Beautiful brocolli

ALL the amazing rain has seen the broccoli go gangbusters.

It's been marvellous seeing how quickly the florets have been shooting up and I'm not the only one to notice - Hilda and the rest of the feather riot have been poking their necks through the wire to nibble on the broccoli leaves.

So last week I made a delicious spaghetti with broccoli, tomato, lemon and garlic accompaniment. At the end of of an icy cold day it was perfect to enjoy buy the fire.

 

 Just cook some spaghetti as normal and while this is simmering, place the trimmed broccoli heads in a pan with some olive oil, freshly chopped garlic and toss about.

In a separate saucepan heat up one can of tinned Italian tomatoes 9fresh is best but hey, it's July) and add some fresh basil. Tip the sauce and broccoli mix into a large casserole dish, then mix in the sauce and drained spaghetti.
Squeeze in some lemon juice to taste and stir.

Here's one broccoli head next to a big egg of Hilda's

Lentil as...

LENTILS are coming into their own as winter rolls on.

You have to love 'em - delicious, nutritious, easy to cook and as cheap as chips.

And as the coriander is going gangbusters and the two go so well together, it seems rude not to combine them.

Yesterday in between weeding, removing old bean plants and keeping the hens out of the brassica beds, I made a big pot of red lentil and vegetable soup.

I meant to save it for dinner and then decant into smaller containers for lunch this week, but it smelled so yummy I did have a bowl for elevenses.

Alison's Red Soup

Ingredients
I x pkt red lentils
1 x onion, chopped
1/2 of a big pumpkin, chopped
1 x red capsicum, chopped
3 x carrots, chopped
2 x tins of chopped Italian tomatoes
handful of coriander chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 litres water

Method
Rinse lentils then place in deep heavy bottomed casserole dish with water
Simmer for 25 minutes, removing foamy scum
Add carrots, capsicum, pumpkin, tomatoes, spices and cover with more water if needed
Simmer for an hour
Vitamise smooth
Serve with Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of coriander

Winter gardening the go

NEXT week it's winter as Peter Cundall notes in his latest Weekly Times column.

He notes that in the southern states it's a good time to plant broccoli and garlic.

So as along as it's not raining, I'll be out there in my gumboots and hand-knitted cable pure wool fluro orange jumper ($3 at the local op shop courtesy of someone whose grandma or aunty's fabulous knitting skills), turning over the compost and sowing some spring crops.

I'll also be harvesting some pumpkin to make soup and pumpkin risotto - yum.

Not to mention chasing the moulting chooks about and encouraging them to eat any caterpillar or aphids still handing about.

This pumpkin is now even bigger and about to turned into soup!

Hot Curry

ON the weekend a friend made a delicious Kashmir Curry.

It was a fantastic dish - inexpensive to cook, easy to make and very, very good to eat.

A hot meal on a cold evening by the fire warms the soul as well as the body.

 

 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 6 black peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed and roughly chopped
• 5cm piece ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 x 400g cans Italian chopped tomatoes (no added herbs or spices)
• 500g any kind of mushrooms, thickly sliced

Serve with:

• steamed basmati rice,
• thick plain or greek yoghurt
• coriander leaves

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Method

1. Chop up ingreadients as required
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add coriander seeds and cook until sizzling.
4. Add onion, ground coriander, cumin, peppercorns, cardamom, garam masala, turmeric, chilli, garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until onion is soft and mixture is aromatic.
5. Add tomatoes, mushrooms and 2 teaspoons salt. Stir until well combined.
6. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
7. Spoon curry over rice, top with yoghurt and coriander. Enjoy!

Leek & Potato Soup

Woke up at 5 am today and my first thought was soup, hot soup, leek and potato soup.

It's a very simple recipe and takes no time at all.

Instead of cream swirled on top, I like a dollop of greek yogurt and some scattered corriander or thyme.

Served with fresh garlic toast, it's going to be a yummy lunch by the fire on such a cold, autumn day.

Leek & Potato Soup

4 Leeks - chopped
5 big spuds - cubed
2 carrots - cubed
1 brown onion - chopped
4 cloves garlic - squashed and chopped
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs thyme
water
Butter
Olive oil

Method

Add a glug of olive oil to 40g butter in a pot

Add all vegetables and garlic to low heat

Sweat veggies with lid on - about 10 minutes - you can tell when the leeks look transparent. Be careful not to use too high a heat or they will burn.

Remove lid, add bay and thyme and just cover veggies with water

Simmer with lid off until spuds are tender

Puree (I use an old vitamiser) then season to taste with salt and pepper

Serve hot with garlicy-toast - mmmmm!

                                         Leek & Potato soup ready to enjoy

Soup it up

Spring may have sprung but the sight of a hambone at the deli at 7 o'clock this morning (too wet to cycle so I did the shopping instead and Sunday early is the best time, no children squealing or hung-over tourists blocking the spice rack).
This recipe freezes really well so I often make up a huge batch and freeze single-serves for those times when you feel tired, cross and cold and need an internal hug.

To die for pea and ham soup
1 ham bone (hock's don't cut it, so chat up your local butcher for the real deal)
1 packet split dried peas
3 litres water
handful of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
Couple of grinds of fresh ground pepper
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped,
3 cloves garlic, chopped

1. Put everything in a heavy-based pot and simmer for at least one hour.
2. Remove ham bone and any meat which has fallen off and (wearing disposable gloves), remove fatty bits and gently chop or tear apart the meat.
3. Discard hambone - give to the dog or chooks to enjoy.
4. Remove bay leaf and remains of thyme.
5. Place the liquid mixture in a blender and whizz until smooth.
6. Place meat and liquid back in the pot and gently stir.
7. Serve with rye or sourdough bread toasted with oil or garlic or both.

Best enjoyed in front of a roaring fire after a winter / spring surf, cycle or day in the garden.

Pea and ham soup on the stove - mmmm!