Month: December 2022

Caramelised onion and nut roast

/ karen / 15 Comments

If you are looking for a special dish for New Year celebrations, I can highly recommend this recipe. It’s a really tasty onion, mushroom and nut filling encased in golden puff pastry. It’s easy to make and serves 7-8. You can also make it ahead and re-heat it, or cut it into portions to freeze. We have it for Christmas every year, served alongside roast potatoes and honey roast parsnips, greens and onion gravy. wishing you all a very happy Christmas and wonderful New Year! Thanks as ever for following the blog and leaving your comments.

Ingredients:

1 x pack 400g (approx) ready-rolled pastry

For the caramelised onions:

1 large or two small white onions, chopped

1 tablespoon butter or vegan margarine

1 teaspoon golden caster sugar

For the filling:

3 small red onions, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

250g chestnut mushrooms, chopped

Few tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary and thyme, leaves only

Or 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

half a lemon, juice only

1 tablespoon vegetable stock

150g mixed cashew nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, brazils

80g sliced blanched almonds

80g white bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten or 1 tablespoon vegan oat milk

Seasoning

Method:

Heat the oven to 180C / Gas 6

Take the pastry out of the fridge so that it comes to room temperature while you make the filling.

Heat the butter, sugar and onions in a frying pan. Gently cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, until caramelised and soft. Allow to cool

Use the same frying pan to cook the red onion in the 1 tbsp olive oil. When they are soft – which takes about 20 minutes on a low heat- add the chopped mushrooms, herbs, lemon juice and vegetable stock.

Cook on a low heat for 10 minutes.

Chop the nuts in a food processor very briefly. Add the mushroom mixture and process for a few seconds to incorporate. Leave it chunky, but well mixed

Add the breadcrumbs and seasoning and stir.

Mix in half the beaten egg. The other half will be for glazing the top.

To assemble, unroll the pastry on a baking tray, using the paper covering as a non-stick parchment

Spoon the caramelised onions down the centre of the pastry

Add the mushroom nut filling on top.

Cut the pastry sides into diagonal strips about 2cm wide and fold these one at a time over the filling to form a plait.

Brush the top with the reserved half beaten egg or oat milk for vegetarians.

Cook for about 40 minutes until the pastry has risen and turned golden and the filling has heated through.

Can be made the day before and reheated in foil in the oven. Also nice cold of there are any leftovers, served with jacket potatoes and salad. Enjoy!

The filling mixture
The filling piled in the centre of the pastry. I’ve put the caramelised onions on top here. Doesn’t really matter either way.
Plaiting the pastry

The finished roast. Sprinkle some fresh herbs over, if you like.

So tasty!

Try-before-you-grow potatoes

/ karen / 23 Comments

Ready to eat potatoes

I’ve often thought it would be a great idea to try out different varieties before committing to ordering and growing seed potatoes. Well now you can do just that. Potato House are selling ready-to-eat varieties of heritage, coloured, rare and organic spuds!

It’s a new venture for Potato House and there’s a dedicated area of the website for ordering ready-to-eat potatoes : https://www.potatohouse.co.uk/potatoes-to-eat/

I ordered five varieties, Arran Victory, Blue Annelise, Heidi Red, Pink Fir Apple and one simply called ‘Chips’ for cooking chips and wedges.

The coloured potatoes really appealed to me, as it’s not easy to buy them locally. I like the idea of keeping heritage varieties going, and it’s lovely to try something new. Potatoes arrived promptly after ordering. I was delighted with the quality. The potatoes are a good size and beautiful condition.

‘Chips’

Amy from Potato House says

“We are renowned for our colourful range of seed potatoes. These look and taste amazing. The best thing about growing your own produce is experimenting with colours that are not readily available in supermarkets.

We grow the purples, pinks and the in-between with multi-coloured skin for you to experiment with in your gardens and allotments.

In some varieties it is only the skin which is coloured and in some, the colour goes beyond the skin for vibrant additions to any plate. Think blue mash, purple chips and red crisps!

Unusual colours on your plate is a talking point – whether it is toddlers or friends round for a meal – everyone is impressed. The toddlers get told that the blue mash has superpowers and the adults will check if blue potatoes have superpowers!

Nutritional values are the same although there are some studies which indicate that a range of food colours is better for you.

Growing and cooking coloured potatoes takes no extra skill. You grow according to the maturity and then cook according to the potato type. So if you have a second early, smooth, blue seed potato such as Salad Blue, it will grow like any other second early taking about 14 weeks to mature and then will be delicious as a mash!

Try some home made chips and crisps – a lot easier than you would think!

Some of these varieties have been around for a long time – your grandparents would have had some, and others have been bred more recently giving protection against diseases.

Our range of seed potatoes comes in 6-tuber nets and 1kg nets (as well as larger sizes) and discounts start when you buy only 5 nets of any combination. Our range of ready-to-eat potatoes comes in 5k, 10kg, and 15kg bags. Both are delivered direct to you from our farm.

We do, of course, have white skin and flesh seed potatoes too. We’re here to help you decide so let us know if you have any questions.” https://www.potatohouse.co.uk/

Pink Fir Apple
Some tasty purple potatoes I grew this summer. They kept their colour during cooking.

I’m using some of my potatoes for Christmas, but I’m also looking through my cookery books to decide what else to make with them. I probably won’t be able to resist buying all of them as seed potatoes too. To have beautiful varieties like these coming out of the veg plot next year is a very cheerful prospect indeed.

Are any of you looking through catalogues and on-line deciding what varieties to grow right now? What potatoes would you recommend, and have any of you tried the more unusual red, blue and black varieties? Thanks for reading my blog. Happy gardening! And happy cooking too!

Planting Amaryllis. BBC Radio Leicester gardening show notes. Christmas present ideas.

/ karen / 6 Comments
Amaryllis Carmen (photos Taylors Bulbs)

Christmas only really starts for me when I plant my amaryllis bulbs. For as long as I can remember, there’s been amaryllis bulbs flowering over the festive season at my family’s home. And I like to keep up the tradition by having them in my own home. If you listened in to this week’s BBC Radio Leicester show, you will have heard me talking about the amaryllis varieties I’m planting at the moment. Some are for me, and some will be given as Christmas presents.

Carmen is the deep velvety red single-flowering bulb I mentioned on the show. I was potting them up as we talked. The box kits from Taylors Bulbs contain a plant pot and compost which makes life easier. Everything needed is contained in one box.

This beautiful double white amaryllis is Marilyn. I love the lime green centre of the flowers.

Lady Jane

This is the pink and white striped double amaryllis I’ve chosen. It’s called Lady Jane. Which is quite a fancy name for quite a fancy flower!

Amaryllis Rilona has wonderful deep apricot single flowers with a darker eye. The flowers are edged in white, and if you look closely you can see darker orange stripes or veins radiating from the centre of the flowers to the tips.

When choosing bulbs, always go for the largest you can find. The larger the bulb, the more flower spikes will be produced. Usually one single spike is followed by a second, or even a third, if you are very lucky.

I asked Taylors Bulbs for some planting and general care advice:

How To Plant Amaryllis In Pots/Containers:

1. Soak the dry roots (not the bulb) in lukewarm water for about
45mins. Make sure to cut off any damaged roots before potting.
2. Fill the base of your pot (at least 20cm) with multi-purpose
compost, covering the drainage hole.
3. Feed the roots into the pot, spreading them out onto the compost and fill in around them with more compost.
4. Bury the bottom half of the bulb, so that it is secure in the pot.
Water sparingly.
5. Stand the pot in a well-lit position and keep the compost moist, but
do not over water.

Extra Tips:

* Amaryllis are great for the windowsill. Remember to turn the pot
regularly to prevent the stems bending towards the light.

* Once your Amaryllis flowers have faded, cut the whole stem off as
close to the base as possible.
* Water and feed them with a balanced fertiliser every few weeks to
help build up strength for next year.
* Make sure to give them plenty of light, as this helps the leaves
generate energy.
* To help encourage them to flower next year cut any old foliage back
to the neck of the bulb. Move them into a warm position and continue to water them.

Re-potting Amaryllis Bulbs:

* After every two to three years it’s a good idea to re-pot amaryllis
bulbs for continued good displays.
* Amaryllis tend to grow best in small pots, so don’t be tempted to
re-pot into a larger pot.
* After flowering, remove the bulbs from the compost and gently remove the compost around the roots. Then refill your pot with fresh compost and replant the bulb.

About Taylors Bulbs:

Taylors Bulbs are a fourth generation family business, growing and supplying flower bulbs and associated products since 1919.

Daffodils are grown on our farm in Holbeach, Lincolnshire where we also design and pack a large range of products predominantly for the UK and Irish markets.

Still a thriving family business employing over 200 staff at peak times, we pride ourselves on the award winning service we offer our customers.

Here’s some more amaryllis I’ve grown at Christmas. In the second year, they often flower either very early in November, or as late as May. Either way they are very welcome at a time when there are few flowers to enjoy in the garden. Indoor bulbs fill the gap.

This white single flower has a lovely red edge. I think it is called Picotee and I’ve had it for 10 years.
Another lovely single white flower. Possibly called Lemon and Lime, however I’ve lost the label as it’s been here many years.
Sadly, I can’t remember the name of this beauty, but again, it’s been here for several years.

Thanks for reading the blog, and for listening in to the radio. I also write a weekly column for Garden News Magazine, so I’m either talking or writing about flowers every day of the week. Happy gardening everyone!