Winter warmers

[Jim Grant 4]

I was tidying up in the veg garden, some into the trug and some onto the compost heap. Ended up with some edible beetroot. Checked in the old ring binder and came up with this.

 

Beetroot, Onion and Celery Soup

1 Large or 2 Small Beetroots, rough chop

1 Medium Sized Onion, rough chop

1 oz (25g) Flour

1 oz (25g) Butter

1/2 pint (300ml) Milk

1/2 Head of Celery, rough chop (or a handful of Celery Field Leaf)

2 pints (1.2 litres) Vegetable Stock

Salt & Pepper

Boil or bake the beetroots. Heat up the butter in a saucepan. Add the prepared vegetables and cook gently for three or four minutes. Add the stock, stir for a minute, simmer slowly until the vegetables are soft and pulpy - about one and a half hours. Run through blender

 

Return the soup to the saucepan, mix the milk with the flour, add the milk gradually, being careful to keep it quite smooth. Stir this into the soup and continue stirring until it has boiled for 5 minutes.

 

[mattydski 560]

Sounds good Jim,

my gardens pretty empty now...

Spring soon though..

Matt

[Jim Grant 4]

What an optimist. It's half the year away. Purple Sprouting Broccoli now being picked. Chard looking good.

[Jim Grant 4]

Here's the Chard with some kale on the side. I'll put up a recipe or two for it.

 

 

My favourite summer broccoli - Romanesco

 

 

 

The purple sprouting broccoli. Plenty other plants just coming into cropping.

 

[Jim Grant 4]

Here are some recipes/ideas for chard. Not grown as much as it should be.

 

2 lb mixed chard

3 cloves garlic (crushed)

2 red onions (finely chopped)

Juice and zest of one orange

2 TBLSP veg oil

Salt & pepper to taste

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Trim leaf from stems. Chop leaf and stems. Wok on, oil in, add onion and chard stems. Cook until until nearly soft, add garlic, chard leaves and orange zest. Season and stir fry for 2-3 mins until the leaves have wilted. Stir in orange juice and serve.

 

 

You can also make a decent frittata using Chard and Potatoes (parboil both)

 

Another one. Prepare Chard as above. Lightly boil until just going soft, drain and set aside. Make a white sauce. Put into casserole dish with chard. Grate some decent mature cheddar and put over the top. Melt and brown the cheese under the grill or in the oven.