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!

Apero Time!

My favourite way to entertain- and be entertained- especially in the summer, is to host an apéro dinatoire. (Posh drinks and nibbles- or tapas or canapés- call it what you like). Essentially, it is gorgeous little nibbly things to go with drinks which can last ( or be replenished as the evening goes on.)

The great thing about these evenings is that they are often spur of the moment invites- which means you have to raid your cupboards and fridge and rustle up some nifty nibbles from nothing. No planning. No fuss. Just whatever you've got.

So here are my speedy suggestions:

Toasts/ Croques

If you have a loaf of bread ( or ready made toasts) then you can make a start. Just slice, toast,  rub with a cut clove of garlic and top with whatever is handy- sardine, tuna or liver paté, grated fresh tomato, or a caviare d'aubergines if you have a bit more time.

Prick 2 aubergines all over and rub with some olive oil then roast whole in the oven for 25 minutes or so until soft and wrinkly.

Aubergines looking tired and emotional

Scoop out the flesh and mix it with 1-2 crushed cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp honey, some lemon or lime juice, salt and pepper. Spread onto garlicky toasts.

Aubergine Toasts with Gazpacho Verrines

I also like to make mini croques-messieurs, toasting little bits of bread with cheese, ham and mustard. (Or make full-sized ones and cut into bite-sized pieces.)

Mini Croques-Messieurs

Verrines

Cold soups in little glasses go down well and are quite fashionable. Gazpacho ( as shown above ) is always popular      http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.com/search?q=gazpacho or try a Courgette and Coconut Velouté

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.com/search?q=courgette+and+coconut+

Courgette and Coconut Verrine

Dips and Chips

If you have a bottle of mayonnaise, a natural yoghurt or some crème fraiche then you have the makings of a dip.

My favourites are mayo mixed with mustard ( great for dipping mini frankfurters), crème fraiche with chilli sauce and chopped coriander or chives for dipping veg  or yoghurt with chopped gherkins and olives for a tartare sauce dip.

Or try this hummus-y style dip - made from leftover baked beans!

Blitz 2 tbsp beans with 2 cloves of garlic, juice of a lemon, 1 tsp chilli paste and 2 tbsp olive oil

Baked Bean 'Hummus'

Lovely for dipping baby potatoes, courgettes, radishes or tortilla chips

Dips and Chips

Incidentally the chips are made from sliced tortillas ( straight from the freezer), tossed in olive oil and seasoning and baked for 5-10 minutes in a hot oven:

Baked Tortilla Chips

Pastry Bits

It's always worth having a roll of puff pastry in the fridge or freezer for making impromptu titbits. You can make savoury croissants, straws or puffs in a matter of minutes.

For croissants- use a circle of pastry, cut into 16 triangles and each triangle spread with a topping of your choice- sundried tomato paste, pesto, tapenade, curry paste, even Marmite (although Marmite croissants might be a step too far for French guests!)

Croissants spread and ready for rolling

Roll up into croissant shapes from the outside of the triangle into the centre. Brush with egg or milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds or parmesan. Bake at 200 degrees until risen and golden.

Mini croissants and cheese straws

Or use a rectangular sheet of pastry, cut into smaller rectangles for Ham and Cheese Puffs:

Lay a slice of ham and some grated cheese on top

Fold in the edges and seal, bake until golden brown and puffy:

Ham and Cheese Puffs

Cheese Tuiles

I make these with St.Nectaire but it would work with Manchego, Comte, Cantal or Port Salut too.

Just slice some cheese into small cubes:

Dice the cheese

Lay little piles of the cubes on some baking paper:

Make little piles of cheese

Put in a hot oven to melt and meanwhile crush a tablespoon of hazelnuts:

Crush hazelnuts for sprinkling

As the cheese melts, sprinkle on the nuts to toast in the oven.

Sprinkle on the nuts as the cheese melts

When the cheese is bubbling, take out the tray, allow to cool slightly then loosen the tuiles and place on a rack to cool.

Tuiles au Saint-Nectaire

Phew! That's enough for now I reckon. Time for a drink.

What- no nibbles?

Runaway Pumpkins!

Lots of things really thrive here in the Auvergne. Swiss chard, courgettes, pumpkins.....And me, of course.

When we arrived back to the Potager, the pumpkins had taken over.
The leeks were frantically waving for help, and the beetroot, celeriac and radishes were all but in invisible under a tangle
of pumpkin leaves and runners.
Some had even made it over the fence into my neighbour's garden.

It is definitely the time of year to dust off my pumpkin, squash and courgette recipes.
See    http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.fr/search?q=smashing+pumpkins
or http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.fr/search?q=harvest+festival+recipes

But first, this year, I thought I would try something new. starting with tackling this giant courgette:

Makes me look tiny! (That's a good thing..)

I tried out a recipe for Courgette and Ginger Jam- and it is surprisingly delicious. The courgettes are a bit tasteless when they get to this size - so provide a good vehicle for strong flavours like ginger and lemon.

Courgette and Ginger Jam

1.5kg of courgette or marrow flesh, peeled, de-seeded and chopped into small chunks

1 kg of granulated sugar

grated zest and juice of 3 lemons ( keep the bald shells in the freezer for adding to marmalades and jams later)

100g of crystallized ginger, chopped

3 tsp ground ginger

250 g pectin

1. Layer the vegetable in a large mixing bowl, sprinkling each layer with sugar and lemon juice until the sugar is all used up.

Sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice

2. Cover and leave for 24 hours.

3. A huge amount of liquid will have come out of the flesh, so drain that off into a preserving pan along with any undissolved sugar.

4. Add the lemon and ginger to the mixture and boil rapidly for 20 minutes or so.

Boil rapidly

5. Add the chopped marrow/courgette flesh and cook for a further 10 minutes until tender, skimming as you go.

6. Use a stick blender to roughly blitz the flesh and ginger into a course puree and then add the pectin.

7. Boil until your jam has reached setting point ( when a spoonful sets on a cold saucer and wrinkles up) and then pour into hot, sterilized jars.

Courgette and Ginger Jam

The medium sized courgettes were made into an old favourite- stuffed with leftover bolognaise sauce and cooked au gratin in the oven:

Stuffed Courgettes/Marrow Au Gratin

And any other assorted overgrown veg from the garden were put together with Moroccan spices, dried fruit, chutney and tomatoes for a tagine:

Veg for a tagine

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.fr/search?q=tagine

Finally, I am going to use up one of the giant pumpkins to make Spiced Pumpkin Butter ( a bit like a treacle spread for toast, pancakes, waffles etc).

Spiced Pumpkin Butter
2 kg of pumpkin flesh, peeled and cut into cubes
500g brown sugar and 1 tbsp treacle or 600g  brown sugar ( if you don't have treacle)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp grated nutmeg
6 cloves
finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

1. Put the cubes in a steamer over hot water and steam for 10 minutes or so until tender.

Steam rather than boil the pumpkin initially

2. Place in preserving pan and blitz with a stick blender until you have a puree.
3. Add the sugar and spices, the lemon juice and zest
4. Simmer on a low heat for an hour or so until the mixture is very thick. (I am going to use a slow cooker for several hours instead.)
5. When the puree is very thick and leaves a clear channel when a wooden spoon is drawn through- it is ready to be potted up in sterilized jars.

Spiced Pumpkin Butter
(Photo courtesy of Thane Prince)

That takes care of one of the pumpkins. My friends assure me that the rest will keep well in our cool cellar over the winter.

No chance of getting the ones back which have run away into the neighbour's garden anyway- he has placed them under armed guard!

Pumpkin patrol!

Herby-dacious!

.

Herby-dacious!

"Herby-dacious!" was the password that opened the gates to the magic herb garden in Oliver Postgate's 'The Herbs' back in the 1970's. It featured Parsley the Lion, Dill the Dog, Sage the Owl et al


In those days, I didn't even know dill was a herb.

Now I have my own magic herb garden.

Mint has its own bed

Thyme aplenty

Rosemary galore

And a bay tree too!

And the annuals are in full leaf- parsley, chives, lemon balm....

So my thoughts have turned to how to preserve these treasures to add to soups, stews, sauces....you name it...throughout the year ahead.

As I was busy with preserves, I added thyme to my apple jelly- which featured in last month's blog but it also enhances marmalade too- as here:

Orange and Thyme Jelly

Ingredients: (to make 4lb of marmalade)

6 oranges

1 lemon

1.2 kg sugar

570 ml water

1 bottle liquid pectin

1 tbsp fresh chopped thyme

1. Wash the oranges and lemon, halve them and squeeze out all the juice

2. Chop roughly and place in a heavy pan with the water

3. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes

4. Strain the fruit and put the liquid- 

made up to 570 ml again with the fruit juice, along with the sugar, back in the pan.

5. Cook over a low heat and dissolve the sugar then bring up 

to a rolling boil and boil for two minutes.

6. Add the thyme and continue to boil for another two minutes

7. Add the pectin and boil for a further minute

8. Test a spoonful of the mixture on a cold saucer to see if it is setting.

9. If not, continue to boil, testing every minute or so for a 'set'.

10. Skim the surface and strain the mixture once again to remove the thyme

11. Pot up in sterilised jars and label

Mint is another herb that goes well in a jelly- to serve with lamb or mix with yogurt for a dip for poppadoms.

Keep a container in the freezer for lemon shells, and when you have squeezed the lemon juice out, freeze them to use for flavour and added pectin for your jellies.

Leftover lemon shells

To make mint jelly ( or rosemary jelly- equally good):

Ingredients:

A good bunch of mint

4 lemon shells

750 ml water

6 tbsp white wine vinegar

500g sugar

1. Chop the lemon shells in a food processor and then simmer in the water in a saucepan for 15 minutes

2. Strain the mixture through a clean jelly bag for 3-4 hours

3. Make the liquid back up to 500 ml if necessary

4. Put back in the saucepan with the sugar and vinegar and heat until the sugar dissolves

5. Chop the mint, add to the pan and bring the mixture to the boil for 3 minutes

Chop the mint 

6. Strain off the mint and continue to boil until the mixture reaches setting point (as in above recipes)

7. Quickly skim and pour into hot sterilised jars, then seal.

Mint jelly

An obvious way to keep herbs handy over the winter is to keep bunches of dried leaves in the kitchen- thyme, rosemary, bay, sage and oregano survive well like this.

Dried herbs for the kitchen

But softer herbs like parsley, basil, chives and mint are not so great dried. They do well if chopped and frozen in ice cube trays ready to use. Basil and oregano do well frozen like this, but also you can freeze them in olive oil so they can be dropped into pasta dishes.

Mint, chives and parsley for the freezer

Herb butters, sugars and vinegars make a little go a long way too.

Mix herbs of your choice with butter and place on cling film, roll up into a sausage using the cling film, briefly unroll it and slice into portions then wrap it up again and freeze it.

                                     Herb butter

Mint and lemon balm flavour sugar nicely, for adding to cakes and puddings. Simply pour caster sugar into clean jars and poke in some sprigs of your favourite herb. Screw the lid tightly and leave for the flavours to develop over the next few weeks.

               Mint sugar

Other herbs, like rosemary and thyme add flavour to vinegars.

Measure out some white wine vinegar to fill your sterilised bottles- bring it to the boil and pour into the bottles, press in a sprig of your chosen herb and seal. Great for salad dressings.

Rosemary vinegar

Now your herbs are all safely dried, frozen, jellied and otherwise preserved- it's time to make them the stars of your recipes.

 

Rosemary and Olive Sables

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/olives#uds-search-results

                         Lemon and Chive Hollandaise

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/oranges-and-lemons.html

                    Sage and Onion Cornbread

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/corn%20bread

And finally- work some fresh herbs into your next batch of pastry- either add them at the rubbing in stage, or press them into ready made short crust pastry.

You can then go on to make flavoursome quiches like this Courgette and Tomato Tart- very simple but the genius lies in slicing your courgettes thinly

then rolling them up cigar fashion to build your tart

then add three beaten eggs, salt and pepper, a dusting of Parmesan and bake at 170 degrees until set.

Courgette and Tomato Tart

No magic word needed!