Waste not want not -Pea-pod soup

Waste not want not 

My peas are finally ready for picking well truth be told I have been picking them for the last week and eating them raw while I’m in the garden.The peas were picked for Sunday lunch with roast chicken but I was I was left with the lush green pods that smelt so good and it would have been a shame just to stick them in a composter so decided to make
Peapod soup 



And it could not of be easier and really tasty
 All I needed was

1 onion (chopped )

2 oz. (60 g) butter
1 large potato, peeled and sliced (mine came out of the garden)
A pint of Chicken stock & Vegetable stock (I used a mixture of both but if you want to use all vegetable then it won’t make much different and vice versa)  
Big handful of left over peapods (Roughly chopped)
Salt and pepper to your taste 

Place the butter and Onion in a saucepan and allow to soften. 4 -6 minutes

Add the potato, stock and peapods and bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.

Take of the heat and place it in an electric blender and purée (go careful very hot).

Then place the soup though a sieve to remove the pod fibres.

Taste and season 

And serve or place in fridge and have it for lunch the next day. 

Baked Smoked Haddock Creams with Lemon-dressed Leaves

Baked Smoked Haddock Creams with Lemon-dressed Leaves

I first came across this recipe in 1992 when the Mail on Sunday was giving Delia Smiths recipes cards out each week.

It’s a tried and tested recipe, which I have cooked over and over again.

Delia recommends it’s as a starter but I think it great as a main course with a few new potatoes and instead of one I have two.

I’m serving mine with lettuce from the garden

Mixed Lettuce 

I have got salad potatoes but I wanted to leave them another week before pulling 

Salad potaoes need a little longer

 But they are great as a starter as well as you can cook them the day before and even make the dressing the day before.

You will need

8 oz (225 g) smoked haddock, preferably undyed

1 bay leaf

5 fl oz (150 ml) milk

5 fl oz (150 ml) double cream

3 large egg yolks

1 level tablespoon chopped chives

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Black pepper

For the lemon dressing:

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1  tablespoon wholegrain mustard

1 teaspoon  Sugar

black pepper

Remove the skin from the fish by making and place the fish in a saucepan with the bay leaf and some pepper, pour in the milk, bring it up to a simmer, then poach for 5 minutes with the lid on.

Remove the fish to a plate, separate it into smallish flakes and divide them equally among the six buttered ramekin dishes.

Add the cream, egg yolks, chives and a little grated nutmeg and whisk them together thoroughly, add the hot milk the fish was cooked in make sure you don’t add  the bay leaf, this can now be chucked  then pour the mixture over the fish in the ramekins.

Ensure the fish pieces are not sitting on the bottom so use a fork to lift up the fish pieces.

Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and cook on a high shelf (mark 3, 325°F (170°C) for 25 -30 minutes until they are set in the centre and the tops are golden brown.
So if you are making them in advance allow them to cool and place in the fridge

Then the next day place back in the oven (mark 3, 325°F (170°C) for 15 minutes

The take them out of the oven 10 minutes before serving 

allow to stand before serving to allow them to harden up

The dressing,
Place all the ingredients into a jar shake it well. Done (This dressing also goes with many different salads )

I serve them on a bed of salad and asparagus and new potatoes

To serve make a bed of salad and run the blade of a knife round the edges, tip each one out into the palm of your hand and turn it the right way up again on to a plate. And add the dressing

Warning very hot not the easier thing to do but it does make it look good  

A Main course

If serving as a starter just the one would do

Summer feeling

I’m trying so hard to remember this is summer and we are in July, but this gives me hope.

Sweet peas & Strawberries 

Picked in the garden at the weekend

Some Sweet peas for the house they smell so lush and look so pretty and the more you cut the more flowers you get as it encourages more growth.

And some nice red strawberries, now I’m currently picking and freezing these at the moment as in a few weeks time I’m having a party and want to make a summer fruit pudding.

I just had to get my lilies in the picture as they are so pretty.

Basil from the garden to make Pesto

Homemade Basil Pesto

This week I finally managed to pick some of my basil and made some pesto it

So So easy to make and taste so much better than shop brought

Also a great way of using up most green veg like

lettuce

Rockett

Broccoli

Parsley

kale,

chard

spinach

It does not take a lot

Basil

To make pesto all you need is

50g (2oz) fresh basil leaves or a mixuture of the above (I had a half empty bag of lettuce in the fridge so I chucked that in as well.
2 crushed garlic cloves
30ml (2tbsp) pine nuts (you could even use walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or pecans)

100ml (4fl oz) virgin olive oil
50g (2oz) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground salt and black pepper
Put the ingredients into a food processor and pulse to blend. Slowly add oil through feed tube until it makes a nice paste.

Keep in the fridge for up to one week. Stir into hot cooked pasta or even  serve as a sauce with grilled fish or chicken.

But I also freeze mine and take it out when I need it.

Summer all year long 

 

Summer ?

Summer is certainly talking it time this year and of course the garden is being affected.

Everything is well behide and you feel yourself willing all your plants on.

But I thought I would share with you some of the successes so far.

The Cucumbers are doing well

Cucumber nearly ready to be picked 

Tomatoes the flowers on on the plants but no fruit as yet  

More tomatoes, give it another 4 weeks and I should have more tomatoes then I know what to do with 

Yellow peppers it you look closely you will see the start of a pepper   

Baby Sweetcorn these won't be ready for some time (these will get really big)

Runner beans trying there best to climb the poles except the wind keeps blowing them back down again 

Potatoes 

New Potatoes 

Lilies can't eat them but don't they look pretty 

Cherry Tomatoes and if you look closely we have some fruit (just need to go red) 

Pea 's and you can even see the pods some I'm guessing I should have some in the next week or so 

Tomatoes

• 

I’m growing four different types of tomatoes this year.
I Sow tomatoes about 1 cm deep into a seed trays in a propagator in my green house back in March but  you can Sow them from February - April.
Germination takes 8-11 days.

1st variety is

Tomato Big Boy

Reliable variety. The plants produce fruit weighing up to 250 grams.  Meaty flesh, great for cooking, grilling.

2nd variety is

Tomato Golden Sunrise

Tomato Golden Sunrise produces medium sized yellow fruits, which have excellent sweet taste with fleshy consistence. The golden yellow fruits add a lovely colour to your summer salads.

 

3rd variety is

Tomato San Marzano

San Marzano is considered by many to be the best sauce tomato in the world.

The fruit is thinner and more pointed than that of the Roma tomato.
The sweet flavour, meaty flesh and low seed density in the fruit make this an ideal variety for making tomato sauce.

4^th Variety

In the Hanging baskets

Tumbling Tom Red

 Tumbling Tom Red sweet and juicy cherry tomatoes throughout summer.

 

 

I planted all theses plants out last week when we had that really hot weather.

All I have to do now is water and Remove side shoots and wait for all my lovely tomatoes

 

Update on the Pea's

I think this is what I love about gardening  a few  weeks ago theses were tiny but now

The birds left them alone this time

not long now