這星期風中的濕和寒意減低，春天，應該到來了，趕忙把菜苗種下。
第一批種在溫室內，能抵冷的品種，中菜為主，芥蘭、白菜、茼蒿、芥菜、白蘿蔔、生菜等等。
溫室內日間暖和些，可望五月開始收成。收成後，騰出空間，用來種植喜歡溫熱有陽光的夏季蔬果。
下一批同樣的中菜苗，會在四月底種到戶外菜地，六月收成，一年就種兩次這些中菜，夏天日照長且蟲多，種不成。
Showing posts with label 2024-03. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2024-03. Show all posts
Red date spread and turmeric spread
To add varieties to breakfast, I made these 2 spreads, on top of having nut butters and jam with sourdough bread.
Red date spread
Cut dry red dates into pieces and remove stone, Place in blender, 2 cup of red date with 1 cup of softened cocomus (creamed whole coconut), blend until smooth.
Turmeric spread
Brush clean the skin of fresh tumeric in water, cut away nobby bits, wipe dry and cut into thin slices, semi dry in oven at 60˚C, around 2 hours to reduce water content.
Blend 2 cups of tumeric with 1 cup of softened cocomus until smooth. Keep in small jars and keep in freezer. The water content in semi dried turmeric means it does not keep for very long once opened.
Curry lamb leg steak
Lamb leg is lean meat, too dry to cook as steak, much better to make a sauce to go with it.
1. Season lamb leg steak with salt, black pepper, curry powder for half a day.
2. Sear both sides golden, add coconut milk, simmer to cook through the meat, and thicken as sauce, adjust seasoning.
Squid
Once in a while I can get fresh squid, from the on line fishmonger, mostly medium to big sizes. Takes a bit of time to clean, score and cut into pieces, but always good taste.
Minimum order is a kg, enough for 2 meals. I will make a simple veg soup and blanch all the squids in it, then they can keep better in the fridge.
Simple stir-fry with vegetable and herbs is enough to revive them, always cook the veg until ready before adding squid just to warm up.
Pickled seaweed
I can easily buy dried seaweed collected from Irish coast, always looking for easy and delicious way to enjoy them, not just used as garnish, like sprinkle as flakes on dishes. Heard this pickled seaweed recipe from The Food program BBC radio, find it a good way to have seaweed as a condiment with the meal everyday.
1.Bring to boil equal volumn of vinegar and water, season with salt, sugar, spices (white pepper, chili, coriander seed etc) as you like it, simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Add enough seaweed for the liquid, I used red Dillisk, remove from heat. Seaaweed will soften instantly in vinegar liquid and becomes a thick pickle. Store in fridge and use within 2 weeks.
Apple Clafoutis
Still has stored apples from last autumn, this is a simple and no carbohydrate way to enjoy them.
1. Peel and cut apples into slices, place in baking dish, keep behind big even slices.
2. Mix 2 eggs with 200gm yogurt, season with a little sugar, pour and mix with apple in the dish.
3. Arrange apple slices on top, making a nice presentation, sprinkle sugar /cinnamon for colour. Bake at 160˚C until set, around 45 minutes.
Atlantic Shad 海鰣魚
First time to eat Sea Shad from Irish sea, more oily and tasty meat then river Shad that my fisherman used to catch in France.
It
has a lot of short hard bones just the part at the back ridge behind
the head. The rest are long and easy to take out. It is anyway a
delicious fish to enjoy slowly.
I seasoned the fish with salt for
half a day, stuff the belly with scallion and ginger. Bake at 200
Celsius for 18 minutes, leave the oven door ajar to rest for another 5
minutes, perfect just cooked.
Only finished half side during dinner, it is still tasty when served cold the next day.
以前在法國，吃過河中釣到的鰣魚，肉鮮嫩細滑，驚為天魚，只是刺較多，尤其背脊頭後的部位，刺極多且短，要小心地吃。
鰣魚形態和三文魚差不多，頭細尾短一身好肉，亦在河海兩區輪流生活，每年回河內產卵。
昨天是每星期一次的訂海鮮送貨日子，訂了蠔、魷魚和海螯蝦。打開箱子，竟然看到銀閃閃大魚，漁商又送禮。
首次吃到海中捕獲的鰣魚，一樣肉細緻嫩滑，和河鰣魚的分別是油脂更多，因此肉更鮮潤，又上一層樓。覺得較至愛多寶魚更為滋味。
漁商為何送大魚？因為網到一小批，賣去外國太少，本地人知道刺多不敢吃，怕賣不去會浪費，知道我一定懂得欣賞，所以送給知音人。
每個星期都捧場訂海鮮，成為熟客，很有口福。
Low temperature slow roast lamb neck
Last year bought a whole lamb from farmer, this neck part is meaty and normally stewed. But I always like the taste of natural juicy meat, hence thought of slow cooking it until tender.
1. Season with salt, black pepper, cumin seed and fresh thyme for a day.
2. Place on top of fresh rosemary, meaty side down, add half a cup of water at the bottom.
3. Preheat oven to 200˚C, put in the dish of lamb neck (warmed to room temperature) and lower temperature to 140˚C, cook for 2 hrs. The aroma in the kitchen is unbelievable.
Spring flowers
They are blooming!
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| cherry blossom |
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| cherry blossom |
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| Magnolia, big flower variety |
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| Magnolia, small flower variety |
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| daffodils |
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| flowering currant |
Mustard stalks
Last year, brought back seed of big round species of mustard from Hong Kong. Did not grow well in summer as being eaten to death by flea beetles. Sowed again in autumn, seemed to be too late and had stunted growth, left them over winter.
Came back to find them survived winter, but sending flowering stalks up already. So harvested the tender stalks for stir fry, tasted like Choi Sum, not bad at all.
Simple lunches
Simple lunch, fried rice with parsley (growing well in the garden) and carrot, mix in seared tuna at the end.
Very easy to use the batch of quick dried and frozen haddock roes in Feburary, simple break up and sear with spring onion (growing well in the garden) and tomato sauce, serve on top of noodle.
Fruit tree blossoms
Normally fruit trees's flowers are on the small and less colourful side compared with wild varieties. The only exception is this dwarf variety of peach, Melred, bright red large blossoms, and sweet fruits in August. Bred for growing in small garden and in polytunnel.
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| Pear flowers |
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| nectarine flowers |
Padron pepper & pumpkin soup
This Spanish pepper is a must eat dish in Spain, small green pepper without heat, thin skin, being quick fried in oil, delicious.
So happy to see it for sale in supermarket in Ireland. I don't have deep fryer, so just shallow fry slowly until all sides golden, lovely bright colour and fresh taste in a wintery spring day.
Also make a simple pumpkin soup from cooked then dried pumpkin (kept in freezer) from previous year's harvest, best way to store as it occupied very little space. Just add water, seasoning and parsley is enough for a .simple meal
Veg seedlings
Before holiday in Cuba, sowed indoor germinated seeds into propagator boxes in green house. Once seeds are germinated, they can withstand above zero termprature. So happy to come home and find veg seedlings growing well, no casualties, some ready to plant in poly tunnel
64。2024年3月18日 古巴遊後記
已經多年未到第三世界國家，作長線自助旅行，起初安排行程時真的有點擔心，怕不安全、怕不容易安排導賞、怕訂不到接送車輛，憂慮的事情多，細膽過以前！
結果是一切順利，在古巴留連近四星期，小島瘦長，景點分散，頗花時間，好處是樣樣都有些：有歷史、有古城古蹟、可以觀鳥、可以行山、有細白綿長沙灘澄清海水、美麗海底世界、可釣bone fish 等等。
雖然景點不多亦不是頂級水平，勝在瓣瓣都有些，且服務理想而消費低，屬於抵玩的旅遊地方。
大部分時間住民宿，由本地人負責，地方清潔，同一屋簷下，好多接觸交談機會，人民極友善，治安亦好。對比到其他發達國家，旅遊時接觸到的，如侍應、房間接待、賣物等，常是外地勞工，本地人不做這類工作，去旅行而其實很少機會接觸本地人。
對於古巴之旅，自己滿意，但並不會鼓勵別人去，因為停電和缺乏糧食情況似越來越嚴重，目前還是選擇其他安穩的地方較好。
Cuba tour 10 classic car tour of Havana 古巴遊之十 老爺車遊
古巴所有房間產，在五九年革命後收歸國有，分配給人民居住，住的沒有主權，亦沒有能力維修房屋，由得房子敗壞。
Though fun to do, I found it very sad to see the many crumbling, in bad condition old buildings. A reminder of how opulent a segment of the Havana society once was.
After the revolution in 1959, all properties and land were taken and owned by the government. Empty houses were allocated to poor people who didn’t have a decent place to live.
Many years down the road, with the economy not picking up and people have no money nor wish to fix a house that they do not own, so once grand buildings fall into decay.
Half of Havana, and most towns are in such sad condition.
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