Seven Courgettes

Harvested my first seven courgettes from the garden today.

So tonight we will be eating....

Courgette and Bacon Frittata


I usually use 1 medium sized courgette per person, and 1 slice of bacon per person and adjust the eggs  accordingly.


Heat some veg oil in a non-stick frying pan, fry courgettes, bacon and a large onion chopped finely, for a few minutes until the onion is soft and golden.


For the frittata mix:

2 tbspn fresh thyme
1 tbspn fresh rosemary
2 eggs
salt and pepper

Whisk together, then pour over the courgettes, bacon and onion in the pan, season a little more if required - depends on the saltiness of your bacon usually.

Cook over a low heat for about 4 minutes, or until set, then grill for a couple of minutes to brown the top, garnish with a few fresh leaves of thyme.

The frittata will be accompanied tonight with some freshly dug salad potatoes, boiled in their skins, then once cooled, a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise stirred through them, seasoned and a liberal sprinkling of freshly chopped dill fronds.

Off to watch the fireworks later for our local town's summer festival, bands in the street, a fair with rides, tables and chairs in the road outside the cafe, free fireworks set to music.  Lovely.

Weekend catch up - card making and a quick supper

I went to write a couple of birthday cards on Saturday and discovered that my stocks are severely depleted.

Card making was the first craft thing that I got into, and still enjoy, but you only need so many at a time.  But with only a couple of all occasion cards and a couple of birthday cards left it was time to get gluestick to the card and make some more.

I usually get caught in a theme and make a batch of about 5 or 6 cards at a go from the theme and currently I am well and truly hooked on Matroyshka dolls.

I had a quick look around the web for a suitable template but did not find anything that would suit my card sizes (15 x 10cm and 17 x 14 cm) so decided to make my own.  Out comes the trusty squared paper (I may have mentioned before that squared paper is one of my little pleasures in life), got the school geometry set out and made my own template.

I know I am not showing you the finished products but you may be receiving one so I don't want to spoil the surprise.

The main body is made from magazine pages, scrounged wrapping papers, hand decorated tissue papers and wall paper, then the head scarf is cut out as a separate piece, the face is some fleshy pink paper with the hair line and face hand drawn on.

I am going to see if I can get this as a pdf file for people to download and use from here.

Anyway, today's (Sunday's) car booting was not a great haul, but the drinkies and lunch with friends this afternoon was a great success, leaving me with little time for a project - so here is a great tasty quick and easy supper.


Baked Salmon and Garden Fresh Peas.



1 x salmon steak per peson
1 x cup fresh garden peas per person
1 teaspoon of butter per salmon steak
Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to season
1 lemon cut into thin slices

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Take a shallow oven dish and put the peas in the bottom
Place a knob of butter on the peas, and balance the steak on top
Cover with a couple of slices of lemon
Season, then bake covered in the oven for 30 minutes.
Purists may say that is too long for salmon but I like mine cooked through, bake yours for less time if you prefer but the lemon and butter will stop it from drying out, and covering will keep the peas steam cooking without them becoming mushy.
If you like your peas mushy, boil them for a couple of minutes before baking or use frozen peas as these will be softer than fresh garden peas regardless of cooking times.

Garden Pea Risotto recipe

I'm on a roll now.  With things finally ready to eat from the garden, I am continuing my domestic goddess impersonation with another fresh from the garden recipe today.

Garden Pea Risotto

2 tablespoons olive oil
risotto rice (1 cupped handful per person)
1 crushed garlic clove
1 finely chopped onion
fresh peas (or frozen) - same volume of peas as rice
1 small glass / 150 ml white wine
2 litres of veg or chicken stock - you may require less depending on how many people / how much rice you are using


For the best flavour, if you can; start the risotto cooking then nip out to pick your peas for the ulitmate in fresh food, if not, pick peas then leave in a bowl in the freezer, start the risotto then use the peas when required by the recipe, but don't leave them in there longer than half an hour.

Fry a finely chopped onion and a crushed garlic clove in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

To the oil add a cupped handful of risotto rice per person.  For risotto you do need risotto rice, otherwise you don't get that creamy texture.  If you use normal rice you get a very good rice side dish though, so it is a win win situation!

Fry the rice gently until it is transparent, then add a small glass of white wine and let boil for a couple of minutes to eradicate the alcohol.

Turn down the heat, and start ladling in the stock, a spoonful at a time; as each spoonful is absorbed add another.  You may not need all the stock depending on how much rice you are using, for 2 people a litre should be enough for the 2 cups of rice, and 1.5 litres for three people, and 2 litres for 4 people and 4 cups of rice.

When the rice has been cooking for about 15 minutes, add the peas, and cook for a further 5 minutes.

The risotto rice should be creamy and soft on the outside but a little firm on the inside, and there should be enough liquid to coat each grain and leave a smear on the plate without the rice swimming in stock and needing a bowl to hold it all together.

At this point you can stir in some butter for extra creaminess, or some grated cheese.  I like mine as is with a couple of sprigs of mint on top.