Leek Soup, Pear Custard Pie and Pasta

It was a little bit of a shock to see that the leeks in the allotment were about to go into flower so steps were taken to turn these beauties into a lovely Vegan Leek and Potato Soup which we had with a yoghurt and oat bread.

Noor making the Leek & potato soup

Isadora making the bread under dad's supervision

As the group wanted to make home made pasta we had a taster of pasta with a simple tomato sauce, topped with cracked pepper and parmesan cheese.

This is how it is done.

Look what I picked!

Picking conference pears for our desert

June and Noor preparing the pears for the pie

Pear Custard Pie

What a lovely morning we had.

The huge bucket of tomatoes were turned into a quick tomato sauce for the pizza we made but also as a gazpacho topped with cucumber and chives.

The pizza itself is made mainly on the top stove. We mixed 230gr  self raising flour with 2 tblsps of plain yoghurt, 1 tblsp oil, salt and a little water. Kneaded it into a ball and let it rest in the fridge for a little while. We then rolled it out on a surface sprinkled with semolina to give it a little bit mote 'bite;.
In a large frying pan with a little oil we fried the base until it was golden on both sides.

We transferred it onto a pizza stone, spread the tomato sauce, carrot top pesto, grated cheese, tomatoes, baby courgettes, peppers, red onion, mushrooms salt and pepper and some bits of gorgonzola cheese. Put it under the grill until the cheeses were melted and bubbling. Delicious!

Today with the left over aquafaba  and abundance of raspberries we made some raspberry mousse

Apple picking with June and Melendra

Today we went on a little adventure. As there were only 2 members with me today, and on Monday Simone tipped me off about an eating apple tree in front of Churchill College, we decided to go and pick these beauties for storing this winter. We packed the apple trays, newspapers and apple pickers and off the three of us set in my little car turned into a packing factory.


Melendra and I picked whilst June stayed in the car and wrapped the apples. It was a big success.
On our way back we swung by a lovely eating apple tree on French's Road and picked some more.

After this outing we had a couscous salad for lunch at home.

Filo pastry and runner bean samosas

As we have now harvested most of the runner beans I thought it might be interesting to make some samosas with them. Rather than mango chutney we use a teaspoon of sweet chili jam and dip them into yoghurt with mint sauce.

The filo pastry recipe was very good. I made the dough before the group came, as it needed an hour to rest before using. We all had a go making the pastry and then use it to make the samosas
   

     

As a salad will be make a couscous salad out of the 1st cookery book.
incorporating, the peppers, cucumber and onions out of the garden and the pesto we make from carrot toppings



      
We used this recipe for the pesto but added a large spoon ful of nutritional yeast.


As a desert we made some apple crumblies, a recipe I got from Monique in Nottingham. We had it with a dollop of yoghurt but it can be eaten on its own.

Apple crumblies

6 oz margarine

6 oz SR flour

6 oz semolina

3 oz sugar

1 lb apples

4 oz sugar

2 oz sultanas

½ tbs cinnamon

7 ½ inch tin  

Melt margarine, stir in flour and semolina and sugar.

½ mixture in tin. Put apples and sugar in pan. Cover and cook add sultanas and cinnamon

Boil for 3 mins until thick. Spread over the mixture. Leave 1” from edge. Crumbs rest of the mixture on top.

Bake for 30 mins.

Seiko is arriving for a holiday in Cambridge.

A few months ago Seilo emailed to see if she could join From Spade to Plate when she arrives in the UK for a week of holiday. On arrival in Heathrow (6am) she took a coach to arrive in time at our home to join in the cooking.

     
Within minutes she was turning the handle of the pasta machine and was making fresh pasta. As we had so many tomatoes we turn them into a fresh tomato sauce which turned out wonderfully.

                    
              



We sat around the kitchen table and peeled all the plum tomatoes we picked from the allotment and then
 canned them whole, as per the 'recipe' from my friend Serenella in Italy. This involved peeling the tomatoes, stuffing them into jars and finishing them off in a waterbath for 20 minutes

As a desert we poached some of the pears we picked from a tree on Chesterton Road, using elderflower syrup and some whipped cream.
 


We had a cucumer and tomato salad to go with it.

Apples and Pears galore

As we picked loads of apples (from The Othersyde,) and pears (From corner chesterton Road) I have decided to turn them into juice before going on holiday.

Arisa pressing the apples

Sara, Sayaka, Hiroe, Arisa and Today prepping the apples

I am also looking after Maria and Pete's allotment, which has 8 very large broccoli heads in need of picking, for that reason, I have decided to use the Broccoli, Courgette and Spinach soup with gorgonzola from book 1

June is looking after the pears

and as a desert we used the pears instead of the Rhubarb when making the Rhubarb crumble from book 2. The almond and ginger topping went really well with the pears and no sound was heard when we were eating.  A keeper we have decided.

Dezyre making the crumble topping

Todai and Arisa went around the garden to pick the sweet mini mini tomatoes which we turned into salad.

Everyone was able to take back with them some pears and a bottle of apple juice.
Yet another lovely morning.

Apples and Green tomatoes

From Spade to Plate this morning was extremely productive. We turned a load of apples into Apple Cordial, Apple Sauce,

 

Apple Cider vinegar in the making

 The green tomatoes went into making a delicious green tomato cake topped with shredded coconut. 

For our main meal we made wraps with a salad filling from the garden.

Wraps with cream chees, salad, grated cheese and peanuts

Apple Crumble (with almond and ginger crumble) 

Kodai and Arisa making apple crumble

 It was lovely to welcome back Hiroe and her two children, Arisa and Kodai, June and Carmen.

Having been on holiday there is an abundance of fruit and vegetables

Back from holiday and we are welcomed by a glut of tomatoes, runner beans, courgettes and even apples. I have decided to do the from Spade on Monday eventhough it is a bank holiday, I suppose it is even nicer as that way the whole family can come.

Before Tina and her family set sail for the US , she let me harvest appleas from her garden and on the way there I noticed that the apples in behind St Luke's church are ready too so have decided to turn them into juice, (there is something special about the first juice of the year)
It should be nice to do for young and old, especially the tasting.
The pictures turned out to be a little pink as we were working under a red gazebo to protect us from the blazing sun,
            
After sending out an FB announcement that we would do a family event we had a wonderful turn out.
Lu, Francisco and Isobella, Karina and Urban, Melendra, Robin and Bridget, Suzie K. Vasey, Brian , Gray and Natalie, Lucy, Omer, Theo and Thomas, Akiko and Yosuka all showed up to turn the apples into delicious juice, and apple juice.  Although we had a lot of apples, with so many people coming to help, Mark and I went to pick apples from Githa's garden and later he took Akiko, Yosuka and Suzie across the street to pick the apples in the alley way

For lunch we made wraps filled with cream cheese,  courgetti spagetti, carrots and bean salad, lettuce and grated cheese, as it was  30degree C. too hot for cooking I think