Growing vegetables all year round. January 2010 update
It’s still very cold here. There was snow yesterday and a bit more last night – just a sugar frosting. So pretty if you can stay indoors tucked up beside a glowing woodstove. The fur lined wellingtons that my mum gave me last Christmas have really come into their own this winter as they have grippy soles and don’t slip in the snow and ice. The brassicas are much sweeter since the hard frosts and the Brussels sprouts are to die for. Completely different from the ones available in the shops. Today I’m planning to pluck some of the...
read moreSlow cooker chef: warming winter mixed game casserole recipe
Unless you have a shotgun and access to rough shooting, game can be a very expensive treat in the UK. A small pack of mixed game from Waitrose will set you back around a fiver. So when Danny spotted two bags of mixed game marked down to £1.25 each he grabbed them with a chortle. “Oh dear,” I secretly thought, “This meat needs to be cooked immediately and I haven’t got the right vegetables for a game casserole.” But of course I had dehydrated ones – it’s difficult to switch on to this new source of bounty having just cooked with...
read moreThe run up to Christmas
“I’m more excited about the gate side stand than I am about Christmas.” Danny remarked as he carefully avoided an icy patch on the country road. We were driving back from the market laden with fruit as we’ve run out of some lines. I’m delighted about our stand too. Sales have been pretty good since I put out taster pots. I’m thrilled that people are buying our preserves and coming back for more. We are now making flavoured vinegars to sell when the bottle supplier is up and running again in January. I’m also experimenting with...
read moreDrying your own herbs
The cottage is filled with the sweet aroma of coriander/cilantro. Later there will be wafts of mint, oregano, marjoram, lemon balm and sage. Tomorrow it will be garlic. It has suddenly got much colder here but there are still herbs to harvest to add to hearty winter dishes and give us a hint of summer again. Needless to say I’m using the dehydrator to do this. It makes quick work of the drying process which is good as J.P. gave me a sack full of coriander. We will return half of the dried coriander to them. A good swap in my book. We...
read moreQuick piquant turkey stir fry with Romano peppers and button mushrooms recipe
My food dehydrator is turning out to be a winner. For years I’ve often had the frustration of running out of an essential ingredient and having to adapt my cooking plans. I now have access to a large range and choice of ingredients. I can do off the cuff cooking which is fun. As long as I remember to bung them into the slow cooker for an hour to rehydrate I can throw a meal together in minutes as all the chopping and preparation has been done prior to dehydrating. My dehydrated fruit and veg are stored in ziplock bags in a vast carrier...
read moreCauliflower soup with blue cheese and orange zest recipe
This is another in our skinflint soup series. This delicious soup was run up with leftovers that could easily have just been thrown away. They made an elegant soup. The two key ingredients are mushroom ketchup and the zest of the orange which transformed this soup from good to sublime. Danny chickened out on the orange zest front. Refused even to taste it. He missed out on a real treat. I got the idea of combining orange and vegetables from a video from dehydrate2store where Tammy mixes dried ground orange peel with dried beetroot and...
read moreStrawberries
One of the best cakes that I’ve ever tasted is my mum’s sponge cake with a wicked filling of strawberries and whipped cream. In fact when she was making this filling she discovered how to make butter with double cream and an electric whisk. So I was doubly blessed. Many varieties of strawberries with the best flavour don’t travel well. So you won’t find them in the market or supermarket. Waitrose tried stocking some old English varieties one year but the shelf life was so limited that they gave up. The great thing about growing...
read moreMake your own rosehip tea
“Those two rose bushes beside the back door are totally out of control and need cutting back.” Danny remarked back in June. I couldn’t oblige as I was planning to make tea. The bushes got more and more flamboyant until they were given a harvesting haircut at the weekend. There are lots of roses growing in the cottage garden so we have a profusion of hips for preserving in the Autumn. I usually make rosehip and apple jelly and sometimes rosehip syrup but this year I’d discovered the huge benefits of drinking rosehip tea. This would...
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