Cod in cheesy potato

Cod in cheesy potato

Filet of cod is a good fish to present, pure white, flakes well and no bones, safe to serve to westerners. Its flesh is on the dry side and need sauce to go with it. This baked cod with potato in creamy cheese sauce is very easy to prepare and great for serving. 

Cod in cheesy potato

1. Season cod fillets with salt and white pepper for an hour.

2. Dilute cream with equal amount of water, season with salt and nutmeg, boil with slices of potato until soft.

3. Pour a layer of potato and sauce in a baking dish, sprinkle grated Gruyere, place filets of cod on top, then the remaining potato, sauce and cheese.

4. Bake at 180˚C until fish cooked and cheese golden, around 15 minutes, sprinkle fresh coriander leaves before serving.

Pomegranate

Pomegranate

Planted the seeds of a pomegranate eaten in Sicily 12 years ago, it started flowering 3 years ago and finally manage to bear fruit this year. This is generally how long it takes for fruit trees grown from seed to mature to bear fruit, compare with grafted fruit trees that can start to have fruits in it 5th year.

Pork chop with small brugnon (nectarine)

Brugnon (nectarine)

This is the best performing fruit in the orchard, every year without fail gives a decent crop of small size deep red skin sweet juicy fruits, no disease and few pest attack.

When the fruit is cooked, the mild sourness comes out to balance the sweetness, which goes well with fatty pork chop.

Pork chop with small brugnon (nectarine)

1. Season pork chop with soy sauce, 5 spices powder and rose liquor for an hour.

2. Sear pork chop until both sizes brown, remove and keep warm.

3. Place brugnon cut side down in the fat render out from pork chop, cook until brown and juice comes out.

4. Return pork chop into the pan in the juice, cover with lid and simmer until done.

Sloe plum jam

Sloe plum jam

Following green plums, yellow and blood peaches are maturing now. While busy eating tree ripen peaches, the plums kept in the fridge need to be used up, so it is jam making time.

plums Reine Claude, Bejonnieres

These plums are tasty and juicy when fresh, but when cooked, it is very liquid and the flavor is mild. So during a walk in the forest, found that sloes (wild plum) are ready, so harvested a big bag. 

 sloe

Sloe has very dense texture with lots of pectin, very intense flavor and fragrance but mildly astringent, so I mix with home grown plums for best of both world.

I use the oven to cook plum jam to save the time to stirring over a hot stove.

1. Cut green plums into halves and remove stone, add a pinch of salt and some sugar to sweeten. Bake at 150˚C for an hour to soften and reduce moisture. 

baked plums

2. Place sloe in a large baking tray and add a cup of water, bake at 150˚C for an hour to soften. 

baked sloe

3. Press cooked sloes to expose stones and pick out stones. 

baked sloe and plum

4. Mix the two plums together, adjust sweetness, and bake to re-boil before keeping in jars.

Barbecue pork ribs

A favorite dish in my house, easy to make and please, but only for those who love eating ribs and licking their fingers afterwards.  

Barbecue pork ribs

1. Season ribs with a mixture of soy sauce, dark miso, brown sugar, 5 spices powder and rose liqueur (or brandy) for an afternoon or overnight.

2. Barbecue until well done.

Cucumber noodle in nutty sauce

 

Cucumber Poona Kheera

This year, cucumber Poona Kheera is the most productive plant in the garden, more or less non-stop harvest since July. I serve it as pickle a lot and all friends notice the dense crunchy texture, very different from shop brought standard variety. Also like to turn it into a refreshing noodle like dish, perfect for hot summer lunch.

Cucumber noodle in nutty sauce

1. Use julienne peeler to make noodle from the white flesh, the seedy core is for my hens.

2. Season with salt, mustard and any nut butter, mix well and rest for half an hour. A lot of liquid will come out.

3. Mix in a handful of fresh coriander leaves, serve on a plate, decorate with cherry tomatoes.

Blood peach and yellow peach

Blood peach and yellow peach

Juicy white peach matures in mid July, earlier than the more fragrant and flavorful yellow and blood peaches.

 

Blood peach and yellow peach

I love the intense colours of yellow and blood peaches, while yellow peach is more sweet and fragrant, blood peach has a unique herbal flavor.

Home made vinegar

Home made vinegar

I always wish to make my own vinegar as I use a lot during summer for pickling and salad dressing, and there is always wine that are off and too wasteful to pour away. 

 vinegar mother

Finally succeeded to get a vinegar mother growing in red wine. I added 2 tbsp of organic unpasturised and unfiltered cider vinegar into red wine in a jar. Cover the top with a muslin cloth and leave at room temperature. After a few months, a thin sheet of vinegar mother formed on top and tasted like a strong good vinegar. 

blueberry  wine to be converted to vinegar

I transferred the vinegar mother to a bottle of experimental blueberry wine made last year, that does not turn out tasty. So blueberry vinegar coming soon.

Cider making

apple year

So far every odd number year is a good apple year here. When in such a year, most home gardeners cannot use up the huge harvest. 

 

We get our cider making equipment ready and accepted contributions from friends of different varieties of apples that mature now, there will be more rounds of cider making later on the year. 

freshly pressed mix apple juice

Invited a few friends to join us for a convivial morning of chopping apples, shredding and pressing in the traditional oak barrel press, followed by a well deserved lunch.

vegetables

Pickled cucumber - kept for a week in vinegar, salt, chili, sugar. Sprinkle roasted sesame just before serving.

Pickled Khol Rabi - kept for a day in salt, pepper and fennel seed.

Baked thin green pepper Lombardi - shake peppers with a tbsp olive oil, bake at 200˚C until slightly golden, around 12 minutes, sprinkle salt on top and serve.

Baked ratatouille - cut zucchinis, eggplants, beetroots into bit size pieces, season with salt, olive oil and fresh thyme, bake at 170˚C until soft, around 25 minutes. Cut cherry tomatoes into halves, season with salt and olive oil, bake at 170˚C for 10 minutes to soften. Mix together with some fresh parsley and serve.

Cairo lamb bun inspired dish

Cairo lamb bun - cut lamb meat into small pieces, season with salt, cumin seed, pepper, olive oil, brown sugar for a few hours. Prepare in a serving dish some cherry tomatoes cut into halves, sun dried tomatoes into pieces, season with salt and add some water to soften tomatoes, add a good handful of fresh herbs, coriander, parsley, basil etc. 

tomato and herbs for Cairo lamb bun

Cook lamb meat at high heat, pour into tomato and herb mixture, mix well. Put a good heap on a soft bun.

apricot plum upside down cake

Apricot and plum upside down cake - cut apricots and plums into halves, remove stones, add a pinch of salt and enough sugar to sweeten and soften. Line the bottom of a baking tray with paper, arrange apricot and plum halves tightly on the bottom, pour a sponge cake mix on top, bake at 170˚C until cooked, around 25 minutes. Turn cake upside down, serve with remaining apricot and plum sauce and sour cream.

Baked mix vegetables in minced meat sauce

Baked mix vegetables in minced meat sauce

  

Baked mix vegetables in minced meat sauce

Being self sufficient for vegetable in the summer means that every meal depends on what is ready to harvest on that day. There are often times when only a small quantity of different vegetables are available and still have to find a way to combine them into a dish. 

1. Cut zucchini, eggplant and potatoes into 2mm slices.

2. Cut small vegetables (bean, pepper, okra) into pieces, season with salt and place in the bottom of baking dish.

3. Cover with a layer of potatoes.

4. Mix minced meat with cream and water, season with salt, pepper, liqueur and 5 spices powder, spread a ladle on top of potatoes.

5. Cover with a layer of eggplants, spread a ladle of meat sauce on top.

Baked mix vegetables in minced meat sauce before baking

6. Cover with a final layer of zucchini, arrange slices of cheese on top (optional).

7. Bake at 180˚C until cooked, around 50 minutes.

Potato domino

Potato domino

 Still my favorite and a presentable way of serving potato in small portions, top part crispy and bottom part soft and moist. Just take a little time to cut potato into fine slices and the rest is done in the oven.

1. Cut potatoes into thin slices, 1mm, line up with 1/4 surface exposed.

2. Brush olive oil over all surface, place small slivers of butter on top for better colour.

3. Bake at 190˚C until golden, around 50 minutes.

Tomatoes tasting

from left to right, Black Russian, Golden Crown, Golden, Heart of Pigeon, Rosella

Finally 5 varieties of tomato are starting to mature and I can do a mini tasting to compare flavor. 

Tomatoes tasting

Yellow cherry tomato Golden Crown - the sweetest of all, with low acidity and thin skin.

Orange cherry tomato Golden - beautiful vibrant colour, good balance of sweetness and sourness, with thicker skin.

Red cherry tomato Heart of Pigeon - good balance of sweetness and sourness, with thin skin.

Dark red cherry tomato Rosella - more on the sweet side with a stewed fruit taste, thin skin

Tomato Black Russian - very mild flavor.

Runner bean with tomato

Coeur de pigeon, Heart of pigeon cherry tomato

Finally cherry tomato Heart of Pigeon is turning red, this is one of my favorite cherry tomato, pretty shape, bright red and has very good sweet and tart flavor. 

Runner bean with tomato before cooking

1. Break runner beans into pieces, tomatoes into halves, shake in a mixing bowl with salt, cumin seed, pepper and olive oil, mix well.

2. Bake at 170˚C until beans are cooked, around 20 minutes. 

Runner bean with tomato

Sweet corn

Starting to harvest sweet corns, this is an old variety that is mildly sweet but has more texture to chew on.

Learn from James Wong's gardening book this method of peeling the outside husk and silk after cooking, really easier than removing them when raw.

Sweet corn after cooking, cut at the basae

Sweet corn after cooking, remove husk and silk easily

1. Soak sweet corn in cold water after harvest, to moisten the husk and slow down the natural process of turning sugar to starch.

2. Bake at 170˚C for 20 minutes or roast on bbq.

3. Use a chopper and cut at the base of the corn through the husk, the whole husk and silk can easily be removed.