Tuesday 7 February 2012

Weekend eating

I've been forgetting to post about the fish Graeme's been catching recently. I wonder if it's because I'm trying to block out his encounter with a shark?... Hmmmmm

Anyway, the red morwong and black drummer fillets were cooked with capers, lemon, butter and fresh tarragon. Simple but very very good. Especially with creamy parmesan polenta. 


Those pools are lemon juice, not butter...
OK, maybe a bit of butter...

The garden needs a bit of TLC at the moment. The layers have all sunk down, so a lot of the plants have suffered from not being exposed to full sun. Add to that all the rain we've been having and the tomato plants were a mess. Most of the fruit had split skins, and had started rotting.

I'm experimenting as I go along, taking herbs out of the garden and putting them into pots to make room for more salads. But I start one thing and often don't get to see it through, and before I know it another week has gone past, and it's a mess again.

While Kian will sit on the grass for a few minutes, he now thinks it's fun to walk around the beds ripping all the leaves out. He started with the marigolds, which I let him de-head, but then when I wasn't looking he'd pulled out beetroot, an entire coriander plant and one strawberry plant. So having Kian out there just makes more work.



But Graeme and I did need 20 minutes or so to clear the other bed, and build the layers back up, so we thought a bucket of water would keep him amused for that long.

Except he tried to climb into it head first and almost got stuck (with his head in the water).

We can't take our eyes off him for a second. So it just meant he stayed on my hip, while Graeme shovelled.



Most of the tomatoes this week were no good, but I still managed to pick a couple of baskets' worth.


Tomatoes and purple carrots ready to go into the oven...


And earlier that day some pitta breads for lunch...



I've picked up all the green tomatoes off the ground that must have fallen off in the rain. What would you do with a great big bowl of green tomatoes? Chutney?

Actually, Graeme's just picked four green chillies from his chilli plant, so a green tomato chutney might be just the thing. 

(In my head, yes. It makes perfect sense. A green tomato chutney with a nice kick from Graeme's chillies. Hey, I could even make enough to give away a few jars as gifts. Trouble is, I keep looking at these tomatoes in the fridge and saying 'I must do something with them'. I'm feeling lazy this week, and, well chutney doesn't offer quite the same reward as chocolate cake, does it? I mean, I'll leave Pinterest to make custard, even bread. But chutney?)



P.S. I've been beavering away over the last few weeks trying to finish my story. My blog is a big work in progress, but at least I've finished one page!

6 comments:

  1. Our poor vegie patch has suffered recently with the recent heat wave here in Perth :( My poor cherry tomatoes have been scorched and my coriander (a plant which I never seem to have any luck with) has just vanished. I'm waiting for cooler weather before more vegies get planted. Our herbs are in pots too, just make sure they're not too teeny tiny or they dry out. Your fish and polenta dish looks delicious!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't a coriander a pain?!!! This last plant had gone to seed and I was going to see if it would be better self-sown. But, alas, Kian took care of that and took the whole thing out. Couldn't manage coriander in England and can't do it over here either! Wish I knew how to stop it from bolting upwards. Good point you make about the pots, because my mint in the pot looks a bit miserable, so maybe it's thirsty. Thanks Amanda.

      Delete
  2. I keep looking at a stack of tomatoes in my fridge (alas, not home-grown) waiting for inspiration. I have chutney plans too, and sauce. That's an amazing haul of yours, considering most were no good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah thanks! I can't quite believe it myself. I put it down to a combination of the no-dig gardening method we're using, the lovely organic manures, and our own worm juice. But really, I don't have a clue!

      Delete
  3. So if chutney doesn't have the same appeal as chocolate cake... where's my chocolate cake.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those tomatoes look amazing! nice to meet you too Vanessa! thanks for stopping by my blog. x

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for popping over. I'd love to hear from you. Even if it's just to say hello.

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.