Citrus – lemons oranges, tangelos

New seasons’ apples start to become available, also apricots peaches, plums, nectarines – but watch for imported ones still.

You’ll also find black currants (these make wonderful jam), rhubarb and cherries

In the veg department you will find a range of fresh items, including aubergine, avocado, green beans, beetroot, capsicum, celery, chilli, cucumber, outdoor tomatoes, garlic, zucchini.

New season’s onions come in about now.  With the ordinary brown onions you can tell the difference between the new and older onions that have been stored for a while by the shape and feel.  New onions are firm to touch and are round.  Older ones are going soft and are more oval in shape as they start to send out a shoot at the top.  I try to dodge these and will only buy loose onions towards the end of the year so I don’t end up with soft onions that don’t cook well and you end up with a lot of wastage.

New potatoes are great for boiling and in salads.

You will need:

• A suitable sized pot say 20-30cm, or a trough 15 cm wide and from 40 cm long
• Potting mix (available from supermarkets, hardware stores or garden centres)
• A punnet of 6 lettuce plants (Some places sell a punnet of mixed plants so you get some green and some red – some with smooth leaves and some with curly leaves).

Fill the container with potting mix.

Set each plant about 8cm apart in your container.

Water the plants well after planting, then continue keep the soil damp but not soggy, and watch your lettuces grow.

If you want to grow your lettuces from seed, sprinkle some of the seeds from the packet on top of fine potting mix. When they are about 2cm high, transplant some so that the remaining plants are about 8cm apart.

You can grow lettuces all the year round in parts of New Zealand as long as you have a warm sheltered spot (or even inside) in the cooler months.  Check out the local situation where you live.

Both zucchini and courgettes are baby marrows.

Zucchini is the Italian name.

Courgette is the French name.

Marrow is the English name.

If you grow zucchini or courgettes in your garden and you forget to pick them for a few days at the height of the season, you will have full blown marrows.  A large marrow is a rather bland vegetable that needs lots of spicing up.

If you do end up with a marrow, you can grate it and use it in zucchini fritters.

When I was young we didn’t know about baby zucchini or courgettes; and not a lot about spices.  The ‘zucchini’ were left to become large marrows.  They were cut in half lengthwise, filled with a mince and onion mixture and baked in the oven until cooked through.  A filling but not very exciting meal that I chose not to cook for my own children.

All you need is a number of potatoes all much the same size so they will cook evenly.  Allow at least one potato per person.

1. Scrub the potatoes to remove any dirt, but leave the skin on.  Cut or tear the foil into squares  large enough to wrap each potato individually
2. Coat the inside of the foil with cooking oil and place each potato in the centre of the foil and roll up the foil around the potato.  You can season with herbs, salt and pepper before wrapping them up if you want to
3. Seal the edges by folding the excess foil over the potato
4. Place the potatoes on the barbecue grill and turn regularly until cooked.  Depending on the size of the potatoes, these can take from 15 – 30 minutes to cook.
5. Test with a metal skewer or thin bladed knife to check if the potatoes are cooked.  Alternatively, gently squeeze the potatoes – they will be soft when cooked
6. To serve, open the top of the foil and cut a cross in the top of the potato.  Squeeze the potato  to open it up and spoon a dollop of yoghurt, cream or butter into the fluffy cooked potato.
7. Garnish with parsley, basil leaves or sprinkle with paprika

If you put the prepared vegetable pieces on a platter, everyone can make up their own kebabs.

Great for the children as they get to choose which vegetebles they want to eat.

Ingredients

Take a selection of any of the following vegetables:

Cubed eggplant, zucchini
Button mushrooms
Cherry tomatoes or quartered larger tomatoes
Pieces of potato,  kumara (Sweet potato) – partially pre-cooked
Capsicum – any colour, red, green, yellow etc

Method

If you are using wooden or bamboo kebab sticks, soak them in cold water for 15 minutes before you load them with vegetables.  (The sticks won’t burn on the barbecue if they’re wet).

If you’re using metal kebab sticks, make sure you have a thick  dry cloth to handle them when the vegetables are cooked to save getting burnt fingers

Thread 3-5 pieces of different vegetables on each stick.  Vary the colours so you don’t have all the green ones and all the red ones together.

Coat lightly with cooking oil and pace on the barbecue grill.  Turn regularly and coat with more oil if they start to look a bit dry.  Eggplant especially needs plenty of oil.

Vegetable kebabs can take 15-20 minutes to cook.

Sandwiches made with these pickles make for a tasty lunch to take to school, to work or for a picnic.

You can use any cucumbers for this pickle, even the ones that you usually have to skin before you eat them.

Ingredients

2-3 medium sized cucumbers
2 red onions
2 tablespoons salt
2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (whole or ground)
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups white vinegar

Method

1. Slice the cucumbers and onions thinly into a large bowl
2. Add salt, cover with cold water
3. Stir to mix and leave to soak overnight
4. Prepare up to 10 x 250gm jars with self sealing lids by heating them in very hot water or in the oven at 150°C for 15 minutes.  Keep them hot until you are ready to start filling them so they don’t break when you pour hot pickles into the jars.
5. Put spices, sugar and vinegar in a large saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
6. Drain the cucumbers and onions, add to the saucepan and heat till the liquid boils again.  
7. Pour the hot cucumber mixture into the jars to within 1 cm of the top of the jar and screw the lid on firmly.
8. Stand the jars on a folded teatowel or wooden board in a place out of draughts until cool
9. Label the jars with a permanent marker or sticky label
10. Wipe down the outside of the jars and store in a cool dark cupboard.
11. Store opened jars in the refrigerator.

Makes 8-10 jars

Notes

1. You can also use slices of pickled cucumber on crackers as a pre-dinner appetizer.
2. If you are using jars that have had other food stored in them, make sure you wash them thoroughly to remove any traces of smell of the previous contents.
3. Work away from open windows when filling the jars as draughts can cause the jars to crack.
4. If it’s a hot day and you want to open the windows after you have filled the jars, cover them with newspaper or teatowels.
5. As the jars cool you will hear a click when they seal. If any jars don’t click, use them first as the contents won’t keep as well.

You can brighten it with finely chopped capsicum and cubed tomatoes.

Ingredients

4 medium potatoes
½ cup mayonnaise
salt
fresh herbs

Method

1. Peel and cut potatoes into cubes
2. Put into a saucepan of boiling water, salted to taste
3. Lower the heat so the water is just simmering and cook the potatoes till just tender
4. Drain and put into a large serving dish
5. Mix the mayonnaise through the cooked potatoes, gently stirring with a fork
6. Sprinkle fresh herbs over the top and serve immediately.