Trio of Beetroot with Honey Caramelized Almonds and Mustard Leaf

 

Quick Kimchi

 

I planted cabbage in the patch last September to over winter for spring. It seemed like a good idea to have something in the ground as a winter crop. All true except for the fact, I never cook with cabbage! especially white cabbages. sometimes i'll make bacon and cabbage, but not 10 plants worth, which is what i have growing. I decided the best use would be a load of kimchi, and I was right!

my over wintered cabbage plants took awhile to produce heads after the long winter we had in Ireland.

I love kimchi and its quite hard to get in Ireland. Kimchi is the spicy Korean equivalent to sauerkraut. which is a fermented cabbage condiment. this recipe is for a quick 'white person' version, as opposed to the one that ferments for weeks (sometimes months!) as is the standard with authentic kimchi. a Korean friend of mine told me his Nan (grandmother) would put hers in a clay pot underground for 6 months during the winter! now, that must be a pungent mixture!



chill powder, ginger, green garlic and anchovies

don't let that scare you, with this recipe you'll have tasty kimchi in 2 days. the flavour develops nicely over the next couple of weeks so you have time to eat all of it. try keeping some around and tasting it as time passes.


 

if you are feeling creative try mixing different thinly cut veggies into the kimchi, as anything goes with this mix. beetroot would be interesting as well as some kale. I used green garlic stems, as my garlic wasn't quite ready for digging up, and im really happy with the results. I've been eating it with beef burgers (see the FWDR Instagram feed) and teriyaki mayo. its amazing with fish and chicken too. I even had it with scrambled eggs for breakfast, shoved into a pita - its the perfect kick start to the morning!

 

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Quick Kimchi

Makes nearly 1.5 litres (6 cups)

Recipe adapted from What I had growing in the veg patch, The Simple Things Magazine and Wild Fermentation by Sandor Elix Katz (see Bookshelf)

this is a two day affair, but the kimchi gets better with age so you can keep it in the fridge for weeks after preparing. serve kimchi with a Korean BBQ, roast chicken, grilled fish, breakfast, lunch or dinner. its especially good on a burger with a bit of soya sauce mixed into you favourite mayonnaise. VERY more-ish.

2 pounds (900g) white cabbage, finely sliced into ribbons
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 whole stalks of green garlic, or 10 cloves of fresh garlic, finely chopped
20 slices of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 tablespoons chilli powder
1 small tin anchovy fillets in oil
4 fl oz (100ml) soya sauce
1 bunch of spring onions
1/2 pound (225g) carrots, peeled and cut into julienne strips

• place cabbage salt and sugar in a large container and toss, leave covered in the fridge overnight.
• the next day, rise the cabbage and dry out thoroughly
• in a separate bowl add the marinade ingredients - garlic, ginger, chilli powder, anchovy fillets, and soya sauce and mix thoroughly, blending in the anchovy as much as possible.
• add water to make the marinade the consistency of a thick salad dressing.
• add the spring onions and carrots to the cabbage
• stir in the marinade to the veggies.
• tightly pack the kimchi into sterilized jars or a large container
• this kimchi is great after 24 hours in the fridge, better after a week and at 2 weeks its in its prime. if you like strong flavours you can keep it around up to a month

Easy Sponge Cake - with citrus, rosemary and thyme

this week  is the FWDR Blog Birthday week! it's been an whole entire year since the first post 52 weeks ago, and how far we've come. the year has been a good one, with lots of sun (and rain) and great home grown food. when FWDR first posted the Homegrown Bloody Mary post, it was also THE Julia Child's Birthday, and what a day to begin a food blog! So, in honour of Julia and the big birthday, I've taken from Julia's, Baking with Julia Cookbook, a cake recipe I've used time and time again with great results. I tweaked it a little to give it an FWDR spin, by adding lime zest, rosemary and thyme. its a perfect sponge recipe made even better with freshly whipped cream and homemade jam.

 

I've added a lot of pictures of the sponge making process, as I feel many people are afraid of making sponge cake. it really is easy, though. the one trick is to use a light touch, and not to be scared! the only leavening to this cake is the air you whip into the eggs, so an aggressive hand will knock out vital air and lend to a dense, lifeless cake. this is a traditional French genoise recipe, using the cold technique. don't skimp on whipping time, you need to whip the eggs and sugar until a ribbon sits on top of the mixture for 10 seconds, so beat those eggs for at least 5 minutes.

 

 

Green Garlic Dressing

purple sprouting broccoli shoots, kale buds, pea shoots, ruby steaks mustard, baby kale, green garlic and chive

its hard to believe that yesterday was the first day I got a whole salad out of the garden. everything seems a month behind at the moment, the spuds only just got their heads in gear, the over wintered cabbages are yet to form heads (will they?) and my peas just poked through the soil a week ago.

 

the salad bed (from bottom left to top right): easter egg radish (with mixed leaves to follow), ruby streaks mustard, garlic, little gem, garlic, beetroot, snow pea and ruby streaks mustard

this year I took a page out of joy larkom's creative vegetable gardening book and planted my salad bed with contrasting colours and texture, as well as planting the rows on the diagonal for visual interest. as you can see from the above picture its still has a bit more to fill out but the idea is starting to shape out.

 



a small garlic shoot for thining and using as green garlic

I only recently learned about green garlic (a.k.a wet garlic) as an ingredient. before the garlic reaches maturity the whole bulb and stem can be used, I picked mine very early as a thinning measure. its great in soups, dressings and marinades. the flavour is more subtle than mature garlic lacking the strong spicy edge. think: chives but better.

 



green garlic

the great thing about growing garlic yourself is a) its super easy and b) you can have a go with green garlic in the kitchen. (I've only seen it one or twice in the green grocers ) the use of green garlic is starting to pop up more in cookbooks and restaurants lately, so if you don't grow you're own you might see it popping up at a good green grocers soon. 

 

Homemade Chicken Stock

chicken bones, carrots, celery, garlic, cheese rinds, herb stalks, and cauliflower stems

homemade chicken stock is a great thing to make when you've got extra bits left over from dinner. i'm sure many of you have made chicken stock before at home and know the joys and the world of difference it can make to your own home cooking.

throw in some onion and a couple bay leaves and your in business the 'stock market'!

i don't have a specific recipe and really its just scraps thrown into a pot and covered with water. one thing that really makes the stock special is the addition of cheese rinds, the ends of hard cheeses like parmesean are great to throw into stock. the dried out ends seem to and an extra savoury depth, without melting too much and getting all gooey. so, next time you have some hard cheesey bits left over just throw them in the freezer for your next batch of chicken or veg stock.

simmer for two hours, strain out the bits and you're done!

the consensus with stock is to always use the holy trinity of veg: carrots, celery and onions. from there its all up to you! once your chicken stock has finished cooking and cooled down you can store it in the fridge or in the freezer till needed.

Garden Layout for 2013

a look back at 2012's plants, the spuds on the right created a lovely wind break from prevailing sea winds. i'm going to try and contain them more this year, some vines reached around 6 feet!

Garden Layout 2013:

this is my new garden layout for the coming season. im trying my best to incorporate a bit of 'no-dig' practices and proper crop rotation. im failing a bit with the rotation side of things, so i'll incorporate more nutrients into the soil with homemade seaweed/nettle/comfrey fertilizers and well rotted manure. rotation has been a bit difficult, since im trying to place contrasting colours and textures together in my planting. im excited to get the plants going and i have plans for putting up a wooden arbour over the central seating area, for sweet peas and vines! im also trying to add height to the garden with wooden pea/bean wig wams and creating a useful wind break on the left side of the garden with broad beans and orache.

 



Garden Chive Fiesta Muffins

looks like i spoke too soon about the beautiful spring weather! the past two weeks have been sub zero and snowing! again! oh well, i guess we have to wait a bit longer. the snow has slowly evolced into more rain and flooding. my garden looks a bit like a swamp at the moment and the hens are hiding under the hen house. i can't blame them one bit.

to lift some spirits i wanted to pep up easter sunday with these warming Garden Chive Fiesta Muffins. they'll transport you straight to that sunny mexican beach holiday you're dreaming of. i also posted them as chives seem to be the only crop in the garden at the moment, along with the purple sprouting brocolli. but i decided that maybe 3 back-to-back posts on PSB would be too much.

these muffins look impressive, taste impressive and whip up in impressively no time at all. 15 minutes in the oven is all they take to double in size and cook through. i love the kick that the pickled pepperoncinis give to the muffins and married with chives, cheddar, and sour cream makes for one big fiesta of fun. their texture is airy and moist, almost popver-like. they bake perfect everytime.

Charred Purple Sprouting with Hollandaise and Poached Eggs

what a change in weather from last week! we've had some rain but the frosts subsided and its just begining to feel like spring. just in time cause it was starting to get me down! (see last post) for paddy's day this year i spent the afternoon in the garden, a long awaited treat. i planted seed potatoes as many people did for paddy's day, (it seems to be a tradition here in ireland.) i opted for three floury types: coleen's (a first early crop), record (main crop) and golden wonder (a late main crop). i wanted to try and introduce a bit of crop roation to my current garden's second year. so i planted them where i planted roots and onions last spring.

 

 

 

the idea of crop rotation is an old one. the basis is: different plant families take different nutrients from the soil as they grow. in turn they release new nutrients to the soil that benifit other plants. in a lot of vegetable gardens this determines alot of the seasons planting scheme. after some research there turns out to be some debate on what rotations people use. im following a four year rotation plan:

 

LEGUMES > BRASSICAS > ROOTS & ONIONS > POTATOES

 

do you use a different roation in your garden than the above one?

 

 

after planting spuds i was able to clear bolting kale plants, weed the flower beds and sow my first bit of lettuce, radish and beetroots. i popped in some garlic sets for good measure and much needed slug protection. in the lettuce area of the garden i was hoping to create an artistic planting effect by alternating plants with different colours and textures: frilly red mustards next to a row of little gem lettuce heads, followed by red beetroot and a row of pea shoots. its an exciting prospect to add a bit of colour and intrest to the veg plot. we'll see if it turns out as planned! fingers crossed.

Homemade Sour Apple Vodka

im to the point of being obsessed with infused spirits, last year it was foraged blackberries and a spiced quince vodka. this year im trying out my own sour apple vodka for Sour Apple Martini's, click here for the recipe. homemade infused spirits are simple to make, time and aggitation (a good shake) are the key - my quince vodka from last year hasn't stopped improving since it was ready for consumption. 6 weeks seems to be the consensus for good flavour when infusing spirits, but a month is perfectly alright.
this year's theme is 'apples,' our cupboards are filled with a mass of infusing spirits. we've got damsons stewing away alongside, apple and cinnamon, plain apples, apple and clove and of course this Sour Apple Vodka.

 

a few more ideas on my infusing to-do list are: black pepper vodka for bloody mary's, cucumber gin for gin and tonics, pear brandy for well - pear brandy, rosemary vodka for a winter martini, mint whiskey for mint juleps.... its endless: ginger, pineapple, elderflower, horseradish, pumpkin, spices, herbs, fruit, leaves, brownbread (?), cardboard (?) - why not? ok, maybe those last two were a bit adventurous.

the idea is: any spirit can be infused and anything can be used to infuse it. homemade spirits are a great gift too, and are sure to be consumed and disappear. solving that age old dilema, what can i get that person that won't just sit on a shelf collecting dust? infused homemade booze is as good as it gets.

Leeks Vinaigrette with Hazelnut Oil and Ummera Smoked Bacon

Leeks Vinaigrette

gardens across the northern hemisphere are winding down. my garden has slowly become a shadow of its former self, with the beans gone and the courgettes wilted. the strong specimens of the brassica family are standing with a few less leaves from the recent windstorm. the rainbow chard has been reluctant to grow new shoots, and the lettuces will be moving into a cold frame soon enough.

winter cabbage plant with leek seedling and curly kale in background

its all fine because i've planned ahead this year and decided to have a go at a winter veg plot. usually i have a few chard plants left or some leeks but never planted with winter in mind. i found a great book on the subject, How to Grow Winter Vegetables by Charles Dowding, it has absolutely all the information you'll ever need on the subject. as well as a chapter on 'No-Dig' gardening which i'm keen to have a go at next spring.

my winter veg patch at present

most of my winter veg plants were a bit late going in but seem to be braving the elements well. i picked up curly kale, winter cauliflower and winter cabbage at the Mahon Point Farmer's Market in August. they sat outside till september when they finally had room in the veg plot, after the spuds.
i also started leeks indoors and interplanted raddichio treviso and 'pixie' cabbage between the rows.

Stuffed Dumpling Squash with Chorizo and Rocket Salad

 

on one of my seed buying frenzies i grabbed a packet of Sweet Dumpling Squash seeds. not knowing really what they would turn out like, i figured they were a winter squash, all the packet said was "unsual light and dark striped skin with flesh of creamy orange. perfect for stuffing or cooking whole." so i guessed i couldn't go too wrong. once they were in the poly tunnel - happily growing away, i did some research. i read they were actually summer squash, but then i read they were winter squash. so i was confused, once harvested they seemed to be a bit of both. they have stored really well since i harvested them in september, and that puts them more in the winter squash genre, in my mind. i was worried i'd end up with too many squash going off all at once, like some of my courgettes (summer squash). this wasn't the case, as im staring at three plump firm specimens as i write this. after cooking their flesh turns soft and creamy, i look forward to growing more of these next year!

 

 

 

after eyeing up recipes for stuffed squash i decided to stuff my lil' dumplings with my new favourite ingredient from the bakery/deli. its a fresh chorizo iberico, which means the black iberian pigs were fed on acorns from oak trees for a period and also that it requires cooking before eating, unlike cured chorizos. its pretty rich and requires no oil for sauteing, the internal oils do all the work, yum! i also grabbed some st. tola organic goats cheese, creme fraiche. the rocket (or arugula) i got from my weekly C.S.A box from Kinsale Green Growers. the flavours melded together wonderfully, and one sweet dumpling squash happily fed two people, it would be perfect for 6-8 as a side dish too.

 

 

Celeriac and Apple Soup

whatta veg!

introducing a whopper of a veg, the super knobbly scary looking, the mighty mighty big, with an even bigger creamy flavour: Celeriac! it looked so nondescript in the veg patch all year, but after diggin one up the truth was revealed - a frankenstien monster of roots! what a beaut

celeriac is also called: turnip-rooted celery, 'knob' celery (ha ha!) or the wrongly named 'celery root'. thanks to wikipedia, i am now the celeriac quiz master and can say celeriac its wrongly called celery 'root' because, when we eat celeriac we are eating the hypocotyl of the plant, not its roots. what's the hypocotyl you ask? well, i can tell you a hypocotyl is the stem from a germinating seed, if you look closely the roots are actually growing from the hypocotyl, which are cut off before cooking. if you are interested in hypocotyls and what they have to offer click, here.  .

i'm pretty sure this is the first time i've cooked celeriac (i don't know why) let alone grow the bugger. bar one time possibly roasting it? and what a fool i've been to not have tried this veg in the kitchen more often. growing it proved to be slightly tricky, as the slugs burrowed into half of them and literally ate them from the inside out. eeek! i'll be giving this root veg more space in the patch next year and possibly less to its stalky cousin, gasp! i love celery stalks (see this post) but i grew way to much. 9 plants in total.
 

Vanilla & Blossom Salad: bees, butterflies, and their habitat

 

edible flower blossoms and wild flowers, clockwise from top left: calendula, cornflower (non edible), allium (onion family includes chives), nasturtiums, verbena, chamomile, borage

 

wildflowers, nectar rich plants, bees, butterflies, meadows and pollinators.
this gardening year for me has been focused on providing bees and butterflies with a suitable homeall through the summer. im attempting to do this by growing plants that these pollinators love: verbena, borage, chamomile, alliums, cornflowers, nasturtiums, legumes, and wildflowers. as well as staying away from chemical sprays and instecticides.

with modern agricultural methods we have systematically kicked out bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects out of the coutryside. and by planting low nectar flowers in our gardens we have pushed them even further away from our homes! in the past before massive harvesting machines and plows were around, there were many many more hedgerows blooming with wild flowers, these hedgerows teamed with pollinators. in turn they helped to pollinate crops humans were growing beside these hedgerows. now, with new machinery our hedgerows are being taken out and replaced with fencing providing little sanctuary for our friendly bees and insects. and no wild flowers.
focused on beauty rather than function in our home gardens, modern flower beds are being planted with low nectar flowers, or flowers that have double blooms that make it harder for pollinators to reach nectar sources. another, cause of food loss for pollinators is our tendancy to mow lawns to an inch of their life. leaving no time for lawn daisies or dandelions to bloom and provide food for insects.

leaves and blossoms form the garden, as well as purple french beans: which i didn't use in the recipe, but should have!

don't distress! there's a few ways we can help out our pollinating friends. we can leave space for wildness in our gardens, we can plant flowers that attract pollinators, and we can refrain from using weed killer and chemical pesticides in our gardens. i find just having flowers growing in the veg patch makes being there that much more enjoyable, adding to the sensory experience. knowing you are in a place that bees and butterflies love!

Nasturtium Capers




nasturtiums add needed colour to the garden,
and attract bees and butterflies

nasturtium seed pods dangling off the vine





this may surprise you, but you can makes capers with nasturtium seed pods! i first heard of the idea last year. it seemed like a good idea, caper berries are an acutal berries of a certain shrub, and nasturtium capers are something like the 'poor mans' version. their flavour has a hint of the nasturtium spice you get in the flowers that mellows once pickled. if you have loads of nasturtium plants in your garden, is worth the hour it takes picking and jaring up these little buds. i got half a pint of seed pods from 3 plants, and i could have kept going.  this recipe suits that amount perfectly.

 

a pint o' pods

 

 

Harvesting Pods: pick the seed pods once they have turned green and big on the vine. don't use seed pods that have fallen off plants, they've dried up and will make new plants next year.