Growing your own veggies and herbs is great, and they certainly without fail always taste far superior to what you buy in the supermarkets. But of course, that then means you have to find a use for them when ready.
I like growing leeks as I always pass on a few to my sister, but I have limited recipes that actually use leeks (I sometimes get flummoxed by vegetables you can’t roast). Out of the recipes I do have, this one is far and away the best, assisted largely by the fact it has a lot of pig in it. So without further ado: Big Angry Trev’s Bacon, Leek & Potato Soup
Ingredients
8 rashers of bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 leeks, sliced
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1.5L hot vegetable stock
150ml thickened cream
Fresh parsley
Cracked pepper
Method
Chop up bacon, fry up half until crispy and put to one side
Put stock in pot, heat but do not bring to boil.
Chop up onion, sauté it with remaining bacon in butter until golden.
Add sliced leeks and diced potatoes to pan, cover and cook on very low heat for 5 minutes, shaking pan occasionally.
Take bacon & vegetables from pan and stock from pot and combine in large pot, bring to boil.
Simmer concoction for 20 minutes covered, stirring occasionally.
Let mix cool. Take mix and put in food blender. Puree mix.
Pour mix back into warm pan, slowly add cream and stir until warm.
Put into bowls, top with fresh parsley, crispy bacon and cracked pepper.
Don’t ya hate it when your poultry has a secret nest?
I have all these great laying drums set up for my ducks, but for some damn reason half of them prefer to find some nice secret spot in the garden and lay their eggs there every day until I discover it a few weeks later.
This just happened yet again, so we’ve gone from no duck eggs to having well over a dozen that have to get used up pretty quick from not being refrigerated.
So I decided to try out a recipe of my sisters to use them up – her magnificent curried eggs. She makes them that mouthwatering that for years I’ve insisted on a plate of them instead of birthday gifts from her.
While I can’t profess to make them as well as her, I gave it the ol’ college try and they still came out pretty damn good! And it’s a simple recipe so really easy to make. So here is Big Angry Trev’s sisters recipe for Curried Duck Eggs.
Ingredients:
*16 Duck Eggs – boiled
*120gm Butter
*4 tbsp Cream
*2 tsp Curry Powder
*1 tsp Mustard Powder
*Black Pepper
*Paprika
*Chilli Flakes
Method
*Boil the eggs, slice in half and scoop out the yolks.
*Put yolks in a bowl and add butter, cream, curry powder, mustard powder and season with black pepper. Mash.
*Spoon mix back into egg whites.
Seasoning
How you season your eggs is up to you. Typically as the househusbandI have to cater to everyone’s particular tastes so I divvy the eggs up into 3 lots.
First lot I put on no seasoning for my kids.
Second lot I put on paprika for my wife.
The third I put on paprika and chilli flakes for myself.
I’ve yet to try them with hot sauce but that’s only a matter of time. But I definitely recommend the paprika, it really makes the flavour pop!
And there ya go, a simple recipe that is an effective way to use up all those extra eggs you find lying around the farm.
“Dear Big Angry Trev. My whole family supports you in your war against the mosquitoes! Do you have any tips for us so that we may battle them too?”
Well Betty, like any great battle there are two main areas you need to consider – offense and defense. I’ll assume you already have the supply chains to your troops in place so lets get straight to weaponry eh!
Offense – Weapon 1 – the HAND!
The best friend of Mozzie haters and single men alike
Not just for self-gratification and the ferrying of meat and beer to the mouth, your hand is your first line of attack when battling the airborne foe. Mosquitoes don’t fly as fast as flies do so quick reflexes and a clap of the hands wshould guarantee a kill. Be careful though when slapping them when they have already alighted on you, I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve deafened myself by slapping my ear or had to go have a sit down because I whacked at one too hard that had landed on my crotch.
Offense – Weapon 2 – the SWATTER!
Not just for bargain basement S&M anymore
A lot more fun than actually effective. It gives you good reach and speed but more often than not will just injure – not kill.
Offense – Weapon 3 – AIRBORNE SPRAYS!
Choke the fraggers!
Very good for indoors, give a room a damn good spray and watch all mozzies in the area drop like flies! If they are bad indoors it’s a good idea to give your bedroom a spray before turning in. Downside of these is that they are not particularly effective outdoors unless you actually hit the target. One trick I have learned is to leave the outdoor light on for an hour at night, then go and spray the million mozzies that have been attracted to it. Of course, that’s a lot of corpses to be cleaned up in the morning but since they are your enemies you should do it with a vengeful smile on your face!
Offense – Weapon 4 – the ZAPPER!
Ah the serenity
Puts out UV light which attracts the mozzies and then when they get too close ZAP! Instant electrocution! I went and bought the biggest one I could find. There are a few downsides though. Very ineffective during the day as their light is drowned out by the sun, even if you hang them in a shady area. Also the bigger ones need to be plugged in which usually necessitates it being close to your house or shed. Personally I have mine hung under the verandah as far from the front door as possible since they need to attract mozzies to the area before it can kill them.
Defense – Weapon 1 – CREAMS and SPRAYS
Lather yourself up baby!
Lots of different bug repellents on the market and all work to a greater or lesser degree. The mozzies we have this season seem to happily pierce clothing so I give my clothes a good spray of Aeroguard as well before going around the farm. There are lots of kid friendly brands and you can get creams that are both sunscreens and big repellents in one.
Defense – Weapon 2 – CITRONELLA CANDLES
Both pretty and punitive
These may seem a bit hippy but they do work. They give off a smoke from the wax and wick that keeps the mozzies at bay. While having a candle or two lit is always nice, these are completely ineffective on a windy day outside and are too smelly to use indoors.
Now we are talking! These are designed to keep damn near every bug in existence away! Spray it on the ground, ants wont walk over it. Spray it on the walls, the smell sends away the fliers. Spray it around doorframes, no spiders trying to get in. Really does work a treat! I use Insectigone which, while not as strong as some others, emits no odours humans can detect, has no detrimental effect on kids or animals, and if you reduce the dosage (you mix this stuff with water then spray it) you can even spray it on plants! I’ve given my veranda a good going over and since I’ve done it I only get a couple of mozzies there a day instead of dozens. Only downside with these are if the mozzies are already chasing you or actually on you, they wont give a damn when you cross the barrier line and then they are trapped in with you until you kill’em. Also these are usually available at places that sell proper chemicals, not supermarkets.
Good luck with the war Betty – and as a great man once said – KILL! KILL THEM ALL!
