Fresh Beans and Tomato Couscous Salad

I am making the most of my weekend before the working week begins all over again. August was a manic month, with so many things on the edge of happening but then not happening for one reason - leaving me both exhausted and disappointed.  I was hoping September would be a bit quieter and a little kinder in comparison, but not so much, so you just make the most of what you do have and march on. 

We had this Cherry Tomato Couscous Salad early on in the week when i time to extract myself away from the computer screen to potter a little longer in the kitchen to make lunch.

It was not really much work, as couscous from a jar is effortless.  I am adoring the pop of colours coming from the cherry tomatoes from the garden.

The couscous also has the last of the runner beans, broad beans,  green beans and peas.  There is no recipe for this.  It simply cooked beans stirred into Ainsley Harriot's  Spice Sensation Couscous and topped off with some fresh tomatoes. 

D is not much of a couscous fan, but i didn't mind this at all. I teased him that i would be making it again, but its unlikely as the beans in the garden are coming the end.

I am sharing this Cherry Tomato Couscous Salad with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Almost Homegrown Sunday Lunch and Harvest Monday

This echinacea reminds me of those ballerina dancers in those children musical jewellery boxes dancing elegantly in the breeze of the wind. 

Quite stunning, i just wish D had planted it in the border rather than tucked away under the plum tree.

 We don't have many raspberry canes this year, but what we have had has been good.

I made these raspberry muffins with some of the raspberries, but they are no match for Dave's muffin recipe, did you see his blog post last week with homegrown blueberries and homemade muffins. I want the recipe and hope he will oblige. My muffins just never seem to rise.

I mentioned in my previous blog post, that We are growing carrots for the first time in years and they seem to be doing well from the look of the healthy feathery fronds. 

Here they are thinned out carrots quite healthy actually. They are yellow carrots called Jaune Obtuse de Doubs. Some had been affected by carrot fly, but the damage was minimal. so i am keeping my fingers crossed that the carrots remaining will escape the dreaded pest.

Homegrown Sunday Dinner....well almost...the only vegetable that was not homegrown were the new potatoes.  Caramelized glazed baby yellow carrots and the last of the purple top Milan turnips, steamed runner beans and homemade vegan seitan hot' pastrami' on the side (whiich I will write more about later).

Glazed Turnips and Carrots
Ingredients
250g baby carrots, sliced in half lengthways
200g turnips, sliced into coins, blanched and rinsed, set aside
40g butter
1 tablespoon caster sugar
salt
Method
Melt the butter in a pan and then add the carrots and turnips. Stir.
Sprinkle over the sugar.
Saute gently until the vegetables are lightly browned and glossy.
Taste and adjust seasoning, then serve immediately
Adapted from Sophie Grigson's Feasts for A Fiver.  
The last time i cooked from it was a Sri Lankan Beetroot Curry 

Purple Dwarf climbing beans and runner beans, plus a cooking apple that D thought was worth rescuing 

Here are some of the runner beans and green beans seared with togarashi.  Togarashi is a Japanese spice blend made with crushed red pepper flakes, black and white sesame seeds, nori and salt and pepper.  It was lovely served as an accompaniment to a couscous dish.

Some more Champion and Telephone - tall climbing peas coming along wonderfully considering it was a slow start. 

I also picked some rhubarb sticks to make rhubarb crumble. I have plenty more to pick, so any recipes, please do share. I  am sharing my Monday harvest with Dave over at Happy Acres who hosts Harvest Monday every week.

Spanish Potatoes with Saffron and Green Beans

We harvested some small potatoes from the garden plot a couple of weeks ago.  We were excited to try them, but were really disappointed in them.  Trouble is we are not sure what they were called. They look a little like new potatoes, but when cooked the skin falls off and they appear dry and floury on the inside.  But as a couple not to waste, I was looking for ways to disguise both the flavour and texture.

I was inspired by a recipe called Spanish Potatoes that I saw whilst flicking through one of my cookbooks. I purchased Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison when I went to see my best friend in the US.  We wen to Berkeley for the day.  I went into the famous independent Cody's  bookshop and came out with this book as it was one my friend recommended. I have cooked from it, but not as much as I would like to have.  Sadly Cody Bookshop closed its doors in 2006. 

Romesco sauce is made with red pepper, nuts and bread.  It originates from the Catalonia area in Spain, however this version has paprika in place of the red peppers.  

Purple Green French Beans, Carrot and Potato Tacos

I have been in the garden plot picking the last of the plums for plum jam and purple climbing French beans. Ah they have been lovely to grow, but upon cooking they turn a dull green.

I made this French Bean, Carrot and Potato filling in order to make some Taco's.  I used Wahaca Yellow Corn Tortilla, and finished it off with a generous dollop o soured cream.  Folded it over  and the smothered it further with some Tomatilla Salsa.  

This Purple Green French Bean, Carrot and Potato Tacos were very good to eat.   I am  sharing this recipe with Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen.  I hope she will accept this Mexican style sandwich.  

Oven braised fennel, green and runner beans

This potato, fennel and runner bean salad was an attempt to use up what we have in the vegetable basket and fridge, otherwise it was all destined for the compost bin in the garden. But before I share the recipe, here's some photographs of vegetables growing in my garden.

The beetroot is not looking promising. Oh it has excellent leaves, but I'm doubtful about the bulb itself.

Kohlrabi, the biggest of the three has now been harvested.

The last of the broad beans, pretty disappointing show this year, hence the reason I picked some up at the weekend.

This goldrush courgette also got picked.

So did this courgette di nizza. As well as fennel, a snowball cauliflower, a floret or two of broccoli and a handful of green bean. I also harvested a load of runner beans from both the Scarlet Emperor and hestia dwarf plants

Some of you will know that I am growing potatoes in two large pots. Even though they have not produced any flowers, I am sure they must be ready, but I have chosen not to harvest them, until after my holidays.

Oven braised fennel, green and runner beansCombined with new potatoes to make a warm salad.
Serves 2 - 4
Ingredients
250g small new potatoes, steamed and set aside
100g green beans, trimmed and halved
200g runner beans, trimmed and cut into diagonals
1 small red onion, sliced
1 medium fennel, ferns removed and sliced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 clove of garlic, sliced
2 -3 tablespoons olive oil
150ml vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: fresh fennel herb for garnishing

Method
Place the potatoes in a pan of salted boiling water and boil for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Set aside.
Preheat oven to gas mark 6. In a large oven or baking tin. Add all the ingredients and stir well to combine. Cook for 35 – 45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the potatoes. Garnish with fennel herb and serve warm.

Garnish with fennel herb and serve warm.

Question is now what to do with the kohlrabi and courgette di nizza and gold rush that I’ve just harvested. Maybe I should spend a little more time in the kitchen this evening and make a pasta salad for our journey down south or maybe some cakes and biscuits to take back to my family, I’m sure they’ll be appreciated more than a tin of chocolates and flowers!

A jar of pickled beans

We went over the allotment for a little while in the morning and picked some more climbing french beans.
When I got home, I decided to pickle some, there was no way in the world we were going to be able to consume them all, and there was hardly any room in my freezer. I got the simple pickled green beans recipe from here. I also added some black peppercorns to the pickle as I like my pickles to have some bite. Now what to do with the remaining beans....mmmmm

There are three types of french green beans here: blauhilde; neckar gold; and blue lake.

Pretty, but lonely - a single clematis flower growing on plot 45 by the gate.