When I got back from a walk late this afternoon I was met by Meyles who informed me solemnly that, “I’ve dug up the sweet potatoes.” It was his first ever trial at growing them and he had planted a small 150g tuber (a small apple weighs 150g) 5 months ago. I am always interested to know how his garden is growing, as it is something that breathes life into him and it sort of fits into the category of ‘blokey shed therapy’ as he prefers to be alone. Fine. I hate getting my hands dirty anyway! My job is to show an interest, help eat the produce and admire his handiwork. I also provide excellent supervisory skills from time to time(!)
Anyhoo, Meyles had dug up the sweet potatoes so I asked, “Did you get a good result?” as we walked around the back of the house to where the garden beds are.
"Not really,” he says in a glum voice... and then... “I got a GREAT result!” and the tone of his voice changed as we rounded the corner of the house and saw a great overflowing bucket of sweet potatoes stuffed full and overflowing with great big tuberous sweet potatoes! He laughed delightedly as he watched my reaction of surprise and delight.
He was like a kid in a lolly shop – all excited and eager to tell me about how he’d dug them up and how he suspected a few more still lurked beneath the dirt where he’d been digging. He washed them all and weighed them. 8 kilos! That’s a freakin lot of sweet potatoes.
So we have a pot of sweet potato soup cooking, and will freeze some of it, and also some sweet potato and pea curry on the stove. This used about 3 kilos. So another 5 to go. We will be thinking about interesting ways to eat the stuff now for the next fortnight. Sweet potato and apple pancakes – here we come! I can see that in about a weeks’ time I will never want to set eyes on another one of the suckers again!
Congrats Meyles, they look great.
ReplyDeleteI am sooo jealous! Congratulations to Meyles! Just something I'd never bother with in my garden for lack of warmth.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite thing to do with sweet potato when I can buy it cheap is to cut it up into roasting size chunks, then pop it in a kirsty [aka ziplock] bag in the freezer. When you come home from work in cold and tired and craving a roast meal - empty bag onto baking or roasting tray, spray lightly with olive oil and bake at high heat for about 30-40 minutes. While that cooks you can figure out the rest of dinner. Perfect. And left overs are good in a lunch salad the next day.
try this recipe out, it uses honey & sweet potato!
ReplyDeleteI think this one came from the dentist waiting room :)
Kumara & chickpea soup
2 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion chopped finely
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbs finely chopped ginger
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tbs tomato paste
500g kumara peeled & chopped into 2cm pieces
1 stalk celery diced
300g can chickpeas drained & rinsed
1 tbs honey
2 tbs soy sauce
2 cups chick or vege stock
2 cups water
2 small zucchini sliced very finely into rounds
char grilled bread for serving
fresh basil for serving
1. heat oil in large saucepan over a med heat. add onion, garlic, & ginger, cook stirring for about 5 mins until onion soft not brown. add spices & cook until fragrant. Then stir in tomato paste.
2. Add kumara, celery, chickpeas, honey, soy, stock & water. bring to boil, reduce heat, cover & cook for about 10mins until kumara tender.
3. stand soup for 15 mins to cool slightly. Remove 1/3 soup (including vege) and blend until smooth. return this to the pan with the zucchini and return to boil. Serve with char-grilled bread and fresh basil.
Mine needed a bit more water but it was a hit with everyone. very fragrant & spicey but not hot.
enjoy
Helen (suitable to freeze)
Helen, I can't wait to try this recipe. It sounds delicious. Thanks for posting. C
ReplyDeletePR, good tip! And very timely too - although we are 'chewing through' the 8kgs rather fast! Leanne: I enjoy the challenge from time to time when we get a glut of produce from the garden, to do something useful with it without wasting it. It makes me try recipes I wouldn't normally make. They do look beautiful though, don't they!
ReplyDelete