Garden Cooking: Ingredients

400gms of fresh Ricotta
Handful of freshly picked Lemon Thyme, roughly torn; (G)
Handful of freshly picked Parsley (G)
Salt & Pepper to season;
100gms of Danish (creamy) Feta Cheese
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 serve of Marinated Mushrooms (garlic juices & all, make sure you remember to remove the husks from the garlic) (G)

3-4 sheets of pre prepared frozen puff pastry

Garden Cooking Method

1. Heat oven to 180-200 degrees Celcius.   In this recipe I find the hotter the oven the better, and it works terrifically well if you have a fan forced oven.
2. Place all ingredients accept for the pastry in a food processor and process until just combined. 
3. Slightly thaw out some puff pastry sheets and divide them in half with a sharp knife.  Its best to do this while the pastry is still frozen hard as it is easier I find to cut.  
4. Scoop out some of the mixture from the food processor with a spoon and place a 2cm strip of mixture down one side of the divided puff pastry.   (P & K)
5. When the pastry has just defrosted, you will know this as it wont break, gently roll over the mixture, into a roll.  (P)
6. Use a little bit of egg wash on the sealing side of the pastry to “glue” it together.   (K) *
7. Place on a lined baking paper tray, egg wash the top and decorate with sesame seeds.   (P & K)

        * NB:  If you are preparing these for a party or entertaining guests, the best time to freeze these is NOW, before cooking.   That way when it comes to your party, all you have to do is heat your oven, remove the rolls from the freezer, thaw slightly, place on an oven tray and cook.   They may take a little longer as they have been frozen first.  Puff Rolls can be easily stored between freezer paper, or the puff pastry separating sheets, in a sealed freezer safe,  Tupperware container.

    8.  Cook in your oven for about 20-30 minutes or  until all of the pastry has “puffed” and is a golden brown color.   The mixture inside should be soft, but not runny or dry.  (P)
    9.  Remove from the oven and cut on the diagonal, to serve.  Serve hot. (P)

NB:  Not all ovens work the same.  Not all ovens have a fan forced option.  So I find its best when attempting this recipe, to have a good understanding of your oven and how it cooks your food.   In one of my friends ovens, I had to turn the puff rolls over, so that they cooked on the under side.  The mixture itself is quite moist, so when cooking just be sure that ALL of the pastry is cooked around the roll.   With a fan forced oven, you shouldn’t have to turn the puff rolls at all.

There are just STACKS of variations to the filling on this recipe.   Ones that I have tried and that have been a hit in my kitchen have been:

• Spinach & Pine Nut
• Sweet Potato & Raisins
• Roast Pumpkin, Sage, & Ricotta
  
• Chicky Rolls ( so easy and an absolute HIT for kids parties)
  
• Pork with Honey & Chinese 5 spice
  

Suitable for vegetarians.

Key:
G:   Fresh produce from your garden
P:    Parent technique recommended
K:    Kids can help out here

Technorati Tags: cooking method, fresh lemon thyme, Garden cooking, garden garlic, Mushrooms

Garden Cooking Ingredients:

400gms of fresh Ricotta
Handful of freshly picked Sage, roughly torn; (G)
Handful of freshly picked Parsley (G)
Salt & Pepper to season;
100gms of danish (creamy) feta cheese
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 serve of Roast Pumpkin (juices & all) NB: make sure you remove the husks off the onion & garlic before placing it in the food processor.

3-4 sheets of pre prepared frozen puff pastry

Garden Cooking Method

1. Heat oven to 180-200 degrees Celcius.   In this recipe I find the hotter the oven the better, and it works terrifically well if you have a fan forced oven.
2. Place all ingredients accept for the pastry in a food processor and process until just combined. 
3. Slightly thaw out some puff pastry sheets and divide them in half with a sharp knife.  Its best to do this while the pastry is still frozen hard as it is easier I find to cut.  
4. Scoop out some of the mixture from the food processor with a spoon and place a 2cm strip of mixture down one side of the divided puff pastry.   (P & K)
5. When the pastry has just defrosted, you will know this as it wont break, gently roll over the mixture, into a roll.  (P)
6. Use a little bit of egg wash on the sealing side of the pastry to “glue” it together.   (K) *
7. Place on a lined baking paper tray, egg wash the top and decorate with sesame seeds.   (P & K)

        * NB:  If you are preparing these for a party or entertaining guests, the best time to freeze these is NOW, before cooking.   That way when it comes to your party, all you have to do is heat your oven, remove the rolls from the freezer, thaw slightly, place on an oven tray and cook.   They may take a little longer as they have been frozen first.  Puff Rolls can be easily stored between freezer paper, or the puff pastry separating sheets, in a sealed freezer safe,  Tupperware container.

    8.  Cook in your oven for about 20-30 minutes or  until all of the pastry has “puffed” and is a golden brown color.   The mixture inside should be soft, but not runny or dry.  (P)
    9.  Remove from the oven and cut on the diagonal, to serve.  Serve hot. (P)

NB:  Not all ovens work the same.  Not all ovens have a fan forced option.  So I find its best when attempting this recipe, to have a good understanding of your oven and how it cooks your food.   In one of my friends ovens, I had to turn the puff rolls over, so that they cooked on the under side.  The mixture itself is quite moist, so when cooking just be sure that ALL of the pastry is cooked around the roll.   With a fan forced oven, you shouldn’t have to turn the puff rolls at all.

There are just STACKS of variations to the filling on this recipe.   Ones that I have tried and that have been a hit in my kitchen have been:

• Spinach & Pine Nut
• Sweet potato & Raisins
• Marinated Mushrooms with Lemon Thyme
• Chicky rolls ( so easy and an absolute HIT for kids parties)
• Pork with Honey & Chinese 5 spice

Suitable for vegetarians.

Key:
G:    Fresh produce from your garden
P:    Parent technique recommended
K:    Kids can help out here

Technorati Tags: Garlic, Onion, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Recipe, Sage

Garden Cooking Ingredients:

400gms of fresh Ricotta
Handful of freshly picked Parsley (G)
Salt & Pepper to season;
100gms of Danish (creamy) feta cheese
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
100gms of Pine Nuts, lightly toasted.  NB  These will toast VERY quickly so keep an eye on them if toasting in the oven.
2 handfuls of fresh spinach or silver beet (G)

3-4 sheets of pre prepared frozen puff pastry

Garden Cooking Method

1. Heat oven to 180-200 degrees Celcius.   In this recipe I find the hotter the oven the better, and it works terrifically well if you have a fan forced oven.
2. Place all ingredients accept for the pastry in a food processor and process until just combined. 
3. Slightly thaw out some puff pastry sheets and divide them in half with a sharp knife.  Its best to do this while the pastry is still frozen hard as it is easier I find to cut.  
4. Scoop out some of the mixture from the food processor with a spoon and place a 2cm strip of mixture down one side of the divided puff pastry.   (P & K)
5. When the pastry has just defrosted, you will know this as it wont break, gently roll over the mixture, into a roll.  (P)
6. Use a little bit of egg wash on the sealing side of the pastry to “glue” it together.   (K) *
7. Place on a lined baking paper tray, egg wash the top and decorate with sesame seeds.   (P & K)

        * NB:  If you are preparing these for a party or entertaining guests, the best time to freeze these is NOW, before cooking.   That way when it comes to your party, all you have to do is heat your oven, remove the rolls from the freezer, thaw slightly, place on an oven tray and cook.   They may take a little             longer as they have been frozen first.  Puff Rolls can be easily stored between freezer paper, or the puff pastry separating sheets, in a sealed freezer safe,  Tupperware container.

    8.  Cook in your oven for about 20-30 minutes or  until all of the pastry has “puffed” and is a golden brown color.   The mixture inside should be soft, but not runny or dry.  (P)
    9.  Remove from the oven and cut on the diagonal, to serve.  Serve hot. (P)

NB:  Not all ovens work the same.  Not all ovens have a fan forced option.  So I find its best when attempting this recipe, to have a good understanding of your oven and how it cooks your food.   In one of my friends ovens, I had to turn the puff rolls over, so that they cooked on the under side.  The mixture itself is quite moist, so when cooking just be sure that ALL of the pastry is cooked around the roll.   With a fan forced oven, you shouldn’t have to turn the puff rolls at all.

There are just STACKS of variations to the filling on this recipe.   Ones that I have tried and that have been a hit in my kitchen have been:

• Roast Pumpkin, Sage & Ricotta
• Sweet Potato & Raisins
• Marinated Mushrooms with Lemon Thyme
• Chicky rolls ( so easy and an absolute HIT for kids parties)
  
• Pork with honey, Chinese 5 spice powder & Spring Onions
  

Suitable for vegetarians.

Key:
G:    Fresh produce from your garden
P:    Parent technique recommended
K:    Kids can help out here

Technorati Tags: Parsley, silver beet, Spinach

Garden Cooking Ingredients:

500grams of Pork Mince
1/2 brown onion roughly chopped (G)
Handful of freshly picked Parsley (G)
Salt & Pepper to season;
Zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of Honey
1 tablespoons of Chinese BBQ sauce
1 teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice powder
2 Spring Onions finely chopped (G)

3-4 sheets of pre prepared frozen puff pastry

Garden Cooking Method

1. Heat oven to 180-200 degrees Celcius.   In this recipe I find the hotter the oven the better, and it works terrifically well if you have a fan forced oven.
2. Place all ingredients accept for the pastry in a food processor and process until just combined. 
3. Slightly thaw out some puff pastry sheets and divide them in half with a sharp knife.  Its best to do this while the pastry is still frozen hard as it is easier I find to cut.  
4. Scoop out some of the mixture from the food processor with a spoon and place a 2cm strip of mixture down one side of the divided puff pastry.   (P & K)
5. When the pastry has just defrosted, you will know this as it wont break, gently roll over the mixture, into a roll.  (P)
6. Use a little bit of egg wash on the sealing side of the pastry to “glue” it together.   (K) *
7. Place on a lined baking paper tray, egg wash the top and decorate with sesame seeds.   (P & K)

        * NB:  If you are preparing these for a party or entertaining guests, the best time to freeze these is NOW, before cooking.   That way when it comes to your party, all you have to do is heat your oven, remove the rolls from the freezer, thaw slightly, place on an oven tray and cook.   They may take a little longer as they have been frozen first.  Puff Rolls can be easily stored between freezer paper, or the puff pastry separating sheets, in a sealed freezer safe,  Tupperware container.

    8.  Cook in your oven for about 20-30 minutes or  until all of the pastry has “puffed” and is a golden brown color.   The mixture inside should be soft, but not runny or dry.  (P)
    9.  Remove from the oven and cut on the diagonal, to serve.  Serve hot. (P)

NB:  Not all ovens work the same.  Not all ovens have a fan forced option.  So I find its best when attempting this recipe, to have a good understanding of your oven and how it cooks your food.   In one of my friends ovens, I had to turn the puff rolls over, so that they cooked on the under side.  The mixture itself is quite moist, so when cooking just be sure that ALL of the pastry is cooked around the roll.   With a fan forced oven, you shouldn’t have to turn the puff rolls at all.

There are just STACKS of variations to the filling on this recipe.   Ones that I have tried and that have been a hit in my kitchen have been:

• Roast Pumpkin, Sage & Ricotta
• Sweet Potato & Raisins
• Marinated Mushrooms with Lemon Thyme
• Spinach & Pine Nut
• Chicky Rolls, (great for kids parties, and a FANTASTIC way to get some extra vegetables into the childrens’ diets)

Key:
G:    Fresh produce from your garden
P:    Parent technique recommended
K:    Kids can help out here

Technorati Tags: Honey, Pork, Spring Onions

Ingredients:

500gms of chicken breast or chicken thigh fillets, roughly chopped
1/2 brown onion roughly chopped (G)
Handful of freshly picked Parsley (G)
Salt & Pepper to season;
100gms of Danish (creamy) feta cheese
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 handfuls of fresh spinach or silver beet (G)
1/4 cup freshly grated carrot (G)
2-3 Sundried Tomatoes finely chopped (G) You can make these in your oven when in season.
2 Spring Onions finely chopped (G)

3-4 sheets of pre prepared frozen puff pastry

Method

1. Heat oven to 180-200 degrees Celcius.   In this recipe I find the hotter the oven the better, and it works terrifically well if you have a fan forced oven.
2. Place all ingredients accept for the pastry in a food processor and process until just combined. 
3. Slightly thaw out some puff pastry sheets and divide them in half with a sharp knife.  Its best to do this while the pastry is still frozen hard as it is easier I find to cut.  
4. Scoop out some of the mixture from the food processor with a spoon and place a 2cm strip of mixture down one side of the divided puff pastry.   (P & K)
5. When the pastry has just defrosted, you will know this as it wont break, gently roll over the mixture, into a roll.  (P)
6. Use a little bit of egg wash on the sealing side of the pastry to “glue” it together.   (K) *
7. Place on a lined baking paper tray, egg wash the top and decorate with sesame seeds.   (P & K)

        * NB:  If you are preparing these for a party or entertaining guests, the best time to freeze these is NOW, before cooking.   That way when it comes to your party, all you have to do is heat your oven, remove the rolls from the freezer, thaw slightly, place on an oven tray and cook.   They may take a little longer as they have been frozen first.  Puff Rolls can be easily stored between freezer paper, or the puff pastry separating sheets, in a sealed freezer safe,  Tupperware container.

    8.  Cook in your oven for about 20-30 minutes or  until all of the pastry has “puffed” and is a golden brown color.   The mixture inside should be soft, but not runny or dry.  (P)
    9.  Remove from the oven and cut on the diagonal, to serve.  Serve hot. (P)

NB:  Not all ovens work the same.  Not all ovens have a fan forced option.  So I find its best when attempting this recipe, to have a good understanding of your oven and how it cooks your food.   In one of my friends ovens, I had to turn the puff rolls over, so that they cooked on the under side.  The mixture itself is quite moist, so when cooking just be sure that ALL of the pastry is cooked around the roll.   With a fan forced oven, you shouldn’t have to turn the puff rolls at all.


There are just STACKS of variations to the filling on this recipe.   Ones that I have tried and that have been a hit in my kitchen have been:

• Roast Pumpkin, Sage & Ricotta
• Sweet Potato & Raisins
• Marinated Mushrooms with Lemon Thyme
• Spinach & Pine Nut
• Pork with Honey, Chinese 5 Spice Powder & Spring Onions

Key:
G:    Fresh produce from your garden
P:    Parent technique recommended
K:    Kids can help out here

Technorati Tags: carrots, Chicken Rolls, Onions, Parsley, silver beet, Spinach

Garden Cooking Ingredients:

1/4 – 1/2 of a large Jap pumpkin.  Peeled and cut into 3cm chunks (G)
1 -2 whole brown onions keep unpeeled; (G)
2-3 Cloves of fresh garlic,  crush under a knife, but keep whole in the husk; (G)
Good lug of good quality olive oil;
Salt & Pepper to taste

Garden Cooking Method

1. Pre heat your oven to 180-200 degrees Celsius;(P)
2. Line a tray with baking paper, (this prevents your pumpkin from losing all of the delicious roasting juices); (K)
   
3. Arrange all the ingredients haphazardly on a tray and toss gently to coat in the olive oil and seasoning; (P & K)
   
4. Bake for 30-40 mins or until the onions are soft & you can easily pierce a piece of pumpkin with a knife;
5. Remove from the oven and stand to cool before serving.
   

Quite regularly I will freeze this dish, as an ingredient to then use in other dishes.  The best way to freeze this is to remove the baking paper with the pumpkin and onions all still on them and place it into a container with a lid.   I place it at the back the freezer, and I find when I am defrosting it in the fridge,  the baking paper, retains all of the beautiful oven juices to then add flavor to the next dish.

This dish is gluten free and suitable for vegetarians.

Commonly use this dish in:

Roast Pumpkin, Sage, & Ricotta Rolls, Roast Pumpkin Dip, & Roast Pumpkin & Chickpea Burgers YUMMMO.

Key:
G:    Fresh produce from your garden
P:    Parent technique recommended
K:    Kids can help out here

Technorati Tags: Garden Cooking Recipe, Garlic, Jap pumpkin, Onion, Pumpkin, Roast pumpkin

Ingredients

500gms lean beef mince: (you can use chicken mince here as an alternative, but just make sure you add chicken stock);
1 brown onion (Diced finely) (G)

1 clove garlic, crushed & chopped finely (G)
1 carrot, quarter and diced (G)
1 stick of celery finely sliced (G)
1 tspn celery seed
1-2 tblspns of Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tbspns of tomatoe paste
1-2 tspsn of Dijon mustard
1 bay leave
2 cups of beef stock (NB: chicken stock if you are using chicken mince)
2 corn cobs (tin corn or frozen corn)(G) or other vegetables 1-2 marinated mushrooms, finely diced here, works terrifically.

4-5 potatoes
250mls milk (can be soy or rice if needed)

Method

Roast Mash Potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsiu;(P)
2. Line an oven tray with coarse salt and place the potatoes on top of the salt;(K)
3. Roast until tender;
4. With   a clean tea towel, remove the potatoes flesh from the skin and place it into a saucepan of hot milk (soy or rice milk if intolerant to dairy);(P)
5. Mash until smooth(K)
6. Add a nob of butter (or Nuttlex), salt and pepper to season;(K)

This can be made ahead of time or during seasonal months and refrigerated until needed or frozen until ready to make the pie.

Filling

1. Heat oil in pan (P);
   
2. Add onion and fry until transparent (P);
3. Add your Garlic & celery seed (P);
4. Add diced carrot and celery and fry until softened;
5. Fry your tomato paste;
   
6. Quickly add your meat and fry until brown;
7. Season the meat whilst brown with Salt n’ pepper and the Worcestershire sauce & Dijon mustard;
8. Add bay leaf;
9. Pour in your beef stock;
10. Add your vegetables, here you can add peas, corn, silver beet, spinach, tomatoes, 
11. Tin tomatoes (optional);
12. Simmer for 1 hour then add your gravy powder/corn starch to thicken.

Assembly

I usually make a pie crust of short crust pastry or sour cream pastry and blind bake it while you are doing the potatoes.   When this is ready your pour in your filling and then top with mash potatoes and grated tasty cheese.  However if you have gluten or wheat intolerance you will need to either not use pastry, which is still okay, but not quite as firm, or use a dairy and wheat alternative in the pastry.


Key:
G:   Fresh produce from your garden, harvest on the day of use if possible;
P:    Parent recommended technique
K:    Kids can help out here

Technorati Tags: cooking, garden, marinated mushrooms, Sheppard's pie

Ingredients

2 corn cobs (tin corn or frozen corn)(G)
2 cups of cooked brown rice
1 cup cooked tofu (you can use diced chicken fillets here instead)
1 cup broccoli floweretts (G)
1 clove garlic, crushed & chopped finely (G)
1 tspn chilli (or 1 fresh chilli from your garden) OPTIONAL NB: a lot of kids have a real aversion to chilli
2 cups of fresh silver beet or spinach (G)
1 tin water chestnuts
2 spring onions (G)
1 handful of freshly picked parsley (G)
handful of fresh chives (G)
3 farm fresh eggs
Soy sauce (tamari sauce if gluten and wheat intolerant), sesame oil

Method

1. Fry Tofu in hot oil until brown, move vigorously in wok so that it does not stew.  You may have to do this in small batches.(P)
2. In the last batch of chicken or tofu add the broccoli and one or two of the marinated mushrooms, sliced in to slices;  Remove& cool (P)
3. Pour the scrambled egg into the wok and fry with the wok chuck until only just cooked. (K)  The egg will appear quite runny still but will continue cooking once removed from the wok and then re added to the rice. Remove (P)
4. Heat a little more oil in the wok, add celery seed, garlic, and chilli.  NB: you will have to move quickly now to prevent the garlic/chilli/celery (GCC) from burning.(P)
5. Add your cooked rice and fry for 1-2 minutes;(P)
6. Add corn, water chestnuts;(P)
7. Add broccoli, chicken/tofu plus your silver beet or spinach; (P)
8. Finally add your spring onions, chives, a sprinkle of soy sauce & 1-2 droplets of sesame oil. (P)

Garnish with Fried shallots and serve immediately.


If you want that little bit extra protein, you can add some toasted sesame seeds and or toasted almonds to the mix.

Key:
G:    Fresh produce from your garden
P:    Parent technique recommended
K:    Kids can help out here



This recipe is so versatile, it can be adapted to be made suitable for vegetarians, gluten and wheat intolerance and if you have an egg intolerance, you can just omit it.  I have coded most of the cooking items as parent assisted ones here but I enlist the help from my kids.  I have taught them about heat and hot pans and I supervise them when cooking.  Kids love participating, but I recommend you apply the parental guidance you use in your own home.

Technorati Tags: corn, fried rice, Garden cooking, marinated mushrooms, silver beet

Garden Cooking Ingredients
500gms of Mushrooms (portabello, swiss brown)  Any mushies will suit this recipe (G);
2 cloves of garlic, (crushed) (G);
Olive Oil
Salt n’ Pepper to taste
Sprigs of Lemon thyme (G)  Home grown is the ONLY way with to use fresh herbs,  their flavor is incredible.

Garden Cooking Method
(K): Brush mushrooms with a clean tea towel to remove all the dirt.
(K): Place in a oven proof dish that has a fitting lid on it.  
(K): Place in the garlic (whole) and the sprigs of lemon thyme
(P): Drizzle the whole dish with good extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt n’ pepper.  
(P): Bake in a hot oven with the lid on for about 20-30 minutes or until the mushies have released their lovely mushie juice and have softened.   

Garden Cooking Tips:   Once cooked, the whole dish can be stored in the refridgerator, whizzed up in the food processor to make a mushie dip, or frozen for another dish another day.   I use these mushies in all sorts of disches like my Garden Cooking Fried Rice, Mushroom Risotto, Spinach, mushroom & lemon pasta,  or they are sooo good I even just serve them as an impressive, but simple, side dish to BBQ or other main meals. 

Gluten free, Dairy free & Suitable for vegetarians.

Key:

P = Parent reccommended technique.

K= Kids can help out here;

G= grown directly from your garden, harvest on the day of use if possible.

Ny.

Technorati Tags: Garlic, Lemon Thyme, Mushrooms, Onions

I have to tell you that cooking isn’t just something that came my way out of thin air.  No sir, cooking has been in my blood for generations.  In my life I have pursued other career alternatives but for some odd reason I just keep getting pulled back to food, but more importantly using garden cooking to ensure, explore and enhance the cooking in my kitchen.  Everything I do is food, I love to eat it, talk about it, read about it and most of all I love to learn about it.   You know I’m the kind of person who is just not satisfied with following a recipe.   Sure, I’ll  give a new recipe a go but if somewhere along the line I feel as though it needs a added flavor boost or a new dimension to give the dish an added extra “zing”, well then I’ll just add it in.   You know you can have just boring old risotto, but add some fresh silverbeet from your garden, some lemon thyme and some parsley and you’ll be a success in the kitchen.   Its about focusing on flavour and making the little adjustments along the way that give you that fantastic cooking result.

My mother, how is an avid recipe follower, thinks I’m crazy,  but she does love a lot of the garden cooking

I guess it all started out with my Nanna, my mother’s mother.   Apparently it was she who had a real flair, a real passion for cooking.    In those days, nothing was wasted so there was a big deal made about preserving food when it was in season, like tomatoes.  Making jam and marmalade was another big day for the family to participate in.  Not only did she pass a lot of techniques down to her children, but I think through her passion, her children developed their own passion for cooking.   My mother tells me that she remembers Nanna teaching them in the kitchen, involving them in nearly every  cooking preparation step along the way, so that while they were learning they were actually enjoying making things and taking a pride in the participation of the end result.    So my Nanna had three children, all three have this undoubted  passion for food and cooking.   

My mother, loves experimenting with new ingredients and new flavors  every weekend she’ll come up to me and show me something new she has discovered in the local newspaper or magazine that she is going to try out.   And she has never been afraid to give something a go.    She loves flavors and textures of food  and loves it when these two things work harmoniously together to form a fusion in your mouth.    Mum has always been keen on bottling the freshest produce as well, she is well known around my town and my friends for her home made tomatoe sauce.  On a hot day in the middle of summer, when the tomatoes are ripe and ready to preserve, you can walk down our street and smell the aroma of my mother cooking a  massive pot of bubbling tomatoes for her sauce.   The last time she did this, she set up a little wok burner on the back veranda and sat out in the morning sunshine cooking her tomato sauce away.   She did this not only to keep her kitchen cleaner, as the tomato sauce is known for bubbling quite a bit, as much as she did it to get away from the heat. 

But above and beyond all of that its my families influence on cooking, and their passion for garden cooking that has and still is being passed on through the generations now to my own children.  What a beautiful thing it is to see a young child and his grandmother, aunt, uncle or mother in the garden, tending to the fresh produce and harvesting it ready to use in a recipe.    My Son loved watching Nanna cook the tomato sauce so much so that he can’t wait for this years harvest, to make more.   Its just such a majical learning process involving your children in your garden cooking, they learn so much about harvesting, planting, feeding the garden and then cooking the produce while at the same time they are spending quality time with you.   Not to mention there is just nothing that beats the flavour, texture, taste, and nutritional content of vegetables from your own garden. s

Technorati Tags: Garden cooking