Abbie’s patch – all change in the garden!!

OK, I admit it… I was wrong (this does not happen often!) When Abbie said she wanted to plant a pink fur apple potato in her 4 inches of soil, I scoffed at the idea. And then we dig it up (upon her insistance as the flowers had died)… around the base of the plant were 15 beautiful and large salad potatoes. Then to add insult to injury, I think that my plants might be ready so we dig one up – these potatoes are about the size of my thumbnail. Abbie says… ‘Does this mean I win, Mummy?’ Had to admit that yes, yes it did!

Abbie bragging about the size of her potatoes

Once the potato plant was out and we had picked the last of the pea pods, it was time to rejuvinate the patch. So in have gone, 2 climbing French bean plants up the third leg of the wigwam, 4 bok choi and 4 kale plants. These were ravaged by slugs on day 1 (after the photo) so now I have put slug pellets down. I have previously avoided doing this as Abbie tends to pick and eat, but now we have talked about washing everything first. I have used beer traps in previous years and these are great, but had no cheap beer to hand and was desperate to protect what the slugs had left.

Book choi at front, kale and French beans on left

Now to the peas – I cooked the last of our peas and a few small broad beans for 1 min in salted water and added them to garden salad leaves. A quick balsamic/olive oil/chopped mint dressing and we had a great salad to celebrate the end of a fabulous crop! If anyone has any ideas about how/if I can grow another crop now, please let me know!

Summer minted pea salad

Sainsbury’s ‘Feed your family for 50 pounds’ – Meal number 2… Sausage, tomato and cannellini bean pot with mash

Tonight’s dinner came courtesy of the Sainsbury’s ‘Feed the family for 50 pounds’ again. For those who don’t know what this is I have pasted the link for this recipe and the rest of the weekly plan can be accessed from here as well: http://www.sainsburys-feed-your-family.co.uk/MealPlan/Recipe/30
You can also cook along by following @sainsburys on Twitter or putting in #cookwithus and they will explain in real time how to cook the dish for the evening. New plan out on 15th June – can’t wait! This will definitely be a ‘go to’ booklet for the summer holidays.

This was a real winner all round – have to admit I added a bit of maple syrup for sweetness and a tsp of grain mustard at the end for a slight kick! I also added some leftover broccoli to the potato pan in the last 5 mins and then mashed this up as well. I also used sausages from our local butcher (pork, garlic and apple) and potatoes from our garden – but did everything else the same. These recipes create a great foundation for those who like to tinker with meals!

The finished dish!

Two thumbs up from the gril with the new haircut!

What am I going to do with all these potatoes???

We are a potato loving family, but I am now beginning to doubt whether I have enough potato recipes up my sleeve to last us out the summer!  I planted 25 earlies (Rocket variety) which are now ready to eat in 2 week staggered stages and I have also planted about 16 Pink Fur Apple salad potatoes, which will probably be ready in about 3-4 weeks.  That’s a lot of potatoes for a family of 3 and so I need to think about how I can vary how I cook them.

Food Revolution currently have a theme going on, on Twitter, which is to find a great way to cook potatoes…… to steer chip lovers away from their fat laden snack!

So excited about our new pots!

So…. I did something really fantastic yesterday which I have to share with you and it was dead easy.  Boil some water and pop in your new pots with a few cloves of garlic to parboil for about 5 mins – as you do preheat your oven to 200C. When the pots and garlic have had 5 mins, drain them, toss in oil (I use cold pressed rapeseed – high smoke point!), a little Maldon salt and ground pepper, chuck them in a pan with some rosemary over the top (pref fresh) and roast for 20 mins.  A much better alternative to chips to accompany the fantastic ribeye steaks that Jon got from our local butcher!

How’s that for fast, easy food!

Rib-eye steak, garlic roasted new potatoes and salad from the garden

Bacon, avacado and watercress salad… for a tired and starving family!

It was the first day back at work and school…. by the time 5.30pm came we were all exhausted, Jon and I had sore throats from the first day of teaching and Abbie had fallen asleep in the car on the way home and was now grumpy. I needed to think quick and salvage the situation! So I made a salad – something for everyone!

Abbie serving up!

I had to take the photo quick whilst there was still some left in the bowl....

Bacon, avacoado and watercress salad with new potatoes Fed 3 hungry people

For the salad: 5 rashers smoked back bacon, new potatoes (about 14), avocado, large head of little gem lettuce (or 2 small), good handful of watercress (I used about 1/2 the packet), cherry tomatoes – as many as you want!

• Halve and cook the new potatoes in a pan of salty water for about 15 minutes once the water is boiling.  Whilst they are cooking make your dressing: 2tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp honey, 1/2 lemon juiced, 4tbsp olive oil – add some chopped basil just before serving
• Dry fry the bacon until crispy
• When the potatoes and bacon are cooked, drain potatoes, and chop up the lettuce, bacon and avocado.
• Put all ingredients into a large bowl, pour over the dressing and toss before serving. 

A stroll amongst the bluebells, lunch from samphire and a ‘frozen’ dinner……

Jon was ill today… a nasty headache…. so Abbie and I left him at home and off we went to Blicking woods to see the bluebells…

Abbie running to find more bluebells - where were they hiding?!

Found them!

 

On the way home we dropped in at Samphire’s pop-up shop, such a shame they don’t have a proper shop at Blickling any more – grrrrrrr! We bought pate, a slab of chocolate tiffin and one of their incredible rare breed pork pies to cheer up Jonty! Seriously, I challenge you to find a better pork pie – it’s in the pastry, there’s is a lightness to it that you don’t get in other pies…. no stodge here! Anyway, served it all up with toast, salad and some yummy asparagus chutney from Aylsham farmer’s market (another amazing find!).

Our bountiful table!

Abbie helped me in the garden this afternoon and boy did we get a lot done….. tomatoes moved into the grow-pots, chillis transplanted into larger pots, climbing french beans, sweetcorn, 2 types of pumpkins and patty pans all planted into pots ready for the greenhouse.  All this amongst bouncing on the trampoline and waiting for an ice-cream man that we could hear, but not see!  I found one of the cottage pies that Abbie and I had made together lurking at the back of the freezer and shoved it in the oven for 30 mins at 180C… a nice easy meal, one that we had made earlier…..  and that I knew that Abbie would wolf down. I was not surprised – the sweet potato/cheese topping is killer!

I froze it in individual portions when we made it...

easy peasy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kid’s Cottage Pie (although adults would love it too!) – makes 4 pots

450g sweet potatoes                    1 carrot, diced
25g butter                                     150g lean minced beef
3 tblspn milk                                150g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 tblsp veg oil                               150ml water
1 clove garlic                               150g cheddar cheese

1. Peel sw. potatoes, chop into small chunks and boil in a pan of water until tender. Drain and mash with butter and milk, season with salt and pepper, put to one side
2. Chop onion and fry in oil until soft. Finely chop garlic and add with the diced carrot and mince to the pan, cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
3. Add tomatores and water to pan, cover and cook on a low heat for about 10 mins
4. Divide the beef mixture between the pots and put the mash on top. Grate the cheese over the top, then grill for a few mins until the top is brown (or freeze when cool)

A spring fritatta for the first day of the holidays….

Today is the first official day of our holiday and as the sun was shining in the garden, we made full use of the great weather.  Abbie and I planted garlic, shallots, peas and nasturtiums….. jumped on the trampoline, fixed up Abbie’s bike and ran around on the grass.  I then went to cook frittata and ‘horror’ no eggs in the fridge – it is times like this that you are grateful for the number of chicken owners within 1km of us! 

It is odd that Abbie is a bit funny about asparagus at the moment – she loved it last year, but obviously has forgotten this fact in just under a year – now it looks like a ‘new’ vegetable.  I will persevere; she ate more today than Saturday… I have another bundle in the fridge! Hope we get there before the ‘pop-up’ asparagus stalls start appearing at the end of our road!

Spring Fritatta – Feeds 2 adults, 2 children

Bundle of asparagus

4-6 large, cooked and cold new potatoes (could be leftover from previous day’s dinner), sliced

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 log soft goat’s cheese

• Preheat your grill
• Cut asparagus spears into 4 cm sections (approx) and cook over a medium heat in a frying pan for about 5 mins – I put a little water in the bottom with a bit of oil and then the water evaporates as the asparagus cooks
• When all water has evaporated and the asparagus starts to sizzle, add in the sliced potatoes and spread everything around so that you have an even coverage of both vegetables
• Add in beaten egg and swirl around so that again you have even coverage and then crumble the goat’s cheese over the whole lot – cook for 3-4 minutes on the hob, finishing it off under the grill until bubbling and golden on the top

Serve with salad leaves and cherry tomatoes, all dressed with a little rapeseed oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper

cook until bubbling and golden..

Tucking in!

An easy and quick playdate lunch…

Abbie had a friend to play today and they were both famished after swimming…. so ‘Flash in the Pan Bangers’ it was – always a favourite – an alternative to sausages and baked beans – the unprocessed version! I also made homemade oven chips and served some really fresh sprouting brocolli on the side – not surprisingly the whole lot was wolfed down!

Flash in the Pan Bangers – from BBC Good Food ‘101 Recipes for Kids’

1 tblspn vegetable oil

8 pork sausages – I used 12 chipolatas

1 small onion – peeled and chopped

400g cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

400g chopped tomatoes

1 tblspn maple or golden syrup

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce or dash of Tabasco, to taste

• Heat the oil in a large frying pan until hot and fry the sausages, over a medium heat for 20 mins, turning them now and then, until golden and sticky. Remove the sausages from the pan and set aside.
• Add the onion and cook for 3-4 mins until softened. Tip in the beans and tomatoes, stir thoroughly and cook for 2-3 mins, then stir in the syrup and the Worcestershire sauce or Tabasco and 150ml/ 1/4 pt hot water. Cook for a further 2 mins or until slightly thickened.
• Return the sausages to the pan and cook for a further minute or until bubbling.

Serves 4 (plentifully)

Homemade oven chips/wedges

Preheat oven to 200C.

Cut potaoes into thin wedges and toss in rapeseed oil (and garlic puree – optional).  Spread over a baking sheet and cook in the hot oven for 30-35 mins, turning half-way through cooking.  They should be crispy when cooked – cook for extra 5 minutes if not. Sprinkle over Maldon salt to taste.

Flash in the Pan Bangers, homemade chips and sprouting broc

Two happy customers!