Saturday Slacking and Martini Madness

So. It's a long weekend and the unanimous vote is to stay at home and do nothing. Well... it's not really possible to do nothing, so it was pretty much chill, eat, drink and be merry.

Sounded like the best plan  all week!

Started with breakfast - wholemeal pancakes with honey and homemade jam.

1 cup wholemeal flour

1 egg

enough water to make a batter which is not too thin but not too thick

whisk all together

leave to rest for a couple of minutes and dollop on to a heated non stick pan with extra virgin olive oil (instead of butter - although butter would be a very tasty option!)

serve with honey and jam (like the apricot jam or the remainder of last year's plum jam!)

AND don't forget the coffee please. :)

Lunch was Tasmanian oysters as entree (with a bunch of tasty condiments),  homegrown green tomato salsa and grilled fresh sardines (with rice!).

Now, notice the beer on the side - Dry Dock - the recent Dan Murphy's purchase which was on special - but honestly, would not buy that again (sorry, just personal taste!). Average house beer on a really warm day, and... that's pretty much it though. (Not for guests!)

Anyway - the green tomato salsa had 2 variants for this afternoon. One was with the flat cilantro and the other was with parsley and verjuice (the acidic juice of green grapes - have only heard it from Maggie Beer and found it at Coles!). I was requested to remember the recipe (an instantaneous Saturday afternoon salsa recipe) so before I forget, I shall write it down...

 really proud of these little babies - fresh from the backyard!

they don't look perfect but i guess that's what makes it special!

Saturday's Fresh Green Tomato Salsa
2 green tomatoes, diced
2 small sprigs each of parsley, mint and thyme, minced
dash of extra virgin olive oil and verjuice
1 green bird's eye chili, minced
Toss all ingredients together with salt and pepper to taste.
(Happy to report that all herbs are from the herb patch!)

Dinner was mussels flavoured with the (leftover) tomato salsa, extra virgin olive oil and vermouth, sprinkled with minced fresh parsley.

Speaking of vermouth.... nothing like mixing vermouth with either vodka or gin to make the classic Martini. So the whole afternoon was pretty much Martini Madness.

The base for the drinks below are mostly from 45ml vodka and 15ml french vermouth (for one serving) unless otherwise specified!

And these were shaken (not stirred) with vermouth rinsed ice in your usual shaker.

I can't really say it's a classic, because a classic would have been made with gin

 I used vodka (only because we got Gordon's and MAN that can burn!) and it was tough to choose

between and olive and a lemon peel garnish

but affiliation to home grown things won!

so twisted lemon peel it was

(at least for the first round!)

the second round was a bit of a rebellious martini

instead of lemon peel, i used a kaffir lime (also homegrown) 

and muddled 2  leaves from a sugar plant with vodka for a hint of sweetness

(ran out of ice at this stage - the bottom part of this glass is supposed to have ice to keep the top part cool!)

round 3 was a almost a classic except for the vodka still. and now the olives take their turn!

now this one I think is a winner

45ml vodka + 30ml vermouth

and the garnish made a lot of difference

a dried chili, speared with olives and a twist of fresh lemon peel

the longer you take to drink it

the hotter it gets

:)

chocnut martini

same martini mix but with dry vermouth (de Bortolli)

chocnut is a sweet treat that Filipino kids would be most familiar with!

this is in memory of the drink with the same name that I had in one of my favorite places back home

There could be one or two more martinis coming up but maybe that would have to be posted later..... !

More Harvest Photos

Back in November he planted the tomatoes - and now they look like this!

pretty tall ones!

We were almost resigned to the fact we may not see these plants grow because we were gone for more than 3 weeks on holiday last Christmas. Thank goodness for really awesome neighbors... and lucky that the net had helped them get a bit of protection from the really nasty sun.

waiting for that special moment ... 

odd one out

we picked some of the green ones because vine-ripened tomatoes get eaten by insects first!

(who spend more time in the garden than we do...!)

Check out last year's tomato harvests here

Meanwhile, not everything is growing very well. We had a few carrots which look a bit stunted in growth - probably because they bolted quite quickly. Our experimental Australian garlic didn't fare very well either.

the really small carrots and homegrown garlic... compared to the size of store bought garlic.

i know it's not fair to compare but this is just to give perspective on the size

One evening we had a very simple supper of smoked kipper, homegrown tomatoes, parsley and spring onions (the green part was eaten by some insects and we were left with the 'spring onion bulbs'!) on home made sourdough bread.

sometimes simple is superbly satisfactory

finished with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper

There is  a huge satisfaction derived from being able to harvest these plants and consuming them in their freshest form. Knowing how it grew and where it grew, combined with a few simple ingredients from the pantry, make for satisfying food, not just for the body, but for the soul as well. :)

Extra Special Harvests

Once upon a time I imagined a field of parsley growing in my garden, when I would never have to pay a couple of dollars to acquire this wonderful, tasty herb...

And then one day, the parsley had bolted and had gone over 4 feet tall!

to give you some perspective I stand at about 5 feet 6 inches 

and where my hand is, is the height of one of the parsley plants that is ready to flower and produce seed

meanwhile, this is a spinach leaf

from the backyard as well!

We have a compost pit where all our biodegradable kitchen veggie scraps go (including tea bags, cofffee beans) and we use it to fertilize the veggie patch. I would like to think that this cycle is keeping everyone happy! Anyway, I can't take too much credit for the veggie patch - he takes care of it more, and I just happen to do something with what grows there. :D 

a harvest of kale

the previous plant was pretty much raped by white aphids

kohlrabi - "german turnip" - a cousin of the cabbage

apparently you shouldn't let them grow bigger than a tennis ball if you were to harvest 

(except if you commercially sell them and they need to be as big as a saucer!)

It is just quite an amazing feeling to be able to harvest all these wonderful vegetables right within our own backyard - capturing fresh flavors as part of the day's meal. This Saturday's lunch was fresh from the garden...

With kale and the kohlrabi I decided to whip up something quick and easy - just stir fry the shredded veggies with crisped up spicy sausage, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1 minced onion and a dash of vinegar and soy sauce, to be served over hot steaming rice.

Life is good :)

Before and After

Before :

After ! 

** Winged creature not included in 'before' photo :p

These broad beans were succulent and went straight to the pot for a quick blanch before it was tossed into a salad. It is amazing how tasty fresh picked veggies are compared to store bought ones (or perhaps it's just all in the mind!) -  a really good motivation to keep it going!

This is also what happens when you let a dwarf white cauliflower simmer in the veggie patch - it becomes a mutant stemmed edible floral arrangement!

Harvest

Just backtracking on a previous harvest of silverbeet and watercress! I made these veggies into a fritata of sorts - which I'm sure I took of photo of, but just can't remember where I saved it!

He is now clearing the rest of the watercress to make way for new crop. Unfortunately it seems that the insects which could have been 'raping' the watercress have now moved on to the remaining silverbeet.

We pay expensive tax to these creatures! We've chosen an organic way to grow our veggies, so no chemicals or insecticides. I've googled some homemade sprays that might help (like a chili spray, or white oil) so we just need to get those going!

Tomatoes and Peas

We are well outnumbered by slugs, snails and woodlice in this property, and we (unfortunately) share the love for fresh vegetables. Since these creepy creatures are here more than we are (something called work takes us more than 50 hours a week including commuting time), they have a better chance of enjoying our harvests.

One thing that seems to deter woodlice though is a small barrier around the plant. It seems that woodlice prefer young shoots, so once a plant has had a chance to grow more, the woodlice would eventually leave it alone. Below is the protective covering around the tomato and peas on the side bed

 alternating plants

surrounded by a soda bottle

trapped!