Fantastic Pumpkins from Le parc de la Tete D'Or, Lyon

The Good Life - Jack Frost has arrived

 Donabate beach on Sunday afternoon

From Wednesday we have had a number of hard ground frosts coating the raised beds until the sun has reached a sufficient height in the sky to bring about a thaw. The largely clear skies are perfect for a significant drop in temperatures overnight but equally provide stunning bright sunshine during the day. The advent of the colder harsh conditions spell the end for the gentle lola rosa and gem lettuce. On Sunday morning it was possible to see the tops of these lettuce plants wilting as a result of the hard bite of these first  frosts. In contrast the hardier winter leaves such as mustard and mache should survive the chill.

 The sorrel patch (not very exciting really)

Sunday morning was quite cold and for the first time this year I began to lose a little dexterity in my hands as a result. A warm and comforting fish pie was on the menu for the evening meal and I arrived at the allotment to harvest some sorrel to accompnay the pie. The dew from the previous evening had frozen where it had gatghered and collected on the back of some of the sorrel leaves and the crisp stems broke easily as I collected the rich green leaves. This spinach like leaf can be cooked in a similar manner to spinach but must only be cooked until just wilted, because it is easily overcooked. In a similar manner to spinach, cream can be added to the wilted leaves and warmed through prior to serving. Sorrel can have a very tangy and lively flavour and the cream can moderate this for those that just cannot cope.

There is an old wives tale that says you should not harvest the kale prior to the first frost.We have a number of plants therefore that have just come into the frame to add to our weekly harvest; both the purple and green kale plants are strong and healthy at this time of year.

The kale patch

Another evening trip to the hidden orchard across sodden wet fields and deep ditches, has provided us with a fresh supply of apples to be used in our green tomato and apple chutney. The tomatoes that are still green at this stage are unlikely to ripen so it is time to use them or lose them. For this chutney you will need a large preserving pan preferably stainless steel and about 10 or 12 sterilised jam jars. The ingredients are as follows: 1 kilo of green tomatoes washed and chopped; 1 kilo of chopped or grated cooking apples; 450g of chopped onion; one or two cloves of garlic crushed and chopped; 350g of demerara sugar and 350g of white sugar; 450g sultanas; 900ml of vinegar (I use cider vinegar but you can use white wine vinegar if you wish); three teaspoons of pickling spice made up with a mixture of cloves, mace, coriander seed, yellow mustard seed and few dried chillies.

This monster mix of chutney does reduce in volume as it cooks so the contents of the preserving pan should reduce as time goes on allowing for the additional ingredients. To start the process put the pickling spices into a muslin sack or stocking and heat the vinegar gently before adding the chopped onions. Cook the onions for  about 10 minutes before adding the chopped green tomatoes and apple. Keep on cooking over a moderate heat until the apple and tomato have softened. This could take about 40 minutes (or more) and the chutney should be stirred occasionally to prevent the ingredients from sticking. Once the apple and tomato has softened you can add the sultanas and stir them in followed by the sugar. Reduce the heat until the sugar has dissolved and then raise the temperature or heat over a high flame until the chutney has attained the consistency of a thick jam. Add a little salt and freshly ground pepper to season. The chutney can then be spooned into the sterilised jars and sealed down, labeled and placed in a cool dry spot for two months or more.

The recent good supply of apples has resulted in numerous giant apple crumbles and apple tarts spiced alternately with cinnamon and clove being constructed over the last two weeks. For one dish I managed to get 16 decently sized apples into a deep crumble. I know I am due to make a Dorset apple pie and  Eve's pudding before long, but in the meantime apple juice in the mornings has been balanced with apple sauce in the evenings; Corinne likes black pudding with apple sauce. In the last few days while reading papers and magazines my eye has been drawn towards any old recipe or article with apples in an attempt to use them. Last night Corinne suddenly produced a bag of fresh walnuts she brought back from Franche Comté; therefore an apple and walnut salad appears to be a reasonable prospect to accompany this evening's meal. If that was not enough, I am being fed slices of peeled apple as I type, but despite this largescale consumption of apples we will eventually have to preserve some of the remaining apples, and may be required to add to our considerable stores of chutney by embarking on a production of apple chutney in the next week or two.

The Good Life - Harvest on the 9th October

Pumpkin, patisson, leeks, scallions, onions and carrots together with parsley, rosemary, lola rosa and gem lettuce and some bolets from the forest

Many of the beds have now been cleared and weeded. Harry is slaving away during the week acquiring manure and preparing the beds for next year's season. In other areas he has dug, composted and raked to perfection the new beds where onions have been sewn.

This year's crop is coming to its natural end. The cabbages, Brussels sprouts, Jerusalem artichokes and leeks are hardy enough to survive into the winter. However, as the night time temperatures drop this week to within two or three degrees of freezing point, guaranteeing a ground frost, our lettuce may not survive too much longer. Of the remaining salad leaves planted we are hopeful the mustard, rocket and mache will continue to make a contribution to our salad bowl.

The Good Life - The Gathering

 

Detail of fall gold raspberries, autumn bliss and wild strawberries

Autumn is in full flight. Our raspberry canes are laden with large ripe berries; the stems bend a little too easily under their weight in the cool wind. Elsewhere the fiery red rose hips shine like rubies, all but a few just out of reach suspended above a deep wet ditch. The hedgerows have not produced too many damsons or wild plums this year in comparison to last year and some trees have nearly no fruit. The fragile ripe elderberries have all but disappeared, driven from their web like stems by the wind in the last few days. Among the briers near the allotment the blackberries have plumped up and are bursting with flavour. In the last week we have been coming home with fingers heavily stained from the blackberry and raspberry collection, and have been picking thorns from our hands and clothing for the next few days; occupational hazards of sorts!

Jam and jelly making has almost become a daily routine. We have made blackberry jelly, hedgerow jelly and raspberry jam in recent days. The blackberry jelly is very easy to make and I believe it is far superior to blackberry jam. For every 500grams of fruit in a preserving pan I add about 150mils of water (give or take), and cook the berries until much of the juice is released. To complete the process the berries are pressed with the invaluable assistance of a potato masher. The juice and pulp should then be strained through a jelly bag or fine nylon sieve overnight. 

The next day weigh the juice and measure out an equal weight of sugar. Bring the juice to a simmer and add the sugar. Continue to stir until the sugar is dissolved and then boil rapidly until setting point is reached, then spoon into sterile jars and seal down. Some recipes recommend the use of a pound of sugar to a pint of juice, however I believe the set produced using an equal weight of juice to sugar produces a softer set. It is important to note that you should not start making a jelly with less than a kilo of fruit. The average yield of jelly from a ripe fruit or blackberry is just a little less than three 450gram jars.

In the last days of September, and early October, we have been out exploring the birch forests searching for mushrooms which have arrived following the passing of the full moon. In past years we had to examine the forest floor quite carefully and search through the undergrowth and briers to find the bolets. Last year there was a very disappointing mushroom season, but this year we have been practically falling over them. This abundance of mushrooms has changed our collection habits, and we now leave more mature examples which we would have picked in the past concentrating on picking the younger and firmer specimens. These young mushrooms are very good when added to risottos and omelets. They can also be fried in butter, salt and pepper, and frozen in portions for future use to avoid the obvious health dangers associated with gorging on wild mushroom risotto on a daily basis.

A large brown birch bolet in its natural surroundings with my No.10 opinel for scale

Corinne's bolet collection

Our biggest pumpkin matured earlier than expected sprouting legs and left the allotment of his own free will last week. We wish him well on his journey and hope he makes it through the Halloween period without coming to harm. Obviously we have increase security and issued instructions to the other inmates informing them that there is no little or no prospects for them in the current economic environment outside the allotment.

One of our other pumpkins was employed in an experiment/recipe which turned out quite well, and may be improved with further continual experimentation, tasting and testing. I decided to make a batch of creme caramels with pumpkin. The bases of 8 ramekin dishes were coated with a caramel made with 200 grams of sugar and 8 tablespoons of water. The caramel takes a little time to make and then cool in the dishes. At the same time you start the caramel steam about half a kilo of pumpkin, (skinned chopped and deseeded), for about 20 minutes. Leave the chunks of cooked pumpkin to cool for a few minutes and thereafter puree them in a food processor. The puree can then be blended with the custard mixture which is composed with 850mls of milk, 8 eggs, 4 tablespoons of sugar and two teaspoons of vanilla extract. Ladle the custard mixture into the caramel coated dishes and place them into a bain marie before cooking for about 50 minutes in the middle of an oven at 160F. The resulting flavour colour and texture of the caramels are quite surprising and very pleasant. Admittedly the flavour is quite subtle and future batches may have a little more pumpkin puree added to obtain a strong flavour and richer orange colour.

As the air temperatures drop the tomatoes have stopped their ripening process yielding a few kilos of green tomatoes. This is a glut with a Celtic tiger dimension for us because we are compelled to live within our Irish shoe box for a little while longer. The tomatoes may ripen indoors in time, but to avoid any waste a nearby unused orchard has been plundered for apples to be used in the production of a green tomato chutney. The kitchen area and dining table are quite cluttered at the moment, which calls upon my, ever decreasing, powers of diplomacy. Negotiations are proving difficult and lengthy at the minute because the French have no traditional use or desire for chutney. Quel dommage!

Nature's organic geometry - our fennel has gone to seed!