From baking potato to beetroot and parsnip, season with soy sauce and olive oil give lovely browned edges and a richer flavor than using salt, more umami I suppose.
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| baked potato chip |
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| baked parsnip, golden and red beetroot |
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| soy sauced baked green bean and carrot |
Cut vegetables into strips, mix with soy sauce and olive oil, bake at 180˚K until soft, around 30 minutes.
To get the natural sweetness of vegetables, the best is to stir-fry at medium heat without adding any water. The vegetable will gradually release its water and concentrate flavor. I used potato, carrot and climbing beans in this dish, just season with salt is enough.
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| Dry fried mix vegetables |
Cut vegetables into thin strips, dry fry at medium heat in a little olive oil and salt until soft and cooked.
artichoke
Commonly grown in hot countries, I have a soft spot for artichoke, it is easy to grow from seed; the flower bud is interesting to eat; the flower is blue, big, comes in autumn and bees love it; and it is perennial.
The trouble is in France, the hot weather means the plant attracts aphids and is very hard to treat, so have to give up all the plants.
I brought the seed to Ireland, try to see if it survives the cool weather here. Sowed the seeds in April, planted seedlings out in June, very slow initial growth but then picked up in late July, growing tall and very healthy.
A single flower buds appear at the top in late August. I plan to leave them to open for the bees. Then more buds come out from lower down, where the leaves joint to the main branch.
So I cut not yet open buds from the plants with many buds, to serve as starter. While steaming, the buds let out a strong greenish smell, I imagine it to be the smell of chlorophyll.
Artichoke 
Artichoke
1. Steam artichoke buds for roughly 10 minutes for small ones, 4 cm diameter.
2. Make a dipping sauce of soy sauce and olive oil.
3. Peel every sepals and nibble the meaty bits at the base until the centre.
4. Remove all hairs from the centre, this part is nutty and crunchy (if not overcooked).
5. The stem part also edible after peeling off the outside layer.
Steamed eggplant in rice cooker is a dish of my childhood, then split open and mix with soy sauce and sesame oil, very delicious in my memory.
Eggplant with lard and kaffir lime leaves
I tried many time to re-create the dish, it is ok but not that delicious. This time, I have added homemade lard and kaffir lime leaves on top of soy sauce, the dish is more interesting.
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| Pork and shrimp dumpling |
Got hold of some live shrimps, eat some fresh and kept some behind for making dumplings, must be missing Asian food!
Pork and shrimp dumpling filling 
rolling dumpling skin on baking paper 
blackberry vinegar
Rolling out dumpling skin on baking paper makes less fuss than on table with flour. Even though I have not make dumpling for a couple of years, surprisingly found it not too much work. Using good flour, the skin of the dumpling is tastier than shop bought sheets.
1. Mince fatty pork, cut carrot into small cubes, mix with prawn, season with salt, 5 spices powder, rice wine and corn starch. Form into portions for making dumpling.
2. Mix flour with hot water and a tablespoon of olive oil, knead to form a dough, around 100gm flour to 40gm water. Using hot water reduces the toughness of gluten in flour and oil makes the dough softer and easier to work with.
3. Take small portions of dough an roll on baking paper to form thin round sheets. Place filling in the middle, spread a little water around the filling, fold into halves and seal the edges well. Trim with scissor to make a good shape.
4. Place on steamer with a thin slice of
carrot below each dumpling, steam for 15 minutes, steam oven is wonderful for the job. Serve with soy sauce mixed with blackberry vinegar (blackberry coulis in vinegar)
Coconut cake on semi-dried apple
While semi-drying apple for use in breakfast, thought of this easy dessert, from the coconut tart that we used to eat in the good old days.
1. Cut apple into cubes, mix with some sugar and cinnamon powder, shake to coat well, bake at 130˚C until semi-dried, around 1.5 hours.
2.
90gm flour
60gm butter
60gm desiccated coconut
60gm sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
Rub to mix well, whisk 2 eggs and fold into the above ingredients.
3. In a baking tray, place a layer of semi-dried apple at the bottom, spread the cake mixture on top, bake at 180˚C until golden and risen, around 25 minutes.
Juicy sweet beetroot goes very well with curry, prefers this mild spiciness rather then pairing with vinegar. Great with fried rice too, beautiful colour and rich flavor.
Beetroot fried rice
Yesterday was a clear sunny day, got out right after breakfast to hike along the ridge of the mountain behind the house. It was a perfect autumn day, beautiful clear blue sky, warm sun and cool wind.
To have a whole day sunny is rare in Ireland, weather changes so fast, but when it happens, it is lovely because there is always wind and you won't get overheated.
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| Millennium Cross in the distance |
Lough Derg
In western herbal medicine, hawthorn flower, leaf and berry are good medicine for the heart, improves circulation, soften and dilate artery etc. I just like the concept of collecting wild food and turn to good use.
hawthorn 
hawthorn berries 
hawthorn berry in liqueur made with flower and leaves in spring
The liqueur is best make with flower and leaves in spring, then with berries in autumn, 2 steps to perfection.
Also followed a recipe to make syrup, another way to enjoy the health benefits.
hawthorn berry syrup
It was a shock to find that these wild hawthorn berries have absolutely no flavor! Cooking the berries in water yield a beautiful red solution, but mildly bitter and no sweet or sour taste at all. I have to add vinegar and sugar to create a flavor, I will never make this syrup again.
With apples falling from the tree regularly, I have to come up with ways to use them. Thought of this quick method to make a dessert, and it works, very happy.
Upside down apple crumble
1. Cut apples into slices, season with lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar.
2. Make a crumble mixture, flour, butter, almond flour, desiccated coconut, salt and sugar, flatten into a sheet on a baking tray.
3. Arrange apple slices on top, with any juice, bake at 180˚C until golden, around 20 minutes.
Try a different cooking method for lobster,
blanch in water to kill, then split in halves to grill with a sauce, pretty
happy with the result, more presentable and tasty too.
Grilled lobster with herb sauce
1. Blanch lobster in water until no more movements, around 4 minutes.
2. Cut into halves, remove stomach sack.
3. Place lobster halves on a baking tray, spread mix herb sauce on top, egg if available, grill at 220˚C for 5 minutes, rest with door ajar for another 5 minutes.
A simple way to present white fish fillet like Pollack that need to eat with a lot of sauce, is to cook in a herb sauce, mild in taste, pretty for the eyes and healthy to eat.
Pollack on herb sauce
1. Season fillet with salt and pepper for half a day.
2. Make a mix herb sauce, blend mix fresh herbs, parsley, scallion, coriander, sage, oregano, sorrel, tarragon etc with salt and olive oil (make a large batch and freeze in portions).
3. Place herb sauce in a baking dish, place fish fillet on top, bake at 180˚C until cooked, around 20 minutes.
Bought a good piece of beef rib steak, cooked it on BBQ. At the same time prepared some vegetables (carrot, potato, green pepper, beetroot) to cook on charcoal too, served with a tomato basil salt olive oil sauce, simple and tasty.
mix grilled veg with tomato sauce 
beef rib steak
Apples are maturing, started to fall down a few every day, other than cook it in cubes at 130˚C to go with wild blackberry coulis for breakfast, also make this instant beer, ready to consume after 3 days, delicious.
cooked apple wild blackberry coulis
apple ginger with brown sugar 
apple harvest 
apple ginger beer
1. Juice apple and ginger, around 1700gm.
2. Warm 300gm water and dissolve 150gm brown sugar.
3. Add sugar solution to apple ginger juice, add a teaspoon of neutral wine yeast, stir to mix well.
4. Keep at room temperature for 3 days, and can start drinking.
Beetroot, carrot, cucumber salad
Beetroot and carrot when grown in cool wet Ireland are so sweet and juicy, sometimes I like to eat them raw, to enjoy that flavor and crunchy texture.
1. Cut beetroot, carrot and cucumber(optional) into thin strips.
2. Season with miso and mustard, rest for 30 minutes before serving.
Pumpkin Pink Banana 
Pumpkin Pink Banana
Harvested the first pumpkin Pink Banana, the first time to grow this Banana shape type of pumpkin. The yield is wonderful, most fruit grown to 35 cm long and at least 4 kg.
Simply cut into slices, brush with oil and baked at 180˚ until soft, around 25 minutes. The texture is nice, creamy dense type, with a mild sweetness.
Zucchini grown big is great to use in this dish, fast to prepare and easy to please.
Easy zucchini carrot cheese rostie
1. Using julienne peeler, shred zucchini and carrot into thin strips, season with salt, pepper, olive oil and chili flakes, mix well and wait for 15 minutes to soften.
2. Take a small amount of zucchini and carrot to form a round disc on baking dish, repeat until used up.
3. Sprinkle grated cheese on top, bake at 180˚C until golden, around 30 minutes.
Bought organic pig liver from a nearby farm, a hard to find item compared with lamb or calf liver. It is actually the first time I use pig liver, it has stronger smell than lamb or calf liver.
I followed internet instruction to cut into thin slices, mix and massage well with rice wine and cornstarch, rinse in water to remove the smell (old blood), worked.
blanched pig liver 
Pig liver stir-fry and soup 
home grown watercress
1. Blanch liver in a pot of ginger water to semi-cooked before using in stir-fry.
2. The water is then used to make congee with addition of watercress before serving.
3. The liver is used in stir-fry of scallion and brussel sprouts, adding at the end just before serving.
eggplant, a beautiful veg plant 
with fingerling eggplants 
slim fingerling eggplants
Finally the two eggplants grown from seeds are finally big enough to bear fruits, harvested 3 eggplants, the fingerling type. I like this slim variety with more skin to flesh ratio, find it more tasty, great for simple stir-fry with soy sauce and brown sugar.
I make this Turkish style dish, with lots of tomatoes and herb, topped with minced pork, full of flavor.
Eggplant tomato pork bake 
Eggplant tomato bake
1. Cut eggplant into 1cm slices, place at bottom of baking dish.
2. Peel tomatoes and cut into pieces, season with salt, pepper, olive oil and chili flakes and herb, basil or oregano.
3. Pour tomatoes and all juice evenly on top of eggplant, bake at 180˚C for 30 minutes. Can serve as such as a vegetarian dish, or
4. Place seasoned minced pork as a flat layer on top for another 10 minutes.
Following the success of honey fermented garlic, read a recipe to do the same with black elderberry, which is in season now. Elderberry is very small, hard to juice, so this is an easy way to make a syrup, extracting all the nutrients from the berry with not much work involved.
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| black elderberry |
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| black elderberry |
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| fermenting elderberry in honey |
1. Use only ripe black elderberry, remove all stem and place in a jar (stem has a mild irritant for the stomach).
2. Pour honey to cover well, stir to coat all berries with honey.
3. After a few day, stirring every day, the honey will be diluted and there is room to add more elderberry. The ration is 1.5 part elderberry to 1 part honey in order to have enough juice to dilute honey enough to start fermentation.
3. Fermentation will start 2-3 days when bubbles formed, stir once everyday to mix well.
4. In a few weeks time, the syrup will be ready, sieve berry out and keep in the fridge to use.
