Belly of pork roasted on a nest of tomatillos recipe. Halogen oven/conventional oven recipe
Tomatillos are extremely easy to grow. They are great for making salsas and sauces and they freeze well. They also do not get blight so it’s always worth growing a couple of plants if you have a greenhouse or conservatory to get some tomatoey tangy flavour if your tomato crops fail. You do need to grow at least two plants to guarantee that the fruit will set but apart from that I’ve always found them very obliging, tolerant to haphazard watering and they always give a good harvest. I tend to freeze tomatillos, but they can be dehydrated...
read moreThe Polytunnel Book: Fruit and Vegetables All Year Round by Joyce Russell with photographs by Ben Russell. A review.
I couldn’t wait to tell you about this book. It’s excellent, inspirational and practical. I’ve been reading it ever since it arrived a few days ago. As you know I’m the proud owner of a solar tunnel. Unlike the average polytunnel the solar tunnel is beautiful, the covering is thick and sturdy and the doors chunky. It’s a great space to work in and hopefully will provide us with tasty crops throughout the year. Even though it seemed vast when it was constructed – 10’ x 20’ – space is at a premium. And I need all the help and...
read moreHappy New Year
To me, New Year is a fresh start that is more official than a birthday. D tends to look back whilst my focus is usually forward. I reckon that I’m very lucky to have an optimistic outlook although sometimes my expectations are unrealistic – causing frustration and woe. D’s a realist and I’m a dreamer. He practices expectation management – I’d not even heard of the term until I met D. I don’t make New Years resolutions. I generally have ongoing plans in place throughout the year. These are made to stop me drifting about in a...
read moreWild garlic: Ramsons (Allium ursinum)
Back in the last century, when I was at boarding school, the music and science block was a short five minute walk from our classroom. This is also where I was taught to play the violin by The Missing Link but that’s another story. In Spring there were frothy cushions of wild garlic either side of the road. No one was keen on singing lessons so one day we thought that we’d spice things up a bit and eat some wild garlic. “Then we’ll open our mouths as wide as possible as we sing.” “Yes lets! She can’t complain as for once...
read morePreparing for a gap between cars
We discovered this week that Danny’s company car is being replaced by a monthly car allowance. Panic. The car goes on Tuesday. Paying the tax will go on for another year as it was paid a year in arrears. Grrr. “Why don’t we get Jalopy repaired? She might be old but she’s a good car.” “I only get the car allowance if the car is suitable for carrying clients.” “Oh…” During a really hot summer a couple of cans of paint exploded in Jalopy’s interior giving an interesting patina to the roof and seats. And of course...
read moreA present of seeds: “such stuff. As dreams are made on..”
“What are those? They look like sweets!” A hopeful, sugar addicted Danny, was peering over my shoulder as I unwrapped the chunky package that fellow blogger *Emma Cooper had sent me as a present. “It’s Oca. One of the things on my extensive A Taste of the Unexpected wish list.” Yes, apart from the book list I have several others! Lists to lurk over and dream. I was thrilled. Then I spotted a pack of Goji berry seeds – also on the same wish list. I remember Emma blogging about these and am really keen to grow them next...
read moreAchocha: an easy alternative to growing sweet green peppers
I tried growing peppers yet again this year in the greenhouse. Some were attacked by a mystery pest that ate into the fruit just at stem level. The fruit gradually rotted. But one plant was not attacked and we ended the season with sweet peppers – just four but these are the first peppers that I’ve ever managed to grow. I also planted achocha this year. I hadn’t heard of these until I spotted them on The Real Seed website. Who could resist the name “Fat Baby” and the photo of just a hand poking out from the undergrowth of achocha....
read moreChicken and green tomato risotto recipe
For years I thought that risottos were hard to make. I’d order them in restaurants and drool over the creamy rice with bite. I reckoned to cook the rice like that would take real skill. Oh how wrong I was. Risottos are easy. It would take ‘real skill’ to ruin the rice. Risottos are the ultimate comfort fast food. We eat a lot of risotto throughout the year. They are a delicious way of padding out very little meat. Even Danny, the King of Carnivores adores them. Completely vegetarian risottos are delicious and I don’t think that it...
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