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...

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' 

BBQ lunch at the allotment

A sunny Sunday calls for a BBQ. We had a nice healthy fish lunch cooked on the BBQ at the allotment. We did our weeding duties, of course, while the coals heated up.

Here is the view of the allotment while we ate and an update on progress: The corn is very nearly ready for picking, the butternut squash are getting bigger, pumpkins are looking good, the wild flower bed looks delightful and today's picks included loads of runner beans, shallots and a big courgette.

Herb garden completed at last

I had the afternoon off work so today I finished off the herb garden at last. Weeded and edging put in, it looks really neat and tidy now and the plants are all doing well.

The butternut squash are getting bigger. I'm looking forward to them being ready to pick.

Today's harvest consisted of four big courgettes, you could class two as marrows probably, some runner beans and some French beans.

Courgette and Cheddar Soda Bread

To go with the risotto, which was pumpkin, chilli and sage (from the allotment), I have made a rather hansome looking loaf of courgette and cheddar soda bread.

Wild flower bed

At last the flowers are coming out in the flower bed. David sprinkled so many wild flower seeds in there, it's nice to finally have a bit of colour and somewhere for the bees. The nasturtiums are looking gorgeous too.

Also a small harvest of fruit, French beans and courgettes.

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

Monster marrow

We also picked this today. We felt it deserved a post of its own.

It is enormous!

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

A sudden growth spurt

Everything seems to have grown all of a sudden. I swear, a few days ago, it was half that size, but look at it now. It's become a marrow, rather than courgette. We've picked 3 and they're all quite big.

The pumpkins are on their way, all orange and lovely. The corn is getting taller and the little carrot patch it looking good too.

It's a courgette

The courgette plant has its first baby on the way.

First sign of growth

We have the first signs of life. The one surviving courgette plant from the other allotment, having settled in well after relocation, is starting sprout flowers.

Sadly the butternut squash plants have died, so I have bought a squash and a pumpkin plant to replace them.