Several colours of beetroot from the allotment.I didn't get through all the recipes I listed last week but that was because I did other things instead rather than just snacking, if anything they were more healthy and veg based. That included a really nice beetroot and goats cheese side dish one night.
This week Gluten free Goodness is hosting and has picked apples. I'm hoping to go scrumping this week.. ie collecting apples on land I don't own.. to be fair I plan to raid the abandoned allotments not other people's gardens which is the more traditional scrumping target. If the council get their way the trees in those allotments will not be there many more years as they want to build an incinerator on them! I really hope the plan never goes through for more reasons than I can count but top of it is that if we got our act together here and recycled as well as many places (and indeed likely to be forced to by national legislation) are heading for the thing will be a big white elephant we as council tax payers will still have to fund for 30 years to come due to the way they plan to finance it and that I'm very much not happy about as I don't think it is the right thing to deal with our waste and I don't think the way things are going it will be needed either.
Anyway away from politics if I manage to get a bunch of apples I may well be doing a whole load of baking for the freezer as well as making chutney and other such items.
(Edit to add)
Scrumping - (UK phrase, possibly only southern England) To steal apples, normally off the tree. Generally done by young boys taking a pocket full and involved climbing over orchard walls and other such risky behaviour. General considered to be a childish prank rather than a real crime. Probably related in some manner to the drink scrumpy which is a strong, generally cloudy version of cider also form the south west..
The trees I am planning to check out are on effectively waste land and certainly not fruit anyone owns or plans to pick.
Menu
Monday - Something aubergine based as per last week as I didn't do that. In answer to a question last week no I haven't tried the curry but it sounded fantastic so I would like to.
Meringue, cream and raspberries from the allotment for pudding.
Tuesday - Sausages with Colcannon potato cakes.
Wednesday - veggy stew with dumplings. Again failed to do this last week but used the vegs for other things :) see below for quick dumpling recipe.
Thursday - Courgette, bacon and brie gratin. I love the sound of this recipe which is rice based.
Friday - Kipper flan with an apple salad.
Dumpling Recipe
To make dumplings mix 4oz flour, 2oz suet, seasoning to taste, some finely chopped onion which has been sweated off a little to soften and some herbs if you like. Add enough water to bring the mixture together, which will not be a huge amount. Shape into small balls and place on the top of the stew about 20-30 mins before it finishes cooking.
I use veg suet purely because I can easily get a gluten free version and the easy to get meat version has wheat flour in it (to keep the strands separate)
love the beetroot pics. I'm not at all familiar with the concept of scrumping--there's gleaning around here--but I'm curious now!
ReplyDeleteLast week sounds like the one I had. Lots of good intentions with the menu, but somehow it never happened. There's always this week to try again. Happy scrumping.
ReplyDeleteScrumping is just about the best word ever! (And not even because it sounds so much like my name...)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the dumpling recipe. I don't think I've ever encountered suet here in CA, veg or otherwise, although I have a distant memory of perhaps using suet to anchor bird seeds in a bird-seed ball we would hang out in the yard.
That gratin sounds incredible, and your whole menu sounds delicious!