Vegetarian Stew

Nothing better than an easy meal to serve for friends or family. this is not only good tasting but very healthy.

4 potatoes - in cubes 1

1 Onion -- chopped 2 Sweet potatoes -- peeled & chunk 2 Zucchini -- sliced thick 5 Fresh tomatoes -- or 16 oz can 1 can garbanzo beans & liquid (15 oz can) (or kidney or butter beans) 1/4 c Raisins 2 TBSP Oil

1 t Ground coriander 1/2 t Ground turmeric 1/2 t Ground cinnamon 1/2 t Ground ginger 5 TBSP Ground cumin 3 c Water 1/2 c Couscous or bulgar wheat Fry spices in oil until aromatic.

Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Make up and serve the couscous separately,

Homemade Tobasco Sauce

At this time of year we always have so many chillies we don't know what to do with them - so we make up a batch or two of our very own Tabasco sauce. knowing that they have been grown organically adds to the pleasure we get from the production.

Prepare chillies in a food processor - chopping them finely and including the seeds. You can freeze chillies until you are ready to start the sauce and the effect is as good as fresh chillies. The Chillies must be soft and with a good liquid content - do not even try to make this sauce with dried chillies - it will not work!

Place a layer of salt into a pound jar. Add a layer of chillies and then salt until you reach the top of the bottle and make your last layer salt - I use about 5 tablespoons salt to a pound jar.

Place the lids on the jars and leave in a sunny space for as long as you want to ferment the chillies - this can be a week or a month - the longer you leave them the more mellow the flavour.

When the chillies have sunk in the bottles is a good guideline as the whether or not they are ready for the next stage.

Take white vinegar (wine vinegar if possible) and fill the bottles to the top. Shake the bottles and leave again to mature - a week or more - not less.

Put the chilli vinegar mixture into a blender and blend on high until a thick puree is obtained. strain and bottle!

Use green chillies and you have a green Tobasco sauce - add garlic and you have a garlis Tobasco sause (add the chillies when you do the final pureeing.)