Apple cider and blackberry balsamic vinegar

This post was first posted on 11/9/2017

Today I found a bucket full of windfall apples so decided to turn them into  apple cider vinegar.
Gillie's blackberries were already ripe and felt like turning them into blackberry balsamic vinegar

       

In September 2017 our From Spade to Plate group harvested apples for eating, storing, pressing and turning into vinegar.

Autumn is here, fresh mornings but when the sun breaks through it is glorious.

We started off  by sorting the apples. The best ones were used for storing and eating, the slightly blemished ones were turned into vinegar and used for  pressing the pears and apples to make some lovely juice. Then the rain came and we went inside to make the main meal.

The summer vegetables are starting to show signs of wanting to be harvested. I have decided to harvest the french beans Faraday  ( that we sowed on 19th June)  they were lovely and tender.

 and harvest the new potatoes (put the sprouting charlotte potatoes from Aldi in the ground in June after I had eaten the lettuces) to make space for the winter onions and garlic (later next month).

Served with a tomato, mozarella and basil salad.


This went down very well.
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Cherry Jam and stuffed Mushrooms

This was first posted 10/7/2018

Today we made a vegetarian gluten free  stuffed mushroom recipe with the mushrooms and rice and the french beans.

We went to pick the last of the cherries and turned them into jam. A bit of a messy job but the harvesters got stuck in and together managed to make enough for 7 jars.

 

As we had quite a few blueberries we made some blue berry muffins with a twist (in a jar)

We greased the 'bon maman' jars and sprinkled them with flour and cinnamon. Then filled them half full (don't fill higher) put them in the oven 180 C and when done, remove from oven and put the lid on it. That way when it cools down, it will pull it vacuum and you can keep it out of the fridge for weeks. 

Stuffed Mushrooms - gluten free

This post was first posted 47/2017
Today we made a vegetarian gluten free  stuffed mushroom recipe with the mushrooms and rice and the french beans.



We started with a lettuce soup to show how easy and quick it is to make a delicious creamy soup.



As Pauline's Morello cherries are ready to harvest and we have 9 pairs of hands to prepare them, we picked them and turned them into jam.




Yesterday I made a batch and turned it into Cherry Juice and some jam.

Although I never use straws to drink from, I have found that the dried chives stalks that I was pulling out were perfect biodegradable straws!

  

Mushroom Tartlets

Using the grey oyster mushroom  from the funguslab.com that we grew over the last month or so, we made some delicious mushroom tartlets with new potatoes,  french beans  and salad.
A very easy meal but out of this world scrumptious.

Kale is ready

The kale is looking beautiful so thought we could make some Kale Patties with some new potatoes and a green salad with strawberries and feta cheese.
Rather than quinoa I am using couscous.

The pesto we made from rocket that was growing in the garden underneath the apricot tree. It got a little tough and has gone into flower  so a good trim gives it space to grow some tender leaves over the coming weeks.


With the Monday group we harvested new potatoes but the ones we did not need I stored in a large plant pot with soil, We dug these up and had with our Kale burger. When we harvested all the lettuces from the garden to make space for the new french beans  we noticed that the ones we sowed in March were now beginning to be ready so we shared them amongst ourselves. One each! they were worth it though.


We  also harvested the lettuce and some strawberries.  Yummy for in the salad as well as the strawberry icecream with only 2 ingredients

From Spade to Plate: 28th August Gazpachio, bean salad and poached pears

Coming back from holiday and 10 days of no harvest the garden is full of goodies that need immediate attention.

Constanza, Serolta, maria Jose and June picking sunflowers

The tomatoes have started to show signs of blight so will be harvested immediately and turned into soups, sauces, cakes and will be dried.

Where are the tomatoes?

yellow pear and cherry tomatoes for the soup

Today we will make a Gazpachio as it is lovely and warm outside, a perfect cold soup for a hot day.

Gazpachio
1kg tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 cucumber
2 garlic cloves
100ml olive oil
2 tblsp balsamic vinegar
pepper and salt

Maria Jose dishing up the Gazpacho

Cut the vegetables roughly and put in fruit processor together with the oil and vinegar.  Puree until very smooth if too thin add some bread crumbs. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Top with finely chopped cucumber, yellow tomatoes and basil.

Constanza 

The beans that we sowed a few weeks ago are ready for harvest and we will turn them into a warm bean salad à la Jamie Oliver.

As a desert we will have poached pears with chocolate ice cream and a splash of blackberry cordial
To make the syrup I use 1 liter of water to 250gr sugar and  a vanilla pod.

June picking her pear for the dessert

Sharing our meal together

A bag of eating apples appeared on my doorstep this morning, so we will turn them into some nice nibbles, Personally I will dry them in the sun the next few days