CHILI & LIME BEEF AND NOODLE WARM SALAD

I love the combination of chili and lime. Citrus is one of my favourite flavours and partnered with the punch of chili is just divine and perfect for the warmer nights. Seeing as winter is lifting and gloriously sunny days and warmer evenings are starting to happen this was the perfect dinner dish!

INGREDIENTS

500 grams rump steak
MARINADE
4 cloves garlic chopped
2 limes zested and juiced
1 long red chili
1 stalk of lemongrass chopped
2 cm piece of ginger roughly chopped
5 coriander roots well washed
60 grams coconut sugar
60 mls vegetable oil
WARM NOODLE SALAD
200 grams rice noodles
vegetable oil
1 red onion cut into thin wedges
4 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
2 cm ginger julienned
2 tbs oyster sauce
2 long red chillies deseeded and sliced
200 grams green beans trimmed and sliced into 2cm battens
handful of coriander, leaves picked
handful of mint, leaves picked

Place all the marinade ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth. Pour over beef leaving 1 tbs behind and allow to marinate for 30 minutes.

Pour boiling water over noodles and allow to sit while preparing the rest of the salad. Fry beef in a little oil to just under desired finish. Eg cook to rare if you like you meat medium rare. Remove from pan and allow to rest. Clean out pan and add a little more oil and add onion, garlic and ginger and cook stirring for 5 minutes until softened and starting to get some colour. Add oyster sauce, reserved marinade and beans and cook for a further 5 minutes, meanwhile slice up steak. Once beans are tender add drained noodles, steak and half of the herb and toss. Serve up and scatter remaining herbs over the top. Serves 2.

NOVEMBER HARVEST 2012

I had tallied up all my harvests for November but I misplaced my book. I recently found it so I thought I would share what I gathered from my garden 6 months ago :D

67 eggs
1492 grams celery
1229 grams carrots
5 grams bay leaf
4 sprigs rosemary
117 grams strawberries
462 grams cauliflower
1284 grams loquat
504 grams broccoli
1386 grams leek
567 grams potato
1215 grams silverbeet
199 grams lemon
1026 grams broad beans
handful thyme
2 handfuls coriander
90 grams beetroot
25 grams turnip
64 grams snow peas
47 grams parsley
16 small heads, 18 medium heads, 48 large heads and 1 extra large heads of garlic

TOTAL 9.712 KILOGRAMS OF FOOD IN NOVEMBER NOT INCLUDING THE 67 EGGS, 83 HEADS OF GARLIC AND HERBS!

WHITEHORSE URBAN HARVEST

I have been looking for a local food swap for some time now and have finally found a couple in my area. I am hoping to frequent these and share my excess produce and gain some variety and knowledge while I do so! The Whitehorse urban harvest is held on the third Saturday of the month from 10 am - 12 pm, and despite the rain and cold there was a great turnout with sensational variety and lovely welcoming people who were willing to share their gardening wisdom! All produce that is brought is weighed in to record how much has been swapped and to prove to local council that this is a worthwhile event as the event is held at a local councils property. I cannot wait for next month's swap!

The goodies I took along.  A few chunks of cinderella pumpkin, some pieces of a maltese long marrow, bay leaves, dried chili and broad bean seeds 

Produce is first weighed and then laid out on a table and you are free to take what you like. 

I got some beautiful honey from a home apiary.

Some lovely limes

And some kaffir lime leaves

Persimmons (I have only tried these one and they were under ripe therefore they left a terrible furry sensation in my mouth. I have never been game to try them again. This time I will wait until they are fully ripe to indulge!)

And some plants for my garden. The far left is chilean guava the other potted one is cape gooseberry and the last is a flowering plant.

JANUARY PLANTING GUIDE

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Successive planting for a family of 4...

Week 1
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
Cabbage 3 seeds
Carrot 20 seeds
Cauliflower 8 seeds
Leeks 8 seeds
Lettuce 10 seeds
Parsnips 12 seeds
Peas 10 seeds
Turnips 4 seeds
Spring onion 12 seeds
Kohlrabi 2 seeds

Week 2
N/A

Week 3
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
lettuce 10 seeds
Kohlrabi 2 seeds

Week 4
Cabbage 3 seeds
Carrot 20 seeds
Peas 10 seeds
Turnips 4 seeds

Week 5
Broccoli 6 seeds
Cauliflower 8 seeds
Leeks 8 seeds
Lettuce 10 seeds
Parsnips 12 seeds
Kohlrabi 2 seeds

DECEMBER PLANTING GUIDE

Successive planting for a family of 4...

Week 1
Lettuce 10 seeds
Turnips 4 seeds
Spring Onion 12 seeds

Week 2
Cabbage 3 seeds
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
Coriander 2 seeds
Kohlrabi 2 seeds

Week 3
Lettuce 10 seeds
Carrot 20 seeds
Silver Beet 1 seed
Beetroot 6 seeds

Week 4
Turnips 4 seeds
Parsnips 12 seeds
Potato 8 tubers
leek 8 seeds
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
Cauliflower 8 seeds
Celery and Celeriac 4 seeds
Coriander 2 seeds
Cucumber 3 seeds

Week 5
Lettuce 10 seeds
Cabbage 3 seeds
Peppers and Chili 2 seeds
Kohlrabi 2 seeds

ENCHILADAS

These are so easy to make, so very tasty and easy on the hip pocket!

INGREDIENTS
1 portion homemade taco seasoning
2 chicken breasts in strips
500ml chicken stock
2 cans crushed tomatoes
tortillas (this makes around 6)
grated cheese around 150 g

Fry chicken until golden in a little olive oil, add seasoning and toast for a couple of minutes, add stock and one can of tomatoes, simmer for 30 minutes or until sauce is reduced and thick. Spoon 1/2 cup of mixture onto each tortilla shell and roll up and place on baking sheet. top with the other can of crushed tomatoes and grated cheese and bake at 160C for 20 minutes.

NOVEMBER PLANTING GUIDE

Successive planting for a family of 4...

Week 1
Lettuce 10 seeds
Carrot 20 seeds
Silver beet 1 seed
Beetroot 6 seeds
Spring Onion 12 seeds

Week 2
Turnips 4 seeds
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
Coriander 2 seeds
Cucumber 3 seeds

Week 3
Lettuce 10 seeds
Cabbage 3 seeds
tomato 3 seeds
Kohlrabi 2 seeds

Week 4
Parsnips 12 seeds
Potato 8 tubers
Carrot 20 seeds
Leek 8 seeds
Peppers and chili 2 seeds
Silver beet 1 seed
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
Cauliflower 8 seeds
Celery and Celeriac 4 seeds
Coriander 2 seeds
Beetroot 6 seeds

OCTOBER TALLY

There will be no recipe today, we are going to a friends house for dinner. Seeing as today is the last day in October, I have added up the weight of everything I have harvested this month.

75 eggs
283g snow peas
2154g broccoli
733g beetroot
543g kohlrabi
2031g shelling peas
401g cauliflower
1603g loquat
1178g turnip
740g parsnip
1477g carrot
553g leek
157g lettuce
3230g celery
207g broad beans
2g bay leaf
235g parsley
1609g rhubarb
339g silverbeet
588g coriander

TOTAL 18.063KG OF FOOD NOT INCLUDING EGGS!

SPRING GARDEN SNAPSHOT

My spring garden is doing really well! I thought I would share some pictures with you.

red cabbage

yellow silver beet

potato

growing seedlings

carrots

sprouting broccoli green and purple

garlic going to seed, nearly ready to harvest

celery, has been so productive but i think it's life is nearly over looks like it's going to seed.

strawberries coming into flower and some little ones starting to grow!

peas have been so productive!

parsley

Rhubarb

coriander

Thyme

Tomato's already flowering!

blood orange in bloom

bay leaf

broad beans

savoy cabbage

Happy gardening!

OCTOBER PLANTING GUIDE

Successive planting for a family of 4...

Week 1
Peas 10 seeds
Turnips 4 seeds
Parsnips 12 seeds
Potato 8 tubers
Leek 8 seeds
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
Cauliflower 8 seeds
Celery and Celeriac 4 seeds
Coriander 2 seeds
Corn 20 plants
Cucumber 3 seeds
Melons 4 seeds
Pumpkins 6 seeds
Zucchini 4 seeds
Basil 8 seeds
Spring Onion 12 seeds

Week 2
Lettuce 10 seeds
Cabbage 3 seeds
Kohlrabi 2 seeds

Week 3
Carrot 20 seeds
Peppers and Chili 2 seeds
Silver beet 1 seed
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
Coriander 2 seeds
Beetroot 6 seeds

Week 4
Lettuce 10 seeds
Peas 10 seeds
Turnips 4 seeds
Tomato 3 seeds

Week 5
Cabbage 3 seeds
parsnips 12 seeds
potato 8 tubers
Leeks 8 seeds
Beans 6 seeds
Broccoli 6 seeds
Cauliflower 8 seeds
Celery and Celeriac 4 seeds
Coriander 2 seeds
Kohlrabi 2 seeds

MINESTRA - MALTESE VEGETABLE SOUP

Wow it has been cold lately and it's just hit out of nowhere! Last week it was a beautiful 27C this week 15C and raining eek. So i thought it was time to pull out a good old soup recipe! This is a take on minestra, which my mum makes all the time, it's a Maltese vegetable soup. I don't use pre-made stock in mine like she does because i don't like the preservatives, additives and general artificialness of them. So instead I did something I have never seen done before, but was very successful! I had no bones to make a stock and didn't have time to make a vegetable stock, which i often find bland anyway, so instead i made a vegetable juice - I think it's the Heston Blumenthal in me (I may have watched one of his shows last night). He has inspired me to think outside the square when cooking and inject as much flavor in my food as possible. And that's what this juice does! it's a combination of classic stock items, but instead of seeping that into a liquid as a traditional stock does, this one extracts all the flavors in the form of juice! Very delicious and has a wonderful rich flavor that is comforting in winter.

For the 'stock' juice makes aprox 700mls add all the juice you get.
1 1/2 large onions
5 large carrots
5 stalks of celery (mine were homegrown)
5 sprigs of parsley (mine were homegrown)

For the soup
1 large onion finely diced
100g pancetta diced
2 large carrots diced
3 stalks celery leaves and all diced and leaves shredded (mine were homegrown)
3 stalks parsley chopped stalks and all (mine were homegrown)
1/4 red/green cabbage diced
1C diced pumpkin (mine were homegrown)
1C great northern beans or any white beans soaked overnight
1/4 tomato paste
3 fresh bay leave (dried are fine too)
4 sprigs thyme leaves picked.
Juice
2 C water (you may need more later on if it dries up too much)

you can add what ever veggies you like to this or take out things you don't like to suit your taste. Other things could include but are certainly not limited to zucchini, squash, broad beans, peas, potato, turnip, parsnip.

First make the juice, I have a juicer so just put everything through that. not sure how you would go if you didn't have one, but would suggest you try those raw juices in the fridge. Some of them have apple in it so read the ingredients first. if you were to use a bought juice I would add an extra onion to the soup.

 For the soup add onion and pancetta to saucepan and saute until softened, add the other veggies and saute until softened stirring regularly for 5-10 minutes. then add tomato paste and cook off for a couple of minute. Add the beans, herbs, juice and water and season with a good amount of pepper and salt to taste (I used a good pinch). Cook for 1-1 1/2 hours until beans are cooked.

Serve with grated cheese and crusty bread such as HOMEMADE SOURDOUGH WHOLEMEAL BREAD!