MERRY CHRISTMAS

24 Sunday Dec 2023

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Christmas, Christmas message, conversation, Holiday season

Our Garden Project 2023: May and June

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Posted by catherineevans63 in Homegrown, Lifestyle, Uncategorized

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Berries, body, Food, Gardening, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Homegrown, Nutrition, Potatoes, Salad, Seasonal, Tomatoes, Vegetables

Spring was late this year, we estimate most things are 2-3 weeks behind in growing time and despite some obvious challenges, it has not deterred us.

Dan and I have grown our own produce ever since we had our first flat together in Isleworth 16 years ago, though I personally have been growing fruit and vegetables since the mid-1990s after I left my long-term partner at the time and moved into a rented house in South Derbyshire. The property had a garden with a greenhouse and a lawn, and a shared accessway with my neighbours in the small row of railway cottages we occupied.

I started off with tomatoes and bell peppers in the greenhouse and soon discovered I had ‘green fingers’ as the space became full and I would engage in exchange and barter schemes with a couple of my neighbours who had allotments across the road from the cottages. Those allotments were on fertile land by the canal and there was a long waiting list but in any case in those days I worked full-time and therefore did not have sufficient time to invest in a large growing project, but the seeds were sown and I had fallen in love with gardening and the whole ethos behind home-produced.

Over the winter months of 2022/23 in the midst of the global cost-of-living crisis and mindful of the need for tightening our money belts, Dan and I spent some time discussing and planning what we would grow this year in an effort to become even more sustainable and self-sufficient. Although we grew a variety of fruit and vegetables last year, we knew our garden was capable of accommodating more, even with one of our two raised beds being purposely left fallow for the whole growing season to allow the soil to regain its nutrients. The continuous growing of crops eventually depletes the soil of certain nutrients, resulting in the fall in crop yield. This means that manure or fertilizers need to be added to the soil in order to replenish it with the nutrients it has lost.

There are a number of disadvantages of adding fertilizers to soil. Expensive to buy, they they are easily washed away by water and reduce the fertility of the soil. Also, they harm the microbes naturally present in soil and cause pollution. In general, fertilizers provide only a short-term fix as they also tend to change the nature of the soil, making it either too acidic or too alkaline, although some plants may thrive in one or the other. For example, blueberries must grow in acid (ericaceous) soil or potting compost with a pH value of 4.5-5.5. Our blueberry plant is happy in a corner of our garden near our quince tree among a nest of pine needles.

Over winter I ordered four wooden self-assembly ‘growing tables’ (80 x 40 x 75 cm). Made from 100% FSC sustainably sourced wood, the design comprises a trough on legs for easy-working height with a shelf underneath, from Homebase and these cost around £37 each, although the price has since gone up to £45. These I had home-delivered and Dan put them together, two for our patio and two for our greenhouse. We then lined the troughs with black membrane and filled them with topsoil. Two have since collapsed due to warpage, and so far Dan has mended one of them and we have some plastic troughs on the patio containing various salad goodies. We store and thoroughly wash and reuse all our pots and other growing containers until they fall apart, so fortunately when the tables collapsed we had other containers ready to hold the plants that had endured a nasty shock.

My main project is tending the herb garden and the salad goodies while Dan focuses on the rhubarb, the soft fruit and the vegetables in the other raised bed which needs heavy digging and with my back problems is something I am not capable of, though I do help out from time to time.

We sowed and propagated a variety of lettuce and tomato seeds indoors throughout March as the weather was still too cold to sow directly into the raised bed or any container outside, and more seeds – jalapeno, salad leaves, bell peppers = were sown indoors in early April as the weather continued to be disappointing, but finally they were ready to go outside and by the time King Charles III was coronated nasturtiums, cut-and-come again salad leaves (which were ready for harvesting) and radishes in the growing tables, more lettuce seedlings in a trough and in the greenhouse tomato plants growing well and the salad leaves, chillis and peppers sown back in April propagating in egg boxes.

We use no chemical pesticides or other chemicals on our crops but to deter slugs and snails we scatter broken-up egg shells, oatmeal or sharp sand which act as a natural deterrent, although this method is by no means foolproof. It is however kinder to creatures and the environment and ultimately our digestive systems.

The kale seeds we had sown directly in the ground in March was flourishing. Although primarily intended to provide us with a good source of nutrients during the ‘hungry gap’ period of January and February next year, later in May we were able to harvest some of the young leaves to chop finely for salads. Next to be sown directly into the ground were carrots, parsnips and Heritage beetroot, beans and peas, which would provide a variety of colours and flavours during the summer.

Two or three ‘weed potato’ plants had sprung forth. These are plants that grew out of last year’s potato crop when we had probably overlooked a few potatoes in the ground during harvesting. This seems to happen most years and the potatoes are always delicious and perfectly formed with no blight or tunnelling. A happy accident, one might say.

In the herb garden we had garlic, lavender and rosemary all growing well in pots and there was rhubarb ready for picking.

The blueberry bush we bought last year was faring reasonably well though needed repotting, though of course in the end we planted it in the ground. The quince tree provided us with a good harvest last year and was once more coming into leaf after a long winter and the black raspberry bushes and redcurrants and whitecurrants were also flourishing although we did not expect a harvest until later in June or July due to a late spring so to celebrate the Coronation, Dan was perfectly happy with a dressed crab salad containing the first of our tender, homegrown salad leaves. You can see the recipe video here:-

The month of June started with similarly mixed weather and variable results, and certain of the salad goodies were not thriving as they ought, especially the radishes which were stunted in growth and spongy and eventually I pulled them up and sowed a fresh quantity of seeds in their place. The second of the growing tables also collapsed.

The butterhead lettuces I had planted were a delight and we enjoyed them in our daily salads along with some of the nasturtium flowers and leaves that were thriving; some of them were not so these too were pulled up to make way for fresh salad goodies.

The Heritage beetroot were also beginning to flourish and we started to look forward to the time (a bit later in the year) when they would be ready to pick perhaps for a colourful beetroot salad – red, candy stripe and golden – along with some soft goat’s cheese, its creamy saltiness balancing out the sweet earthiness of the beetroot, a union of perfection with a zingy red wine vinegar dressing dancing on the tongue.

Our rhubarb was still growing lavishly. We had started harvesting it in modest quantities since early May, simply picking as much as we needed, and this continued throughout June month. A poached rhubarb compote spiked with orange juice and root ginger and finished with a drizzle of honey was a simple and healthy pudding served with some full-fat Greek yoghurt.

The carrots, peas and beans were all coming up and the black raspberries were well on their way for picking, and we started harvesting at the end of June, along with the first of the redcurrants.

The young kale we had planted earlier in the year we thinned out in June to encourage abundant growth, and the tender leaves were chopped finely and added raw to salads. Kale is a nutrition superstar literally packed with goodies; vitamins A, B6, C, K, folate, fibre, carotenoids and manganese and you can eat it every day in moderation for a real boost to your health and wellbeing and a strong immune system. Believe it or not, one single, 100g serving of kale provides over 100% of your daily intake of vitamin C, which helps to reduce the risk of cataracts. Kale also provides a rich source of tlutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants that lessen the risk of macular degeneration and other age-related eye diseases.

In the greenhouse the bell peppers and tomatoes were in good condition. We had started spraying the leaves every five weeks with half a soluble asprin added to water in a bottle (a tip I learned from watching “Countryfile”), which helps to protect against blight. Potato plants, roses and most other plants can also be sprayed in the same way to protect against diseases.

Thus, only the salad greens were conspicuous in their lacklustre, but I was resolute in my determination to succeed.

The garden in June 2023.

A New Year: Goals or Resolutions?

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Posted by catherineevans63 in Food and Drink, Lifestyle, Music, Uncategorized

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2023, Achievements, body, Chinese New Year, conversation, Diet and Exercise, Dieting, Dry January, Exercise, Facebook, Food, Gardening, Goals, Healthy Living, Healthy Regimes, Instagram, Life Skills, Music, New Year, New Year's Resolutions, Rumble, Social Media, Success, Veganuary, Vegetables, Video Content, Year of the Water Rabbit, YouTube

First of all, I would like to wish all my subscribers (and other readers of my blog) a very healthy, happy and empowering 2023. If you are new to my blog, welcome, and I do hope you enjoy reading my content.

I guess it’s true to say I’ve been gone a while; there’s been a lot happening the last few months; most notably juggling balls and spinning plates in the air (metaphorically-speaking), the whole festive thing with its gift-buying-and-wrapping, tree-buying and decorating and taking down again, cooking, washing and tidying up, making and editing videos for my various platforms, wading through mountains of admin and paperwork and accounts, doing my music, making and pricing up and photographing of items for my two pitches at the Petticoat Lane Emporium in Ramsgate plus my Etsy shop and my Ebay site (basically, doing what I can to earn some money whilst also running a household and helping my piano tuner husband to be a success in his trade), visiting nearest and dearest and those further away up and down the motorway . . . and looking after our two young cats and one diabetic, arthritic and incontinent senior tabby cat, our lovely loyal boy Merlin who follows me around or sits on his favourite chairs watching me with love hearts in his eyes. Merlin was diagnosed with diabetes in October of last year, following the suspicions I had carried around for a while, watching and observing his habits and demeanor. Several months had passed before Dan would believe me and when he did, he admitted he had been in denial. We have put a lot of work in with Merlin as it takes him time to adjust to change. We have had to change his mealtime regime to twice only daily – to which he was not at all receptive for several weeks – source wet food and biscuits for him that are diabetic friendly and made of the most natural ingredients (which of course are far more expensive than regular cat foods, but anything for our boy), inject him twice a day 30 minutes’ after he has finished eating, change his pee pad in his special tray sometimes multiple times a day and mop the floor, as he often dribbles urine when he’s finished his business. I sometimes cook him fresh chicken or turkey and he might get a little of this if he’s very hungry during the day and needs a small snack; the vet said it was better than giving him more biscuit. I also groom him regularly and massage extra virgin olive oil into his fur as he is prone to flaky skin. This he enjoys very much and likes to lick the oil on his fur. Twice we also give him a fish oil powder capsule which we break into his food and mix in well. This also helps to ease his skin condition though it seems to have made only slight improvement to his mobility.

He sees the vet once a month for a checkup, to get weighed, examined and bloods taken to monitor his insulin levels. This time we discussed his mobility problems which suddenly came on more recently and seem to affect his pelvis and back legs from what we can make out when we watch him move around awkwardly. The vet was very gentle with him when she examined him thoroughly and agreed that his hip joints appear to be arthritic and at one point we heard a ‘click’. She also said that the muscles in his back legs are weak, which of course is probably due to the fact that he is no longer to move about comfortably so the muscle is wasting. At home, he is no longer able to jump on to the side of the bathtub to drink from the cold running water from the washbasin tap, something he has enjoyed for most of his life; nor is he able any longer to run up the stairs when I call to him and instead he makes a slow hop up one stair at a time, which breaks my heart. One day last week he tried to jump up on to the kitchen chair beside me and was unable to do it, his claws caught in the fabric seating, so I picked him up gently and lifted him on to the seat though mostly he can still manage without help. It is, though, heartbreaking to see him in discomfort and unable to do some of the things he used to enjoy. The vet recommended a full panel of bloodwork this time to check that Merlin doesn’t have any underlying medical conditions other than the diabetes and to rule out anything else such as side effects from his insulin. If the results come back clear, we can perhaps start him on Metacam medication and see where we go from there, though she understands I prefer the natural way and she definitely thinks animal healing is a good idea and told me she used to work at a practice that encouraged it for their furry clients.

Anyway, I digress, since this is intended to be an article about goals and New Year’s resolutions. As we journey the days in the life of January, it is perhaps opportune to think about what we might all wish to achieve during the Chinese New Year of the Water Rabbit (ironically, in which I was born almost six decades ago, in 1963) when celebrations start on 22 January.

It is customary, as one year ends, to formulate our intentions for the coming year and this is often done at New Year’s Eve or it’s equivalent, for example the Pagan festival (Sabbat) of Samhain (Halloween) or, yes, at Chinese New Year. Whether we be adult or child, deciding to set ourselves a few tasks or objectives can be both life-affirming and empowering, however resolutions often fail because they are too vague and lack real focus. For example, a desire to “eat more healthily” or “take more exercise” is not specific enough, as neither address how you are going to eat healthier or how or what exercise you intend to do. However, if for example, you say: “I am going to grow and harvest my own salad greens” or “I am going to eat a salad at least five days a week and enjoy one glass of wine a week” or “I am going to go for a swim three times a week”, then those are specific goals. This is how New Year’s resolutions are more likely to be successful.

If living a more healthy lifestyle is on of your goals, perhaps you felt guided to give Veganuary and/or Dry January a try in order to kick-start the process and shift a few pounds after the excesses of the festive season. If, at the end of it you begin to feel the benefits of the initiative and find you are enjoying trying different foods and the creative aspect of preparing a healthy, balanced meal with fresh ingredients or can see the benefit of limiting an alcoholic drink to once a week then perhaps you might decide to make it part of your everyday life. On the other hand, if you tried it as an experiment and decided you missed some foods too much but you don’t mind cutting back on them a little in future and you did lose some weight and you learned more about yourself in the process then that’s good too. Everything in life is a learning process and one size does not fit all. Do not think either that you have failed if you despised most or every aspect of Veganuary/Dry January, you didn’t lose any weight or you just couldn’t ride it out right to the end; at least you gave it a try and know beyond doubt that what is right for one person is not necessarily right for another. We only fail if we think about doing something but don’t try it out at all.

I take on board that vague resolutions may work for some people, but personally I never found they worked well for me and I need the structure and clear intention that a solid goal gives me, something to aim for at which I can monitor my progress and at the same time stay positive and focused. It needs to be something that challenges my capabilities and mindset but at the same time is realistic and achievable. Here are a few of my goals:-

To grow my social media:-
- Do at least one video per week for either my Rumble channel catevansartist or one of my three YouTube channels – @catevansartist, @catevanscuisine or @electrickwytchofficial.
- To do at least one video a week for either my Facebook or Instagram on whatever topic feels appropriate
- To do two Facebook or Instagram live streams per month
- To upload a new blog at least twice per month
To drop one dress size this year by continuing my healthy regime. This includes going out for a walk or disco-dancing at home both at least three times a week. Also my newfound interest in sprouting seeds and fermenting, as well as continuing to eat a salad every day and by growing a wider range of organic salad greens in my back garden which I can pick what I need each day and when they are at their freshest. I have already made a start on this by purchasing four “growing tables” which are wide, wooden planters at table height with shelves below for storing compost – or even more planters containing healthful goodies, especially useful for tender plants which do not fare so well in full sunlight. I have called it “My Garden Project” and will be discussing more about this in a future blog post.
To focus more on my music by:-
- Piano practice 5 times a week (often I manage four).
- Composition/songwriting one half-day per week
- Record the 4th movement of my sonata in preparation for the studio.

“How will you achieve all of this when you already lead such a busy life?” you may ask. As a self-confessed workaholic I take this on board and one of my tasks this year is to slow down a little and make more time by cutting back on activities that have the least importance. Non-negotiable are some household chores, seeing to the cats and meal preparation. Also, paperwork and general administration is vitally important; I do my husband’s as well as my own and failure to do paperwork will land us in a mess. Plus, at some stage it would need catching up on, resulting in a potentially stressful situation. However, I am able to free up a bit more time by the way I do it, for example spending an hour a day on paperwork and admin rather than, say, two or three hours twice a week. I am also able to fix crafting activity to maybe one morning or afternoon a week. I still have outlets and online to produce items for but I have fewer of them now and no longer need to hold larger quantities of stock and can therefore produce just as much or little as I need, which also increases efficiency and turnaround. I am also an avid maker of ‘to-do’ lists and have been using these more as an exercise to see exactly what I can achieve without filling up every second of my day, as being kind to ourselves and having sufficient rest and recreation time does help with focus and productivity. I can comfortably complete four or five tasks a day but if I complete any quickly or if I choose to push myself I can manage half a dozen. I am no longer minded to tackle more than that.

Neither do I need to concentrate on all goals at once. Some goals may be ongoing, others may be achieved quickly or may not work out as planned or may need to be ‘tweaked’, or put on hold, and new ones may present themselves instead. We should remember that personal and business circumstances may change either suddenly or over time and these circumstances may have a knock-on effect on what we are able to achieve. The point is, sometimes goals take longer to achieve even if we have put in some good work, but as long as the foundations and groundwork are there they can be picked up again in the future, by which time we may have more wisdom of experience and learning that will help bring our goals to fruition in a more effective way. As long as we enjoy doing what we are doing and gradually see some results or learn more about ourselves and our aspirations in the process it’s all good. If we don’t enjoy doing what we are doing, then perhaps we might find something else to try that might work better. We are all a work in progress and there is no need to beat ourselves up about it if something isn’t quite working out. Even taking a little time out might revive and refresh our vigour.

What are your goals in 2023? Is there anything that is going particularly well for you? Is there something you are struggling with or does not inspire you? I would be interested to know, as sometimes by sharing our experiences we might learn from one another.

Happy NEW Year!

Please tip me a herbal tea!

Catherine.

Avenue Waltz

15 Friday Oct 2021

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Composition, Music, Notation, Piano, Piano Music, Sheet music, Strauss, Viennese Waltz, Waltz

Although most of you know me for my recipe blogs, there is much more to me than just a love of food.

One of the other things I love is music. I am a published poet, songwriter and recording artist (as one half of the alternative due, ElectrickWytch, along with my husband Dan) and I also compose classical music, notating by hand.

Writing music score is an activity I started more recently, over a four-day period during the last festive season on the run up to the UK’s Third Lockdown. Like many people in the UK, we had a quiet Christmas being joined only by Dan’s mum, Verna, who was in our ‘bubble’.

I play the piano and have been having lessons with my teacher Jake for about three years now. I really enjoy my lessons and although I had already been able to read music and play instruments off and on since a young age, my sight-reading has definitely improved over the last few years, especially since the Lockdowns when I was forced to teach myself the Grade 2/3 syllabus (I don’t get on well with Zoom or other online methods of learning and participation, I don’t feel sufficiently ‘connected’) and my forays into writing music. Regular piano lessons have enabled my skills and confidence to grow; although I have been writing songs for many years, never did I think that one day I would be able to start writing classical music and take to it like a duck to water.

My MIL went back to Richmond on 28 December and Dan, who is a Piano Tuner/Technician, had tunings in the London area that day. I had been amusing myself with daily piano practice and, with some kind of melody that had literally popped into my head very early that morning, I set about carefully writing the notes in pencil on to some blank manuscript paper that I found among my bunch of sheet music books. Over the next few days, I wrote the music in small sections at a time, going between the paper and the piano as I expanded and built up the piece. I recorded certain sections of the piece on to my mobile phone to help me recall more easily the melody and rhythm and notate it accurately and as I intended by using the playback on my mobile phone app whilst putting pencil to paper. By lunchtime on New Year’s Eve, my Avenue Waltz was born. I dedicated it to Jake and his fiancé Liam as a housewarming gift on the occasion of their moving into a new house together. I called it Avenue Waltz because Jake and Liam’s new house is on an avenue, and the melody and rhythm of the composition convey the ambience and feel of a couple’s journey and conversation along a tree-lined road on a sunny spring day. Dan transferred my hand-notated manuscript on to Guitar Pro 5 and printed off a copy, which I signed and delivered to Jake by hand.

Written in the key of C Major and in 3/4 time, Avenue Waltz is a Piano Grade 3 Level Viennese-style waltz reminiscent of the well-known Austro-Hungarian composers of the 19th century such as Johann Strauss II (The Blue Danube, Emperor Waltz) and Franz Lehár who was best known for his Operettas such as The Merry Widow but also his most famous waltz piece, Gold and Silver Waltz. Avenue Waltz is a piece that could easily be orchestrated and immediately makes me think of André Rieu’s dancers twirling around the ballroom to the dulcet melodies of his Johann Strauss Orchestra, and the little trill in bar 77 contains that trademark element of playfulness and good humour.

*Excerpt from page 2 of my composition.*

Avenue Waltz contains fast running semi-quavers in bars 6, 13, 36 and 43 and various other places as a lead-on to the next musical section, or cadence, as means of punctuation. The piece is an adaptation of an A, B, A Coda or shortened rondo form. A rondo form is a principal theme or ‘refrain’ which alternates with one or more contrasting themes or episodes, which are occasionally referred to as ‘digressions’ or ‘couplets’. One main characteristic of my music is either this rondo form or, in fact, ternary or trio form, such as one of my new pieces La Periquita (more about that later). Ternary form is otherwise known as song form, a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section A, a following section B, and then a repetition of the first section. This style was popularised in the eighteenth-century Baroque music of G F Handel’s Messiah and St John’s Passion by his contemporary, Johann Sebastian Bach.

Avenue Waltz also contains a ‘drone’ in the bass clef at bars 46-76. The piece is approximately five minutes’ in duration including repeats, depending on whether one takes it faster or a little slower. It is available to purchase and download from:-

catherineevans.bandcamp.com http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/546726.html

I hope you enjoy listening to (or perhaps even playing) my composition and thank you for your support!

Catherine

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DAMPER BREAD WITH SEEDS

17 Sunday May 2020

Posted by catherineevans63 in Food and Drink, Uncategorized

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Aussie Damper Bread, Australian, Baked, Damper, Damper Bread, Food, Healthy, Recipe, Seeded bread mix, Soda bread, Spelt bread, traditional

Damper Bread with Seeds

During Lockdown2020 it has often been quite difficult to source strong bread flour and yeast, due to people’s renewed interest in baking when long days at home are often focused on finding things to do with the kids or perhaps to perform a good deed for an elderly or self-isolating neighbour who cannot get to the shops and deserves a tasty treat. Even bread itself has sometimes been in short supply. When shelves are empty of ingredients and you need bread, what can you do? Making bread with all-purpose (plain flour) with added baking powder or, alternatively, by using self-raising flour mixed with water, a little salt and one or two extra ingredients if you like – whatever you fancy and have in the store cupboard – can produce a wonderful bread with delicious results.

Damper bread, or damper, is one of my favourite soda breads to eat. It is quick and simple to make, fuss-free with no ‘proving’ of the dough and very versatile. You can add whatever extra ingredients you like to vary the taste each time you make it; chopped olives or sundried tomatoes, herbs, seeds, a teaspoon or two of turmeric powder, walnuts, dates, finely chopped onions, even dried mixed fruit, the choice is yours. In this recipe, I have chosen to use mixed seeds from a health food store and I am using light spelt flour as it is lower in gluten and has a wonderful nutty flavour.

Traditionally a wheat-based bread, damper originates from Australia, when it was first prepared by the early settlers – swagmen, drovers, stockmen and a variety of other travellers – and cooked in the ashes of a campfire or in a camp oven in the outback. Back then it was a staple part of their diet. The early settlers travelled in remote areas for long periods of time and had with them only basic rations comprising flour, sugar and tea supplemented by whatever meat was available. The basic ingredients of a damper bread were flour, water and sometimes milk, and baking soda could be added for leavening. The damper was then cooked in the embers of the campfire. The ashes were flattened and the damper was placed on them and cooked for about 10 minutes. The bread was then covered with ashes and cooked for another 20 or 30 minutes or until it sounded hollow when tapped on the base. The damper could also be cooked in a greased camp oven instead, but in any case it was usually eaten with dried or cooked meat or golden syrup.

Today, damper still remains a popular Australian dish and might be served at a special occasion such as Australia Day. The basic recipe remains much the same but will sometimes contain melted butter. Damper is also popular in New Zealand and South Africa, where it is cooked on a barbecue and perhaps served alongside a meaty braai, for example.

As a young child I lived in Zambia in Southern Africa in the late 1960s/early 1970s and when I was 6 years old learned to cook over an open fire and fire, be it campfire or barbecue, is still one of my favourite cooking methods. It is possible to cook almost anything in this way and indeed I do when the weather is kind!

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cook: 30-35 minutes
Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

450g all-purpose (plain) flour – you can also use plain spelt or wholemeal flour.
3 tsp (1 tbsp) baking powder – I used Dr Oetker
1 tsp fine sea salt
8 fl oz lukewarm water
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Preheat your oven to 200C (Gas Mark 6).
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, place the flour, salt and baking powder and stir together with a spoon or fork.
In a jug, combine the olive oil and the water, make a well in the centre of the dried ingredients and pour in the oil and water.
Add a handful or two of dried mixed seeds and stir in to incorporate. With clean hands, start to knead gently and bring the mixture together into a dough. Add a splash of extra water if necessary if the dough appears a bit dry.
Turn the dough out on to a clean, floured board and knead the dough until it feels nice and smooth and shape it into a ball.
Place the dough on an oiled baking sheet and mark out 8 segments with the handle of a wooden spoon. Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes.
The bread is ready when you tap the underside and it sounds hollow. Leave on a wire rack to cool and enjoy with butter, some balsamic and olive oil, a little syrup or honey and/or as part of a more substantial meal.

Notes

Substitute self-raising flour for all-purpose if you prefer or do not have plain flour in the store cupboard but do not add baking powder.

Instead of adding seeds, why not try finely chopped onion or bell pepper, chopped herbs or walnuts, chopped olives or sun dried tomatoes or perhaps some raisins?

Oven temperatures vary so check your bread after 30 minutes if it smells cooked or you have a ‘fast’ oven.

Enjoy!

Basil Gnocchi with Mediterranean Vegetables

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Posted by catherineevans63 in Food and Drink, Uncategorized

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conversation, Food, Gluten-free, Recipe, talk, Vegan, Vegetables

During the Lockdown period I have seen a few TV programmes featuring celebrity chefs preparing gnocchi.

Now, I have tried pre-packaged gnocchi from the supermarket several times in the past but it was never to my liking. It often has a strange, slimy texture and is under seasoned, tasting of very little at all; an underwhelming dining experience, it must be said.

For me, texture is a very important consideration when preparing meals. If something looks and tastes ‘wrong’ to my palate I am unable to eat it and I am sure many people share my sentiments. Gnocchi has usually had this effect upon me, thus I tend to avoid it.

However, recently having watched TV programmes showcasing tempting plates and inventive recipe ideas with gnocchi, and then discovering that gnocchi is a slightly healthier alternative to traditional white pasta, I did wonder whether I might be missing out on a taste sensation and might perhaps have more luck making my own gnocchi and, at the same time, make it gluten- and egg-free, so I decided to give it a go.

Gnocchi are little Italian soft dough dumplings often made with a blend of semolina or wheat flour, mashed potato, egg and seasoning and can be fried, baked or boiled. Other ingredients might include cornmeal or breadcrumbs, cheese or egg, and flavourings such as vegetables, herbs, cocoa or prunes.

I used Doves Farm plain (all purpose) gluten-free flour which is a blend of rice, potato, tapioca, maize and buckwheat and is also suitable for a Kosher diet. Recipes online suggest baking rather than boiling gluten-free gnocchi but I saw no reason why the little dumplings could not be boiled as long as handled with the love and respect any handcrafted product deserves.

One of the most important things is to use floury potatoes and make sure they steam dry before mashing and that it is well-seasoned with salt and pepper. The potato can be boiled first or baked in its jacket in a microwave oven before mashing A potato ricer, if you have one, makes it easier to get a nice smooth texture with no lumps, otherwise use a conventional potato masher and some elbow grease, but for my recipe do not add milk or butter or any beaten egg. Simply combine the potato with the plain flour, add chopped sage or any chopped herbs of your choice, and season well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Form the gnocchi dough into little balls or lozenge shapes and use the back of a fork to create a crinkle effect, before boiling in a pan of salted water for a couple of minutes. When they are ready, the gnocchi will rise to the surface. Remove them with a slotted spoon on to kitchen paper to drain and then serve with any sauce of your choice – or even a simple drizzle of garlic infused olive oil and torn basil leaves, or a little pesto or sun dried tomato tapenade.

For a heartier plate and to keep this recipe vegan, any tomato-based sauce goes well with gnocchi, whether you roast whole cherry tomatoes in an oven with garlic and balsamic vinegar or use tinned chopped tomatoes. For a vegetarian, gnocchi can be enjoyed with roasted butternut squash and goat’s cheese or perhaps some spinach and ricotta. I decided to serve the gnocchi simply with a side of roasted Mediterranean vegetables – diced aubergine (eggplant), roughly chopped onions, tomatoes, courgette, tomatoes and bell peppers and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

I found the gnocchi cheap to make and easy to prepare, and the time taken was worth the effort as the result was delicious. I have discovered a liking for freshly-prepared gnocchi, they are tasty, filling and versatile and I will enjoy experimenting with different flavour and texture combinations.

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the gnocchi

400g Potatoes, mashed
50g Gluten-free Plain flour
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Finely chopped fresh or dried basil

For the vegetables

1 Aubergine diced into 2cm chunks
2 courgettes diced into 2cm chunks
Whole cherry tomatoes or quartered vine-ripened tomatoes
2 red onions, roughly chopped into chunks
Red and Yellow Bell Pepper, deseeded and sliced into strips
Crushed garlic cloves (optional)
Olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Torn basil leaves (to serve)

Boil floury potatoes in their skins in salt water, drain thoroughly and return to the pan to steam dry. Alternatively, microwave potatoes in their skins until cooked through.
Wash and prepare the vegetables, drain well on kitchen paper and place in a roasting tin with some crushed garlic cloves if liked and a good glug of olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place in a medium oven and roast for 20-25 minutes or until tender.
On the hob, heat a large pan of salted water and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, as soon as the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel the skins away with clean hands and either push the potatoes through a potato ricer or mash to remove any lumps. Turn potatoes out on to a large board.
Measure out 50g plain flour on to the board and gently mix into the potatoes, along with chopped fresh or dried basil to your liking and season well with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add a little more flour if you think it is necessary, but only add one tablespoon at a time to avoid the dough becoming too dry.
Carefully knead the dough for a few minutes until pliable and then roll into four thin sausage shapes 2-3 cm thick and cut each sausage into 3cm slices. Then either roll into balls or carefully mould into lozenges, using the back of a fork to create grooves which will help the sauce to stick to the dumplings.
Carefully place the gnocchi in the pan of salted water and boil for about 2 minutes. They are ready when they rise to the surface and they will have puffed up a bit. Cook the gnocchi in two batches of two servings to ensure they do not stick together.
Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, toss with a little garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil and serve with the Mediterranean vegetables and torn basil leaves.