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New feature - alphabetically ordered recipes...
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U VWXYZ

And introducing Twitter recipes - 140 characters or less - denoted by this colour and logo.

Apple and Sultana Chutney (easy)

1750 grams apples, 2 onions, 2 tins tomato, 170 g sultanas, 400 cider vinegar (I also used white malt vinegar), cloves, tsp ground coriander (home grown), stick of cinnamon, 6 to 12 cloves, good grind of pepper. This made just over 9 jars of chutney.

B
Deep Fried Broad Beans

Pod and skin, they burst if left. Fry in sunflower oil till brown and crispy. Salt and eat once cooled. Different but I like them - a bit!

Beef Burgers

Mix a packet of minced beef, one finely chopped onion, thyme, dash of Worcester sauce, mustard or horseradish, salt and pepper, pat into burgers and fry for a minute or so each side. Serve with (home-made ) bread and home-made tomato ketchup.

C
Chard 2010

I was a bit baffled the other day when a fellow allotmenteer asked what we did with chard, especially when he said that he stir fried the stems but didn't know what to do with the leafy bits. I had always used the leaves and composted the stems, until I had the idea of stir frying them. Here are a few favourite recipes.

Chard (or Spinach) Balls 2011
Cook 500g chard / spinach, drain and squeeze out the water. Chop roughly. Beat an egg and add to four tablespoons of Parmesan, quarter of a nutmeg grated, 30 grams dry bread crumbs and salt and pepper. Then mix into the chard. Roll into balls or burger shapes amd shallowf ry in olive oil.

Stir Fried Chard Stems 2011
Slice the chard stalks cross ways into one inch pieces. Slice an onion, and then stir fry. Once cooked add chilli (optional) and oyster sauce.

See also Potato and Chard Cakes below

See also Potato and Chard Cake

Coriander

Coriander gone to seed? Cut the plants and hang upside down in the airing cupboard till dry. Pull seeds off - this stuff is really pungent.

Courgettes

Courgettes are in full flow at the moment (July to September). Try these recipes:

Deconstructed Minimalist Courgette Mix

Gently soften a sliced onion in olive oil. Add sliced courgettes and once cooked, throw in some deseeded tomatoes chopped small. Season and flavour with your favourite herb - parsley, tarragon or whatever. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

Variation: Sprinkle with 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar, add a glug of white wine or cider vinegar, cook rapidly to boil off the liquid whilst stirring in the vegetables.

Variation 2: Don't just stick to the recipes - mix it up a bit - try spring onions, mushrooms, chilli, and / or finish off with a dash of Tabasco and / or Worcester Sauce. Got something left over in the fridge? Sling it in - within reason!

Courgette Souffle

Heat 300 ml milk. Set oven to 190°C.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan, add finely chopped clove of garlic and 500 grams of finely sliced courgettes. Cook slowly so that they soften but don't brown, stir frequently for about 20 minutes. Mash into a rough paste and leave to one side. You can now freeze this and make the souffles later in the year.

Melt 50 grams butter, add 50 grams plain flour, mix and cook for about a minute. Gradually stir in 300 ml hot milk till the mixture is thick, season with salt and pepper then mix with the courgettes, 3 egg yokes, 50 grams grated cheese (Cheddar / Gruyere).

Whisk 4 egg whites till stiff, mix a third with the courgette mixture then fold in the remainder. Put into 6 greased ramekins or a larger souffle dish. Bake for about 15 minutes for small, 25 minutes for medium up to 35 minutes.

Serve immediately. My sons dislike courgettes but love these...

Lemonade recipe from 2008 plant swap

Ingredients
1 large lemon - peel, squeeze
1 lb granulated sugar
1 ½ pints boiling water
1 dessertspoon citric acid

Method
Peel & squeeze lemon, dissolve sugar in the water. Mix all ingredients including the peel. Leave to cool for 24 hours. Remove peel. Bottle and refrigerate.
Use at will (diluted to taste).

P
Potato and Chard Cakes

Remove (but don't throw away) the stalks. Cook the chard by putting it in a large pan, sprinkle with water, salt and cover. Cook until wilted. Drain and squeeze the water out. Rough chop. Grate some potatoes, mix with the chard and some pepper. Pat into burger shapes, or into crumpet rings. Fry each side in olive oil until crispy on the outside.

R
Radish

Thinly slice some radish, cover with white wine vinegar and a scattering of tarragon leaves. Leave for 30 minutes or more. Drain and serve.

Starter Dough and bread

Mix 50g strong wholemeal flour, 15 ml milk and 15-30 ml of water to make a soft dough. Cover with a cloth and place in the airing cupboard for 48 hours. Remove and discard the crust - it should smell slightly unpleasant. Mix in 30 ml water and 115g wholemeal flour. Leave covered in the airing cupboard for another 48 hours. Remove and discard crust. Mix in 60 ml water, then add 115g strong white flour - to a consistency like porridge. Leave in the airing cupboard for 12 hours. By now it should smell quite sweet. Repeat the last step.

You can now make bread. Mix 500 g strong white flour in a bowl. Tip half the starter mixture in. Add salt to taste (I use mustard spoons). Mix water to make a dough. Leave to prove for at least 2 hours till doubled in size.

Knock back the dough, and put in a greased bread tin, or on a floured metal plate if you want a freeform loaf. Leave for an hour or so till doubled again and at suitable point sert your oven to 225. Place in the loaf in the middle of the oven. Leave for 15 minutes, remove the loaf from the tin, turn the oven down to 180 - 200, and bake upside down for another 10 - 15 minutes till the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Leave for at least an hour before eating - if you can.

From now on you need to feed your starter dough. Each day add about 50 ml water, mix well, then add white or wholemeal flour. The amount varies and I do it by eye. If I need another loaf soon, I make a wet dough (maybe by adding extra water as well). If I want to slow it down I make the dough quite stiff. It is not crucial to feed every day. If you want to go on holiday, it will keep in the fridge for a week, otherwise freeze it and reawaken when you return.

Vary your loaves by adding different flours (I do about one to four mix) - rye, medium oatmeal, wholemeal, or other ingredients - sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, herbs etc. Enjoy!!

Tomatoes

If your tomatoes are showing the signs of blight and the good ones are still green try my friend Tony's "most recent green tomato chutney". If your tomatoes taste rather dull, try the oven dried and / or the dried tomatoes in oil recipes.

Tony's Most Recent Green Tomato Chutney (2005!)

6lbs green tomatoes	2lbs onions
3 inches root ginger	1 bulb garlic
2 teaspoons sumak	24 small dried red chillis
2 teaspoons ginger	2 fresh green chillis
2 teaspoons cinnamon	1 kg white sugar
2 teaspoons cumin	2 pints malt vinegar

Chop tomatoes, onion, garlic and green chillies, mix everything together, bring to the boil and then simmer until thick and pot.

Tony uses this recipe for any old thing - apples, small sharp grapes from the greenhouse and onion, fennel and mustard seeds. Just stick anything you like in. I haven't tried myself yet but intend to do just that with bits and pieces. Results (if good) will appear here. Tony obviously sits on the fence regarding imperial and metric measures! This makes about 12 370g jars.

Oven Dried Tomatoes

Rescue bland tomatoes - oven to 180°C. Halve tomatoes, core, sprinkle with sugar & thyme, place on an oven tray and dry till moist and firm.

Slow Dried Tomatoes in Oil

This is from the River Cottage Preserves book by Pam Corbin.

Set oven to 100° C. Cut 2 kg tomatoes in half, remove core, pips and juice (the latter two can be pushed through a sieve to make tomato juice). Place cut side up, sprinkle with salt and sugar, then arrange cut side down on a rack over an oven tray, and place in the oven. This can take anything from 6 hours upwards - I used an Aga warming oven (finally - a use for an Aga) and it took about 7 hours. Check them carefully at the later stages as some may dry out faster than others. They should not be completely dry but should still be firm and moist.

Place in a shallow bowl, add 100 ml white wine vinegar for 30 minutes. Then pack in sterilised jars, distribute the vinegar, then cover with 200 to 300 ml of olive, rapeseed or sunflower oil.

Use within 6 weeks.

Tomato Ketchup

I've always thought that Heinz tomato sauce was good. Then I tried Tiptrees version which was nicer. Then I made my own which is awesome (nothing at all to do with my brilliance, but all thanks to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe on which this is heavily based).

Chop up 6kg tomatoes, 8 onions, 2 deseeded red peppers, simmer till soft - then blitz it in a Magimix or blender and then push it through a coarse sieve. Return to the pan with 150 grams brown sugar and 500 ml cider vinegar. Add a muslin bag with a tablespoon each of mustard seed, whole allspice, whole cloves, ground mace, celery seeds (I never have these and haven't used them), black pepper corns plus a cinnamon stick, 4 bay leaves, and a peeled garlic clove. Then simmer till thick - until a channel is visible for a second or two when you scrape the bottom of the pan with the spoon. Remove muslin bag and bottle your ketchup. Warning - keep this away from the kids cos they'll scoff the lot (I speak from experience). Try it with home made burgers. MWAH!