Zucchini Tuesday - Carpaccio

Tonight I decided to love my zucchini raw in a simple salad. I can't claim the recipe as my own, it is adapted from  this recipe. If you like the bitterness of rocket, lemony flavoured zucchini  and the saltiness of peccarino then this one works. I really enjoyed it.

Zucchini carpaccio 

zucchinis cut very very thin - I used the veggie peeler
olive oil
lemon juice
black pepper
zested rind of lemon
* rocket
shaved peccarino

* from the garden

Toss the zucchini in lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil and black pepper. The the zucchini sit in this dressing  while you wash and spin the rocket.  Place rocket on your serving dish and top with drained zucchini and shaved peccarino. Eat.

What's happening with your zucchinis?  Contemplating preserves? Managed to make the zucchini the favourite vegetable of the household?

Until next week -  Love your zucchini.

Monday Harvest - 24 Sept 2012

My pickings at the moment reflect where we are in the season.

My second planting of winter crops is now coming into maturity. This week I picked, one decent sized cauliflower, 3 smallish heads of broccoli  (just one in this picture) and the first picking of my third crop of snow peas.

The other things I picked  reflect the start of the summer crops.

These are trimmings really rather than pickings, which will go into a salad for tonight's dinner.

I thinned my beetroot a little - you can see that the roots had started to form. I will eat these leaves.

I also took the best leaves off the celery. Do you like celery leaves in your salads?

Then I trimmed my lime green lettuce plants, snuck a little off the baby curled parsley and picked some mint.

I think this will all make a great green salad with some semi-dried tomatoes a crumble of fetta and a slick of vinaigrette.

What are you picking?

I am contributing this to Daphne's Dandelions Monday Harvest.

The last of the fennel

Yesterday I picked my last fennel bulb and I didn't take a picture!

I was thinking about dinner for visitors and didn't think about blogging at all.  It was a lovely bulb, fat and white.  And then I realised that I did have a photo of it in its junior form.... so imagine this one grown up a little more.

The last of the fennel went into a this salad.  It is one of those recipes that come off those recipe cards that you can pick up at green grocers.  I don't actually normally pick these up, but I liked the look of it.

Bean, fennel and tomato salad (* from the patch)

1 bulb fennel*
2 tbls lemon* juice
olive oil
pine nuts
green beans
cherry tomatoes
parmesan cheese

Take the core from the fennel and cut finely in long strips. Place in a bowl with the lemon juice and olive oil and marinate for 30 minutes.

Place pine nuts in  a saucepan and toast, remove from heat. Steam the beans and refresh under cool water.

Add all ingredients to the fennel bowl and mix thru shaved parmesan. Add ground black pepper. Last night I didn't have any parmesan and so left it out but it really is much better with the parmesan in.

This salad is fresh and crunchy and delicious.  I have also in the past added torn basil leaves to this but it would be great with torn Italian parsley too. It's a great summer salad using many things from the patch.

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I have some other fennel in but they are tiny and have only been out of the ground for a week.  I can't wait for my next crop.

Thin pancakes, thin patch

Picked

• rocket
• 1 cauliflower
• Italian parsley
• oregano

Planted

• celery seedlings
• broccoli seedlings
• cauliflower seedlings
• savoy cabbage seedlings

Thin no 1
The day started extremely  well with one of the best Sunday breakfasts imaginable - thin pancakes with lemon and sugar (the lemon juice from the garden of course). This is a lad speciality and a massively appreciated one. When you happen to get the sugar and lemon balance just right, it is heavenly. Pancakes, black tea, the only thing that could have improved the scene was a sunny verandah, alas, it was grey and cool.

Thin no 2
The garden is a little thin too ( but not in a good way). It is thin on produce. I have two caulis and two cabbages still to pick,  a small amount of snow peas still flowering and  a few fennel and that is about it. I have a mountain of rocket and lemons  though - yes, the lemon glut doesn't have an end....

With most of my produce now picked it was time to restock the patch with broccoli, cabbage, cauli and celery. They are tiny and I will probably regret putting them in when I want my beds free for the planting of the summer crops... oh well, let's see. 

Most of today's pickings will go into dinner -  the oregano into tonight's dinner a chickpea, chorizo and red capsicum dish I have made before and unimaginatively  made again this evening (but I do enjoy it!).

The rocket is going into a  rocket, parsley and pecarino salad.

Rocket, parsley and pecarino salad

rocket*

Italian parsley*

pecarino slices thin 

lemon*juice

olive oil

Wash the rocket and parsley ( make sure there are no snails...) spin. Make dressing from oil and lemon juice. Mix a small amount of the dressing thru the leaves and arrange on a plate top with thin pieces of pecarino.

With SO much rocket in the patch and very little else, I can see I will need to think of many ways to eat it.  Got any ideas on endless rocket recipes?

A glut of lemons (2) and gifts for Harriet

Today's pick

Picked

• lemons
• limes
• eggplant
• chillies
• lettuce
• rocket
• parsley
• mint
• chives

Other

• squashed  cabbage moth green grubs on the broccoli

We will get to the lemon glut a little later, first I wanted to tell you of the gifts that are left for Harriet. Harriet is our cat.  She's a quiet lass, she is not much of a hunter -  thankfully -  she does assist with a bit of mousing, mostly catching really little ones.

Over a few years we have noticed that Harriet has an admirer who leaves her gifts -  tokens of his affection and hunting ability.  What does he leave for petite, well behaved Harriet?  Large decapitated rats!  Over time he has left around 5-6 rats for her - we've lost count.  One day he left one for her on the front door mat and I in a pre-caffeinated state on my way to work, stepped right over it without even noticing.

Harriet unimpressed with her gifts

This week, Harriet's admirer has left yet another one for her in the garden -  the spot he usually leaves his gifts. Hmm, charming... She doesn't pay him or the rat any attention. She is very sensible.  I wouldn't hang out with a lad that brought me such gifts!

On lemons -  well they just keep falling off the tree.  I collected another pile today and picked some limes, eggplants and chillies. I need to get stuck into the lemon glut again. Tonight I made a dish that uses, rind, lemon quarters and lemon leaves.



Lamb kofte
This recipe comes from Gourmet Traveller November 2009. I have made it a couple of times and it is delicious.  The lemon leaves that wrap around the kofte balls really do impart a lemony flavour to the meat.  The amounts here are true to the recipe, except I have added some chia seeds and an egg to the recipe - the egg holds it together a little more. I've just rolled the balls and will cook in just a little while. 
* from the garden

Ready for the flame

1 kg lamb mince
100gm bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped mint*
1 tablespoon grated lemon* rind
2 teaspoons fennel seeds roasted and ground
1 teaspoon cumin seeds roasted and ground
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 egg
1 lemon leaf for each kofte ball
lemon* wedges to serve

Combine mince, bread crumbs, mint, lemon rind , chia seeds, egg and spices and mould into balls - large walnut sized.  Wrap lemon leaves around each ball ( they just have to wrap around a little more than   half way and that is fine) and put leaf-wrapped ball onto metal skewers, skewing half way thru the ball and going thru both ends of the leaf.  Grill or BBQ until cooked, about 5-6 mins. They will go on soon.

Green salad
I will make this salad to go with it. It is really simple and really lovely with  this dish.  It is just a combo of greens and herbs and, even better,  it all comes from the garden.* from the garden

Today's home picked greens

lettuce* leaves
rocket* leaves
parsley*
chives*
mint*
olive oil
lemon* juice
pepper

Combine leaves and herbs and dress with lemony vinaigrette.

And later I think we need a lemony pud.

Lemon delicious pudding
I love this sweety.  It is a real Australian favourite I think, and takes no time to make.  There are many recipes, I seem to have mislaid the one I got from my mum (or my grandmother, I don't remember from whom).  This one comes from  Happy days with the Naked Chef - a Jamie. He calls it lovely lemon curd pud. I have used the name that is used in my family ( and probably more broadly?). * from the garden

55g butter
115 g sugar
grated rind and juice of 1 lemon*
2 large eggs, separated
55g self-raising flour
285ml milk

Pre-heat oven to 200C. Cream butter and sugar and lemon rind. Add egg yolks and flour and mix, add in milk and lemon juice and mix. Leave aside.

In a separate very  clean bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff.  Fold into the other mixture, be careful not to knock too much air out while you are doing this. Gently place into an oven dish - I use a pyrex one cause the dessert separates into lovely layers and its worth being able to see that.  Put  glass pyrex dish into a larger baking dish and add water to half way up the side of the pyrex.

Cook for about 45 min or until the top is spongy and browned (but light and fluffy).  It will be lemony curdy in the bottom and light and fluffy sponge on top.

Slim pickin's

today's lime pick - two big fat juicy ones

Picked

• parsley
• spring onions
• lemons
• limes
• mint

Not much too pick at the moment, just a few regulars, but enough to contribute to some of our meals.

Today David made tabbouleh to accompany our lunch of flat bread, baba ghanoush and kofta. Yum.  David makes a  mean tabbouleh and it's one of those salads that can come mostly from the garden -  parsley, mint, spring onions and lemon (and tomatoes if you have them -  we don't at the moment). When all else fails or when nothing else is ready to pick you can almost always pick yourself enough for tabbouleh. We always have burghul in the cupboard for those moments.  David says tabbouleh invigorates him... is it the mint I wonder? or all that iron-rich parsley?

The other salad of the day is a  pea, mint and feta salad one that I love.

Pea, mint and feta salad
The original is a 'Jamie' - you know who I mean -  and comes from his Jamie Oliver - Naked Chef book  that David bought me when we lived in England.  There was something about Jamie's food when we were in  England that reminded me of home (Australia).  I think it was the freshness of the food, the no nonsense attitude and the bright colours of the pictures and perhaps the Italian influence that we'd routinely find in Sydney and Melbourne as well? 

Anyway, looking back at the recipe now I realise that my version varies quite a lot from his.  Here it is. * from the garden

feta crumbled -  I use half a pack
frozen peas - boiled until just cooked (I like the petite pois)
mint* torn
lemon* juice
olive oil
black pepper

Combine peas and crumbled feta in a bowl, add mint and separately make a lemony vinaigrette add to the salad with black pepper.  Eat while still warmish.

Beat the beet week (2)

Roasted roots

Picked

• lemons
• 2 punnets tomatoes ( berries and cherries)
• 3 zucchinis
• chillies

Tonight's beat the beet recipe is...

Roasted Roots
3 beetroot*
6 shallots
2 potatoes
sweet potato
half a head of garlic broken into cloves
bay leaves*
olive oil

Heat oil in roasting pan, toss in vegetables cut into small chunky bits add bay leaves and roast until everything is crunchy and caramelised and the insides are soft.

Tonight we are eating with berber sprinkled lamb skewers, baba ganoush, cucumber salad (borrowing from  Sydney Foodie with a few changes)

Smashed cucumber salad (I know this as La ban huanggua -  spicy mixed cucumber in Chinese)
I am grateful for Sydney foodie's recipe for reminding me of this. I have such fond memories of eating this dish in China in really hot and humid days.  The crunch of the cucumber and garlic and chillies goes great with a cold beer too...

smashed cucumber salad

2 cucumbers smashed and seeds removed*
1 clove garlic smashed and chopped
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
Chinese white wine vinegar
Chinese Shaoxing wine
Peanut oil

Leave the skin on the cucumber, smash the cucmber with a Chinese cleaver or other heavy knife,  when open remove the excess seedy bits (mine are quite seedy at the moment!). If the smashing doesn't give you small enough pieces break the rest up with your hands.  Breaking or smashing  it rather than cutting it really is a feature of la ban huanggua and gives you a nice chunky texture. Add garlic and chillies and mix.  Heat a small amount of peanut oil in a saucepan and when smoking pour over cucumber, it'll crackle. Then add a little Shaoxing wine and Chinese white vinegar. I think the vinegar really makes it. If you like a little chopped coriander is good too.

Beat the beet week

Picked

today's beetroot pick

• a big pile of beetroot
• 3 punnets of tomatoes (berries and cherries)
• 2 cucumbers
• handfull of chillies

I had to pick most of the beetroot today. The swollen purple roots were sitting on top of the ground. Had I left them much longer I swear they would have pushed themselves completely out of the ground.  I hope I havent left it too late - will they be too hard and woody?  Or maybe not after the mild summer. We will find out very soon.

I have officially declared this week as 'beat the beet week'. I think we are going to have to be pretty serious about eating them to get the numbers down to a reasonable level.  Tonight I am trying Suburban Tomato's  Beetroot, fetta and mint salad  but think I will use vin cotto (just becasue I have it) with olive oil in my dressing instead of ST's suggestion. Might also be nice with some roasted pine nuts.

Techno-bimbo backlog!

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:

• 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

David has converted the eggplant glut into spicy eggplant and what we cant eat at a sitting is waiting in the freezer for work lunch boxes. We have also fed well and often on pesto and more zucchini fritters and taken lemon tarts to parties (wishing we'd made two so we could keep one at home). Tomatoes are turning up in most meals - when its warm in one of my favourite salads, a corn and tomato one, and when the weather is cool, a lovely hot tomato and zucchini dish. 

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

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.