With the crisp autumn mornings comes the fantastic seasonal gifts. I think it’s almost mother natures way of apologising  for the change in temperature. The arrival of the ripe Victoria plum is a treasure and I associate this with the central focus point of a traditional English country garden. Roy has a Victoria plum tree in his beautiful well kept garden and I’m ever so grateful every year when I get a basket full of these beautiful and fragrant plums.

As you have most probably guessed I try and preserve the season for as long as I can and for that reason I divide my gift from Roy in three. One third is for immediate eating, one third for cooking and one third goes in the freezer for enjoyment at a later stage.

Last season I made cinnamon baked plums with  one third ,which was a delicious compote used for a cupcake filling and it made a yummy breakfast topping for porridge. I also made a mulled plum sorbet with the plums that I had in the freezer. This year is no exception as I have already planned to make the sorbet again for a special dinner party that’s coming up soon.

We are still enjoying some warm and sunny days which are perfectly suited for barbecues, gardening and enjoying lunch on the patio.So I thought that this delicious and indulging Victoria plum and blackberry frozen ice cream slices was the perfect treat to say farewell to the summer and welcome autumn with a smile. This dish is better known as a parfait in France and would be served during their long lazy lunches under the veranda during the summer. We still see parfaits in the posh restaurants but as I am using a true seasonal British ingredient I’ll only borrow the techniques and give it a slightly more appropriate name.

If you like the sound of this desert but do not have Victoria plums, I can recommend that any fruits,which can be pureed, would be a perfect substitute.

I wrote the thermomix method in the green colour so that it’s easy to follow but , as shown, you can still make this dessert the conventional way. Either way it’s delicious and perfect to be made in advance. As it’s a frozen pudding I recommend that you slice and serve it immediately or slice and place it back in the freezer until every one is ready to be served. Remember they are ice cream slices which will melt  fairly quickly, especially when it’s hot .

It’s great when you rummage through the freezer and stumble across these fantastic and exciting finds that you have left for a rainy day. Today was one of those hypothetical rainy days, I needed to make supper and the only two different items in the freezer were the wontons and mackerel. We have been eating tomato and courgette surprises for most of the week and was in dire need of something different, finding the wonton wrappers and the mackerel was a little treasure.

I visit a Chinese supermarket twice a year near London called Hoo Hing. It’s a bit of a trek getting there but well worth the effort. I like browsing even though I do with a shopping list as long as my arm. You can buy these wonton wrappers already frozen, however I like to buy them fresh and then freeze them once I get home. I also purchased kaffir lime leaves, pandan leaves, lemongrass, spring roll pastry, miso paste, rice noodles, palm sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil and so the list goes on. I have since discovered that you can buy basics such as soy sauce, oyster sauce and the wide variety of the items listed above at your local supermarket ,but the savings I made at this particular shop make the drive worthwhile.

It’s very handy being able to freeze the wonton wrappers, pandan leaves, lime leaves, spring roll pastry and lemongrass. Freezing the lemongrass is only something I recently discovered and it works a treat, when I need one I take it out of the freezer, leave it at room temperature for about 10 minutes before I chop it into small pieces or I simply grind it in the thermomix till fine. It brings broths and Thai style curries to life and makes a ordinary meal just that little bit more exciting.

I shaped these wontons like tortellinis. I was the chief ravioli and tortellini maker at one of the restaurants where I learned most of my trade. It was a predominantly male kitchen so it was said that I had the gentlest touch and  the smallest fingers. My baby finger became really famous as I could shape the perfect tortellini around it, I got compliments from the boss everytime and he did not hand those out lightly, trust me! The wonton wrappers are really easy to work with however if you do have a filling with big hard pieces it could penetrate the wonton skin easily and then your parcels are ruined once water gets inside.

I have poached these wontons in rapid boiling water, however you could have steamed them either using the thermomix steamer attachment or using a steamer basket over rapid boiling water. I prefer to crisp them by sauteing the cooked wontons in a bit of oil, the textures are interesting.

These crispy mackerel wontons make a brilliant canape or you could serve three of them in a bowl of hot miso broth as a starter or main course.

If you are intrigued like I was then you better have a peep at this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZgOJxlHrKU!

Mr.P has an affinity for tomatoes and has collected seeds for quite some time, he planted the seeds in April of this year and low and behold we have had tomato plants all over the place. We planted 28 tomato plants in our garden and gave a few seedlings to good homes.

Unfortunately we planted too many in the space we have and did not give the plants enough room to grow and bear fruits to their full potential. Lesson has been learned and we will certainly do things differently next year, that is the beauty of planting and learning as you go along.

Despite all that we have harvested 4kg of ripe tomatoes over the weekend and there are about another 6 kg of green ones still on the plants.

It’s fantastic, as we feel that we have actually provided food for ourselves. The next step is to preserve this bounty for the winter months to come.

I wrote three basic recipes on how to preserve your glut of tomatoes. I love all three as they have different uses. The tomato, ginger and sultana chutney recipe is one of my trusty old friends. This recipe has come along with me for many years and stems from my restaurant days. I have made so many different variations of this one recipe, it’s easy as long as the basic principles remain the same.

The bottled tomato sauce is a stunner, one you can make and bottle and utilise in so many different dishes. From a simple tomato soup or forming the base for a rich and delicious ragu. My freezer is bursting and I cannot fit another thing in and for that reason I had to start preserving my tomatoes in sterilized bottles, it works perfectly providing that you sterilize the bottles correctly.

The last recipe is one that I have already featured in a previous posting, it’s such a good tip that I could not ignore it. For the semi-dried tomatoes, I wash and cut them in half, season with salt and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves, then dry the tomatoes in a cool oven for a about three hours. Once semi-dried I place them in sterilized bottles and cover them with oil. They will keep for a very long time as the oil locks out oxygen. Use the semi-dried tomatoes in risottos, pasta dishes, on warm salads or pizzas,  the list is never ending.

We are dreaming of our own little restaurant and this would be one of those help yourself desserts that would be on the menu. People generally share puddings so why not put the whole pie on the table with a big jug of custard and everyone can dive in, that’s a dream for me!

It feels almost a bit surreal today as it is probably the hottest day of the year and I made a pie! Well it’s perhaps never too hot or cold for a pie. I did leave this one to cool completely before we sunk out teeth into it with a tub of clotted cream by the side.

I then had a brilliant idea, it would make a perfect picnic pie as you can bake it on an enamel plate as I did and take it along wrapped in a clean tea towel. Sounds good to me. The enamel plate came from a pound shop on the North End Road in Fulham. I bought two ,one 20 cm and the other30 cm and they are perfect for my plate pies. The 20cm one serves 6 generously and the larger one could do 6 savoury portions or 10 sweet portions.

The damsons came from Dennis’s place and the brambles(blackberries) came from the hedgerow. If you do not have damsons you could use Victoria plums which are now in season. Roy gave me some of his Victoria plums but unfortunately I had to make this pie today with the damsons we had prepared.

There were so many damson’s that I ended up making not only this damson and bramble plate pie but also made a damson parfait for the freezer, wild hedgerow Sangria and a smooth damson jam. Looking back I have been busy today! I get so excited about the seasonal fruits that I dare not let any go to waste.

It’s a lovely summers evening,but  the season is on the turn,daylight is become  shorter and there is a  chill in the air but tonight it’s still pleasant enough to enjoy supper on the patio. My garden is at it’s most beautiful and I can still see the courgette monsters lurking in the back ground. They have done well, the courgette plants that is, they have delivered in abundance and I have written several times about our courgette experience. I know once they go the garden will be bare and I will need something else to write about.

It was fun while it lasted and I’m afraid that it will end. Me and the courgette plants became good friends and I tried to do them justice with my delicious dishes and recipes.

This chilled courgette soup is delicious served either hot or cold. We have had three dinners from this one batch of soup and enjoyed it both ways.

You might find this recipe slightly over indulgent as I only use the green firm outer parts of the courgette , however there is lots that you can make with the white seedy interior, such as the hummus. However if you find that a bit too messy then use the whole courgette.

The spinach also came from my garden and I like to add a handful of spinach to green soups. It helps with the colour and I quite like the earthy back ground flavour that it adds to the dishes.

I refer to frozen chicken stock in this recipe, you can either use chicken or vegetable stock. I make a large batch of stock and freeze it in 500g blocks, amazing how handy the frozen stock can be. The cooler your ingredients the more vibrant green your soup will remain. Work fast and keep the soup chilled, even if you are going to serve the soup hot. Bring the soup to the boil once you are ready to serve, the longer you keep the soup hot the less vibrant green the soup will be.

I have used the goats milk yoghurt as I used goats cheese inside the bread. You can use Greek yoghurt or even natural yoghurt if you wish.

This is the perfect picnic dish. Pour the chilled soup into a flask , take the yoghurt in its tub  and  I  guarantee that you will stun your friends with this tasty little number.

The giant courgettes are still rampant, so there is even a dedicated drawer in the fridge for them. I was so worried at the beginning of the season that I would not have many courgettes I had to hold back from picking the flowers. I wanted to stuff them with fresh crab meat, dip the flowers in tempura batter and deep fry them but never got around to it. However my fear was that once I picked the flowers I would not have any fruits, perhaps I should have been tempted!

Mr.P and I are very fortunate and privileged to eat well. We are both good cooks and now that we are keen gardeners too we have even more fun. The cooking duties are shared,  however sometimes I would say what I had in mind and he will get on and just simply make it happen. Now ladies that’s one to be jealous of!

We both have poor memories. I have been writing on my shopping list for a few weeks to buy chickpeas, but for some reason I always leave the shop without them. I actually needed some dried ones to stuff my knitted chickens but as I keep forgetting to buy them the chickens had to be happy with something else. I fancy a nice big bowl of hummus with lots of good extra virgin olive oil, a generous dash of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkle of sumac. Hey- ho it never happened but when these borlotti beans popped out I had the basic ingredient for a fabulous hummus.

I used the white parts of the courgettes in the hummus and the green bits for a lovely soup . I did not want to throw anything away and this is a wonderful way of  fully using all parts of the vegetable. I could have given them to the worms in the wormery but they have whispered in my ear that they also have had enough of eating courgettes and fancied a change of diet.

As we were having our courgette supper which consisted of chilled courgette soup, courgette and goats cheese bread and this lovely borlotti bean and courgette hummus, we were chatting about how we could have used butter beans or even chickpeas for the hummus instead of the borlotti beans. Mr.P then added that if you not to have any tahini to hand you could have used a tablespoon of peanut butter. I pointed to the aubergine plants that are bearing the most beautiful looking fruits you have ever seen, my thoughts were that once the courgettes have finished the aubergines could be used instead of the courgettes. At this stage the conversation became a bit heavy and technical for me as I realised the notepad will be coming out in a second and then we will be off on a hummus tangent….writing 365 hummus recipes! Scary thought…..you must think we are a couple of saddos as all we can do is talk food around the dinner table, do not be alarmed but it even became pillow talk, shower talk and ….the rest…too much information!?

All jokes aside I think I’m the expert on courgettes. We have been eating courgettes every day for the past three weeks and there is more to come. First when the slugs killed one of my 7 courgette plants I was devastated and could not forgive the slugs for being so mean to me, now I realise it did me a favour. The courgettes grow incredibly fast and I have “El Wappos” nearly every other day. We have had courgettes in stir-fries, soups, salads, on pizzas, in sandwiches, bread, cakes, pickled, pasta dishes…I think I could write a book on “365 ways on what to do with a courgette!” But I do not think the nation would appreciate that!?

The kumato’s came all the way from Holland and they are cultivated. They are branded as the black tomato and they are quite impressive. I used half the box to make a big batch of napolitana sauce which I packed in 400g bags and placed them in the freezer, this will make a lovely base for soups and pasta dishes for the weeks to come. The rest I turned into my own home made ketchup and it’s delicious! You can do the same with any tomato, it does not necessarily have to be a black tomato. I know you can pick a box of tomatoes up at the market for a couple of pounds and it’s a super bargain. All you must do is turn it into a few items that you would have bought from the supermarket such as ketchup and pasta sauces. You can even blanch and peel the tomatoes and then place them in tubs in the freezer and you have “tinned tomatoes”. This is far more inexpensive than the bought versions in tins that probably come from foreign countries. You must think by now I’m a hypocrite talking about British produce but then using Dutch black tomatoes, but there is a very good reason for that. I do not like to waste food and when Mr.P came home with these, which were a gift, I could not turn them away, so hopefully you understand.

I have grown all my vegetables organically this year and when I looked through my cupboards I found this St.Peters Organic Ale. I realised that there is only one recipe that I could produce to go with my ketchup and that is a lovely wholesome beer batter. I also decided to use organic spelt flour, I love the nutty and wholesome flavour of the spelt. It reminds me of the buckwheat that I used to make blinis with. This dish makes a lovely bar snack or a wonderful addition to a tapas style supper.

The time has come for mum to return home and the tissues are at the ready as we are preparing to take mum to Heathrow. I thought no farewell would be proper without baking a cake. After all I owe mum a big thank you for all the ironing, cleaning, chatting and teaching me how to knit. Mum brought a few recipes and even grannies book came along and now she’s returning with this one to bake for her friends.

Like me, mum loved the richness, moistness and lemony punch that this cake delivers, if she could, she would have taken a few slices on the plane. As we were eating the cake we were  analysing it in depth as we have been doing with all the recipes during the past three months. We came to the conclusion that this cake would be lovely for a glorious afternoon tea and would also make a scrummy pudding with a big dollop of mascarpone ice cream.

I did make a few alterations to the recipe from my previous commis day’s by adding the crunchy almond and sugar topping and the boozy addition. As it’s a celebratory cake a glug of Amaretto fits the bill quite nicely.

I’m like a dog with a bone. Once I get an idea in my head I will not let it go without trying it at least once. I love this fabulous idea of a picnic in a jar. I know it’s not revolutionary as the lunchbox was invented before I even existed but hey it’s making me feel good!

It’s amazing how fast time flies by. It’s only 12 months ago that we went to the beautiful Island of Santorini. It’s actually scary as I realised I have had a packet of pasta in the cupboard for a year! Mr. P & I could be described as very sad individuals as we find supermarkets just as interesting as the old buildings. When we visit other countries we make a point of investigating their supermarkets and look for interesting goodies that we do not normally get back at home. The orzo pasta is nothing new but  I cannot find it easily in England.

Another Santorini beauty was their amazing tomatoes. At first we did not quite understood what the small dead  bushes in the fields were all about until we met a local who explained the importance of their tomato crops. Apparently tomatoes rank third after tourism and wine in their income table. The island is very dry with limited rain however the dew and spray from the sea make these Mediterranean gems grow fabulously. They are sweet, intense and electric red. I could not bring the tomatoes back but my happy vegetable delivery chap brought me these beauties which reminded me of the Santorini tomatoes.

We went to Audley End for a picnic with the family and ‘Duke’ the dog came along too. It was a lovely day and the Victorian kitchen garden is immaculate. They had a Victorian re-enactment of the how Audley End House used to function. The kitchens were amazing and the women where incredibly knowledgeable It was a great day out.

For this picnic I packed enough jars so each person had their own jar. The plum upside down cake also made it into my basket along with a few other wonderful delights.