Apples aplenty – and cavalcades of kale

‘Tis definitely apple season in all its joyous abundance – the ground beneath my orchard trees is covered with windfalls, some just slightly peck-marked, others victim to brown rot or insect damage from within. The plums were a martyr to moth damage earlier this year too, with a poor harvest in any case, but very few that were actually edible, as most had maggots in – yuk! Now’s the time to put greasebands round the trees to stop the moths sheltering overwinter – and next spring I’ll try and remember to hang pheromone traps to catch the other kinds of moths that cause so much damage to plums.

In the meantime, what to do with all these apples? The obligatory and delicious apple pies and crumbles, of course, plus apple juices and compotes for the freezer or to eat with my breakfast muesli. I like to use them in soup too, not only my favourite tomato, apple & celery, but with other strong-tasting vegetables to add an undernote of sweetness and some body. I’ve currently got an excellent crop of spinach and Swiss chard from both my spring and September sowings, so spinach soup was calling to me. I usually make spinach & pea soup with frozen peas, but had no peas in the freezer as I tend to use fresh veg through the summer months. Inspiration descended with the notion of combining spinach and apples in a soup, with a smattering of bulb fennel for good luck, since I’ve managed to grow it successfully for the first time – very good it was too!

Spinach, Apple & Fennel Soup – serves 6

500g spinach, washed, thick stalks removed, and roughly chopped
2 large eating apples, peeled, cored and diced – I used a Cox type
50g butter (or olive oil if you prefer)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 bulb fennel, chopped, plus a handful of the feathery fronds to add at the end
Few sprigs of thyme, leaves removed
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 bay leaf
1 litre chicken (or vegetable) stock
Handful of red lentils (optional)
Seasoning

Melt the butter or olive oil in large pan and gently fry the diced onion, fennel, celery and garlic until soft and golden – about 10 minutes. Then add the diced apple, thyme leaves and bay leaf and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped spinach leaves – it will look like a huge pile, but they soon wilt down. Finally, add the stock, a handful of red lentils (to thicken – leave out if you prefer) and seasoning, bring to the boil and cook for 20-25 minutes until nicely tender. Leave to cool, then blend in a liquidizer.

Serve with a swirl of cream or crème fraiche and homemade rolls straight from the oven.

Another revelation in the apple stakes was that apple juice with kale and fennel isn’t bitter at all, but rather delicious. Kale is another crop that just keeps on giving this year – strictly speaking, I grow cavolo nero for its beautiful dark green, crinkly leaves. It is so good for us, it’s a shame not to use it in as many ways as possible. I don’t get my juicer out as often as I should, but having experienced a sublime Green Goddess juice on my recent trip to the States, I thought I’d experiment. Cue 4 or 5 Cox-type apples, chopped kale (stalks removed), a quarter of a lime, a quarter of a fennel bulb and a knob of ginger. I say Cox-type as I sadly have no idea which variety mine is – it was in the allotment when I took it over, resembles a Cox (but without the scab problems that can afflict Cox apples proper), and is always extremely prolific, juicy and tasty. It stores quite well in the garage too. And the juice? – Divine! Do try it and see.

Another apple creation was inspired by a recipe I read in the Waitrose Kitchen magazine on my flight to Chicago. Conveniently, I knew I’d be able to track the recipe down online when I got home, but rather more impressively, I actually remembered to do so after a couple of weeks away! I’m always on the lookout for new ice cream recipes, so this one was extra-tempting: who could resist the prospect of toffee apple ice cream?! The original recipe used bought ice cream (the horror!), but I made my own and swirled it all together rather than layering – truly reminiscent of those brittle toffee apples of our childhood, but without the associated dental challenges!

Toffee Apple Ice Cream

125g granulated sugar
5 tbsp water
600ml whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

50g light brown soft sugar
50g wholemeal flour (I used self-raising as that’s what I had, but plain would be fine)
½ tsp ground cinnamon
70g butter, cubed
Salt to taste
100g caster sugar
70ml double cream
3 eating apples, peeled, cored and diced
juice of half lemon

First, make the vanilla ice cream by placing 125g granulated sugar and 4 tbsp water in a small pan, allow the sugar to melt, then continue to cook over a gentle heat for 5 mins until syrupy. Allow to cool completely. Whip 600ml whipping cream with the cold syrup and vanilla extract until it thickens and just begins to hold its shape. Pour into an ice-cream maker (mine is a basic Magimix Glacier model where you have to freeze the bowl in the freezer overnight beforehand: simple but effective). It should take about 30-40 minutes to churn, and while that’s doing you can get on with the rest.

Preheat the oven to 150˚C, gas 3. Line a medium baking tray with baking parchment. For the crumble, put the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl, then rub in 30g cubed butter and a pinch of salt, until the mixture resembles fine, gritty sand. Spread out on the tray and bake for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through, until pale golden and crisp. Set aside to cool.

Put the caster sugar in a large frying pan with 2 tbsp water. Heat gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Then without stirring, bring to the boil over a medium-high heat and simmer briskly for about 4 minutes, until a dark golden caramel forms. If it colours unevenly, swirl the pan. Remove the pan from the heat; stir in the cream and a pinch more salt. Add the remaining 40g butter and stir until a smooth caramel forms. Pour into a heatproof bowl. Return the unwashed pan to the heat and add the diced apples (sprinkled with lemon juice to prevent browning). Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, until softened and golden. Add to the caramel bowl and allow to cool.

If the ice cream is ready before the remaining ingredients are cool, just transfer it to a large freezer container and freeze until everything is cool. When you’re ready, gently fold in the crumble chunks and caramel apples until just mixed and return to the freezer to finish freezing. Remove from the freezer 20-30 minutes before serving – and enjoy!

My final offering today is hardly a recipe, more an assembly of garden produce that, combined, make a wonderfully refreshing autumn kale salad. It was inspired by a delicious cabbage and kale salad I had at one of my daughter-in-law’s friend’s houses in Ohio. She’d used a bagged salad from Costco (costing in excess of $5!), which even included raw Brussels sprouts (and I, a confirmed sprout hater, liked them – perhaps raw is the way to go!). I used vegetables from the allotment, with finely chopped raw kale, calabrese leaves, red lettuce, sliced fennel, toasted sunflower, pumpkin seeds and peanuts, dried cranberries, served with herb-roasted carrots, beetroot, red onion and potatoes, topped with a smattering of griddled halloumi (you could use feta or goat’s cheese too), and dressed with a lime, olive oil and pomegranate molasses dressing – so good! (And all the better for mostly being home-grown 😊).

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Autumn – decadence and decay

Autumn can be a time of abundance, decadent overgrowth and plentiful harvests, but it’s also a time when plants start to decay and die back as the first frosts of autumn hit or the winds come howling in. I came back from nearly two weeks in the US celebrating my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding with her American friends and family to find my allotment full of weeds, dahlias still flowering in gay abandon and my bean frame horizontal – I’m guessing we’ve had some strong winds in my absence! The calabrese plants appear to be flowering, despite not showing any signs of heads before I went away, and there are lots of windfall apples on the floor. On the plus side, the spinach and chard I’d sown in early September are looking really good, as is the kale and purple-sprouting broccoli, and even the bulb fennel hasn’t gone to seed – a first! The courgette plants are looking very sorry for themselves, not quite frosted, but definitely browning, although I still managed to harvest a few decent courgettes – I’d picked all incipient fruit before I left to avoid coming back to marrow armageddon….

That reminds me of a couple of new courgette recipes I experimented with this year, but haven’t had time to jot down with all the wedding goings-on this summer. I’m always on the lookout for new ways with courgettes, especially in such a hot year when new courgettes were forming on a daily basis at the height of the season.

The first recipe was inspired by a recipe in the July edition of the Sainsbury’s magazine, tweaked as ever to suit what I had available. It’s gluten-free and even low carb, if that’s what you’re looking for, although not particularly why I made it – it just sounded good! The original recipe used turkey, whereas I used pork mince, but use whatever you have/fancy. Sorry, no photo – I did have one, but it’s taken me so long to write up the recipe that I must have deleted it by mistake…

Moroccan Courgette & Pork Bake – serves 4

2-3 large courgettes (about 750g)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
500g pork mince
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato purée
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp harissa
handful of chopped coriander or parsley
250g natural yogurt
1 large egg
50g freshly grated Parmesan (or use Cheddar if that’s what you have!)
Seasoning

Heat the oven to 200°C / Gas 6. Top and tail the courgettes, then slice lengthwise into thin slices about 5 mm thick. Place on a foil-lined baking tray, brush with olive oil and roast in the hot oven for 15-20 minutes or until just golden and soft, but not mushy.

In the meantime, fry the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, then add the minced pork (or turkey) and cook for a further 5 minutes until browned. Add the spices and harissa and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, then add the tomato purée and the chopped tomatoes with their juice. Stir in the chopped herbs and season to taste.

Place a layer of sauce in the bottom of a rectangular dish (20 x 25 cm), then a layer of courgettes and continue until all used up, ending with a courgette layer. Blend the yogurt, beaten egg and seasoning in a small bowl, then pour over the courgettes and top with grated cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot with a green salad. Freezes beautifully too.

Another courgette recipe I’ve trialled recently, based on how delicious courgette is in bread and cakes, is courgette & cheese scones. Perfect if you haven’t time to bake bread, but need something urgently to accompany your latest soup creation! Served here with roasted tomato soup with the last of the season’s homegrown tomatoes…

Cheesy Courgette Scones – makes 10-12

450g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
350g grated courgettes
salt
125g butter
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
approx. 150ml milk
125g grated Cheddar cheese
seasoning

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C / Gas 6.

Put the grated courgettes in a colander over the sink and sprinkle with salt. Allow to drain to remove excess liquid for about 15 minutes. Then rinse with cold water, tip the courgettes into a clean tea towel and squeeze out as much juice as possible

In another bowl rub the butter into the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt until it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the fresh thyme leaves. Add most of the grated cheese and courgette and mix thoroughly. Add enough milk to make a soft dough that’s not too sticky (add more flour if necessary). Gently roll out the dough to 2cm thick and cut into rounds with a pastry cutter. Place the scones on a greased baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes.  They should be a nice golden brown and well risen.

Serve with butter and a bowl of steaming homemade soup. Once again, these freeze well and are ideal to have in the freezer for emergency lunches or unexpected visitors.

Still on the baking theme, I also found a delicious recipe for chocolate & courgette brownies  a great way of getting rid of excess courgettes AND adding extra vegetables to boost the 5-a-day count of unwilling veg eaters! I found it here, but have adapted it slightly and record my version here for reference. Once again, these freeze well, which is great if you live alone and don’t want to eat them all at once! The problem with vegetable-based cakes in warm weather is that they can go off within a matter of days in the tin, so freezing is definitely the way to go.

Chocolate & Courgette Brownies – makes 16

300g courgettes / zucchini
salt
200g dark chocolate, chopped
150g butter
3 eggs, beaten
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g self-raising flour
2 tsp espresso powder
100 g chopped hazelnuts (or walnuts or pecans if you prefer), toasted on a baking tray in the oven for 5 minutes

Pre-heat oven to 160℃ fan / Gas 4.

Grate the courgettes and place in a colander over the sink, then sprinkle with salt. Leave to drain for 15 minutes or so, while you get on with the brownies.

Place the chocolate and butter in a microwaveable bowl and microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes in 30-second bursts until melted. Stir until chocolate is nice and smooth and leave to cool. Alternatively melt the old-fashioned way in a glass bowl over a small pan of simmering water. Leave to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together using an electric mixer until doubled in volume (about 5 to 8 minutes depending on your mixer). Add the vanilla extract. Carefully pour the cooled chocolate into your egg mix and gently fold together with a metal spoon.

Rinse the courgettes to wash off the salt, then transfer to a clean tea towel and squeeze firmly to remove excess liquid. Fold the courgettes and toasted chopped nuts into the brownie mix. Sieve the dry ingredients into the mixture and fold in carefully.

Pour mixture into the prepared tin and cook for 30 minutes. Check to see if there is a paper-like crust on top – there should still be some movement in the centre of the tin. Bake for another 5 minutes if you don’t think it’s cooked enough, then take out and leave to cool. They will firm up on cooling. Cut into 16 individual portions when cool.

My final suggestion is barely a recipe, more a reminder of my favourite and simplest way of serving courgettes as a side dish. Again no photo – I’m getting lax! I cleaned up my photos before going to the US so I’d have space to take lots of new pictures, and have clearly been overzealous.

Courgette & Tomato Bake – serves 3-4

1 large onion, chopped
450g courgettes, thickly sliced
glug of olive oil
4 large tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Handful fresh herbs (I use basil, parsley and thyme)
seasoning
100g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
50g white breadcrumbs

Cook the onions and garlic in a frying pan with the olive oil for about 5-10 minutes until starting to soften. Add the courgettes and cook for a further 5 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes, herbs and seasoning and cook until a thickish mixture forms.

Transfer to an ovenproof dish, mix the grated cheese and breadcrumbs together and sprinkle over the courgette mixture. Cook in a hot oven at 180°C/gas 5 until the cheese is starting to brown.

Serve with sausages, chops or on its own as a delicious vegetarian main.

 

Bean Feast

I can’t quite believe that I haven’t included any French (or runner) bean recipes on my blog in the nearly five years I’ve been writing. What an oversight! It’s not as if I don’t grow enough of them: every year I usually have more beans than I know what to do with, although I often start off with slow germination, or growth setbacks of one sort or another, and worry that I won’t have enough. They always come good in the end, leaving me overrun – and this year is no exception.

I stopped growing the coarser runner beans a few years back, when my sons had left home and I was essentially just cooking for one. I’ve always preferred the finer, tastier French beans, and the fact that they are less hardy than the runners really isn’t a problem now I’m living in the milder South East of England. In Scotland we used to start them off in the unheated greenhouse in late spring, but down here I’ve found they do better planted direct in the soil in early to late June, even as late as early July if the first sowing doesn’t come to anything like this year. Planted so late, they follow on neatly from the broad beans and peas, and don’t compete with the heady courgette rush in mid-summer. By late July/early August, when they start to form those long, elegant pods, we’re just about ready for a new summer crop – perfect timing. And they keep on going well into September, or even October in a good year.

This year I had a mixed pack of bean seeds, containing three different varieties: yellow (Monte Gusto), purple (Carminat) and green (Monte Cristo). I’m favourably impressed so far, although the yellow seem to be by far the most prolific (and easiest to see and harvest).

So how come I haven’t written any recipes for them before? I have no idea! I can only think it’s because this is such a busy time of year in the garden that I’m too busy cooking, harvesting and freezing to write. Definitely time to put that right and jot down a few of my favourite ways of using all those beautiful beans….

My first suggestion is a recipe I’ve been cooking for over 30 years, originally from my home economist friend Bridget in Cheshire. It makes an extremely flavourful vegetarian lasagne, or you can use the bean filling as a pasta sauce without layering and oven-baking if you prefer. I used to make this with runner beans, but French work just as well, if not better.

French Bean & Nut Lasagne – serves 4-6

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 red (or green) pepper, chopped
3 sticks celery, chopped
250g French or runner beans, chopped into 2cm long pieces
1 large can chopped tomatoes (or 450g fresh, peeled and chopped if you have them)
2 tbsp tomato purée
Handful of basil or oregano
2 tbsp pesto
150ml red wine
50g walnuts, chopped
Seasoning

45g butter
45g plain flour
500ml milk
125g Cheddar cheese
1 tsp mustard
Grated fresh nutmeg

175-200g dried lasagne

For the bean sauce, cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 4-5 mins until starting to soften. Add the pepper, celery and beans, stir well and cook for a further 5 mins. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato purée, basil or oregano, pesto, wine and walnuts, season well and simmer uncovered for 30-40 mins.

Make the cheese sauce as usual by melting the butter, stirring in the flour, cooking for 1 minute then gradually adding the milk, stirring until it thickens and is smooth. Season, add half the cheese and the grated nutmeg and set aside.

Soften the lasagne sheets in a bowl of boiling water, or follow the instructions on your packet (this is a very old recipe!). Assemble the layers in a lasagne dish, starting with the bean sauce, then lasagne, then cheese sauce, ending with cheese sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and cook at 180°C / Gas 4 for 25-30 mins. Serve with a mixed salad.

Next up is another recipe adapted from my old favourite Dairy Cookbook from the early 1980s. Patched, chewed (puppy!) and bespattered it may be, but I still have certain recipes that I turn to now and again, and this is one of them: a comforting pancake dish with a delectable bean, apple and ham filling, finished off with a hint of wholegrain mustard and a velvety cheese sauce. True comfort food for those early autumn days… You can use chopped bacon in this dish, but I usually make it with chopped cooked ham from a weekend gammon joint, which marries perfectly with the melting tenderness of the apples and onions. It’s not unlike an English take on cannelloni, but using pancakes rather than pasta.

Bean, Ham & Apple Pancakes – serves 4

Pancakes:
125g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
300ml milk
Butter for frying

Filling:
25g butter (or 1 tbsp olive oil if you prefer)
2 medium onions, chopped (or leeks if you prefer)
175g chopped bacon or home-cooked gammon or ham if you have it
225g apple (cooking or eating), peeled, cored and chopped
225g French or runner beans, chopped into 2cm lengths
1 tbsp French mustard
Chopped parsley or thyme leaves

Sauce:
25g butter
2 level tbsp plain flour
300ml milk
125g Cheddar cheese, grated
Seasoning
Freshly grated nutmeg

First make the pancakes in the usual way by sifting the flout and salt into a roomy bowl. Break the egg into the centre, then gradually beat in the milk and incorporate the flout until all mixed and little bubbles start to form on the surface. Leave to stand for 30 minutes or so if you can, but it’s not critical if you can’t! This mixture should make at least 8 pancakes in an 18cm frying pan. Stack the finished pancakes on a plate as you make them and set aside until you’ve made the filling.

For the filling, melt the butter in a large frying pan, then fry the onion until softened. Steam or microwave the beans for 4 -5 minutes until just tender, then drain off any liquid. Stir the ham, apple and beans into the pan and cook for a further 4-5 minutes (if using uncooked bacon, you might need to add it with the onion at the start). Stir in the mustard, seasoning and chopped parsley or thyme leaves. Set aside to cool slightly while you make the cheese sauce.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the flour and cook gently for 1 minute, stirring. Gradually stir in the milk, then bring to the boil and cook until it thickens, stirring constantly. Add grated nutmeg and seasoning, then finally 75g grated cheese.

To assemble, fill each pancake with a generous spoonful of the bean and apple mixture, and either roll up or fold carefully into quarters. Place side by side in a rectangular ovenproof dish, sprinkle over the remaining cheese and bake at 180°C / Gas 5 for 25 – 30 minutes. Serve with a green salad.

Both of these recipes are rather heavy on the washing-up, with several stages and pans, but well worth the effort – and the cooking time in the oven means you have enough time to wash up while the dish is cooking if you don’t have a willing sous-chef on hand to clear up as you go along 🙂

One last recipe, which only uses one pan and makes a super-tasty side dish for sausages, chops, or even a roast, was inspired by a recipe in an Italian cookbook I’ve long since lost. I think it originally went under the name of Fagiolini di Sant’Anna, but I’ve tweaked it over the years, as usual. Although the beans are cooked for much longer than if you steamed or boiled them, they remain deliciously tender and take up all the flavours of the cooking liquid. Try it and see. Just don’t drop the salt grinder in it as happened to me this weekend……

Italian French Beans with Tomatoes – serves 2

Glug of olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
200g French beans, chopped
2-3 tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
Chopped basil
Dash of white wine
Boiling water
Seasoning

Heat the oil in a small frying pan, then add the garlic and cook gently for 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for a further 3-4 minutes, then add the beans and toss in the sauce for a minute or so. Add a dash of white wine and the chopped basil, then just cover the beans with boiling water. Bring back to the boil, then simmer gently, without a lid, for 25 – 30 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced. You may need to turn up the heat or cover the pan depending on your hob. Season to taste and serve with the meat of your choice.

Gooseberries Galore

I couldn’t finish this megaseason for the humble gooseberry without sharing a few of the recipes I’ve tried this year – as well as the usual pies, crumbles, fools and shortbreads, of course, and stowing far too many in the freezer, to say nothing of giving lots away. I have two gooseberry bushes at the allotment, one green variety, Invicta, a highly prolific and viciously prickly, mildew-resistant form, which never fails to produce excellent crops, and a red dessert variety, Pax, less prickly, but not as prolific. Despite netting, it’s always a race to get to the berries when they turn red before the birds do! This year, though, I was onto them and have picked the berries red, rather than waiting for them to turn black – result! They made a divine cloud-like fool, with just puréed gooseberries (500g), cooked with a dash of elderflower cordial and 75g sugar, cooled, sieved to remove the seeds and skins, then folded into 150ml softly whipped cream. Heavenly.

The Invictas, on the other hand, are so prolific that I didn’t know what to do with them all. Picking them is a challenge (especially with a wedding coming up, and trying to keep my hands and arms scratch-free!), so I decided to be brutal and prune the bush drastically in the process. This had the added advantage of allowing me to sit in the shade of my established apple tree, out of the scorching sun, to take the individual berries off the branches – much less risky!

So what to do with all this fruit? Online research suggested a gooseberry chutney courtesy of Nigel Slater, not cooked to death as with many chutney recipes, but a lighter preserve, perfect for spicing up cold meats and cheese – definitely worth a try.

Gooseberry Chutney

 250g granulated sugar
2 large onions
300g tomatoes
1 kg gooseberries
200g raisins
150ml cider vinegar
150ml white wine vinegar
15 cardamom pods
12 black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp salt

Peel and chop the onions, then put in a large pan. Add the chopped tomatoes, raisin and vinegar ( I used all cider vinegar as that’s what I had). Open the cardamom pods and crush the seeds with the black peppercorns, then add to the pan with the coriander seeds. Simmer gently while you top and tail the gooseberries.

Add 750g gooseberries to the pan and 1 tsp salt, then cook over a gentle heat for 30 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. After 30 minutes, stir in the sugar until it dissolves , then cook for a further 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining gooseberries and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the added gooseberries are just cooked. Pour into sterilised jars, cover and seal. Set aside for at least a week before serving with cold meats and/or cheese.

My final gooseberry suggestion for this season is a delicious gooseberry & elderflower yogurt ice cream. I suppose it’s not unlike a frozen fool, but this time with yogurt to cut through the richness – mmmmm…. don’t mind if I do.

Gooseberry & Elderflower Yogurt Ice Cream

500g gooseberries, topped and tailed
75g elderflower cordial
125g granulated sugar
150 ml natural yogurt (full-fat)
150ml double cream

Cook the gooseberries over a gentle heat with the elderflower cordial and the sugar until softened – about 5-10 minutes. Allow to cool completely, then purée in a blender and sieve to remove the seeds.

Stir in the cream and natural yogurt and mix well. Transfer to an ice cream maker and churn until it resembles soft ice cream. Transfer to the freezer to finish.

Serve with gooseberry pies or crumbles, or just as it is, in a bowl, with a big grin on your face. This is so good….

 

 

 

 

Back to breakfasts

It really has been an outstanding year for soft fruit: raspberries and gooseberries in particular. Overwhelming at times! I’ve been enjoying fresh raspberries on my breakfast granola for weeks, desserts have been a cinch with fresh berries, panna cotta and red berry compote, and raspberry ice cream (same as my recipe for strawberry ice cream, but with puréed and sieved raspberries – the seeds are quite obtrusive otherwise), and some have gone in the freezer along with pots of raspberry coulis.

I’ve also made two large batches of raspberry jam with an eye to making my son’s Victoria sponge wedding cake at the end of July – next week in fact! One was my favourite easy raspberry jam, boiled for just 2 minutes after adding the sugar. For the last batch the raspberries were tailing off slightly (I only managed to pick 1kg at a time!), so I added 500g redcurrants and made raspberry & redcurrant – equally delicious and perhaps a firmer set with the extra pectin from the redcurrants.

Raspberry & Redcurrant Jam – makes 6 jars

1kg raspberries
500g redcurrants, strigged
500ml water
1.5kg granulated sugar

Put the raspberries, strigged redcurrants and water in a large preserving pan and simmer gently for 15 minutes until the fruit is very soft and the juice is running. Stir in the granulated sugar until it dissolves, bring back to the boil, then boil quickly for 7-10 minutes or until drips run together when you hold up the spoon, or use the chilled saucer test by turning off the heat, adding a blob of hot jam to a saucer straight from the freezer, and leaving for a few minutes to see if the surface wrinkles when you gently push it with your finger. Pot into hot, sterilised jars and cover immediately.

I must share a new granola recipe I’ve tried recently too – I love my coconut granola, but my local wholefood store in the village had run out of one of the essential ingredients, coconut flakes, recently, so I was forced to look around for a different recipe. This one, by Rachel Allen, majors on nuts and makes for a delicious alternative. I’ve replaced the original honey with maple syrup, but feel free to use whichever you prefer:

Nutty Granola

125g butter
150ml maple syrup
1tsp vanilla extract
500g oats
100g cashew nuts
100g flaked almonds
100g desiccated coconut
100g pumpkin seeds
100g sunflower seeds
250g dried fruit (dates, sultanas, apricots, etc.)

Preheat the oven to 150°C / Gas 3. Melt the butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract in a pan over a gentle heat. Add the remaining ingredients apart from the dried fruit to a large mixing bowl and stir in the melted butter mixture. Divide over two large baking trays, and bake for 15 minutes, changing the position of the trays halfway through. Then remove from the oven, tip back into the bowl and mix well. Return to the baking trays and cook for a further 10 minutes to brown and crisp all over. Allow to cool completely before adding the dried fruit, then storing in a large container.

Serve with yogurt and fresh fruit of your choice – raspberries are the perfect accompaniment, of course.

Still a very busy time of year in the garden with the prolonged dry spell and hot weather, making daily watering at the allotment and my pots at home an absolute must. I’ve resorted to doing home in the morning and the allotment in the evening in an attempt to lighten the load – while watering standing on one leg to try and incorporate my ACL physio in the process! Yet everything is coming on in leaps and bounds; I’ve even had to repot my aubergines into supersize pots, so triffid-like was their growth! The brassicas – purple-sprouting broccoli, cavolo nero and calabrese – were planted out last weekend, so I should be able to concentrate on harvesting and watering from now on. Roll on the season of plenty…

Not enough hours in the day!

I’m only too aware that it’s been ages since I posted here: I can only claim busy social weekends, work events, pressures of work, and not enough hours in the day to do everything else! Plus the hot weather over the past couple of weeks (not that I’m complaining, honest!), means that watering becomes a daily requirement not only at home, but also down at the allotment, especially for relatively new plantings. Then the prolonged warm spell has brought all the soft fruit to fruition at once, so harvesting is also in full swing  and a huge harvest at that! A few extra hours each day really wouldn’t go amiss…

So what’s been happening on the plot? Well, May/June are always the busiest months for gardeners, so going out to Berlin for a translation workshop at the end of May, lovely though it was, was bound to put a spanner in the gardening works! Spring containers at home have had to be planted up with their summer contents (begonias and lobelia as ever, although very slow to get going this year), tomatoes had to be planted outside (and are now going great guns), and beans, courgettes, squashes and sweetcorn had to be planted out at the allotment. Today I finally managed to plant out my leeks, several weeks later than usual, but there just hasn’t been time before – hen party at a retro ice cream parlour in Broadstairs for my soon-to-be-daughter-in-law last weekend, plus a visit to nearly Sissinghurst (white garden at the peak of its glory – always a good time to visit), and up to London the weekend before for another translation event. Anyway, the leeks are finally in situ, so it just remains for me to water them very well for the next few weeks while they get established, especially if this heat persists.

My allotment neighbour has had a very late delivery of spent mushroom compost, so I transferred six barrowloads up to my plot to replenish the soil in some of the beds. Not easy with everything planted, but I focussed on the peas and beans, which didn’t get their annual manure fix this year, as we had hoped the mushroom compost would arrive earlier. I also topped up the asparagus bed, as it is a hungry feeder and the asparagus has finished cropping for the season now – some extra nutrients should build the ferns up nicely over the summer. Probably not the best thing for my knee, but hey ho, needs must!

Everything is coming on apace, apart from my French beans, which are stubbornly refusing to germinate. I can only imagine it’s too hot for them – or the seed is too old. I’ve planted more this evening, so fingers crossed. Sweet peas too are ridiculously slow this year, but finally look as though they’re starting to get going. My allotment neighbour on the other side has masses, so kindly said I could help myself – so lovely to have fragrant sweet peas in the house again. With any luck I can return the favour in late summer when mine are in full bloom…

In other news, the rhubarb gin is ready after its month’s infusing – and very good it is too! I’m very impressed: it makes a delicately pink-tinged long drink with tonic, ice and a sprig of rosemary if you feel so inclined. You can really taste the rhubarb, with just a slight kick of ginger. Definitely my favourite drink of the summer so far!

I’ve also made two batches of elderflower cordial and ventured into rhubarb & ginger cordial production too. Also very good. I couldn’t find one recipe online that really appealed, so adapted several, including one from Sarah Raven, and one from Saga. Take your pick! Again, a gorgeous colour, even from garden rhubarb rather than the vivid (although in my view not as tasty!) forced stuff. Here is the result:

Rhubarb & Ginger Cordial – makes approx. 1.5 litres

1,750 g rhubarb, chopped into chunks (no need to peel)
750 g granulated sugar (or to taste)
1 litre water
1 orange
1 lemon
1 tbsp citric acid
1 knob of root ginger (about 5 cm)

Place the chopped rhubarb in a large preserving pan with the root ginger, also roughly chopped, and the juice and rind of the orange and lemon. Cover with water and bring to the boil, then simmer gently until the fruit is soft and pulpy – about half an hour. Leave to cool for an hour or so.

When cool, pour into a jelly bag suspended over a large bowl or jug, and allow to drip through overnight. Don’t press, as it will make the cordial cloudy. Discard (or compost) the rhubarb pulp.

The next day, place the resulting juice into the preserving pan again and add 750g granulated sugar (or to taste). Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Finally add 1 tbsp citric acid; you can omit this, but it will help to preserve the cordial for longer. It should keep for several months in a cool, dark place, but refrigerate once opened.

Pour into sterilised bottles and serve with sparkling water or soda for a refreshing summer drink.

 

 

Scaling the rhubarb mountain…

It’s at this time of year that the rhubarb goes into overdrive: sunshine one minute, heavy showers the next – perfect growing weather! Despite cutting back my rhubarb bed when I downsized from a full allotment to three-quarters, the two smaller beds I created seemed to have expanded beyond all expectations. Every time I go up, I cut armfuls of strong stems, but it still looks just as abundant the next time I arrive. I give lots away, of course: I sent my son and his fiancée home with loads this weekend, and thrust yet more at my mum when we called in for lunch on Sunday. I even took some up to a friend in Cheshire when I went to my goddaughter’s wedding over the beautiful May Day holiday weekend.

Needless to say my menus feature rhubarb pretty intensively at the moment: roasted rhubarb & orange compote with homemade granola and natural yogurt is my breakfast of choice. You can’t beat a good old-fashioned rhubarb crumble or a traditional rhubarb pie with its mandatory (and delicious) soggy bottom either. Sometimes, however, you fancy a change, and I recently revisited a recipe from one of my first ever cookbooks, Jocasta Innes “Pauper’s Cookbook” from my student days, still my original dog-eared, much bespattered paperback version from the 1970s. The original recipe calls itself a rhubarb pie, but to my mind a pie has to have a top, whereas this is more of a tart with just a pastry base. It’s delicious, whatever you call it, and reminded me almost of the delicious Rhabarberwähen I sampled in Basel during my year abroad – heaven on a plate! I must track down a Swiss recipe for one of those too…. In the meantime, here’s my take on an open rhubarb tart. I often make enough pastry to make a spare case; they keep for a good couple of weeks in a tin in a cool place.

Rhubarb & Cinnamon Tart – serves 6

1 part-baked 24cm shortcrust pastry case (see this recipe or use your own)
750g rhubarb, chopped
1 lemon, grated rind and juice
150g brown sugar
1 heaped tbsp cornflour
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix the sugar, grated lemon rind and juice, cinnamon and cornflour in a bowl and sprinkle half this mixture over the bottom of the tart case, top with the chopped rhubarb, then sprinkle the rest of the sugar mixture on top. Bake at 200°C, Gas 6 for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the rhubarb is tender. Cover with foil if it starts to get too brown at the edges. Serve just warm or cold with whipped cream or crème fraiche.

A chance conversation on Facebook led to my next rhubarb solution: rhubarb & ginger gin. I’ve yet to taste the results, of course, as it will have to steep for a month before it’s ready, but I can’t see why it shouldn’t taste divine: rhubarb, ginger, gin & tonic – what’s not to like? I’ll let you know in a month’s time whether it’s as good as it sounds – fingers crossed! Sarah Raven’s recipe for rhubarb & ginger vodka appealed most after my online searches, adapted for gin and tweaked to fit my 2 litre Kilner jar. I used Aldi’s Oliver Cromwell London Gin, which gets excellent reviews and won a gold medal in the International Wine and Spirits Competition earlier this year.

Rhubarb & Ginger Gin

800g rhubarb, chopped into small chunks
1 litre gin
400g granulated sugar
5cm piece root ginger, peeled and sliced
thin strips of orange peel from 1 orange
1 vanilla pod

Put the rhubarb, sugar, ginger, orange peel and vanilla pod into a 2-litre Kilner jar and pour over the gin to cover completely. You probably won’t need it all; I reckon I used about 900 ml. Shake vigorously, then put in a cool place for 1 month, shaking every day to dissolve the sugar.

After 1 month, strain into a jug and decant into bottles. Serve with tonic and ice for a perfectly pink long drink for the summer months. Roll on June!

Tulips and alliums from the garden