The veg patch (and surrounding areas) are starting to come to life. I had been concerned as the regulars like the courgettes, herbs and chillies were off to a slow start which was unusual but they seem to be picking up steam now the lovely sun is out.
Now we have Romanescu, Sprouting Broccoli, Aubergine, Tomatoes, Radishes, Leeks, Potatoes, Peas & Sweetcorn all on the go. We have small tubs of strawberries and blueberries but these get eaten as they appear.
I have been enjoying the lettuces for a few weeks now but the the first hoard of courgettes are off and I’m looking forward to them tonight.
Some the courgette flowers have already been enjoyed as fritters along with the elderflower heads last weekend.
I always keep the leaves from the radishes, I find them a little too prickly in salads but they freeze well and are great for emergency in place of spinach in a curry or even chopped into an omelette.
I have a tub of lettuce that includes some radish leaves which are not at all prickly so are better for salads but to our joy when I pulled one up as it had started to flower we found the root to be a large white radish, very hot and peppery I can still feel my mouth tingling to think about it a few days later.
I can’t wait for more fruit from the garden but I don’t want to wish the summer away so I’ll have to be patient.
This recipe is a recent one I have done in a slow cooker, however I have also successfully cooked it over fire and in the oven, just add more liquid in these cases.
Ingredients:
150g chopped onions
Seeds from 2 cardamom pods
1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 green chillies, chopped
1 stick cinnamon
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 inch piece of ginger, chopped
¼ teaspoon turmeric
750g diced mutton (Use lamb if mutton is not available)
450g diced potatoes (red/waxy to stay intact)
2 tomatoes, chopped
450g spinach, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
150ml good lamb stock
1 teaspoon garam masala
Method:
With a pestle and mortar coarsely ground the coriander, cumin and cardamom seeds (without the pod).
Add to the Onions in the pot along with cayenne, chillies, cinnamon, garlic, ginger and turmeric then stir well together.
Add the mutton and potatoes and mix with the seasonings.
Layer on top the tomatoes and spinach, sprinkle over the salt.
Pour over the lamb stock.
Cook on medium for a minimum of 6 hours.
Lift the lid and stir in the garam masala and leave to cook for at least a further hour with the lid off. If it needs reducing then turn up to high or put in an oven on gas 5 until required consistency has been reached.
On Saturday we went elderflower picking down our favourite foraging lane. The lane is only open from April to October so it is often nice and quite and plenty of hedgerow delights to be found.
This Saturday however about ½ a mile down was a traveller’s camp. This is a public lane and they have every right to be there but when we got to the end of the camp we found our way almost completely blocked. I often read in the local newspapers that the travellers have been moved on and are angry that they are not being respected but should they in turn not respect the rights of others?
We did manage to get past though a cutting it looked like the farmer must have been using but it was a tight squeeze and made our way to a favourite spot only to find the area had been used as a toilet and my hidden Sloe tree (I’m not making gin from this one this year!) buried deep in toilet paper. It just makes me so sad that what little countryside there is left around our area is being misused in such an unnecessary way. The early signs when we pulled up to the camp looked like this group were being respectful of their environment there were lots of rubbish bags neatly tidied up at the side of the track. The larger percentage of sites throughout the country are respectful of their environment, it just takes a few scenes such as this that cloud the publics judgement overall of travellers in general.
On a lighter note the Champagne is starting to take shape and should be bottles by the weekend. Hopefully after last years horrible mistake (I got carried away with the number of heads to add) we will have something light and fizzy to drink this summer. From the extra heads this year we made Elderflower fritters – Gorgeous.
Elderflower Fritters:
Ingredients:
Elderflower Heads (As many as you have left over from your Champagne)
1 egg
4 oz flour
¼ pint of milk
Pinch of salt
Sunflower oil
Method:
Mix the batter up, dunk in the elderflower heads using the stalks to hold the flower, and drop gently into hot oil. Fry for approx 45 seconds.
Pop on to some kitchen paper and sprinkle with some vanilla sugar.
There has been some excitement in my kitchen this morning; I received a Slow Cooker for my Birthday last weekend and today’s the day of its virgin meal. A year or so ago I would have been sceptical however you should see the gas cooker I have to contend with, I love long slow cooked food and I never felt safe leaving my oven on while I was out so problem solved. Of course as with almost anything it’s just not the same as cooking it for hours over a camp fire and this recipe works just as well outdoors as it does indoors. If you are taking it camping you can make the marinade before hand and freeze it then it will keep cool until you want to use it.
I’ll shortly be posting recipes for My Curry Powder & Amchar Masala.
For the marinade:
2 tablespoons parsley
3 tablespoons coriander
6 tablespoons onions
3 spring onions
3 large cloves of garlic
3 birds eye chillies
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon of dried thyme (Or ¾ tablespoon fresh)
Salt & Ground Black Pepper
500g stewing beef – cut into chunks
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon corn or sunflower oil (You may need more if you’re cooking over a fire)
3 garlic cloves crushed with ½ teaspoon of sea salt
1 tablespoon hot curry powder
½ pint beef stock & ½ pint water (You can use all beef stock but I tend to find it too strong)
1 teaspoon amchar masala
1 teaspoon roasted cumin seeds
Method:
Put all the ingredients for the marinade in a blender until smooth.
Add to the beef and leave to marinate for up to 3 hours.
To a hot pan add oil, garlic and curry powder until sizzling then add the beef with all the marinade, the beef stock and water. Bring to the boil and the amchar masala and the cumin seeds.
Cover and simmer for approx an hour and an half. Tasting for seasoning and tenderness of the meat adding more liquid if required.
The BBQ went very well this year, it was quieter then usual but that was by design, it meant we could concentrate more on providing great food rather then a mass of burgers and sausages.
Beer Bum Chicken: Piri Piri or Lemon & Coriander.
Leg of Lamb: Harrisa or Rosemary & Thyme
I made this great Mint Jelly to go with the Lamb, just a little different to the normal mint sauce that I find can be a little acidic.
Ingredients:
200ml White Wine Vinegar
150g Caster Sugar
1 packet Gelatine (0.5oz) (or 2 teaspoons of Powdered Pectin)
200ml Rosemary Wine
Finely chopped bunch of Mint
Rosemary Wine: (Made at least 2 weeks before)
Add 2 sprigs of rosemary to a bottle of wine and lightly shake, leave to steep for a minimum of 2 weeks.
Method:
Heat the vinegar in a pan to boiling point and simmer to reduce the liquid by about ¼.
Mix the sugar and the gelatine and slowly whisk into the pan until dissolved.
Add the wine and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the mint. Simmer for about a minute and then spoon into a sterilised jar.
I have spent hours every week repeating the same information to friends in emails because I could not make up my mind what my first post here would be. I think I thought it had to be special, informative, ground breaking even! But that’s ridiculous, I don’t even expect anyone to read it – well over time of course I would like people to but you know the first post maybe it’s a little much to ask. So here goes, what I want my blog to be about is things I like doing, things I want to share with friends and people of a like mind. This weekend I was asked to provide some information on our recent camping trips to a friend who’s looking at going, hopefully following our rave reviews. So I’ll start my Blog with this. These are places just off the top of my head that I think other people might like to know about. Over time I hope to give more information about each trip and share some of my recipes for a good meal and a good time, after all the original inspiration for this blog was from Lenny’s suggestion that I set up a web site for my future deli.
Life Under Canvas
Places we have stayed in the past year or so:
Suffolk – Orchard Camping
Allows campfires & encourage large groups. My kind of people.
Kent – Palace Farm
Allows campfires.
Dorset – Highlands End
No camp-fires but great scenery and easy walk to local town West Bay, where there is a great restaurant .
Norfolk – Woodhill Park
No campfires but a good location, especially if you want to cycle along the costal paths.
St Ives Cornwall.
No campfires but stunning stunning views, great washing/toilet facilities (better then some hotels I’ve stayed in!) and only a short walk into St Ives.
And for a great nights sleep I can recommend: Soul Pad Tents
