Archive for October 2015

Sweetcorn Fritters

Published on 02:29 By Karen

My first year of growing vegetables and sweetcorn was top of the crop!

I'm still picking cobs and it's late October. I had issues with knowing when they were ready to be picked, but you can tell when the tops start dying off. Anyone that came round our house was always impressed by the corn above anything else. I'm definitely growing these again next year.

I love a good corn on the cob smothered in salt and garlic butter, but thought I'd try something new. I used 2 cobs for my meal, and added some runner beans from the garden too!

Here's a little recipe that is so easy to make and so amazing to eat.

You will need:
1-2 corn cobs
80g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
7 tbsp water
Oil

Start by removing the corn from the cob. Easiest way I found was to start at the top and run a sharp knife all the way to the bottom. They kinda run all over the worktop - just a warning.

Get the pan nice 'n hot with the oil. Whilst that's warming, add all of your dry ingredients in a bowl and combine with the water to make a thick paste.

Then add the corn and mix.

I used a jug rather than bowl, so I could easily pour the mixture into the pan. Bit like pancakes.

Let it cook on 1 side for a few minutes, grab a fish slice and flip! Amazing golden brown colour.

I served mine with some Nandos chicken (used the amazing Peri Peri sauce, cheat I know) and some runner beans.

So easy and so tasty!

xo

1 comments:

Blackberry Vodka & Sloe Gin

alcohol

Published on 10:30 By Karen

0 comments

After our morning of berry picking in Stonham Aspal I thought about what to do with my collection of berries I'd foraged for.

With the Sloeberries I was determined to have a crack at Sloe gin, but was also given the idea of making Blackberry infused vodka with the blackberries. So I thought I'd have a go at both!

Here's how to make these simple alcoholic beverages

You will need:

500g Blackberries / Sloberries
1 Ltr Vodka / Gin (I'd recommend a cheap bottle as the taste will not matter)
1 tbsp Caster Sugar
Jar

For the jar I'd highly recommend a Kilner jar. They are a good size and mostly importantly, are air tight. I got mine from QD for around £3.50- cheap and cheerful!

Sloegin

1 Start by pricking the sloeberries and adding to the jar.

2 With the sugar - I'd add around 200g as sloeberries aren't sweet tasting and this needs more sugar than the blackberry recipe. Add to jar as well.

It's like snow has come early!

3 Then, add the lethal stuff. Once everything is in, seal and shake!

Pop into a cool, dark space (any cupboard will do) and leave for a few months to do its thing. Turn every other day to get the juices flowing around.

Should be enough time to have some at Christmas, but preferably leave longer - 3 months+

Blackberry Vodka

Follow steps 1,2 and 3 for the Blackberry vodka. However, you don't need to prick the fruit, and obviously add vodka instead of gin!

Also, you don't need to keep the blackberry vodka stored for as long - that is ready to roll out with friends within a couple of weeks! I'd also recommend turning every day, rather than every other.

Let me know of any other amazing fruit infused recipes - I'd love to try out more (I swear I'm not an alcoholic!) xo

0 comments:

Green Tomato Chutney

cheese

Published on 09:59 By Karen

0 comments

This year has been a great one for my tomatoes. It's the first time I've grown any fruit and veg myself, and I've been chuffed with the performance! I've grown 3 different varieties of tommys, including a variety from the Tomtato plant (a unique T&M creation that harvests both tomatoes and potatoes- unfortunately I only got 1 potato from mine!), Sungold and Sweet Aperitif. All have been super tasty and quite sweet.

However, there have been so many that they haven't ripened. Over 100 green tomatoes were left as the weather has turned colder. You can bring the vines indoors and hang upside down to ripen, but I had a better idea.

Gathering up as many as I could, I decided to make a green tomato chutney, something my dad's other half recommended. So here goes my attempt...

You will need:

1lb green tomatoes
1/4 pint malt vinegar
4oz brown sugar
2 small red onions
2 apples (I used normal eating apples for sweetness)
2-4 oz sultanas (I'm not the biggest sultana fan hense vague amount)
1/4 tsp english mustard powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt

My recipe is amended from about 5 different online ones I've seen - mainly to fit in with the ingredients left in my cupboard!

Firstly, chop up the onion, tomatoes and apples. Most say to peel all, but I've left the skins on all except onions.

Chuck in pan with half the vinegar.

Heat gently and stir throughout until the fruit has softened - takes 3-4 minutes.

Next, add in the rest of the ingredients - cayenne, salt, mustard, sugar and sultanas.

Add the rest of the vinegar too.

Stir well and allow mixture to thicken to a beautiful chutney!

Simply spoon into jars for later use, or grab the cheese board and tuck in!

Yum! Let me know how yours turns out! xo

0 comments:

Pansy Prepping

container

Published on 09:17 By Karen

0 comments

Winter is coming, quicker than I'd hoped for too- already had to bust out a coat and scarf! In the garden there are changes happening too.

Summer flowering plants, such as Dahlias and Petunias, which aren't hardy enough for the winter, have been replaced with more resilient varieties such as Pansies. See the transformation of summer to winter is this recent post Winter Is Coming.

Pansies are one of my favourite flowers (they remind me of happy faces). I also love this variety I've chosen, Pansy Matrix Mixed. Bright, vibrant, mixed bunch of colours to cheer up the garden in the gloomy months ahead.

Mine have come as plug plants, which means they're smaller and need a little more TLC. I don't have a greenhouse or a place to bring them on in the warm, so I've chanced it and put them straight in their final positions.

I've gone for hanging wall container and pots this time. I bought mine from The Range. Only £1.99 each and sturdy. I love The Range for all things garden - cheap and reliable.

Hanging baskets are also easy to do, just get the hanging baskets, liners and compost, and depending on the size of the hanging basket/ pot, you will be able to fill them with lots of these little plugs to get a full display in a few weeks.

Make sure you space them out so they don't overcrowd and compete with each other. It helps if you know the ultimate spread of the plant, then you can space them accordingly.