Thursday 21 June 2018

Simply Potatoes


Potatoes are growing in my compost.  I threw in peelings from a kilo of sprouting potatoes with 'eyes' and they've come up all over the place.



This is my smaller compost pile which I dig into the small vegetable plot next to it.  I add all the kitchen waste, peelings, coffee grounds, eggshells, kitchen paper, dried grapevine leaves and old torn up brown bags till the middle of May.    It is too close to our terrace and sometimes just too wiffy in mid summer.  In May I cover it with a thin layer of soil and leave it till October when the resulting rich soil-like compost goes on the winter vegetable plot.  This May after adding a layer of earth I threw a handful of squash seeds on it and they are now growing nicely alongside the potatoes.  I had never thought of actually growing things on the compost heap before.





The last time I  planted potatoes we got a good crop but they all grew with a purple streak in the middle and we didn't eat them.  I wasn't sure why the purple colour was there and treated them like potatoes with green on them.  They were ordinary potatoes that were planted so where the purple came from is still a mystery.  It will be interesting to see how this years crop turns out.





Selino and celery

In the foreground is the celery that you all know.  Long light green stalks and darker leaves.  Behind it is a bunch of greek selino.  The same taste but it looks like parsley, hardly any stalk and very leafy.

Time for a simple dish that we eat as a main meal during Lent and also in the summer.  Stewed potatoes, with celery and carrots


I've posted this recipe  before but will give you a shorter version now.

Potatoes cut into chunks
garlic
onion
olive oil, the best greek of course, lots of it
grated fresh tomatoes
a bay leaf
chopped celery
diced carrots

Fry onion and garlic in the oil.  
Add tomatoes (from a tin if you have to)
and a cup or so of water
Then add potatoes, carrots, celery and the bay leaf.
Stew slowly till all the vegetables are tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened a little.

The more well known greek potato recipe is roast potatoes with lemon juice.  My traditional person always adds more lemon juice than I like and I find them a bit acidic.  When I make though...... yum.


To be traditional greek roast potatoes they must be cut into long slices and not chunks

Cut them into long slices and roast with lots of good olive oil, oregano, plenty of garlic, maybe some thyme, salt and a good cover of fresh grinded black pepper.

Kalo Orexi
Bon Appetit
Buon Appetito
Kia Makona
Have a Nice Meal



12 comments:

  1. You're inspiring me,I was thinking about a small pile of compost here,I hope the smell is not so bad.

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    1. Apparently it should not smell but it always smells in the summer and is full f little flies. You don't want it near the house.

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    2. I remember as a child that my parents added newspaper and garden cuttings to the compost heap; they said it stopped it from smelling. I don't remember if it actually worked or not.
      x

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    3. Dry leaves and garden cuttings cover the more smelly kitchen waste but we don't have enough garden cuttings and most go into the bigger compost heap, further away from the house

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  2. The simple potato dish sounds good, but those roast potatoes are calling to me, naughty and delicious.

    Our compost heap does all of the above, sometimes smelly, often lots of small flies - luckily it is down by the old hen house, and it can stay there.

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    Replies
    1. The main compost heap is further away and we use that all year round.

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  3. Mmmm, I really like the sound/look of those roasted potatoes!!! Yessss!!!!

    You really put lots of stuff, into that compost. Great idea. And also great, to grow things on top of in, in summer.

    I'd love to be able to do something with a lot, lot, lot of what goes into the garbage. Should look into this. To find a place, and a container, near enough to back door, to not have to carry drippy stuff, too far. :-))))

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  4. Generally, any recipe with the work 'Greek' in it will contain Olive Oil, Oregano, and Lemon. Voila; the amateur's guide to Greek cuisine! You'd be amazed how often you see it.

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    1. That used to really annoyed me in magazines and recipes and I'd tell 'thats not bloody Greek', but I've got used to ignorant recipe writers now.
      French recipes all have red wine and garlic, Italian have pomodoro tomatoes and basil.
      Ignoramuses!!!!

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  5. I was wondering what to cook for tonight - thank you, now your stewed potatoes is on our menu. We also cut our potatoes that way and fry in olive oil with garlic and rosemary.
    Greetings Maria x

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    Replies
    1. I almost put rosemary in the potatoes I roasted yesterday. I should have. I use rosemary a lot

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