h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You can turn excess tomatoes into chutney of course; i have a recipe somewhere, but maybe easier to just Google it.

As for the asparagus, that doesn't sound like an awful lot to me; but i live in France, the fresh local asparagus season is short & it's sold in big bunches fairly cheap. I usually make soup with it; chop the buds & a bit of stalk off & use in salads or just dipped in whatever, the rest of the stalk goes in the soup.

Mooli! That brings back memories of Pakistan!

zdt

I made chutney 3, 1 ltr jars in 2002 and I finished the last one in 2007 then i had to make some more , none of it went into the fridge all stored in the cupboard .

I made a batch of rhubarb chutney last month when my uncle gave me a ton of it.

Mine was tomato n apple chutney

Asparagus - if it's green asparagus, chop it into short lengths and fry in butter with some slivered almonds to make a nice change from steamed with hollandaise!

Asparagus (green):

Oven up to 11.
Toss in olive oil (the asparagus, silly, not the oven)
Lay on a baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. (No...get up...lay the *asparagus* on the baking sheet.)
Top oven shelf, 5 minutes.
Squeeze of lemon.
Shaved parmesan or (better!) pecorino or manchego.

It is good with a nice veggie hollandaise. Roasted is nice, too, but I use fried onion bits rather than grated cheese.

I love asparagus. It's been so expensive here lately, though.

Ah. No. As a German, Mal presumably means *proper* Hollandaise. The term is misapplied to cheese sauce.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollandaise_sauce

My word! Just look at the picie of the white asparagus and spuds in that W***pedia.

It's the mango season

Get yerself down to your local Pakistani store and buy a few boxes. eat 'em in the shower. With a friend.

I brought in £10 worth for a guy at work who was raised in Africa. They don't have Pakistani shops near him (in Stirling), so these were the first *proper* mangoes he'd had since childhood.

(Apart from the one I gave him yesterday. He got it all over his beard! ).

I love mangoes. Picked up a crate of them last week. They were about 10¢ each.

Since I've got my rhubarb chutney, and a few pieces of gobi parantha in the freezer, I might whip up that mooli curry this weekend.

That and chickpea cutlets.

Farmer's market today.

Big bunches of beets. I was telling someone at the stall to keep the lovely leaves and make a frittata out of them. The stall holder kept calling me back to repeat the recipe to others.

For the roots themselves...bake and serve slit open with yoghurt and fried spices (mustard, cumin, chilli, ginger)...or just slice v. thin and douse in good vinegar (lingonberry vinegar; £1; IKEA)

I bought some v. young leeks for my frittata...more like spring onions.#

Made it with duck eggs.

Served with nice bread from Stathaven )(pr 'Strayv'n'). Ayrshire spuds, parsley, fresh-grown salad from a big, live box I bought - including nasturtiums.

Goosebery fool to finush.

Car broke down and was towed to the shop today, so no fun food shopping.

Tonight's dinner will be chickpea cutlets.

Cook chickpeas; mash with olive oil till no whole beans remain.

Mix in 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 cup cold water, dry thyme, sage, Hungarian paprika, and a couple cloves pressed garlic. Knead for 3 minutes, then form into four separate balls. Press into cutlets and fry in olive oil for 5-6 minutes on each side, until golden brown.

They go well with a nice mustard sauce: 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, 1/2 cup cooking sherry, capers with brine, lemon juice, thyme, a few cloves minced garlic, and a bit of olive oil. Boil for a few minutes until bubbly and smooth, then thicken with arrowroot or corn starch.

Might have a bit of red kale for the veg.

Chickpea cutlets were delicious, again!

I'm going to try the mooli curry tonight. Apparently caraway, sesame or cumin seeds are a suitable substitute for nigella.

Ooh, no! Just leave them out.

I added the cumin seeds. Glad I did. This one was really bland- wound up adding turmeric, grated ginger and a few chopped green onions to make it more flavorful. Without, it was really "blah".

Served with brown rice- though we won't actually be *eating* this till lunch on Tuesday- we've got leftover chickpea cutlets for tomrrow and I made quinoa pasta with tomato/onion/garlic/thyme sauce and some sautéed red leaf kale for "linner" today.

Also used some fenugreek (methi) seeds, if it matters.

Well...the point is to serve it with whatever you like. My sole contriution was 'Grate it. Curry it.''

I started off grating a wee bit, realized I wouldn't care for that texture-wise, and did a really fine dice instead. Didn't want it to get all soft and soggy during the sauté.

It'll do for a work lunch, but I've still got a chunk of daikon left- I'm thinking seaweed salad.

Apparently I haven't learned my lesson- I've got too many button mushrooms now.

Made mushroom rice last night:

Soak a 6-inch piece of dried kombu and 2-4 dried shiitakes in water overnight.

Wash a cup of rice.

Wring excess water out of shiitakes and slice them, also slice a handful or two of fresh button (or whatever kind) mushrooms. Put in a bowl with a splash each of sake and soy sauce and a bunch of grated ginger. Toss till the 'shrooms wilt.

Toss rice and mushroom mixture in rice cooker with enough of the soaking water to bring to the one-cup level. Cook for at least one hour.

This made about two cups worth, which is enough for two people. Served as a side dish it'd go a bit further. I have a 3-cup rice cooker so I make smaller batches.