Autumn Recipes

It's now time to pick the last of our crop - the runner beans are nearly finished, ditto the courgettes and beetroot.   We didn't grow a great deal this year as it's our first summer since David built the veggy raised bed.  It's 3 metres by 8 metres, so a pretty good size.

We also grew some spinach which has been good but the broccoli were taken over by the cabbage white butterfly caterpillars before I got round to netting them.

I've picked the last of the tomatoes which are still green, and we're rather short of chutney so this year will make chutney.  Last I fried them to have as an accompaniment to our meals.
We haven't grown any pumpkins or plums but have included recipes here as there such a mark of the passing of the seasons.  It's lovely to buy a couple of large pumpkins before they're all removed from the shops after Halloween.


Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin recipes from Jamie Oliver:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/search/?s=pumpkin
Baked Pumpkin
1 kg pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunky slices
3 medium onions, sliced
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
black pepper
2 tbsp flour
150 ml olive oil

Heat oven to 200/6.
Arrange pumpkin sliced in greased roasting tin.
In large bowl massage the salt into the sliced onions with your hands.
Mix in the tomato paste, pepper and flour.
Scatter over the pumpkin.
Drizzle with oil and bake 30 - 40 mins until onions are starting to brown and pumpkin is tender.
Serve hot or warm.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/11840276/Baked-pumpkin-with-sun-dried-tomato-paste-and-crispy-onions-recipe.html

Pumpkin and Ginger Teabread
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1018/pumpkin-and-ginger-teabread
Green tomato Chutney
250g green tomatoes, sliced
100g onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp salt
500g sultanas
500g cooking apples
500g light muscavado sugar
1.14 litre jar spiced pickling vinegar

1. Slice the tomatoes (you can skin them if you want, but I don’t usually bother). Finely chop the onions. Layer both in a large bowl with the salt. Leave overnight.
2. Next day, chop the sultanas using a large, sharp knife, then peel, core and chop theapples. Put the sugar and vinegar into a large pan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the sultanas and apples and simmer for 10 mins. Strain the tomatoes and onions in a colander (but don’t rinse), then tip into the pan and return to the boil.
3. Simmer for about 1 hr, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thick and pulpy. Transfer to warmed jars (see Know-how, below) and cover with lids.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2865/green-tomato-chutney



Plum Liqueur
750g plums
3.5 cups gin
400g caster sugar

Put plums into freezer overnight to soften.
Defrost. Put in large container along with the rest of the ingredients.
Leave two to three months.
Strain and bottle.

I'm looking forward to trying this one!

And here's a recipe for plums with vodka and vanilla which also sounds good.
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/21971/plum-liqueur.aspx

stuffed peppers

Autumn is when peppers are at their best, and we have lots of tomatoes, courgettes and apples from the garden, so here are a few ideas.

Stuffed Peppers
from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/stuffedpeppers_82902

4 red peppers
4+ tbsp olive oil 
5 oz peas
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
5 oz breadcrumbe
1 egg
s&p

1. Preheat oven to 180/350/4
2. Cut around stalk and remove tops of peppers.  Remove any seeds.
3. Heat oil and saute peas, onion and garlic.
4. Soak bread in water for a few minutes.
5. Add breadcrumbs and egg to pea mixture.
6. Stuff the empty peppers with mixture and replace their tops.
7. Place on baking tray and season and drizzle with oil.
8. Cook about 20 - 30 minutes until soft and cooked through.

The downsides of this recipe were: the mixture was rather crumbly and there was too much pepper to eat.  

My variation of this would be to add another egg to the mixture and use fewer breadcrumbs.  Then cut the peppers lengthwise, lay on a dish, heap on the mixture and possibly cook with a little grated cheese on top.

And some other ideas:

http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/526229/baked-stuffed-peppers

http://sortedfood.com/#!/stuffedpeppers/

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4404/easy-stuffed-peppers

Broccoli and tomatoes

Today's challenge
I have two heads of of broccoli and lots of tomatoes: so what to make - apart from the obvious salad?

Broccoli with Tomatoes and Basil looks interesting.  Although this recipe uses tinned tomatoes, I should imagine that fresh ones will make the dish taste even better (http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/1074/broccoli-with-tomatoes-and-basil.aspx).

Broccoli with Tomatoes and Basil

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 (400g) tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• half a bunch fresh basil, chopped
• 450g (16 oz) broccoli florets

1. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. 
2. Add garlic, and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. 
3. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, vinegar and basil and simmer until the liquid has reduced by about half.  
4. Place the broccoli on top of the tomatoes, and season with a little salt and pepper. 
5. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender and still a vibrant green. 
6. Pour into a serving dish, and toss to blend with the sauce before serving.

Another idea is to roast them  (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/neelys/roasted-broccoli-with-cherry-tomatoes-recipe/index.html)

Roasted Broccoli with Cherry Tomatoes

2 bunches broccoli cut into florets

1 medium shallot, roughly chopped

1 pint (?!) cherry tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

4 tbsp olive oil

grated parmesan

s&p

1. Preheat oven to 200C
2. In bowl put broccoli, shallots, tomatoes, garlic and pepper flakes and the oil.
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix.
4. Spread on a large baking sheet.
5. Roast until stems are tender and lightly golden brown (about 15 minutes).
6. Grate Parmesan on top and serve.

Or Sautee (http://macrobiotic.about.com/od/vegetables/r/broccoliandtomatoes.htm)

Sauteed broccoli with tomatoes, garlic and herbs

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

1 head broccoli, cut into florets

2 tomatoes, chopped into chunks

1 tbsp chopped basil

1 tbsp chopped flat parsley

s&p

Serves 4

1. Saute garlic gently in the oil for a minute.
2. Add broccoli florets and cook a further two minutes, stirring.
3. Add two tbsp water.
4. Cover pan and cook for two minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, cook one minute and then add the herbs and season to taste 

Or even bake, which needs more ingredients but can be made ahead of time (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/broccoli-and-tomato-bake/). I don't have maple syrup so will try honey but use less than the recipe as honey's very sweet.

Broccoli and Tomato Bake

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, grated

1 small carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

s&p

3/4 lb broccoli, cut into florets, stalk sliced thinly

1lb tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp chopped green olives

2 tsp maple syrup

2 oz crumbled goats cheese

1 oz Parmesan cheese

• Preheat oven  to 190C
• Gently saute garlic and onion in the olive oil.
• Stir in carrots and celery, season and cook another five minutes.
• Steam broccoli, 'til partly cooked and place in 8" x 8" baking dish.
• Pour tomatoes and green olives into the onion and carrot mixture.
• Cook about five minutes until sauce thickens.
• Mix in maple syrup, season and cook a further three minutes.
• Pour sauce over broccoli.
• Distribute chunks of goats cheese and Parmesan on top.
• Bake until cheese begins to brown, about 20 minutes.

Or make into an omelette, with lots of cheese ....

Autumn ideas from The Co-operative (Good with Food) Magazine

Baked corn with chilli and lime: Preheat the oven to 200C. Mix 30g butter, zest of a lime, 1 chopped red chilli and a handful of chopped coriander.  Place four corn cobs on foil sheets on a baking tray and dot with the butter. Close up foil and cook for 30 minutes. (or, if some of these ingredients are not to hand, cook the cobs just with the butter). Serves 4: 130 calories.

Sweet roasted butternut squash: Preheat oven to 300C. Cut one butternut squash into chunks (skin on), discarding seeds. Put on roasting tin, skindown, drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Roast for one hour, basting occasionally. Serves 6: 90 calories.

Easy cheesy muffin scones
7 sundried tomatoes (45g) or cherry tomatoes
250g SR flour
80g lighter mature cheese, grated
Handful fresh chopped herbs (optional)
200ml low fat yoghurt
1 large egg
3tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 190C and lightly grease a 12 hole muffin tin.
2. Cut tomatoes into small pieces
3. Put flour into a bowl, add tomatoes, cheese and herbs.
4. Put yoghurt into a jug, add the egg and oil and stir.
5. Add this to the flour mix and blend lightly
6. Spoon into the muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden
7. Makes 12: 170 calories each.

Spiced loaf with fresh pear

50g baking margarine

50g vegetable oil

85g light brown sugar

85g black treacle

2 eggs

170g plain flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp bicarb

140ml milk, warmed

To serve: fresh ripe pear

1. Preheat oven to 140C. 
2. Grease 900g loaf tin and line the base with greaseproof paper
3. Heat margarine, oil, sugar and treacle gently until melted
4. Cool slightly and stir in eggs, flour, cinnamon and ginger.
5. Add bicarb to warmed milk and pour this over the mixture and stir well.
6. Pour mixture into tin and bake for 50 - 55 minutes.
7. The top of the loaf should have a slight crust .
8. Ideal for picnics
9. Serves 12, 185 calories a slice

Home-made baked beans

1 celery stick, finely chopped

2 carrots, julienne

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Pinch chilli powder (optional - why is it that chilli is put into everything these days?)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp mustard

400 tin cannellini beans, rinsed

400 tin haricot beans, rinsed

2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp treacle or light soft brown sugar

1. In pan cook onions, celery and carrots in the oil until soft.
2. Add garlic, chilli powder, paprika and mustard and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Add beans, tomatoes and treacle/sugar, stir and simmer gently for another 20 minutes.
4. Serves 8: 110 calories.

to be continued . ...

Skin Savers

• Avocados - for vitamin E
• Porridge - de-stressing foods (less stress=fewer wrinkles) which also contain silicon important for maintaining collagen that fills out the shape of your face.
• Cherries and strawberries for vit C and bioflavinoids, to protect tiniest blood vessels and prevent unsightly thread veins.
• Selenium-ACE for extra skin nutritient.

See: http://www.savingaddiction.com/?p=24150 and http://www.choosecherries.com/health/main.aspx


Anti ageing

• Oily fish - protect joins, ligaments and muscles.
• Soya milk, tofu, soya beans - plant hormones which counteract problems of menopause and protect against osteoporosis.
• Tropical fruits - pineapple, mango, kiwi, paw paw and passion fruit
• Green leafy vegetables - spinach, kale and pak choi.
• Cod liver oil
• Swiss Bio-Strath Elixir

Disease Defiers

• Prunes and blueberries
• Cabbage, tomatoes and watercress
• Brazil nuts and pumpkin seeds
• Shellfish
• Wholegrain cereals

Aubergines, Courgettes, Tomatoes and Peppers from the Allotment

With so much suitable produce from the allotment, Ratatouille seemed good to make for dinner tonight.  Being a great fan of Nigel Slater here is his take on this classic recipe, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/27/nigel-slater-classic-recipe-ratatouille:

The recipe

2 onions, sliced
4 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 aubergines, thickly sliced
2 courgettes, thickly sliced
2 red or yellow peppers, seeded and quartered
4 plum tomatoes, sliced
2-3 sprigs thyme
1 handful basil leaves

Sweat 2 sliced onions in 4 tbsp of olive oil until they are soft, add 4 sliced garlic cloves and cook until soft. Remove to a deep roasting tin or baking dish. Fry each of the other vegetables separately, adding more oil as necessary, until each is pale gold. Remove as each one is ready and add to the tin or dish, followed by 4 thickly sliced plum tomatoes, seasoning with salt, black pepper and thyme. Bake at 180C/gas mark 4 for about 40 minutes until soft and tender. Stir gently with a handful of torn basil leaves and serve.

The trick

One reason ratatouille may have lost favour is because it is too often cooked like a stew, with all the ingredients lumped in together. It takes longer to cook them separately, but the individual attention allows each ingredient to keep its own character. You end up with layers of flavour rather than a casserole. Like quiche, this is better served warm than hot.

The twist

I often make leftover ratatouille into a savoury pie. A crumble top of flour, butter, thyme leaves and grated cheese forms a suitable contrast to the soft ingredients underneath. I also like it cold, as a salad. So versatile is this mélange of summer ingredients that it often ends up as a pasta sauce, working well with larger, tube-shaped pastas. I have also seen it cooked in tiny metal moulds and turned out to form a neat mound on the plate with a surrounding drizzle of tomato sauce and perfectly positioned basil leaves. In which case it might be better called rata-twee.

Thank you, Nigel, am looking forward to making what's not eaten tonight into a crumble for tomorrow ...

courgette ideas: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/top-10-things-do-courgettes

Green Tomatoes

We have lots of green tomatoes but are still (beginning of September) waiting to enjoy some ripe ones.  However, others are turning brown in parts, whilst still on the bush.  I'm afraid they'll affect the healthy tomatoes so have picked them and cut off the brown bits, leaving about 1 kg of tomatoes to do something with.


I've also picked some of the healthy green tomatoes and put them on the windowsill to ripen, and another idea I saw on the internet was to ripen them in a paper bag.

• A friend said that green tomatoes are very tasty if sliced, dipped into egg and then breadcrumbs and fried in some oil, could also add parsley, tarragon, garlic salt and pepper to the breadcrumbs first.
• Apparently the Mediterranean way is to coat the sliced tomatoes in olive oil and champagne vinegar, salt and pepper, put a thin slice of pancetta and feta cheese on top of them as a raw salad.
• Another, more British, way of eating green tomatoes is to make Green Tomato Chutney, for which I have found a recipe but not yet tried. 

7.9.11: I made Green Tomato Chutney from a Delia recipe and it's rather tasty.  Just in case we weren't too keen, I made a quarter of the recipe which has resulted in three jars of chutney.  It's good with lots of things, including ham, sausages, fish and cheese.  So here's a recipe.


Delia Smith's Green Tomato Chutney
1 kg Green Tomatoes
1 kg Cooking Apples
900g Onions
450g Raisins
600 g Soft Brown Sugar (or Demerara)
25g Pickling Spice
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 level dssp Ground Ginger
1/2 tbsp Salt
1.75 litres Genuine Malt Vinegar

• Cut tomatoes into quarters; peel the onions and quarter them; and peel and core the apples.
• Chop finely tomatoes (or quickly whizz on food processor).
• Place tomatoes in the pan, then onions, then raisins, followed by the apples.
• Now stir in garlic, cayenne, salt, ginger and sugar.
• Tie pickling spice in a small piece of double thickness gauze and attach it to the handle, so that it hangs down into other ingredients.
• Pour in the vinegar, bring to simmering point, remove any scum from surface, then let it simmer very gently for about three and a half hours with lid off (I cooked mine in the pressure cooker for much less time then finished with lid off).  Stir it occasionally to prevent sticking.
• It's ready when vinegar is almost absorbed and chutney has thickened to a nice soft consistency and spoon leaves a trail.
• Be careful not to overcook and it does thicken as it cools.
• Pour hot chutney into hot jars, cover with waxed sealing discs and seal with tight lid at once.
• Wipe jars and label when chutney is cold.

13 September:  Today we were given lots of green tomatoes and made this Green Tomato Sauce below (another Delia Smith recipe) and it was really nice.  We had it as a vegetable with jacket potatoes and Delia says that it's good with sausages and also with fish.


Delia Smith's Green Tomato Sauce


1 lb green tomatoes
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
chilli
s&p


Cut off any brown bits on the tomatoes, no need to remove skins.
Mince/whizz tomatoes.
Fry pepper, garlic and onion in the oil.  Add the green tomatoes, cumin, chilli, s&p. 
Cook with lid on for about 15 mins, then about 10 mins with lid off.
Very nice hot or cold.