The dog days of summer*
Midsummer, long days and shorter nights although sunny weather has been fleeting. A few hot days of tropical heat followed by many more of clouds and rain. The garden needs it, since the heatwave in May not even a week of thundery downpours can heal the cracks in the earth. I'm still watering most evenings, perhaps with less precision and a garden inspired cocktail in hand.
My dad has kept himself busy through lockdown, ensconced in his garage creating things from his (massive) waste wood collection. He made me the basket above, a homemade variation of the traditional Sussex trug, from his home county. The sides are from an old wooden pallet, the slats from a wooden window blind and the beautiful handle is from an old broom. It's been perfect for collecting veg from the plot.
The French beans have tripled in size and already handfuls of purple beans are ready for picking. The brief heatwave mid month provided a swarm of black fly who greedily settled on everything. A few squirts of washing up kept them under control and now I have help in a tiny troop of scarlet ladybirds keeping the equilibrium naturally.
The broad beans are almost over having provided a good few meals, a summery ribollita may be worth noting for the future and a bruschetta made a star of the emerald green crushed beans with goats cheese, an easy-peasy recipe for lunch.
This is more of an idea than a recipe, you get the drift, quantities depend on how many you are feeding. If you are picking you own, this is a simple and quick use for super fresh beans.
A bowl of cooked broad beans, slipped from their outer jackets
A handful of chopped coriander, basil or mint
1 red chilli, finely chopped (deseeded if you don't like the heat)
Juice from half a lemon
Good extra virgin olive oil
Good quality bread, perhaps a slice each, toasted
Goats cheese, or whatever takes your fancy
Crush the beans roughly with a fork and mix in the herbs, chilli, lemon juice and olive oil. Season to taste and pile up on the toast. Top with slices of cheese and put back under a hot grill until the cheese melts and blisters. Eat.
The very last few lettuces are starting to go to seed but are still perfectly edible and once eaten, their space will be filled with two more rows of quick growing red radish. Rhubarb chard, beetroot, turnip and an exotic black radish are growing rapidly but the borlotti beans have been somewhat slower, inching their way cautiously up the wigwam of branches and string. A small row of dwarf pea plants squeezed alongside threaten to overtake them in days. I'm watching carefully the beefsteak tomatoes, hoping they'll get to a decent size.
Making a fresh batch of yoghurt each week has become routine, stirring in a few spoonfuls of the culture into fresh milk before bed and coming down in the morning to a new jar of perfectly set yoghurt. It's amazing to see how this simple process works. With the recent thundery weather and humid overnight temperature one batch fermented too quickly so the whey separated from the solids. I drained the whole lot through some muslin (leaving it overnight in the fridge) and with a pinch or two of salt turned the yoghurt into labneh, a fresh yoghurt cheese. Rolled into balls, then some herby za'atar, placed in a jam jar and covered in olive oil, this kept for a week in the fridge, turning a mistake into a luscious creamy cheese. I've experimented with a few different milks for the yoghurt but by far the best is organic whole Jersey milk which makes a thick wobbly set. My favourite week day breakfast is a bowl of this yoghurt piled high with nectarines and strawberries or apricots roasted with rosemary and a brief dusting of sugar.
Its not all work on the plot, although I use the term 'work' loosely. The plot is right by the kitchen door so really it's more of a frequent tinkering at this time in the year. Long summer evenings have been spent sitting in the garden, slowly finishing an epic crochet blanket drinking a garden inspired cocktail. The first cucumber from the plot was used to infuse the gin and the elderflower cordial was made from flowers foraged from a cycle trip. I can't think of a better toast to Midsummer.
1 part gin, infused overnight with slices of cucumber
1/3 part elderflower cordial
1/3 part lemon juice
ice cubes
Twist of cucumber to garnish
Shake all the ingredients together in a jar, strain into a cocktail glass, garnish, sit back amongst the flowers and enjoy.
*the Romans noted that the constellation Sirius rose and fell with the sun at this time of year and called this time 'dies caniculares' or days of the dog star.
My dad has kept himself busy through lockdown, ensconced in his garage creating things from his (massive) waste wood collection. He made me the basket above, a homemade variation of the traditional Sussex trug, from his home county. The sides are from an old wooden pallet, the slats from a wooden window blind and the beautiful handle is from an old broom. It's been perfect for collecting veg from the plot.
The French beans have tripled in size and already handfuls of purple beans are ready for picking. The brief heatwave mid month provided a swarm of black fly who greedily settled on everything. A few squirts of washing up kept them under control and now I have help in a tiny troop of scarlet ladybirds keeping the equilibrium naturally.
The broad beans are almost over having provided a good few meals, a summery ribollita may be worth noting for the future and a bruschetta made a star of the emerald green crushed beans with goats cheese, an easy-peasy recipe for lunch.
Crushed broad bean & chilli bruschetta
This is more of an idea than a recipe, you get the drift, quantities depend on how many you are feeding. If you are picking you own, this is a simple and quick use for super fresh beans.
A bowl of cooked broad beans, slipped from their outer jackets
A handful of chopped coriander, basil or mint
1 red chilli, finely chopped (deseeded if you don't like the heat)
Juice from half a lemon
Good extra virgin olive oil
Good quality bread, perhaps a slice each, toasted
Goats cheese, or whatever takes your fancy
Crush the beans roughly with a fork and mix in the herbs, chilli, lemon juice and olive oil. Season to taste and pile up on the toast. Top with slices of cheese and put back under a hot grill until the cheese melts and blisters. Eat.
The very last few lettuces are starting to go to seed but are still perfectly edible and once eaten, their space will be filled with two more rows of quick growing red radish. Rhubarb chard, beetroot, turnip and an exotic black radish are growing rapidly but the borlotti beans have been somewhat slower, inching their way cautiously up the wigwam of branches and string. A small row of dwarf pea plants squeezed alongside threaten to overtake them in days. I'm watching carefully the beefsteak tomatoes, hoping they'll get to a decent size.
Making a fresh batch of yoghurt each week has become routine, stirring in a few spoonfuls of the culture into fresh milk before bed and coming down in the morning to a new jar of perfectly set yoghurt. It's amazing to see how this simple process works. With the recent thundery weather and humid overnight temperature one batch fermented too quickly so the whey separated from the solids. I drained the whole lot through some muslin (leaving it overnight in the fridge) and with a pinch or two of salt turned the yoghurt into labneh, a fresh yoghurt cheese. Rolled into balls, then some herby za'atar, placed in a jam jar and covered in olive oil, this kept for a week in the fridge, turning a mistake into a luscious creamy cheese. I've experimented with a few different milks for the yoghurt but by far the best is organic whole Jersey milk which makes a thick wobbly set. My favourite week day breakfast is a bowl of this yoghurt piled high with nectarines and strawberries or apricots roasted with rosemary and a brief dusting of sugar.
"But tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun"
The Beatles
Its not all work on the plot, although I use the term 'work' loosely. The plot is right by the kitchen door so really it's more of a frequent tinkering at this time in the year. Long summer evenings have been spent sitting in the garden, slowly finishing an epic crochet blanket drinking a garden inspired cocktail. The first cucumber from the plot was used to infuse the gin and the elderflower cordial was made from flowers foraged from a cycle trip. I can't think of a better toast to Midsummer.
Gardeners Question Time
Recipe from The Sunday Night Book by Rosie Sykes, a perfect little book for easy meal inspiration.1 part gin, infused overnight with slices of cucumber
1/3 part elderflower cordial
1/3 part lemon juice
ice cubes
Twist of cucumber to garnish
Shake all the ingredients together in a jar, strain into a cocktail glass, garnish, sit back amongst the flowers and enjoy.
*the Romans noted that the constellation Sirius rose and fell with the sun at this time of year and called this time 'dies caniculares' or days of the dog star.
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