It's good to be back

I spent last week away working, two days in Leeds and three days in Edinburgh. It was a long way from the allotment so I was glad to be back. I really had missed seeing the girls and they were making the most of the sunny start to the weekend.

They did us proud last week by producing a total of nine eggs.


We are having a bit of a courgette moment with Old Basing allotment at the moment but this time it is rhubarb. I keep giving it away but it keeps on growing. I left Nick with three rhubarb crumbles but he only managed to eat one and put two in the freezer.

I have had to resort to searching for alternatives and came up with:

RHUBARB AND ALMOND CHICKEN

Serve with rice and salad for 4

Enough chicken parts to serve 4 (thighs, breasts etc)
1 tablespoon flour, very lightly seasoned with pepper, paprika, salt and chilli powder
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil for frying
3-4 stalks rhubarb, cut into thumb-length pieces
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried
200 ml white wine
1 handful slivered almonds, lightly toasted

In a large bowl, toss the chicken in the flour mixture. In a large, heavy pan or high-lipped frying pan, heat the oil over a medium-high heat until it is hot then brown the chicken for about 5 minutes on each side. Add the rhubarb and onions and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring, until the onions are brown. Add the garlic, thyme and wine, cover and reduce the heat. Simmer the chicken for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through and tender. Serve sprinkled with almonds.

MACKEREL WITH RHUBARB AND CIDER

Serves 2

Fresh mackerel fillets
4 bay leaves
salt and black pepper
120 ml (4 fl oz) dry cider
12 g (1/2 oz) butter
225 g (1/2 lb) fresh rhubarb, chopped
1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
25 g (1 oz) brown sugar
pinch nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, Gas mark 4. Season the fillets with salt and pepper then place a bay leaf on each fillet and roll up. Place the fish rolls in a shallow ovenproof dish, pour over half the cider and dot with the butter. Cover with aluminium foil or a lid and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until tender. Meanwhile, place the remaining cider, rhubarb, lemon juice, brown sugar and nutmeg in a pan. Bring to the boil then simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring from time to time, until soft and puréed. To serve - transfer the fish to a warmed serving plate, drizzle some of the rhubarb sauce over the top of the fish and serve the remaining rhubarb sauce separately. Serve hot.



Churchill Way is providing us with our first crop of broad beans, and they are so sweet and delicious we both stood and ate them straight from the pod. They are so young there is more broad than bean but it is much better to pick them young.

We are going beans and peas in a big way this year and have loads of peas growing already and this weekend we planted out the butter beans, kidney beans and barlotto beans that had been growing like mad in the little greenhouse. We used a total of 60 canes on the beans which indicates how many we are going to have. I have now started off the dwarf french beans and runner beans which will go out at the end of May when there is no fear of frosts.

I am making a much greater effort at inter-cropping this year, so have planted the chinese artichokes in the spaces between the peas, and am going to put the celery out inbetween the butter beans.

Finally, I must share with you our wonderful sunday night supper. If I had the time to make bread, and ignoring the ham, it would be all home grown. Delicious scrambled duck egg with chives and broad beans. Yummy!!!