Summer Chicken Stew

So this is the amazing stew I made on Monday out of our haul from the allotment. I make this every year with the first of our broad beans, potatoes, carrots and onions; it's becoming a bit of a tradition - although it is later this year than usual. The recipe is by Tamasin Day Lewis, seen on Market Kitchen, and I have mentioned it before, but this time I will share the recipe - though I'll leave quantities up to you as really you can just use however much you've got. It's the lovage and mint that makes it really special!

Summer Chicken Stew

• Roughly chop an onion and saute in a little oil until just translucent.
• Add chicken pieces (bone in, skin on) to the pan, skin side down, and brown. Turn them over and briefly brown the flesh side too, then remove from the pan.
• Add new potatoes to the pan (washed, skins on) and coat in the chicken fat. Then place the chicken pieces back in, on top of the potatoes, and add chicken stock to cover.
• Add baby carrots.
• Bring to the boil, then reduce to a bare simmer.
• Boil or steam the broad beans, and pop them from their skins if you like (I don't bother).
• After the stew has been simmering for 50 minutes, add peas and a few chopped lovage leaves.
• After 10 more minutes, add the cooked broad beans.
• Check the potatoes are cooked through, check seasoning, add chopped mint off the heat, and serve.

Broad Beans

I have never had any problems with broad beans, apart from the inevitable and temporary blackfly on the foliage.

This year, I have broad beans that look like this...

...and broad beans that look like this...

...and broad beans that look like this...

...and broad beans that look like this, with little maggoty things crawling round them.

In fact, this is my entire edible broad bean harvest for the year.

Oh well.

Allotment Update

We spent some time at the allotment today, for the first time in a good week and a half, and we were dismayed to find it looking rather sorry for itself. The hot dry weather has left everything looking a bit droopy...

...the pond terribly dry (spot the frog - I don't think he minds!)...

...and most of the lettuces and some beetroots threatening to bolt. The potato plants are rather small and pathetic, and the strawberry patch looks like this:

Do strawberries just attract weeds or what?

The brassicas - despite their cage - have managed to develop a serious aphid infestation...

...although there are plenty of ladybirds doing their best to deal with the problem, and we relocated more while we weeded and watered.

The runner beans, too, are suffering from the dry atmosphere - thanks Matron for clueing me up to what's going on here!

The flowers don't set beans when the air is too dry - misting with water regularly can solve the problem. I won't get the chance to do that, what with the plot a bus ride away, but I watered the foliage and flowers generously today in an attempt to help a little.

Of course, it's never all bad news. Here are some young squashes which are doing well despite the dryness:

We also managed at last to plant our 'everlasting' cauliflowers, protected by a cage of strings and canes, although this won't keep the butterflies off and I'll have to keep a close eye on them. We won't expect anything from these until next spring, but I can't wait to see how they do!

We got our first harvest of potatoes too - though they were just bite-size - a few little carrots, some broad beans and some diminutive onions which looked like they had given up for the year.

Ooooh, I feel a stew coming on...

Nome Makes Pickle!

Yes, I have had my first go at some proper preserving. Well, semi-proper preserving - I mean, this isn't going to make it to winter or anything. Must buy some decent bottling jars...

Having picked a huge armload of courgettes before moving, I've been doing all I can to make sure that none go to waste this year. And this courgette pickle seemed a good way to do it.

There are dozens of variations of this recipe on the internet, so I don't really know who to credit it to, and my variation is slightly different to all the others anyway. It's really simple so there's no excuse not to give it a go!

Courgette Pickle
(makes about 1 litre)

• Finely dice 500g courgettes and a small onion. Place in a bowl with 2 tbsps sea salt and just enough cold water to cover. Keep chilled for one hour.
• Put 500ml cider vinegar in a pan with 120g sugar, 2 or 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 tsps mustard seeds, 1 tsp mustard powder and 1 tsp turmeric. Simmer for a few minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.
• Drain and dry the courgettes (in a towel in batches), then mix into the pickling liquid and pour into jars.
• Leave for a couple of days before eating, for the flavours to combine and the veg to soften.
  

When I started looking for a pickle recipe, I guess I was really looking for a chutney recipe - more of a spreadable condiment - whereas what I got was courgettes floating in vinegar: pickled courgettes. I had not thought about the difference - after all, you buy sweet 'pickle', Branston's 'pickle' and ploughman's 'pickle' in the supermarket and they are all chunky spreads, not things in vinegar!

Still, the pickle is delicious and went down well with the whole family. We've been eating it mostly in ham sandwiches, and with cheese. I expect it will last a good few weeks in the fridge. Next time I will make more and give some away!

Garden Update. With Cucumbers!

While we have moved to a much smaller home this week, the garden pots and tubs have moved to a much bigger one! Not that there's much spare room - Mum is a keen gardener too and prefers a wild, woodlandy look (in a good way!) - but we have squeezed them in for now and will tidy them up later. Our shady little concrete yard was never ideal for growing... well, very much at all, really... but my parents' garden is pretty big and gets sun for most of the day. And the plants certainly seem to have enjoyed the change...

The cucumbers, which seemed to have all been stuck at an inch long for ages, have multiplied many times in size (four or five times in length) since the weekend. I can't wait to pick these babies!

The chilli buds have bloomed. Although I'm concerned to see there are no signs of flowers whatsoever on one plant (out of two). At the same time, something has started eating little holes in the leaves. There are no bugs to be seen, at any time of day. What eats chilli plants?

And the bergamot, which was getting weak and spindly in the shade of the old garden, has flowered too. The bees love it! The bergamot on the allotment is far behind this one - I wonder why.

The rocket, mustard, mizuna and cress has not fared so well; what with the incredible heat over the weekend, little watering (to avoid making the pots too heavy to lift) and the move itself, they have all gone to flower. No more of them until the autumn, I think.

Two or three weeks ago, I planted six tomato plants in growbags on Mum's patio - so that I wouldn't have to try moving growbags without disturbing the plants. I hadn't seen them since then, but now I am pleased to find they have formed their first little green tomatoes. Woo!