Stoney Road Gardens Association

CUCUMBER

What to do with a glut of hand-pollinated cucumbers from your greenhouse?

RECIPE CUCUMBER 1 – Tzatziki

This Greek dip is the perfect accompaniment to a long cold shandy on a very hot summer's day.

Indians have a similar dish called raita for teetotallers.

PUMPKIN

We grow more pumpkins as Halloween displaces Guy Fawkes Night. But they are big vegetables with a rather bland taste. How to use them up?  The seeds can be dry roasted and served as nibbles.

They can be mashed like swede but drenched in orange juice as a vegetable.  There are plenty of recipes for American pumpkin pie, made interesting with lashings of cream.  But the best use is probably is in thick soups that exploit the colour.

 RECIPE PUMPKIN 1 – Moroccan vegetable soup. Serves 4

BROAD  BEANS

I wonder whether the Romans, who introduced broad beans to Britain, had trouble getting their families to eat the first fresh vegetable of the year.  Try this Moroccan dip on yours.

 RECIPE BROAD BEAN 1  -  Byesar (broad bean pâté)

DAMSONS

My childhood coincided with post-war rationing and I was brought up never to waste food.  It still irks me to see unused fruit rotting on trees.  When I was offered a trial taste of damson gin at Stokesay Castle, I realised I could make it myself from the damsons going begging all round the Stoney Rd site.

 RECIPE DAMSONS 1 – Damson gin.  1 bottle

KALE

RUNNER BEANS

To freeze runner beans without blanching, slice them thinly by pushing them through an old-fashioned cutter with parallel blades. The cutter can be had cheap from Coventry market. Place on a baking tray in the freezer somewhat separated from each other. Then you can take as many as you need from an accumulating plastic bag.  Nonetheless during the August runner bean epidemic you will be desperate for other recipes.

RECIPE RUNNER BEAN 1  -  Runner bean chutney

COURGETTES

Courgettes fruit prolifically throughout a long season, so here are some recipes to alleviate the repetition of stock uses.  In Italian and American recipes courgettes are called zucchinis.

 RECIPE COURGETTE 1 – Courgette and cheese melt.

• Courgette, sliced in rings
• onion, sliced
• grated cheese
• breadcrumbs

Grease a baking dish. Put in successive layers of onion, courgette, cheese, onion, courgette, cheese.

RASPBERRIES

You have made raspberry jam, raspberry sauce (coulis) with vinegar, and summer pudding.  Still the fruits pile up in the freezer, frozen individually on baking trays before bagging up.  Here is a delicious quick dessert to serve unexpected visitors.

 RECIPE RASPBERRY 1 – Raspberry and almond swirl.