Fifty Shades of Green

Well, maybe not fifty.

But there is still plenty of green stuff to harvest in the late summer potager- squashes, courgettes, salad leaves, apples, pears, sorrel, chard, herbs and kohlrabi to name a few.

Enough to inspire a green themed post today.




So, this month I give you recipes for vegetable fritters- using up some of your glut of courgettes perhaps- or making the most of other garden veg such as kohlrabi, broccoli or cabbage.
Also, a delicate flavoured soup made from lettuce and garden herbs.
And finally, an autumnal chutney using up the last of the apple crop, tomatoes, onions and pears.

At our Atelier de Cuisine this month, we made Palets de Courgettes (Fried Courgette Cakes).

Simply grate together 2 courgettes, 2 carrots, 2 potatoes, 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic. (You can add whatever veg you like here- sweetcorn would be good or white cabbage or chopped broccoli)
Mix together in a bowl with 1-2 eggs, 100g of grated cheese ( eg Cheddar, Parmesan or Emmental) and plenty of salt and pepper.
We didn't add any flour on this occasion, but I would recommend adding a tablespoon of plain flour or cornflour to help bind the fritters and soak up the juice from the courgettes.

Grate together your veg into a bowl and add 1-2 eggs

Press spoonfuls into a pan ( with a dessertspoon of oil) and fry gently until golden on both sides

Press spoonfuls into a frying pan

We ate ours with macaroni cheese and a spicy chilli dipping sauce. Nice!

Fry gently until golden on both sides

I make a similar version with grated kohlrabi, if you grow it or can find it in the greengrocers:

Mix 2 grated kohlrabi with 3-4 chopped spring onions, a tbsp of curry powder, 1 tbsp plain flour, 1 egg and 2 tsps turmeric, plus 1-2 tsp salt:

Mix up your grated veg and spices with egg and a bit of flour

Fry spoonfuls in hot oil:

Fry in hot oil

Drain well on kitchen paper and serve:

Kohlrabi fritters

Next I am making my Mr McGregor Soup- so named as it uses lettuce and garden herbs, such as sorrel and parsley to give it it's delicate but delicious flavour ( and would appeal to both the farmer and to Peter Rabbit!)

If you haven't cooked with lettuce- now's the time to try it. It's a great way to use up a glut of salad  from the garden or some slightly sad leaves from the salad crisper which might otherwise go to waste.

Fry 1 chopped onion and 1 minced clove of garlic in a little oil, then add a chopped head of lettuce, a handful of chopped sorrel or spinach, a bunch of chopped parsley or chives and either 2 diced potatoes or some leftover mash and 1 litre of vegetable stock.

Fry up lettuce, onion, potato, herbs etc

Simmer gently until the potato is tender and then blitz with a hand blender and adjust the seasoning:

Blitz until smooth

You will probably need to sieve the mixture as well, as some types of lettuce can be quite fibrous.

You can add milk or cream, but I think you will find it is delicious as it is.

Mr McGregor Soup

Finally, I made a big batch of my Autumn Chutney- using up the veg and fruits which are plentiful at the end of the summer.

Ingredients:

800g of  peeled, chopped tomatoes

450g chopped onions

1.25 kg apples, (peeled and chopped)

600g pears ( peeled and chopped)

4 minced cloves of garlic

100g fresh grated root ginger

1-2 red chillies or 2 tsp chilli paste

450g sultanas

1 tbsp salt

900 ml white wine or cider vinegar

750g demerara sugar

Put all the ingredients in a very large preserving pan and bring to the boil:

Put everythiing in a large pan

Boil for 2-3 minutes and then reduce to a simmer. Let the mixture simmer for at least an hour, then mash the fruit with a potato masher to reduce the size of the chunks, stir and continue to simmer until reduced in volume and nice and thick for spooning into sterilized jars.

This quantity made 10 pots of chutney:

A batch of Autumn Chutney

A perfect way to round off a September session in the kitchen.

Or garden!

Jam tomorrow

Well. maybe I'm exaggerating a bit..

My jam-making exploits of late summer have been well documented on this blog- and I've returned home to the UK with a good selection to take us through Christmas. However, there were quite a few jars of shop bought jam and chutney in my cupboards that I discovered on my return.

But obviously they need to be used up- and as quickly as possible! Who wants to spread those on their bread when they can have the real thing?

I began with a quick jammy fruit crumble- frozen red berries mixed with 2 tbsp bramble jelly and a little fruit juice and topped with a sweet crumble topping:

Stir jam into frozen berries..

The remaining bramble jelly I used up in jam tarts- here used as part of an autumn cafe gourmand with creme anglaise, mini crumble and blackberries.

Autumn Cafe Gourmand

And in 'Apples in Dressing Gowns'- a German dish:

Apples in Dressing Gowns

Peel and core a dessert apple and lay out on some leftover shortcrust pastry

Fill with chopped dates, sultanas and a good squirt of golden syrup

Paint with jam all over

Wrap up well in the pastry and bake at 180 degrees

Marmalade went into a Sticky Marmalade Cake

Sticky Seville Cake

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/marmalade%20cake

and into Rum Punch sauce for ice cream.

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=rum+punch+sauce

Next, I used some leftover mango chutney and fruit chutney (half a jar each) to make Chicken and Chutney Tagine. Here is the recipe:

You will need a selection of chicken quarters ( drumsticks and thighs), 1 lemon, 4 tsp tagine spice (I buy mine from a spice seller in the market but you can get it anywhere- or make your own combination), 1 tsp chilli, 1 tin chopped tomatoes, half a jar each of mango chutney and other fruit chutney, 1 onion, 1 fat clove of garlic (crushed) and any of the following that you like or have in the store cupboard- 1 tin chick peas, handful green olives, handful dried apricots or dates, handful sultanas....you choose.

Skin the chicken quarters and marinade overnight in the juice and grated rind of the lemon mixed with the tagine spice.

Marinade the chicken

The next day, fry the chopped onion and garlic and place in a slow cooker or tagine pot. Then fry the chicken quarters to brown them

Brown quickly

Add these to the pot, then deglaze the pan with the chutney and a cup of water

Deglaze the pan with the chutney

Pour over the chicken, add the chilli, tomatoes, and your chosen extra ingredients.

Cook in the slow cooker for 4-6 hours on low, or in the oven at 160 degrees for 2 hours or so.

Chicken and Chutney Tagine

Leftovers can be wrapped in filo or feuilles de brick, sprinkled with sesame seeds and baked at 180 degrees to make Chicken Pastillas.

Chicken and Chutney Pastillas

And finally- if you need some ideas for using up honey, there is a whole blogpost here for you to peruse featuring some of my favourites like Sticky Sausages and Caviare of Aubergines,

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/honey

So, contrary to the popular saying, we did have jam yesterday, jam today and- yes- probably
tomorrow!

                             

Says who?