Tofu and mushroom stroganoff

The weather was lovely today - there was barely a raindrop. But we decided to give the allotment a miss today, and go tomorrow. Instead we visited The Dogs Trust in Uddingston. We have been thinking a while about giving a dog a home. Other than sponsoring Blagger with the Dogs Trust a few years ago, I have no experience of keeping a dog, but would so much love one. But I do have to be realistic about this commitment and the responsibility this would entail. So the thinking continues.

We registered our interest with the Dogs Trust, and came back home eyeing the space where the dogs bed would be if we did decide to go ahead.

Now onto food. We have eaten tofu and mushroom stoganoff twice this week - honest. I don't often eat tofu, but marinated this way. I find it moreish. This is actually an adaptation from Cranks Fast Food. Nadine Abensur uses red wine to marinate her tofu which does give it a more robust flavour, but I only use tamari.

It's another one of my working week standbys and takes about 30 to 40 minutes to make.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of tamari or soy sauce
250g firm plain tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 tablespoons of sunflower or vegetable oil
1 medium white onion, sliced thinly
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
250g chestnut mushrooms, left whole if small or sliced if you prefer
120ml double cream
200ml vegetable stock made with 1/2 teaspoon of bouillon powder
sprig of tarragon or 1 tablespoon of dried
salt and pepper to taste

Method
Place tofu cubes in a dish and spoon over 2 tablespoons of tamari and tablespoons of veg stock. Set aside. The longer you leave it the more it will absorb.

In a pan, heat one tablespoon of oil. Add onion and garlic and fry over medium heat until soft and golden. Add mushrooms and continue to saute for about 5 minutes until cooked through.

In a frying pan, heat the remaining oil and saute the tofu. Be careful it may spit for a couple of minutes. The tofu must brown on all sides so keep turning it gently until this is done. Then remove from the heat.

Add vegetable stock and the tarragon sprig to the mushrooms, allow it to gently boil. Then turn the heat down. Add the cream and let it simmer for a few minutes until well combined with the vegetable stock.

Finally, add the fried tofu, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with plain basmati rice.

Pretty green box

Why? Other than it being quite pretty.

Because it has joyful farming and harvesting theme.

The box actually contained some well appreciated Christmas presents. But now that it is empty - maybe it will become a seed storage box. Oh no it won't - its still too new and pretty for that. So it will remain in the bedroom for now.

Confused…Is it Plot 45 or Plot 11

In late 2006, I was given my first ever allotment Plot. I was ever so excited.


It had its own shed and quirky greenhouse made from recycled windows, some raspberry canes, strawberry plants and rhubarb crowns.

However, there was much work to be done. With Ds support and labour, and the help of a couple of friends along the way, we managed to get it up to a respectable, if not very good standard.
We lugged concrete slabs, bricks and heavy recycled wood and much more from which we built raised beds from recycled wood, a compost bin and a herb box, a base for the greenhouse and bricks for the make shift cold frame. We painted the shed and greenhouse vibrant yellow, and even built bird boxes and a wildlife pond. So much labour, sweat and love went into the beautifying of plot 11. It was also very productive - rewarding us with lots of fruit and veg.

So about a year later the decision to give it up was not easy, but I had made up my mind

Some of the reasons why I came to the decision to give up plot 11. I found it a bit isolated. As the only woman working at the back of the allotment site, which is on the edge of an industrial estate and a cemetery that is often used as a short cut by people. I often found myself working alone, unless other allotmenteers or my wonderful neighbour Fitzy was about. There were many times, especially in the evenings, that you would find kids lobbing stones over, and hurling abuse – and even setting fire to the illegally dumped material behind the site. So I was beginning to feel unsafe, and beginning to find it all getting a bit stressing and uncomfortable at what I may face from one day to another. This was not what I thought an allotment plot to be. With the good, sometime can come a lot of headache, and this was a place I did not want to be.

During this time (late 2007), an allotment plot in the centre of the site came up. I went over and had a good nosy round. You could see it was once a loved and cherished plot. The structures were all in place, it had a great green house, a potting shed and a hut painted in baby blue – a shelter for when it rained. This was a luxury that I did not have at Plot 11. This plot was overgrown and neglected now and the wood around the raised beds were starting to rot needing replacing. I thought to myself, a bit of commitment and hard work, I could restore it back to it back to some of its former glory. So I had decided to register my interest for a transfer with the committee. Over the telephone I gave the Secretary my genuine reasons why and put my name down for this new plot. She told me a number of other people had also registered interest in taking it over, and chances were I would not get it. A long, long wait and month later I was notified that I was the proud owner of Plot 45. I was so delighted.

During this interim D realised he had developed his own green fingers, a passion for digging (not), and growing vegetables (oh Yes). D decided he would keep on Plot 11 and could grow things that did not need that much tending, like potatoes and berry fruit such as redcurrants, raspberries, gooseberries and so on. This was before we got married (which was only this October), and were still seen as two separate individuals, rather than a couple. This was accepted by the committee as we had both proved ourselves as hardworking individuals, responsible and proud plot holders - unlike some of the unkempt plots there. Tut Tut

Now you know the story of my move from Plot 11 to Plot 45.