Recipes

The following recipes are included for those veg, we always seem to have a glut of, marrows and courgettes being obvious candidates; and some you can't easily buy at the supermarket, at least not in their prime. For a comprehensive selection of recipes geared to allotmenteers look at the Allotment Vegetable Growing site, under 'Real Recipes Jams etc.'. For a good general cookery book try 'Delia's Complete Cookery Course' (Delia Smith, of course, - Paperback £12.00 or less new.) and the 'Good Housekeeping Cookery Book: The Cook's Classic Companion' (Good Housekeeping Institute - Hardback £25.00 or less new.) For a really good recipe book - compile your own!

• Baked Stuffed Marrow
• Runner Beans with Garlic
• Tomato and Courgette Bake

Baked Stuffed Marrow

Marrows will keep in a dark, dry place for months, provided the frost doesn't get to them, in which case they turn to mush; so there shouldn't really be a glut. You could use a fresh or stored marrow for this recipe: with a fresh one everything can be eaten; with one stored for any length of time the outer green 'rind' will be too tough, everything else will be just fine however.

If you've got any Red Leicester sprinkle a few coarsely grated flecks on top of the sauce to brighten it up (add before the made up marrow goes back in for its last 20 minutes.) I've never tried freezing this, but knowing what happens to a fresh one I wouldn't recommend trying; kept in the fridge for a few days, however, it does warm up well.

As you'll probably have to buy 500g mince, use the other 200g to make couple of beef burgers.

Runner Beans with Garlic

The two variations both require beans at their peak to really work and the strict picking requirements can be best met if you grow your own. If you don't know a really good greengrocer these recipes is probably out of reach. Neither can be frozen nor made with frozen beans.

• Ideally use a stringless runner bean variety such as Armstrong or Polestar, and keep well watered if growing your own.
• The beans must be picked at the 'right' time. i.e. the pods should be just starting to show the bumps where the embryonic beans are forming. Too early and the pods won't have filled out to their juicy best, too late and the bean cavities will have started to form a tough lining. You'll know if you've got it right in the kitchen; the pods should cut easily with little pressure and the beans should be not much bigger that a large pin head, a small pea at the very most.

Simple version.

This simple dish is an excellent accompaniment to pizza, quiche or lasagne etc. served warm or at room temperature, almost a salad. (Doesn't really go with the Sunday roast though.) Hardly a recipe, more technique that takes only about 15 minutes to make from start to end once you get the hang of it (plus standing time). If you're not used to raw garlic start with one clove and build up to three over time.

250   gm. Runner Beans. 1 to 3 Cloves Garlic          Dressing   150 ml.   Virgin Olive Oil 50 ml.   Vinegar (Sherry vinegar if you have any) Salt

1. Cut the beans diagonally into sort of irregular diamond shapes and put into a generous sized pan which has a tight fitting lid. (If not using a stringless variety carefully de-string first.)
2. Add about 1 cm. of boiling water, slam on the lid and turn the heat up to full blast. When steam starts to escape from the lid turn the heat down until steam is only just escaping; the beans are steamed rather than boiled.
3. Time for 5 minutes, at most. (The beans should still have a bite and definitely not be soft.)
4. Make up the dressing. Put the oil and vinegar in a jar and shake until thoroughly mixed. You won't need anything like the full 200 ml. but what's left over will keep in the fridge for weeks and can be used as a simple salad dressing.
5. Lightly crush the garlic, peal and chop into little flakes.
6. As soon as the beans are done drain thoroughly (any residual water will dilute the dressing), return to the hot pan, add the chopped garlic, a generous pinch of salt and enough dressing to just coat the beans, but not leave any liquid at the bottom of the pan. Toss carefully, put the lid back on and leave to stand for 20 to 30 minutes.

Serves two generously, up to four at a pinch, but the recipe can be scaled up without a single calculation! Even after resting for 30 minutes the beans should still be quite warm, if not a few seconds in the microwave will sort them out; or simply serve at room temperature.

   500   gm.	Runner Beans.

      1 		Lemmon, grated zest only

      2		Cloves Garlic, at least

    1/2		Small stale white loaf, see note below

     60	gm.	Butter

      2	tbs.	chopped fresh sage leaves, or 2 tsp dried.

      1	handful	chopped fresh parsley

		salt

1. Cut the beans diagonally into sort of irregular diamond shapes and put into a generous sized pan which has a tight fitting lid. (If not using a stringless variety carefully de-string first.)
2. Add about 1 cm. of boiling water, slam on the lid and turn the heat up to full blast. When steam starts to escape from the lid turn the heat down until steam is only just escaping; the beans are steamed rather than boiled.
3. Time for 5 minutes, at most. (The beans should still have a bite and definitely not be soft.)
4. Remove the crust from the bread and crumble, a food processor makes short work of this. (See note below.)
5. Melt the butter in a shallow pan and add the crushed and chopped garlic, sage, parsley and lemon zest, stir them gently for a minute or so but don't let them colour.
6. Add the crumbs and stir until all the butter has been absorbed and the crumbs are starting to colour up and crispen.
7. Transfer the well drained warm beans to a serving dish and pour over the garlic crumbs..

Note:- Most of us buy our bread at the supermarket where it has been steam baked. Fresh, it has the texture of damp cotton wool and is almost impossible to crumb, but traditional dry oven baked bread is not that easy to come by and tends to be significantly more expensive. If using supermarket bread it's best used stale and cut into chunks after de-crusting then left to dry out for a few hours.

Serves 4 to 6 and at it's best served warm.

There are many old wives tales about the beneficial effects of garlic, raw in particular. Once dismissed by science as unproven, some are now fully accepted by the scientific community. In Spain there is a salutation (as in 'yours sincerely'), occasionally a toast, Salud y pesetas (health and 'wealth'), to which is sometimes added y fuerzas en las braguetas (and strength in 'our briefs'). Whereas garlic's claim to the first is accepted, its claim to the second, to the best of my knowledge, remains unproven. If you intend to investigate for yourself make sure you share the meal with the object of your affections, or you may not get close enough to find out!

 

Tomato and Courgette Bake

There are hundreds of varieties of tomato, I grow just two, Gardeners Delight, a flavourful 'desert' tomato to eat raw, and Roma, a firm fleshy plum one with few seeds to cook with. This dish is best made with a 'cooking' variety like Roma. The standard Supermarket varieties tend to be 'desert' tomatoes which are OK but give a wetter dish with a less intense tomato flavour.

This dish is really simple. The quantities given below make a lunch or supper for two served with some crusty bread. But basically what's needed is enough fried courgettes to cover the dish (they shrink a bit when sautéed) and enough raw tomatoes to form a second layer. If you're very fond of cheese then add more. If you're not too fond of the skins peal the tomatoes first - I don't bother.) The dish used in the photo is 23 x16cm. rim to rim (£4.00 Tesco's Value range.) The two tomatoes pictured are Roma (left) and  Gardeners Delight.

450 gm.    Courgettes (2 or 3 150 to 200 long) 200 gm. Tomatoes (4 or so)    75 gm. Mature Cheddar Cheese 2 tsp. Dried Oregano (or to taste) Some. Oil Pepper Salt