Go Food Gardening

Gourmet Soup Seasoning

You can use this blend liberally with any soup: beef, vegetable or poultry. It is also great for improving bland commercial soups. If you don't have a specific herb simply omit it. You can make the dried blend ahead of time.

Use about 1 level tablespoon of the dried blend for every 2 cups of soup. This can go in right from the start. Add the fresh blend about 10 minutes before serving. The lemon zest may seem like an odd ingredient but it enhances the other flavours without actually being detectable.

Dried blend:
1 Tbs dried thyme
1 Tbs dried marjoram
½ Tbs celery seed
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried winter savory

Fresh blend for every 2 cups of soup:
1-2 tsp parsley, finely chopped
1-2 tsp chervil, finely chopped
1-2 tsp basil, finely chopped
1 tsp lemon zest

Recipe Source: Bouquet Garni Cuisine Organique

Yellow Rice with Raisins

We like to serve yellow rice with our Cape Malay dishes and most of the curries we make. In this recipe we add a little bit of spices to make it a bit more special.

Serves 4

250 ml raw long-grained rice
1 litre boiling water
10 ml turmeric
1 stick cinnamon
4 cardamom seeds
5 ml salt
125 ml seedless raisins
25 ml sugar
1 tbsp butter or margarine

Bring water to boil. Add rice, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom seeds and salt and boil for 20 minutes. Drain in colander, and add raisins. Return to saucepan and add sugar and butter. Steam over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Source: The Seasoned Chef

Recipe: Tarragon Beetroot

The liquorice flavour of fresh tarragon and the earthy flavour of freshly harvested beetroot is a match made in heaven. When you don’t have tarragon use dill or chervil.

Peel hot, cooked beetroot and serve immediately tossed in the dressing:

1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs soft butter
1 – 2 Tbs finely chopped fresh tarragon
1 tsp sugar
vinegar to taste

Advanced Honey-Mustard Dressing

A well-dressed salad relies on the imagination, instinct and individual flair (savoir faire) of the cook as well as the way in which the ingredients are brought together.

60 ml cider vinegar
250 ml mayonnaise
1 tsp prepared mustard
1 tbsp sugar
60 ml chopped onion
125 ml honey
125 ml olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Mix all the ingredients except the oil in a blender. While blending, slowly add the oil into the mixture. Blend mixture until it is smooth. Store in refrigerator. Makes 2 cups.

Thai Sweet & Sour Chilli Sauce

"Recipe: A series of step-by-step instructions for preparing ingredients you forgot to buy, in utensils you don't own, to make a dish the dog wouldn't eat." - Author Unknown

According to my original source this recipe is called "Nam jim priaw wahn" in Thai. And it is really nammies. It's also been the inspiration for many great sweet and sour chilli sauces.

Serves about 4
½ sweet red pepper, de-ribbed, de-seeded, and sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
2 fresh red Thai chilli, or any red chilli you like, sliced
1 cup water
10 tbs rice vinegar, or white wine vinegar
10 tbs sugar

Crush the sweet pepper, garlic and red chilli peppers with a pestle and mortar, then transfer to a small saucepan. Add the water, rice vinegar and sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly.

Savoury Mashed Potatoes

"A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch." - James Beard

I'm a sucker for mashed potatoes. Made with freshly harvested potatoes from the food garden they are just plain yummy. What's more, they are the perfect vehicle for other flavours from the food garden. This recipe serves four (or just me).

Your favourite mashed potatoes to serve 4
1 tbs butter
4 ripe (red) Jalapeno chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
6 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
1 tbs chives, finely chopped
1 tbs Italian parsley, finely chopped

Make your favourite mashed potato recipe. Melt the butter in a pan and gently sauté the chillies and spring onions for 3 minutes. Add the mashed potatoes and stir well. Heat through for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally until piping hot. Place in a serving dish and fork the top. Sprinkle with chives and parsley. Serve immediately.

What's your favourite way to serve mashed potatoes?

Homemade Hot Chilli Powder

I'm kicking 2012 off with recipes that can help me work through the abundance of chilli peppers in my food garden. There is no definite chilli powder recipe but this one is a good starting point. Experiment a little with the ingredients and quantities to adjust the recipe to your taste.

5 tbs course dried Jalapeno
1 tbs course dried Cayenne or Habanero
1 ½ tbs ground cumin
1 ½ tbs dried oregano
1 ½ tbs garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt

Mix all the ingredients together. If you want a finer consistency ground with a mortar and pestle. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.

Immune Boosting Recipe #2

Here's another immune boosting recipe that's so good that it's hard to believe it is 'medicine'. Served with whole wheat bread it makes a satisfying light lunch.

In the 12th century the great physician and philosopher Maimonides prescribed herbal baths and chicken soup as remedies for the common cold. More than 800 years later, the New England Journal of Medicine confirmed that Maimonides was right. Researches found that chicken soup was a mild antibiotic and decongestant. Chinese healers to this day also use chicken soup to treat colds, though they do add some herbs, like ginseng, to their brew.

Here's one of our favourite chicken noodle soup recipes. To boost its cold fighting properties add 1 tablespoon grated ginger and 3 cloves crushed garlic.

Serves 4
1,5 liters chicken stock
2 carrots, peeled, diced
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
5 ml salt
2 ml pepper
150 g mushrooms, thinly sliced
50 g raw egg noodles
150 g cooked chicken, diced

Bring stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the carrots, celery, spring onions, salt, pepper and optional ginger and garlic. Simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and noodles. Add the cooked chicken and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve at once.

Immune Boosting Recipe #1

When treating acute illnesses herbalists will often recommend a cleansing diet. This usually entails taking freshly pressed fruit and vegetable juices or vegetable broths (soups.)

The recipe below was inspired by Vicki Pitman (author of Herbal Medicine). She named it "Potassium Broth" and claimed that it wreaks havoc on colds, infectious and feverish illnesses.

Since we believe in prevention we've tweaked the recipe slightly to help boost our immune systems. It really works and with a slight modification we also use it with great effect whenever we catch a cold. The recipe is loaded with potassium and therapeutic quantities of immune boosting nutrients and vitamins.

Use unpeeled and preferably organic vegetables from your own food garden. If you have to buy from the supermarket, scrub them thoroughly. Don't overcook the vegetables; you are aiming to extract the maximum amount of nutrients and phytochemicals. The same goes for the herbs and spices, aim for 10 minutes infusion time at the most. If you are used to chillies (cayenne) and garlic you can increase the amounts to suit your taste.

1 lt water
2 potatoes, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, with leaves, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 big handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 Tbs fresh ginger root, mashed; or 1 tsp dried ginger powder
4 cloves garlic, mashed
1 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp cumin seed, whole

Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and half of the flat-leaf parsley to the water. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer until nearly cooked. Add the remaining parsley, ginger, garlic, cayenne and cumin and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the vegetables are done. If you have an acute cold, strain the vegetables and herbs and serve.

If you are taking this as part of your immune boosting (prevention) program, puree the strained vegetables in small batches and return to the broth before serving.

For a thicker soup add 1 cup of oats, brown rice or millet that has been soaked overnight then cooked. Puree the whole before serving.

Tossed Salad with Thyme Vinaigrette

Inspired by the traditional Greek salad this dish is always popular when served at our classes or family gatherings. The baby salad greens are optional but they do add a wonderful dimension to the salad.

500g green cabbage, shredded
1 medium red onion, sliced thinly
150g black olives, pitted and halved
225g feta cheese, crumbled
120ml olive oil
about 3 tbsp red or white wine vinegar, herb vinegar or lemon juice to taste
2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp salt
1 big handful baby salad greens (optional)

In a large salad bowl, toss the cabbage, onion, olives and feta until thoroughly mixed. In a small mixing bowl whisk the olive oil, vinegar, thyme and salt. When emulsified toss with the salad. Refrigerate the salad for 1 to 2 hours to allow the flavours to develop. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Just before serving, toss the bay greens with the salad and season with pepper.