Soup

Firstly, thanks to Pattypan2 at  http://tarragonnthyme.blogspot.co.uk  for the kind thoughts, I’m thinking about my response. But it's nice to know that my ramblings are read and enjoyed, my daughter just says that they make her laugh.

I’m clearing out the freezer, ready to store my berries as I pick them, and found some stock veg that I had saved (Swede, Parsnip, Celery and Onion), I use them in soups and gravies, and since we had eaten all the spiced nuts that I made on Sunday, (apart from the ones that Yvonne took over to Norma, and she started eating them on the Doorstep!) a healthier days food was required.

Anyhow, I boiled the veg up for about 40 minutes and then liquidised them,

  meanwhile frying some chopped Chorizo in its own oil.

I mixed the two together with some Tomato puree and seasoning,

 we can have that for lunch with the Baguettes that are currently cooling.

As you can see at the back, I also made breadsticks, which will be nice with a little Garlic Mayo, or maybe salsa.

For our evening meal, we are having a prawn salad with some of our new potatoes, baked in a little oil. Unfortunately our crop of salad leaves has fallen victim to rain and slugs, as has the next sowing, so I had to BUY lettuce at Riverford Farm Shop yesterday, along with other good things. The veg and salads they produce can be recognised by the taste unlike a lot of supermarket offerings, so what if it’s a bit more expensive. And it’s a small price to pay to enjoy your food. And if you can’t enjoy your food, what’s the point?

Another Day, Another Disaster

After my sourdough problems, I thought that a return to my old favourites, bread wise, would be a good plan.

I brought some multigrain flour, as I hadn’t made a brown loaf for a while, and tried the Sandwich loaf recipe that I’d done many times, using Honey, Lard and milk.

Well when it came out of the oven, it looked and smelt good, but on cutting, I found a huge hole in the middle, all the length of the loaf. I think that I didn’t shape it properly, or maybe the dough developed a skin on rising, that ended up in the middle and didn’t join together.

So I used it in a bread and butter pudding.

 The day out in Heligan was amazing, we both find the place so inspirational, It feels timeless and to me has such an atmosphere of peace (apart from the noise of the other visitors) It also gave me a good chance to try out Georges Camera.

We also visited Tessier Gardens in Torquay, which had a different sort of atmosphere, very cold and restrained, but a very friendly squirrel.

Yvonne has been busy with the jewellery, now she is trying freestyle rope beading, the camera has trouble coping with close-up work but I think you can see how good it is.

Now back to the cooking.

Twice Cooked Potatoes.

Here’s an idea that I had when faced with a pan of cooking juices from chorizo and veg, (Aug 25^th last year) because, having enjoyed the flavour, I didn’t really want to just throw it away.

So, thinking of dauphinoise style potatoes, I decided to use the liquid as a stock.

I sliced potato into the stock and cooked at 150 degrees for about 90 minutes, until the potato was soft. I then put them into an oiled roasting tin, sprayed with oil and baked for 30 minutes.

Potatoes Poaching in Stock



Ready to Bake



Yum!

Meanwhile I fried up a mixture of Onion, pepper and Mushrooms with Balsamic Vinegar, and of course some sausages.

Talking of Potatoes, it was time to harvest the first earlies, should be nice with Roast Beef.

We have enough Rhubarb in the garden now for a crumble, with the addition of some of last years Blackberries and the last of the bottled apples.

We are both very partial to a snack, and have recently discovered Honey Roast Peanuts, by a well known manufacturer. Being averse to spending a fortune on these unless I have to, I have tried a version of my own.

500g mixed raw nuts

250g Icing Sugar

10g Smoked Paprika – or to taste

10g Sea Salt – or to taste

Wash and drain the nuts, and mix the other ingredients together in a bowl. Mix in the damp nuts and stir together until well coated. Place on a lined baking sheet in a 180 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Leave to cool, break up and store. Will keep until the football (or decent movie) is on.

Washed Nuts

Coated

Baked

Ready.

Olive Oil Crackers.

A basic yeast-less dough of Oil, Water Semolina and White Flour, rolled out very thin and baked. These go with soup or cheese, and can be topped with herbs, or salted. If anyone wants the recipe, e-mail me.



Dough Ready to Roll 





Mint Sauce.

I make a lot of this for people that I work with, and as the mint grows like weeds in our garden I’m never short of a supply. No recipe needed, just put the leaves in the processor, add just enough vinegar (Malt, Balsamic or Whatever) to enable chopping, and a small amount of Brown Sugar.

I feel that his post has been a bit disjointed, there is a lot going on here, if I can sort my head out normal service may be resumed.