Harvesting vegies: blog radio 2

A while ago I posted my first attempt at Blog Radio here, an MP3 of the little segment I do regularly on Sydney radio station 2UE (AM 954), as part of Don Burke's weekend mornings radio program called 'Burke's Backyard'.

And so this is the second installment of blog radio, and it's all about knowing when is the right time to harvest your vegies. At the end, I include a recipe for capsicum and corn fritters by the magazine's cookery editor, Tracy Rutherford.

And so, here's Blog Radio 2: harvesting vegies

Tracy's recipe can be found at the BBY website, here:

or here...

Tracy Rutherford’s Corn and Capsicum Fritters

• 1 cup (150g) self-raising flour

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup (125mL) milk

• kernels cut from 1 corn cob (or 400g can corn kernels, drained)

• 1 large red capsicum, diced

• vegetable oil, for cooking

• 2 tablespoons chopped chives

• 1/2 cup (125g) sour cream

• crispy grilled bacon, to serve

1. Sift the flour, cayenne pepper and a generous pinch of salt into a large bowl. Stir in the parmesan. Whisk the eggs and milk together and gently stir into the flour mix. Add the corn and capsicum to the batter. Fold in with a large metal spoon, until just combined. Don’t overwork the mixture or the fritters will be tough.

2. Pour a thin film of oil into a large frying pan and heat over medium heat. For each fritter, measure 1/3 cup of the mixture, drop it into the pan, and let it spread to about 10cm diameter. Cook for 3 minutes on one side, and 1 1/2 minutes on the other.

3. Stir the chives into the sour cream. Serve a spoonful of this mix on top of the fritters, with some crispy bacon on the side.

And if you like the sound of Don's radio show, you can access the full podcast at the 2UE website here, and also subscribe to it via iTunes.

And now, the radio show

And now for a little experiment in 'blog radio'. Every second Saturday I do a segment on Don Burke's popular gardening radio show on 2UE (AM 954) in Sydney on Saturday and Sunday mornings, 6am to 9am, which is also syndicated around the country to lots of other stations.

My little bit on the 'Burke's Backyard' show is about growing vegies and cooking at home with them, and I always include a recipe that people can access at the Burke's Backyard website. As I work for the Burke's Backyard magazine, I invariably slip in a plug for our latest issue whenever I get a chance (shameless I am). I've been doing these radio spots for about 18 months now, and I thought that for a change of pace on my blog, you could listen to me prattle on, rather than reading what I have to say.

Don's full show on both days can be heard via podcast here but for my little experiment I thought I'd open up Garage Band on my Mac and figure out how it all works, with the aim of slicing off just my bit (a 6-minute segment, complete with theme song) and posting it here as an MP3 file on my blog.

I think I've done it all correctly, but I'd love to find out whether it worked OK at your end of the line, so please let me know how it all went. If the experiment works, I thought I might add 'blog radio' as an occasional feature here at Garden Amateur. Anyway, here goes, Saturday October 31, all about beans.

Click here to experience blog radio!

'Blue Lake' bean flower, from last year's yummy crop.

(And as per Melinda's suggestion, here's a link to the bean recipe I mention in the radio spot.)