The ups and downs of growing your own dinner 2016...

Fruittea

Hi Everyone
Lovely rain here in Gloucestershire - it will be so good for growing.
Well I've started off some rhubarb wine - I'm fairly new to wine making - tried some last year with mixed success. But it's bubbling away in the kitchen and smells nice so We'll see. I have quite a few French beans which is great but I thought I might try some American style Dilly Beans - a kind of lightly pickled bean. I found the recipe below and thought it might be handy for others. I won't bother to can them - I'll just keep them in the fridge.
I haven't got any sweetcorn yet as I was a bit late in putting it in - so I have that to look forward to. And I'm experimenting with sun drying some tomatoes. I don't have a dehydrator and can't stand the oven on in this weather - so I've halved them, put them on a tray and then in the car so they are baking on back parcel shelf. They looked great yesterday and were almost cooked - I'll let you know how they turn out. All the best.




How To Make Dilly Beans


Makes 2 pint-sized jars


Ingredients
1 pound green, yellow, or purple string beans
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
2 fresh dill sprigs
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon kosher salt or 2 teaspoons pickling salt


1. Prepare the beans: Rinse the beans under cool running water and drain well. Trim the stem ends from the beans and halve them if using 2 pint-sized jars. Leave them whole if using a quart jar.


2. Add the spices to the jars: Place the garlic, red pepper flakes, and mustard seeds in the jar(s).


3. Pack the green beans into the jars: Place the jar on its side. Place the sprigs of dill down first, then stack the beans in the jar, orienting them so that they will stand up straight when the jar stands upright. Pack the jar as tightly as possible. A full pound will fit into 2 pint jars.


4. Make the pickling brine: Combine the vinegar, water, and salt in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Pour the brine over the green beans, filling each jar to within 1/2 inch of the top. You might not use all the brine.


5. Remove the air bubbles: Gently tap the jars against the counter a few times to remove all the air bubbles. Top off with more pickling brine if needed. Place the lids over the jars and screw on the rings until tight.


6. Cool and refrigerate: Let the jars cool to room temperature. Store the pickles in the refrigerator. The pickles will improve with flavour as they age — try to wait at least 48 hours before cracking them open.


Recipe Notes

• Storage: These pickles are not canned and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. If you process and can the jars, they can be stored at room temperature unopened.

spendinglikemad

Sticky onion marmalade (Riverford recipe)
ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
1kg red or white onions, finely sliced
150g light brown sugar
150ml red wine vinegar
125ml port (or red wine)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper
I added a coupe of tablespoons of black treacle as well

method

Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan. Add the onions and cook very gently for 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until very soft and caramelising. Add a third of the sugar and cook for another 15 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients.
Simmer for about 45 minutes, until the liquid has reduced and the onions are dark and sticky. You should be able to run a wooden spoon through and leave the pan clean underneath.
Pot while hot into warm sterilised jars and seal with vinegar-proof lids. Store in a cool dry place and use within 3 months. Keep in the fridge once opened and use within a couple of weeks.

Fruittea

Many thanks Spending. I'll definitely try that this weekend. It sounds really good and I have all the ingredients to hand.
It looks a lovely day here in Gloucestershire and I'll be doing a bit of gardening for a neighbour - only an hour but best get it done this morning I think before it gets too hot.
I bought a bag of peppers and aubergines in the supermarket so shopping was £1.85 this week. I'll tot up the spend at the allotment later today.
Last nights dinner was home made ravioli and a chilli tomato sauce and todays will be a vegetable bake and runner beans. Eggs and tomatoes for breakfast - so all week it's been money saving. Only wine, cheese and bread bought - everything else is home grown which is really great. I hope everyone is doing as well. Have a great day.

moneyistooshorttomention

Gardening focusing around weeding at the moment.

Confess I shall be leaving some dandelions in place - because I did decide to try dandelion crisps the other day (ie lightly sauteing dandelion leaves for a minute or two in oil) and sprinkling with decent salt.

Don't know if I put this up before - apologies if repeating myself.

But waste not want not - and I found I actually like dandelion leaves that way...

No point in chucking out good food and I gather dandelions have all sorts of beneficial stuff in them...

bouicca21

Good stuff in 'em? There's a reason the French call them !!!!enlit.

Jazee

Morning all. Lots done in the garden today. I've cut the grass back and front and planted a gazzilion seeds - various lettuce/mustard, herbs, radish and kale. Chillies and tomatoes doing well. Chard recovering from being eaten by the birds. And I have some strawberries growing, not surprising given the tomatoes are 3 months late this year.

zafiro1984

Jazee wrote: »

Morning all. Lots done in the garden today. I've cut the grass back and front and planted a gazzilion seeds - various lettuce/mustard, herbs, radish and kale. Chillies and tomatoes doing well. Chard recovering from being eaten by the birds. And I have some strawberries growing, not surprising given the tomatoes are 3 months late this year.

Amazing, what time did you start? All I've managed to do is tidy the breakfast things away and sort the hens out. Just come indoors to look at what needs doing today and catch up on emails.

On a different tact - some very interesting posts with recipes, definitely going to try a beetroot and chocolate cake and the sticky onion marmalade as rain is forecast for later. just looked at the pickled runner beans - interesting, may try that as well.

Jazee

Zafiro, I started at 6.30 although I left the grass cutting till the decent time of 10am.
On the subject of recipes, on the flylady thread, excellent recipe for microwave jam. You can have jam in pots in less that 10 minutes once fruit is prepared. Great stuff.

Fruittea

Just brought back another hoard of supplies including all the usual stuff, kale, spinach, beans, cucumbers and loads of beautiful yellow courgettes. I just really love them. Am planning a courgette tart for dinner tonight - they look so summery. Everyone seems so busy at the moment and all the produce sounds wonderful.
I just totted up the potential spend and as I've now added apples and blackberries to the list - Tesco would have charged me £30.69 for this weeks veg - so I'll add that to my totals. For those of you picking blackberries I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that they are £10 a kilo in Tesco. I'll be doing some Dilly beans this afternoon. Have a great afternoon everyone.

moneyistooshorttomention

Daft question of the day time:

Re the seeds on nasturtium plants - ie the bits one can make into substitute caper type pickle.

As I can see some of them still green on the one hand and others have gone brown and look like dried chickpeas on the other hand = which type get used to make those caper substitutes with please? I'm assuming it has to be the green ones only......:o