Protecting balcony plants from the sun.

I'm going to try and blog more...no really!
I did write a blog entry 5 years ago (!) about my garden, http://swisslemur.blogspot.ch/2010/07/garden.html and in many ways, it's all still true.  Here in Switzerland, balconies are for sitting on, not gardening.  Gardening takes place at the allotment, located an inconvenient distance away, and possibly only obtained through inheritance.
I still only have a balcony.....but there are going to be improvements this year.

The biggest problems I face with the balcony are:

1.  the pot plants dry out too quickly, and those along the outside rail bake in the sun; and
2. the aphids move in.....and they usually win.

My new victims 

The other problem I didn't mention, is that I'm overly-ambitious.  I've tried raising seedling inside in January (didn't work), growing eggplants (didn't work), Chinese vegetables....vegetables of any sort (really didn't work).  I've decided to focus on herbs.  I've become interested in ancient Greek and Roman recipes and they often use a number of herbs I'm unfamiliar with, but that provide a distinctive flavour profile - rue, lovage and fennel.   Mint and chervil and other herbs also make an appearance, but rue and lovage in particular, are quite new to me.
Now I just need to keep them alive.

Watering and insulation seem to be the key.

I would like to get self-watering planters but the main brand - Lechuza - is stonkingly expensive, especially here in Zürich, around 100 CHF per container.  And, that doesn't quite solve the problem of the heat soaking into the containers and damaging the roots.   I need to insulate the pots.  Most of the information on insulating plants is really for Winter.  It often snows here in Zürich so people wrap up their plants in hessian and fleece.  I've never tried it, I somehow think it will never snow and my balcony gardening is run along Darwinian lines - survival of the fittest (that goes for the house plants as well).

To insulate against the sun, I'm going to try a protective barrier on the outside of the planter: a drip-tray turned on it's side and lined with bubble wrap.  I don't have the bubble wrap yet but I'm trying out the drip-tray shield and measuring the temperatures.  The balcony faces roughly South (West-ish) so we get sun for nearly the whole day.  From lunchtime onwards it begins to shine directly on the house and I need to put the sun-shade out....it gets really hot.  Mornings are the coolest, when the sun shines obliquely across the planters on the railing.

I have an unprotected planter (with lovage) sitting on the table, roughly parallel with the middle planter on the railing (savoury) which is shielded by a drip-tray.  It's not a perfect set up because of the angle of the sun, but as the day progresses the planters will receive more direct sun.
I have a 'temperature gun' (infrared thermometer) and I took the first measurement at around 10.00am.  The top temperature in Zürich today is estimated to be 23 Celsius....it feels hotter.

I'm wondering how accurate the temperature gun is.  Anyway, I think midday will give a clearer indication.  I can see from the angle of the sun that they are receiving slightly different amounts of heat, but what I'm really interested in is the difference in temperature between the outside of the drip-tray shielding the planter and the side of the planter that is covers.  At the moment, nearly 4 degrees celsius is the difference.  Just out of interest I also checked the end of the planter that was facing the sun - it was 47 degrees Celsius!

Example using a drip-tray as sun shield

Morning - 10.00am
Unprotected planter:  Sunny side  20.2
                                   Shade side  13.3
Protected planter:       Drip-tray shield  18.1
                                   Sunny side 14.4
                                   Shade side  15.1

Midday readings:
Unprotected planter:  Sunny side  38
                                   Shade side  26
Protected planter:       Drip-tray shield  35
                                   Sunny side 28
                                   Shade side  22

Mid-afternoon - 3.00pm
Unprotected planter:  Sunny side  53
                                   Shade side  33.7
Protected planter:       Drip-tray shield   46.6
                                   Sunny side  38.5
                                   Shade side   31.9

Late-afternoon - 5.30pm
Unprotected planter:  Sunny side  37
                                   Shade side  31.5
Protected planter:       Drip-tray shield 32
                                   Sunny side 33
                                   Shade side   30

Experiment design is not something I have thought about since high school so there could be a number of reasons for this result, but I think some kind of shield will still help my pot plants on the railing.  The only downside is that by late afternoon the shields may have been trapping a little heat and the plant takes longer to cool down (5.30pm shield 32C planter 33C).
Just for comparison, the sides of the containers sitting on the balcony out of the direct sun average 22-27 C at 3.00pm.   I must be killing plants to expect them to survive on the railing.  Some parts of a shallow black container I have that were in direct sun registered 60 C.  It's scary how hot that balcony becomes....and it was only about 23C today.

I think I can improve the shields - use a lighter colour and line them with bubble wrap.


Next I need to improve my watering system.  I've tried a couple of bottles with holes drilled in the bottom.....not sure it's working.   The water seems to drain out too fast.  The search continues.

Food Cravings - Bibimbap

Ok, I'm completly hopeless at blogging, I just realised I hadn't added anything for well over a year, maybe I should try a little harder :) I went shopping today in Zürich at a Korean store, just off Bahnhofstrasse called Yumihana at Schützengasse 7.  Really handy to get to and the lady at the counter was super nice, but it is a little more expensive than other Asian food stores in Zürich. You can also eat there - sitting at a counter, but I'm still easily shocked at Zürich prices, so 20CHF for Bibimbap seemed outrageous! I'll probably find an excuse to one day eat there - I haven't eaten Korean food for such a long, but for tonight, I'll just have to make my own....what a suprise.

So, Bibimbap (pronounced 'Bee beam bop' I think) hot rice with various toppings, and if you're lucky, "dol sot" when it's served in a sizzling hot stone bowl that makes the bottom of the rice golden and crunchy *drooling slightly* but not tonight, as I don't own any stone bowls.....yet.

Bibimbap - the egg was overcooked, and my photography skills are pretty poor!

Bibimbap is one of the most famous dishes from Korea and I used to eat it all the time at a little hole in the wall joint near the University in Canberra (I say 'hole in the wall joint' but it was actually bigger than Yumihana AND you could sit down at a real table).

So, this can be as simple or as complicated as you like, just make more or less of the suggested toppings. Generally, all vegetables are thinly sliced (julianned) and then stir-fried in a little sesame oil, garlic, and a pinch of salt. You can also make this as a vegetarian meal or use chicken, or pork instead of beef....in that case don't bother with the Bulgogi recipe, just stir fry. These amounts are only approximate as it depends on how many toppings you use, but here I'm cooking for 2-3 people. The red chilli sauce is vital (and rather addictive) I buy one from the New Asia Market here in Zürich that is quite similar. I think there is a more authentic Korean chilli sauce called gochujang that I want to try.

Ingreedients
Short grain rice - such as jasmine
2 egg yolks (or you can use whole eggs, but fry them first)
red chilli sauce

Toppings
2 Carrots
2 zuchinni
1 white radish (daikon)
dried shitake mushrooms
spinach
chopped garlic, salt and good quality  sesame oil

Bulgogi beef
250g rump steak
marinade
1/4 cup soy
1 tbl chopped garlic
2 tsp grated ginger
1 tbl brown sugar
1/4 white onion grated
2 tsp honey
1 tbl roasted sesame seeds

Cucumber salad
1/2 long cucumber
1 tsp salt
2 tbls red paste:
(2 tbs chilli paste 1 tbl honey, 1tbl cider vinegar, 1 tbl water, 2 tsp sesame oil).

Bean sprouts
200g bean sprouts
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbl chopped spring onions
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp roasted sesame seeds


1. Prepare the rice - wash throughly, 3-5 water changes, and I also soak the rice for 30 minutes before cooking. At the moment I'm trying to build a better relationship with the rice cooker, so I'm not going to write out any other instructions on how to cook rice. Don't cook the rice too early as it will take some time to prepare the toppings.

Sliced beef and Phoenix brand chilli sauce.

2. Prepare the bulgogi. I freeze the meat for about an hour to make it easier to slice thinly, I aim for paper thin and usually manage about 2mm. Mix together the marinade ingreedients then add the meat. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. When ready to cook, just stir-fry.


3. Prepare the cucumber salad. How you slice this is up to you, but I would reccomend cutting the cucumber in half, scooping out the seeds and then slice each half into thin little half moons, 2mm - 5mm thick. Add the teaspoon of salt and leave for 5 minutes. Squeeze out any excess moisture and add the red paste. Mix and set aside.

4. Prepare the bean sprouts. Put the salt, water and sprouts in a saucepan and steam for 5 minutes. Drain the sprouts and add the toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil and spring onions.

5. Prepare the other vegetables. whichcever vegetables you choose, they are prepared in essentially the same way. Slice thinly into matchsticks (or a bit smaller if you can manage) and lightly stir-fry with a teaspoon of chopped garlic and sesame oil and a pinch of salt. Note that dried shitake mushrooms need to be reconstituted in hot water for about 20 - 30 minutes, the stalk discarded and then the caps finely sliced.

6. Assemble!  Divide the hot cooked rice between 2 bowls and arrange the various toppings over the rice, like the spokes on a wheel, radiating out from the centre.  If you're really keen and th ebowls are super hot you can place an egg yolk in the centre, otherwise, use a fried egg (with a runny centre).  To eat, add some chilli sauce and mix it all together :)

Moussaka

I love Moussaka, it's the eggplant and the way it's able to absorb soooo much olive oil. Having said that, I've been trying to find ways to reduce the amount of olive oil traditionally used to soften up the eggplant, and make a couple of other changes. My made up version of Moussaka has layers of eggplant with a tomato-based meat mixture, a layer of spinach, and a yoghurt/cheese topping. I must admit, I made this while I still had an impaired sense of smell, but the ingredients seemed to make sense, and I'll report Doug's opinion on this. He's actually quite a tough critic as he really doesn't like eggplant (Why?!!), so if I can win him over I think this recipe is a keeper :)
Aah, one last thing, measurements are not exact, I just made it up and flung it all together in the first baking receptacle that came to hand.....I don't think it is too difficult. I followed some of the cooking instructions in "The Olive and the Caper" by Susanna Hoffman. Btw, sorry about the hopeless photos, the light is rather poor in the kitchen and I don't do the best job.

Meat and eggplant layer

350g beef (lamb would be better!)

2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Passata (or some form of tomatoes)
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp all spice
1-2 tsp dried origano
salt / pepper
(fresh parsely or other herbs stirred in at the end would be nice)

1/4 cup olive oil
4 small to medium eggplants

Spinach layer
300 - 400g spinach leaves
handful of pinenuts
3 tbls ricotta
10 kalamata olives

Yoghurt topping
About 2 cups of yoghurt
50g feta cheese
3 tbls ricotta
1 egg

1. Drain the yoghurt for about an hour if it is very thin. I use a clean cotton hankerchief and sieve over a bowl.
   
2. Preheat oven to 230C (450F). I find these oven temperatures a little hot, but i think my oven runs hot, so I usually turn it down a little.
   
3. Slice the eggplants lengthways about 1/4 inch thick. Smear lightly with olive oil (I use my hands) and place on baking trays with baking paper (not so messy). Bake for 10 minutes, turn, bake for another 10 minutes until wilted and slightly golden. Set aside to cool and turn oven down to 170C (350F).
   
4. Brown the meat and set aside. Next, add soem olive oil to the pan and gently fry the onions until golden and soft (halfway through add the garlic). Add the rest of the 'meat layer' ingredients. Cook for 20 minutes (or up to an hour). I like my mixture to be rather sloppy so th eflavour bubbles through the eggplant, but you can cook it until quite dry if you prefer. Set aside to cool slightly.
5. Wilt the spinach in a large frying pan. It depends on the spinach, but I find I then need to squeeze out a lot of water afterwards. Pit the olives.
   
6. For the topping, combine the yoghurty, crumble the cheese into it, ricotta, and egg. Mix well.
7. Assemble. I start with a layer of eggplant, then the meat, then mor eggplant. I like the flavour to percolate through the eggplant. then the spinach, pinenuts (you cantaost them boeforehand if you like), olives and the 3 tablespoons of ricotta dabbed on the spinach.
8. Final layer of eggplant, then pour the topping on.
9. Bake for 1 hour. The top should look a little bubbly and go a golden colour with darker brown spots.

Doug loved it! It may be that he is just being very diplomatic and doesn't want to upset the cook, but I think he was sincere. The normal recipe would use 1 cup olive oil. I found 1/4 cup sufficient....the eggplant is soft and velvety and there is enough 'richness' in the dish with the meat, topping and ricotta, I think. You could possibly add more feta to the topping, or even better, use kefalotyri cheese.
Anyway, This is a flexible sort of recipe, the main thing is the eggplant, and I think cooking it in the oven really beats standing over a hot stove frying!

The Garden

For those of you who don't know I have a garden...well, a balcony that desperately wants to be a garden.....that I desperately want to be a garden. It has the obligatory space for a row of flower boxes, in which one plants: Geraniums. The rest of the balconey is for sitting on.....this is the accepted practice, in fact, this Summer weather right now is also referred to as 'Balcony weather'. Based on my authorative and extensive study of Swiss culture and traditions, I've come to the conclusion that there are three types of gardening practised in der Schweiz (note the dative preposition with feminine Noun - in der Schweiz....my German is getting a little better :)).

1. Flower boxes. Considering how many people live in apartments, this is not particurly suprising. What is a little disturbing though, is that there is very little variation in what is planted in these boxes....well you can chose the colour - Geraniums. I actually like Geraniums, partly because they really are industructable and I suspect nothing else is going to survive the full-force of the sun that hits the front of my balcony. However, variety is the spice of life!
2. The garden. This belongs to those lucky people who have a house, or the bottom floor of an apartment......but don't assume you can just plant a garden. Quite a few people I know with 'garden space' can only keep pots on the paved area or add flowers to any existing flower beds. Those with an inclination to garden (and permission) usually create the usual green space, filled with flowers, shrubs and small trees. Some of the ornaments are a little, well, interesting. Bright baubles on sticks, fake birds, concrete animals/gnomes and 'artistic' rocks. Vegetables and other edible items are strictly for.......
3. The allotment. I think this is a very familar concept, especially for anyone who has ever lived in Britian, the main differences appear to be that a) I have Buckleys of ever getting one, and b) you don't just grow vegetables there. Most of the allotments I have seen here have their own minature little holiday homes on them, with paths, flagpoles and landscaping of sorts....I feel it's more a lifestyle.
   

Back to my Garden (yes there is some random capitalisation of nouns - I blame learning German). My aim is to grow everything I possibly can on the balcony. I have giant plastic ikea tubs, window boxes and plastic pots. I think I'm doing a little better this year, definetely better than 50% sucess rate :) Some of it may not even have been my fault. We had a very long, cold, wet Spring this year (so depressing!) and I think that accounts for the failure of the sugar snap peas, snowpeas and why the sweetpeas are only now putting forth a few meagre blossoms. The chilli plants are also rather sick, struggling is the word. Also, the base of my flourishing cucumber rotted for no aparent reason. On the other side of the coin, the dill and coriander bolted as soon as the sun came out......it's just wrong! A plant with only 4 leaves should not be allowed to bolt.

My favourite plant is the Grapevine. It's didn't really do anything last year (well it survived Winter!) but this Spring it burst into leafy foliage....and then, tiny bunches of grapes! The bunches are still there and the individual grapes are getting bigger, I'm so excited. There are 11 bunches, it's amazing. However, I'm feeling some stirrings of unease as some of the leaves are turning very pale and yellow. The problem is (and this is common to many plants in my Garden) it could be a case of under watering or over watering....I can't tell. The sage is also sporting a few yellow leaves. Expert comments are welcome!

The Balcony is a bit of a mess right now (well, there is room for sitting) as I'm still planting and potting like mad while the sunshine lasts. I have high hopes for the beans, cucumber, tomatoes (some of them) zuchinni and herbs. Just to be pedantic, here is a list: sage, parsely (flat and curley), dill, basil (3 types) oregano (2 types) tarragon, coriander, mint (3 types), thyme (2 types). rosemary, and spring onions. Not all of these are 'harvestable' as such, some have bolted, but they at least made an appearance. I just planted some more radishes, rocket, salad leaves, and purslane.

There is also a very thorney (but lovely) bush rose called 'Ingrid Bergman' which produces the most glorious roses - some of them have double centres which I've never seen before.....maybe I have a mutant rose?

Oh, and 1 small box of Geraniums! When in Rome and all that.

Mughlai Lamb Biryani

A really good Biriyani is one of the most impressive dishes in Indian cuisine...in my opinion! It is usually made for special occasions and involves layering meat and rice in a casserole dish which is them cooked usuing the dum process. Dum is the indian method for pot-roasting food, in the case of Biriyani the rice, meat and spices are steamed together in the oven in a sealed casserole dish, and then arranged and garnished on a platter. I've seem recipes for Biriyani that combine cooked rice and meat with garnishes, but the more authentic approach (and better result) is to steam them together.

The recipe I've chosen is from Madhur Jaffrey's book - Indian Cookery - which I highly reccomend! This book is really very accessable, with clear instructions, yet also quite authentic. The other authors I would reccomend are Charmaine Solomon and Julie Sahni.

This recipe is quite complex and does take some time, so I chose to make it over 2 days....just to avoid total chaos in the kitchen. The actual cooking time for the Biriyani is only about an hour, but it took a couple of hours to prepare the garnishes and lamb curry which is layered with the rice. Also, a good tip from the book is to soak the rice (after washing) with some salt for 3 hours beforehand. It makes the grains whiter and they seperate more easily - fluffy rice!

This recipe serves 6. I made the full amount for the lamb curry, then divided it in 2 (froze half) and then divided the rest of the ingreedients. I'll include the full amounts here.

Comments

• This is a very mildly spiced dish, focusing on the "sweet" spices like cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Next time, I would add some Moghul garam masala (Julie Sahni recipe) to give it a bit more oomph and fragrance.
• I wouldn't reduce the sauce so much. I think it would be better trying it with a wetter meat mixture to flavour the rice a bit more.
• Halving the quantity needs less time for the rice to steam in the oven. So check after 45 minutes.
• you need to cook the onions for a long time....no really, can be over half an hour. I think I may have even over browned mine, but seriously, you can go a long way before they are burnt. Just keep moving them around the pan so they colour evenly.
• And finally....Biriyanis are a meal in themselves so you can keep the accompanying dishes simple - a yoghurt dish, a relish and I also included some okra.
  

For the rice
450g long grain rice
3 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon saffron threads
2 tablespoons warm milk
25g butter cut into 8 pieces

For the meat
3 medium sized onions
4 cloves garlic
2cm ginger, peeled and grated
13 tablespoons vegetable oil
750g lamb, boned and cut into 2.5cm cubes
250ml natural yoghurt
5-6 cloves
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
2.5cm cinnamon stick
1/6 nutmeg
1/4 traspoon cayenne pepper

Garnishes
4 tablespoons blanched slivered almonds
3 tablespoons sultanas
3 hardboiled eggs

1. Wash the rice, drain and soak in 2 litres water with 1 tablespoon of salt for 3 hours.
2. Lightly toast the saffron threads, crumble and add to the warm milk and leave for 3 hours.
3. Cut 2 of the onions in half, then cut the halves into fine half-rings. Chop the third onion roughly. Put the chopped onion, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons of the almonds and 3 tablespoons of the water into a blender and reduce to a paste.
4. Heat 6 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy pan over medium-high. When hot add the onion slices and fry until brown and crisp (this can take over half an hour). Remove and drain on paper towel.
5. Fry the sultanas in the same oil. Remove, and then fry the remaining almonds until brown.
6. Brown the meat cubes. Remove the meat to a saucepan/casserole pot, add 7 tablespoons of oil to the pan and fry the paste from the blender until medium brown. Add to the meat, and gradually a tablespoon at a time, add the yoghurt. Now add 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt, 150ml of water, cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, grind the spices (not the cayenne) in a spice grinder. After the meat has cooked 30 minutes add the spices and cayenne and continue cooking another 30 minutes. At the end of this time, take the lid off and raise the heat to medium and reduce the liquid to about 200ml. Turn heat off and degrease the dish. (I resorted to scooping the meat out, pouring the sauce into a jug and waiting for it to seperate with the oil on the top).

Assemble the Biriyani

1. Preheat the oven to 150C / 300F. Bring 3.6 litres of water to the boil and add 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt. Drain and rinse the rice, then scatter the rice into the boiling water, bring back to the boil and cook for 6 minutes. Drain the rice.
2. Put the warm meat in the a layer on th ebottom of a casserole dish and then pile the rice on top in the shape of a hill. Using a chopstick (or whatever is handy) make a 2.5cm wide hole in the middle of the rice down to thr meat. Scatter 2 tablespoons of the brown onions on the rice, dribble the saffron milk down the rice and dab the butter around.
3. Cover with foil and put the lid on to create a seal. Bake in the oven for 1 hour.

To serve
My preference is to carefully scrape as much of the rice into a bowl, then put the meat in a pile in the middle of a nice platter and then mould the rice around the meat, so it can't be seen. Cut the eggs into quarters and arrange on the side and sprinkle the top with theremaining browned onions, fried nuts and sultanas. If you feeling rich, and can find some, you can add Vark (edible silver foil).

Stuffed Squid

No really, this is great! It's supposed to be stuffed Kalamari, but I only had squid and squid is well-suited to this kind method of cooking. I just bought a new cookbook I had been coveting while in Australia - a la Greque Our Greek Table written by Pam Talimanidis - an Australian who married a Greek and now lives part of the year in Greece.

I wasn't planning on writing a blog entry on squid, but it worked so well I think it is worth it. The main difference that I know of between squid and Kalamari (for those who may be interested :) ) is that Kalamari have pointed flaps that extend the whole length of the body, whereas in squid they occur only at the narrow end of the body (thank you Stephanie Alexander!). Generally, all the fresh Kalamari I have seen are quite small - the body is only about 10cm long, whereas the squid (frozen) that I bought here were rather large, up to 20cm long in the body. I realise now that when choosing your cephalopod you should go for the smaller specimens, but I don't have a lot of choice.

Another thing, there are 2 main ways of cooking this type of seafood, very fast, or very slow. Salt and pepper kalamari is one of my favourite dishes! When it's done properly the kalamari is really tender and the batter should be crisp and spicy. Stir-frying is also ok, but I have never eaten or tried cooking braised kalamari or squid......until now. The main mistake I made was putting far too much stuffing in the squid, they were like little footballs! not so very bad, but probably better if the stuffing has more room to expand. btw the rest of the meal was lamb keftethes, eggplant dip, olives, bread and wine.

Enough rabbiting, here's the recipe:

Stuffed Squid with Rice and Herbs
1 cup medium grain rice
250ml extra virgin olive oil
8 spring onons, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup dill
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
8x15cm Kalamari (body only)
2 teaspoons tomato paste
690ml water

1. Wash the rice, then drain.
2. heat 2 tbls of oil in a pan and fry the onions until soft and transluscent (about 8 min.) Add garlic and herbs followed by the rice. season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool.
3. Stuff 1 tablespoon of the mixture into each kalamari. Because I had 2 very large squid I estimated the amount of stuffing I needed (over estimated) and then stuffed (overstuffed) them, securing the end with a toothpick.
4. Dissolve the tomato paste in some of the water in the bottom of a casserole dish, add the kalamari (squid) and add the rest of the water and oil.
5. Put the lid on and bring to the boil, and then simmer for 40 minutes until the kalamari are tender and the rice cooked. My squid were so large I cooked them for nearly an hour (can you overcook squid?) and then reduced the liquid to make a sauce.

Here's a tip from the book I should have followed ;) you need double the amount of water to rice plus 190ml extra water for the sauce. Exactly how much rice I needed was more trial and error........