8 Hours plus of torrential rain!

I really should update this more often, as I hoped it would be a referral diary for me in the future, but....

Plot is looking OK - everything is a bit slow, but coming along nicely now. The polytunnel is up, and the next day some one put 6 tomato plants inside for me to plant - a nice touch I thought, especially as I don't have a clue who it was! The tunnel now has 9 tomatos, 3 cucumbers (another 2 were eaten overnight!) and 3 peppers (1 each of green, yellow and red) - this is along with the 8 tomatos in the home greenhouse, as well as 2 cucumbers and another 3 peppers!

On the plot last night I thinned the radishes - I was a bit late in that as I came home with a couple of pounds of them, along with 5 onions that had been overwintered (each about 3" in diameter) - I also pulled 4 garlic plants to see wht they were like - I think they need a couple of more weeks to fill out, but they are useable.

I also checked on the potatoes, but none ready to lift yet - I was after them to try the following recipe: -

Grilled New Potatoes with Parsley
5 to 10 small new potatoes, cut in half
1 to 2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 to 5 sprigs parsley
1 Tbsp. chives
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Steam or boil the potatoes for 5 minutes. Add fresh ground black pepper to taste. Immediately sprinkle potatoes with chopped parlsey, chives (or spring onions?) and chopped / crushed garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.
Let the mixture stand for 1 to 2 hours.
Skewer the potatoes spuds though thickest part. Pack close. Grill for 5 to 10 minutes until potatoes just tender and crispy brown. Serve hot or cold

I was also going to add chunks of onions in between the sections of potatoes as well.

And it looks like the rain has stopped - it is mid summers day isn't it!

Just looking out of the window at some huge elderflowers which reminded me of last nights river cottage spring where HFW made Elderflower Champagne - I might try to find the recipe & try it (may be tomorrow if the weather is a bit better!)

Today's (lack of) News

Weeded, weeded, weeded, weeded.....guess the rest - have about 3 square yards to clear then all systems go - hope to put the polytunnel up tomorrow as well (weather permitting!) - salad crops comng along nicely, but STILL behind with everything else!

Brief update

I've just realised it's been a while since I've posted here - I can only blame work, the weather and a lot of work at home - HONEST!

The plot has taken a bit of a back seat, but all the beds are clear, the greenhouse is full, and I am hoping for a decent weekend - I have a poly tunnel to put up as the conservatory is full of tomato & pepper plants -in fact I got 2 tunnels off eBay - bit of a mistake, but I think one may do - the other may go on eBay, or sold somewhere else - and loads of seeds to sow. I may stagger the sowing of some of the seeds for succesional harvesting.

I promise to be a bit more regular from now on, and hope that I can unearth somemore seasonal recipes

Red Cabbage

Took a lovely red cabbage from the plot today, and made this: -

Braised Red Cabbage

Serves 2

Preparation time less than 30 mins
Cooking time less than 10 mins
Ingredients30ml/1oz oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 onions, sliced
50g/1¾oz bacon, chopped
¼ red cabbage, shredded
30ml/1fl oz red wine
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3½fl oz stock
salt and pepper

Method
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot and fry for 2-3 minutes to soften.
2. Add the bacon and fry for 3-4 minutes, until golden.
3. Add the red cabbage and continue to cook for five minutes.
4. Add the red wine, vinegar and sugar. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes, until the liquid volume is reduced by three quarters.
5. Add the stock and simmer for another five minutes, until the cabbage is cooked through.
6. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and pour into a large warm bowl to serve.

Then I pickled the rest of the cabbage - which didn't have enough time in the bowl as the kids got to it - it was literally shredded cabbage, and equal quantities of the following vinegars - malt, red wine & white wine - and a generous helping of salt & ground pepper!

Interesting day today - I posted my first post on the Grow Your Own 'Grapevine' Forum: -

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/new-shoots/yet-another-newbie_11978.html

Any way - I don't know if you have carrots left, but as I like it, here's Carrot & Coriander Soup: -

A flavoursome vegetarian soup with fresh and ground coriander. Serve with cheese and onion bread for a warming supper or lunch.
Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced
450g/1lb carrots, sliced
1 tsp ground coriander
1.2 litresl/2 pints vegetable stock
large bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions and the carrots. Cook for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften.
2. Stir in the ground coriander and season well. Cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Simmer until the vegetables are tender.
4. Whizz with a hand blender or in a blender until smooth. Reheat in a clean pan, stir in the fresh coriander and serve.


Am looking at getting down the allotment (weather permitting) at the weekend, so you may see more of the 'Plot' than the 'Plate' next week!

Any recipe ideas for veg in season gratefully accepted!

I have been having a little look round for parsnip recipes, as I have the grand total of 3 (yes - three!) in the garden (not the allotment) to lift - I just hope they're OK. Anyway, these two sounded interesting (if a little different).



Parsnips With Almonds



Ingredients
1 1/2 lb fresh parsnips - scraped and sliced

1 egg, lightly beaten

3 tbsp butter or margarine

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg1/8 tsp pepper

1/4 cup toasted almonds - slivered and blanched

Directions
Cook parsnips in boiling salted water 10 minutes or until tender.Drain well; mash. Add egg, butter, nutmeg and pepper; stir well.Spoon parsnip mixture into an ungreased 1 qt. casserole. Sprinkle topevenly with toasted almonds. Bake at 325 F for 30 minutes



Arpagyongy Kremleves (Cream Of Pearl Barley Soup)

Ingredients
1 lb bones - pork and/or veal

2 each carrots, peeled, sliced

1 parsnip, peeled, sliced

1/2 cup pearl barley, uncooked

3 tbsp butter, clarified

1 tbsp flour, all-purpose

1/3 cup milk, whole

salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 egg yolk



Directions
Cook bones and vegetables in 1 1/2 quarts water for about 2 hours.Keep skimming the broth to remove scum. Strain. Add enough water tobring the amount to 1 1/2 quarts again. Add barley to the broth andcook until it is soft.Make a roux with butter and flour. Cook the roux over low heat,stirring constantly, but do not let it become dark. This should be a light roux. Stir 1/3 cup cold water and 1/3 cup cold milk into theroux and whip until smooth. Pour into soup and simmer it for 10minutes.Puree the soup in a blender or through a sieve. Adjust the salt totaste. Mix cream with the egg yolk and put it in a soup tureen. Justbefore serving, pour hot creamed soup over the yolk and cream mixture.
Serves: 6



How to Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatos - Click Here!

Welcome

This is my new (indeed first!) blog.

I acquired my allotment in the middle of 2007 & had relative success with it, but ended up with a lot of failures and a glut of other products.

I hope in this blog to provide a frequent (ish!) seasonal vegetable recipe - not necessarily the veg I take from my plot, but mostly those

I would welcome any feedback, recipes, hints & tips that you feel may be informative to other readers.

To the first recipe - I have a number of Turnip / Swede still to lift, and came across this: -

Turnip Gratin

Ingredients
1 clove garlic
25g/1oz butter
350g/12oz crisp turnips, peeled thickly, sliced thinly, parboiled for 2 minutes and drained
salt and pepper
1 tsp dried herbs
50g/2oz thinly sliced pancetta ham, cut into a fine julienne
150ml/¼ pint double cream
Grated Cheddar Cheese to top off

Method
1. Rub two small ramekin dishes well with garlic, let it dry, butter generously.
2. Put the turnip slices in a saucepan, add the cream, herbs, ham and salt and pepper and simmer until very tender.
3. Spoon the turnip mixture into the ready prepared ramekins and grill in the oven until lightly brown on top - then add the cheese to cover until melted

A Word Of Warning

This is one of the recipes I haven't tried yet - any who does pelase let me know how you get on!

Now off to read the seed catalogues!

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