organic vegetable gardening courses, growing tips and homegrown recipes.
A hunting trip endowed us with four half venison fillets in the freezer, all slightly less than a kilo in weight. I smeared this one in pesto and wrapped it in proscuitto and it was a generous main course for five, accompanied by new potatoes, vegetables and salad. A beef eye fillet would be a good alternative. I've used my hare wellington recipe … [Read more...]
There's a world of difference between the yellow-coloured white sauce you make from custard powder and real vanilla custard. It's easy to make, so don't compromise with anything other than the real thing. It's the perfect accompaniment for rhubarb crumble. If you use genuinely free-ranging chicken eggs it will be bright yellow without any … [Read more...]
It's early but I needed some garlic so I dug some that I'd planted in May. It wasn't really ready but it was fresh and pungent. And I'd grown it myself which is the whole point. I also dug some rather tiny potatoes for Christmas day. A small crop but delicious and sweet (I hope), if rather dirty. And that's the whole point - it's your garden so you … [Read more...]
I sat on the steps in the evening sunshine to shell the mountain of broad beans. Tess got a few that bounced out of the bowl but that's fair game. Don't let the broad bean thing put you off as this dip looks and tastes like guacamole without the need for avocadoes. You can use up the bigger beans in this recipe. I spread it warm on a homemade bread … [Read more...]
I picked what I thought were snow peas yesterday. When I got to the end of the row I thought I'd check when I'd sowed them and discovered they were shelling peas 'progress' and I'd just picked them before they'd developed. Another reason to label things well. We have a broad bean feast (commonly known as a glut) so I enjoyed a broad bean and feta … [Read more...]
A cross between moussaka and lasagne. We make bolognese sauce in large quantities, sometimes in the slow cooker, and freeze in portions. If you want it gluten free it's great without the pasta. Serves four. one and a half cups bolognese sauce one medium eggplant (aubergine) or two zucchini (courgettes), sliced about half a centimetre … [Read more...]
The best salads meld salt, sweet and sour tastes with contrasting textures. I've made a vegan variation of this salad using sliced black olives instead of feta cheese. You could pack the pumpkin seeds, their oil and the lemon juice in a separate container and pour over the salad to serve as a portable lunch. I added some chopped mint after I took … [Read more...]
These are a good way to use up a mixture of citrus fruit languishing in your fruit bowl. I find using paper cases takes the stress out of removing them from the tin and makes them more resilient to transport. This recipe removes the step of zesting and juicing the fruit by chopping the whole fruit in a food processor. Mini muffins freeze well and … [Read more...]
The first strawberry of the season is always the best. We'll need a bit more sunshine to ripen any more. I recommend you sow some seeds this weekend even if you're going away - what's the worst that can happen? If they don't come up you've lost nothing but a few seeds - if they do, you might have a crop when you return from holiday. Radishes and … [Read more...]
Delicious, dairy and gluten free. Would have been vegan too if I'd used vegetable stock. Just like British Rail, you need the right sort of leaves. At this time of year they're green and fresh. They also need to be more round than lobed - some of my vines are better than others on that front. You can freeze vine leaves, blanched, in a plastic … [Read more...]
