In The Kitchen – July/August

During July and August in Fife we can harvest or buy a huge range of fruit and vegetables. Fife is well known as a producer of quality soft fruits and you can find a great selection at Farmer’s Markets (www.fifefarmersmarket.co.uk), pick-your-own farms and shops and if you look carefully in the supermarket you can find strawberries from Fife. My top tip for July and August is to get out and pick-your-own! It’s good fun, exercise and great value. You can make jam, summer pudding (see below for recipes) eat loads and store some in the freezer for a treat later in the year when local fruit is more scarce.

As a rough guide the following are in season at the moment:

Vegetables

• Beans – broad, French and runner
• Peas
• Globe artichokes
• Potatoes
• Salad leaves and rocket
• Spring onions
• Shallots
• Courgettes
• Carrots
• Beetroot
• Calabrese (summer broccoli)
• Tomatoes (I know it’s a fruit but it fits better with the salad veg)
• Cucumber

Fruit

• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Blackcurrants
• Redcurrants
• Cherries
• Tayberries (delicious hybrid of raspberry and blackberry)
• Blueberries (in August)

Wild harvest

• Nasturtium flowers and leaves (add to salad for a peppery taste)
• Chamomile flowers (makes a calming herbal tea, steep a few flower heads in boiling water for 5 minutes then drain and serve with a little honey)
• Marigold flowers (calendula) also make a good herbal tea. Calendula has anti-viral properties so is good if you feel a cold coming on. Make as for chamomile.

Seasonal Recipes – July/August

July and August are probably my favourite months for cooking from my garden. I love going out and picking whatever is ready and then cooking according to what I have. Recently I’ve been making the quiche and cheat’s risotto from last month’s recipes with broad beans, French beans, peas, courgettes and the last of the spinach. I have to confess that my favourite vegetable is the courgette and I usually grow a ridiculous amount of them and then have to be very inventive with recipes! I’ve made the following recently:

Garden couscous

Make up half a pack of couscous according to the instructions on the packet (this varies). While it is soaking, slice 3 courgettes and sauté them gently in olive oil until soft and starting to disintegrate. Top and tail a large handful of green beans and boil for 5-8 minutes until tender but with a bit of bite. When all are ready mix everything in the courgette pan (to get all the lovely juices) and then stir in a couple of teaspoons of pesto (any variety, see recipe below). This is great accompanied with a mixed salad and some fresh bread or with barbequed sausages or chicken.

You can use the vegetable and pesto combination with pasta too, try adding other veg such as peas and wilted spinach.

Fresh pesto

50g pine nuts, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 50g fresh basil leaves, 75g grated parmesan or pecorino cheese, 115ml olive oil. Put all in a blender and whizz until a smooth paste. You can add more oil if necessary and vary with different nuts and taking out the cheese. Basil is easy to grow but germinates best indoors. Pesto is great on pasta, rice, couscous or new potatoes.

Vegetable Omelette

I make this to use up cold cooked vegetables. Slice up what ever you have (potatoes, beans, courgettes) and sauté gently in a little olive oil. You can add peas, spinach or similar at this point. In a bowl whisk up 4 free range eggs with sea salt and pepper then pour over the veg. Cook for a few minutes until the bottom is set and then slip under a hot grill to cook the top. If you’re feeling adventurous you could flip it over!

Salad

I have recently returned from France where I was quite impressed by the salads and particularly by the salad dressings. I have tried to recreate some of this and have found the following ingredients good to mix in a large bowl:

Salad leaves, rocket, fresh herbs (limit this), sliced cucumber, chunks of tomato, sliced hardboiled eggs, chunks of cooked new potato, cooked French beans. You can also add tuna, diced, cooked bacon or chopped cooked chicken.

I have been using the following dressing (but would be happy to receive your ideas for variations):

3 tablespoons good olive oil, 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar or lemon juice, sea salt and pepper, 1 teaspoon of Dijon or whole grain mustard. Put all into a jam jar with the lid on and give it a good shake. Sprinkle generously on your salad.

Strawberry jam

1.75kg hulled strawberries, 1.6kg sugar, warmed, the juice of a lemon, 25g butter.

Layer the strawberries and sugar in a bowl and stand in a cool place for 24 hours. Pour into a pan with the lemon juice, bring to the boil. At this point you either break up the strawbs for a smooth jam or leave them chunky. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes approx to setting point. To test if setting point has been reached, put a saucer in the fridge until chilled then put a teaspoon of the jam on the saucer and return to the fridge for a couple of minutes. The gently push the jam with your finger. If it wrinkles it’s set. This can happen first shot or may take longer, check regularly and keep the jam at a rolling boil until you are sure. Stir in the butter and then let the jam cool. Pour into jars (the jars should be washed well in very hot soapy water and dried with a clean tea towel or put through the dishwasher on their own) allow to cool further and then cover with a circle of greaseproof paper and close the lid tightly.

Jam making takes a bit of practice and strawberry jam particularly can be tricky to set but it’s worth practicing and perfecting. If the jam turns out not to set after it’s cool you can return to the pan and boil up again. If you would like more jam recipes please let me know. I love using wild fruit (blaeberry/bilberry jam recipe to follow) or fruit from the garden and making jars of jam for very little cash. I found British sugar in the supermarket recently and will use that this year.

Summer pudding

1kg of soft fruit (strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, blueberries, stoned cherries), 250g sugar, white bread (crusts removed).

Mix fruit and sugar in a bowl and leave for a couple of hours. Then put in a pan and simmer for 5 minutes. You need a half pint pudding basin for this and now you have to be a little creative and line the basin with the bread, cutting to fit so that there is no overlapping. Pour in the fruit mixture (keep aside a little juice) and top with 2 layers of bread trimmed to fit. Put a saucer on top and a weight (a tin of beans is good!) and put in the fridge overnight. When it’s time to eat, invert the pudding onto a plate (with a rim to catch the juices) and it should come out with a squelch. The fruit juices should have saturated the bread but if there are any dry areas, pour over the retained juice. Serve with thick cream.

Courgette and Chocolate cake

125g butter, 1 cup brown sugar, half a cup of white sugar, 3 eggs, 2 and a half cups of self raising flour, 1 tsp vanilla extract, half a cup of natural yoghurt, quarter of a cup of cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, half a tsp salt, 2 cups grated courgette, half a cup of small chocolate chunks.

Beat the butter with the sugars and then add the eggs. Add the vanilla and yoghurt and mix well. Mix the dry ingredients together and then stir in with the grated courgette. Pour into a large cake tin (greased and lined with greaseproof paper). Sprinkle the top with the chunks of chocolate. Bake at 170C for approx 45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.

In The Garden – July and August

Sowing
In July and August I will keep on sowing lettuces and salad leaves as in June. They don’t like really hot weather so if it does heat up it’s probably a good idea to not sow for a couple of weeks. I have also sown some ruby chard as I’ve found that this keeps on growing all winter and provides a nice green vegetable right through to spring. In August I will sow some winter cabbages and they should be big enough to plant out in September. By the middle of August you can sow some spinach again (it also doesn’t like too much heat) to keep you going through the autumn.

Growing
Most things are coming along nicely. My runner beans are climbing well up the wigwams, my courgettes have been a bit slow but I’ve fed them with a seaweed based organic food and sprinkled garlic granules around them to discourage slugs and snails. (I found a frog in a pair of wellies left out in the garden for a week which I was glad to see despite the mini heart attack when it hopped out! It should be eating the slugs for me). If you’re growing runner beans you should keep watering them well if it hasn’t rained for a couple of days.

By August you should see a good growth on sweetcorn, and squash/pumpkins. The runner beans will be ready and peas will be finishing off. In the greenhouse the aubergines, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes will be ripening. Keep feeding with a seaweed based food on a regular basis.

My pear tree has fruit on it for the first time and they do seem to be growing, fingers crossed. The blueberry bushes are coming along well and looks like there will be a decent crop. Remember to keep watering, with rain water.

If you haven’t already got a water butt you should invest in one. Rain water is naturally better for fruit and vegetables and collecting in a water butt is an environmentally friendly option.

Harvesting
Now (end of July) I am harvesting daily. The shallots and potatoes (I planted Charlottes this year) are ready and we are digging them up as and when required. The peas and beans are ready daily so I tend to collect them every 2 or 3 days to ensure a reasonable amount.

We are eating salad regularly and I’m keen to avoid the lettuces bolting. The tomatoes and cucumbers will start to ripen in August and be ready to harvest.

I have picked large amounts of raspberries and blackcurrants over the last week. I am collecting them in the freezer for jam making. I love raspberry and blackberry jam so will wait until the blackberries are ready in September.

I have 2 globe artichoke plants which each produce 2 or 3 fruits each year. I am going out to pick one this afternoon. The whole family love this, especially the children. To prepare, cut the stalk quite near the bottom of the artichoke and boil the whole thing in water with the juice of a lemon (this stops it going black) until you can easily pull out one of the leaves, this can take 30-40 minutes. Once boiled, let it cool for 10 minutes and prepare your dips. Melted butter, vinaigrette dressing or mayonnaise are good. To eat, pull off the leaves, dip the end in the butter etc and using your teeth scrape off the small nugget at the end of the leaf. This is messy and fun! Once all the leaves have been scraped you get to the hairy choke. Scrape this away and you will find the heart of the artichoke which is delicious. Globe artichokes are easy to grow from seed (more on this in Feb) and it can be hard to find them in Fife (although I got some great ones from the continental market in Kirkcaldy in May).

In The Kitchen – June

June in Fife is the start of the harvest – herbs, vegetables and even some fruit. Many foods are becoming available but remember, in Scotland crops are usually a couple of weeks behind the south of England. In season this month are:

Vegetables

• Beetroot
• Peas (later in the month)
• Globe artichokes
• Early potatoes
• Salad leaves
• Spring onions
• Herbs – chives, rosemary, thyme, oregano, lemon balm
• Sorrel
• Spinach
• Chard
• Broad beans
• Asparagus (finishing off).

Fruit

• Strawberries (towards the end of the month)
• Gooseberries (good simmered with a head of elderflower and made into a crumble or fool).

Wild harvest

• Elderflowers (use the creamy white flowers, pour sparkling water over with a slice of lemon, drain and serve over ice)
• Dandelion (use the small new leaves sparingly in salads).

Below are images of ruby chard and spinach growing in my garden.

Seasonal Recipes – June

I should warn you in advance that I don’t always cook with specific measurements, often using ‘a pinch’ or ‘a dollop’ but it’s all about experimenting to try new things.

Herb Quiche
Pastry: rub 75g cold butter into 175g plain flour until mixture is like breadcrumbs. Add approx 3 tablespoons of cold water and mix to a firm dough. Wrap the pastry in greaseproof paper and refrigerate for 30 mins. Roll the pastry into the shape of a baking tin. I use a rectangular one but people often expect quiches to be round so a cake tin would be fine. Line the tin with the pastry and prick all over with a fork. Bake it at 180 degrees for 10 minutes. This should stop the pastry going soggy.

Filling: in a measuring jug you need to whisk together half a pint of milk or cream (or a mixture of both, depending on how creamy you want the quiche), 2 eggs, sea salt and black pepper. Grate a chunk of hard cheese (cheddar or double Gloucester).

In the pastry case you put the vegetable filling, in June I use cooked spinach or chard, loads of fresh herbs such as oregano, thyme, savoury and chives) peas, broad beans and asparagus. However you can use anything available in season. Sprinkle the grated cheese over and pour on the egg and cheese mixture. Bake at 180 degrees for approx 30 minutes until golden brown. Serve with salad leaves and new/early potatoes.

Cheat’s Risotto
I always get fed up with adding stock bit by bit so I now cheat as follows: using Long Grain rice I measure 1 cup (it doesn’t matter what size but use the same cup or mug throughout). Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and add the rice, stir to coat. Add a sprinkling of sea salt and a teaspoon of stock powder or a crumbled stock cube. Stir to mix and then using the same cup or mug add 2 cups of boiling water. Simmer until the rice has absorbed all the water (around 10-15 mins). To this you can add any cooked vegetable.

In June I will add chunks of asparagus, tiny broad beans, wilted spinach, peas, herbs, and anything else I can find in the garden! The add a knob of butter and a couple of tablespoons of grated parmesan (or crumbled stilton or goat cheese) and for a bit of luxury you can add a tablespoon of cream. Season well with sea salt and black pepper.

Hugh’s Asparagus
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall did this on TV last week. He steamed the asparagus until tender and then served it with a 4 minute egg to which he added a knob of butter and a few drops of cider vinegar thus making a version of Hollandaise sauce. The asparagus is dipped in the egg. I haven’t tried it yet but it went down really well with the customers in the River Cottage restaurant.

Otherwise asparagus is most delicious served with sea salt and melted butter or a sprinkling of parmesan and some black pepper.

Potato salad
New or early potatoes don’t need much to help them along. Try boiling them until tender and then allow to cool slightly. Toss them with mayonnaise or crème fraiche and chopped chives. Or a big knob of butter and some sea salt.

Gooseberry (or rhubarb) crumble
Gently simmer chopped rhubarb or topped and tailed gooseberries with Demerara sugar until tender but still firm. Place in an ovenproof dish Make crumble mix by rubbing in 90g butter to 250g flour and then stirring in 150g sugar. Sprinkle on to the cooked fruit and bake at 180 degrees for approx 30 minutes until browned. Serve with cream or custard.

In The Garden – June

Sowing
June is the month to keep on sowing lettuces and salad leaves for a continuous supply. The cut-and-come-again salad leaves are great, you can pick as much or as little as you like and let the rest keep growing. You can buy seed packets with mixed leaves in the garden centre. I have planted a spicy mix this year. Rocket and spinach can be sown like this too and both are good in salads. Spring onions can also be sown this month as they are relatively quick to grow.

For a quick salad ingredient, why not try radishes. The will be big enough to eat in around 6 weeks. Try succession sowing – sow a few every week to keep you supplied throughout the growing season. You can also put in some beetroot seeds at the start of June. As temperatures are a bit warmer (hopefully!) they should germinate quickly.

Growing
The start of June is the time to plant out the more tender vegetables such as courgettes, pumpkins and sweetcorn.

Courgettes and pumpkins are ‘greedy feeders’ so when planting you should incorporate plenty of home compost, well rotted manure or you can buy bags of farmyard manure from the garden centre. I usually dig a hole and mix in my compost then put in the plant. I create a saucer shaped dip around the plant to help with watering and then mulch it. Mulch can be many things: shredded newspaper, cocoa shells, grass clippings. I discovered something this year called ’strulch’ which is a straw based product (from www.wigglywigglers.co.uk) that so far seems to be very effective at preventing weeds . Mulch also helps to retain water in plants and courgettes and pumpkins need plenty of water to develop.

Sweetcorn should be planted in a block formation rather than in rows to encourage pollination. I have had success with mini corn but am still experimenting to find a bigger variety that will grow well outdoors.

While on the topic of pollination I always plant some flowers in beside my courgettes and pumpkins. This is to help encourage the pollinating insects. I usually use cornflowers, convolvulus, poached egg plants and marigolds (marigolds are also good companions to tomatoes and help to deter predators). It also looks good!

I was watching Gardener’s World last week (Fridays, 8pm BBC2) and saw Joe Swift planting fennel in with his brassicas (broccoli and cauliflower) to prevent the moths from laying eggs. I always have problem with the cabbage moths and caterpillars and end up with naked stalks on the broccoli so I think I’ll give this a go and see what happens. If you haven’t already put out your broccoli and summer cauliflowers then now is the time to do so.

Also with French beans and peas, if you haven’t planted them out then go for it! I’ve put nasturtiums in with my climbing beans this year and am hoping this will help with pollination. Should look great climbing up the wooden wigwams.

Harvesting
The beginning of June is full of anticipation I always think as I can see the potential harvest in the garden but there’s not an awful lot ready!

If you are lucky enough to have asparagus in your garden, you’ll be harvesting the last of it at the start of June. Make sure you leave some spears to grow into ferns to revitalise the crowns for next year. I watched Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall do interesting stuff with asparagus last week (Wednesdays, 9pm Channel 4) – see this months recipes.

I have a lot of herbs in full flower (chives, thyme, savoury, rosemary, oregano) and have sorrel, lovage, chard, Good King Henry and the beginnings of salad leaves. My wild rocket has over-wintered beautifully and is delicious (not as strong as cultivated rocket). The rhubarb is just about finished but I have a few big stalks left.

Below are images of (clockwise from top left) wild rocket, chives, ruby chard and Good King Henry.