The gluts have left the building (shed)
This is where I used to write about the gluts I get from my veg patch and the ensuing gluttony in the kitchen.
Now I write a weekly mostly-veggie recipe over on Substack, plus share tales from the veg patch and exclusive videos. You can subscribe for free by clicking on the link below and every recipe will be sent straight to your inbox. If you’d like more content (such as those videos I mentioned, interviews and printer-friendly PDFs of every recipe to collect) do consider becoming a paid subscriber. More on that here.
In the meantime, here’s an archive of my old Gluts and Gluttony blog:
Blood Orange & Saffron Polenta Cake
Making a seasonal pudding is a tough brief in February. Not much seasonal fruit around and there’s only so many times I can raid the freezer for gluts of gooseberries squirrelled away last summer. But I’m happy to venture further afield, and glad of some imported sunshine …
Damson, blackberry & cobnut chocolate pots
Damsons, blackberries and cobnuts all arrive in the hedgerows around my house at the same time. It’s as if Nature if giving you a hint. And, never one to ignore her, I am happy to oblige.
Radicchio, Grapefruit & Trout Spoons
Every shade of pink and packed with flavours in a single bite - bitter radicchio, sour grapefruit and smoky sweet trout. A great recipe for pre-dinner nibbles or deconstruct for a hearty spring salad.
Buttered Leek Bruschetta
It is, as I write, snowing. And that’s just typical isn’t it? The moment COVID restrictions allowed us to meet up to 6 people outside the temperature plummets. Still, if you too are sitting around a fire pit in ski kit, I have COVID-friendly snack suggestions. They can also be eaten with wooly gloves on. Which is an unforeseen benefit…
Easter Tiffin
Another quick Easter treat for those in need of a speedy seasonal treat and without a kitchen. These tiffin squares, a sort of Eastery Rocky Road, will power my Bank Holiday weekend which is to be filled with shoveling into the raised beds the three tonnes of compost which has just arrived….
Simnel Trifle Pudding Pots
This recipe is a quick fix pudding that I loosely term 'trifle' or 'pudding pot'. It is packed with simnel cake, lemon curd, marzipan, candied peel and almonds - all the flavours of Easter in a single pot, and a five minute job
Ras-el-Hanout Carrot Soup
I don’t know about you, but my freezer can be a bit, how shall I put it, vague. A sort of a magical mystery tour through random leftovers, batch cooking frenzies, and veg patch gluts that I froze for ‘safe keeping’ having been unable to use the abundant harvest when it first arrived…
Rhubarb, ginger & honey flapjack
My craving for forced rhubarb remains unquenchable. Even though we have no kitchen I am still finding ways to use it. Perhaps ‘no’ kitchen is an exaggeration. Whilst our usual kitchen is knocked, we have a temporary one equipped with a microwave that claims to also be a convection oven. I tested that claim for the first time this week with these flapjacks…
Rhubarb, Mackerel & Fennel Salad
I always get a bit silly about forced rhubarb. I think it’s because the season falls when the weather is at its bleakest and the veg patch its muddiest and least productive. In this context, the bubblegum glow of forced rhubarb stems feel like neon lights shining through the gloom, a brief respite from murk…
Parsnip & Ginger Loaf
No matter how often I grow something, I am astounded every time. To see a tiny seed turn into a plant and then into a meal is wondrous. And like a child clapping her hands in glee at a magic trick, I am filled with giddy amazement by each crop. None more so than this year’s parsnip harvest…
Quincemeat Bakewell Tart
I turn this time to Nigella Lawson for quince inspiration (quinspiration? Too much?). Her quincemeat recipe is an annual event in our house offering, as it does, all the usual loveliness of mincemeat but with the addition of fragrant roast quince. Use it to make mince pies of course, but do try this tart too. It is the lovechild of a mince pie and a Bakewell tart, born at Christmastime under a lucky star and the perfect festive dessert.
Spiced Pear & Toffee Jam
There’s nothing like giving someone a jar of homemade jam at Christmas to make you come over all Barbara Good. You feel like you just stepped out of a Country Living feature and the recipient can only enjoy it, can’t they? Well, only if it’s decent jam…
Mulled Apple & Rum Punch
That we are currently in Tier 2 of COVID restrictions and therefore only allowed to meet (six) friends outside was all the excuse I needed to whip up my mulled apple and rum punch. Because if you’re going to stand outside socialising in December, then you darn well better have a warm drink in your hand. And somehow a cuppa doesn’t cut it, does it?
Quince, Radicchio & Ham Salad
A pickled quince is an enigmatic thing. On the one hand soft, sweet and blushing; on the other sharp, assertive, demanding. It has a delicate floral perfume yet brings a stern, acidic kick up the arse to any plate. You can never really pin it down. I make several batches of Nigel Slater’s pickled quince every Christmas to use in salads, with roasts or with cold meats and cheese during that picky leftover eating time between Christmas and New Year.
Stilton & Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms
This is a recipe for those mid-week days when you absolutely positively have to write the Christmas cards tonight or it’ll never get done and are rushed off your feet. As I, and I’m sure you too, are now. So we’ll just crack on shall we? Chop chop…
Miso Kale & Mushrooms
Kale doesn’t so much ‘glut’ as ‘persist’. In a good way. I rarely look out on the kale bed and fret about their being too much to use before it goes over. Because kale doesn’t really go over. It just sits there, through wind, frost, snow and gales, waiting until you are eat it. It’s a very obliging crop, really. Its reward is make an appearance in almost every meal over the winter…
Three Cheese and Chard Tart
The chard harvest is the saviour of November, for more reasons than one. Of course it is delicious: its light, slightly earthy leafiness is a creamier, softer alternative to the fibrous brassica greens which are the only other leaves on offer. But more than that, chard brings garish flashes rainbow silliness to the winter garden. Amidst the fallen leaves and drab, dying remnants of the veg patch it stands out like a clown in council office.
Parsnip Korma
The parsnip harvest continues. As explained last time, I have more than ever so am able to experiment in ways my usual meager harvest hadn’t allowed in previous years. I’m especially keen to try pairing the harvest with Indian flavours, because sweet root vegetables generally make fabulous curries. I think parsnips will be most happy with mild, creamy flavours like the almond-yogurt-spices combination of a korma and so I give it a whirl.
Parsnip gnocchi with Sage & Hazelnuts
The parsnip patch has been uncharacteristically successful this year. Normally, I sow loads of seeds in old toilet rolls and I’m pretty chuffed if a third germinate, but not so this year…
Roast Cauliflower Soup & Kale Pesto
It’s soup weather. And I’m quite fussy about soups. There is no room, in my mind, for a bland bowl of sameness just warmed and slopped into a dish. A good soup must have layers: a splash of sour, a crunch of salt, a swirl of cold against the hot foundation, so that every mouthful is alive with interest…