First published Thursday, 27 July 2017
One of the great things about growing veg at home, is that there is always something in the garden for dinner. Running back into the kitchen with a handful of freshly dug spuds, or a massive courgette that I hadn’t noticed before and a selection of beans will always makes me smile! On the other hand, managing the glut is a whole different matter!
Today was my day off and so this morning began with me still in my PJ’s and a cup of coffee in hand, taking a quick tour of the garden. I noticed a few climbing beans were ready and lent over to pick them. Then I spotted a few more, but my coffee made picking them a bit tricky. I put my mug down on my bench and picked a few more, and then a few more and a few more until my hands were so full that I was dropping them as fast as I picked them. I ran back into the kitchen for a bowl and went back outside and continued until that was full. I also managed to grab a handful of runner beans too and the very last of my broad beans.
Back in the kitchen, I got to work topping and tailing the climbing beans, prepping the broad beans and slicing up the runners already for blanching. I boiled them for about three minutes and then plunged them into an ice bath, dried them off and bagged them up for the freezer. I then had a quick clear up and took all the scraps out to the compost bin, only to discover a very cold mug of coffee still sitting on the bench! Oh well, it really doesn’t take too much to distract me!
Rhubarb, Rhubarb!!
A couple of days ago a colleague of mine gave me a bag full of windfall apples. They were a bit too sour to eat and I didn’t want to waste them. I also had a good amount of rhubarb in the garden that needed picking, so I spent a while searching for something a little different to make with them. I love scouring the internet looking for new recipes to try and today found a fabulous one for Apple and Rhubarb Jam! The smell was wonderful while it was boiling away and a quick taste convinced me that this will now be a new favourite.
Still in the mood for cooking this afternoon, I made a Rhubarb and Custard Cake. I have never made this before but it looked great and even though I do say so myself, tasted delicious too. I will definitely be making this again.
So many courgettes and so little time!
Always a conundrum….what do you do with so many courgettes?
Well I have a few firm favourites. The first is Courgette, Potato and Chedder Soup. I tend to make large batches of this and box up individul portions in ‘take away’ type containers and freeze for lunches. Chocolate Zucchini Muffins are delicious and freeze well too. For something a little different and suitable for vegetarians is aGratin of Rice and Courgettes. Not sure whether this would freeze successfully as it always gets scoffed up as soon as it comes out of the oven!
There are never too many Tomatoes.
Every summer I make large quantities of Roasted Tomato Pasta Sauce; always made with a variety of tomatoes that I grow and freshly picked. I slice them all in half (cut side up) and add in a handful of home grown chilies’ and whole garlic cloves, all coated in olive oil. salt and lots of milled peppercorns. I roast these in the oven for about an hour (they will look a bit burnt, but this adds a depth of flavour), and then blitz with a hand blender. It keeps well in the freezer and is lovely in most pasta dishes.
At the end of the season. I tend to make different chutney’s using up those last tomatoes on the vine that are just not ripening.
So there you have it, a sample of the recipes* I like to make with my produce. I hope they will inspire you to try them too and if you have your own favourites that you would like to share, then please add them to the comments below.
*All recipes can be found on the internet