So, things are running out, and in the first year of this garden I have learnt a lot.
I will be expanding the plot with two more beds, and cutting surrounding trees to provide more light to the veg patch.
I think the best idea I had last year was the pathway preparation, with the pine needles and ash, it did help against the slugs.
It also gives room to dispose of stones in the beds, a problem we have here in the west.
I am currently renewing the path ways, building them up with needles and ash, to further develop the passive anti-slug barrier.
I already wrote about some of the winter plantings in a previous post.
Other work has been to use the recent cold snap to my advantage, turning the soil to expose the earth to the frost, which breaks it up and I hope it will also kill of some parasites.
Certainly the birds appreciate it when the earth is turned over, as the go in and pick off insects.
I will also start to put down traps for wireworms as well, early in the season to get as many as possible.
From what I have read, the longer the garden is established - the less of a problem they will be as they are worst in new gardens after grassland has been converted to cultivating veg.
Its also time to start thinking about enriching the soil. Along with seaweed I have found that Delaney and Delilah have quite tidy toilet habits - not something I expected from Donkeys, but most of the manure is centred in a few places.
So, with seaweed and donkey doo-doo dug in, I hope that will be enough for my fertilizer needs for 2011.
Weeds growing on the path edge are a pain, there is nothing for it but to hoe them out and backfill with ash and needles.
I am tempted to treat the paths with organic weedkiller, but I'm fairly concerned about salt leaching into the beds.
I do expect to be away a lot more next season, so the garden will have to be low maintenance.
One thing for certain, one of the beds - the one with the rhubarb - is being converted to a different type of bed, with Jerusalem and Globe artichoke, asparagus, herbs, fruit bushes and other annual plants that will be there on a permanent basis, not rotated.
So that's it, my Irish winter vegetable patch - still producing food and getting ready for 2011.
As always, please take the time to comment, I really appreciate the feedback.
Oca is a firm small waxy crinkled tuber with an unusual tangy, acidic nutty, fruity flavour.
The oca is one of the important staple crops of the Andean highlands.
Its not that hard to grow in Ireland, although I should I think have earthed them up more and they certainly should have been in the ground earlier.
Next season - if I'm still in the country - they will be grown using stacked car tyres to make them easier to earth up and to increase the heat to the tubers.
Coming from the same place and growing in the same conditions as potato, it is quite frankly very surprising why they are not better known in Europe and Ireland.
The potato after all has become the staple carbohydrate for northern and eastern Europe.
With their blight resistance, it is particularly poignant being Irish as to how things might have been different had this crop been established on the Island from 1840 to 1880.
The skins range from red to white, sometimes a waxy green and its inner flesh is white.
They can be baked, boiled, roasted, mashed, or used in any dish calling for potatoes.
Its great to dig them at this time of year, to see new food come out of the ground after the frost, like new potato's in the winter.
Mr Robin at the top of the title picture was also anxious that I harvest them, and very happy with the newly turned earth for a snack or ten after the cold snap.
I got the original seed from Cristophe and Ciara on Clare Island in Mayo - he runs ecofarm.ie and Macalla farm. As far as I know is the only person in Ireland who supplies Oca as seed.
If you do buy seed from him, please be sure to mention that you heard about the farm on this blog, that way I can try to blag a few free ones from him this year.
The farms website is also on the links for this blog.
Delicious roasted, Oca is frequently eaten with roasted lamb in New Zealand where I first encountered it.
It is said the oca brings a “lost cuisine” back to life. Oca is native to the ancient cuisines of the Andes in South America and was grown throughout the Inca and Mayan civilizations.
The New Zealander's are very clever, resourceful, inventive people. They are also really good at marketing.
Kiwi fruit are a Chinese Gooseberry - but were re branded as Kiwi fruit, so people associate the food with New Zealand. Oca is now sold sometimes as New Zealand yam, even though it was introduced there sometime in the 1860's - but like other imported crops it thrives as a crop in NZ.
I'd say that it will become re branded as Kiwi Yam in the future, or maybe even Kahu Yam after the stunning hawks they have there.
I'm using Oca in this recipe, but diced potato would work - and to be a little more exotic maybe sweet potato which I think in Irish cities would be easier to find than Oca.
Having moved back from Holland I find the lack of variety and availability of foods and spices etc. a bit frustrating, hence the growing of things like Oca, Japanese mustard greens, acocha, root parsley etc.
I hand picked the Scallops from the strand at the bottom of the farm at low tide, so they are un-dredged, about as eco friendly as you can get - but a fair bit of work, cold toes and fingers.
Despite the cold, I still think of the foreshore as a living larder, wading out for mussels, clams and razorfish - all reasonably easy to find if you know the tides and the area. I just take what I need. Lidl have a good offer on Scallop at 12 for €5 at the moment along with other luxury foods like venison, game birds and lobster - well worth checking out for Christmas.
Scallop is one of my favorite seafood's, it requires very little in the way of dressing up - its perfect as it is.
This recipe is kind of inspired by one of the Hairy Bikers Cook Off programs on BBC, one of their 7 minute supper challenges was made using scallops.
I had a similar idea in mind for scallops, In terms of presentation, I'd normally serve scallop in its shell with a bacon and cheese type sauce - but they put it together a little differently than I would have - with potato, so I decided to use the Oca in this dish.
I really like the programs that Si and Dave do, unpretentious, well explained and entertaining.
Along with Master Chief, I think they are my favorite TV cooks.
Coming from the North of England, I think they have a lot of the same cuisine culture and influences that I have with the Connemara climate - as would the Scots.
Leeks, herring, mackerel, kidney, liver, mutton, cabbage, kale, beetroot and turnip being just a few things they have used that other TV chiefs don't use that often or frequently.
Certainly the bikers were doing Kale before it became suddenly fashionable on other shows.
The other real advantage they have over me in terms of a cuisine background is the fantastic, rich heritage of Indian food people in the North of England are exposed to.
Mind you, I did learn how to do a cardamom martini from one of their programs, so they have a lot to answer for in that department.
This year I planted the Oca a little too late, and did not give it enough attention. I will do a separate posting on growing Oca as learn more about it. I am trying to save some of the larger Oca tubers for seed. I picked the smallest to cook with the idea of presentation.
Featured on Masterchief was Noma in Copenhagen, regarded as the best restaurant in the world.
Their cooking is based on a philosophy of local, seasonal, fresh and foraged food.
The food writers say that cuisine in Noma can be considered more an interpretation of Nordic food than classical Nordic food itself.
Its Northern European seasonal homegrown and foraged food - I think that is not too far removed from what I am trying to do, but there is no way I would, or could, have the interest, ability or desire to replicate what they do.
I certainly do not aspire to cooking and presentation of that level but with the Oca, beetroot, potato, side salad and scallop all coming from within 1km of the house, the presentation colours, and the adaption of Irish staples I don't think I was too far off the mark in terms of food philosophy. From what I saw I certainly liked the innovation and thought process - and I am thinking about getting the Noma cookbook.
My main interest in Noma concepts was sparked from the use of lightly pickled local root veg and seafood with wild coastal herbs, there is a lot there I could learn from.
Also, food cooked in ashes, I've seen that done on open fires in Connemara and the use of old nordic seasoning - like hay ash with leeks - the only time I have seen anything like this was fennel ash being used on whelks in Spain.
I also think it is worth pointing out that in what I considered to be a very close competition with little to separate the contenders, Nomas head chief René Redzepi spotted Claire Lara, just saying she was about 5% better than the others - and she did go on to win, despite being the most unassuming of the contenders - fair play and congratulations to her.
Anyway - enough commentary - on with the food -
A word of advice on this one, read the recipe through first - timing is important, and use the oven to warm the plates you intend to serve on.
The Oca.
Very simple to cook, its a tuber that acts like a new potato and best roasted.
Having picked out the smaller Oca tubers they simply went in to the oven at 180 deg. with some olive oil.
After 20 minutes in the oven I tasted one, and as it was quite tart I sprinkled about a third of a teaspoon of sugar over the tubers and returned to the oven for another 10 minutes.
The Beetroot Fondant.
In the meantime I quickly melted some butter in a pot and prepared some small fresh beetroot for a root vegetable fondant
As usual with a fondant, the beets were sauteed in the butter until they started getting crisp and tender - to that I added some home made stock from cubes in the freezer.
About 20 minutes in, when the liquids had reduced a lot, I had some sliced potato left over from the Spanish omelet. These went in with 10 minutes to go, cooked well and picked up a lovely colour from the beetroot fondant.
The Scallop and Bacon
I had some bacon in the fridge - you could also use streaky bacon. I cut of the piece with the most fat.
I sliced the bacon thinly. Use one piece of bacon for each scallop.
20 minutes after the Oca and beetroot were started, I fried the bacon in cuinneog butter and olive oil at a high temperature until crispy, rendering out the fat.
After about 6 minutes of cooking, the bacon was taken out of the pan, put in an oven proof dish and chucked in the oven to stay warm.
I reduced the heat under the pan to medium. Then the Scallop was added to the pan, using the rendered bacon lard to cook it.
This takes about 5 minutes - so the top and bottom of the scallop is dark brown, caramelised - but be very careful not to burn them. I always cook them with the tongue, not only does it add to the flavour - it also helps to colour the jus.
After they are cooked, put them in the oven with the bacon to keep warm.
Drain the pan over the scallop and bacon.
NB: At this point put the serving plates in the oven.
When the greens (spinach in this case) are done, return the scallop, bacon and liquid to the pan for about a minute, then remove the bacon and scallop reserving any fats or liquid on the pan
- move the scallop and bacon to the warm serving plate.
The Greens
I used spinach. My one regret was I did not use Beetroot leaves or Swiss chard from the garden for this, when I harvested the beets I did not think to reserve some greens for this meal, so next time I will know better. I was very tempted to use cavalo nero kale from the garden, but the delicacy of the scallop put me off - perhaps next time - as using chard, beetroot leaves or kale would have made this a truly winter dish.
Anyway, the spinach is easy, shred, chuck in the pan and saute until reduced slightly - put directly on the warmed serving plates.
The Jus and presentation
At this point the greens, bacon and scallop have been plated up.
Pour some white wine - about a third of a glass - into the pan to de-glaze,
then add three tablespoons of cream, mix through and allow to reduce.
While that is reducing, get the fondant beets and potato's onto the plate.
Remove the oca from the oven, and plate up.
The sauce should be reduced slightly, spoon it over the scallops and bacon - be generous.
If I had parmesan cheese, I would have added a few shavings on top of the scallop for taste and presentation, but as I said, scallop does not need much in the way of flavouring.
Side Salad
I used a small winter gem lettuce - a cos type.
The dressing was made to compliment the Oca.
1/4 tsp mustard
1 clove garlic crushed and chopped
120 ml walnut oil
40 ml lemon juice
tsp maple syrup or honey
Pinch Cayenne pepper
As a wine, I used a Kiwi Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc, available at Super Value. Although the name suggests it comes from New Zealand, its actually made in France.
I think as this is a European dish, influenced by my time in New Zealand it is an apt choice, and it does go very well with the meal.
I must say that as a meal, this is one of the best I have produced - although because scallop has such a fantastic taste and texture its hard to go wrong.
I am delighted at the way the oca came out, the colours make for great presentation, and the flavours all work so well.
You have the sweet, rich scallop, the dry, salty bacon, the slightly earthy beetroot, slightly bitter spinach and the soft lemony/nutty flavour of the oca with the jus ties it all together.
The side salad also gives a refreshing zing with the lemon juice through it.
So, there it is, Oca grows well in Ireland and you can use it to compliment some of our own great foods with something a little exotic and very simple. And dont forget, you can source the Oca from Macalla farm.
As always, thanks for reading and please take the time to comment - I really do appreciate the time and effort taken for feedback
Well, the kitchen garden is beginning to run out of food. A few winter cabbage, turnips, leeks, kale, parsnip and beets are about the only staples right now with some Oca ready for harvest.
Already the Aquadulce beans and the japanese winter onions are showing signs of life despite the cold snap.
Its a nasty cold, but not deep. Much to the delight of my resident garden robins I have been turning over the beds to allow the frost to break up the soil and kill off as many pests as possible. All of this under the Robins watchful eyes who swoop down to inspect the uncovered ground for food
Anyway, one recent experiment in a meal was beetroot chips, and it worked out quite well.
I put it together pretty much ad-hoc, just to add colour to a meal of grilled gammon and a Spanish Omelette.
For both the veggies I just use the food processor.
SPANISH OMELETTE
Spanish Omelette is a great standby, it can be eaten hot or cold. With eggs from the neighbours chickens, its a great way to use them up, and very filling and economical.
5 medium potatos - peele and sliced thin, about 3mm in thickness.
3 eggs
250 ml milk
1 Onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
Fill a frying pan to about 1/3rd full and get to a medium heat
Slowly cook the potato, onion and garlic.
Beat the eggs and milk - season the egg mix with a little salt
Using a plate over the pan, hold the potato in place, tilt the pan and carefully drain the oil into a heat resistant container (I drained this into a metal pot and retained it for the beetroot chips)
Return the pan to a low - medium heat and add the egg mix
When the omelettes sides firm up well, use the plate - over a sink - and flip over the pan.
Then slide the omelette uncooked side down back onto the pan, cook until done.
Some people grill the top of the omelette but I find this just as easy to do.
BEETROOT CHIPS
Cut chips to equal width.
Heat oil to 130C and fry the chips for 8-10 mins or until cooked through but uncoloured.
Drain and leave to cool .
Heat oil to 180C and fry the chips until crispy.
Drain and serve.
I sprinkled the chips with some Spanish sherry vinegar, gives a lovely tang to the sweetness of the chips
The gammon is simple, just grilled on a rack over the sliced apples, plated and served.
As always, please take the time to leave a comment, I really apprieciate the feedback.
Is there a meal more Irish than bacon and cabbage?
It is a national staple, cabbage, spuds, root veg and pork.
Most North Western European countries have variants on it, the continentals with their smoked sausage for example.
This meal, with all veg pulled from the garden just gives an Irish classic a little French twist in cooking the root vegetables in a slightly different way.
The root veg were cooked fondant, using up the same chicken stock that went into the Parsnip risotto and a parsnip soup - really adding value for money to a roast chicken meal.
As well as that, from this meal the water in which the bacon and greens are cooked can be reserved as the base stock for a really tasty and very Irish Beetroot soup.
In the picture above you can see two Irish heritage varieties of the turnip family - the Tipperary turnip and the Western Perfection swede both purchased from the Irish seed savers association
For American and Canadian readers, turnips and swedes are basically Irish rutabaga.
The Tipperary in particular did very well in the garden when other more modern types suffered from various root pests. It has a lovely old fashioned peppery taste.
Western perfection was slower growing, but has a very nice rich mellow flavour.
I really like what the seed savers are doing in Clare, and I believe what they are doing is important, preserving bio-diversity. Rather than relying on the same mass produced types, its nice to have variety in texture and flavour - and its safer to have a wide range of crops.
This is a great way to use up small veg. My turnips were grown in too much shade, so never really got up to a full size, something that will be rectified next year with the chopping of a few trees.
The cabbage is a small winter savoy type, a lovely dark green crinkly leaf, and with this I also cooked the striped turnip leaves.
Also in the pic is the Atika root parsley that is fast becoming indispensable in my cooking for both its leaf and its root, and its so easy to grow - even in tubs.
I got the atika seed from the Real Seed Company in the UK, where I also got the lovely heritage carrots I used to make false apricot and false marmalade preserves.
The parsley crop will last the winter, as with the root crown it is very easy to dry.
BACON
The bacon is straight forward, simply cover with boiling water, add a couple of bay leaves and simmer for 50 minutes. When this is down, its time to start on the fondant vegetables.
ROOT VEGETABLE FONDANT
This is a great way to use up small veg. My turnips were grown in too much shade, so never really got up to a full size, something that will be rectified next year with the chopping of a few trees.
The flavour is rich and buttery. As always, I used cuinneog butter - mostly for the flavour but also to support a small Irish company and reduce food miles.
You can, of course, do only potato's or other root veg, I just decided to do a mix.
Funnily enough, one of the few other turnip fondant recipes I found on the internet were the Hairy Bikers who I have mentioned before, so its also a variation on a north of England staple veg.
INGREDIENTS
2 small turnip
2 small suede
2 small beetroot
2 small potato (I used kerr pink)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
160 gm Cuinneog butter
80 ml chicken stock
1/2 tsp Rosemary
1/2 tsp Thyme
Peel the veg. Reserve the turnip, beetroot and swede leaves for the greens.
Then cut the veg in slices to about 2 cm thick.
The veg has to have a flat top and bottom, like a flat barrel shape.
Real chiefs at this stage use cookie cutters to give an even, all round shape.
I just trimmed with a peeler around the sides, the important part is to bevel the edges to prevent burning.
Melt 160 grams of Cuinneog butter in a heavy bottomed pot on a medium heat.
When this was bubbling I started to add the veg.
I used beets, turnip, swede and potato. All of these cook at different speeds so I staggered the cooking - i.e. only after the beets got their first turn did the turnip and swede go in, and only after they were turned did the potato go in.
The vegetables in total took about 12 minutes to start going a golden brown.
At this stage add two crushed cloves of garlic and the herbs.
After about 3 minutes stirring in the garlic and herbs add 80ml of chicken stock.
A word of warning - it will start to spit and bubble.
Allow the veg to simmer for 30 minutes or until tender and the stock is absorbed.
FOR THE GREENS
While the root vegetable fondant is absorbing the liquid, you can make a start on the greens.
Strip the leaves from the root vegetable stems
Roughly chop the cabbage and wash carefully.
Mix in the washed and shredded turnip, swede and beetroot greens.
When the fondant roots are about 10 minutes from being done, remove the bacon from its cooking water and allow to rest.
Bring the bacon cooking water to a rapid boil and add the greens to the water, being chopped they will cook to an al dente bite in about 10 minute - if you like your greens softer, add to the boiling bacon earlier.
When you strain off the greens its a great idea to reserve the cooking water, easily stored in the freezer - as it makes a fantastic base for another recipe I came up with - Irish beetroot soup - and is also great for boiling hot dogs and frankfurters.
Fondant garden root vegetables, savoy cabbage and bacon with a parsley sauce*
This meal is so simple, and apart from the meat, flour, milk and butter there is really very little that anyone with even a small garden needs to buy, reducing costs and food miles.
I write these recipes for my own amusement mostly, but also, in a way, the blog was started to thank the users at gardenplansireland.com for all the advice I get there.
Another site I post to is politicalworld- in their recession rations section.
Every time I do a meal, I try to minimise on cost, basing recipes on what might be on offer at Lidl, Aldi, Dunnes and other stores.
A lot of recipes use food that people throw away that is perfectly good - i.e. chicken bones and veg offcuts for stock or the turnip leaves that are used in this recipe - and what might be wasted from this one like the bacon and greens cooking water that can be used in a future dish.
I hope this recipe might inspire readers to take Irish food and look at it in a different, more adventurous way and see how a few quid can be stretched.
Again, please take the time to leave a comment here on the blog - in particular if you use it or come up with a new twist.
Thanks for reading, and please take the time to comment.
*PARSLEY SAUCE
Not just for bacon, also great on ham and fish like pollack, seabass or sole.
Very easy, and the root parsley is optional
50 gm Cuinneog butter
50 gm plain flour
1 sprig parsley, chopped
1 small root (about 4 cm) Atika, peeled and grated
Melt the butter in a small, heavy based pan
Sweat the grated root parsly
Stirfry the chopped leaf parsley for a few seconds
Add the flour to make up a paste
Add milk, whisk until thickend, keep on a low heat until serving.
Well, if anything this is phase 3 chicken, using the stock made from the carcass as a base for a risotto with parsnips from the garden.
Its a way of stretching the budget, and creating less waste food. Filling and tasty, a good winter dish.
Already from the same 5Ib chicken there has been a roast, a gougere and also a parsnip soup that I will write up later.
Parsnip risotto served with boxty and a poached egg - dash of paprika for colour.
I served it with Boxty, which is an Irish dish very similar to Swiss Rosti - it just adds texture and more colour to the meal.
The recipe is based on one I found at an excellent blog on Italian food - Lucullian Delights
FOR THE PARSNIP RISOTTO
A generous slice of butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
150 g parsnip, diced
900ml chicken or vegetable stock
200g arborio or other risotto rice rice
150ml of white wine (optional)
1 sprig of fresh parsley, finely chopped - I used my Akita root parsley leaves
A handful of freshly grated Parmesan, plus more to serve
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
As an extra option you can use a good balsamic vinegar to drizzle.
Heat the butter in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat.
Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, until translucent.
Add the parsnips and parsley, raise the heat a little and cook until almost tender, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Meanwhile, bring the stock to simmering point in a separate pan.
When the parsnip pieces are soft, add the rice and stir constantly for a couple of minutes.
Add the wine and continue to stir until it has been absorbed by the rice.
Then start to ladle hot stock into the risotto, waiting for each batch to be absorbed before adding the next. Keep stirring and adding stock till the rice is tender, with just the tiniest residual chalky 'bite' in the middle. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Stir in a handful of Parmesan and serve with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and more grated Parmesan on the table. Garnish with a little more parsley and serve
FOR THE BOXTY
If the Risotto is from the North of Italy, Boxty is as Irish as it gets.
There are different versions, but this is the simplest.
INGREDIENTS
2 Potato's, peeled, grated, rinsed and pressed dry.
1 Carrot - peeled and grated (optional)
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbls flour - I just used barley flour which was at hand, any plain flour will do
Salt and pepper to taste.
Simply mix the ingredients, shape into patties and fry until golden brown on each side.
The carrot just adds a little more colour.
The egg that I used was simply left over from one I used as a glaze
Salt is important for this dish, so season well
Thanks for visiting, and please take the time to comment
