Tuna and Mozzarella stuffed over ripe tomatoes

We have a huge glut of tomatoes this year and while we’ve tried to use them all it was inevitable that some were going to get left to go just that little bit too soft. We hate to see waste so I knocked up a little recipe.

You’ll need;

• 8 or 9 very ripe medium size tomatoes
• 1 tin/ pack of tuna
• 1 lump of mozzarella
  

It might be nice if you have;

• Fresh black basil leaves
• Some cous cous
  

Carefully cut the tops off the tomatoes and using a teaspoon scoop out the goo inside, you can chuck this away or do what I did and add it to the compost pot. Put about a teaspoon of tuna in each hollowed out tomato – our tuna was lightly flavoured with lime and pepper, but it’s not essential by any means. You don’t need to mix the tuna with mayonnaise or oil as there’s more than enough juice in this concoction already.

Carelessly rip apart the mozzarella ball and pop roughly hewn chunks in the top of each tomato. With the grill on full bung all your lovely creations on a baking tray and blast them until the mozzarella starts to brown.

Serve with a slight sprinkling of fresh pepper and eat while still warm. I had some left over cous cous so I added that to the plate. I also nicked some fresh black leaf basil from the greenhouse and stuffed a leaf inside each tomato.

Best eaten whole, nom!

Courgette Chutney - just one way to deal with the glut!

Hi all - by popular request here is a marvel of a recipe for dealing with the continuous spurt of zucchini.

You will need the following:

Pickling spices (coriander seeds, yellow mustard seeds, dried chillies, allspice, ginger, black peppercorns and a couple of bayleaves) * rather unhelpfully the recipe is unclear on the quantities of these - I'm guessing around a t-spoon of each unless you can buy little mixed sachets?? I have since discovered Sainsbugs do a jar of pickling spice, so maybe 2 tbsp??
700g courgettes
250g raisins
250g dried apricots
1 small green apple
250g sugar
3/4 tablespoon salt
500ml white wine vinegar (I used cider vinegar cos thats what I had in the cupboard!)


Tie spices in a muslin bag

Cut courgettes into cubes (small)

In a large preserving pan combine with all other ingredients - chuck in the spice bag (recipe states tie to the handle and dangle in ingredients, but sounds like unnecessary faff to me!) and leave for 24 hours

After said 24 hours - stir over a low heat to dissolve sugar

Cover and simmer gently for at least an hour, pressing the juices out of the spice bag from time to time until the pieces of courgette are translucent and the liquid golden and sryupy

Pour into warm sterilised jars and cover.

Credit must go to Sarah Raven for the recipe, though I did tamper with it a little!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy

One man went to mow...

The lilac bush

Rescued by my neighbour from her place of graft then kindly donated to the 'plot' effort.



Very handsome she be that 'Beauty of Moscow'
May she flourish and bloom
and attract all who see - the insects, the birds and even me!

Please don't comment on the sad attempt at poetry (or grammar) .......... I felt inspired by Mr Phil!

How doth the pumkins grow!!

From humble beginnings.......



.......the monster pumpkins swell!!

Jess and I are hoping to weigh in the heaviest pumpkins in all of Ipswich in aid of East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH). You can help us raise a bit of cash for the cause by sponsoring our efforts.

Please find the link for 'EACH' in our 'Great links' list for more information about the charity.

The life cycle of a ladybird

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of gardening is observing what is happening right under your very nose.
This photo shows a ladybird at the larvae stage - something I had the foresight to look up in a book rather than assume it was a pest to be squidged! They can move pretty quick and are fascinating to watch - gleefully munching their way through a colony of sap sucking aphids!

Later - after much munching and growing the larvae pupate and look like this before they emerge into the little red beetles we all recognise as ladybirds.

I'm glad to see natural balance at work on our humble allotment garden!

Onion harvest

The first onions - sown from sets autumn 2008

A successful garlic crop

Andrew's meadow - this will be developing over the next few years

Hyssop - the bee's love it!