More food experiments........

And to think, I hated chemistry back in school....but with all this fermenting, preserving, growing and baking....I guess I'm into chemistry of sorts....Ahhh...the fun side of chemistry though.....and on my terms too. You have to be a little crazy to like chemistry experiments.....But I'll get back to that shortly.....

So anyway....I was busy in the kitchen again yesterday....with another batch of Tomato Base happening......this time I had tomato, eggplant, carrot, garlic, garlic chives, sage, rosemary, oregano, and leek......Which all got roasted for an hour or so...then put in the crock-pot on low for the rest of the day.

Today I will strain this mix through the moulix...then add chopped rainbow chard, capsicum, zucchini, and squash, and cook until the veg are tender. It will all get bottled up and put in a hot water bath. This will be another addition to the stock pile for the coming year.

(The bold veg is harvested from my own garden...but please don't think I have a huge garden...I've wiped it out again by picking them....and I'll need to wait for more to grow now)

Before adding it all to the crock-pot

For lunch, both Mum and myself enjoyed some fresh sweet potato that I dug up at the Barrack Heights Community Garden. If this is what I'm in for when my plants begin to mature....I'm excited!

LUNCH
Sweet Potato Chips with runny scrambled egg

Onto some experimenting in the kitchen........ While I knew they existed...I had never seen, nor tasted Spaghetti Squash....Until today! Richard donated two of them to the 'free table' at the gardening course last weekend. I quickly snatched one up and felt no guilt at all, jumping in first....lol

SPAGHETTI SQUASH
Yep! I harvested all the seed
and they are now drying for next season

As I have never tried this vegetable...it was a little like doing another experiment in the kitchen....A good one though, because we get to eat the end product....So this is what I did to the Spaghetti Squash....
Firstly, cut the squash in half, then scoop out the loose flesh and seeds......

Spray the tray you intend to bake them on....then select some herbs to place beneath the cut halves...I chose garlic, oregano and rosemary.....I thought this might add to the flavour...which couldn't hurt!......

Then bake in a low to medium oven until tender...which was about 45 minutes for this one on 160 degrees Celsius. Once baked...remove from the oven and scoop out the cooked flesh. Add a dob of butter and some salt & pepper to taste....stir through...and enjoy! We had this as an additional vegetable along with fresh beans again from the garden.....
I think I have found my new favourite vegetable...Now I just can't wait until next season, so I can experiment even more with them....I'm thinking it will be nice added to muffins too....What do you think?

Another experiment.........
this time with Campden tablets.......

Richard over at 'Going My Own Way' lives in South Devon...and he preserves his apples by peeling, chopping them up and simply bottling them with a solution made up of 1 crushed Campden Tablet to 568mls or 1 pint of boiled water.
Testing the apples monthly...after 3 months the apples were still crisp to the bite...and after rinsing well...they tasted perfect. He knows this method from memories of his grandmother doing it....So I guess there's something to be said about listening to our Nan's.
Since learning this method back in September I think...I had to give it a go. With fresh beans from my garden...and a better supply from the Community Garden...I figured now was the perfect time to experiment.

So......To one crushed Campden tablet.(which I sourced at my local home-brew supply shop)...I added 568mls of rain water (OR cooled boiled water) and stirred until dissolved.

I then tailed enough beans to fill one clean but not sterilised glass jar. I left the tops on, so there is something to grab when picking the beans out of the jar....and topped it up with the Campden Water. Make sure that you over fill the jar...as to remove any air lurking. You can also use the handle end of a spoon to move the beans around, helping expel any air bubbles. You will notice that the water level will drop if there was any air left in the jar....just top it up again to overflowing........

After the beans, I still had some Campden Water left over........
so I tried carrots too.....After over filling the jars...place the lids on tight....and wait.
It's apparently that easy!!

I will check on these monthly to see how they are going....If it works...after rinsing the vegetables....they will be as fresh as when they went in the jars.

What was your last experiment in the kitchen?

Have you ever used Campden Tablets to preserve fruit or vegetable? 

What do you think?....

Growing Sweet Potatoes

Until recently, I had never grown Sweet Potato....some also know this root vegetable as Kumera. There are three main varieties or colours of the Sweet Potato, but generally, there is not much difference in flavour.

I am yet to harvest my first tuber, but my plant so far is looking rather healthy. Sweet potato is an excellent source of mulch....it's also brilliant as a clay breaker....and either way; you get to eat the end result.....and if you bandicoot them while they are still growing, you get to have your crop and eat it too. How much better can that be?
This photo was taken almost a month ago, and the tub is fully covered over now with leaves and runners.

Even though I had already planted this lot earlier with beginners luck........After learning how to propagate a Sweet Potato Plant correctly at my garden course last Saturday, I had to have another go.  I visited the Barrack Heights Community Garden midweek, and came home with cuttings and plants, along with which was a few runners of Sweet Potato.

You can grow them too if you know someone who is already growing them. You can also plant a young tuber and hope for the best....I have had tubers in a brown paper bag for easy 6 months....and they are just beginning to form eyes on them....so I figure getting some cuttings or a runner off someone is the easier way to go.

Firstly, dig and turn over the soil where you are going to plant the runner.....dig in some compost and make sure there is good drainage in the area you have chosen. You can plant them in raised beds, which is what I am doing, or you can plant them on mounds about 15 to 20 cm high. You can see in the following photo all the tiny new growth, just waiting to prosper.

Use cuttings which are about 30cm long, and remove the side leaves.
Run a slot in the soil, and press the soil over the cutting. Don't forget to leave tip of the cutting exposed above ground.....You should have roughly 5cm of soil covering the cutting.
Water the area well, and often until roots have formed....the rest is just as easy.............

Before covering with soil.

Look at the difference in colour, of the vines.

The green foliage is my original vine, 

and the purple is the one I was given the other day.

Hmmm...I wonder if that means they are two different varieties?

Oh, and check out the two hitch-hikers I picked up from the garden.....I found them in the bag along with the cuttings.......I couldn't help but capture their beauty.....
all the while thinking how nice and fat they were....and how very destructive they would be in my garden, had I not found them........I had never seen anything like them before.

Have you grown Sweet Potato before? If so, how did it go?....Would you have a go now, after seeing how easy it is? ........


Have you ever seen these little, but rather big creatures before? I had a look on Google, but couldn't find their exact eye (fake) markings...lots of other Horned caterpillars though.......