Recipes for home grown produce

ausmummy

I know this is a gardening thred, not a cooking one but I wondered if it would be alright to put some receipes together, especially for gluts. I'm an ok cook but often find it hard to find recepies for the ingredients I have and as we are growing a lot of the same I thought it would be a good idea to put some together on here. What do you think?
Anyway I'll start with some links from the couple that have already been on here.

ausmummy

Hope you don't mind izzwizz

izzwizz wrote: »

OK, recipe for caramelised onion & goats cheese tartlets.

First make some pastry cases (I usually do a big batch and freeze some, so don't have to do these every time - this will make enough for about 12 cases).
240g plain flour
120g cold butter
large pinch salt
60ml (4 tablespoons) cold water

The secret with pastry is to keep it cold, work fast & let it rest.
1) Use a food processor to mix the flour, butter & salt until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2) Tip into a large bowl. Sprinkle the water over, mix quickly with a flat knife or spatula until it forms a ball (you can gather it up at the end with fingers if you need to.
3) Wrap in clingfilm and leave in fridge for 30 mins, along with little tins (Greased - I use individual flat-bottom tins, but you could make one big tart in a dish if you haven't got these).
4) roll out pastry thinly, and use to line the tins, then cover in cling film & put back into fridge for 30 mins.
5) Place on baking tray in preheated oven for 10 mins until lightly coloured (350F / Gas Mark 4 / 150C fan oven)

Meanwhile, caramelise the onions (this is enough for 6 tartlets):

olive oil
400g onions, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Cook the onions in a small amount of olive oil in a large pan over a gentle heat, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to caramelise (about 10 mins). Add the sugar & vinegar and continue cooking for another 20 minutes until the mixture gets syruppy and the onions are very soft. Leave to cool.

Make up the tarts:

A small log of mild, soft goats cheese

Divide the cooked onions between 6 tartlet cases (about a tablespoon in each one). Cut the goats cheese into 6 slices and place a slice on top of each tartlet. Cook on a baking sheet in the oven at 170C fan oven for about 10 mins until the tarts are warmed and the goats cheese has started to melt.

I like to serve them on a bed of rocket or landcress or baby spinach leaves. If you've hungry lads to feed, you might want to pad it out with some spuds & veg

ausmummy

Hope you don't mind wssla00

wssla00 wrote: »

OK it was delicious even if I do say so myself

Ok... here is how I do it....

50g fresh mint leaves and stalks
300ml double cream
250ml whole milk
100g sugar (I use granulated)
teensy drop of green food colouring (optional)

Bung it all in a saucepan and heat gently until the cream starts to boil slightly and the sugar dissolves.
Leave to cool and once cool strain out the mint leaves
put into an ice cream maker and churn until made or put into a tupperware box and mash up every 2 hours to remove the ice crystals

Enjoy!

I usually have this with some chocolate sauce, but you could put choccy chips in the mix to make mint choc chip ice cream.

Enjoy!

ausmummy

For all the courgette haters like me. I was searching for something to use them with and found a chicken supreme mix.

Chicken Supreme

2 chicken fillets diced
1/2 Onion chopped
I large clove of Garlic chopped
1 Large Courgette greated into long pieces
Handful of French Beans chopped to desired size
Handful of Peas
Mushrooms (i didn't use any)

Chicken Supreme Sauce
Cream or simple white sauce
I cheated and used a mix

Sweat off the onion in a splash of oil.
Add garlic for the last couple of minutes.
Remove from pan.
Add chicken until it starts to brown.
Remove from pan, but keep in the chicken juices.
Add a small knob of butter and fry courgette for a couple of minutes
Return chicken, onion and garlic back into the pan.
Top with the sauce.
Simmer.
Before it starts to thicken add the beans and peas.
Simmer until desired thickness.

Serve with rice and or chips.

I absolutley loved the courgettes in this dish. They added a nice texture and tasted lovely after soaking up the chicken juices. The kids loved it too. I'm an ok cook so hopefully this will help someone. It will defo help me use up my courgettes. I was only able to use home grown courgette and french beans for this one, but in the future will be able to use my own onion, garlic and peas.

izzwizz_2

Ausmummy, thanks, this is a great idea! Here's one I made last night:

Pak Choi Stir-fry

2 x pak choi heads (I usually get round to cutting them when they start to flower!!)
olive oil
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1 large green chilli, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
3 tablespoons tamari, shoyu or other brewed soy sauce

Wash the pak choi. Thinly slice the stalks from the pak choi & cut the leaves into quarters.

Heat some olive oil in a wok, then add all the ingredients except the tamari. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add the tamari. Bring back to the boil and boil for 2 minutes.

(Serve with rice and something with protein in, like fried, marinated tofu or some sort of meat strips)

jaxx46

just had an email for this /www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes. seasonal recipes and a calendar hth

cootambear

Marinade a pork chop in garlic thyme and balsamic vinegar overnight in the fridge. Fry the chop in olive oil until its as you like. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with garden veg. This entails about 5 minutes work (I like, success)!

irishwexford

So glad for this subject. I usually have a glut of courgettes so use them in salads instead of cucumber, stir fry or bake.
Had a glut of butternut squash last year and found a very tasty reciepe for soup on the internet (will fish it out later) so am growing even more this year. The soup can go in freezer. Caulies I made into batches of bake and put into freezer.
Now lettuces, I have 18 iceberg ready at present so am trying to give them away. Read in paper this week that beetroot juice is very healthy so will try juicing some of the many I have growing on allotment.
Sorry no reciepes but I rely on others for help. Keep them coming please.

Mayflower10cat

This creamy curry uses up lots of veg!!! If you make the paste in advance, it does freeze, it's quite quick to make.

Thai-style butternut squash curry

Serves 4
· 1 butternut squash
· 500g of other in-season vegetables, such as runner beans, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, late-season courgettes (chick peas are also lovely in this recipe)
· 1 tin reduced fat coconut milk (or equivalent amount of block creamed coconut, dissolved in 300ml warm water
· 1 medium onion, peeled & chunked
· 1 inch chunky piece of fresh root ginger, peeled & roughly chopped
· 3 cloves garlic, peeled
· 1 stalk of fresh lemongrass, chopped into a few pieces
· few kaffir lime leaves (about 5 - 6 leaves)
· 1 (or more) fresh green chillies
· ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
· 1 tsp ground cumin
· 1 tsp ground coriander
· ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
· Few grinds of black pepper (to taste)
· 1 heaped tsp soft brown sugar (or to taste)
· juice of 1 lime
15 ml oil or a little more (enough to loosen paste slightly)

1. To make the curry paste: put the onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, chillies, dry spices, salt, sugar, kaffir lime leaves, lime juice and olive oil in a blender and puree until a smooth paste.
2. Peel the squash with a potato peeler. Chop off the stalk and flower end. Chop in half and use a spoon to remove the seeds. Chop into 1/2 inch cubes.
3. Prepare the other vegetables by washing and chopping into quick-to-cook chunks.
4. Put the paste into a large pan or wok and fry gently, stirring, for 2 minutes.
5. Add the vegetables and stir, to coat them with the paste.
6. Add the coconut milk and mix well.

Cook gently, uncovered for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened. Stir occasionally, to prevent burning and uneven cooking. Add more water if the sauce gets too dry, before the vegetables are cooked.

unhappy_shopper

This is my family's favourite for courgettes and aubergines.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2903/ratatouille

Mayflower10cat

Courgette fritters

450g/1lb courgettes, grated
75g/3oz plain flour
1 egg, separated
15ml /tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for shallow frying

Put the grated courgette into a sieve over a bowl, sprinkle with salt, leave for 1hr to drain. Rinse off salt and dry off on kitchen roll

Put flour into a bowl, make a little well in the middle, add the egg yolk, measure 75ml/5 tablespoons water and add about half of it to the bowl. Beat/whisk the mixture well to get rid of lumps, add the remaining water and the seasoning. Leave for 30 minutes.

Stir in the courgettes. Whisk the egg white until stiff and fold into the batter.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan and add dessert spoonfuls of batter – fry for about 2 minutes each side until golden. Keep fritters warm in the oven until the whole batch is fried. Serve with a dipping sauce of your choice – Pistou is lovely (like runny pesto!) garlic mayo is good or a fresh zingy tomato salsa is very tasty.