Late flowering

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.