Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard

Recently friends moved into their new home and Hubby helped out with the move.They live in a beautiful town close to the Victorian Snow fields and where citrus trees grow extremely well......................

They have over 30 assorted citrus varieties and kindly sent me boxes and bags of Grapefruit, Oranges, Lemons, Limes and Mandarins .

Ok so there has been a lot of slicing...juicing....washing of jars....

So far i have made Grapefruit and Ginger marmalade
                           Lemon and Lime marmalade
                           Three fruit marmalade
                           Lemon Butter 

My favorite is the Grapefruit and Ginger.
                                               

                                                 
Since Hubby doesn't like marmalade I brought some strawberries on sale and made him batch of jam.

And since I was in the mood I also picked the last of my Beetroot and made a batch of relish with the following very easy recipe.  

750g Beetroot, peeled and grated             750ml malt vinegar
500g apples ,peeled,cored &chopped         500g sugar
1 onion, chopped                                    1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
200 g dried figs, chopped, (the recipe did say raisins but i didn't have any)

Place all ingredients in a preserving pan and leave to stand 2 hours.

Place pan over medium heat and slowly bring contents to the boil.
Simmer 1 1/2 - 2 hours until reduced,thick and syrupy.
Remove from heat, pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal.

      
 Still more fruit left on the laundry bench................maybe a batch of 3 fruit marmalade with ginger.....................   

Sharing today's recipe with Robin and Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard.                                         
                                              

Harvest Monday

Two and a half weeks into spring........ a few sunny days but still lots of rain and with the longer days of sunlight most plants are starting to really move now...............
There's sugar snap peas climbing up their wire support, potato leaves emerging, the first flowers on strawberry plants............
This week there has been plenty of silver beet and bunching onions to pick.

                                                   
Also still picking the cabbage tops/leaves from my Italian cabbage.

                                                      
I have been enjoying harvesting lovely fresh leaves of Thyme, Parsley, Rosemary and Oregano perfect chopped in scrambled eggs and quiche.


This week I picked the last of the beetroot planted way back in April and made beetroot relish...................

 And the girls keep a laying................. this week count 45 !

Love joining in with Daphne at Daphne's Dandelions and catching up with fellow gardener's and their weekly harvests from around the globe.


                                                   

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard.

Do you love eating Chicken?
Do you like a few spices ?
Do you like mint?

Just had to share this really easy and tasty recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's cook book Curry Easy which I cooked for this first time this week.

                                              

Its called Chicken Karhai with Mint.  (Karhai means wok)

So chicken cooked quickly in a wok with mint.

Combine in a glass or ceramic bowl, then cover and leave in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour or as long as overnight.

550 g boned,skinned chicken about cut into 2cm pieces
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1  teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon of olive oil.


Put 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok or large frying pan and set over a medium to high heat.
When hot add 100g of chopped onions, I used fresh bunching onions.
Fry for 1 minute
Add all the chicken and all the marinade, stir-fry for 3 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through.
Add 3 tablespoons of freshly chopped mint and fry for a few seconds.
Serve.......

I served it with plain boiled rice and some gently steamed cabbage tops.

One of those dishes which was even better the next day cold, I had it with a salad but would be great in a wrap.

Sharing this recipe with Robin and Thursday's Kitchen Garden

Some projects finished.......................

After some excavation work way back in January we were left with a huge pile of rock ..............what to do with it all ?

                                                   
It took most of the Winter months(and broken fingernails) but I have finally finished my Cairn .........

                                                      
           Over the months the stone has dried into different colors .

                                                       

  While I was playing with stones Hubby was building the new movable Chicken House on wheels !!
It has timber slats on the floor (gaps are small so no foxes can get in) and a wire panel for a door and at night time a blind that I pull down over the door and secure.  

At present its resting under a group of gum trees for added protection                    

It didn't take the girls long to settle in and next morning there was the usual 6 eggs in the nesting box.







Err.......who was a tad lazy these last couple of weeks?   the first sunny days of Spring were spent pulling weeds , 5 Ute loads !!! I kid you not !!!

A Wonderful spring surprise...........

Our first lamb for the season, Mum wasn't letting me get too close!    

Its white with black patches like his dad, the breed are called Damara or fat tailed sheep, they shed their fleece over the Spring/Summer months so no need for shearing. Were hoping the other 7 ewes will have safe births over the next couple of weeks.

On the Veggie front there has been lots of growth over the last couple of weeks with some things starting to flower mainly the 2 year old Kale, Garlic, Peas, Leeks and coming along nicely and seeds planted in the cold frame are now ready for transplanting.

The broad beans are flowering too.............

   My one disappointment in the plot has been my Broccoli Green Dragon, lots of healthy growth but no sign of flowers.......not sure what happened....

  Any Ideas??    Oh well I suppose the chickens will enjoy eating the leaves !

                                   
                                Happy Gardening..................