Time to prune the grapevine

As the grapevine needed pruning, I thought it was a great opportunity to get the dolmades recipe out again. I used the same recipe as the one in my first cookery book From Spade to Plate, and went down pretty well.


As we had run out of sweet chili jam and this group had not made it before,  I went to buy peppers and chilies to turn into a delicious jam to go with our dolmades.
    

We also went in the garden and the allotment to pick some strawberries and turned them into a savoury salad.

   

this post was first posted on 6/6/2019

sweet chilli jam, sweet potato buns, beet burgers

We started with making sweet potato buns. We first cut the sweetpotato skin in a circle. making sure just to cut the skin not the whole potato. We then boiled them, once fully cooked, cooled it and then holding each side of the potato, managed to gently twist of the skin in one move. Much easier than peeling it before cooking.  We then mashed it with the riser, added some salt to taste and self raising flour until it became a manageable dough.
We then turned them into rolls, into the oven for 20 minutes é voilà. Lovely soft rolls.
  

Sweet Chilli Jam

Beetburgers
  

Ingredients

2½ cups grated beetroot

½ cup porridge oats

3 eggs

1 onion finely chopped and fried

4 tablespoons chopped dill

2 tablespoons chopped thyme

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 teaspoon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Grate the beets using a grater attachment on a food processor, if you have one

Add all the remaining ingredients to the food processor and set to pulse, scraping the sides occasionally until the mixture comes together

Form into 4 patties. The patty mixture will be very sticky, so wet your hands between forming each patty, to help stop them sticking

To fry the patties

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large frying panover medium heat. When hot, add the patties. Cooking them low and slow is the key for good texture.

Cook about 3 to 5 minutes per side, until they are nicely browned and hold together well. Serve hot on a bun with fried onion rings and your favourite burger toppings (mayonnaise, sweet chilli jam)

 

Pumpkin Soup, falafels, sweet chilli jam and beetroot wraps

Melendra brought the pumpkin flesh from Halloween which we turned into 5-spice pumpkin Soup
We felt the soup came out a little watery, but after adding a whole can of coconut milk, it became a deliciously creamy soup.

We then made falafels followed by sweet chilli jam  we used 3 chillies in this recipe and even after taking out the seeds, it still had a kick. So depending on hot you want it to be, adjust the chillies to taste.

We served some beetroot wraps (vegan and gluten free) the stuffing we changed a little and added freshly pick spinach, kidney beans, sweetcorn, some of last week's smoked' salmon and a pumpkin puree.  Personally I thought it was rather dry and would have been great with some cream cheese to stick it all together.

We went to the allotment for some fresh air and a few handfuls of spinach

The group liked it though, so that is the most important issue.

Ingredients  for the falafel: 

1  can chickpeas  

2 tablespoon minced garlic   

1 medium finely chopped onion   

2 tablespoons fresh finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon coriander 

¾ teaspoon cumin 

½ teaspoon salt

Pepper (to taste)

2 tablespoons flour

Oil for frying

Method

1. Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, parsley, coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper (to taste) and  flour and combine in a blender. You want the result to be a thick paste.
2. Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping-pong ball. Slightly flatten.
3. Fry in until golden brown (2 to 5 minutes).
4. Serve falafel with couscous, in a wrap  and is delicious with a sweet chilli sauce.

A recipe for glue to put on labels:

Thick Glue

Pour 5 cups of water into a saucepan. Bring the water to a full boil.

Place 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of cold water in a bowl. Stir the ingredients until smooth.

Pour the flour mixture into the boiling water. Reduce the heat and gently boil the solution for 2 to 3 minutes until it thickens.

Remove the glue from the stovetop. Allow the glue to cool before you use it. Store the glue in a covered jar or bowl for 2 to 3 days.

Sweet Chili jam and Cheese and Coriander Pie

Rummaging around the fridge brought up breadcrumbs, various cheeses, eggs and some coriander and came up with this recipe. Coriander and Cheese Pie.
It is simple and very tasty.

The end result: a delicious coriander cheese pie

A happy crew, thank you Yumi for taking the picture

Liz picking the lettuce leaves for the salad

Coriander cheese pie, with Chilli Jam and salad

Yumi using grandma's cheese grater!

Simone grinding the fresh coriander seeds

Peppers, garlic, chillies and tomatoes bubbling away 

A sweet chilli jam, lovely with spring rolls, quiches and cheeses

If you would like to try your own version, here is the recipe we used.

Ingredients 4 persons

125g dry breadcrumbs

50g ground almonds

2 crushed garlic cloves

1 teaspoon ground coriander

50g melted butter

For Filling

300g cottage cheese

2 tablespoons of single cream

50g grated Cheddar cheese

25g grated Parmesan Cheese

2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander

3 eggs

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients for the flan base together with the melted butter and press into a well greased 25cm flan tin.

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Purée the cottage cheese with the cream in a blender.
3. Stir in the cheeses and the fresh coriander.
4. Beat the eggs through the mixture and pile on top of the breadcrumb base. Bake for 15-30 minutes or until firm and golden.

Beetburgers with Salad

Today we made beetburgers with the beetroot from my garden with a lovely fresh salad with leaves, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers from the allotment and boiled potatoes with chives.
Personally I would reduce the amount of flour, probably half it.

Whilst we were there we harvested some butternut squashes for future use, so they will go into storage for another day.

We ate the beet burgers with some bread and butter pickle as well as some sweet chilli jam.

As a dessert we had some poached pears (from Glo's garden), raspberries (yellow and red) with some greek yoghurt  topped with elderberry syrup. A veritable feast.

Tomatoes, chillies and Peppers

We had a great year for tomatoes, although the ones I am using today I picked last week when they were still green and had to ripen off the vine due to blight.


I made 4 jars of tomatoes to use in soups (added basil and salt) and boiled for 30 minutes.

My other favourite this time of the year is to turn my peppers, tomatoes and chillies into sweet chilli Jam.  Thank you to Paola who gave me a few more jars as now I have run out! No doubt soon she will be able to taste some of this delicious jam.