Help MBE grow his dinner 2012

Leif

Drea wrote: »

I've got quite a few tomatoes to use up and fancy pasta, anyone know any simple pasta sauce recipes? All I'm finding on google is tinned tomato recipes!

My runners look like yours MBE, no sign of beans but plenty flowers!

Surely the basic tomato sauce can be made with fresh tomatoes? Whizz up tomatoes in liquidizer, put in pan with olive oil (to taste, and it can be omitted for people on very low fat diets), salt, black pepper, deseeded and chopped chilli (optional), salt and simmer for 15 minutes, adding water if needed to get the desired consistency.

Basic veggie sauce: In 1 tablespoon of olive oil per person, sweat down onions, and chopped courgettes (optional), and diced sweet pepper (optional), till onions are transparent, then add a glug of balsamic vinegar (not the cheapest, but not expensive either), and reduce down the vinegar (careful of your eyes) till it is dry (removes the acid), add 1 tablespoon Japanese soya sauce per person (it's just a salty mushroom stock, use salt if you want), add some paprika (teaspoon per person), some water, tomatoes, halved (or a squirt of tomato puree), black pepper (lots) and simmer down till cooked. It should be a thick veggie sauce, slightly runny. You can add some prawns if you like, the cheapest frozen supermarket ones are good. Adjust salt or soya sauce to taste.

I like tomatoes quartered, with a small amount of balsamic/wine vinegar, salt, black pepper, and one spearmint leaf finely chopped.

You can also do a really simple pasta salad, using cooked pasta (penne say), a bit of raw chopped onion, quartered tomatoes, wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and black pepper. Throw in olives if wanted, a small amount of finely diced strong cheese or grated parmesan, and/or cooked prawns, and/or anchovies, and/or a bit of tuna, some fresh chopped herbs (marjoram, basil etc). Basically use whatever you have to hand, which you think will work.

Drea

I whizzed up some cooked tomatoes with a little extra passata (I don't have THAT many tomatoes :rotfl:), basil and garlic. Very simple and tasted very nice! Got the leftovers in work with me for lunch today

lemonjelly

I am still waiting for my first tomato.
On close & regular repeated inspection over the weekend, I believe more flowers have been appearing on my plants (fingers crossed).
It also looks like we are in for a warmer spell, so lets hope we get something. Perhaps an October harvest?

mrbadexample

I roast my tomatoes to make sauce. Halve them, place on roasting tray with garlic, chillies if you want, drizzle of olive oil, salt & pepper. Roast until the edges start to blacken, then blitz the lot. Freeze and use whenever.

The roasting really brings out the sweetness. I despair of actually making any this year.

Off to see the folks for a few days so won't be on for a while. Do the honours please Annie? Thanks.

annie123

mrbadexample wrote: »

Off to see the folks for a few days so won't be on for a while. Do the honours please Annie? Thanks.

Delighted to and no pinching your dads snake for the pond


You squash looks like it wasn't pollinated, but I'm sure you'll get more. And thanks for the garden pics, I think it's looking great especially considering the weather we've had.

annie123

Little_Vics wrote: »

Remember me? I've mostly been sulking because nothing is growing.

So, I dug over the whole plot today and removed the weeds and pathetic-ness. Is there anything I can plant in the next few weeks that I can harvest this autumn, and that will survive while I"m on hols for 2 weeks.

It's got all traumatic again.

LV, I'm sorry you've had a bad time this year. There is loads you can still sow:
Beetroot, spring onions, calabrese, quick stumpy carrots, kale, chinese cabbage, winter lettuce, mibuna, mizuna, Pak choi, spinach, radishes, prepare a bed for garlic, overwintering onions, swiss chard, land cress, kohl rabi........although I've given up can't get it past the snails.

There's probably more but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Little_Vics

quick stumpy carrots? Tell me more....

annie123

Little_Vics wrote: »

quick stumpy carrots? Tell me more....

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/vegetables/vegetable-seeds/carrot-and-parsnip-seeds/carrot-parmex/473TM

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/vegetables/vegetable-seeds/carrot-and-parsnip-seeds/carrot-adelaide-f1-hybrid/781TM

Both types ready to pull and eat in about 8 weeks, and the only ones I've been able to grow on my clay soil.

djohn2002uk

Crickey! What time do you get up? :eek:

Badrick

djohn2002uk wrote: »

Crickey! What time do you get up? :eek:

Annie certainly takes "doing the honours" seriously