Preserving olives / conserver les olives

Before our holiday we picked our entire crop of 80 olives, soaked them in spring water for four days and then left them in brine while we were away. I think we may have picked them too early and some of them seem to have become green again. But we can't put them back on the tree, so I shall carry on with the process, based on the recipe given in Tomás Graves's book A Home in Majorca.

Avant nos vacances nous avons ramassé tous nos 80 olives. Nous les avons trempées à l'eau de source pour quatre jours et puis nous les avons laissées en saumure pendant notre séjour au Pays de Galles. Je pense que peut-être nous les avons ramassées trop tôt, et quelques olives sont devenues vertes encore. Mais c'est impossible de les retourner à l'arbre, donc je continue de les conserver selon la recette de Tomás Graves dans son livre A Home in Majorca.

I rinsed the olives, then put them in layers in an earthenware jar, starting with a layer of bay leaves, then olives and chopped fennel stalks, then bay leaves and so on until the jar was full. I covered the olives with a layer of bay leaves held in place with a fennel stalk and a bay stalk. I filled the jar with brine (125 gm salt to 1 litre of water) and put the lid on it (a saucer would do).

J'ai lavé les olives, puis je les ai mises en couches dans un bocal de faïence, en commençant avec une couche de feuilles de laurier sauce, puis des olives et des tiges coupées de fenouille, puis des feuilles de laurier sauce et j'ai continué de cette façon. J'ai couvert les olives d'une couche de feuilles de laurier sauce tenue en place par une tige de fenouille et une tige de laurier sauce. Finalement j'ai rempli le bocal de saumure (125 gm sel en 1 litre d'eau) et j'ai mis le couvercle (une soucoupe irait bien).

I shall leave the jar in a cool place for two months by which time, according to Tomás Graves, 'a disgusting slime will have formed on the surface'. The olives beneath should be ready to eat.

Je laisserai le bocal au frais pour deux mois quand, selon Tomás Graves, il y aura un depôt gluant dégoutant sur la surface. Les olives en dessous devront être prêtes à manger.

Tomato paste / purée de tomates

We're still picking tomatoes and the other day I put about 1.5 kilos of Roma tomatoes, quartered, in the oven with some sprigs of thyme and some salt for about an hour at 180 C. I put them through the mouli légumes and was left with a small amount of thick tomato paste to which I added a finely chopped red chilli pepper and a tablespoonful of red wine vinegar. I brought it to the boil and simmered for 10 minutes. The paste, covered with a layer of olive oil, then filled two very small jars. It tastes delicious and I shall use it in sauces and soups.

On continue de ramasser des tomates. J'ai cuit au four (180 C) à peu près de 1.5 kilos de tomates Roma, coupées en quatre, pour une heure. Je les ai passées par un mouli légumes et j'ai ajouté à cette pâte épaisse un piment rouge coupé très finement et une cuillerée de vinaigre rouge. Je l'ai fais cuire à feu doux pour 10 minutes. Puis, finalement, j'ai rempli deux petits bocaux de la pâte et je l'ai couvert .d'une couche d'huile d'olive. Elle a un gout délicieux et je l'ajouterai aux sauces et aux soupes.

PLEASE VOTE / VOTEZ!!!

There's a poll in the side bar - please vote. I'd like to know in which language(s) you read this blog. / Il y a un sondage à côté - votez, s'il vous plaît. Je voudrais savoir en quelle langue vous lisez ce blog.

October weekend / un weekend en octobre

Today was a perfect October Saturday - an almost cloudless sky, a mid day temperature of 25 C and not too much hard work to do in the garden.

Aujourd'hui c'était un samedi parfait d'octobre - le ciel presque sans nuages, le temperature à midi a été 25 C et il n'y avait pas trop de travail dur dans le jardin.

The garden is rather untidy at the moment, in transition from summer into autumn into winter, and the shadows longer, but it's still somewhere to enjoy lunch in the sun. I like to decide what will go in the salad as I'm walking around the garden, looking to see what is ready to eat.

Le jardin est un peu fouillis en ce moment, en changeant de l'été en automne et vers l'hiver. Les ombres sont plus longs mais c'est toujours un endroit où on peut profiter du soleil et prendre le dîner. Il me plaît de choisir la salade quand je fais un tour du jardin, en regardant quelles plantes sont prêtes à manger.

Today I found a colourful mix of lettuce, wild rocket, tomatoes and thyme. / Aujourd'hui j'ai trouvé un melange aux couleurs vives de laitue, rouquette sauvage, tomates et thym.

We ate it with grilled pork and green peppers from the garden. / On l'a mangé avec du porc grillé et des poivrons verts grillés du jardin.

Mizuna update / mizuna mise à jour

Before we went away the snails had eaten some of the mizuna plants which Kate planted for us. We put lavender cuttings around them and this seems to have turned the snails away. The surviving plants are growing well and will soon be ready to be added to salads.

Avant de partir nous avons vu que des escargots ont mangé quelques plantes de mizuna que Kate a planté. Nous les avons entourées de boutures de lavande et elles ont découragé les escargots. Les plantes qui surviennent poussent bien et bientôt seront prêtes à ajouter aux salades.

Home again / Le retour

Wales was beautiful as always, damp and green with lovely autumn leaves turning deep orange and red. Gardens with grassy paths and a cold grey lake surrounded by marshy land, mud and cranberry plants.

Le Pays de Galles était toujours beau, humide et vert avec des belles feuilles d'automne qui tournent en orange et rouge foncé. Des jardins avec leurs allées herbeuses et un lac froid et gris entouré de marécage, de boue et de canneberges.

A carefully tended vegetable garden / un potager bien entretenu	Welsh lake and moorland Un lac gallois entouré de lande

As soon as we arrived home in Gabian we were eager to see how the garden was. Our neighbour would have watered if needed, but he didn't have to. We were pleased to find tomatoes still ripening, as well as peppers, courgettes, and one aubergine.

Peppers still growing and flowering / les poivrons poussent et fleurissent encore	Rainbow chard just beating the snails

Leeks planted in August - nearly ready to eat / des poireaux plantés en août	Leeks planted by Kate at end of September - doing well, thanks Kate! / des poireaux plantés au fin de septembre

and a basket of tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and an aubergine

et un panier de tomates, poivrons, courgettes et une aubergine

We've a busy weekend ahead, sowing garlic, broad beans and peas ... more on these later.

Taking a break / les vacances

We're going north for a few days but while we're away I'll leave you with a collage of the flowers in the garden for Garden Bloggers' bloom day.

Nous partons au nord pour quelques jours, donc je vous laisse un collage des fleurs de notre jardin pour Garden Bloggers' bloom day.

geranium, salvia, lemon

passion flower, dahlia, dahlia

rosemary, morning glory, ceonothus

Garden Bloggers' bloom day is hosted by Carol at maydreamsgardens

And the olives ... / et les olives

I'm leaving the olive crop to soak in brine until we get back.

Je laisse les olives tremper à la saumure jusqu'à notre retour.

Building worries / les soucis et le lotissement

Today for the first time we heard the noise of machinery starting to clear land near the gardens to build houses. We've tried to pretend this might not happen ... now we just hope it won't affect too badly the peace of the hillside and the ancient walls, which we've been promised will not be touched.

the path to the garden	le chemin des moulins

Aujourd'hui pour la première fois nous avons entendu le bruit des machines qui commence les travaux pour le lotissement près des jardins. Nous avons essayé de faire comme s'il n'arrivera pas ... maintenant nous n'esperons qu'il n'aura pas des conséquences pour la paix de la colline et les murs anciens. On nous a promis de ne les toucher pas.

PS Jewelled rice: I've been asked to post the recipe for the jewelled rice I mentioned the other day - no time before I go away, but I will when I come back.

PPS The recipe for jewelled rice is now on the food blog - click here

Vous avez des tomates? / Have you got tomatoes?

When we first bought the garden we were still living in Wales most of the year so we couldn't grow much. When other gardeners walked past while we were in our garden, they would say 'Vous avez des tomates?' although it was obvious from a quick glance that we hadn't. We would say 'non' and a few minutes later the neighbour would be back with a bagful of tomatoes for us from his garden.

For the last couple of years we've been growing our own tomatoes, but during the summer we are still asked the same question - 'Vous avez des tomates?' I've realised now that it's a question that means more than the words appear to say. Tomatoes are so important here, gardeners grow 50 or more plants - as we do - and preserve most of the crop for use during the winter. Tomatoes are an essential ingredient in Mediterranean food - no one can imagine living without them and we eat them in some form or another almost every day of the year. So this vital question really means - 'Is everything going well for you?'

Autumn seems quite ominous, then, as the tomato plants die back and the few remaining fruits take longer and longer to ripen. Is everything going well now, I wonder? Well, yes, I think so.

In a garden there is always something new to pick and to grow whatever the season. We're picking and enjoying the chicory which Lo Jardinièr has been earthing up since last month. It's delicious in salads or griddled to serve with cheese or cured ham.

We've harvested our olives. Friends and neighbours give us figs, chestnuts, pumpkins and pomegranates. Lo Jardinièr made this delicious jewelled rice, based on a recipe in Diana Henry's Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons, with one of the pomegranates.

We still have some tomatoes (the black ones below were given to us by a neighbour, the rest are ours) and we can pick peppers, an aubergine, or small courgettes to cook on the barbecue for lunch in the garden, or to serve raw with hummus.

And for the winter we have over 50 jars of tomato passata stored in the kitchen, so there'll be no shortage this year.

Nous avons des tomates!

Olive harvest / la recolte d'olives

The olives are ripening so we picked them today.  We're going away for a few days next week and didn't want to leave them until we return.  There were more than we thought - 80 olives altogether.  Some have been damaged by the hail storm we had in September, but most are beautiful, smooth, dark and shining.

Les olives mûrissent, donc nous les avons ramassés aujourd'hui.  Nous partirons pour quelques jours la semaine prochaine et nous ne voulons pas les laisser jusqu'à notre retour.  Il y en avait plus que nous avions pensé - 80 olives toutes comprises.  Quelques-unes ont des taches à cause de la grêle en septembre, mais la plupart sont belles, lisses, sombres et brillantes.

I've put them to soak in spring water for four days to draw out the bitterness.  On Tuesday I'll put them in brine to begin the process of pickling them.

Je les fais tremper à l'eau de source pour quatre jours pour les faire moins amères.  Mardi je les mettrai dans la saumure pour commencer de les conserver.

Technorati Tags: olives

Fish from the market / poissons du marché

Today it's grey, cloudy, autumnal, a day for the market and the kitchen rather than the garden. We bought fresh anchovies for lunch - a rare treat - and a bream for Lo Jardinièr. We ate the anchovies with salsa made from tomatoes, capers, basil and sweet onion.

Aujourd'hui il y a des nuages gris d'automne, le temps pour aller au marché et pour cuisiner plutôt que le jardin. Nous avons acheté des anchois pour notre déjeuner - un plaisir rare - et une dorade pour Lo Jardinièr. Nous avons mangé les anchois avec une salsa de tomates, câpres, basilique et oignon doux.

And a glass of muscat sec (dry muscat) from the Domaine des Pascales in Gabian went very well with this meal.

Et un verre du muscat sec du Domaine des Pascales à Gabian a accompagné très bien ce repas.

Click here for the recipes

Cliquez ici pour les recettes

From now on I shall put the recipes on a new blog - at mediterranean-food.blogspot.com - to make it easier to find them.

À partir d'aujourd'hui je mettrai les recettes dans un nouveau blog -

mediterranean-food.blogspot.com - pour les faire plus facile à trouver.

We sowed seeds for celery and some salad plants which Kate brought us - which we hope will make salads and soups during the autumn and winter.

Nous avons semé des graines de céleri et de salades pour les salades et les soupes de l'automn et l'hiver.

And a friend has given us some chestnuts which we'll roast in the oven this evening. We'll keep some to cook on the barbecue when the weather improves.

Et un ami nous a donné des châtaignes que nous ferons cuire au four ce soir. Nous en garderons quelques-unes pour griller sur le barbecue quand le temps fera mieux.

Kate's visit / La visite de Kate

Our few days with the Vegetable Vagabond have passed incredibly quickly and now she has moved on to Mas du Diable. It's been wonderful to spend time with someone who is as excited as we are about our garden and about food and eating!

On Wednesday Kate was as eager as we were to go to the market. We bought squid and I made paella on the barbecue, adding our best green pepper, some haricots verts and some tomatoes from the garden.

Le séjour de la Vagabonde des Légumes est passé très vite et aujourd'hui elle est partie au Mas du Diable. C'était génial - passer du temps avec quelqu'une qui a autant d'enthousiasme que nous pour notre jardin, pour l'alimentation et pour manger!

Mercredi Kate était aussi désireuse que nous d'aller au marché. Nous avons acheté des encornets et j'ai cuit une paella au barbecue. J'ai ajouté notre meilleur poivron vert, des haricots verts et des tomates du jardin.

Kate planted the mizuna (Asian salad leaf) seedlings we'd grown from seeds sent to us by Laura from Mas du Diable. Kate suggested putting them between the cabbages which she'd also helped us plant out.

Kate a planté des plants de mizuna (salade d'Asie) qui ont poussé des semis que Laura nous a envoyé. Kate a suggeré qu'ils iraient bien parmi les choux qu'elle nous a aidé planter.

And when our neighbour unexpectedly gave us two cherry tree suckers Kate helped with planting those too.

Et quand notre voisine nous a donné deux petits guiniers Kate nous a aidé les planter aussi.

Membrillo / pâte de coing / quince paste

Kate worked in the kitchen too - the time had come to cook the quinces we'd picked a few days before, so Kate cut up the fruit. We boiled the pieces in water until they were tender and then I put them through a mouli légumes to separate the fruit purée from the skins.

Kate a travaillé dans la cuisine aussi - le temps était arrivé pour cuire les coings que nous avions ramasser quelques jours avant, donc Kate les a coupé. Nous les avons fait cuire jusqu'à ce qu'ils aient été tendre et puis je les ai passé par le mouli légumes pour séparer la purée de fruit de la peau.

We then added the same weight of sugar and simmered the purée until it darkened and thickened.

Puis nous avons ajouté le même poids de sucre et nous avons fait cuire à feu doux pour faire une purée sombre et épaisse.

Then I spread the purée in a layer about 1 cm thick on grease-proof paper in a baking tray and put it in a low oven (100° C) for a few hours. When it had dried I cut it in pieces about 10 cm x 10 cm. You can keep this for months, wrapped in grease-proof paper in a cool place. It's delicious with cheese.

Puis il faut l'étaler d'une épaisseur de 1 cm sur du papier cuisson dans une plaque de four et la mettre au four très doux (100° C) pour quelques heures. Quand elle a seché, coupez-la en morceaux de 10 cm x 10 cm. On peut les garder pour quelques mois au frais, emballés dans le papier cuisson. C'est delicieux avec le fromage.

Olives and artichokes and Italian mussels / Olives et artichauts et moules à l'italienne

On Kate's last evening with us I thought she should eat olives and artichokes!

La dernière soirée de la visite de Kate, j'ai pensé qu'elle a dû manger des olives et des artichauts!

But first we had oysters from Bouzigues and a glass of Picpoul de Pinet, the white wine made nearby which goes perfectly with oysters.

D'abord on a mangé des huitres de Bouzigues avec un verre de Picpoul de Pinet, le vin blanc qui accompagne parfaitement les huitres.

Then Kate made one of her favourite mussel dishes - delicious Italian mussels (recipe here).

Puis Kate a préparé un de ses plats de moules favoris - moules à l'italienne (recette ici) - delicieux!

We've enjoyed our few days with Kate enormously and we've got so much out of it. We've all spent the time talking about gardening and food, and about writing about gardening and food - all so important for Kate, Lo Jardinièr and me. We've exchanged ideas, laughed, eaten, persuaded Kate to try the local wine as well as her favourite limoncello and got to know each other really well. We even managed a swim in the sea - Kate's first in the Mediterranean. Her trip was a great idea and it is linking all of us food-growing bloggers - Ian of Kitchen Garden in France brought her here, so we've met him too, and now she's gone on to Mas du Diable, taking some of the quince paste we made to Laura. Oh, and I mustn't finish without mentioning the wine Ian brought us from Perigord, made by his friend Bernard, Clos de Castelau 2005, a lovely warm Bergerac red, a bottle of which we've already enjoyed with Kate.

Kate has written about her stay in Gabian, as well as the rest of her trip, on Hills and Plains Seedsavers.

Olives update

A couple of weeks ago I was worried that our olives were damaged and afraid that we might have an infestation of Dacus olea. Talking to friends about their olives which also have small marks on the skins and are ripening, I realised that what we had was hail damage from the storm at the beginning of September. This means the olives aren't as pretty as they should be, but they'll be fine to eat - all 36 of them!

We'll be harvesting them soon.

PS Waste not ....

I saved the water we'd boiled the quinces in because it looked good and the friend who had given us the quinces had said you could use it to make jam. There was about a litre of it and I simply added a kilo of sugar and simmered until it was reduced to a thick dark red syrup. This made two jars and a leftover bowl full of quince jelly. We tried it tonight with some St Nectaire fermier cheese and it was lovely.