POTATO LEEK AND HAM BONE SOUP

In this cold Melbourne weather (and no heater for a couple of days due to renovations and moving it about) we needed something warming! This is perfect, lovely and creamy and hearty too.

INGREDIENTS

2 leeks sliced and washed

knob butter

1 celery stick sliced

1 carrot diced

750 grams potatoes peeled and diced

1 ham bone

2 liters of water

salt and pepper

sour cream to serve

crusty bread to serve

Saute leeks in butter until soft add celery and carrot and saute for a couple of minutes. When done add potato and ham bone and water (you could use vegetable stock, but I think the ham bone imparts enough flavour) and season (don't be too generous with the salt as the ham bone can be quite salty.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until potato is tender and ham if soft. remove ham bone and use a bar mix or blender to puree soup. Pull ham off the bone and return to soup. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and crusty bread and season to taste.

Saute the leeks in butter

Add carrot and celery

Add the ham bone - a real ham bone. Like the one that is cut out of a ham. DO NOT USE A HAM HOCK THEY ARE NOT THE SAME!!!!

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and crusty bread!

Head over to love in the kitchen to check out what everyone else is up to for Tuesday's Table!

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!

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

A ROAST CHOOK

We it's nearly holiday time YAYYYYYY!!!! looking forward to our longest holiday since our honeymoon travelling around Australia 5 years ago!!! So in the lead up I am trying to clear out our freezer. A whole chook took my attention today, so decided to make a roast chook! Pretty easy so I am not going to provide a recipe :D But I did roast in on some lemon slices and simply seasoned it with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. I love lemon and love it with chicken!

As an accompaniment I roasted some potatoes. My secret to making them nice and crispy is to boil them first with their skin on until tender transfer them to a roasting dish and smash them up with a masher, drizzle with olive oil a couple of small knobs of butter and some salt and pepper and roast in a hot over at around 200 C until golden and crispy. This results in a soft fluffy potato with a crispy golden skin. 

I made some gravy with the pan juices. I poured them in a pot brought to boil mixed 1 tbs of flour with water and added it to pan stirring quickly until thick, season with salt and peppers. Yum. This gravy had a lemony hint from the lemons under the chook.

Add some more veggies and a lovely simple dish for a thundery Melbourne spring day!

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!

AUGUST PLANTING GUIDE

Successive planting for a family of 4...

Week 1
Cabbage 3 seeds
Parsnips 12 seeds
Potato 8 tubers
Kohlrabi 2 seeds
Spring onion 12 seeds
Onion 40 seeds
\
Week 2
Lettuce 10 seeds
Spinach 4 seeds

Week 3
Peas 10 seeds
Turnips 4 seeds

Week 4
Lettuce 10 seeds
Cabbage 3 seeds
Kohlrabi 2 seeds

NO DIG METHOD - GROWING POTATOES

I have just put my potato patch in! I don't like growing them in the soil, as once they are there they are there for life. The tiniest little potato overlooked in the soil will re-shoot the next year! i decided that this year i will grow them in hay. This is a simple method that allows you to harvest as you please leaving the crop in the 'ground' continuing to grow. I covered the grown with cardboard to prevent any weeds or grass to grow through. Then i placed a very thin layer of hay on top of the cardboard and my tubers on top, spaced approximately 30cm x 30cm. I'm growing a mixture of kipfler, bison, dutch cream and king edward potatoes. On top of the tubers place 15 cm of hay. once the tubers have sprouted through add another 30 cm of hay on top. You will harvest clean potatoes. It is important not to cut your potatoes like you would if you were to grow them in the ground, and to allow them to get a nice little sprout on them before planting.