Kumar’s kitchen garden scrapbook

I’ve decided to keep a diary of what is growing, what I have sown, and what I have harvested from my three patches of produce, and what I have cooked with these pickings.  I am not going to be disciplined and write daily, but rather like my patches these will be patchy and haphazard, and either crammed close or with some bare spaces. Not appropriate for a designer, but I have always been a rebel and gone against the grain.

So these random jottings will happen when I feel like it.

Wednesday, 2 April

Yesterday, I decided to uproot all the old rainbow chard to create more space for the kale to grow. I noticed the marigolds were spreading and taking over. I couldn’t decide if I needed to be ruthless and get rid of them, but they are flowering their heads off and the front planter box is awash with splashes of orange and yellow, and yes, lots of dried brown seed heads as well, which is why I was wanting to remove them. I read somewhere that marigolds attract bees and help keep nematodes away, which is why I planted them. They also self seed and tend to take over. However, I love their colour and use the petals in garnishes. The tender young leaves are good as an edible garnish with fish as well. The petals dried in the microwave or a low oven crisp up and make a great topping on a salad or crumbled into a dust as a fancy garnish. I have been meaning to pick some marigolds for an illustration, which I have still have to do.

Friday, 4 April

Last evening I picked some green beans from the garden – there was one bean plant languishing under other plants all summer and after my last onslaught of tidying up a few weeks ago, the bean vine sprang to life and in a matter of 3 weeks wound it’s way up a pole and started putting out pairs of beans at every node. Although I only picked 12 beans, it was enough to have along with some broccoli as a side for dinner. I will let one bean mature and dry to get seeds for further crops.

Monday, 7th April

Rain, rain and yet more rain. Perfect weather for settling in the newly transplanted borage seedlings. I had about 30 seedlings that were getting bigger and ready for a new home- some were given away, and the others moved. The narrow patch by the car park now has a border of borage. I can’t wait until Spring, when borage comes into flower. When I researched borage online, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that borage leaves, particularly the tender young leaves can be cooked, and that they have a cucumber flavour. I can’t wait to use them lightly sautéed and mixed with ricotta as a stuffing for ravioli. The flat leaf parsley that self-seeded is thriving and will require thinning and replanting soon. This year I intend having lots of parsley as it is so versatile and I tend to use it frequently.

Saturday, 12 April

It never rains, but it pours. It has been very wet and the snails and slugs are having a great time – 2 of my thriving kale plants have all but been reduced to a skeletal framework, still I have plenty more and what goes re- grows. I finally deadheaded the marigolds and thinned them out. The front planter box looks much tidier and as a reward for this work I was thrilled to see that the garlic I planted a couple of weeks ago had sprouted and there were quite a few healthy looking leaves standing proud. I added to these by planting 4 more sprouting cloves. I had bought some organic Australian garlic at my local growers market: you can tell if the garlic is Australian because these have their roots still attached.

The imported garlic has to have their roots trimmed off and I am sure they are sprayed as well. The local garlic is not only healthier looking but packs much more flavour and worth the extra expense.

I picked a good handful of each of these herbs today, as they were all looking so good: parsley, thyme, baby sorrel, oregano, chives, sage, basil and some tarragon. After washing these and spinning them dry I decided to chop them fine and make a salsa verde [green sauce]

I know that some of the herbs I picked are not traditionally used but wanted to use the best and freshest I had available. I chopped them by hand using a mezzaluna – a double handled, single bladed crescent shaped knife that makes chopping herbs a pleasure.

This is a pleasurable job as it is a feast for all of the senses: looking at the different shades of the fresh green herbs, feeling the crisp leaves and scrunching them up, hearing the crunch of the stalks and leaves getting chopped, and smelling the fragrance of all these herbs makes me salivate at the thought of the sauce I am about to prepare.

This is a lovely sauce to have with meats or fish.

Seared salmon with salsa verde

Usually salsa verde or green sauce is made with parsley, basil, chives and sometimes mint. Different countries use different combinations of herbs and I like the German version that uses a combination of assorted soft herbs

Ingredients

• 2 salmon steaks [with or without skin]
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• About a cupful of mixed herbs:
• Parsley, basil, chives, baby sorrel, tarragon, oregano and sage [go easy on the sage as the leaves can be tough]
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 tbsp white wine or apple cider vinegar
• 2 or 3 anchovies
• ¼  – ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Wash and dry the herbs and strip the leaves off any tough or woody stems.
2. Finely chop the leaves along with the capers and anchovies. You can use a food processor if you wish but I prefer chopping them by hand with a knife or mezzaluna.
3. Put the chopped leaves into a jar and add the mustard, vinegar and enough oil to make a fairly runny sauce.
4. Adjust seasonings and leave for a couple of hours for flavours to infuse. Keeps in the fridge for a few days.
5. Season the salmon and sear in a lightly oiled heated pan – skin side down first if  unskinned and after a couple of minutes flip over and cook the other side. I prefer the salmon to be just pink in the centre, but cook it to your liking.  Rest the salmon for a couple of minutes.
6. Before serving top the salmon with a couple of spoons of the salsa verde. Serve with steamed vegetables and or boiled potatoes.