing. Brassicas seem to be holding up very well - I may yet grow a successful cabbage for the first time - pigeons and slugs permitting.   

 

 

The scarlet red-veined chard is just beautiful and the lettuces and lollo rosso keep on coming.   It looks like we are going to have a healthy harvest of carrots - though always difficult to tell until you pull them  - and it won't be long before we are picking our onions and garlic.  The celeriac looks contented too so there will be more soup in the winter.

 

 

However in contrast the usual ‘easy to grow’ courgettes and marrows and butternut squash are struggling valiantly and even the runner beans don’t look as happy as we’d like. Peppers and the tomatoes are holding their own in the greenhouse but we just feel that everything is behind this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I'm recommending you fight the lurgies with this  healthy

simple salmon supper dish that is full of nutrients. 

 

 Glazed with miso, smoked paprika and balsamic vinegar the salmon is enhanced by salty, garlicky noodles threaded with spinach, leeks and green pepper.

So easy to cook but the end result makes it seem like you’ve been slaving away for a while!
Would have looked a lot prettier on the plate if I hadn’t dropped the salmon at the last minute!

 

 https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6828961401403008949#editor/target=post;postID=1373022573696439140

 

 

 

 

PASTA PERFECT!

 

 

Well hats off to Waitrose.  This Italian inspired sausagemeat pasta dish published in their Weekend magazine is truly scrumptious! (I seem to get so many musical references into my blogs these days:) and yes if you're trying to remember, she was a character in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!  Maybe it's something to do with being in my sixtieth year that makes me reminisce about  favourite moments of my childhood!
 

I used sausagemeat instead of faffing around squeezing meat from sausages and substituted light crème fraiche for the pouring cream but that didn't detract from the recipe in any way.  The sausagemeat is given so much depth of flavour by the additional ingredients that you almost feel you are eating beef mince. 

 

 I enjoyed it so much I know it's one of those recipes I'm going to be turning to again and again.

 

 

 

The weather is certainly not conducive to allotmenteering at the moment.  The incessant dry cold spell following the exceptionally hot Easter has meant that we have held off planting out and the increasing downpours following on now have us in fear of the dreaded slugs and induce slight panic every time we see a slime trail.  Plants are confused by the extremes of weather but the lettuces continue to thrive and we are thinking I could probably supply most of the area with salad for a while! In fact my Mum has dubbed me 'Queen of the salad crops!' - an interesting royal title to own!

In fact one of my butterheads looked picture perfect rehydrating in a jug.  The photo was sent by the friend who was behind me getting my first patch of land to grow fruit and vegs when she generously donated some of her Dad's garden to us:) So now it's my chance to return the favour and also to say a big  thank you.

 

 

 

https://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/s/sausage-sage-mushroompasta.html

RELIGIOUS FERVOUR

Well excuse me if I appear to be getting fanatical about the new Messiah in my life, the great Joe Wicks, but there are just so many recipes to try and so few of them fail to please. On the one hand because they usually create so little washing up and on the other because they are just so jolly tasty!

One such is this 'herby, cheesy' cod dish.  It needs a little tweak - the fish can poach quite happily in 250mls of chicken stock - half the amount recommended by Wicks, or probably much less - even using double the amount of ingredients so there was enough for two of us. 

 

The stock makes a great buttery sauce when the cream cheese and grated cheddar meld together with lemon zest and herbs while cooking and the addition of cherry tomatoes and spinach make it another healthy option.

Cabbages planted this weekend, tomatoes in the greenhouse and more seeds have been sown at the allotment and at home where it seems like the option to eat dinner on the dining table is no longer viable!  A yearly dilemma when the conservatory seems to become an extension of the greenhouse or indeed a mini garden centre!

No links again but can't keep breaching copyright by posting pics of the book so if you think you'd like to try it drop me a line and hopefully I can help, or buy yourself a copy of 'Lean in 15 - the Sustain Plan' or perhaps your local library has a copy?

P.S. Hope I've not offended anyone with my religious analogies :)

 

 

Mi so so!

Picked the remaining spring onions from last year and popped them in this spicy low fat broth - definitely one to recommend.  Only recently been trying miso in recipes and love the hit of saltiness it gives.

 

 

The recipe was in last year's May edition of the BBC Good Food magazine but can't find a link to it so this will give you the gist of things.

• For the meatballs mix together 500 grams of turkey mince with 2 garlic cloves, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 2 tbsp of mirin or rice wine, a little grated ginger,  2 spring onions and 2tbsp of  miso paste. 

 

• When they are chilled fry for 8 to 10 minutes until brown - I finished mine off on a low heat in the oven

 

• Make a broth by heating just over half a litre of chicken stock, with a red chilli, a little more ginger and 2 garlic cloves. Simmer this for four minutes. 

 

• Then add the meatballs and 2tbsp of soy and simmer for another three minutes.

 

• Add four chopped spring onions, some straight to wok or some cooked rice noodles, two very good handfuls of spinach and a little lime juice and you are ready to serve. 

Things are up and down at the garden.  We have enjoyed more forced rhubarb and seedlings in the conservatory are looking very healthy, particularly the tomatoes, cabbages and leeks. Our early courgettes are being incredibly stubborn but their cousins the marrows are thriving for no rhyme or reason!

However down at the allotment one delightful creature - or maybe it was more than one - nibbled through layers of fleece and swiftly decimated my lettuce seedlings after I painstakingly planted them out one chillyish day.  Fortunately, in contrast,  at our 'garden plot' they are secreted under glass and the recent warmth has seen them romping away so I may yet have plenty of green leaves for salad and sandwiches.

 

More seeds to be planted at the end of this week:)



 

And a little postscript.  The title of this blog makes me want to sing the opening lines from 'Do-Re-Mi' from 'The Sound of Music'  but that’s another story!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A NEW DAWN

Well the title of this blog sounds a bit like a new Star Wars film but it’s the only thing I can think of to describe the current buzz we are getting from  sowing seeds again, harvesting the first stunningly beautiful forced rhubarb and planting out our first tender lettuces under glass.  

Also picked the last of our kale which is running to seed after months and months of providing us with iron rich leaves - and it went down a treat in a Joe Wicks salmon recipe - all made in one pan - saving on the washing up again!

Forgot to put the salmon on the top for the photograph but hopefully the vibrancy of the vegetables and the spicy chorizo is enough to entice you to try it!

 

Cheating by taking pics of the recipes as can't find a link unfortunately  (I'd definitely recommend buying the books :) )- we ate the amount it suggests for four people!  We just eat way too much!  I didn't bother with the lemon and to be honest we'd pass on the almonds next time as they didn't add anything but I think pine nuts would be a good substitute. Oh and I never use coconut oil just rapeseed instead.