Grow your own and a Rocket Gardens Salad
Long ago and far away, in a land of shoulder pads and big hair (1984) we had an allotment. I loved that allotment, we had been on the waiting list for so long that we only had one summer there before we moved from our flat to a house with it's own garden. The garden was low on the priority list in our new home as we spent all our time on home improvements and a year later circumstances changed and we moved to the farm.
I also had a fairly extensive garden when we first moved to the farm and grew all sorts including celery and kohl rabi. When I returned to full time work, I found the garden was difficult to manage and one Easter holiday, after spending all my time digging over the ground for potatoes and I decided that I'd had enough and we put in a lawn. I've had a few pots or grow bags since then, mostly growing mange tout peas or courgettes. Some years they are successful, other years not. The weather is the deciding factor as we get late frosts, rain and are exposed to strong south westerly winds, so it can be a bit soul destroying sometimes.
Recently, I've been thinking about creating some raised beds so that I can grow veg again, but with some control over the weeds and less digging! Family matters meant that didn't happen this year, but I was delighted to be contacted by
Rocket Gardens to try out their neat concept of a garden in a box.
A
Rocket Garden is a box full of baby plants already given the very best start in life, lovingly reared on a Cornish farm in a fully organic regime. They aren't sent to their new home until they are ready to flourish, saving time, effort and disappointment.
There are a range of different types of gardens so you can select a Rocket Garden that suits your requirements and once your delivery arrives, all you have to do is pop the plants in their new home and enjoy all the organic goodies they produce.
Here are some of the Rocket Garden options:
Want to grow your own, but don’t know where to start? Try the Small Vegetable Garden (£39.99). There are enough plants in this garden to seriously cut down on your weekly food bills and keep you in fresh produce from spring though until the autumn. It can be grown in a veg patch or allotment, or even in pots and containers.
Know what you want to grow but nervous about giving it a go? Take all the hassle out of a gourmet kitchen garden by selecting Gourmet Vegetables (From £3.99). The plants in the range were selected because they are tasty, unusual and hard to find in shops, including Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Pak Choi, Asparagus Peas, Chinese Kale and Minipop Sweetcorn.
Serious about living the good life, but want a complete solution? Try the
Small Constant Garden (£199). You’ll receive a series of five deliveries during 2015 to ensure your garden is the envy of all your friends. Each delivery is packed full of organic plants that are raring to grow so you’ll have a constant supply of seasonal produce and enjoy living the good life all year long.
And what about my Rocket Garden? I chose the
Patio Container Garden (£36.99) which contains the following baby plants:
Tomatoes x 5 (I didn't get tomatoes but some extra Chard)
Courgettes x 4
Mixed lettuce x 30
Dwarf French Beans x 10
Runner Beans x 5
Mizuna x 20
Rainbow Chard x 5
Rocket x 20
Garden peas x 12
Strawberries x 6
Spinach x 10
You order your garden on the website, it's a pretty straightforward online shopping process, however it doesn't arrive until the plants are ready to be planted out. I really liked that you get lots of warning via email and a definite arrival day too. Unfortunately I had to be away from home when the plants arrived, this was a test for my husband who duly read the instructions, unpacked the plants and made sure they were well watered until I got home the next day. He did, however, jumble up all the plants and there are a lot of them! Fortunately, there is one of each plant variety labelled and I used my own knowledge to sort them out. I then planted them up in containers according to the comprehensive instructions provided with the plants, there were so many plants I had to go out and buy a few more containers.
After a couple of weeks the various salad leaves were starting to really grow. The peas were happily climbing up the canes although the French Beans seemed to be in stasis! The poor little courgettes were none too happy either, none of this had anything to do with the quality of the plants but due to the unseasonal weather we have been having in Scotland. Heavy rain and northerly winds do not a happy courgette make.
Fast forward another two weeks and the salad leaves are ready to pick, what a glorious selection of leaves which I combined with some edible flowers to create my first Rocket Gardens Salad. It was a lovely surprise when my strawberry plants arrived and I got them potted up into little troughs.
Rocket Gardens Salad (Serves 2)
60g mixed salad leaves
2 hard boiled eggs
2 large ripe tomatoes
1/2 cucumber
1/2 red pepper, seeds removed
3 chive flowers
1 Calendula (Pot Marigold) flower
1. Arrange the leaves on two large plates alternating the different leaves.
2. Cut the cucumber into long thin slices using a mandoline, roll and place around the edge of the plates.
3. Cut the tomatoes into 1/8ths and arrange inside the circle of cucumber.
4. Finely slice the pepper and scatter the pepper slices over the centre of each plate.
4. 1/4 the eggs and place over the pepper slices in the centre of the plates.
5. Scatter petals of the chives and marigold over the salad.
Serve with the dressing of your choice.
The Review
Who is it for? There are lots of different kinds of Rocket Gardens, so you can choose whatever is suitable for your garden. In terms of level of gardening ability then I would say that a very keen beginner or a gardener with a little experience and no space or time to grow from seed.
Pros: The concept of receiving little plants in the post is not new, however Rocket Gardens have put together some really nice packages and I was impressed by the care and attention paid to communicating with their customers and the excellent instructions.
Cons: With the plants being grown in the warmer climate of Cornwall, they got a bit of a shock coming to southern Scotland. I have completely lost the runner beans, the wind battered them to death, some of the French Beans have also died and only one of the courgette plants has survived. This has happened to me many times before, even when growing from seed, so I am not too surprised, but it might be a bit off putting to beginners.
The Verdict: I will be ordering a Rocket Garden next year for my garden. Which garden will depend on whether I've managed to make the raised bed I have promised myself or if I will be sticking to the patio garden. I just love having all those vegetables on my doorstep, the salad leaves have done so well that we have been able to stop buying mixed leaves and they are so much fresher and taste better too. So Rocket Gardens are a definite hit with me.
I'll keep you posted as to how the other plants come along, the peas and strawberries have already begun to flower so I have high hopes for some more delicious fresh fruit and veg very soon.
I was provided with a Patio Container Garden from Rocket Gardens, I was not paid for this review and all opinions are my own. Labels: allotment, chard, chives, containers, courgettes, edible flowers, Egg, garden, grow your own, marigold, plants, Rocket Gardens, salad, spinach
Chicken and 7-a-day Mediterranean Vegetables
I thought I'd better make a recipe for my own blog challenge:
The Slow Cooker Challenge. The theme this month is 7-a-day Fruits or Vegetables. Now it might be pushing it to get a full seven portions of fruit or vegetables onto one plate, but it isn't that difficult to add 7 fruits or vegetables to a single dish.
Chicken
with 7 Vegetables
8 chicken thighs
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
8 mushrooms
7 small vine tomatoes
2 Aubergines (Eggplant)
3 large or 12 mini red, orange or yellow (bell) peppers
2 large courgettes (zucchini)
12 pitted black olives
2 tablespoons of pesto
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
small bunch of parsley
1. Brown the chicken pieces in a pan with a little oil, set aside.
2. Chop all the vegetables into even sized pieces and place them in the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. Mix the pesto and balsamic vinegar into the vegetables and top with the chicken pieces.
4. Cook on medium for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours.
5. Top with chopped parsley.
6. Serve with crusty bread to soak up the juices.
I'm also entering this recipe for
Four Seasons Food Spring Challenge: Let's Celebrate Vegetables run by
Delicieux and
Eat Your Veg.
Fuss Free Flavours and
Utterly Scrummy are also celebrating 7-a-day with their challenge
Extra Veg.
Labels: 7-a-day, aubergines, Chicken, courgettes, Extra Veg, Four Seasons Food, slow cooker, Slow Cooker Challenge, tomatoes, Vegetables
Dish of the Month Round Up August and Prize Winner
Once again it's round up time for Dish of the Month with more fabulous dishes made from recipes by Nigel Slater.
Dom from
Belleau Kitchen chose one of those perfect recipes where you throw everything in a roasting tin, to create an easy but deliciously carmelised
Summer Sausage Stew with cider and radishes.
Feel like you are having a bit of deja vu? Nigel obviously has a penchant for throwing things into roasting tins and so do I! My Dish of the Month was
Baked Chicken with tomatoes and olives from the Kitchen Diaries II.
Welcome to Dish of the Month Newbie, Deon Van Schalkwyk of
Sumptuous Delights who was somewhat daunted by the Kitchen Diaries II until (drumroll) she saw this blog event and realised just how fabulous and accessible KDII is, and made this
Mushroom and Asparagus Tart with Pancetta pieces. Hope you will join us again Deon.
Claire from
Foodiequine served up a fabulous
Smoked Haddock with Leeks and Sweetcorn made from local produce with a dash of rapeseed oil 'as used by Nigel Slater'.
Sue, from
A Little bit of heaven on a plate, crocheted this
Lemon and Thyme cake along with her Afghan blanket - hee hee hee. It's another great recipe from the Kitchen Diaries II.
A beautiful photograph of a glorious dish from Karen at
Lavender and Lovage,
Saint Marcellin Cheese, tomatoes and basil from the first Kitchen Diaries book, read more about this creamy French cheese on Karen's blog.
Rachel at
Marmaduke Scarlet always comes up with an interesting dish for Dish of the Month and this month is no exception.
Roasted Courgettes with Thai-style Minced Chilli and Lime Pork is a variation on Nigel's Baked Marrow with Minced Pork from Tender 1.
And the winner of a copy of Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food is
#4 Karen Burns Booth.
As hosts of this challenge Sue and I were excluded from the draw, which was carried out using the Random Number Generator.
The September challenge will be posted on 1st September.
Labels: asparagus, Chicken, courgettes, Dish of the Month, Lemon and Thyme Cake, mushrooms, mussels, Nigel Slater, Pork, Real Fast Food, Saint Marcellin, sausages, smoked haddock, tomatoes
Mediterranean Fish on Herbed Potato Gratin
It's pretty automatic to pair wine with food, but have you considered having a beer with your meal?
Sharps Brewery, who are based in Cornwall, have designed their Connoisseur range to profile
the best ingredients and be the perfect partner to quality food, and
demonstrates the skill of Sharp’s head brewer, Stuart Howe, for whom innovation
in brewing is perpetual. With this first vintage, Stuart has designed and
brewed three very different beers, each one born out of his passion for beer
and love of aroma and flavour, balance and precision.
The Connoisseurs
Choice 2011 range offers drinkers three unique beers: Quadrupel Ale 2011, Single
Brew Reserve 2011 and Honey Spice Tripel 2011 (available on Sharp’s webpage,
select beer retailers and restaurants now.) Quadrupel Ale at 10% ABV is dark
ruby in colour with a full bittersweet fruitiness and warming finish while Single
Brew Reserve 2011 at 4.5% ABV is a showcase for the noblest of hops, the Czech
Saaz. The third in the range, Honey Spice Tripel 2011, at 10% ABV is an
effervescent and refreshing beer with spice and fruit notes with a long dry
finish.
Sharps are currently running a competition on Facebook, details below:
With the help of Nathan Outlaw, Jack Stein and Alyn
Williams, we’re on the search to find the UK’s ultimate beer and food
connoisseur.
Watch the videos starring our celebrity chefs to discover
how they’ve paired quality food with each of the three beers, and then enter
the competition to create a dish yourself.
Choose your beer, try the range (or read the tasting notes),
then create a dish that you believe will go perfectly with your chosen ale.
Name your dish, list your ingredients and describe your method, then tell us
about your dish. For bonus points, take a picture of your dish or submit a
video of you preparing it (the more entertaining the better!)
The prize? Our three chefs will each choose their favourite
dish and beer pairing. The three finalists will receive a day of mentoring with
the chef that chooses their dish; a unique opportunity to hone your skills with
one of the UK’s finest!
The three finalists will then compete in a ‘cook-off’ to be
held at The Seafood School in Padstow, Cornwall, after which one winner will be
crowned ‘Sharp’s Connoisseur for 2012’!
As our ‘Sharp’s Connoisseur’, you’ll be provided with
exclusive first tastes of any new beers released during your winning period, a
meal for two at your chef-mentor’s restaurant, a private tour of the brewery
and beer tasting plus a night’s accommodation for two in Cornwall.
I am entering the following recipe:
Mediterranean Fish with Herbed Potato Gratin
Ingredients
4 Tilapia Fillets
2 medium courgettes
4 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
4 large basil leaves
For the potato
800g new potatoes
100g Gruyere cheese, grated
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp mixed chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, marjoram)
1. Quarter the potatoes and boil until just soft.
2. Mix one tbsp of olive oil, cheese, the herbs and seasoning into the potatoes.
3. Put the second tbsp of olive oil in the bottom of an ovenproof dish and put in the oven at 200C.
4. Press the potato mixture into the base of the dish and bake for 30 minutes.
For the fish
1. Oil four pieces of foil.
2. Place the fish fillet on the foil.
3. Slice the courgettes and divide between the four parcels,
4. Slice the tomatoes and divide between the parcels.
5. Tear the basil leaves and add to the parcels.
6. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
7. Fold up the foil into a tight parcel and place on a baking tray.
8. Bake in the oven for 15-20mins at 200C.
To Serve
1. After 30 mintues, remove the potato dish, loosen around the edges and turn onto an ovenproof plate, put it back into the oven for 5 minutes to brown.
2. Remove the plated potato gratin and divide it into four slices.
3. Place the potato slice onto the plate.
4. Open the fish parcel and, using a fish slice, lift the fish and vegetables and place on top of the potato gratin.
This is a really easy dish to make, it is light and fresh just like the Sharps
Single Brew Reserve which I served with the dish.
Single Brew Reserve 2011 at 4.5% ABV is
a showcase for the noblest of hops, the Czech Saaz. Whole cone Saaz, fresh from
the harvest are used to dry hop the beer during maturation. Mid golden in
colour, this ale has a fresh, herbal lemon aroma. In the mouth, light barley
sugars give way to a perfumed bitterness. The finish is dry, clean and
exquisitely appetising. Serve as an aperitif or pair with light dishes such as
fresh salads or grilled white fish.
Check out the
Sharps Brewery website for more information about their beers and remember to enter the competition on
Facebook
Disclaimer: Sharps Brewery supplied me with a bottle each from the Connoisseur Range, I was not required to write a positive review and any opinion expressed is my own..
Labels: beer, courgettes, fish, herbs, Herbs on Saturday, Lavender and Lovage, potatoes, Sharps Connoisseur Range, tomatoes, zucchini
Roasted Courgette, Tomato, Feta and Basil Tart
There was a bit of joking on Twitter the other night about how we should make one recipe that covered all the blog challenges, then we could have the rest of the month off! I haven't managed to cover quite all the blog challenges with this post but it ticked off quite a few.
My courgette/zucchini plant has sucked up all the rain and produced some huge fruits, so although I had planned to make the
Pea, bean and bacon tart from the July issue of BBC Good Food, I decided to adapt it to use the courgettes, hmmm maybe I could use some tomatoes too, oh and that half block of Feta cheese, so no need for the bacon and I'll make my own pasty instead of using frozen shortcrust like in the recipe...not much of the recipe left to be honest!
Roasted Courgette Tomato, Feta and Basil Tart
1 quantity of
butter shortcrust pastry blind baked in a flan case (click through to the link for full recipe)
For the roasted vegetables
2 large or three medium courgettes/zucchini
8 small tomatoes, halved
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Heat the oven to 200C, slice or dice the courgettes into even sized chunks, halve the tomatoes. Place the vegetables in a roasting dish and coat with the oil. Sprinkle with salt and roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes until starting to blacken round the edges. Remove from oven and drain the juices into a bowl.
For the filling
100g Feta cheese, cubed
300ml double cream
4 large eggs
juices from the roasted vegetables
6-8 basil leaves
freshly ground pepper
Place the roasted vegetables into the baked tart case, top with the cubed feta and torn basil leaves. Season with freshly ground pepper.
Beat the cream and eggs together and stir in the saved juices from the roasted vegetables. Pour over the vegetables and cheese and bake at 160C for 35 minutes until set and golden.
Roasting the veg means that the pastry doesn't go soggy and it makes a nice firm filling, very tasty indeed.
I'm entering this tart for
One Ingredient, the July ingredient is 'The Tomato' and it is being hosted this month by Jacqueline at
How to Cook Good Food who shares this challenge with
Working London Mummy
And..Veggie/Fruit a Month which is featuring the Zucchini for July and is being hosted this month by
Cook's Joy
It is also
Simple and in Season another challenge run by Jacqueline at How to Cook Good Food in patnership with Ren at
Fabulicious Food
Okay, so far three challenges busted with one dish, now to the salad I served with the tart
Giant Couscous, Butternut and Walnut Salad
I've been reading about Giant Couscous, so when I saw a bag at the farm shop last week, I popped it in my basket. Also in GoodFood July issue was this recipe which was perfect to try out the giant couscous. This time I stuck to the recipe!
I hope the recipe will go onto the website soon and I can link back, but it is basically roasted dice of butternut squash which have been sprinkled with chilli powder (I roasted them in a separate dish but at the same time as the courgettes and tomatoes). You cook the couscous for five minutes, then mix through the roasted squash and the oil it has been roasted in and add walnut pieces, the seeds and juice of half a pomegranate and juice of half a lemon with a handful of chopped mint.
What a lovely salad it was, the squash pieces were quite hot as I probably used more chilli than I should and used chilli flakes rather than powder! However, as the couscous is bland if you ate it altogether, the heat was about right. I loved the fresh juiciness of the pomegranate seeds, the green bite of the mint and earthy crunch of the walnuts. I would definitely make this again.
And this recipe is for
Bookmarked Recipes one of the challenges run by Jac at
Tinned Tomatoes from an idea by Ruth from
Ruth's Kitchen Experiments founder of the challenge.
Labels: basil, Bookmarked Recipes, butternut squash, courgettes, feta cheese, flan, Giant couscous, One Ingredient, pomegranate, quiche, roasted vegetables, salad, Simple and in Season, tart, tomatoes, vegetarian
Autumn Vegetable Lasagne
I've fallen in love with Tamasin Day-Lewis's book 'Supper for a Song', in fact, I have it on order from Amazon and can't wait for my copy to arrive, then I will be able to return the library copy for someone else to enjoy.
This recipe for Autumn Vegetable Lasagne caught my eye right away, because of course it is Autumn and I'm on a bit of a mushroom kick after the
'Art of Funghi' session I went to recently.
Autumn Vegetable Lasagne (not strictly vegetarian, but can easily be)
2 tbsp olive oil
200g/7oz chestnut mushrooms, sliced
20g/3/4oz dried sliced morels, soaked in warm water to cover for 30 minutes and drained (optional) I didn't use these, but included some ordinary field mushrooms.
2 tbsp Marsala, or port or Madeira (or red wine if you have a bottle open instead)
900ml/ 1/2 pts full-cream milk
1 bay leaf
60g/2oz butter
2 tbsp plain flour
sea salt and black pepper
nutmeg for grating
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
6 small green or yellow courgettes cut into small cubes
400g/14oz tin cherry tomatoes
a handful of basil leaves, torn
6 slices prosciutto, sliced into long strips (optional)
1 packet of lasagne
60g/20z each Parmesan and pecorino (I used Gran Padano as it is cheaper)
Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a small pan and cook the sliced mushrooms until they begin to release their juice. Add the morels (if using) with their soaking liquor, and the Marsala and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
To make the bechamel sauce: heat the milk with the bay leaf in a pan. Melt the butter in another pan, stir in the flour and cook for a minute or so until you have a biscuit coloured roux, then add a quarter of the hot milk and whisk until smooth. Continue to add the milk a little at a time whisking well. Season and flavour sparingly with nutmeg. Ad the liquor from the mushrooms and let the sauce cook gently for a further 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. Adjust the seasoning.
Meanwhile, saute the onion and garlic in the remaining olive oil with a sprinkle of salt until they begin to soften, then add the courgette cubes and cook until they are al dente. Add the tomatoes and torn basil and simmer the mixture for 10 minutes. Season with pepper.
Add the mushrooms to the bechamel. Heat the prosciutto strips briefly in the pan used to cook the mushrooms with no extra oil, turning until they begin to crisp a little then add to the mushroom sauce mixture.
Cook the lasagne sheets, according to the packet instructions, until al dente, then drain in a colander.
Spread a little bechamel, avoiding the bits, over the bottom of a large baking dish, then add a layer of lasagne sheets. Cover with half of the remaining bechamel mixture. Add another layer of lasagne, followed by the last of the bechamel mixture. Top with the grated cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and bubbling, and a skewer inserted in the centre meets with little resistance from the lasagne. Leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving; this is one of those dishes that seems to stay hotter for longer.
I completely forgot to take a picture of the lasagne before I served it up, so all I have is a photo of the half that was left in the dish. It served 8 easily with salad and was really delicious, it was also great reheated.Labels: autumn, cherry tomatoes, courgettes, lasagne, mushrooms, parmesan, prosciutto
Salmon Steaks with Basil and Balsamic Vinegar
Farmed salmon is something we eat regularly, it can be a little bland, so it's nice to dress it up with some punchy flavours. This recipe exceeded both our expectations and is definitely going on my summer favourites list!
Salmon Steaks with Basil and Balsamic Vinegar
from Good Housekeeping Cookery Book (The Cook's Classic Companion)
Serves 4
4 salmon fillets
30ml (2tbsp) balsamic vinegar
10ml (2tsp) soy sauce
90ml (6tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
40g (1 1/2 oz) fresh basil, stalks removed
8 ripe plum tomatoes (or other flavourful tomatoes) diced
30ml (2tbsp) chopped fresh chives
salt and pepper
basil sprigs to garnish
1. Place the salmon steaks in a shallow non-metallic dish. Mix the balsamic vinegar and soy sauce together and pour over the salmon, turning to coat. Cover and leave to marinate in a cool place for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, put the olive oil and basil in a food processor or blender and work until smooth. Pour into a bowl, cover and leave to infuse. (do not make this too far in advance)
3. In a bowl, mix the tomatoes with the chives and season well with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside
4. Lift the salmon out of the marinade and place skin side down in a hot pan with a little olive oil. Cook for 4 minutes each side, once cooked add the rest of the marinade to the pan and reduce to a syrupy sauce.
5. Whisk the basil oil briefly at this stage to re-combine.
6. Spoon the tomato mixture onto the warmed serving plates and place a salmon fillet on top. Drizzle with the basil oil and spoon on the reduced marinade. Serve immediately, garnished with basil.
The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that there are also some courgettes on the plate. They came straight from the garden, chopped into small dice and cooked in a little olive oil in a pan with lemon zest and a teaspoon of lemon juice, seasoned with rosemary salt and pepper.
And finally some boiled new potatoes to soak up the juices.Labels: balsamic vinegar, basil, courgettes, Good Housekeeping, lemon, salmon, soy sauce, Tinned Tomatoes
More Prawns
I have one courgette plant growing in a big pot, so far I've had about 5 courgettes. I picked a couple on Friday night and sauted them with garlic and a red pepper.
I don't normally buy this sort of ready prepared rice, but had bought it for our self-catering holiday and in the end we didn't use it. I thought it would be ideal for a quick supper dish. I cooked up a small amount of ordinary basmati rice and added it, as the packet wouldn't have provided enough for 3 people.
I added a bit of tomato puree, some sweet chilli sauce, some prawns and quartered tomoatoes.
It was very quick and tasted good.
Labels: courgettes, prawns, rice
