INTO THE KITCHEN

RECIPES & IDEAS

THESE ARE TAKEN FROM THE SPUD & SLUG

Creamy Brussels Sprout and Bacon Soup.
Ingredients:
450g Brussels sprouts
Olive oil for drizzling
Salt and pepper
350g bacon snipped or chopped into 1/2 inch dice
1 finely sliced onion
700 ml chicken stock
100ml cream or milk
125g shredded cheddar cheese
30g shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
• Wash and trim the stems from the sprouts. Cut in half, or quarters if they are very
large. Drizzle with olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Roast the sprouts for about 20-30 minutes at 190C / 375F, until they have just
softened . Stir them around on the pan a few times during cooking. Set aside.
• Cook the bacon until crispy in a large soup pot. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on
paper towels to drain. Leave the bacon fat in the pan and add the onions. Sauté them
for about 5 minutes, until they are softened, don't let them brown.
• Add the chicken stock and sprouts to the pan, bring to a simmer. Cook gently for 5 mins.
• Working in batches, purée the soup. Then return the puréed soup to the pot.
• Add the milk to the soup and reheat to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste and then,
once the soup is hot, remove from the heat and add the cheeses, slowly, and stir until it
is completely melted.
• Serve hot with a good helping of crispy bacon in the middle.
Notes:
This soup will thicken after refrigerating, so add more stock to thin it down when you reheat.
Don’t be tempted to use frozen Brussels sprouts for this soup ~ they contain minimal flavour
and you won’t be able to roast them.

RHUBARB CHUTNEY
Ingredients:
1kg rhubarb, washed and finely sliced
350g soft brown sugar
300ml cider vinegar
50g sultanas
2 onions, finely diced
Thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
½ tsp salt
Other options: If you like a bit more heat you can either add more ginger and/or add a few
sprinkles of dried chilli flakes. Alternatively, for a winter-warming, Christmas-like taste, try adding
half-a-teaspoon of allspice plus a stick of cinnamon and a star anise at the same time as you add
the rhubarb, not forgetting to remove the star anise and the cinnamon before bottling.
Method:
Trim the rhubarb and cut into short lengths. Place in a preserving pan or large saucepan with all
the remaining ingredients.
Cook over a low heat stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a gentle boil (just a little more
than simmering )and cook uncovered for about 1 hour until the chutney is golden brown and thick.
Stir occasionally to begin with and then frequently as the cooking time goes on to prevent the
mixture from burning on the base of the pan.

LEEKS
Summer crops have largely been cleared by now, but many plots will still have some leeks
ready for harvesting. Leeks are a versatile vegetable, with a milder, sweeter flavour than
onions and a smooth texture similar to asparagus. Apparently, in France leeks are often
called the 'poor man's asparagus'.
Leeks can make a very flavoursome vegetable side dish, or can be used in a wide variety of
recipes such as casseroles, omelettes and frittatas, risottos, quiches, pasta sauces and soups.
They can be cooked in various different ways and here are a few options:
Pan fried. Heat a small amount of olive oil and butter in a frying pan, add some sliced leeks
and gently cook for about 5-10 minutes until tender.
Sautéed. Sauté with fennel and garnish plus some fresh lemon juice and thyme.
Stir fried. Heat a little oil over a high heat in a frying pan or wok, add some prepared leeks
and stir fry for a few minutes.
Baked. place some sliced leeks in an oven-proof dish, sprinkle with cheese or cover with
white sauce and bake for 30-40 minutes at 190°C.
Roasted. Pour some olive oil into a roasting tray and add leeks, making sure they are coated
all over. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and roast in the oven (210°C) for 30 minutes.
Braised. Pour a small amount of chicken or vegetable stock into a frying pan, add some
prepared, sliced leeks, cover and gently cook for 10-15 minutes. Braised leeks dusted with
fennel or mustard seeds are a tasty accompaniment to fish, poultry or steakSpoon into hot sterilized jars, cover and seal.

COURGETTES

Courgettes are certainly one of the most productive crops grown on any allotment and most of us
seem to grow far more than we could ever eat. Once they’ve started, there’s no stopping them, and
no matter how carefully you harvested on one day, when you look the next day, there are usually
another couple hidden in the undergrowth! And of course by mid-summer, neighbours go into
hiding to avoid being offered yet more courgettes.
There's a limit to how many times a week you can readily incorporate courgettes into your menu
(and they don’t freeze very well), so a bit of lateral thinking is required to deal with the annual
courgette mountain. Therefore, this month, rather than the usual specific recipe, here are some
suggestions of alternative uses for courgettes. Recipes for all these ideas can be easily Googled.
With pasta. A bowl of pasta is quick and easy to rustle up, so how about a carbonara-style courgette
& bacon pasta topped with cheese, or for a vegetarian option, courgette added to a cheese &
tomato pasta bake. Many pasta dishes can also be made in bulk and frozen. Other ideas include
creamy courgette lasagne, a spinach and courgette lasagne, or for something meatier, courgette and
sausage pasta bake.
Salads. Small courgettes can be treated like cucumbers and eaten raw, sliced into salads, made into
batons for dips, or grated into crunchy slaws. Salads are also a good way to showcase the subtle,
delicate flavours of courgettes. Here are a couple of suggestions to look for: minted courgette salad,
courgette with roast red peppers & chorizo, or how about a smoked mackerel, courgette & butter
bean salad.
Bread. A quick internet search brings up many bread recipes that use courgettes. Ideas include
courgette & mushroom bread (use as an accompaniment to a summer soup), courgette & cheddar
soda bread, or add a bit of spice to Indian bread with courgettes and coriander. Finally, courgette
loaf cake is a sweet, spiced sponge loaf; the vegetables keeps it moist and walnuts add some crunch.
Pickles. Preserve your courgette crop with a chutney or pickle by simply adding a few well sliced
courgettes to pretty much any pickle or chutney recipe.
Pizza Topping. Add a few sliced courgettes to some pizza toppings.

Courgettes, again….
It seems that many plotholders can relate to the concept of a courgette mountain, so in response
to some positive feedback after last month’s Spud & Slug and a couple of extra suggestions, here
are a few more alternative ideas for using those surplus courgettes:
Soups. A quick search for soup recipes will show just how flexible this vegetable is. A few
suggestions include courgette, potato & cheddar soup; courgette, leek & goat's cheese soup;
courgette pea and pesto soup; courgette & tomato soup; or a chilled minty courgette soup. Most
can be made in bulk and frozen if required.
Side dishes. How about some cheesy baked courgettes that can be served with grilled meat and
fish, or courgette fritters, as a healthy alternative to chips. Grilled courgettes basted with a
combination of herbs, lemon, garlic or olive oil and cooked on the barbecue make a good
accompaniment to meat dishes.
Cakes. Don’t forget, courgettes can be used in more than just savoury dishes. Once again, a quick
internet search will reveal a wide variety of cake recipes that use courgettes. Try carrot, courgette
and orange cake; pistachio, courgette & lemon cake; courgette, lemon & thyme cake; or how
about a chocolate courgette cake.
Courgetti noodles. A few years ago, spiralizers were a trendy, must have kitchen gadget, cutting
courgettes into 'courgetti' – a lighter take on traditional pasta noodles. Put some courgetti into a
pan with garlic, crème fraîche, lemon zest and seasoning, then serve like spaghetti with meatballs.

COURGETTE AND POPPY SEED LOAF
It’s that time of year when we all have a glut of courgettes, so courtesy of Betty at Kirkby
Road, here is an idea to use some in a tasty loaf. Ingredients:
175 light brown sugar 1 tbsp poppy seeds
125ml sunflower oil 350g courgettes, grated & squeezed
3 large eggs 300g self-raising flour
1 tsp lemon juice
Method:
? Pre-heat oven to 180C. Lightly oil and line a 1kg loaf tin. ? Whisk together the sugar, oil, eggs and lemon. ? Stir in the poppy seeds and grated courgette. ? Sift and fold in the flour until it is incorporated into the courgette mix. ? Spoon into the lined tin and bake for 40-45 minutes. Insert a skewer to check if it is
cooked through - if it comes away clean, it’s cooked, if not bake for another 10 minutes
and check again until fully cooked through. Cool on a rack. ? Serve with whipped cream or crème fraiche, topped with more poppy seeds.

Granita

Originating in Sicily, Granita is a semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and various
flavourings. Commonly, these include lemon juice, mandarin oranges, jasmine, coffee, almonds, mint, and when in season, strawberries or black mulberries. Strawberries and raspberries grown
on many plots would make ideal ingredients, or why not experiment with other flavourings?
Ingredients:
100g golden caster sugar
450g strawberries, hulled and halved (or raspberries)
Zest and juice from a lime (optional)
8 mint leaves, plus extra sprigs to serve
Method: • Put 100ml water in a medium saucepan, add the sugar (plus lime zest and juice if using) and
heat gently, stirring occasionally until all the sugar has dissolved. Do not let the syrup boil. • In a food processor, blend the strawberries to a purée. Pour this into the sugar syrup, add the
mint leaves and turn up the heat. Boil for no more than 3 minutes, until the mixture thickens
slightly. Once thickened, strain through a fine sieve to get rid of any seeds, pips and leaves. Pour into a shallow plastic container and allow to cool. • Freeze for 2 hours, or until the mixture is frozen around the edges. • With a fork, draw ice from the edges towards the centre. Return to the freezer, and then
repeat every hour for the next 4 hours until the mix becomes a crystallised slush. Serve
immediately in glasses with a sprig of mint on top.

A quick look round our sites reveals a good number of gooseberry bushes and it
won’t be long before most are ready to harvest. Here is a simple jam recipe.
Ingredients:
1kg gooseberries, topped and tailed
juice of ½ lemon
1kg granulated sugar
400ml water
Method:
• First sterilise your jars by washing thoroughly in very hot soapy water. Rinse in very hot water
then put on a baking sheet in a 140C/fan 120C/gas 1 oven until completely dry.
• Put the gooseberries, lemon juice and 400ml water in a large wide pan (use a preserving pan if
you have one). Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes until the fruit is very soft and
pulpy. Put 2 or 3 small saucers in the freezer (these will be used to test the setting later on).
• Add the sugar and stir over a gentle heat for another 10 minutes until the sugar is completely
dissolved. You don’t want it to boil at this point as the sugar could crystallize. Once you can’t
feel or see any grains of sugar, bring to the boil and boil hard for 10 minutes, skimming the
surface as you go and stirring now and again to stop it catching. The jam will start to turn a
pinky red hue as it cooks.
• Spoon a little jam onto a chilled saucer, leave to cool then run your finger through it. If it’s
ready it will wrinkle up. If this doesn’t happen, boil for another 5 minutes, keep testing and
boiling until it does.
• Do a final skim on the finished jam then pour into the sterilised jars and seal. Store in a cool
dark place – the jam will be good for up to 6 months. Keep in the fridge once opened.

CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY BROWNIES
The idea of the monthly recipe is to focus very much on seasonal produce, generally available on
the average allotment at that particular time of year. As a result it tends to lean more towards
healthier vegetable based recipes, but this month its a bit of a treat……
Ingredients
200g dark chocolate broken into chunks
100g milk chocolate broken into chunks
250g pack salted butter
400g soft light brown sugar
4 large eggs
140g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
200g raspberries
Method:
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 20 x 30cm baking tray tin with baking parchment.
Put the chocolate, butter and sugar in a pan and gently melt, stirring occasionally with a wooden
spoon. Remove from the heat.
Stir the eggs, one by one, into the melted chocolate mixture. Sieve the flour and cocoa, and stir in.
Stir in half the raspberries, scrape into the tray, then scatter over the remaining raspberries. Bake
on the middle shelf for 30 minutes or, if you prefer a firmer texture, for 5 mins more.
Cool before slicing into squares. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days

Radishes are easy to grow, they are fast-growing and are usually ready to harvest
around four to six weeks from sowing. Although traditionally used in crunchy summer salads, they
can also make tasty side dishes and here are a couple of suggestions:
Herb braised radishes. Serves 4 and should take only around 15 minutes in total.
50g butter
350g mixed seasonal radishes
1 crushed garlic clove
100ml dry white wine
Large handful of mixed chopped fresh dill, parsley and mint
Instructions: After heating the butter in a large deep pan over a medium-high heat, add the
radishes, halved or quartered depending on size. Turn down the heat to medium and cook for 1
minute. Add the garlic and white wine. Turn up the heat and bubble for another 5 minutes until
most of the liquid has evaporated. Season to taste, then stir in a large handful of mixed chopped
fresh dill, parsley and mint. Serve warm.
Garlic Roasted Radishes. This different method of cooking radishes should bring out a sweetness
otherwise masked by the peppery kick that radishes are known for. Preparation time is around 10
minutes and cooking time about 15 minutes. Serves 4.
350g radishes, trimmed and halved
50g melted butter
1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper (both adjusted to taste)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 tsp dried parsley, dried chives or dried dill
Instructions: Preheat oven to 400f / 200c / Gas 6. In a bowl, combine the radishes, melted butter,
salt and pepper and toss until radishes are evenly coated (don’t add the garlic at this stage).
Spread the radishes out in a large baking dish, but don’t over crowd. Bake for 20-25 minutes,
tossing roughly every 10 minutes . Finally, add the minced garlic and dried parsley and bake for
another 5 minutes or until radishes are golden brown and cooked through.

An easy home-made coleslaw using a few vegetables often found on
the plot. Most of the ingredients are optional to some degree and the amounts of mayonnaise or
sour cream can be adjusted to taste, making it more or less creamy. Equally, sharpness can be
adjusted by tweaking the amount of vinegar and lemon used.
Ingredients
250ml mayonnaise or sour cream
zest and juice of one lemon (or orange, if preferred)
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
Around 375g very thinly sliced cabbage (mix of red and white if you have them)
2 carrots (approx 255g) cut into short, thin slices
1 large red onion, diced
2 sticks celery, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional extras, to taste:
Juice from 2 limes
1 tbsp of sugar or honey
A small handful of seeds: caraway, sunflower, sesame or poppy
Method
Whisk together mayonnaise, lemon zest and juice, vinegar, mustard and celery salt in a small bowl,
then season generously. Add cabbage, carrots, onion and celery. Mix well and refrigerate