5/7: Tarragon stops sneezing

Tarragon is not a herb I use that much in the kitchen because not everyone likes it but this week I got a top tip about it's other uses. Rachel had been sneezing for several hours, after clearing the attic, when we went round to visit our friends, Geoff and Doug. She was still sneezing so they told her  to eat some Tarragon and all would be well. After some face pulling, she doesn't like the taste of tarragon, the sneezing just stopped, absolutely miraculous!

If you are suffering from sneezing caused by an allergic reaction to dust or pollen (it works on hayfever too) chew on a little piece of the fresh tarragon leaves and the sneezing will just stop.

Pine pollen sets me off sneezing and Rachel is allergic to all kinds of pollen, dust, cats you name it, so I had better make sure I take better care of my tarragon plant now that I've found out how useful it actually is.

30/6: Spaghetti with black olives

I think the Italians are the masters of simple cooking, making each ingredient really count. This pasta dish pays homage to that simplicity and manages to really pack a punch on the taste buds. With so few ingredients make sure they are good, the spaghetti should be perfectly cooked, al-dente, and the olives the best tasting you can find, and viola! you've got yourself a delicious plate of food in less than 10 minutes.

Prep& cooking 10 minutes

• spaghetti
• salt
• olive oil
• a good handful of whole oily black olives
• plenty of garlic
• Sicilian Green Sauce optional
• herb infused oil such as basil oil or crank up the heat a little with some chilli oil

Cook the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling, salted water until just cooked, 6-7minutes usually. Meanwhile take the stones out of the olives and slice the garlic. Heat a large pan, a wok works for me, add a good slosh of olive oil and throw in the garlic, when the aroma rises add the olives and fry until you can really smell the olives. Drain the spaghetti and throw into the pan along with a little Sicilian Green Sauce or freshly chopped green herbs. Toss to coat well and serve drizzled with a little oil.

Variations: It tastes great with a smattering of roughly chopped fresh tomato  ( I am still waiting for my first tomato this year). If you don't have Sicilian Green Sauce or infused oils throw in some freshly chopped green herbs such as basil, oregano or parsley, and fresh or dried red chilli.

29/6: Chick pea Masaledar

Some of the best ways of cooking chick peas can be found in Indian cooking. This dish has a lovely deep hot, sweet and sour flavour and plenty of sauce. Madhur Jaffrey, as always, is a great source for Indian food and this recipe is based on her Chana Masaledar in An Invitation to Indian Cooking , It comes from the Punjab and is originally intended a snack food but I've made it with a tomato based sauce as a side dish for lamb and spinach.

• 500g cooked chickpeas
• 3-4 tbsp veg oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 medium onion, thinly spiced in half moons.
• 1-2 tsp home made garam masala
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2-3cm square piece of ginger
• 10 fresh red chillis or to taste
• 1 tsp amchoor powder (dried sour mango) or juice of 1 lemon
• 1 pint Tomato passata
• salt to taste

Garnish 1 fresh green chilli and half and onion thinly sliced.

Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan and when hot add the cumin seeds and stir, after a few seconds add the onion slices. Lower heat and cook until the onions are starting to brown. Add the garlic, ginger, garam masala, fresh red chillis and coriander. Stir and fry for a few minutes more then add the passata and amchoor powder and cook uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Add the chick peas stir and cook for another 15 minutes or until they are nice and tender but still have a bit of bite. Serve with a scattering of sliced chilli and raw onion.

Notes on changes
I added 10 mildish red chillis, more garlic and ginger and 1 pint of home made passata (instead of 1 tbsp tomato paste and 1/4 pint of water as I wanted a dish with sauce.  
COOK'S TIP
I usually have some cooked chick peas in the freezer if you are starting from scratch soak the chickpeas over night then cook in a roomy pan with water for 1 hour or used canned chick peas and be very careful not to over cook them.

29/6: Garam Masala

Garam Masala is a blend of ground spices commonly used in Pakistani and Indian cooking. The literal meaning is 'hot (or warm) spice'.
If you like cooking Indian food you really need to make your own garam masala or marsala. It is easy to find in shops but buying ready ground spices is never a good idea, as so much of the flavour is lost. Shop bought garam masala is particularly bad, it has little flavour and a texture like sawdust, so what's the point  when you can easily make your own. Garam Masala can be used during cooking, but unlike many spices, it is often added at the end of cooking, so that the full aroma and flavour of the freshly ground spices is not lost. There are many variations of the mix but most traditional mixes use just cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg/mace, black pepper and cardamoms.

What you do need is an electric grinder, I use an old coffee mill, or a pestle and mortar and plenty of elbow grease.

Garam Masala I
1 tbsp green cardamom pods
3 inch stick cinnamon
2 tsp black pepper corns
3-5 black cardamom pods
1/4 nutmeg grated
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp black cumin seeds
Dry roast the spices in a heavy skillet until aroma rises, cool slightly then grind in a coffee grinder.

Madhur Jaffrey’s Garam Masala
1 tbsp cardamon seeds
1-2 inch stick cinnamon
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp black cumin seeds
1 tsp whole cloves
1/4 of a nutmeg grated
Grind the spices to a very fine powder

Once ground store in a clean airtight jar, away from sunlight. The ground spice mix will keep for two months or so before the flavour starts to deteriorate.

see  for more spice mix recipes.

26/6: Not Okra Then What?

Well at least it is confirmed what I've been trying to grow here is not okra. Lynn from the US, who sent me the seeds as a swap, confirmed that what I am growing here is not okra but so far has not been able to tell me what else she might have sent me by mistake. So if anybody can identify what this plant is I'd love to know. I posted about it before on Okra or What where there are a few more pictures of it at a younger stage.


The seeds Lynn sent me.


The stems and leaves are a bright green and hairy


The leaves are quite distinctive.


The plants as they are growing are all definitely climbers and

I must confess I am a little disappointed as I was really looking forward to harvesting okra for the first time, hopefully I'll get some true okra seeds and have another go. I've got three planted out in the garden taking up valuable space but I don't want to pull them out until I know what they are, they might be edible after all.