Page 15 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2021

Book Review
A CURIOUS COOK BY BRIDGET MORTON
Published by Clink Street Publishing
This is a vegetarian and gluten free cookbook, written by my partner, and published earlier this year.
There are seven chapters devoted
to: 1) Savoury Tarts and Pies such as spinach and feta cheese and tomato and goats’ cheese tart; 2) Flatbread Dough including recipes for pizzette and samosas; 3) Pancakes, Crackers and Muffins; 4) Small Savouries including falafel, dal, winter squash curry and aubergine parmigiana;
5) Vegetables and Salads including recipes for Greek salad, Fattoush
and roasted lemon potatoes; 6) Sugar which covers cakes, biscuits, ice-cream and small chocolates covering nuts and dried fruit; and finally 7) Sauces, Preservers and Drinks which covers everything from bechamel sauce to rhubarb gin by way of gooseberry ketchup and Japanese Quince Jelly.
Although the recipes are specifically
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aimed at those who cannot eat gluten (as she is a coeliac), they could be made by anyone, and ordinary wheat flour could be substituted for the gluten-free flours when making pastry etc.
Many of the recipes were responses to gluts from my allotment and polytunnel, so there are, for example, six recipes for courgettes, including a cake and two tarts.
The book includes lots of
photos, taken by the author, so
you can see what the finished
product looks like, and a series
of six demonstrating how to
make samosas, for which there are three different fillings: potato and pea; spinach; and winter squash.
You don’t have to grow your own
to make the recipes, but it does help as some of the ingredients are not grown commercially, such as Japanese quince and sweet cicely. It will
certainly
give you ideas for new ways with vegetables.
The book is available from bookshop.org which supports independent booksellers, and all good bookshops.
Roy Leach, an NVS member
DUAL ACTION
with slug & snail deterrent As used by the RHS
Reduces weed growth by up to 95% Retains moisture around plants Enriches the soil and improves structure Light, easy to use & lasts up to two years Deters slugs & snails
www.strulch.co.uk Tel: 01943 863610
Strulch – introduce the
benefits of mulching
to your plot!
My husband Geoff invented Strulch at Leeds University.
We have been selling it since 2005 and it has grown in popularity because it is a quality organic product with
a neutral pH that works on all soil types. It can be used anywhere in the garden including vegetables plots. Strulch works by blocking light which is needed for germination and the texture of Strulch together with added minerals deters slugs and snails.
Add to bare soil to stop weed germination and around plants when they reach a good size. We sell in bulk 12, 25 and 48 bags and you can buy 100 litre bags from our stockists.
Find out about Strulch on our website – www.strulch.co.uk or give me a call (01943 863610).
Happy cultivating. Jackie Whiteley.
Simply Vegetables 15