Saturday 9 June 2012

The Start Of The Great British Summer...



It started so well a couple of weeks ago. We had day after day of hot, sunny weather...

In the garden, the plants responded with gusto. Lush green foliage grew and then came the flowers giving a wonderful display. These photos are mainly of the flower bed that divides the wild steeply sloped area which dips in to the wood and the more civilized and cultivated part of my garden.

These Lupins and Giant Alliums are like sentries manning the battlements...


 
The wild area is just that. I try to keep it manageable by keeping the brambles at bay as unchecked they edge their way in to the main part of the garden very quickly. Generally though, I let the wild flowers grow there.


 
I’ll take my camera down there at some point if anybody would like to see more.

Back to my ‘border guards’...

The Giant Alliums have done well this year. I love the way their pom-pom heads make bold statements in the border.


Some almost exploding like a firework...


Also lurking in the border are my Walking Onions...



These curious, almost alien looking plants produce a bulblet which gradually becomes heavier and heavier pulling the stem downward allowing the bulblet to root and make new plants away from the parent plant and thus the onion appears to have walked...


Not only do they look good but you can also eat them-a winner in my book!

And talking of food...

Asparagus, Ricotta And Tarragon Quiche



 
For me the arrival of early Summer cannot be complete until the first British asparagus has arrived. 

Unfortunately I don’t have any home grown Asparagus but I did use home grown Chives and French Tarragon so points there. And extra points for using eggs given to me by a good friend from her rescued ex battery hens.

This very easy and quick quiche is brilliant as a large flan or as cute little individual ones...And guess what! With this amount it make one large and two small ones which freeze well so you can have the best of both worlds!

Ingredients:

230 g frozen short crust pastry sheet
250g fresh British Asparagus
1 very generous bunch of French Tarragon-finely chopped
250g fresh ricotta
1 bunch of fresh chives-finely chopped
Freshly ground pepper and sea salt to taste
3 eggs-beaten

Method:

Defrost the pastry and line a greased 23cm loose bottomed flan tin plus two individual tins. When lining the cases with the pastry, allow the edges to fold over the sides. Prick lightly with a fork and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes to help stop it shrinking when cooked.

Wash the asparagus and slice in to diamonds. Bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil and drop the asparagus in and boil for 5 minutes then drain and pat dry with some kitchen paper.

Meanwhile lightly beat the eggs and gently fold in the ricotta and finely chopped tarragon, chives, salt and pepper.

Once the pastry has rested, line with greaseproof paper and weigh down with baking beans.

Place in a hot oven 200C and cook for 10 minutes. Remove baking beans and paper and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Add the cooked asparagus to the egg and ricotta mixture and gently spoon in to the flan cases.

Cook for 35 minutes then remove from the oven and allow to cool. Slice and serve at room temperature.



 
The quiche was delicious and eaten outside on a warm sunny evening whilst contemplating the garden.

Unfortunately, in true British fashion, the hot weather was not to last...instead for the last week we have had rain...and lots of rain at that. The poor plants who had grown up so tall have been flattened by the high winds and lashing rain. Today has been spent trying to rectify the damage. Those sunny days are but a distant memory...Let us hope that the start of the British Summer is not also the end of it...

We can only hope...





36 comments:

  1. Those flowers are so pretty and I just love the ones that are so like fireworks - amazing. And what a beautiful quiche. I love asparagus too. I've heard it's been taking a very long time to warm up over there. We had a shocking summer - coldest and wettest on record. Not one day over 30C and normally we'll have a few days in the 40's and many in the 30's. It was a complete washout. And with all that rain combined with the humidity the mould in all the houses has been a real issue. We need some hot dry weather but it will now be a while. I hope your summer is long and lasting xx

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    1. Hi Charlie,

      My goodness you have it hot over there!! Glad you liked the flowers. Poor things are not looking quite so upright and proud now after all this rain...

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  2. You always feed my eyes, my mind, and give me something to feed my family. Your border guards are terrific... but the walking onion is entirely new to me, I must get some. I wish I hadn't used the last of the asparagus last night otherwise the quiche would be in the oven by now.

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    1. Why thank you Elaine for your lovely kind words!! It’s comments like yours that makes blogging so much fun for me-big thanks indeed!

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  3. Well, you know the definition of a British Summer, don't you? "Three sunny days and a thunderstorm"...
    Hope you have managed to restore your garden to a state of normality. We got off quite lightly here, in comparison with some parts of the country, and at least today is still, after several days of constant strong winds.

    And, yes, I for one WOULD like to see some photos of the wild part of your garden.

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    1. How right you are Mark about our great British Summer...I will need to water and feed the plants in the greenhouse tomorrow and will therefore probably be out in the rain carrying a watering can back and forth...at least it will give the squirrels a laugh...

      Next sunny day I’ll take some photos of the wild area-have to be careful as I might slip down the 50 foot drop!!

      ps-your Bronze Maple Seedlings are looking happy-thank you so much again for posting them to me.

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  4. Love the quiche... and your pictures are terrific!

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    1. Thank you so much for stopping by-much appreciated. I do love a homemade quiche-so simple and delicious! My photos are improving after a lot of help and advice from friends-I hope...

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  5. I liked your quiche as well. What are baking beans? I live the idea of them holding down the crust. We always prick holes in ours to keep them from puffing up away from the pan.

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    1. Hi Becky,

      Thanks so much for stopping by. The quiche was delicious and considering it was just something I threw together with what ingredients I had, made it even nicer and more appreciated.

      Baking beans are heavy ceramic beans which are used to blind bake i.e. short crust pastry is pricked with a fork then lined with greaseproof or parchment paper and the baking beans are then placed on top to weigh the paper down. This assists with the pastry not rising, transfers the heat evenly across the pastry and hopefully gives a crisper pastry base and not the dreaded ‘soggy bottom’...

      Hope that helps. If you don’t have baking beans then dried rice, pulses or even coins can be used.

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  6. Your garden looks lovely, I love lupins. I've never heard of a walking onion and your quiche sounds wonderful.

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    1. The lupins had one of their best years ...until we had the bad weather! Oh well-that’s gardening for you!

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  7. What a great post and, frankly, personally satisfying. I'm a big fan of lupins and giant alliums really do look great in a garden. "Fireworks" is right. Now, that would be enough but you included an asparagus quiche recipe, a recipe that will come in handy. I overbought asparagus at the farmers market yesterday and thought a quiche would be a great way to handle the excess. Voila! Here's a recipe. All facts considered, this is a wonderful post! :)

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    1. Hi John,

      Thank you for your very kind words-and coming from you with your amazing posts that is high praise indeed!

      Enjoy your Asparagus-for us the season is almost over now.

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  8. your garden looks heavenly...lovely cliks..:)
    Tasty Appetite

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    1. Hi Jay,

      I always think a garden should be a little piece of heaven though sometimes when I’m dealing with all the slugs and snails it seems more like hell!

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  9. What is the difference between British asparagus and any other asparagus? Your quiche looks delicious, its breakfast time and how I would love a slice right now.
    Your flowers are gorgeous, so glad you took the photos before the rain.
    Thanks for the explanation of the walking onion, I had wondered how it got the name.

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    1. Hi Norma,

      Lovely to hear from you. I don’t know what it is about British Asparagus but it certainly seems to taste better than imported. You don’t notice it when it is used as part of a dish but traditionally served lightly steamed and with a sprinkling of salt and a knob of butter then the whole texture and taste becomes very apparent. Even within Britain we have our favourite areas which we consider to grow the best such as The Vale of Evesham

      www.britishasparagusfestival.org

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  10. Enjoyed the pics of lupins... reminds me of a trip I made to New Zealand... and what a deliciously looking quiche...

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    1. Hi Lrong,

      So glad you liked the photos of the Lupins-sadly they are finishing now in my garden but they did provide a magnificent display whilst they lasted...I’ve never been fortunate to visit New Zealand-perhaps one day!

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  11. I miss British summers and British quiche. I now live with Colorado summers which happen to be very much like British summers. So I make quiche and dream that I am back home in England. You must live in a heavenly place, sounds so beautiful and your pictures are gorgeous, as is your quiche! Yum

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    1. Hi Nazneen,

      Many thank for stopping by my blog and your very kind comments. Blogging is still new to me but I love having people come by and leaving comments. Your life in Colorado sounds wonderful in your blog too!

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  12. Your lupins are impressive and the walking onions sound almost science fiction ;-) Your quiche is equally beautiful and I guess asparagus and tarragon go perfectly well together (strangely I have never had this combination). I hope beautiful weather comes back soon in Britain (here we have been having the worst spring in the past several years and summer doesn't look optimistic either).

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    1. Hi Sissi,

      I do love the visual impact of the walking onions-there is something almost ‘other worldly’ about them...Yes and fingers-and toes crossed for a better Summer!

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  13. Your photos of the blossoms are beautiful. We are having your British weather as well. Let's hope that we get a sunny and warm summer for our gardens. Your quiche sounds terrific...asparagus and tarragon are lovely flavors together.

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    1. Hi Karen,

      Thanks for commenting. One of the delights of blogging I’ve found is taking a camera out and looking anew at things I see everyday and getting a new lease of pleasure from them. And yes-asparagus and tarragon is lovely together-as long as its French Tarragon not the awful Russian Tarragon!

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  14. Your lupins are magnificent I wish I could grow them but they get nobbled by slugs and don't really stand a chance. I would love to see some pictures of your wild garden sometime. Your quiche looks yum - my fave type of food.

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    1. Hi Elaine,

      Mine used to be attacked by the slugs and snails to when they were small but once established they seem to cope fine now as they make quick vertical growth in the Spring. I’ll try and take some photos of the ‘wild side’ when it is sunny...which of course will be any day now...hopefully...

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  15. What a nice surprise to visit your blog and find that you have both lupines and walking onions also! We've only the purple lupines, with a scattering of all white and the rare purple and white, but no pink ones... I'm on the lookout for the edible variety. We've also two separate walking onions given to us by two groups of friends so we've no idea what kind they are but they do appear to differ from one another. I'm still learning to cook with them -- what parts are you eating and when?

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    1. Many thanks for stopping by. Yes I’ve heard of the edible variety of lupins but never seen any for sale and would certainly get some and give them a go if I did! My Walking onions-Allium cepa Proliferum Group Tree Onion, Catawissa Onion-are still young so I will probably wait until next year before cropping them. I will be seeing Jekka McVicar at her Herb Farm Open Day this weekend www.jekkasherbfarm.com
      so will ask her more about their culinary use as I plan to buy a couple more...and of course a few other herb plants and seeds as well!!

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  16. That can't be right it looks sunny and its almost time for Wimbledon?!?!?

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    1. Hi Liz,

      Now you’ve gone and done it...it’s raining now!!

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  17. Great photos and yes I would love to have a look around your property....you really have a beautiful place. Thanks for sharing...

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    1. Hi Dusty,

      Lovely to hear from you! My garden is actually quite small so I just have to make best use of all the space. Saying that, I do like to have a semi wild place between the wood and the main part of the cultivated garden so I’ll try and take some photos sometime...

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  18. I love your lupins, mine got eaten by slugs even with a slug protection circle!

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    1. I think mine survived because they put on a real growth spurt and got established too quickly for the slugs this year-plus I brought in the rear guards-the nematodes!

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