Wednesday 24 September 2014

Blog post by Justine

Today the garden club children were busy creating these amazing seed packets for the sunflower seeds that we will sell at our next market day.  Keep an eye out for them - they are filled with sunflower seeds harvested from last summers sunflowers.

Recipes from 3 September cooking session

SILVERBEET AND COCONUT SOUP

(From Stephanie Alexander’s ‘Kitchen Garden Cooking With Kids’)

Silverbeet (about 10 large leaves)

½ onion

1 clove garlic

1 medium potato

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon coriander

1x 2cm cinnamon stick

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups water

½ cup coconut milk

-          Toast coriander seeds in dry pan until fragrant.  Place in mortar and add cumin and cinnamon.  Using the pestle grind the spices to a coarse powder.

-          Peel and finely chop onion and garlic.  Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan then add garlic, onion and spices.  Stir and cook until onion is softened.

-          Peel potato and chop into 1cm dice.  Add potato to softened onions.  Cover and cook for 2 minutes.

-          Separate silverbeet leaves from stems.  Place stems in compost bucket. Rinse silver beet leaves and spin dry in salad spinner. Shred silver beet leaves.

-          Add shredded silverbeet, salt and water to potato and onion mixture.  Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender.

-          Remove pot from the heat and using the stick blender carefully puree the mixture until you have a smooth, bright-green soup.

    -          Reheat soup to simmering point and then add the coconut milk. Do not boil or the coconut milk will curdle.  Season with more salt if needed and serve.

 

POTATO CAKES (makes approx. 16)

(From Stephanie Alexander’s ‘Kitchen Garden Cooking With Kids’)

8 medium potatoes

100g butter

½ onion

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons cornflour

Olive oil

-          Preheat oven to 120 C.

-          Peel and grate the onion.

-          Peel and grate the potatoes. (Grating is done most easily using the grater attachment on the food processor).

-          Tip the grated vegetables into the centre of a clean tea towel then squeeze the tea towel over the sink to remove the excess liquid.

-          Melt the butter then tip into a large bowl.  Add the drained grated vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add cornflour then mix all together.

-          Heat frypan over a medium heat and add a thin film of olive oil.  Make potato cakes by spooning a few tablespoons of mixture into the pan.  Each cake should be approx. 8cm in diameter.  Cook for 3 minutes then turn over and cook a further 3 minutes.  When the potato cakes are crisp and golden put into oven to keep warm.  Continue cooking in batches until all mixture is used.

 

 

CRUSHED POTATOES

Potatoes – scrubbed

Salt

Olive oil

1 tbsp fresh rosemary – finely chopped

               -        Turn on oven to 220 C.

-          Scrub the potatoes and place in a saucepan.  Cover potatoes with cold water and add a pinch of salt.

-          Bring potatoes to the boil and boil for 10 minutes.  Drain and leave to dry off and cool for 5 minutes.

-          Pour a tablespoon of olive oil into the bottom of a lined roasting tray.  Tip boiled potatoes into the roasting tray and crush roughly with a fork.  Drizzle over another tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and the chopped rosemary. Toss all together.

-          Bake potatoes for 20 minutes (or longer) until golden and crispy.

 

 

SPINACH AND FETA DIP

                                                       (From taste.com.au)

2 bunches English spinach, leaves picked, washed with water clinging to the leaves

200g (1 cup) fresh ricotta

200g creamy feta, crumbled

 2 spring onions finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 garlic clove, crushed

Pinch of salt

-          Place the spinach in a medium saucepan. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and place over low heat. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, for 1-2 minutes or until spinach is just wilted. Remove from heat. Transfer to a colander and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Use your hands to squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. Place the spinach in the bowl of a food processor.

-          Add the ricotta, feta, spring onions, lemon juice and garlic and process until almost smooth and well combined. Taste and season with salt. Transfer to a serving bowl.

 

 

 BEETROOT AND CARROT SALAD

350g/12oz carrots, peeled and trimmed

350g/12oz raw beetroot, peeled and trimmed

1 apple, cored

1 small bunch flat parsley, roughly chopped

-          Peel and trim the carrots and beetroot and core the apple, then coarsely grate all on a grater (wear rubber gloves if you don’t want pink hands!). Alternatively, use a food processor fitted with a grating plate. Place the grated vegetables and apple in a bowl.

-          Add the olive oil, vinegar and parsley, then toss well. Leave to marinate for at least 15mins before serving.

 

 

 

3 September 2014

Blog post by Justine

For the past two garden club sessions our garden club members have moved into the kitchen to cook using some of our delicious vegetables.  The children were split into two smaller groups so that everyone had plenty of opportunity to really get hands on and involved in the cooking experience.

We made:
Silverbeet and coconut soup
onut soup

 Potato cakes (group 1)


Crushed potatoes (group 2)

Spinach and feta dip

Carrot and beetroot salad


The children were great at tasting everything that they made and some were pleasantly surprised that they liked some of the flavours that they hadn't expected to.

The cooking sessions are always hugely enjoyed by the children and they would not be possible without the help of our dedicated parent helpers.  A HUGE thank you goes to Lisa, Tanya, Nicky F. and Andrea who helped at our cooking sessions.