0443 across the river-l'autre coté de la riviere, a photo by liboironh on Flickr.

Barbecued Vegetables

Its not just meat that you can cook on a barbecue - check out these great recipes for vegetable based dishes.

Ratatouille
25g butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 medium aubergines, thinly sliced
1 large green pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 large red pepper, desseeded and chopped
5 medium courgettes, sliced
1 can tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/ teaspoons black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

In a large flameproof casserole dish, melt the butter and oil over a moderate heat. Add the onions and garlic and fry, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the aubergine slices, green and red peppers and courgette slices to the casserole. Fry for 4-5 minutes, shaking the casserole frequently. Add the tomatoes with the can juice, the basil, rosemary, bay leaves and seasoning. Sprinkle over the parsley. bring to the boil then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 40-45 minutes until the vegetables are cooked. Remove from the casserole and serve at once as a vegetable dish, as a basting sauce for meat and poultry or as a starter.

Stuffed grilled mushrooms

24 large open cap mushrooms

salad oil

2 cloves garlic (optional)

1 medium onion

4 tablespoons chopped parsley

salt and black pepper

Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and set aside. Wipe the caps to clean then brush with salad and oil and grill, over medium to low coals, for about 15 minutes. meanwhile, chop the garlic and onion until fine and mix with the parsley and seasoning to taste. When the mushrooms are almost cooked, put a spoonful of the mixture in the centre of each mushroom cap and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Check out our barbecues on Alfresia. Alfresia also sells a range of garden furniture and patio furniture.

Recipes for your Barbecue

The other day we discussed how you can get year round use out of your barbecue, so we thought now might be a great time to suggest a few new recipes you can try on the barbecue.

Ginger Teriyaki Steak

900g sirloin steak

6 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon ground ginger

3 tablespoons sake or sherry

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon sugar

Cut the steak into bite-sized pieces. Mix together the soy sauce, ginger, sake or sherry, garlic and sugar. Marinate the steak in this mixture for about 1 hour. Drain well. Then, place the meat on six skewers and barbecue over hot coals for 6 minutes, turning from time to time. Baste with remaining marinade during cooking.


Sweet 'n' Sour Spareribs

1.75kg lean spareribs
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
150ml wine vinegar
150g brown sugar
6 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons pineapple juice
1 teaspoon grated root ginger or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Rub the spareribs thoroughly with the salt. Place them directly onto the grill, over medium coals, and cook for 40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients to make the sweet and sour sauce. After cooking for 40 minutes start brushing the spareribs with this and cook for a further 40 minutes until done - the meat will pull away easily from the end of the bone. Basting and turning should be continuous process to ensure even flavouring and to prevent the ribs from becoming charred. Serve with honeyed pineapple and extra sweet and sour sauce.




Check out our barbecues on Alfresia. Alfresia also sells a range of garden furniture and patio furniture.

How can I use my barbecue in winter?

Everyone knows that barbecues are fantastic in the summer months, with warm weather and sunshine providing a perfect atmosphere for a barbecue. In Summer, barbecuing is both a culinary occupation and a social one. We have discussed previously, on this blog, how to care for your barbecue and given some suggestions of great summer recipes. However, does a barbecue stop being useful as soon as summer is over? We would say 'certainly not!'

We've heard stories of certain bbq lovers still cooking in the middle of Minnesota, during a sub-zero winter and in 2ft of snow. If they can manage there is no reason you cannot! Indeed, one of my colleagues swears by using her gas BBQ to cook all her meat, every day. She believes this is a better way to prepare the meat for several reasons:

1. Barbecued meat has a distinctive flavour which many BBQ owners find preferable to the 'standard' oven taste.
2. Barbecuing meat is much quicker than cooking it in the oven. If you're looking to put together a meal quickly, then barbecuing is the way forward.
3. Barbecues need much less cleaning than an oven - just swiftly wipe down the grill!

Of course, if its too wet or too windy and you don't want to face the elements, then barbecuing in winter isn't for you. However if you want to brave it, then perhaps investing in a barbecue shelter is a good idea. Either way, we hope we've proved that people do use their barbecues outside of summer afterall, and that there are practical advantages to doing this! Check out our range of barbecues on Alfresia. We also sell a range of garden furniture and patio furniture.

Christmas Plants

When we think of Christmas, several images spring to mind: beautifully decorated trees, snow covered hills, presents and, of course, the plants we associate with Christmas - holly, ivy and mistletoe. These three are intrinsically tied up in the mythology and imagery of Christmas and there are many creative ways to use them!

The European Holly is an extremely old species. Before the Ice Age, holly covered most of Europe. After the glaciers the plants adapted to the hot dry summers and cold winters. These days it tends to be found more to the north and centre of Europe than the south, but it is still prevalent. It is, however, often protected because of its widespread popularity as a christmas decoration.
That being said, holly is a great plant to create decorations with! Instantly recognisable, when you incorporate holly into your seasonal look, make sure to spray it with fire resistant spray (this will keep it fresh) and place it away from both direct sunlight and direct heat. Check your arrangement daily for signs of brittle leaves or dehydration. Remove the offenders regularly.

We all know about the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe, however its mythology dates much further back than that. In the 1st Cenutry AD, Pliny the Elder (a Roman author, philosopher and historian) wrote about the reverence with which the people of Gaul (France) would treat mistletoe, particularly that which grew on oak trees. They apparently believed that it would be beneficial to sufferers of what we now call insomnia, high blood pressure and certain malignant tumors.

Mistletoe plants are a variety of hemi-parasitic shrub. This means that they grow on other trees/plants and derive much of their sustenance from them. Depending on locale, Mistletoe can be found on Oak (as by the Celts), on Polars, Apple trees and Limes and Hawthorn trees too.

Ivy is representative of paganism, a symbol of fertility. It, like Mistletoe and Holly, is deeply entrenched in folklore and legend, particularly in pre-christian religions. Even in Christian times, Ivy has been used as a decoration in churches at christmas for many centuries and mentioned in traditional carols, like 'The Holly and The Ivy'  and 'Sans Day Carol'.

Alfresia is an online retailer of garden furniture and patio furniture.

Planting Nut Trees in your Garden

December is the time to be planting trees in your garden, and so we thought it was the perfect time to look at a group of fruit trees that get much less press than their apple or pear producing cousins. In the UK, several types of trees that produce edible nuts can be grown though the most popular tends to be cobnuts (hazel), filberts nuts and walnuts. Sweet Chestnuts are also suited to our climate, though they do take up lots of space. In warmer areas, Almond trees can also be grown.

Cobnuts and Filberts

These two are very similar though do actually come from separate species. The filbert has a far longer husk than the cobnut, often encasing the nut completely. Some have frilly husks. Both trees prefer a cool situation, preferably partially sahaded. The soil should be free-draining and reasonably moisture retentive. It should not be too rich. When planting, set the trees at 4.5m intervals. They tend to reach up to heights of 2m. If you need to prune, leave it to late winter. Cobnuts and Filberts ripen in autumn and they should be picked and stored in a cool, dry place away from mice and squirrels. The latter can also take the nuts of the tree, so be on the lookout.

Walnuts

Walnut trees can eventually grow very large, and they need a reasonable amount of space. They are ornamental and create a pleasant, dappled shade, however, so they can be used as specimen trees on a lawn. If space is limited, choose a self-fertile variety, otherwise you may have to plant a polinator. Most trees take years to produce nuts, though some might after five years or so. Choose a warm site for your Walnut tree, away from frost hollows. The soil needs to be well-drained and retentive of moisture, with plenty of organic matter added to it before planting. The tree may seem to take a while to establish, but it will suddenly begin to grow speedily. Apart from the removal of dead or damaged wood, no pruning is required.

Sweet Chestnuts

There is not much point in growing sweet chestnuts unless you have plenty of space as the trees are likely to grow up to 30m high and half that across. If you have the space however, they're not difficult to grow and don't require pruning. They prefer a moist, woodland-type soil but will grow in any fertile, moisture retentive ground.

Patio and Container Gardening Ideas

Patio gardening (or container gardening) is, quite  surprisingly, often overlooked, considering it requires no special tools or expert knowledge. Its actually quite easy to suggest ideas for your container garden or your patio garden because the rule of thumb to follow is that most plants that grow in your garden will also survive in a pot – anything from the smallest bulb to the largest tree, with a large enough pot. For vibrant and colourful flowers, a selection of bedding plants is ideal. For longer lasting solutions, a single plant such as the New Zealand flax has a contemporary feel, and bamboo looks great whatever the season. For those wishing for a productive patio, fruit and vegetables can easily be grown in pots, such as potatoes and blueberries.

           

There is a huge selection of plant pots and containers available, however several aspects to consider when choosing. Larger patios can obviously sustain more pots, however it is beneficial to choose larger pots over smaller ones, as these will require less watering. Another tip to reduce watering is to line any terracotta plant pots with a plastic bag, as the clay is porous and will allow water to seep out. Other common pots include wooden barrels, lightweight plastic, and glazed pots. For a more modern approach try metal or fibreglass containers, which are available in most garden centres. These however may need a drainage hole drilling at the base, if one is not already provided.

           

Deciding on the compost is generally a matter of quality, as this can vary greatly. Therefore the cost is also an important factor to consider, when deciding how many pots to plant. Peat-free alternatives are available and more environmentally friendly, but the quality between these tends to vary even more between brands. Compost generally contains around 6 weeks worth of fertiliser, so it is probably worth adding extra fertilizer to keep your pots flourishing all summer. A fertilizer that needs adding only once, mixing into the compost at planting time is a slow-release fertilizer. This should last the whole season.

Another thing you should consider depending on the climate and plants being potted is the addition of a water-retaining gel. The crystals are not crucial, however tests show that the amount of watering required is reduced, as the gel crystals swell and retain many times their own volume of water, which is released as the compost dries out.

           

After all that hard work, the only thing left is the maintenance. The main problem is watering, as this is a weekly task, and possibly up to daily in the hottest part of the summer. Irrigation systems with a digital water timer are the most convenient, as they allow for holidays. After setting up, they can be left to look after your patio plants for as long as you like, delivering a required dose of water to each of your plants.

           

 Towards the end of the summer, if your plants begin to wither, it may be worth giving them an extra boost of fertiliser. Add a soluble one this time with watering, and watch your plants flourish once again.

Alfresia is an online retailer of garden furniture.