September in my kitchen

Almost a month since i lasted blogged here. 

So much has been happening around me.  Tentative steps being surrounded by people and larger crowds.  One of which was attending a wedding in a marquee. It was beautiful.  I will soon be going on holiday, so my absence blogging will be noted by regular readers. I will share more on my return and promise to catch up with you all and your blogging on my return. 

But let me share what's in my kitchen.

 Mostly home grown vegetables and fruit - a handful of blueberries

Yellow, glossy shiny courgettes.

 Purple, yellow and green beans.

 More courgettes and some that become marrows.

I made this Ukranian recipe called Coyc/Sous - Courgette and Potato Stew.  A little bit of additional work was required in coating the courgettes in flour and pan frying

 before they were added to a rich tomato sauce that was thickened with soured cream. 

It was suggested to serve this with crusty bread, but i went with plain and finished off with a garnish of dill.

This Armenian Roasted Vegetables: cabbage, carrots, celery, onion, red pepper and dill was a recipe from the same cookbook - Mamushka: Recipes from Ukraine and beyond by Olia Hercules.  This made a change from the Double Potato Halloumi or Feta Bake that we often make; and the bonus was we used homegrown courgettes and tomatoes from the garden plot.  The tomatoes are not as sweet as previous years, regardless we are thankful to have some growing at home as the flavour is still far more superior than anything you will find in the supermarket. 

Finishing off with some baby beetroot that was simply boiled and served as part of an antipasti meal one hot evening.

And some dirty carrots, that I'll share with Dave over at Happy Acres who hosts Harvest Monday.  

I may not have loads of new things to share in my kitchen, but I am always happy to join in with In My Kitchen series hosted by Sherry's Pickings with my home grown produce and homemade eats. 

August in My Kitchen

I may not have loads of new things to share in my kitchen, but I am always happy to join in with In My Kitchen series hosted by Sherry's Pickings with my home grown produce and homemade eat. 

So here goes, starting off with some homegrown vegetables. 

First of the purple, yellow and green beans. 

Our neighbour gave us a couple of aubergine plants aka eggplant.  We put them in the greenhouse. This is the first aubergine we have harvested, instead of being the oblong shape, its more of a ball, i think this may have been because the plant had hit the ground and was unable to shape in the traditional manner that we expect aubergines to shape.  I will be cooking this burgundy beauty later today.  

These are meant to be courgettes aka zucchini, but as you can see some have become marrows.  Most of these have been devoured in pasta dishes, quiches or bakes. I also char griddled some of the courgettes these were enjoyed as anti-pasti, stirred into pasta and covered puff pastry base with the addition of feta cheese. 

These yellow courgettes encountered a similar fate. 

We have been very fortunate with home grown strawberries, every other day I'd come back with a bowl full. Sadly, those featured in the image below - we the last of the season.  They were good while they lasted.

Same with these broad beans and peas, though we may still have more peas to come.  But truth is, with the new puppy, we have both been distracted and neglecting the garden.  It is overgrown and needs serious attention and weeding.  We had both intended to spend some time out in the garden this weekend, but its both blustery and raising, so its house work instead.   

I am also sharing this post with Dave over at Happy Acres who hosts Harvest Monday.  

Now let me share with you some homemade bake - well one, Courgette and Raisin muffins.  The recipe made way too many for us, that we ended up sharing them with neighbours. 

I also made Thai Green Curry.  We also have some Pak Choi growing in the garden. But this is the only one that got to enjoy, as those remaining in the garden have bolted and gone to seed, due to neglect. 

I made Quiche with the Chargriddled courgettes.  Yes, i made the shortcrust pastry from scratch.  I tend to trim of the pastry ends, when the quiche filling has been baked and set.

It was handy making this Chargrilled quiche in advance, as last week it was extremely hot and this made for buffet style lunch and dinner. I am also taking the opportunity to share this slice of quiche with a simple side salad of cucumber, tomatoes, and red onion with  Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen.  

I haven't picked up many edible things for the kitchen, however on of our day trip out to a place called Pontypridd.  I picked up this Welsh Honey.  We have been to Pontypridd a few times over the years including its Museum, for the indoor market and Pete's Shop where i picked up this golden Welsh honey.  I am surprised at myself, that i have never shared photographs of it on my blog.  So I will share some in the next few days.   Just before the pandemic, Pontypridd had been hit by Storm Dennis and was one of the many towns and villages hit by flooding. 

On another one of our day trips, i also had the popped into a couple of charity shops and was pleased with myself coming out of one of them with not one, not two, not three, but four vegan - vegetarian cookbooks that all cost me less that £6.00.  I was mot pleased with Planted as I had wanted that for a while and kept borrowing a copy from the library pre-pandemic, and as for V for Vegan by Kerstin Rodgers - i do have copy, but decided to pick this up to gift to a friend. 

I remember the hype around the Blender Girl and the other Vegan cookbook author was new to me, but peaked my interest enough to bring it home with me.    Now, let us hope that i cook from these in not to long. 

Up and Down Brean Down

One of the places, we went to during my week holiday in early July was Brean in Somerset, England.  

We had decided to go to The Nation Trust Brean Down.

and Brean Sands Beach.  If you click on this image right at the back on the beach you will see two people...more about them if you read on.

We noted a young man going over markings on the sand with a large rake.  It was upon approaching the older man, that we realised it was a local Sand Artist who was using a compass to create detailed geometrical designs.  I did ask him what he was making, but his voice was a bit faint, that i thought he said a snowflake, but I could not be sure and felt rude to ask him to repeat. I pondered on the idea of snowflake and wondered if he was making going to make a political statement. I was lookign forward to seeing completed design, to which he advised would be ready at around 4pm.  I looked at my watch, we had only got there and it was about 9.30am.  He said the best view would be from the top (see above image).