Thurs 19th Jan
A combination of technological incompetance and returning to work has made a mess of my blog entries! Nearly 2 weeks without writing! But now I am back on board in the blogging stakes but its hard to really think of all that has happened in the garden in the last two weeks. Certainly I have not bought any vegetables (except potatoes, onions and corn) probably in the last three weeks. Its not something I restrict myself on - I am not averse to buying vegetables and will when I want something different or want to make something in particular, but why bother when you have enough? And in any case I get trolley rage, it's safer to keep me out of supermarkets!
There has been lots to pick - enough to keep us. In the last two weeks I have picked:
Chinese Spicy eggplant
* produce from the garden
This is one of those recipes cut from a magazine many years ago with amounts adjusted. I cant acknowledge the source....
7 long thin eggplants* (adjust according to the size of your eggplants)
salt
3 cloves of garlic*
1 knob of ginger
8 spring onions*
peanut oil
500g pork mince
3 tbs chilli bean paste ( from Asian Grocers)
soy sauce
rice wine
seasame oil
extra chillies * if you want extra punch
Cut eggplants into short, thin strips, scatter with salt and drain in colander for about 30 mins. Rince and pat dry. In a morta and pestle crush garlic, ginger and half the spring onions into a rough paste. Cut remaining spring onions into 5 cm lengths (and chop chillies if using extra) and set aside. In a hot wok, fry the eggplant in two batches in oil until golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Discard oil.
Return wok to the flame and add some peanut oil, add garlic paste and mince and stir fry for 5 mins until pork is cooked. Add remaining ingredients including spring onions and extra chilli. Cook for a few minutes until onions soften. Stir in eggplant and check seasoning. Eat with steamed jasmine rice or noodles.
Corn and Tomato salad
* produce from the garden
I think I got the idea for this salad from a recipe for a salsa! I just decided it should be a salad instead of a side....
1 cob of corn
tomatoes* (cherries cut in half and others cut into similar size)
red onion cut fine dice
coriander
chillies*
olive oil
lime juice*
Cook corn on cob and cut nibblets off. Add to a bowl with red onion, tomatoes, chillies and coriander and add olive oil and lime juice to taste.
Zucchinis with tomato and oregano
* produce from the garden
This recipe is adapted from one in Gourmet Traveller 2011 Annual Cookbook. The original includes stuffing the flowers of the zucchini with a rice and herb mix, which I am sure is very nice... but I havent yet got my head around stuffing zucchini flowers. It is perfect for dealing with two gluts - tomatoes and zucchinis.
tomatoes* - the original recipe calls for 3 large ones and 250 gms of small ones
1 red onion
1 head of garlic* broken up
olive oil
zucchinis*
lemon juice *
red wine vinegar
thyme*
oregano*
Heat oven to 200C. Scatter tomatoes, onion and garlic in roasting pan and add olive oil. Roast until tomato skins start to split (8-10 mins). Cut up zucchinis into chunky bits and add to pan with lemon juice, red wine vinegar and herbs. Roast until zucchini tender but not soft (12-15 mins). This is really yummy with bbq meats.
A combination of technological incompetance and returning to work has made a mess of my blog entries! Nearly 2 weeks without writing! But now I am back on board in the blogging stakes but its hard to really think of all that has happened in the garden in the last two weeks. Certainly I have not bought any vegetables (except potatoes, onions and corn) probably in the last three weeks. Its not something I restrict myself on - I am not averse to buying vegetables and will when I want something different or want to make something in particular, but why bother when you have enough? And in any case I get trolley rage, it's safer to keep me out of supermarkets!
There has been lots to pick - enough to keep us. In the last two weeks I have picked:
- lots of eggplants, basil, zucchinis and tomatoes
- beetroot
- spring onions
- parsley - Italian and curly
- oregano
- thyme
- long greeny-yellow chillies
- lemons
- the first of the new beans and red chillies
- the last of the sunflowers
Chinese Spicy eggplant
* produce from the garden
This is one of those recipes cut from a magazine many years ago with amounts adjusted. I cant acknowledge the source....
7 long thin eggplants* (adjust according to the size of your eggplants)
salt
3 cloves of garlic*
1 knob of ginger
8 spring onions*
peanut oil
500g pork mince
3 tbs chilli bean paste ( from Asian Grocers)
soy sauce
rice wine
seasame oil
extra chillies * if you want extra punch
Cut eggplants into short, thin strips, scatter with salt and drain in colander for about 30 mins. Rince and pat dry. In a morta and pestle crush garlic, ginger and half the spring onions into a rough paste. Cut remaining spring onions into 5 cm lengths (and chop chillies if using extra) and set aside. In a hot wok, fry the eggplant in two batches in oil until golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Discard oil.
Return wok to the flame and add some peanut oil, add garlic paste and mince and stir fry for 5 mins until pork is cooked. Add remaining ingredients including spring onions and extra chilli. Cook for a few minutes until onions soften. Stir in eggplant and check seasoning. Eat with steamed jasmine rice or noodles.
Corn and Tomato salad
* produce from the garden
I think I got the idea for this salad from a recipe for a salsa! I just decided it should be a salad instead of a side....
1 cob of corn
tomatoes* (cherries cut in half and others cut into similar size)
red onion cut fine dice
coriander
chillies*
olive oil
lime juice*
Cook corn on cob and cut nibblets off. Add to a bowl with red onion, tomatoes, chillies and coriander and add olive oil and lime juice to taste.
 |
| zucchini with flowers |
* produce from the garden
This recipe is adapted from one in Gourmet Traveller 2011 Annual Cookbook. The original includes stuffing the flowers of the zucchini with a rice and herb mix, which I am sure is very nice... but I havent yet got my head around stuffing zucchini flowers. It is perfect for dealing with two gluts - tomatoes and zucchinis.
tomatoes* - the original recipe calls for 3 large ones and 250 gms of small ones
1 red onion
1 head of garlic* broken up
olive oil
zucchinis*
lemon juice *
red wine vinegar
thyme*
oregano*
Heat oven to 200C. Scatter tomatoes, onion and garlic in roasting pan and add olive oil. Roast until tomato skins start to split (8-10 mins). Cut up zucchinis into chunky bits and add to pan with lemon juice, red wine vinegar and herbs. Roast until zucchini tender but not soft (12-15 mins). This is really yummy with bbq meats.
mmm zuchinni tomato combo sounds great, just used the washing basket to pick my last haul
ReplyDeleteIt's really yummy, especially if you dont cook the zucchini on too much and you have lots of lovely oregano. Good luck with your washing basket full!
Delete