Touchstone Gold Beetroot

 I bought Touchstone Gold beetroot seeds last year spring but planted the seeds this year autumn and harvested the roots early spring ago. This is just an observation note of this beetroot variety for future reference as I still have several varieties of beetroot seeds waiting to be sowed stashed in my seed box. The name does make me think that it is a yellow golden root beetroot that we anticipated to harvest. The globe storage root skins is lighter shade of red, though with yellow-green leave stalks.

It is easy to differentiate the Touchstone gold beetroot seedling plants compared to other more common red beetroot that are available in the market. Although it might get mistaken as yellow coloured leave stems Swiss Chard.

Always forever forgetting to thin the seedlings (laziness is more honest), thinnings have already started to form roots but if you have plenty of space to grow edibles, you can still transplant them somewhere in the garden. Beetroot can be merciful in transplanting and not as fragile/tricky as carrot or parsnip seedlings.

  I found that Touchstone Gold beetroot does not grow much during Adelaide winter but does pick up growth again when the weather becomes warmer in spring. Does not flower quickly like rainbow chard if over-wintered.

 This is the reason why the name is attached with the 'gold' word, as can be seen the root flesh is golden yellow and some rings can be seen in the beetroot. This beetroot does not bleed like the red ones. The taste is mild and you might prefer this one if you don't have a sweet tooth.

Malaysia fast side-dish

Our first batch of Mid/Late-August sowed Redland Pioneer bush bean started to produce many beans to pick last week and we shared some with our neighbour. Some Pak choi, sprouting broccoli and leek were also harvested last week.

We made a quick dish of Stir-fry beef and bean with black been sauce. I am not that much a fan of beans but I have to admit I enjoyed it because those bean tasted sweet. Moreover, unexpectedly my boys like to eat home-grown and home-cooked bean. 

Crushed 2 cloves garlic and and inch of ginger. Heat a little oil in the wok for frying about 300gram of slice beef. Fry the beef first till tender. Lift it up. Then saute garlic and ginger. Add in beef, bean or some carrot or leek and mix well with about 5 tablespoon of black bean sauce in the wok till those bean cooked. For seasoning, I add a spoon of sugar. A fast food to prepare on a busy day to enjoy together with a bowl of steamed rice.

Harvested some few remaining over-wintered carrots and beetroots.

My cousin Lenay surprised me by using beetroot in one of Malaysia traditional dish popular in Negeri Sembilan state where my father grew up. It is a very easy to make and well-loved dish that I think mama will at least cook it once a week for the family. The dish is known as "Berlada" basically means any spicy fried food coated with chilli paste. You can used fresh or dried chili and blended it well into paste for the basic ingredient. Usually fried anchovies will be mixed together with fried fermented soy bean (tempe) or potato or nuts with chili paste. This is Lenay version of ikan bilis, ubi kentang dan beetroot masak berlada ( Spicy anchovies, potato and beetroot).

Prepare chilli paste ( I usually keep a container of chilli paste from dried chilli in fridge that last me for 2 weeks, or pound 5~7 big chillies well this will depend on the chilli variety hotness you are going to use).

Cut 1 beetroot and 1 big potato size into wedges and fried them separately until a little crispy. A half bowl of fried anchovies.

Heat some oil into the wok, not too much oil or it will be oily. It will be very much depended on how many spoon of chilli paste you want to use. Maybe oil and chili paste ratio should be 1:1. To be on the safer side the amount of oil should be a little bit less than the the chilli. Add in chilli paste (about 3 tablespoon), cook and stir until the oil starts to come out at the side or fragrant. You know it will be ready if you start to sneeze. Then add in fried anchovies, beetroot and potatoes. Stir to coat them with chilli paste evenly. Enjoy with steamed rice. I found another way to cook beetroot that I like thanks to Lenay. 

Sharon author of Test with Skewer blog that always inspired me also made her nice version of this traditional side dish recently with more helpful detail and explanation.

I cleared a pot of polystyrene container that were growing excess seedlings of brown onions because it look more like spring onions now. I doubt it will produce decent bulb. We also harvested a cauliflower. Just had it for dinner and it was so crisp and sweet.

What to do with those look-alike spring onions.

Well mostly for garnishing.

We used those spring onions to garnish sesame honeyed-fried prawn.

Visit Daphne's Dandelions for Harvest Monday.

Begedil Beetroot (Beetroot Croquettes)

We entered the mid-spring season now here in Adelaide. Our fall-sowed beetroot has already starting to bolt. So this week I had to harvest most of our beetroot.  Parsnips were growing on the same patch with beetroot. So I decided to harvest everything on that veggie patch and in replacement direct-sowed some summer vegetable and flower there. 

So what to do with these beetroots?

I would like to thank Shaheen author of Allotment 2 Kitchen Blog who has kindly give me suggestion and link to her beetroot archive when she commented on my previous beetroot harvest post about how to enjoy beetroot since this is a very new vegetable in our kitchen. We like croquettes very much and I can trick my eldest to eat it because it does not have the form of vegetables anymore. All the vegetables nicely hidden inside. I really enjoyed Shaheen's beetroot croquette recipe and just change a bit of the ingredients to suit for my kids. I bet Shaheen's version is much more tasty.

Beetroot Croquettes (adapted from Allotment 2 Kitchen)

Ingredients:
500gram mashed potatoes
300gram beetroot (peeled and grated)
1 Tablespoon Sweet paprika
Small handful of fresh parsley( or coriander), minced
1/2 teaspoon salt,
1 egg, beaten,
Breadcrumb
Vegetable Oil

Combine well mashed potatoes, grated beetroot, sweet paprika, parsley and salt.
Adjust seasoning according to your liking.
Make a shape of croquette that you prefer from the mixture.
To firm up, place it on a tray and keep in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Dip it into the beaten egg and coat it well with breadcrumbs.
Heat oil (quantity for shallow frying) at low heat.
Shallow-fry those croquettes and gently turn them for all side until golden.
Ready to serve.

Linking with Wendy's Garden To Table Challenge
&
Just Another Meatless Monday

This is the first time we try growing purple top turnip thanks to Mr. H (Subsistence Pattern) for the seeds. Our Ruby chards also needed to be harvest as quickly as possible this month before it bolts.

This year is a very good year of Italian sprouting broccoli for us, so many side-shoots that keep on coming since last August. However, peas were not as generous as last year. But our kids still happy with the amount or peas they can have everyday. Not enough to freeze though.

Opps...Some of the cauliflowers and broccoli were harvested too late made them loose instead compact heads.

Happy Harvest Monday!

Gift for Parents

Our garden/kebun has been very generous this month, although I have very much neglected our garden. Lenay and my brother has gone back to my parents home last weekend. They have brought back some vegetables for our parents. We are happy that we met some of our aim when we sowed seeds in fall for them to grow ready to be pick on the week my brother going back home. Visit Daphne's Dandelion Harvest Monday and see different part of garden in this world that gifted their gardeners who has given so much TLC in return. This week harvest photos are some part of harvest that we had for our parents. I have not taken much photo lately in the garden.

We had beginners luck with Florence fennel this year. Maybe this year is a good year for Florence fennel since I felt Florence fennel are selling cheaply this year in the local market and good size too. We had to harvest most of our lettuces since we had several days of warm weather, they have the sign to bolt.

Parsnip for my parents. First attempt at growing them this year last end summer.

Don't forget to sow some parsnip and carrot seeds this month quickly.

The germination rate was really good here in Adelaide plain.

Beetroots that were grown in container. It was my parent first taste of beetroot and I got a text with a request to post some seeds of beetroot after that.

Purple-podded peas season are almost over in our garden since those plants are dying. Those beetroot that received a haircut from my brother which I had to remind him several time not to trim near the root so much or it bleed.

Sprouting broccoli plants still providing generously.

This sweet potato is for us that were left growing in container over-winter. I was kind of worried that the tubers will rot in winter but I do not dare dig them out cause it was sharing space with Chinese Broccoli which I plan to harvest seeds from it. What a surprise when we dig out this 1.5kg sweet potato out. 

First Spring Harvest Monday

Last week my little garden helper has been following me around the garden to help with the harvest. He seems to know that our sprouting broccoli side-shoots need to be frequently cut as we have been experiencing many days above 20degree Celsius these days and wants me to follow him at that corner on the right side of this photo.

Its difficult for me to keep up with sprouting broccoli before they flower at the moment. This unusual warm weather early spring is making them flower easily. We had some tomatoes to harvest. My little helper keeps on stealing those yellow cherry tomatoes before we can snap some photos.

Our awaited Violet Sicilian cauliflower turn out to be green like broccoli (which I think it is broccoli). We freeze this "cauliflower" since we had enough for the kitchen. One red capsicum which is a treasure as it takes more than 3 months to wait for it to turn red. We harvested kohlrabi and dice it to make mini murtabak with mini cabbage. Kohlrabi was also grated for Sambal Salad with green mango.

Beetroots.

Due to warm weather our first cauliflower for this year did not form proper head, it looks very ugly and smallish. I am hoping for some rain and cool weather so the rest of our cauliflowers will have the chance to develop nice curds. The soil is so dry. Due to this not so early spring weather, I did not realised that our bonica eggplants which I have neglected this winter but let it survive by its own surprisingly produce fruits. I was pulling out a dead tomato plant beside this eggplant and by chance found some eggplants. The colour is odd though, instead of the usual dark purple. The first time, that we actually harvested an eggplant in early spring.

Our purple-podded pea plants are dying. Peas planting on our garden this year look very miserable compared with previous years. Today, we also harvested some lettuce, Florence Fennel and Snowball cauliflower.

Join in Daphne's Harvest Monday.

Beetroot Patties (Punajuuripihvit)

This year it is the first time we grow beetroot in our garden. Growing beetroot is the first time, eating beetroot is also the first time. We are growing heirloom mixed beetroot seeds, so I am not sure which variety we are harvesting at the moment. We have already become a fan of beetroot and we be sowing some seeds again this coming spring. Apart from steaming or roasting beetroot, we wanted to try a different way to enjoy it.

I got this beetroot patties idea from Anja Hill's The Food and Cooking of Finland recipe book that I borrowed from our local library. There are many interesting recipes to try from this book. 

Ingredients (serves 4)
2 cooked beetroots (beets)
1 egg beaten
100grams (2cups) fine fresh breadcrumbs
vegetable oil, for shallow frying
salt and ground black pepper

Peel the outer skin from the cooked beetroot using a sharp knife, then cut the flesh into 1cm slices.

Break the egg on a plate and beat lightly. Spread the breadcrumbs on a separate plate and season with salt and pepper. Dip the beetroot slices in the egg and then the breadcrumbs, to coat both sides.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the coated beetroot and fry for about 5 minutes, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.

In Finland, these delicious patties can be served with a dollop of sour cream as an appetizer or alongside grilled meat or fish to provide a different texture and flavour. They are also often served in conjunction with fried onion. These beetroot patties remind me of sweet potato fritters I usually have for tea snack back in Malaysia. My little brother is visiting me at the moment, it was his first taste of beetroot and he likes it very much.

Linking with Wendy's Garden To Table Challenge.

White sweet potatoes and shoots with coconut milk dish

This winter we are growing many vegetables that are new to us and we don't have any idea on what best cooking method to prepare them. Any advise are most welcome and will be deeply appreciated. We harvested our first rainbow chard and baby beets (thinnings) last Monday. Both of these vegetables are new to us and will be our first tasting experience. There were 2 rainbow chards growing in the same pot, so I harvest one because it is getting crowded. Other vegetables that were harvested was tomatoes, giant purple mustards, snow peas, capsicums, chilies and corianders. Join in and see what other gardeners are harvesting all around the world in Harvest Monday hosted by Daphne.

Rainbow chards and other vegetables were chopped. They danced in the wok for the making of salted dried mackeral fried rice dish. We like rainbow chard and will plant some more again in spring. I still don't know what suitable dish for beetroot and how to prepare it since it really bleeds. Boiled those baby beetroots together with Rayyan's porridge. It was a really bloody dish especially after using the mixer to chopped them into pieces. We tasted Rayyan red porridge and it was sweet with beetroot blend together. 

We grow dill for the first time and I keep on forgetting that I planted them. Out of curiosity, Lenay keep on reminding me of those dills because we never used dill in our cooking before. So snipped some for the kitchen. We also harvested some baby leeks, capsicums and chilies last Saturday.

I was clearing up some containers and areas in the veggie patch. From that we got some onion leaves which did not bulb last year, ginger rhizomes and our last beans. Our wong bok were looking really bad with caterpillars and snail attack that we harvest some of it. It took a lot of washing to get rid of snail and slug hiding in between these wong bok leaves. We have not enjoyed any wong bok since last year and Lenay was really missing it. After she experience growing brassicas especially wong bok and cabbage and know they are so difficult to grow 100% organically due to pest, we keep on reminding each other never to buy brassicas again in the market. When we passed by organic market, we still see sign of minimal spray used on those cute cabbages. Ours might not be a beauty but at least it does not contain hazardous chemicals. Cut some of wong bok and onion leaves to make a vegetarian fried rice noodles for Saturday breakfast.

With the newly fresh harvested ginger and dill, I made stir-fried ginger chicken for Saturday dinner. Usually we used boneless chicken meat for this dish but they were only chicken wings in the freezer so we had to improvise.

Last weekend we harvested all of our daikons. The ones which is not forky or broken due to digging it out were shared with other generous gardeners. I did not preserved any daikons this time.  Hopefully there will be another empty space in our veggie patch this month to sow another small batch of daikon. We also harvested some chilies, peas and sweet potato shoots.

We harvested some white sweet potatoes this month and I wasn't sure how to prepare it since I never tasted one before. Cikmanggis my cooking guru gave me some nice tips. So with her help I cook the sweet potato and sweet potato shoots with coconut milk. In Malaysia, this kind of dish is commonly known as masak lemak putih.

Ingredients (this is roughly what I did)

White sweet potato (one bowl cut into chunks)

Sweet potato shoots (one bowl-washed)

4 medium size garfish (boil in 1 litre water with just a little bit of slice ginger, keep the boiled water)

Red onion/shallots (I used 1 Red onion)

Black pepper

150ml coconut milk

Salt

Take only the meat from the boiled fish and in a mortar mash it with red onion and black pepper.

Heat the boiled water again and add in coconut milk, the mashed fish with red onion and black pepper and white sweet potatoes. Frequent stirring.

When the sweet potato is almost tender, add sweet potato shoots and stir well. Add salt to taste. Done.

It was really delicious, I had many servings and I was a satisfied cat.This will be my comfort food. White sweet potato has the sweetness that I like and it is a bit starchy. It reminds me of young tapioca that I had in my childhood. Hopefully with our next white sweet potato if we have good harvest, I would like to try Cat-in-Sydney suggestion of making pengat (Malaysia traditional cake). But I need some lesson on how to make it. I think mama showed several time how to make banana pengat a long long time ago but I forgot. My knowledge in making traditional cake is very limited.

Join in Wendy's Garden To Table Challenge.