I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw these flowers on our courgette plants this morning. This is the first year we’ve managed to keep the plants alive beyond the beginning of August because usually here they die as soon as the weather gets too hot and dry for them towards the end of July. This year we didn’t have many courgettes but the plants did survive the summer to produce during the autumn. We didn’t expect flowers just three days before the shortest day, though! I picked them all, including the female one with a tiny courgette, because they won’t grow at this time of year and they are so delicious stuffed.
From the garden
to the kitchen….
to the table….
I stuffed them with grated cheese and chopped oregano (not easy since they were so small) and Lo Jardinièr dipped them in batter he’d made with chickpea flour, olive oil and water, and then fried them. They made a nice amuse bouche for lunch. The main course was easy: before we went to the garden to do a morning’s work I put two duck legs on a layer of sliced onion, pumpkin, garlic and juniper berries with a glass of white wine in an earthenware dish in the oven. When we got home they were ready to eat after about 3 hours of slow cooking, covered for the first 2 1/2 hours, then uncovered for the last half hour to crisp the skin.
How lovely! I noticed that there are some buds on my geranium this morning and the farmer at the market still has a few tomatoes – it’s been a very mild year so far…
Yes, the seasons are behaving very oddly, but we might as well make the most of the good things!
we are mild out here as well, but it makes me nervous,.. c
The duck recipe sounds good, especially with the juniper berries.
It’s been a strange autumn and winter until now. The mildness has meant that all the fields of rape around here are flowering already. A lot of trees are already in bud and I’ve had four flushes of flowers on the roses and geraniums this year. But it looks like the cold weather is finally here …
It all sounds delicious and what a lovely surprise! We have geranium flowers and roses in bud…strange things are happening…
Love, love, love, slow baked duck legs! Hurray for autumn blossoms