Sunday, 3 June 2018

Monday 4th June: From Spade to Plate: Broadbean and asparagus risotto with strawberry and mixed salad

What a joy!  Both the strawberries and the broad beans are ready to be harvested.
Now what can I do to make a nice lunch out of this?



Thanks to the internet I have found two lovely recipes.

The Broadbean and asparagus risotto  is based on this recipe and added some lemon rind and juice to lift it a bit.


As a salad we will harvest the leaves of the lettuces we sowed in March and include the first strawberries

As the morning was very overcasted and a light rain, I harvested the broadbeans and the asparagus earlier in the day, just in case it would rain properly when the group would arrive. It turned out that it was dry enough to go out and pick more strawberries from the garden for the salad and the strawberry and banana icecream.

We also managed to go into the allotment where we picked flowers to cheer up our homes with colour and sweet memories. (somehow many of us have old memories when seeing Sweet William flowers)





The risotto and the salad were delicious!

Wednesday, 30 May 2018

Wednesday 30th May. From Spade to plate: Creamy mushroom and spinach





As we are clearing the chard from the allotment, and sowing again for the coming season.

A bit of a Green theme today.

Asparagus and Spinach soup  with tomato bruschetta







What is so wonderful about our group is that apart from sowing, harvesting, and turning lovely fruit and vegetables into something delicious and nutritious, we spend a lot of time chatting and discussing  issues that are questions from our foreign visitors. Felicia had questions regarding the history of the wives of King Henry 8th. Thank goodness for Melendra's input as she seemed to know more about the UK royal history than the English members of our group. Also great that we had Google on hand, to verify the facts.
Melendra and Felicia, checking our History facts


 I thought  this tasty  recipe with Mushrooms and spinach, thought it might go well with some rice.





As a dessert we had banana, strawberry and rhubarb icecream.

We had frozen banana slices, whizzed it in the foodprocessor with some strawberry jam and stewed rhubarb. We then had an instant creamy, vegan icecream.


Monday, 28 May 2018

Bank Holiday Monday: From Spade to Plate

We had a full house today. It was great as the swiss chard had bolted and therefore in need of removing and making space for the next crop.


freshly harvested chard

I decided to make a cream of spinach soup with some garlic bread (only a couple of ingredients)
This basic bread recipe is quick and easy and is the basis for pretzels, pizza base and bagels as well.

Terry washing the Chard


For our main meal we made Swiss Chard with chickpeas and cousous.

A hive of activity



For dessert we made a rhubarb muffin
Chopping the rhubarb



Monday, 21 May 2018

What joy to get to hear from my lovely From Spade to Plate friends.

Over the last few weeks I received the occasional update from my From Spade to Plate friends.
It is so lovely to know that the recipes we have used are tried in their own accommodation to share with their families.

Last week I heard from Asako and Annie,



 today within hours of making the elderflower cordial I received this from Yumi

Hello Karina,

I was very enjoyed your session today.
After that, I and Yuki went to a park to find elderflower .
It was difficult, but we found two elderflower trees!
We picked many flowers.It was very interesting!
I am looking forward to make elderflower cordial.

Best regards 
Yumi




It was great fun. I’m so excited about the vegan smoked salmon. Joe and Sage will be too!

Love,
Melendra

Wednesday, 16 May 2018

Paola's Spinach recipe.





Cook the spinach, squeeze all the water out and chop. Mix with ricotta, egg (or eggs) parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and a bit of flour.
We used this gnocchi recipe but added loads of spinach





Form into balls and roll into flour. 
When the water comes to boil drop them in and lift them out once they come to the surface (like gnocchi). Don't let the water boil too hard because that could cause them to disintegrate….





For the tomato sauce put some oil in a pan with a clove of garlic. Fry the garlic without letting it go brown and add chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar as well as basil.
Cook for about 10 minutes, Voila!
Ciao x

Thanks Paola, the end result was gorgeous.


Wednesday, 9 May 2018

Wednesday 9th May: Leek, mushroom spinach and nettle galette



First thing this morning I went to pick some rhubarb so we could started the cordial straight away.
It was easy and quick to make. We even managed a glass in the sunshine, whilst the crumble and galette were in the oven.



Yesterday I saw some lovely nettles that we could use for todays meal.
I think is goes well in the Leek, mushroom, spinach Galette we just added the nettle tops after thoroughly washing them (with gloves on) then blanching them to avoid any stinging.

The end result was delicious


We  picked the first of this year's lettuce that we sowed with the group a few weeks ago and had it  with our meal.





As a desert we have a rhubarb crumble



Thursday, 3 May 2018

Dandelion bread - Dandelion Cordial

At this time of the year the grass in the allotment is dotted with dandelions and plenty of them.
Did you know that you can turn them into delicious bread?

Making some dandelion jelly to eat with it.




Dandelion cordial


Some nutritional facts about Dandelion





Sunday, 29 April 2018

Dandelion pizza - Spinach soup - Rhubarb crumble


Rhubarb flowers to cheer up the room

A three course meal for 9 people in 2 hours, not bad for a Monday morning activity.

I have to confess that because the horrible cold and windy day, I went out to pick the food yesterday evening.

For starters we made a spinach soup.
June and Asako cut the spinach and wilted it in some salted water,
They then added a chopped onion, some rosemary and a minced garlic clove.
They then added a vegetable stock to cover the greens and let it simmer until cooked.
At this point we added some cornflour to thicken the soup a little. Then added some milk to bulk it out.

We served this soup with a swirl of double cream, a little gorgonzola and to please the eye as well as the stomach some chives and lambs lettuce flowers.

For the Pizza I picked the Dandelion leaves and some spinach beet to bulk it up.


Dandelion, spinach beet, red onion, garlic and  smoked courgettes


For a quick and easy non yeast pizza base I used the following ingredients:

2 cups of self raising flour
2 tbsp of yoghurt
1 tsp of baking powder
a little salt
cold water to mix.
coarse semolina to sprinkle on your work surface to roll out the dough

Mix all together and let rest in the fridge for 30 mins. Then roll out thinly and cut in a circle that fits into a frying pan. Put some oil in the frying pan, put in the dough and fry on both sides until done.
(about 4 minutes)

This pizza is based on The Italian Food Forever recipe but changed it a little

For the topping:

  • 1 Bunch Dandelion Greens (Or About 8 Cups Chopped Into 2 Inch Pieces)
  • 1 Large Red Onion, Peeled And Thinly Sliced
  • 2 Large Cloves Garlic, Peeled And Minced
  • 6 Slices Prosciutto, Finely Chopped or (in our case smoked zucchini finely chopped)
  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • Cracked Black Pepper
  • Sea Salt
  • 1 1/2 Cups Sliced Fontina Cheese (or in our case some feta)

  • Rhubarb, almond and ginger crumble from Delia online
Rhubarb crumble ingredients






  1. In a heavy skillet, heat the olive oil and once hot add the onion slices.
  2. Continue to cook the onions over medium heat until they are very soft and caramelized, then add the garlic and prosciutto, and stir to mix well.
  3. Add the dandelion greens and stir to mix well.
  4. Continue to cook until the dandelions are soft and wilted.
  5. Season with the cracked pepper and sea salt to taste.
  6. Divide the topping in half and spread over the dough circles leaving a 1 1/2 inch edge all around.
  7. Scatter the cheese slices on top of the pizzas and put under the grill until the cheese is melted.  about 5 minutes.
  8. sowing squashes and purple sprouting broccoli
  9. Serve either warm or at room temperature.

Monday, 23 April 2018

From Spade to Plate: a Flowery affair




Pasta with purple sprouting broccoli 
The pasta we made from scratch:
2 cups of plain flour,
 2 egg yolks,
some salt and a table spoon of oil. water to mix.


We made some Vegan Parmesan to go the past.

In the allotment we picked the purple sprouting broccoli, probably the last of it before it gets stringy.

From Spade to Plate 


We used  some aqua faba (chickpea water) to make some lemon cheese mousse


The food was lovely, but the two comments today were truly touching: "Coming here is better than therapy" and " Coming to these sessions is giving me passion for life"

Tuesday, 17 April 2018

Nettle Soup

Gourmet Nettle Soup

1 chopped onion
1 garlic clove
A hand full of nettles per person
A few sorrel leaves
Cauliflower/cabbage chopped leaves
Stock cubes
Cream cheese
Rosemary flowers
Lemon Balm 
Chives


Topped  with gorgonzola
 

For lunch we made Grilled Mushrooms with Goats cheese and beetroot and walnut salsa.

Saturday, 14 April 2018

Beetroot and halloumi with Chilli jam on a bed of rocket

We used fresh beetroot, parsley and rocket from the garden  and turned this into delicious beetroot and halloumi sliders  on a bed of rocket leaves.









As a dessert we made  the apple/rose tartlets.