organic vegetable gardening courses, growing tips and homegrown recipes.
In a household that has plenty of lemons and eggs, lemon curd is a wonderful condiment. Very yellow eggs also mean fantastically yellow curd. It's delicious spread on scones, pikelets or freshly made bread, used as a filling for mini tartlet cases or made into lemon ice-cream by rippling it through slightly softened boughten vanilla ice-cream. You … [Read more...]
Pesto is usually made from basil and pinenuts but in spring when there are lemons and coriander about, I make this version. Mix it through mashed potato, spread it on a lamb steak before you wrap it in proscuitto and roast for about 20 minutes, use a tablespoon of it as a topping for a piece of fish or in pasta sauce. I spread it on sandwiches and … [Read more...]
Blackberry jam is an all-time favourite with its strong flavour and vibrant colour. Although the best blackberries are always just out of reach, the energy expended to scramble, stretch and slither round the bramble thorns is worth it for a good punnet of berries. That's if you don't drop them in the grass on the way back. A kilo of blackberries is … [Read more...]
The reason to cook mincemeat is to stop the juice from the fruit fermenting so it will keep longer. The slow cooker is ideal as it doesn't allow the mixture to burn. You do need a large one for this quantity though (5 or 6 litre). I used mine on low and checked how hot it was getting using a candy thermometer - it reached about 150 degrees C at its … [Read more...]
Rocket is growing well at the moment so I used a rather liberal interpretation of the traditional ingredients of pesto for my home-made version. Sometimes I make coriander pesto too. The name comes from the Italian verb pestare to pound or crush. You too could become a rocket scientist in your own garden. Pesto is great spread on steaks wrapped … [Read more...]
There are some beautiful fresh New Zealand chestnuts in the markets and on roadside stalls. Buy them fresh, keep them in the fridge and use them as soon as possible after purchase. They're somewhat laborious to deal with if you're not just going to have a romantic evening, roasting them by the fire. Pierce each one with the point of a knife and … [Read more...]
This is based on Delia Smith's recipe for apricot preserve from her classic book Delia Smith's Summer Collection: 140 Recipes for Summer. Peaches contain less pectin than apricots so it takes more boiling to get this to set. It's delicious when you do though - a sweet, sticky summer jam. 1kg peaches 1kg white sugar juice of a large … [Read more...]
