The zucchini are growing fast and we have had quite a few this week. I like them small, about 10 cm long for this dish which can be a side, main meal with fresh bread, or a great vegetarian pasta sauce.

Zucchini, Garlic, Tomato and Onion 

4 small zucchini

1 large onion

1 large fresh tomato

3 cloves of garlic

4 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and Pepepr

Use a pan that can hold all the ingredients and heat the olive oil. Gently fry the onion until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic, zucchini and onion. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook over gentle heat until the oil separates from the rest of the sauce. This is one of the first dishes I recall from my childhood, with all the ingredients harvested from the garden. 

Above is the cardoon, complete with ‘ Cardoon Goblin’, in my garden before harvesting.

I could not decide when to pick my cardoon, but following wide consultations, decided to pick it today. I have 2 more mature plants growing so I could have afforded to experiment.

The harvested cardoon on my kitchen table – looking huge!

After cleaning and cooking the cardoon I decided that it was picked too early as the thicker stems, though hard and tough looking, were soft and tasty when cooked. If I left it to grow more there may have been more of the thicker stems, resulting in more to eat.

You need lots of time for a cardoon dish and I did not time myself but it took about half an hour from start to finish in preparation plus cooking time. There are many recipes to choose from and I went for the anchovie sauce which was a great success and enjoyed by four adults, who had it as a side to the main, in no time at all!

Cardoon with Anchovie Sauce 

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees C

1 large cardoon, leaves and stringy bits removed, sliced in 50 mm pieces kept in a bowl of water with the juice of a lemon mixed in. This prevents discoloring.

1 clove garlic, chopped

4 tablespoons butter

10 anchovies – the salty preserved kind, drained and chopped

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Cook the cardoon pieces for about 30 minutes until  tender. In the mean time butter an oven proof dish that will hold all of the cardoon pieces. Melt the rest of the butter in a pan and add the anchovies and garlic and stir gently until the anchovies dissolve. Put the cardoon into the prepared dish, pour the anchovie sauce over and sprinkle with the Parmigiano cheese. Now bake it in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

The potato yield was unbelievable. I have harvested 45 kg of potatoes from only 2.1 meters square – this equates to a whopping 215 Tons per hectare compared to the average for all developed countries in the world of 38 Tonnes per hectare and in New Zealand about 70 Tonnes per hectare. (I am now waiting a call from the CEO of the NZ Potato Council offering me a Seat on the Board)   The potatoes were practically the first things I planted after arriving in New Zealand following mulching and composting of the vegetable patch which was pure clay when I started.  Digging up the potatoes and then removing clay for another 500 mm and then putting compost down the trenches and covering it all with a mix of clay and soil wore me out and I had to stop halfway through the job to only finish it after two days in the patch. Above is a picture of  some of the harvest.

I could not resist putting a few of the potatoes in the oven. I have been reading about these Hasselback Potatoes and they taste as good as they look!

Hasselback Potatoes

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees

Potatoes washed, keep the skins on

Rosemary chopped 

garlic minced or chopped fine

olive oil and melted  butter mixed for basting

salt  

Slice each potato in slices about 5 mm thick. Do not slice the potato right through, keep just enough at the bottom to keep the potato intact.  Mix the garlic and rosemary in to the butter and oil and toss the potatoes in the mix. Put in oven and when the slices start separating a little baste the potatoes with the left over basting mix. When golden brown test for tenderness and enjoy.

I cleaned up the garden and brought in one small artichoke, one pumpkin flower and some sage leaves. I did not know what to do with my meager harvest so I decided to deep fry

every thing.  I added some fast home made bread, (pane veloce) put out the last of the carrot top pesto and ricotta cheese. Poured a bit of red and had a great meal.

Flour and Water Batter

1 cup plain white flour

Pinch of salt

water

Mix flour and salt add water a little at a time while whisking until you have a thick creamy consistency. Set aside 

Frying the Veg 

If you have a very young fresh artichoke, boil it in water for about 20 min or until tender but not falling apart. Set aside on kitchen paper, allow the retained water to drain and cut in half or, if it is a large artichoke, quarter and remove the choke.

Heat about 6 cm of vegetable oil in a pan, when the oil is hot,  dip the vegetables in the batter and slip them in to the pan. Do not overcrowd.. When crisp remove the veg, drain on kitchen paper and put in a new batch. Serve immediately, if you wait the batter loses its crispness.