Marrow and Runner Bean Curry

 It has been a strange summer here in London. Boiling hot June then cold and wet July. Hasn't stop the garden cropping well but has deterred me from going down to the patch as often as I should (along with two new kittens arriving hot on the heels of the loss of our 20 year old cat Fitz). 

Onyx & Jasper

 So when I did pop down I found a courgette that had hidden from me last time and had gone rogue! The runner beans like the cooler, wetter weather and they are cropping well. So I needed something to use up the bounty.

 

 

A glut of Beans and Marrow

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 tbsp rape seed oil

1/2 Marrow, deseeded and sliced

1 Red Onion sliced into half moons

1 handful of runner beans de stringed and sliced

2 tsp curry paste - or more depending on your tastes

1 small can coconut cream

Splash of lime

Rice to serve.

Method

Fry the onion in the oil until it starts to take a little colour. Add the marrow and fry for a further few minutes. Add the runner beans and the curry paste and stir together and fry had for a few minutes. Add the coconut cream and a splash of water. Simmer for abut 10-12 minutes while you cook the rice and the vegetables are cooked. Add a splash of lime and serve.

Vegetarian Curry in less than 20 minutes.

Some prep work in the garden

The spring weather here in London has, shall we say, been a little mixed! In the past week we have had bright sunshine, cold northerly winds, hail, snow, rain, thunder and frogs. OK we didn't have the frogs although there are some tadpoles up at the allotment centre!

Given that the weather has been a bit better this weekend and I have broad bean, runner bean and courgette seeds germinating in the shed I thought I had better get started and prep the vegetable bed.

As usual you turn your back for a couple of days and all the weeds wake up and try and take over!

The Before Picture

As you can see there are plenty of dandelions which I wanted to dig up before they seeded themselves everywhere. Amongst them were horsetails and bindweed as well as the dried stalks of the Jerusalem artichokes of last year.

Two hours of hard digging later (spread over two days)...

That Looks Better!

Now all I have to do is the same with the much larger bed. It helped that the soil was moist - when it gets dry it sets hard being London clay based.

Of course I was supervised by two of our cats...

Fitz - The handsome one!

Latte - Who had been rolling in the dust!

Tara - or She Who Must be Obeyed / Evil Mistress of Darkness / The Vomiting One was asleep upstairs and only came out when the work was done!

Hopefully the weather will be good next weekend so we can get out and do the other bed. Otherwise by the time we come back from holiday we will be facing fully grown triffids!

A Quick Lunch

Couldn't resist pairing some very ripe figs from the Pitshanger Lane greengrocer's with some ripe tomatoes and courgettes from the garden in a quick lunch before heading into London for a bit of 'culture'. Serves 2

Ingredients
3 Ripe Figs
Small chunk of blue cheese
Parmasan shavings
6 Cherry or small plum tomatoes
1 Small round courgette (or a normal one)
Fresh Thyme
1/2 a lemon
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Balsamic Vineger

Pre-heat the oven to about 150C.
Slice the courgettes length about the thickness of a pound coin (about 3mm for all of those who don't have Pound coins). Mix together the thyme, lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil. Griddle courgettes in a ridged pan for 5 or so minutes on each side, adding the tomatoes towards the end.

Meanwhile cut a cross in the top of each fig (to about half-way down), squeeze gently and put 1/3 of the blue cheese in each. Put in the oven for about 7 minutes until the cheese has melted.

Arrange nicely on plates with a few parmasan shavings, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and any marinade that is left.

Experiments with Courgettes

An unexpected evening with only me to cook for and after having several nights of chilli and curry I fancied something a bit simpler (and containing some vitamins!). Having popped out to the garden and collected an armful of courgettes, a basket of salad leaves and a handful of slender runner beans I decided to make some fritters.
Not made these before so it was a bit of an experiment and to be honest I'd only give them 6/10. More experimentation needed.

Ingredients (For 1)
1 medium courgette (grated)
1 medium egg
40g self raising flour
dash of milk
salt and pepper (be generous with both)
oil for shallow frying


Make a batter with the egg, flour, salt, pepper and milk. Add the courgette and mix. Heat the pan, add the oil and then when the oil is hot add blobs of batter/courgette mix (I made 3). Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and risen slightly. Serve with salad and tomato ketchup.

Next time I may add one or more of the following: some grated cheese, some herbs, some spring onions or serve them with a minty yoghurt dressing. Chips might be good too.

A Midweek Chicken Roast

Our garden is starting to produce plenty of goodies, in particular courgettes and this week I've had a couple of nice meals based around them (serves 2).

Ingredients
2 skinless chicken breasts (or 1 monkfish tail)
4 rashers of streaky bacon
2 red onions quartered
2 red or yellow pepper cut into large chunks
2 medium courgettes cut into large chunks (I used a yellow spherical one)
2-4 sage leaves
Olive oil

Cut a pocket in each chicken breast and insert the sage leaves. Wrap the streaky bacon around the breast and secure with a skewer or cocktail sticks. Heat the over to about 180 degrees and mix the vegetables with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast vegetable in the oven for 15 minutes then add the chicken breasts and turn the oven down to 160. Roast for 20-30 minutes until the chicken and vegetables are cooked through.

Serve with a simple green salad and/or crusty bread to mop up the juices.