Sticky bean rice

This recipe is one good way to use up a surplus of any type of bean. I am using runner beans as I have a lot of them this year, but really any beans or pods like mange-tout can be substituted in.

My first harvest this year of runner beans

I have quite a sweet tooth - you may want to avoid the honey part of this recipe if you want to keep the sugar content down... but your rice will also not be as sticky!

You will need the following ingredients (serves 2):

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion
100g pancetta, diced
50g runner beans (roughly 4 or 5 good size pods)
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp set honey
250g brown rice, pre-cooked (I cheat and use microwave rice)

Put the oil in the pan or wok, and set to a medium heat. Slice up the onion into half centimetre widths and add to the pan with the pancetta. Let this sear for a while so that the onions start to soften and go brown at the edges.

Add the runner beans - I have topped and tailed them, and then cut them into centimetre diamonds (or rhomboids, if you prefer!). Keep the contents of the pan moving around every so often.

Then add the yellow pepper, again sliced into half centimetre widths. Then add the nutmeg. Once stirred, cook the contents of the pan (stirring every so often) until all all ingredients are cooked/softened. Then add the honey, and stir in until the mixture is coated, giving it a glossy, glazed look.

Now add the rice, and stir into the sticky mixture - cook for a little longer to ensure that the whole dish is hot, and so that the honey has had a chance to coat the rice.

All you then need to do is plate up... and enjoy!

Sweet onion relish

In the last week or so with the good weather, we have been having a fair number of barbecues. I'd already concocted this sweet relish as a filling for a chicken pitta, but it works equally well in other bread-meat combinations such as hotdogs and hamburgers.

I haven't grown onions or peppers this year, but I would certainly make use of them in this way... with my usually small yields it's good to have some recipes for things which don't need much content!

Ingredients:

1 large onion
1/2 red pepper (or whole ramiro pepper)
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp honey (optional, to taste)

First of all, cut the onion in half and then slice into half centimetre widths. Add it to a saucepan with the sugar and oil. Give the onions a quick stir to coat them in the sugar and oil, and then heat gently so that they soften.

Tip here (as seen recently on an episode of River Cottage) - for a better flavour don't stir the onions too much; just let them simmer away... apparently if you move them around a lot they shed their water content, plus leaving them to sit gives them those nice brown edges.

After a few minutes, add the paprika and nutmeg, and (very gently!) stir in. The next time you go to turn the onions, add one of the tablespoons of ketchup at the same time.

Once the onions are soft, slice up your half red pepper and add it to the pan (you can use a ramiro pepper - you will need a whole ramiro though as it tends to be less bulky than a bell pepper). Again, keep turning the mixture sparingly, until the pepper is softening too.

Then add the rest of the ketchup, and again move the contents of the pan around every so often, so that the onions and peppers char a little.

Almost done - however, get a bit of onion and pepper on a spoon and taste the relish. I like mine quite tangy and sweet - if the flavour isn't quite there for you, I've found adding a teaspoon of honey gives it that extra body and rounded flavour. Remember - it's an accompaniment to other food, so it's OK if it is a little too sweet on its own.

You're then good to go - serve it up as a filling for a pitta or burger, or even have it as a condiment... I suspect it would work well as part of a ploughmans type meal, although I haven't tried that yet...!

A new project - part 2

So, here's the plan for the first plot...

The plot a few days ago...

I'm still a novice when it comes to gardening, but I understand a little about crop rotation. You wouldn't usually do that within a single bed, but with a busy life, you never know how much time you will actually have until you get going...

I'd like to think I could do three or four plots, but even just the one is taking some time... so I've decided to try a bit of everything rather than do a whole bed of just a few vegetables.

I gather the three main groups of veg are brassicas, root veg and legumes/onions/salad, and so I have divided the plot up like so:

I have then opted for the following arrangement:

As I've mentioned before, I've never done peas to any great volume, so I've given a generous slice of the legume section over to those (Kelvedon Wonder). I am then finishing off with a small patch of rocket (wild), and then onions (Ailsa Craig) and probably spring onions... I've put the onions in the middle as they're supposed to be a deterrent to some pests.

On the root veg side, I'm going for beetroot (Boltardy), two types of carrot (long (Autumn King 2) and short (Atlas) varieties), fennel (Florence Chiarino) and radish (French Breakfast 3).

I've put the rocket and radish up in the middle of the plot, because there are a few trees nearby that will provide some shade during the hottest part of the day. Once the peas and fennel have grown a bit, that should also add to the shade in the middle there.

Finally, for the brassica section I'm a little undecided - this will be the first time I've tried them and to be honest I'm not sure what will work, especially seen as I'm halfway through the season... I am considering cabbage and perhaps kale...? If anyone has any suggestions from their own experience please do let me know.

I've then finished off the brassica section by sneaking in a small section of dwarf beans (Tendergreen) - which aren't brassicas I know, but I ran out of room elsewhere and as they tend to be quite tall, it makes sense to have them at the back.

Master of all he surveys...?!

At the moment the peas, beans, rocket, beetroot, fennel, onion, one sowing of radish and both carrots are in (the netted areas)... just waiting to finish the rest of the plot off... then let the battle of wills begin with the wildlife!