REPLAY: Cookery Class - How to deal with a glut of anything

Come into the greenhouse and let’s talk gluts

It’s glut season in my veg patch. My over-eager seed-sowing frenzy of late spring has come home to roost and now I have beetroot, courgettes, green beans, runner beans and potatoes in abundance.

Today’s pickings

I’m not complaining. But it’s more than a two-person household can manage, so I’m busy preserving the harvest for later in the year. I think of it as a gift to my February self who will be glad there’s a courgette soup ready to whip out of the freezer on a chilly Tuesday lunchtime.

In this ‘class’ (in the loosest possible sense, more of a chat really), I’ll cover techniques like pickling, poaching, jamming and souping which you can apply to whatever gluts you happen to be enjoying now.

Paid subscribers can watch the full replay anytime and find the recipes and recipe card PDF below.

4 ways to deal with a glut of anything

1. Pickling - a quick pickling liquor is just equal amounts of vinegar and sugar melted together over a low heat and cooled. From there, thin, raw slices of any vegetable or fruit can be submerged in the liquor where they will turn malleable but oddly still crisp in about 30 minutes. Try cucumber, beetroot, carrot, rhubarb, cauliflower, pears, blackberries and cherries. Keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.