Leeks: I can't stand paying $1.95 each

The very best summer use for stock - I feel - is in Vichyssoise, the cold potato and leek soup. It works perfectly with the stick from the Christmas ham bone. We had two hams this year, so there's plenty of stock.

I made some Vichyssoise just then - it's still great value at about $5 for ten serves but I hate paying around $2 for a leek.

I have some seeds just sprouted. I'll keep you abreast of the progress.

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Stop watering: I don't need to be told twice

I called into Malcolm Campbell's radio program today and he advised with the globe artichoke to withdraw the water. It'll start to give offsets that I can split off.


That's lucky advice. The other plants around it are a fig and two native ginger. Both are bulletproof.

Yay.


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Clever cooking with a secret ingredient

OK so it's not such a big deal but for me all cooking is an adventure.

I made a standard beef curry but because I was out at my father on law's place I saw he had some black figs. Oki then.


So here's how I made the curry. A kilo of beef mince, fried hard, fat drained off. Fried three quartered onions gently to transparent. Put it all together, put some salt and curry powder over the top, then ten quartered tomatoes.


All pretty standard. But then I topped and tailed about six small figs, halved them, put them in, covered and simmered for 40 minutes, with a stir sometimes. To finish I poured in a can of coconut milk, cranked up the heat, reduced to my preferred consistency before thickening with 2 tbs of cornflour in a half cup of water.


Served with rice and it really was amazing. Oh, and served five people with four follow up meals for about $8.

This clever cooking can be fun. And I got some of Luigi's wood from the black fig, so I might get my own one day.

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Lemongrass tea: worth a try I suppose

I was playing golf the other day when I said to my buddy "you look like you're drinking swamp water". It was a sledge day, I think he said worse to me.

Later on it came out that his wife had made him lemongrass tea, which he was drinking from an old Coke bottle. My buddy said it was pretty good as long as you put some honey with it.


Given I have so much lemongrass and nothing much to do with it (it's the grassy looking stuff here and there's more out the front yard) I think I'll hunt out a recipe.

Thanks Barry.

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Tree Dahlia: Easy enough so far

A buddy gave me some stems. Two nodes, taken when you cut them back in (I think) autumn.

Lay the stem sideways with some in the ground and some in the sun, and keep moist.



Nice plant, goes well in a pot (so far) and can be expected to give beautiful purple flowers in autumn. Water hungry in summer.

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"Meat bones" opportunity gone missing

It's amazing how sometimes one can benefit from a supermarket making a screwup. I remember once when I got $80 of lamb racks for $10 because they were weighed and coded as flap/ribs. Sorry about that, but they must've had a new person on that day. All learning costs, it just varies in terms of who pays.

Many times it's me who pays for my (and sometimes others) learning.



The other day I bought a bag of "meat bones" for $3.50 with the plan being for the dog, although these are always ok for human consumption. Based on the part of the meat case it was in, it's the law.

If I hadn't left them for a few days they might've been used for human consumption! A closer look told me they were all loin chops - normally $30 per kg. some apprentice must've been cutting too thin for spec or something.

Never mind. Halie gets loin chops.

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Donut peaches at last

A beautiful 23 degree morning in the middle of a week of 35+ days. Heaps of water onto the trees and the fruit on the ripen.


And four buds, and three grafts took off this season against a seedling of no particular type that sprung up in the driveway. That is now a really neat three arm espalier which should give that sort of fruit next season:


I put a couple of buds onto some seedlings at my father in law's house and hope they get through the heat. Not that clever and a little hopeful, really.

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