Silence of the Jams

Post holiday blues.

Often comfort eating is the answer, but on this occasion, like many other occasions, comfort cooking is just the ticket.

We visited Grandpa, who lives in a cottage which seems to border both the countryside and another, simpler, era.  There we turned our hands to the therapeutic, almost trance inducing practice of blackcurrant picking.

Hours passed.  Sheep idled by, eyeballing us, wary of the busy worker bees that had descended on Grandpa’s blackcurrant bushes.  They made lousy guard dogs.  We plundered most of the ripe berries without much interference, other than the odd midge bite, and we slept well that night with rosy countrified cheeks and purple fingers.

Then we made jam.  Lots and lots of jam.  And Jelly.  Lots and lots of jelly.

And it was good.

Cooking and eating and cooking some more

Things have been quiet lately. We seemed to have returned to autumn so the bike has been feeling rather dejected, as I been spending a lot of time with the cooker.  Good thing happen when the cooker and I hang out together. Here are just a few examples:

Magical chowder…

Saute one small chopped onion in olive oil with a sprinkling of thyme leaves. Once soft add one large Maris piper, or other floury potato, peeled and chopped into small cubes. Season well and allow to heat through before adding a good glug of white wine to the pan. Stir, allowing the wine to completely soak in before adding two teaspoon of plain flour. Stir though allowing the flour to cook off for a few minutes before adding one or two bay leaves. Gradually add some milk. Allow to thicken each time before adding more. Once the potatoes are half covered, season and put a lid on the pan. Cook on a low heat for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. If sauce gets too thick, add some water.  Add a good drizzle of double cream to make sauce nice and rich, and season.  Add a handful of frozen peas. Chop a large undyed smoked haddock fillet into large pieces an layer on top of the potatoes and cook for a further 5 mins.  Add some chopped parsley, cooked prawns and a large handful of spinach.  Stir through- the fish will start to break up. Once the spinach had wilted it’s ready to serve! Check seasoning before piling into warm bowls. No need for bread, this is a monster or a meal!

Ok, next rainy day dish…

 

Sun, soup and cycles-a wholesome Easter weekend

It’s been a good week.  A wholesome week.

I have been a busy girl.

First, I feel I should really mention my first whisky tasting experience.  Wednesday night I attended Tam’s Drams’ whisky tasting dinner at MacSorley’s bar in Glasgow. I was worried I was going to be a bit out of my depth.  I had visions of old men with beards and Aran sweaters, scowling at the young pretender.  I was wrong.  It was fabulous.  Informative but unpretentious and nobody was taking themselves too seriously.  Now, I would normally have photos, but please bear in mind there were 6 whiskies to get through- 2 before the starter, 2 between courses and 2 after the main dish.  After the second whisky, thoughts of photos went out of the window, but you can probably imagine….

I have to mention the food, of course.  Brilliant.  Really really brilliant.  The menu is amazing and I can’t wait to go back.  It’s definitely worth checking out the website using the link above to get a sample of how imaginative and tempting everything sounds.  And, they do stovies!   This pleases me lots. Not enough places serve stovies.

Anyway, on with the wholesomeness…

Soup.  I make it all the time, but I was feeling a bit experimental this week and I was so delighted with the result of my Sweet potato and Squash spiced soup with lentils and coconut milk, I have added it as my first recipe in my Small Kitchen Diaries.

Delicious.

Today involved more food, but it was well earned.  Once more I took to my bike and ventured out along the local cycle paths.  It was a beautiful day.  Not too warm, not too windy.  Perfect cycling conditions.  We peddled for hours through the countryside stopping only to do some shopping and eat ice cream.  We finally made it home where we sat on the picnic blanket in the garden and ate olives and drank red wine out of tumblers so not to spill it everywhere, as I so often do when trusted with a wine glass outdoors.

 

Small kitchen diaries

Small kitchen diaries.

All quiet on the Western Front

Cold subsided, trains running, rain finally stopped, waistline expanding.  Exactly as things should be in early February.

With no major plans afoot other than some dogsitting this weekend, there is not much to report other that what I’ve eaten for my tea.  See below for my magical winter warming caraway and cumin spiced parsnip soup and chunky beefy curry with caraway rice (I love caraway seeds).  I have also attached pictures of other random things that have made me smile this week, including my dozy cat, our local pub dog enjoying the stove and the first sunset I have seen in ages.

Culinary cure for colds

I appear to have developed man flu.  I have been working on a cure…

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First of all, the most delicious wine ever.  Honestly, this stuff is fruity juicy loveliness in a glass.  It’s normally about £9 a bottle but currently on offer in Morrison’s at about half that.  Stock up now!  Next stop, a steaming mountain of rich and heavenly smoked haddock and mustard cream bean stew with spinach.  My lovely husband channelled our food God, Nigel Slater, to create this dish and it was amazing.  It’s tastiness was off the scale.  Despite it’s cold curing abilities (although, this is probably the reason it was so effective), it’s fat and calorie content is through the roof.  I consumed the lot before I realised how I may have just reduced my life expectancy by a day or two.  It should come with a public health warning.  Having already done the damage, I thought there was really no point in stopping there so I reclined on the sofa with a toasty, boozy and creamy Gaelic coffee to help complete the healing process. Ahhhh.  This worked wonders.  Finally, feeling slightly closer to human, I had a cheeky wee Cuba Libre as a digestif.  Havana Club with four fat wedges of lime squished over ice and topped with full fat cola.

Today I am functioning at about 90%.  A definite improvement.  Magic.