Getting late in the season now. Soo many tomatoes this year and a great harvest of onions. Not going to grow garlic except for elephant garlic next year as it got quite rusty. This entire front bed is going to be onions again as we eat so many !
I'll be sad to put the allotment to bed until the spring but I'm already looking forward to next years planting plan.
I don't remember quite how and when I came across this recipe page but I've tried two recipes now ( thinking maybe three ) and they are amazing!! Sam has been vegan for a good many years so I'm always on the lookout for interesting recipes for him - all these sound delicious so I started with this one.
This recipe will feed four but I found that it was a bit too noodly, I would definitely use a few less noodles next time as I really enjoy the broth .....sooo tasty!
Ingredients
For the spicy Tofu
8oz Extra Firm Tofu squeezed and dried and cut into chunks
1 Teaspoon Soy Sauce
2 Teaspoons Lime Juice
1/2 Teaspoon Garam Masala
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Granules ( powder )
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
1/2 Teaspoon Kashmiri Chilli Powder ( Optional )
For The Butter Ramen
Splash Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Chopped or Sliced Onions ( I used a whole onion )
6oz Thinly Sliced Mushrooms
1/2 Thinly Sliced Bell Pepper
2 Tablespoons Garlic/Ginger Paste
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 Teaspoon Garam Masala ( I used 2 )
1 Tin Full Fat Coconut Milk
4 - 41/2 Cups Vegetable Stock
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
6 oz Ramen
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Kashmiri Chilli Powder
For The garnish
Chopped Fresh Coriander
Lime Wedges
Sliced Red Onion
Chopped Green Chillies
Add all the ingredients for the tofu apart from the cornflour into a bowl, mix well and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan, coat the tofu with the cornflour and fry until crispy. Be careful here as it can catch quite quickly.
Drain if necessary and put to one side.
In the same pan add a little oil and fry the onions and mushrooms salt and pepper for approx 4- 5 minutes.
Add the bell pepper, ginger/garlic paste and black pepper and stir around for a few seconds. Add the tomato paste, spices and coconut milk. Stir so that there are no lumps.
Add the stock salt and maple syrup
Bring to a rolling boil and add in the noodles.
Cook for approx 3-4 minutes.
Do NOT overcook at this stage as the noodles still cook a little in the hot broth. Check the seasoning, I added a little more of the spices and maple syrup and lime juice at this stage at it wasn't terribly tasty.
Pour lovely noodle mix into bowls, top with the crispy tofu and serve.
I was gifted an unexpected bowl of blackberries a couple of weeks ago and immediately thought of blackberry jam - hold your horses insisted no 1 - could I have a blackberry tart please?
Well, there were quite few blackberries so I cleaned them all ( few little worms etc in there ) out and saved enough for a large tart and whatever I had left over made the jam, I figured I probably had enough fruit to make 2 large jars and so it was ......kind of.......
Ingredients
400gms Fresh Thoroughly Washed Blackberries
400gms Jam Sugar
In a large flameproof pan, gently heat the fruit and sugar together until all the sugar is dissolved. Don't rush this bit, as soon as you can see no crystals on the back of a wooden spoon its ready to turn up the heat.
Turn up the heat to a nice boil without it burning and let it boil for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
Now, I could put a little bit onto a cold plate to see if it wrinkles but honestly I find it just as easy to coat the back of a wooden spoon, leave it for a few seconds and just gently push it with a clean finger, if it wrinkles its ready.
Pour into sterilized warm jars right to the top and seal immediately . No need for wax discs if its completely to the top and lidded straight away.
Maybe don't do this, don't wash sticky jars under a cool tap - yes I did do this !! One jar just shattered ( of course ) leaving me with one jar of jam.
This is a recipe that I've made so many times but can no longer find the original anywhere. It's taken from Nigel Slater many years ago and it's a lovely healthy gorgeous winter warmer of a recipe. Nowadays I kind of make it up as I go along and try and remember what is actually in it :)
Anyway - this is my take on this recipe, to be changed at will given how I remember it!
Ingredients
3 Large Carrots Roughly Chopped
3 Sticks Celery Roughly Chopped
2 Large Onions Roughly Chopped
4 Fat Cloves Garlic Minced
200gms Smoked Bacon Lardons ( or Smoked Streaky Bacon )
Half a Savoy Cabbage Deveined and Chopped
Half a Tube Tomato Puree
1 Tin Tomatoes ( 400gms )
3 Tins Beans - any type really, I used Borlotti, Canellini and Butter Beans
1 Green Chilli Finely Chopped
1 Teaspoon Dried Mixed Herbs
2 Large Bay Leaves
2 vegetable Stock pots / Cubes
Olive Oil
Good Handful Chopped Flat Leaf Parsley
Couple of Ounces Grated Parmesan to Finish
Add carrots and stir for a couple of minutes, add tomato puree, stock pots, herbs, tinned tomatoes, bay leaves and drained and cleaned beans.
Give it all a good stir and cover with water.
Bring to the boil and put on the lid. Lower the Temperature to a gentle simmer and cook for about an hour or until the carrots are cooked through.
At this point the stew can be turned off until it's needed.
Half an hour or so before serving, bring the stew up to temperature and add the cabbage.
Pop the lid on and cook through for about 10 minutes or until the cabbage is tender. Add Parsley
Serve with crusty bread and grated Parmesan cheese - delicious!
Thanks Nigel Slater whatever this recipe actually started out as :)
A thought crossed my mind - can I make tomato puree- I use it a lot in recipes and I really hate to waste food, why not ??
Ingredients
Tomatoes
I didn't even weigh my tomatoes as it doesn't matter as it's the only ingredient, I gave mine a thorough wash and chopped them up into my slow cooker.
So far so easy - I cooked these in the slow cooker for 6 hours on a low setting, I then put them through the blender and sieved until smooth. Back into a saucepan and cooked to reduce.
Now this I would change next time, it took a while to reduce and towards the end it got pretty spattery, floopin tomato paste everywhere, while the end product was amazing, next time I'd pop the mixture back into the slow cooker and let that reduce it all down - much cheaper too!!
This tastes absolutely delicious - is it worth the faff - I think so, especially if you have a glut of tomatoes. Honestly you can buy tomato puree in a tube for a quid but homemade is great right !
I'm quite glad that I took photo's of my blackberries this year as honestly I thought I'd go out and pick tons more and make loads of jam and pies - I didn't!! This bowl of blackberries was the first and last of this years haul - there's probably still loads out there right now but I've got so much going on and the weather has been rubbish. Next year my little berries....
Ingredients
For the pastry
250gm Plain Flour
125gm Good Butter
2 Free Range Eggs
Pinch Salt
For the filling
5 Cups Fresh Washed Blackberries
1/2 Cup Plain Flour
1 Cup White Sugar
2 Tablespoons Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
Pre heat oven to 170c/ 170cfan / Gas mark 5
In a large bowl rub cold cubed butter into the salted flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Beat two eggs together and add to the flour mix, mix together until all combined, don't overhandle as it'll make the pastry tough .If it refuses to come together simply add a little cold water.
Bring together into a ball, wrap in cling wrap and place in the fridge for half an hour. Don't leave any longer as the pastry becomes unworkable, you just need it rested not comatose.
While the pastry rests, combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl, put to one side.
When the pastry had had a little snooze, roll out to your pie dish and bake blind in the oven for approx 15 - 20 minutes, take out and leave to cool slightly.
Pre Heat oven to 16oc / Gas Mark 4
When ready to cook, pour blackberry mixture into your coolish pie shell and pop into the oven to cook for approx 30 - 40 minutes.
So - The original recipe that I kind of used for this pie calls for butter to be added to the filling but I would say this is entirely unnecessary - I put it in and it added nothing to the recipe and actually just pooled a little on the top of the tart making it look greasy.
The tart is lovely ( without the need for butter ) and I served it with thick double cream
A lovely family member ( Thank you Rosalie ) has a mahoosive cooking apple tree in her garden and after an unexpected visit last week to share fun time with our granddaughter I was given a rather large bag of apples. Now, I knew that I was going to make tomato chutney with said apples but even I was surprised by the sheer quantity. There wasn't really any question as to what I was going to make as rather lovely husband has a proper sweet tooth.
Question really was , just how many apples could I fit into the pie....
Ingredients
For the pastry
250gm Plain Flour
125gm Good Butter
2 Free Range Eggs
Pinch Salt
For The Filling
1kilo Cooking Apple Cored and Sliced
150g Soft Brown Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon ground Cinnamon
3 Tablespoons Plain Flour
I beaten Free Range Egg To Glaze
Pre heat oven to 170c/ 170cfan / Gas mark 5
In a large bowl rub cold cubed butter into the salted flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Beat two eggs together and add to the flour mix, mix together until all combined, if it refuses to come together simply add a little cold water.
Bring together into a ball, wrap in cling wrap and place in the fridge for half an hour.
Don't leave it too long, you want it rested but too cold as it's a monkey to roll out.
While pastry is having a snooze, chop apples and coat thoroughly with the sugar and cinnamon.
Add flour and mix thoroughly.
Divide pastry roughly into two pieces and roll out one piece to cover your buttered pie dish.
Roughly pile all the apples into the pie dish, brush the edges with egg and place second piece of pastry over the pie, seal the edges. Brush with egg to glaze
Cut a hole into the top of the pie to let the steam escape. Sprinkle with a little brown sugar.
At this point you can trim the pastry but I know someone who like to eat all the little overhanging bits of pastry so I leave it on to cook.
Bake in the oven for approx 40 minutes taking care for it not to catch .....
As previously mentioned, I was given a rather large bag of cooking apples and knew that I wanted to make a nice tomato chutney as I already had a floopin huge supply of allotment tomatoes. I found this recipe online but have failed to find it again so thank you to whoever this came from originally - great recipe. I have doubled up the quantities as I had lots of veg to use including onions and garlic from the allotment.
Ingredients
2 Large Red Onions Chopped
1 1/2 kilos Tomatoes Chopped
4 Medium Apples Cored and Chopped ( skins left on )
8 Cloves Garlic Finely Chopped/Minced
250g Light Muscovado Sugar ( I used dark )
2 Teaspoons Ground Ginger
1 Teaspoon Ground Allspice
500mls Cider Vinegar
Place all ingredients into a nice big pan and gently bring up to a boil stirring to dissolve all the sugar.
Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the temperature up to the boil, lower the temperature to a simmer and cook uncovered for approx 1 1/2 hours.
I cooked mine for 2 hours as I wanted it a bit more syrupy .
Once cooked spoon into sterilized jars and immediately put a lid on.
Leave to cool and then label and place in a cool dark cupboard for at least a few weeks to mature.
Safe to say that as I had a little left over , I've already tried this. It would definitely benefit from maturing but its lovely and fresh and I think it'll be even nice in a few months time.
Just when you think that all the work going into growing tomatoes may just be a bit of a faff - up they all come. Year after year I'm shocked as to how many we end up with on the allotment, so many questions, did I plant enough seeds ? will they ever ripen ? how did I end up with so many again ?
We planted a number of different varieties this year but without a doubt these three are the very best:
Sunstripe Tomato - these are so good I could barely stop eating them as I was picking them.
Tomato Costoluto Fiorentino - These took they're time to ripen but they are magnificent tomatoes. Good for absolutely everything, eaten straight from the allotment on a hot day seems best
There were two choices for dinner this Saturday ..Spaghetti Bolognaise or Shepherds Pie?? Which one would he choose... after thinking about it for almost 2 seconds we had our answer :)
Now, I always used to make my spaghetti bolognaise with added chopped chicken livers as it used to give a lovely rich flavour to the sauce, I absolutely cannot get these for love nor money anymore - so sad, I tried everywhere. I'm sure that these are available if you live in a city but here in the valleys it's a big fat NOPE!
Ingredients
500g Lean minced Steak/Beef
2 Large Onions Finely Chopped
3 Sticks Celery Finely Chopped
4 Fat Cloves Garlic Finely Chopped
6 Slices Smoked Bacon ( streaky or back ) Finely Diced
1 Tube Tomato Paste
2 Bay Leaves
500g Mushrooms ( I used button and chestnut )
1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes
Splash Mushroom Ketchup
Splash Lea and Perrins Sauce
1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Fresh Basil to Finish
Chop half the mushrooms and leave half ( the smaller ones ) whole.
Heat oil in a large flameproof pot ( with lid ) and gently cook onions, garlic and celery until softened but not brown. About 10 - 15 minutes.
Add bacon and minced steak and cook through until browned.
Add everything else and stir well.
Bring up to the boil, add lid and turn down the heat to very low - just bubbling.
Stir occasionally but leave to cook for about 3 hours - add a little bit of water if it becomes too dry.
Check consistency and add salt an pepper as needed, stir in chopped basil right at the end, and serve with lots of lovely fresh grated parmesan cheese.
There are a couple of sites that I like to visit for both Spanish and Greek recipes, I've found all of these sites really reliable and the recipes pretty much always stack up.
Shout out to :
This recipe was from Nikolopaa as I just love his tutorials - so much fun, I want to have a go at making everything from his blog...
This recipe was outstanding and really quite easy to make, it made a lot of food so I froze half of it down and it de-frosted really well too.
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
1kg Lean Minced Beef / Steak
200gm White Bread
150ml Red Wine ( can replace with stock or milk or even just water )
2 Eggs
2 Red Onions Finely Chopped
6 Garlic Cloves Finely Chopped
12 ish gms Chopped Mint
12 ish gms Chopped Parsley
50mls Nice Olive Oil ( Greek if possible )
2 Teaspoons Ground Cumin
20gms Salt
4 gms Black Pepper
For The Sauce
1 Large Onion Finely chopped
4 Garlic Cloves Finely Chopped or minced
1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
700mls Tomato Passata
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Red Wine ( or Beef Stock )
2 Bay Leaves
1 Cinnamon Stick
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
In a large mixing bowl break bread into red wine and soak for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes add all the other meatball ingredients and mix thoroughly - best done with clean hands as it mixes up nicely.
Preheat the oven to 170c / 340f / gas mark 3
Shape the meatballs into oval meatball shapes ( mine made approx 12 meatballs ).
Place meatballs into a lightly oiled baking dish and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
While the meatballs are baking - make the sauce.
Heat the oil in a flameproof pan and gently cook the onion and garlic until soft but not brown.
Add tomato paste and cook for about a minute.
Add everything else and cook gently for about 15 minutes.
After meatballs have cooked for 30 minutes, pour over the hot tomato sauce and cover.
Bake for another 30 minutes.
I made this lovely dish and blogged it about 15 years ago and had quite forgotten all about it until Josh made it last week. Apart from telling me that the quantities were just wrong ( soo much food ) he loved it and it was time to make it again. I've noodled with the quantities a little and actually there's still enough here to feed 5/6.
Ingredients
90g Spicy Chorizo Chopped
3 Teaspoons Paprika
4 Fat Garlic Cloves crushed
2 Medium Onions Chopped
2 Large Green Peppers Chopped
2 Sticks Celery Chopped
