Allotment cooking:

Allotment cooking:

I am not a cook, just a man who cooks food that I grow.

I have always tried to grow as much variety of food as I can, partially vegetables that can be harvested from October till May.

Recipes from books do not really interest me because I find that you have to go out and buy little bits and pieces that are used only once and then take up space in the cupboard, till they reach the used by date and our chucked out. I hate food waste. I do , however like looking at the pictures in the cook books, I look at them and think: Oh, I can do that and go off and cook some thing, which most of the time works.

As time goes by I come back from the allotment with various varieties of food. The trick is to make meals of them and keep the shopping down to a minimum.

For this reason I like I have a failsafe method that works for me.

My main staple supper is savoury rice. With a change of seasoning I can make a risotto, or a jambalaya.

The basic method is the same. I only need one pot and can cook it on a fire or camping stove. 

The Ingredients:

Olive oil

Any vegetables that I have to hand 

An onion and garlick

50 grams of rice per person

1 stock cube

Any spice or herb you like

Any protein you like

Method:

Chop the vegetables

Heat the oil in a pan

Add the onion and garlick and fry till light brown

Add all the vegetables and fry them for about ten minutes.

Rinse the rice and add to the pan 

If you are using nuts add them now

Dissolve the stock cub in boiling water. You will need a pint per 100gram of rice, a bit less if you are using tomatoes.

Add stock to cover everything in the pan and let it all simmer.

Keep an eye on it to make sure it does not dry out.

Stir in your protein and keep checking to make sure the rice and protein is well cooked.

Add your herbs and spices and keep checking to make sure every thing iis cooked...then eat and enjoy.

The permutations are without end. 

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