After the fiery end to November, and before the aspirant grand wizard‘s arrival, December started off relatively gently. We love the long, balmy evenings and spectacular sunsets of summer. Even if they are viewed over the ravages of the fire and the somewhat charred vegetable patch.
A chef was among the kind souls who helped to fight the fire that afternoon, and very tongue-in-cheek, suggested a new trend: smoked vegetables. Particularly courgettes (zucchini). Funnily enough, we had been told by a restauranteur in Paternoster that he was going to be experimenting with exactly that in the next while. More of the fabulous food we ate during that trip, another time, perhaps.
Returning to the courgettes: the moment you turn your back, they transmogrify from delicate, green fingerlings into giants that can be well-nigh unmanageable.
My mother loved giant courgettes – she called them marrows: she would halve pip, and cut into chunks and boil them to death. I am my father’s daughter: he really didn’t enjoy the watery mush that made its way to the supper table. Not even lashings of butter helped. I rarely boil vegetables.
Local product: Herbes de Provençe
Not long after the fire, I was given a bag of Herbes de Provençe. Grown locally, the herb mixture is packed in handmade bags, cleverly made from a combination of (also locally) screen printed hessian and tartan, evoking their origins in McGregor.
The brainchild of Lavender Lady, a McGregorite, whose idea it is to make the traditional flavours of Provençe available in South Africa, and with the longer term vision of creating sustainable jobs in the village.
I grow herbs and use them, fresh, in virtually everything, particularly during summer when they are abundant. The aroma that wafted out of that bag of dry leaves and flowers was amazing. I couldn’t work out the different scents. How does one use them?
“Just add a pinch to whatever you’re cooking,” Lavender Lady said.
Okay…..
So back to the not-so-baby marrows and not being one for waste, they had to be eaten. Flavourless, marrows are, and full of water, so I figured that the best way to deal with them was roasting. Not confident that just this would deal with the deficit in flavour, the Herbes de Provençe had their first “outing”. The result has, happily, become the current go-to way of dealing with the overgrown courgette.
Roast Marrows with Herbes de Provençe
Halve the marrows, remove the pips and discard. Cut the marrow into sizes that suit you. I’ve done them in large chunks like in the pictures above, and also in smaller, bite-sized pieces.
Sprinkle a baking tray with olive oil and place the marrows on it, skin-side down. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and dot with butter and then sprinkle Herbes de Provençe over the marrow flesh.
Bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes and then turn the marrows over and return to the oven for another 20 or so minutes or until they are cooked to your liking.
Remove them from the oven and turn them over and sprinkle with a sharp, hard cheese like Parmesan or Pecorino, and serve warm.
McGregor Herbes de Provençe
This particular blend of herbs is interesting. There is a number of different combinations for Herbes de Provençe; it was only in the 1970’s that “Herbes de Provençe” became commercially available. The introduction of lavender was specifically to suit the North American market. They use these herbe fresh in Provençe, and the include savoury, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, origanum and sometimes mint, all of which grow wild in the Mediterranean. (As I discovered when I lost myself walking down from Castillo de Bellver back to Palma when I was in Mallorca. But that’s another story.)
Lavender Lady’s blend, McGregor Herbes de Provençe, doesn’t have the savoury or the mint, but it does include basil, parsley, fennel seeds and lavender blossom.
Herb Butter
It also makes a fabulous herb butter which works well on bread, potatoes and braai mielies (barbequed corn) – or anything else that goes well with a herb butter.
Chicken, grilled with a Herbes de Provençe rub or basting is easy and delicious. Now I’m planning stews and hotpots with Herbes de Provençe when the weather gets cooler. Of course, this herb blend would make the perfect bouquet garni for classic French dishes such as Beef Bourguignon and Provençale inspired chicken.
Those experiments will wait for the longer, cold evenings of winter which suddenly become a little more palatable.
Until next time, be well
Fiona
The Sandbag House
McGregor, South Africa
Post script
- If this post might seem familiar, it’s because I’m doing two things:
- re-vamping old recipes. As I do this, I plan to add them in a file format that you can download and print. If you download recipes, buy me a coffee. Or better yet, a glass of wine….?
- and “re-capturing” nearly two years’ worth of posts.
- I blog to the Hive blockchain using a number of decentralised appplications. From WordPress, I use the Exxp WordPress plugin. If this rocks your socks, click here or on on the image below to sign up.
I also share my occasional instagram posts to the crypto blockchain using the new, and really nifty phone app, Dapplr. On your phone, click here or on the icon, and give it a go.