From Plot to Pot V: Preserving ragout

Today I'm preparing a large portion of ragout for preserving. It's great to have some jars handy for days you don't have time for cooking or you don't feel like peeling and chopping and boiling and frying. Huge marrows and courgettes are perfect for this. Aubergines and pumpkins are great, too. 

I use: 
- 1 large marrow
- a few tomatoes (I picked them green some days ago and they ripened in a bowl at home)
- a handful of garlic cloves (needless to say that I love garlic...)
- some red and white onions
- 2 tins of chopped tomatoes (I wish I had more tomatoes from the allotment - next year!)
- chopped parsley and thyme (frozen - see earlier post)
- dried herbs de provence 
- salt and pepper

I prepare everything in a pressure cooker. For this I add oil and fry the garlic and onions until glassy.

 I then add the rest of the ingredients, marrows chopped into chunky bits. Here in the photo with the parsley and thyme on top. Mix everything well, close the lid and bring to pressure. It then takes no more than 5min until all ingredients are soft and tender. 

In the meantime sterilise some jars, I keep those from the shops, saves you buying new ones as well as resources. Fill them level while jars and ragout are still hot and close quickly. Take care to clean rims before closing. 

Another tip: If you want to make sure you create a vacuum in the jars you can add a thin layer of alcohol (40% upwards) on top of your preserves (this method only works with preserves of a firm consistency; great for jams, too). The amount of alcohol depends on how full you filled the glass. Light it with a match or lighter and quickly close the lid. The flame will use up the rest of the oxygen in the glass and then extinguish, thus creating the vaccuum. There needs to be enough alcohol to use up all the oxygen but at the same time there shouldn't be much more or the alcohol will remain in the jar. You will see, it's not too difficult to estimate the right amount. 


                                                          Voila!

From Plot to Pot IV: Chard is delicious!

Chard grown in a raised bed. You can snap off the outer leaves only and keep harvesting for longer.

 Chard is one of my favourite vegetables. It can be used like spinach and it's very versatile. It's great in lasagne, curries, pasta sauces, simply stewed, raw in salads, with fish and meat. 

It contains many vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin Bs, C, K, A and iron, calcium, potassium. The young leaves can be eaten raw in salads, keeping all these nutrients intact. 

More mature leaves should be blanched and make a great addition to many dishes. 

Today I'm going for something a bit more fancy and amazingly delicious: spaetzle with a chard-gorgonzola sauce.




Spaetzle are traditional Swabian egg pasta and are prepared in a particular way. A specific tool is nowadays used for convenience sake, however, if you don't have a spaetzle grater you can also prepare them the traditional way.

For 2 portions you prepare a dough from           for 4 portions:
- 250g flour (I use bread flour)                          - 500g flour
- 3 medium-sized eggs                                      - 5 eggs
- 70-120ml water (or milk)                                - 150-200ml water
- a pinch of salt.                                               - double the pinch

spaetzle grater

Whisk till you get a smooth consistency. The dough should be thick but still runny, a bit firmer than pancake batter. Bring a large pot of water to boil and add some salt. Once the water is bubbly-boiling get your spaetzle grater out and fill with dough. Then start grating briskly to get small and knobbly spaetzle. If you don't have such a grater you can try the traditional way of putting some dough onto a chopping board. You then 'grate' small pieces of dough 

perfect spaetzle

with a knife into the boiling water. Takes a bit of practice to get small ones but the taste is still the same! Leave them to boil for another 2-3 min, then strain them. They are ready to eat now but I prefer to fry them a bit to give them that extra something.

For the sauce you need: 

- fresh chard                - a dash of cream
- 1 gorgonzola              - salt/pepper
- garlic and onion         - paprika powder


Blanch the chopped chard. Fry the onions and garlic. I tend to fry the thick parts of the stems together with the onions. Add all other ingredients and simmer until the gorgonzola has melted into a creamy consistency. Top the spaetzle with the sauce and serve! Again, it's fast and easy (at least if you have a spaetzle grater handy, the traditional method will take you longer). 

Most of all it's incredibly delicious......