Jane's Delicious Garden Blog

This potato salad is perfect for freshly harvested baby potatoes. The following is a guide as I didn’t measure anything!

Steam baby potatoes until tender. In the meantime mix together the following:

• 2-3 Tbs mayonnaise
• 4-5 Tbs warm chicken stock
• A dash of white wine vinegar
• A handful of finely chopped parsley
• 1 tbs miso paste
• A sprinkling of hot chilli powder
• A squeeze of lime juice
• Salt and black pepper to taste.

Taste the dressing and adjust if needed. Add the hot potatoes to the dressing and stir through.

When I first started my vegetable garden I grew over 20 varieties of chilies. Faced with this abundance I began experimenting with chilli recipes. The hot diggidy chilli jelly soon became a favourite amongst friends. So much so that after I’d been away for nine months, a friend greeted me with, “Oh, good you’re back – when are you going to make some chilli jelly?” Here’s the recipe so my friends can make it themselves now!

Ingredients

• 2 red bell peppers
• 10 red jalapeño chillies
• 1½ cups white vinegar
• 1Tbs lemon pips
• 6 cups sugar
• ⅓ cup lemon juice.

Method

Cut the peppers into quarters and remove the white inner ribs. Purée the chilies and peppers in a food processor. Combine the purée and vinegar in a large pot and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. (Be warned: the steam is pungent and it will make your eyes sting and the whole house pong of vinegar and chilies.)

Tie the lemon pips in a muslin bag or put them inside a tea strainer that closes, and add them to the pot. (The lemon pips contain plenty of pectin – the stuff that makes jelly gel.) Now add the sugar and lemon juice, stirring well until the sugar has completely dissolved. Bring back to the boil and cook until it wrinkles when tested. Remove the lemon pips and pour the jelly into sterilised bottles and seal.

My favourite way of eating chilli jelly is with cream cheese spread onto hot croissants. Try it!

I love combining colours when I cook. Tonight’s meal was deliciously vivid!

Roast butternut with pomegranate, feta, basil and almonds.

• Peel butternut, remove pips and cut into chunks
• Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, pul biber, harissa spice, powdered lemon peel, a drizzle of balsamic reduction and raw almonds.

• Roast at 220 C until butternut is tender.
• Sprinkle with feta. Return to oven at 200 C for about ten minutes.
• Sprinkle with pomegranate jewels and torn basil leaves.

Grilled sweetcorn ribs

• Using a very sharp knife (and keeping your hands out of the way!) slice sweetcorn lengthwise into “ribs” (keeping the central core to hold kernels intact).
• Toss with salt, lemon skin powder and chilli.
• Dot with butter and roast at 220 C for about ten minutes.
• Move rack higher and grill until starting to brown.
• Squeeze with fresh lime juice just before serving.

Serve with

Zucchini and snow peas, sautéed with onion and garlic.

And . . .

Roast chicken quarters.

Rubbed with a mix of: Coffee, dried oregano, pul biber, black pepper, salt, lemon skin powder and cumin.

Even the compost was colourful!!

Winter calls for warming colours and flavours. Tonight’s meal:

• Pomegranate and naartjie salsa;
• Sesame and lime zest encrusted tuna steaks;
• Stir fried vegetables;
• Whole grain basmati rice.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 x naartjie (remove pips and pith, chop into chunks)
• 1 x pomegranate (remove jewels from shell)
• 1 x red onion finely sliced
• About ten spekboom leaves (roughly chopped)
• Hot small chillie (finely sliced)
• Pinch of salt

METHOD:

Mix all ingredients together and leave for about 20 minutes to meld flavours.

TUNA STEAK MARINADE INGREDIENTS

• 2 x tuna steaks
• 2 Tbs teriyaki sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1tsp rice vinegar
• 1 Tbs Indonesian sweet soy sauce

CRUST INGREDIENTS

• 8 Tbs sesame seeds
• 2Tbs lime zest
• Pinch or two of sea salt
• 1 tsp pul biber.

METHOD

Mix all marinade ingredients together, pour over tuna steaks and leave to marinade for 30 minutes, turning often.

Mix crust ingredients together. Remove steaks from marinade (reserve it) and dunk them in the crust so all sides are covered.

Cook steaks in hot pan until all sides are seared but middle is still pink (approximately 5 minutes).

Add marinade and let it sizzle for a short while. Remove from heat and keep warm.

VEGETABLE STIR FRY INGREDIENTS

• A mixture of sliced/chopped vegetables (I used snow peas, zucchini, baby corn and bok choy.)
• Chopped garlic and ginger
• A couple of dollops of teriyaki sauce.

METHOD

Stir fry vegetables in a wok starting with the zucchini then adding the peas and corn. Add the ginger and garlic, stir fry until fragrant and add the sliced bok choy and teriyaki sauce. Stir through and remove from heat.

Tomatoes are pouring out of the garden. This recipe from Ottolenghi’s book Simple is sublime – and quick to make.

Here is the recipe.
Charred Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Cold Yogurt

Ingredients
• 350 g cherry tomatoes
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• ¾ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp brown sugar
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 lemon, shaved to get 3 strips of lemon skin and then finely grated to get 1 tsp lemon zest
• flaked sea salt and black pepper
• 350 g full fat Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp Urfa (or pul biber) chile flakes
• basil, shredded, to garnish

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 220 C.
2. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes with the olive oil, cumin, sugar, garlic, thyme, oregano, lemon strips, ½ tsp flaked sea salt, and a grind of black pepper. Toss to combine, then transfer to a baking dish. Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the yogurt with the lemon zest and ¼ tsp flaked sea salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.
4. Once the tomatoes are done, spread the cold yogurt on a serving platter or in a wide bowl. Spoon the hot tomatoes on top, along with any juices and herbs from the pan. Garnish with the chile flakes and basil. Serve with sourdough bread for scooping.

Gorgeous summer harvests.

Roses are in full bloom – perfect time to make Rose Petal Sugar.

This deliciously fragrant sugar can be sprinkled on pancakes and desserts, used in icing, baking and infusions, added to smoothies or cocktails, plus much more.

Tips

• Don’t use roses from a florist – they will have been sprayed. Only use ones that you know have been grown organically.
• The more scented the rose the better the sugar.
• Store it in an airtight container in the freezer.
• The amounts below are a guide – you can adjust it to your taste.
• Don’t wash the petals but rather put them in a colander and shake gently to remove any bugs.

Recipe

200g caster sugar

1 cup rose petals, tightly packed.

Blitz in a blender until smooth. Decant into an airtight bottle.

With the recent warm weather my sprouting broccoli is starting to produce little white flowers. These sweet heads are the perfect companion for the first of the spring asparagus and artichoke harvests.

• Line a bamboo steamer with black palm kale leaves.
• Roughly chop the broccoli and asparagus.
• Place on top of the kale.
• Slice the tops off the artichokes.
• Fill a large pot with boiling water and add the artichokes. Place the bamboo steamer on top.
• Steam the kale/broccoli/asparagus
• Mix for about six minutes or so. (leave the artichokes simmering until an outer leaf comes off easily. )
• Remove the kale leaves and slice them roughly and mix through with the broccoli and asparagus.
• Toss with just a little of a dressing of: mixed burnt butter, chilli flakes, dried mint, soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice and wasabi mustard. Sprinkle with calendula leaves.
• Serve the artichokes with lemon butter for dipping the leaves, and the asparagus / broccoli mix on the side.

I remember seeing a recipe somewhere for asparagus in cannelloni, so when I harvested purple broccoli today – I decided to try a version. This is a truly delicious recipe – the cheesy, creamy, melting cannelloni is balanced by the fresh crunchy salad.

Cannelloni

• Slice an onion and cook in olive oil until just translucent.
• Add apple-smoked bacon bits (from Linden’s Cheese Gourmet) and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until onion is browned and bacon is crispy.
• Add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.
• Add a couple of chopped tomatoes. Cook, stirring every now and then, for a further five minutes or so. Remove from heat and place in the the bottom of a baking dish.
• While cooking above make the Cheesy white sauce (below).
• Place broccoli (keep the central core for the salad) into the cannelloni tubes, with the stems inside and the florets sticking out either end. Place them on top of onion, bacon and tomato mix.
• Pour over the Cheesy white sauce.
• Sprinkle with bread crumbs, a little more cheese and red pepper flakes.
• Cover with foil and bake at 200° C for 40 minutes. Uncover and cook for a few moments more until browned.

Cheesy White Sauce

Melt butter in pan and add flour, sweet paprika, pepper and salt. Stir until browned then quickly whisk in milk.

Bring to a boil, stirring often.

Simmer til it thickens and then add a mix of grated pecorino and Parmesan. Stir until melted.

Crunchy winter salad.

Pan roast pine nuts until browned. Add dried mint and red pepper flakes.

Finely slice the inner core of the broccoli.

Finely chop a sweet apple.

Finely slice snow peas.

Mix above together and add a few grinds of black pepper. Gently toss in chopped avocado.

Serve with a mix of lettuce, rocket and Asian greens (mizuna, tat soi, bok choy and mustard.). Drizzle with a light lemony mayonnaise dressing.