Pea & Broad Bean Risotto is one of my favourite spring dishes with young tender broad beans and peas fresh from the garden paired with mint. 4 cups Vegetable Stock 1/2 cup wine (optional) 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp butter 1 small onion, finely diced 1 cup Arborio rice 3/4 cup peas (I had to use frozen as my peas didn't survive the winter storms) 3/4 cup broad beans 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped 2 tbsp crumbled feta (optional) Bring stock and … [Read more...]
Vegetable Bubble and Squeak
This recipe is based on the traditional 'bubble and squeak' where all your leftovers are cooked up together to make a tasty meal the next day. I never have that many leftovers of things that would be suitable but this dish is so tasty that it is worth cooking everything especially for it. You can mix up the different ingredients depending on what you have in the fridge or garden at the time. If you are careful when you turn it out from the pan you can create an amazing looking dish that can … [Read more...]
Growing Peas & Beans
There is nothing as satisfying as picking a big pile of beans and peas fresh from the garden and serving them ready to eat 10 minutes later. Peas and beans are very easy to grow from seed or from seedlings from the garden centre. Just make sure you protect them from the slugs and snails that love the fresh new shoots and the birds that dig them up and toss them around when they are looking for worms. There are several different types of beans to try. I'm growing Scarlet Runner beans this … [Read more...]
Peas fresh from the Garden
There is nothing like eating peas fresh from the garden. Previously though, that was about all I could do with them - there would only be a few at a time, so the best thing to do was to eat them then and there. Sometimes I would get a slightly bigger handful and be able to add them to a salad along with other things. This year I decided that I wanted to have enough peas to really use. I planted 'Sugar Snap' peas so that I could have the option of using the pods whole or waiting a bit … [Read more...]