Courgette and Sultana Wine UPDATE

Here we go, seven bottles of Courgette and Sultana Wine. This will need to lay in the wine rack for at least 3 months before trying it.

Let's hope it tastes ok...

Carrot and Parsnip Soup

Before we got our allotment a friend very kindly let us plant in his. The only crop we had left growing there were parsnips which have had to come up. They could have done with more time as they are little small but they are a fine looking bunch and damn tasty too.

Along with some of our carrot crop I've made a creamy carrot and parsnip soup for lunch today. Really simple recipe, so here it us for you to try.

Creamy carrot and parsnip soup recipe

Ingredients:
A knob of butter
1large onion, peeled and chopped
450g carrots, peeled and chopped
2large parsnips, peeled and chopped
Thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp of grated orange rind
600ml/1 pint of veg stock
125ml single cream
Salt and pepper, to season
Fresh coriander, to garnish

How to make it:
In a large saucepan melt the butter over a low heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes to soften.
Add the carrots and parsnips. Cover with the lid and cook until the vegetables have softened.
Stir in the ginger, orange rind and stock. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for half an hour. Allow to cool a little and then blend until smooth.
Stir through the cream and season.
Bowl up and garnish with the coriander.

Enjoy with a nice fresh crusty loaf.

Original recipe can be found here

Courgette and Sultana Wine

My brother bought me a book, Booze for Free, years ago and I came across this recipe whilst flicking through. We Still had a fair amount of courgettes to use up so why not hey? Let's try something different.

Courgette and Sultana Wine Recipe

Ingredients:
3kg fresh courgettes
1kg sugar
2 overripe bananas
500 g sultana
4 litres/7 pints water
1 tsp citric acid
a thumb sized piece of bruised ginger (that just means gentry squashed, but not broken. Use the side of the blade of a knife)
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 Campden tablet (optional)
Champagne yeast

Equipment:
Small saucepan
Fermentation bin
4.5 litre /1 gallon demijohn
Airlock and bung
Mincer (or sharp knife)
Siphoning tube

How to make it:
Chop the courgettes into 3cm pieces and put in the freezer overnight.
Allow to thaw (the courgette will be softened).
Bring 500ml/1 pint of water to the boil and stir in the sugar.
Mince the sultanas (or chop finely) and add these to the water too. Leave to one side.
Mash the bananas and mix it with all the other ingredients (except the yeast) in the fermentation bin.
Cover and allow to cool to hand-hot. If using a Campden tablet, add it now. Leave overnight.

Add the yeast and leave for four days loosely covered before straining the liquid into a demijohn and attaching an airlock and bung.
Rack* after a month and then again if needed. Allow to ferment out (the airlock will stop bubbling) then bottle.

This wine will benefit from at least three month's ageing.

*Rack(ing): siphoning the partially fermented wort into another vessel so it isn't fermenting on yeast sediment. Be careful to not disturb the layer of sediment at the bottom, stop siphoning before you reach it.

Original recipe from Andy Hamilton's,  'Booze for Free' 

Lavender Shortbread

After our trip to Hitchin Lavender I thought I'd would try experimenting and cooking with it. We has friends over for dinner today so I made lavender Creme Brulee originally. It was all going very well until I forgot there were in the open. Burnt Creme Brulee.

Undeterred, I thought I would try something else. I came across a nice simple recipe for lavender shortbread. We love shortbread so I just had to try this. The lavender in it is really subtle, but a nice little addition.

Lavender Shortbread

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar (granulated is fine if you don't have caster)
2 tbsp very finely chopped lavender florets (fresh or dried) - freshly picked from Hitchin Lavender
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint - from the allotment
2 1/3 cups plain flour
1/2 corn flour
pinch of salt

How to make it:
Preheat your over to 160°C

In a big mixing bowl cream together the butter, sugar, lavender and mint.
Mix until it is light and fluffy (or until your arm hurts).
Add the flour, corn flour and salt and beat until it is all mixed in.
Divide the dough in half, flatten it out a bit and wrap in cling film. Stick it in the fridge to chill until it is firm.
Sprinkle a little flour on a surface and roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/2 inch. use a cookie cutter or whatever you want to cut out the cookies
Lay out on some baking paper lined oven try leaving about an inch between each cookie to allow for expansion.
prick each a few times with a fork. you can create a pattern if you want to maybe.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until pale golden, but do not allow to brown.
When cooled a little place them on a cooling rack and sprinkle over a little sugar.

Original recipe can be found here

Lamb Stuffed Marrow

Not sure what to do with your marrow? We say stuff it. This is a really tasty recipe which I first came across several years ago now and I do it every year when the marrows are ready.

Lamb Stuffed Marrow Recipe

Ingredients:

4 tbsp oil

1 onion, finely chopped

250g lamb mince

1 garlic clove, crushed

4 tbsp tomato puree paste

75g rice, cooked

4 tbsp ground cinnamon

25g pinenuts

25g raisins (or similar - I use what ever I have in the cupboard)

1 marrow, halved and deseeded

2 tbsp butter

300g arrabbiata sauce (basically any tomato and chili sauce, or make your own)

salt and pepper to season

How to make it:

For the stuffing: Cook your rice and set aside.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and saute the onions and the mince until the mince starts to brown. 

Add the garlic, tomato puree and cinnamon and cook for a few minutes. 

Remove from the heat and add the other ingredients.

Preheat the over to 190°C.

Put your marrow in a baking tray and fill with the stuffing mixture.

Dot with knobs of the butter and cover with foil.

Roast for 45-50 minutes.

The sauce: heat your ready bought sauce or create your own tomato and chili sauce.

Plate up your marrow and pour your sauce over, or flood the plate with the sauce and place your marrow on top.

Original recipe can be found here

Courgette Fritters

What to do with your hundreds of lovely courgettes? A nice little snack or side dish to try is Courgette Fritters. They are really quick (about 15 mins) and easy to make and taste great with a blob of sweet chilli to sauce to dip them in.

Courgette Fritters Recipe

Ingredients:
50g plain flour
2 eggs
50ml milk
1 courgette, grated
1 tbsp oil
Salt and pepper, to season
Sweet chilli sauce, to serve

How to make it:
Put your flour in a bowl and make a little well in the middle.
Crack in your eggs and gradually whisk together, adding the milk, a little bit at a time, to make a smooth batter.
Stir in the grated courgette and season well.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and add tablespoons of mixture to make fritters. A bit like making pancakes really.
Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until lightly golden.
Serve with sweet chilli sauce for dipping.


Original recipe can be found here

Rhubarb and Okra Sweet and Sour Soup

We have an abundance of rhubarb, as is custom for this time of year. I wanted to try something besides the usual crumble, so in my search I came across this Vietnamese style recipe and just had to try it. It is perhaps an acquired taste, as it is quite unusual to begin with, bit after a few spoonfuls I loved this soup.

Rhubarb and Okra Sweet and Sour Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp crushed garlic
4 tomatoes, quartered
1 tsp gia vi (or a mix of 2 parts sugar, 1 part black pepper, 1 part salt and 1 part garlic powder) <- I did this
1.5 litres water
3 rhubarb stalks, cut into 3cm chunks
2 tbsp fish sauce
50g okra*, halved, deseeded and cut into 1cm rounds
½ pineapple, cut into 2cm chunks
1 tsp sugar
1 spring onion, chopped
1 tbsp chopped coriander

*Okra - you can buy this in the supermarket. They are also known as 'lady's fingers' and look a bit like large green chillies (you can see them in the middle of the photo). They produce a sticky kind of liquid when you cut and cook them.

How to make it:

Heat the oil in a saucepan and stir in the garlic, cooking until fragrant.

Stir in the tomatoes with ½ tsp gia vi. 

Pour in enough of the water to cover, then bring to the boil.

When the tomatoes are soft, add the remaining water and bring back to the boil, then add the rhubarb and cook until very soft. 

Stir in the fish sauce and sugar, then add the remaining gia vi.
Add the okra and pineapple, cook for 15 minutes, then sprinkle with the spring onion and coriander. 

The original recipe can be found here