Yesterday I spent the day at home, preserving some more of the glut of soft fruits. I tried three recipes which I adapted a little (see below). I also tied up the garlic and hung it in the kitchen and plan to do the same with onions. Tonight I will make a bit more pesto with the basil, but for now I am off to the plot, as I have to sow sow sow before I run into a hungry gap.

Redcurrant liqueur

9oz/255g redcurrants, stripped from stems
9oz/255g brown sugar crystals
3 star anise
2 small pieces of fresh mint
1 ½ pints/750ml white rum

Put all the ingredients in a jar with a good seal. Shake every day for a fortnight, by which time the sugar should have dissolved completely. Strain into a bottle.

Raspberry icecream

568ml carton double cream
300ml whole milk
½ vanilla pod, split
6 large egg yolks
50g caster sugar (it could do with a bit more)
300g raspberries
Icing sugar to taste

Put the cream, milk and vanilla pod in a heavy-based pan and heat until just below boiling point. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until thick and creamy. Remove the vanilla pod from the hot cream mixture. Pour the cream mixture on to the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and heat very gently, stirring, until the custard thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon – this should take 10-12 minutes. Strain the custard into a clean bowl and leave to cool.
Meanwhile, purée the raspberries in a blender. Sieve to remove the pips. Cover and freeze overnight or until firm.

Redcurrant jelly

2 lb (900 g) redcurrants
2 lb (900 g) sugar 

As soon as the fruit is cooked (about 10 minutes), add the sugar, stir until absolutely dissolved, then bring the mixture up to a rapid boil, and boil for 8 minutes. Strain through a muslin or sieve and bottle hot.

I cook every meal. I like big portions, but I have little time and patience, so what I usually do is to cook a quick, big pasta, or pizza or main course and veg (recently I have also started cooking more than I need for the meal, so that I can take it to the office and eat healthily in the process). Hassle-free.

However, given the size of my plot (and apart from soft fruits and some gluts) most other produce I get in moderate quantities, a bit at a time, which requires me to change the way I cook.

1. Produce is fresh and needs to be eaten or processed quicker, because it goes off and because tomorrow there will be something else fresh ready to eat;
2. I throw away much less, and make do of more, because I have much less and because of all the work that goes into it!
3. My native stock of recipes does not necessarily cover the amount and types of veg/herbs that are available to me.

In this situation, which is surely better for the environment, my finances and surely my health, more creativity is required.

Last night, for example, I found myself with a punnet of tree spinach (Chenopodium giganteum), a single courgette Summer Ball, five or so courgette flowers, a handful of Thai basil (which smells of aniseed) and a bunch of sage. My main course was supposed to be sole (not that filling). How to use up so little and ill assorted veg?

I kept the sage (in a vase with water) for focaccia tonight, but worked out a set of quick recipes for the rest.

Quite elaborate in terms of amount of crockery and pottery they required, the recipes produced a good dinner which my husband liked (which is always a good thing, isn’t it! :)). I blanched the spinach and served it plain with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Simply pan fried the sole, but accompanied it with a Thai basil pesto made by mixing the chopped leaves with some more oil. And then bulked up the courgette and flowers by making a small omelette. A bit more proteinic than we would normally eat, with the sole AND the omelette, but the different tastes did not clash, rather went reasonably well together.
Previously I had mostly used small quantities to make stir-fries, to be eaten on their own or as pasta sauce, but it was interesting to be a bit more adventurous for a change!
Now I just have to improve my dish arranging technique and my food photography skills! ;p

By the way, the tree spinach tasted more strongly than normal spinach and had a tougher and slightly rougher texture, which I liked, although it took ages to clean it as it was affected by black flies on the underside of leaves.

aJuly is the time of endless bounty of soft fruits. This year it was raspberry first, followed by gooseberry and redcurrant is just coming now.

Pound after pound of raspberry for dessert were getting a bit too much, so I have frozen some for later on (trick to keep them whole I discovered is to dry them thoroughly), but I have just a small freezer. Last night I tried a River Cottage recipe for bottling them with gin and syrup. It was very easy, quite rewarding.

It takes:

• 1kg raspberries, firm just ripe
• 150gr sugar
• 750ml water
• 100-150 ml gin, brandy or raspberry liqueur

Make the syrup by slowly bringing to the boil water and sugar, stirring to dissolve it. Keep warm.
Pack a sterilised jar full of raspberries, pour the alcohol and then fill with the syrup.
Put the jars in simmering pan at body temperature and bring to 88C simmering point over 20 mins, leaving to simmer for 2 mins