Sechium Edule - More than just Chayote Squash

If like me, you grow pumpkins, squash, gourd sweet potato, eddoes canna and figs you have a whole world of flavour and nutrition right there in the leaves.

Sechium Edule is one of my favourite plants.

But I notice when I talk with many home growers here in the UK their focus all the growing season is on this time of year. From mid August onwards when the vines flower and they can harvest their first fruits.

We grow the plant for a full season of food. Highly nutritious, heart healthy, all parts are edible including the wonderful fleshy root (great roasted or in a stir fry) which increase in size year by year so well worth trying to overwinter, if like me you live in the UK.

For me the leaves are the real star of the show. Given the right conditions it will romp away. This year one plant has covered a large black elder and adjacent acer. This has given us a ready supply of leaves for
stir fries, to add to pancakes

 Aubergine and mushroom patties and one of my favorite and easy raw snacks well loved in our house but somehow never named.

 Using the leaves as a general veg is relatively uncomplicated. Just chop and go.

The leaves have a slightly rough texture unprepared so before using in baking, flatbread, pancakes or the no name dish we like to soften the texture.

We start by chopping finely then rub together until the liquid separate. At this point we like to squeeze out the liquid unless the purpose is soup or stew.

I love this liquid. It's a great addition to healthy drinks, to sauces and gravies.

The leaves are now an amazing palette that picks up and hold flavours a little like the squash itself. Our favorite method is to add yacon syrup, fermented wild garlic and a pinch of salt.  Well mixed in it is immediately edible but left overnight it is a delight.

While commercially grown Chayote available to buy as food in the UK is very unlikely to flower and fruit, they will grow and provide an endless supply of leaves until the frost. And you never know, the root might have swelled enough to be worth harvesting.

Sage and Salad Days

Herbs are the understated heroes  in my garden. They provide flavour for food and drink, interest for the eyes and a welcome for the wild pollinators that frequent garden and allotment. Probably my favourite temperate herb is sage.

I am not a fan of salvia officinalis, though I do enjoy the flowers and will always find space for it in my garden.

On the other hand I am in love with the fruity notes and versatility to be found in tangerine, pineapple  and

Blackcurrant sages. The flowers are a great salad ingredient and what salad dressing isn’t elevated by the fragrant leaves?
My favourite is a quick and simple blend of;

pineapple and blackcurrant sages,
a couple cloves of  roasted garlics
A small shallot
Juice of half an orange
Raw cider vinegar
Sweet almond oil
A desert spoon of yacon syrup.
Salt to suit

My most efficient mortar and pestle - picked up from Brixton and still going strong after 25 years - make short work of blending these into an amazing finish for any salad combination.

Of all the sages I grow for leaves, Chia is my taste of summer. Fast growing and abundant. The leaves provide a reviving tea after a long night shift, to start a day of summer gardening; or this time of year, the autumn jobs needed to set up garden and plot for winter veg production and lay the foundations for the summer that will follow. I like it best steeped with lemon verbena and Pineapple or chocolate mint.

As my Chia don't start flowering until October I grow them outside for leaves and under cover for the beauty of their mauve flowers.

I do grow other sages but the fruit flavours of their namesake sages and the reviving aroma and taste of my Chia leaf teas are the ones that I prize in both my garden and my kitchen.

Tofu From Scratch

One of my least favorite task is straining out pulp through Muslin. Sadly it is a necessary step when making coconut cream, yacon syrup and of course tofu.

I make a batch of Tofu about once a fortnight and it keeps fine in water in the fridge.

 I do grow soybeans

 but don't have the space to grow the quantity we use. That is why I buy in bulk from my favorite organic retailer.

Normally I just make white Tofu but on special occasions or when good friends come round I reach for the black soya beans.

This week has been a rare one for good friends and good company so it was definitely a black tofu week.

Homemade Tofu is a very simple process and I try to make it time efficient by making a large enough batch for several meals. My reasons for making my own is really for peace of mind.

I start by soaking the beans overnight just as I would with any nuts, seeds or pulses I am about to process. I use 4 large mugs in dry weight which will double in wet weight

The next day I blend with water using 1 cup to 3 cups of water.

I previously used 4 to one but found the soya milk it yielded was not to my liking. I like to keep back a litre or thereabouts for drinking and I like it full bodied and creamy.

Once the beans are all ground down I cook on a medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes stirring to prevent the pulp sticking. Turning off the heat I tend to keep stirring for an extra 30 seconds as the pan starts to cool.

Then come the dreaded straining

Once done there is a real feeling of achievement as the real job of Tofu making begins. At this point I like to wash the muslin cloths and re-line the sieve ready for

the next stage of use.

When I am making normal tofu I simply put the liquid back on, having taken my milk out.

With the black I like to add some fun ingredients such as ground seaweeds and a

sweet fruity Aji Chilli in this case Benito.
Back on the stove at medium heat for another 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

I use nigari as the coagelant. I have tried other things but feels this is a reliable way to take magnesium and it makes a truly tasty tofu. Though a word of caution if it is not stored in airtight conditions it soaks up moisture and become liquid. I am not good with the liquid so l try to keep it as a salt.

I prepare my Nigari while the soya milk heats. I usually use 2 heaped dessert spoons (I have tried other quantities but this works best for me.) but tend to add an extra teaspoon when adding additional ingredients. I dissolve the Nigari with hot water.

Then slowly pour into the pan, stirring constantly. I love the way the mixture start to curdle at this point. I  then put the lid on and go and do other things. I use to start to drain the curds about 30 minutes after but quickly learnt that was unnecessary unless I was in a hurry or the rare occasion when I had time on my hand.

If I don't stir too vigorously and I am gentle with moving from pot to Muslin I end up with big fat curds. These are important as they determine the silkiness of the tofu. Again something learnt from experience.

Like most people who routinely makes tofu at home, finding a press that works for me is definitely a work in progress. In the UK choice is very limited.

I have 2 neither of which quite meet my needs. One is very attractive and efficient

but far too small. The other is my first and main press. It's fiddly and.

after too many years of service, showing it's age.  So for me the search continues for my dream press.

I always tell friends new to tofu making, to use what they have available and not spend money on kit until they are sure they want to incorporate this making into their lifestyle. With that in mind, several layers of muslin and something heavy to press out excess water gives a satisfactory outcome. I know because my first several years of making was done that way.

Once the curds are in my lined sieve I leave them to allow as much water to drain as possible even lifting them gently and gathering the cloth and squeezing out as much as I can.

At this point I end up with a loose cake which is easier to wrap. I do this as tightly as possible and this is where the need for pressure comes in. When I did not have a press I used to Sandwich my wrapped curds between 2 heavy duty chopping boards and put heavy books or a full fermenting bin on it because I like a very firm consistency. Just using some heavy books did fine for softer. 

A press however fiddly is definitely easier and give more control of exact consistency.

Whatever the method to achieve it, tofu from scratch is one of the most satisfying protein we eat at home.

Apple Cider Vinager - My Way

Between my Garden and allotment plots I have 8 varieties of apples 2 inherited and 6 chosen or gifted. Between them they provide for all our needs in

Stewing and baking

Eating quality both fresh and dried

And Sugar substitute 

 Whatever their primary use, all eight contribute to our yearly batches of Cider Vinager.

I use this vinegar in everything from bread baking, insect trap, cooking ingredient and making soft drinks.

This year's first batch of vinager was started on August 24th

I don't juice the apples just cut them up.

I fill my tub a third full. I add about 3 kg of coconut palm sugar or 3-4 litres of raw agave to a 25 litre fermenting bin and fill with spring water, stirring till the sugar dissolve.

I cover with a Muslim cloth to allow air but no nasties in.

5 days later the tell tale bubbles of wild yeast.

Today is day 11 and enough apple flavour has leached out to make a stunningly delicious drink. As usual I will be lucky if two third of the content reach the hard cider stage and that is only part one.  

Tomato & Rosehip Heaven

Someone asked what to do with a glut of cherry tomatoes. I was looking at my own vines of my favorite black Aztec and thinking of the hips ripening red and softening in garden and allotment.

We picked a kilo but was down to less than half by the time we left the allotment so I chucked in a few from the plants in the garden to make up the quantity.

And filched about a quarter kilo of rosehip from our syrup harvest

 Got the deseeded Rosehip up to a simmer, passed the pulp through a fine sieve then

added the deseeded tomatoes and left them to get acquainted.

This was the time to chop the 2 onions and caramelise in a couple tablespoons of sunflower oil.

By now the tomato/rosehip combo was ready to sieve together before joining the onions. 3 tablespoons of coconut palm sugar added depth and colour.

This is when I like to add a couple dessertspoons of yacon syrup.

A pinch of salt, q quarter of a home fermented lemon, some aged fermented peppers and

a tablespoon of last year's raw cider vinager

and we have a versatile and tasty early autumn treat.

Herbal Mainstays

This is the time of year when I start thinking about how I will overwinter my tender perennial  spices and herbs. I grow a limited amount because I use insulation instead of heating and I have limited windowsill space inside and loads of competing plants.

The most tender Herb I grow is  plectranthus amboinicus.

I

Known by myriad names it's commonly referred to as Caribbean thyme in my house. Having tried over wintering in insulated boxes, under fleece in a Keder, sunk in hot composting matter - the most successful - I now root cuttings and grow on on a South facing windowsill. I reduce watering but make sure the compost don't dry out after nearly losing my entire supply a few years ago.

My African Blue Basil is next in order of difficulty.

A sterile hybrid it is nonetheless one of the most impressive pollinator magnet in garden an allotment. Propagated from cuttings it roots easily and grow fast. I have managed to overwinter in a insulated box in the Keder under several layers of fleece but pests took a heavy toll and the plants were slow off the mark in spring. I do two batches one on the windowsill sprayed regularly with homemade pest control concoctions and the other in pots sunk in compost. I usually get about half a dozen through which is enough to fill borders tubs and plots with this amazing herb.

Ginger and Tumerics are my 2 tender spices. I grow the small Jamaican ginger because it has a finer flavour and is hard to find. I grow these in heavily insulated covered boxes in my garden and the ginger have thrived over the years providing rhizomes and stems for cooking, baking, teas and soft drinks.

The plants die back in winter andand we lay fleece on top so we can continue to harvest rhizomes as needed.

Tumerics did not thrive, just limped along making very little rhizomes from year to year. It was only when l experimented with the construction of an insulated polytunnel that it found it's niche. We moved it into a box in the tunnel last year and was pleasantly surprised. It behaved like the ginger in the insulated box, making loads of healthy rhizomes., dying back in winter and then growing off to a early healthy start.

At the moment it is one of the successes of insulated polytunnel.

Other herbs are easier. Our Vietnamese coriander manages in sheltered parts of the garden with backup plants spending winters in the Keder while Lemon Verbena is well established in the micoclimates we have identified over the years.

We grow a great deal of herbs from Wasabi and dittander to fruity sages, mints and the usual Mediterranean ranges but the tender herbs are our greatest challenge as we continue to grow without using any heat source in garden and allotment.