Plot to Plate

We spent most of today on the allotment, it was a beautiful sunny day if a little breezy with a few heavy showers.We hung the three gates and with Kevin's help got the gates and posts primed and undercoated.We did some weeding and watering and of course can now pick something to eat on site or take home.The Spinach has finally taken off and I pulled what I thought was a lot but it sweats down to a tiny portion, some of our peas and of course some red strawberries, no point in leaving them for the slugs.
I have only used Spinach a few times and basically just steamed it, today I decided to make a Spinach,bacon and feta cheese tart.I found a recipe online which did not look too complicated or had too many ingredients so went ahead and made it.I used Catherine's recipe for the pastry, I have been getting compliments on my pastry since I began using it.It is:
8ozs Self Raising Flour,
4ozs Hard margarine or butter ( I use the butter)
1 oz of icing sugar (for sweet pastry) or pinch of salt for savoury pastry
1 egg made up with milk to bind pastry.
The recipe for the tart is from Timesonline.co.uk and is credited to Lindsey Bareham, I tweaked it a little bit so this is my version.
200g young Spinach leaves, blanched in salted water for 2 mins. Refresh under cold water then pat dry and chop.
125g Bacon lardons fried in oil until brown then dry on kitchen paper.
4 eggs with one tbsp cream ( or creme fraiche)for each egg.
100g Greek Feta cheese.
black pepper.
1 tbsp chopped chives.
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese.
I made the pastry,and baked it blind for about 8 mins, combine all of the ingredients and pour into flan case,scatter another 1 tbsp grated parmesan on top.
Bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes,gas mark 7 or 220c, until the top feels firm and is a nice golden colour.
I was a bit iffy about the two cheeses as I am not a lover of strong cheese so I tested it on Ed first who gave it a thumbs up. It was a devine combination of ingredients, D.Aisling waited patiently for hers to be sent down to her and wanted to know when I was making another one.I think I will sowing a lot more Spinach!


We did some more painting for the Open Day also, I gave Kevin a wire brush and he spent ages getting all the rust off of this old Dairy Separator, he was complimented on his hard work by everyone.We painted some of the body of it a bright yellow so it was just as well he was wearing a bright yellow Tshirt!
The days dues for working, fresh strawberries warmed by the sun and straight from the plant.