Another infographic… and now the sun is shining and I am off to harvest the first crop of lemon balm to dry for making tea.
Category / Food Preservation
Learn more about methods for preserving veg, fruit and herbs
Lemon Balm
Peppermint Infographic
I’ve enjoyed making this and the lavender infographics today. Next up will be lemon balm and fennel – all easy to grow, useful herbs.
Lavender infographic
Lavender, an incredibly important herb, and pretty and easy to propagate too.
Golden Risotto
I got a shock when the dogs came in from their morning ablutions this morning. Big face dog, Bryn, was peppered in snow. I looked up from my bleary eyed coffee machinations, and it was indeed snowing. Great!
It snowed
Snow can be a real headache here in Wales. In 2010, my village was snowed in for the best part of two weeks, and we relied on a farmer from a well-known yogurt factory to deliver milk and bread.
Most people that live out in the hills have a well-stocked larder, as winter storms aren’t uncommon. If London had our weather, the media would maybe take climate change more seriously…
So today calls for some real comfort food. A flavoursome risotto, spiced with the saffron threads I diligently collected in the autumn.
Saffron crocuses aren’t hard to grow if you get the soil conditions right. It loves a free
draining site, and can happily get by with low fertility. It must have full sun, especially when they flower in October. I have a small raised bed devoted to them, just a metre square, and for a short period of time they make me dizzy with pleasure. The picking is a delicate, meditative affair, plucking the three stigmas (female sex organs) from each flower.
Did you know…
- saffron is the most expensive spice in the world?
- has been cultivated for over 5,000 years?
- was introduced by the Romans?
- costs £4,000 per kilo?
- is almost exclusively harvested by hand?
- it takes 150 crocuses to produce a gram of saffron (about 500 threads)?
They need to be carefully dried; I have a dehydrator to do this, but a low oven (about 40C) or on a silicone sheet next to a radiator or in an airing cupboard will work too.
So, to the joy of saffron risotto. I love that the Arborio rice used for risotto is grown in Europe- it soothes my locavore sensibilities. Carnaroli, another medium grain rice is grown here too, and makes a much creamier dish.
Saffron Risotto (serves two)
Ingredients:
Small white onion, finely chopped
25g butter or 1 tablespoon oil (nothing too heavily flavoured, a light olive oil will do)
1.25 litres golden stock
200g carnaroli rice
A glass of white wine
50g unsalted butter, diced
50g Parmesan or Grana Padano (for a vegetarian option) cheese, grated
Directions:
Bring the stock to the boil. I make mine with left over veg saved for this: carrot tops, celery leaves, rosemary, shiitake mushrooms, thyme, fennel, onion and the green ends of leek, parsley stalks and a pinch of peppercorns, then add salt at the end to taste.
Strain the stock and add a teaspoon of saffron. Marvel at its golden colour change!
Melt the butter or oil, and soften the onion in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Add the carnaroli rice. Turn up the heat, and stir to coat the grains with butter.
When the rice is hot, add a small glass of white wine, and keep stirring until it has evaporated.
Start adding the stock, gradually. Stir in a ladleful at a time, until it has nearly all been absorbed.
The rice begins to soften after about ten minutes. Keep testing it as you add the stock. When the stock is all added and it is cooked to your taste, add the unsalted butter, cheese, and beat it firmly with a wooden spoon, until the risotto is rich and creamy.
Check the seasoning, then serve immediately.
After Blue Monday – Grey Tuesday?
It’s already 17th January. The dog is pacing for her second walk of the day, and I know it will be dark in less than two hours. While she forages in the bin for cat food pouches, I lean on my bedroom windowsill looking at the garden in stasis.
Of course, it’s actually teeming with life down there. Microbes, fungi, nematodes, micro-organisms are all cracking on, gently turning the mulch to soil; the discarded stems and leaves delicious food for the invisible.
When we had the very brief cold snap, I lay the Christmas tree over my corn salad 
seedlings to protect them from frost. It’s probably time to rescue them from the pine needles.
Mmm, pine needles. They smell so evocative. A hint of winter, Nordicity and hygge.
Remembering Susun Weed’s words on pine sap, I think I might create her pine needle vinegar.
Pine Needle Vinegar
Ingredients
500ml apple cider vinegar*
12” of pine branch, cut into 2” pieces
Directions
Place the fresh pine needles into a wide-mouthed jar and add the apple cider vinegar.
Soak for 6 weeks, strain and taste.
I’ll report back to you, as this is a new one on me.
* I started making my own vinegar last year, when I forgot about a batch of kombucha. If it is overfermented, it makes a great and healthy vinegar, and I also use it as a cleaning spray 🙂
A perfect pot luck lunch offering
In a week that has seen gale force winds, snow, hail and a return to work – what can I have possibly eaten from my garden? You’d be surprised.
On day two back at work we had a pot luck lunch. You know that thing where people bring in food and share? That.
Cherry tomatoes
Our theme this month was Mediterranean. I scoured the fridge and pantry for inspiration. I found lots of dried rosemary and oregano, a jar of passata from the last of the summer tomatoes and my final crown prince squash. What’s more Mediterranean than ratatouille?
Outside, the bay tree saplings are hanging on, so I took just a couple of leaves from them to add to the flavour, and I found my stash of dried shiitake mushrooms.
Shiitakes are really quite easy to grow here in wet mild Mid Wales. I lived on a farm that produced these commercially when my kids were small, and have grown them ever since. They are really easy to dry, and seem to last forever. When dry, they add a lovely smoky depth to sauces, ragouts and vegetarian stock – although I’m not so keen on them as a mushroom, as they have quite a chewy, meaty texture.
Winter Ratatouille
The trick to a good ratatouille is to roast the veg individually, then combine in a good thick herby tomato sauce.
Ingredients (made enough for 15)
1 small crown prince squash (or 1 large butternut), peeled and cut into inch square pieces
6 peppers, cut into large chunks
4 medium onions, cut into quarters
4 courgettes, cut into half moon shapes about the thickness of a £1 coin
2 aubergines, thinly sliced
100ml olive oil
1 bulb of garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
2 shiitake mushrooms
Passata, at least 1 litre
1 tbs balsamic vinegar (optional)
Sea salt
Rosemary
Oregano
Directions
Preheat the oven to 200C
Lay out each of the veg into separate baking trays, putting the full head of garlic onto the same tray as the peppers.
Drizzle approx. 1tbs (25ml) olive oil over each veg (squash, garlic & peppers, onions, courgettes & aubergines) and a pinch of sea salt.
Roast each veg tray until cooked – about 20 mins for most, a bit longer for the squash.
Combine all veg in a large pan (I used one of my jam pans for this).
Cover with passata and add the shiitake and balsamic, if using.
Simmer gently for 30 mins.
Taste, season (try adding a tsp or two of sugar here, it intensifies the taste of the tomatoes) and serve with crusty bread and salad.
