Plantain in Tomato Sauce.

I wonder if you could you use banana instead? Plantain is often available at our local markets. Click on the link to see the recipe.

Ripe Plantain in tomato sauce

Coconut Pumpkin Soup

We grow pumpkins and the other ingredients for this soup so easily in our climate. Click on the link for the recipe.

 Silky Coconut Pumpkin Soup

With our indigenous “pumpkin”, calabaza squash, in full season we buy a wedge every week and I try a new recipe. Epicurious.com has been a good source for recipes, some are great as is, and others, like this one, needed some tweaking. Here’s my version which turns out to be very much like those I had in South East Asia. Note that the roasting of the shallots is important for the flavour.

You could also try

Pumpkin Carrot Soup with ginger

Bellingen Seedsavers visit Susan's banana farm

Susan is aiming at restoring her acquired banana farm to better health. The steep slopes are being planted with seedlings of other fruit trees, especially mango and avocado seedlings. She has stopped all spraying and is planning for certain plants to overwhelm weeds.

 The steep slopes are prone to erosion especially in the high rainfall of the Coffs Coast.














Macadamias grown from the nuts are being propagated for adding to the biodiversity of a food forest.












This mature mango helps to retain the steep slope.














A wild native raspberry flourishes. Some find these fairly tasteless but others enjoy the taste. Be careful to control the runners.

Coriander, in the vegetable garden, flowers and attracts useful insects. 

Fennel grows well at this time of year.


















Silver Beet produces more when the outside leaves are regularly picked.

This Jack Fruit has been producing fruit for some years. With no extra irrigation it is surviving the very dry weather....

.... and producing fruit.

This joey was found in the pouch of its mother, killed on a road. Here he attempts to climb into a non-existent pouch

These gluten free pumpkin, feta and sun dried tomatoes were enjoyed at afternoon tea.

Irene grew this whopper of a pineapple. The size surprised us, our climate not being really subtropical.

Hong Kong Taro is a smaller variety of taro. Irene had brushed off the soil gently, and brought the taro to the boil in cold water with salt and five spice powder.

She simmered the covered pot for 10 minutes then left the taro in the water to cool. This made it easy to peel the taro which tasted like a waxy boiled potato. The boiled taro would make an excellent 'potato' salad. The taro could be stored unpeeled in the 'fridge for a week.

As usual we shared plants and seeds from our seed table.

The new vegetable garden is well mulched in this dry weather.

The early ripe fruit on this peach tree is because of the north facing slope and our latitude.

We plan for our next garden visit to be to Bellingen's North Bank Community Garden on the second Thursday of November, November 8.

Cooking Taro and Jicama (Yam Bean) Rolls & other Asian recipes

Taro plant

Yam Bean dip sticks

There are many vegetarian recipes on 'Nyonya Food' blog. This is an interesting recipe because it demonstrates how to use both Taro and Jicama(Yam Bean) in an interesting dish.











 Try also

Jiu Hu Char (Fried Jicama/Yambean with Shredded Cuttlefish)

Here is another blog recipe using Jicama sticks: The Skinny Confidential

Cassava

The same blog, Nyonya Food, also has a recipe for a Cassava Cake, another of our easily grown foods.

Delicieux's Asian Noodle Soup

This Asian Noodle soup (at Delicieux) blog uses many ingredients we grow, lime, ginger, coriander, lemongrass and chili.

In Bec and Wilma's December Garden

December 1 was a rainy day but we found Bec and Wilma's Bonville garden fascinating. Bec has planted lots of exotics, especially fruit and nut trees. Wilma and Bec's vegetable garden is extensive with vegetables at all stages of production.

 Wilma extracts some well composted mulch from the pile.

This mini hothouse well stocked with seedlings.

This pumpkin is leaping up the wire fence.

We usually bring food and feast before our meeting. Beryl brought her award winning muesli slice. Her recipe is in an earlier post. Nell brought delicious steamed choko shoots, some buttered and some mixed with coconut milk. We also enjoyed Kay's tasty pizza  with balsamic onions, goats cheese, tomatoes and herbs baked on a puff pastry base. Part pre-baking of the pastry will ensure it does not go soggy. A pizza stone will also help.

This Atherton Oak was thriving. Can you see the nuts? Click on any pic to enlarge. This will be another nut for us to try. The fruit is bright blue.

Extensive raised vegetable gardens mix flowers and veges.

A bore (under the box cover) produces perfect water says Wilma.

A globe artichoke, lacking thorns and unlike my prickly beasts, is starting to flower.

A turmeric, in full flower, ready for planting out. Heinze uses these as a ground cover along his riverbank.

 Runner beans clamber up the fence.

A spring onion sets seed.

A Dragon Fruit has climbed up this palm. Bec uses a long stick to knock down the delicious red fruit.

The temperate loving Silver Beet  will gradually fail with rust in this humid summer weather. Nell says that this is the time the subtropical vegetables become the 'greens' for salads and stirfries. Choko tips, Sweet Potato tips, Edible Hibiscus, Brazilian Spinach, Amaranth, Kang Kong, Ceylon Spinach,  Rungia (Mushroom Plant) and Warrigal Greens flourish in the heat and humidity.

A bright red Canna provides a showy corner.

Wilma and Bec's vegetable corner.

These Saba Nut (Malabar Chestnut) trees are setting seeds around their trunks.

A garden arch makes a showy climbing bean support.

Borage in flower in the semi shade. Wikipedia suggests the leaves as well as the flowers can be used in salads.

Vegetables are crowded into beds.

Beetroot grows in front of coriander.

A Brachychiton tree shows off its full pink glory.