Marjoram – A piquant sauce!

I grow Pot Marjoram as a perennial herb. The other variety, Sweet Marjoram isn’t so hardy though it has the better flavour. I grow this variety afresh every year. Being Mediterranean plants they like full sun (in this country!) and good drainage. Once established in a spot they like they will do very well. However it is a herb that gets forgotten in my garden and I don’t use it as much as I should. Here is a superb recipe for a sauce to serve with sausages, beef burgers or meat loaf. Or mix with cooked spaghetti and serve with a bowl of grated cheese to sprinkle over the spaghetti.

Pizzaiola Sauce

1 tbsp freshly chopped marjoram

2 onions, 2 garlic cloves, 1 green pepper

1 dsp olive oil

2oz mushrooms, 1lb tomatoes

5fl oz stock

Tomato paste, chilli sauce, salt and pepper

Mince the peeled onions and garlic cloves. De-seed the pepper and dice the flesh. Heat the oil in a pan and fry garlic and onions over gently heat for 5minutes. Add diced pepper and cook for further 15 minutes before adding chopped mushrooms and skinned and chopped tomatoes.

Stir in the marjoram and add the stock. Blend thoroughly and cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste with tomato paste, chilli sauce and salt and pepper.

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Marjoram leaves can also be mixed with sugar and used to flavour bread and butter or rice puddings.

Herby recipes for a wet miserable Monday!

Gathering up some of my past posts and a couple of recipes that make use of garden produce.

For the glut of cucumbers I’m expecting to get!

2 cucumbers, 1 medium sized onion, 2 oz(50g) butter,2 tbsps freshly chopped tarragon, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, salt and pepper (black).

Peel and slice cucumbers into 1/2 inch sticks. Put into a pan of lightly salted boiling water. Cook for 3 minutes then drain. Peel and chop onion and cook in butter without burning it! Lightly browned! About 5 minutes. Stir in finely chopped tarragon and add drained cucumber. Cover with a lid and cook for approx. 7 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and lemon juice. Spoon mixture into dish and pour braising juices over, thickening them if needed. Good with chicken and white fish! Believe me!

Dill Sauce

Blanch the dill leaves for 1 minute. Drain and dry on kitchen paper. Chop finely. Whip the cream lightly and fold in the chopped dill. Season to taste with black pepper. Chill in fridge for an hour.

This sauce is excellent with cold meat and fish such as trout or salmon and also good on courgettes which have been baked in the oven. I think I’m having a glut of these! A hot sauce can be made by adding the dill to a white sauce. Add a tablespoon cream and whip in an egg yolk. Good with a baked ham. I often add a tablespoon of cider vinegar to the basic white sauce recipe as it makes the sauce a bit more tangy!

Both recipes are quick to do and add variety! Fennel can be used instead of dill for a different flavour, especially with fish!

Enjoy! Bon appetite!

Cucumbers! Lettuce Soup!

Last year I grew ridge cucumbers in the garden and got precisely one cucumber! Well being a glutton for punishment I am having another go. I don’t know a lot about growing cucumbers but I’ve been reading up about them. I have tiny cucumbers showing and I’ve stopped the vine after seven leaves to allow the laterals to develop. I am growing them in a deep tub and tying them to poles so that they grow up rather than hang down. I have four plants altogether but some are more advanced than others. I have two in this grey tub and a couple in large pots. They are all showing small cucumbers and those in pots are attaching themselves to the sticks with suckers like clematis does.

Any advice will be gratefully received! I am watering them well and feeding them regularly. I don’t know what else I can do but keep my fingers crossed!

With this humid sticky weather we are having, the rest of the garden is coming on really well. The beetroot which I sowed at the edge of the herbs is looking really good. I have sown a second sowing to follow on in the autumn. I like raw beetroot grated on to salads. I never knew one could do this until I bought a pack of bistro salad from Asda!

The lettuces too are getting out of hand but there is always lettuce soup! These are an oriental mix that I sowed about a month ago. They are very quick to grow and already I am picking leaves off them. Next to them is a row of spinach.

Lettuce Soup

At least one whole lettuce or equivalent in leaves. A red onion. Clove of garlic.Pint of vegetable stock. Seasoning. Dill, tarragon or basil-approx 2 table spoons of whichever is chosen. 1 tablespoon olive oil. Crème fraiche.

Add oil to large saucepan. Chop onion and garlic and add to pan. Sweat over low heat for 10 minutes. Make up stock and add to pan with chopped or torn lettuce plus black pepper to taste. Add herb of choice. Bring to boil and then simmer for ten minutes. Cool slightly and add half a tub crème fraiche. Stir in until melted. Liquidise until smooth. Serve with sprig of chosen herb and swirl of cream to decorate. Can be served cold. Is very good!