Marrow and Runner Bean Curry

 It has been a strange summer here in London. Boiling hot June then cold and wet July. Hasn't stop the garden cropping well but has deterred me from going down to the patch as often as I should (along with two new kittens arriving hot on the heels of the loss of our 20 year old cat Fitz). 

Onyx & Jasper

 So when I did pop down I found a courgette that had hidden from me last time and had gone rogue! The runner beans like the cooler, wetter weather and they are cropping well. So I needed something to use up the bounty.

 

 

A glut of Beans and Marrow

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 tbsp rape seed oil

1/2 Marrow, deseeded and sliced

1 Red Onion sliced into half moons

1 handful of runner beans de stringed and sliced

2 tsp curry paste - or more depending on your tastes

1 small can coconut cream

Splash of lime

Rice to serve.

Method

Fry the onion in the oil until it starts to take a little colour. Add the marrow and fry for a further few minutes. Add the runner beans and the curry paste and stir together and fry had for a few minutes. Add the coconut cream and a splash of water. Simmer for abut 10-12 minutes while you cook the rice and the vegetables are cooked. Add a splash of lime and serve.

Vegetarian Curry in less than 20 minutes.

It's Harvest Time - Summer Minestrone Soup

 

You go away for a week and let the garden get on with doing what it does best and this is the result!

Actually this is just one part of it! There is plenty more chard, more apples, potatoes and some aubergines ready to harvest! After a mixed start we have had a good crop of most things this year. Apples, chard and courgettes  have done very well. Sweetcorn has done well and the leeks will be ready soon. No plums at all due to a badly time frost, runner beans took a while to get going but are now cropping nicely. Tomatoes have been a mixed back, those in the greenhouse and at the back of the garden have done well but those in the main planters by the house less so. We grew them from seed this year and will do so again. Onions vanished - we planted a couple of rows of red ones but no sign of them!

Anyway when you have a harvest like that a summer minestrone is the order of the day.

Ingredients

Serves 4 for lunch with some soda bread

An assortment of fresh vegetables for example:

• One sweetcorn cob (corn sliced off the cob)
  
• One courgette (diced)
• Half an onion (diced)
• Two small carrots (diced)
  
• A handful of runner beans (sliced)
• A handful of very ripe cherry tomatoes and a few green ones (halved) 
• A small bunch of chard (stems sliced and leaves chopped)

• 2tsp rapeseed oil 
• 1 clove of garlic (crashed)
  
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1ltr veg or chicken stock 
• 1tsp mixed herbs
• Ground black pepper
• Handful of small pasta such as orzo

Heat the oil, fry the onion and garlic till softened. 

Add the carrot, beans, chard stems and courgette. Fry for a few minutes then add the bay leaves, herbs and tomatoes and again fry for a few minutes. Add the stock and orzo, simmer until the veg and pasta is coked. Add the chard leaves and simmer for a minute or two more. 

Serve with crusty bread. 

 

 

 

Chicken, Squash and Chickpea Traybake

I fancied making something quick and simple for tea tonight, and something that would provide a simple lunch for tomorrow into the bargain. This certainly fitted the bill.

Serves two for supper and two for lunch the following day.

Ingredients

300g of diced Chicken Breasts

1 Large Butternut Squash peeled, de-seeded and chopped into 1cm dice

1 Green Pepper chopped into 2cm chunks

1 400g can of Chickpeas, drained

Handful of Cherry Tomatoes or 3 larger tomatoes, diced

1 medium sized onion (red would be best) sliced into half-rounds

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 sprigs of rosemary

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

Salt and Pepper

Method

Put everything into a roasting tray, as large as possible you want to have everything in a single layer if possible.

Put roasting tray into an over 180C for 40 minutes, give everything a toss and turn after 20 minutes.

Serve with a minty yoghurt dressing, or just lemon juice. A green salad would be a nice addition as well.

Goat and Chickpea Stew

The second in a series of recipes invented to use up a small glut of under ripe tomatoes from the garden. In this case we had had a very tasty half-leg of goat slow roasted after being rubbed with a paste of garlic, pepper and rosemary and had some left over. Goat is like lean lamb and I could have made a curry, or shredded it for wraps but instead decided on this ragu which was very nice with saffron rice.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

A generous pile of left over roast goat (or lamb or beef) cubed.

1 400g can of chickpeas, drained

250g of unripe tomatoes (you could use ripe ones but you would then need the juice of a lemon at the end to balance the flavours) diced.

2 medium onions thinly sliced into half moon rings

2 garlic cloves crushed

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 stick of cinnamon 

500ml of stock (I used mushroom as that was the cube that came to hand)

Method

Preheat the over to 160c

Fry the onions and garlic in a splash of oil in a over proof casserole dish. A the tomatoes and fry for a few minutes. Add the cubed meat and fry for a few more minutes. Then add the spices, the chickpeas and the stock. Bring to the boil, cover the casserole with foil. This will keep the steam in. Put in the oven and bake for an hour and a half.

A Simple Fish Traybake

It's Autumn and we pulled up the last of the tomato plants at the weekend. We had a good crop of small cherry tomatoes (Gardener's Delight) and larger salad tomatoes (Black Russian) but the weather has changed and the fruit still left on the trusses won't ripen so I picked about a kilo of them in various states of ripeness.

Now there are only so many fried breakfasts you can have and I'm not a chutney maker so this week has involved some experimentation, one of those is this simple traybake.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 medium size potatoes sliced into 4mm slices

2 medium sized green tomatoes (or half a lemon sliced thinly

2 fillets of sea bass or sea bream

A small bunch of parsley

Olive or Rape Seed Oil

Method

 Preheat the oven to 180c. Scatter the sliced potatoes and tomatoes on a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper then drizzle with a little oil. Bake in the oven for 20 mins. Pinch and slash the skin side of the fish a couple of times rub on a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on top of the potatoes and bake for 10-15 minutes depending on how thick the fish is.

Serve with peas or runner beans or a green salad.

 

Chicken & Kale Curry

Our vegetable and meat boxes from bel & Cole are great but at the moment due to the pressure they are under there is no opportunity to swap any of the contents. This has meant that I have a glut of potatoes and kale at the moment and quite a bit of chicken in the freezer. How to combine the two in a tasty way led to this quick but rich curry.

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 onion finely sliced
2 fat cloves of garlic
1 thumb-sized lump of ginger - peeled
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1/4 tsp chilli powder
250ml coconut milk
1 chicken thigh diced
1 medium potato peeled and diced
1 good handful of kale stripped from the stem and sliced up
6 ripe cherry tomatoes
Small bunch of coriander

Method
Fry the onion in a little oil until softened and starting to colour. Mince the garlic and ginger together and add to the onion. Fry for a few minutes. Add the chicken and potato and fry for a few minutes. Add the spices and a splash of water to stop them burning. Add the tomatoes and kale and again fry for a couple of minutes. Add the coconut milk and simmer until the chicken and vegetables are cooked.

Serve with rice and chopped coriander. 

Seven Vegetable Soup

Crumbs it has been a very long time since my last blog entry! I've not stopped cooking - or eating, but work and a long commute have kept me very busy. However, the lockdown has given me the opportunity to experiment a bit with food again and the time to think and write about food again.
First of all, I know Liz and I have been very lucky. Both of us are able to work from home and so far none of us have contracted the virus. Secondly, we are still getting our regular organic fruit and veg box from Abel & Cole supplemented with an organic meat box from the same company which I subscribed too literally the week before the crisis hit. This has meant that our fridge has been full. Sometimes overfull as our last supermarket delivery from Ocado also came with some fruit and veg from someone else's order by accident (which they couldn't recollect so we suddenly had extra soft fruit and a lot of eggs!).

Anyway on to today's soup which combined a lot of the veg that we had collected in the fridge and 'needed using up. It's simple and hearty and went well with some of the bread I baked the previous day and a slice of cheese. The trick here is to use a mix of veg all cut up so as to cook at the same time.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 rasher smoked bacon - finely diced
1 large leek - sliced
1 medium potato - diced
1 carrot - diced
2 small parsnips - peeled and diced
1/2 sweetcorn cob - kernels sliced from the cob
2 sticks of celery - diced
1/4 cauliflower - broken into florets, stems sliced
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp turmeric
1.5 ltr stock (veg or chicken)
Small bunch of parsley

Method
Fry the bacon until crisp. Scoop out and keep for later as a garnish. Fry the leeks until softened then add the remainder of the vegetables. Stir in the oil until coated then add the turmeric and bay leaf. Stir again then add the stock. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Blend with a stick blender. If the soup is too thick add more stock or possibly milk to dilute. Taste and season. Serve in bowls with chopped parsley and the crispy bacon and possibly a swirl of yogurt or cream if you are feeling fancy.

Stir-Fried Kale with Mushrooms, Garlic and Ginger

Yes, it's been a while since my last blog post. I've not stopped cooking or eating but lots of other things have happened over the last 18 months. First I was made redundant from my IT job of 23 years and then at the start of this year I was diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes which has meant that I have had to modify my diet a bit. I now have a new job (5 days a week rather than 4 (boo) but it is at a great institution (the National Archives at Kew) so I'm very busy so quick and easy food is the way to go. I'm no Jamie Oliver but one can try! This serves two and can be on the table in 20 minutes.

Ingredients

300g of kale (or savoy cabbage) stems removed and shredded into bite sized pieces
1 small onion finely sliced
50g of chestnut mushrooms sliced
3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and shredded
3 cloves of garlic finely sliced
one dried chilli (optional)
2 tablespoons of rape seed oil
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
6 tablespoons of water

Method

Get your wok heating while you shred the kale, garlic, mushrooms, onion and garlic.
Heat the oil in the wok then add the onions garlic chilli (if using) and ginger. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes over a high heat then add the mushrooms. Keep stir frying for a minute then add the kale. Stir fry for 3 minutes until the kale has wilted then add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and water. Stir fry for a minute then put a lid on and turn the heat down for 5 minutes until the kale is cooked.

Serve with noodles of boiled rice.

Options

If you have some cold roast meat, shred it and add along with the kale.
Some toasted cashews or peanuts would add an extra crunch if tossed in at the end of the cooking.

Shopping Doesn't get better Than This

Yesterday was our annual visit to the Royal Berkshire Show. Liz has been coming to the show since she was knee high to a chicken (do chickens have knees) and I don't think we've missed a show since we've been together. During those years (notice I have not mentioned how many ...) I've seen the show ground develop - they now have tarmacked paths and a car park you don't need to be towed out of if it rains. Some things have stayed the same (Foxes Spices, Dart's Farm Butchers, the Flower tent, show jumping in the arena) while other suppliers have come and gone (yay the didgereedo man has gone!)

This year we took it at a gentle pace, spent less time (and money) in the fabulous craft tent - though we were tented by some art-deco ceramic owls and more time exploring some other parts of the show. As well as the show areas for cattle, sheep and goats there are the more specialised stands. We always go and see the otters in the otter pond, the wolves and huskies, the ferret racing and the mini zoo with the goats, chickens and geese. There was a display from the birds of prey centre but the drizzle made the falcon less than willing to return from its perch amongst the trees no matter how hard the falconer twirled his lure. Also discovered that large birds of prey can live to be sixty - in fact there was a large eagle there called Betty that was the same age as Liz (though not so well tempered).

This year there our haul from the Farm Food tent and the other suppliers around it was of its normal high quality. The Dart's Fame Butchers were as persuasive as usual and I came away laden down with enough beef, lamb and port to see me through to Spring so if anyone wants to pop around for a casserole or a roast in the next couple of weeks I should have plenty. A few jars of garlic infused chutney and mayonnaise from the Isle of Wight garlic farm, balsamic vinegar with coffee and chocolate (yes it sounds odd but is fantastically rich and will work well over ice-cream), pork pies, a wide variety of herbs and spices , smoked meat and fish, flavoured oils, chocolate brownies with beetroot and spinach and a blood-orange liqueur will provide joy and presents for many months to come.

We have already planned some visits to some of the suppliers during the next year to top up and to see what else they do.

Roll on 2017!

Choc-Chip-Cherry Cookies

Time to make some biscuits for the twin boys of one of my best friends. Allegedly there isn't a biscuit they don't like. Hope they like these!

Ingredients

125g Butter 
50g Golden Granulated Sugar
1 tbsp Honey 
45g Chocolate Chips (I used a good plain bar smashed up with a rolling pin)
25g Soft Dried Cherries chopped up
125g Plain White Flour

Method
Blend together the butter, sugar and honey. Mix in the cherries, chocolate chips and the flour.
Place dessert spoons of the mixture on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, leaving room for the cookies to expand.
Bake in the oven at 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 for about 15-18 minutes but start checking at about 12 minutes.

Take out of the oven and leave to cool.

Some prep work in the garden

The spring weather here in London has, shall we say, been a little mixed! In the past week we have had bright sunshine, cold northerly winds, hail, snow, rain, thunder and frogs. OK we didn't have the frogs although there are some tadpoles up at the allotment centre!

Given that the weather has been a bit better this weekend and I have broad bean, runner bean and courgette seeds germinating in the shed I thought I had better get started and prep the vegetable bed.

As usual you turn your back for a couple of days and all the weeds wake up and try and take over!

The Before Picture

As you can see there are plenty of dandelions which I wanted to dig up before they seeded themselves everywhere. Amongst them were horsetails and bindweed as well as the dried stalks of the Jerusalem artichokes of last year.

Two hours of hard digging later (spread over two days)...

That Looks Better!

Now all I have to do is the same with the much larger bed. It helped that the soil was moist - when it gets dry it sets hard being London clay based.

Of course I was supervised by two of our cats...

Fitz - The handsome one!

Latte - Who had been rolling in the dust!

Tara - or She Who Must be Obeyed / Evil Mistress of Darkness / The Vomiting One was asleep upstairs and only came out when the work was done!

Hopefully the weather will be good next weekend so we can get out and do the other bed. Otherwise by the time we come back from holiday we will be facing fully grown triffids!

Ealing Farmers' Market Harvest & What to Grow

It's been a while since I wrote anything here. I've not stopped cooking - no sir - nor eating! Partially in the winter both Liz and I crave comfort food and I fall back onto the staples that I've already written about; stews, casseroles, roasts and so forth. Now that the grey, but mild, Winter seems to be passing and Spring is in the air with blossom on the trees and daffodils flowering thoughts turn to what to grow in the garden and a walk around the Farmers' Market in Ealing is a more attractive prospect as rain won't be trickling down my neck.

So on a sunny Saturday morning we took up our reusable grocery bags and visited the market. First up was a pair of red mullet from the fish stall. They had some nice looking crabs, mussels, oysters and clams as well but shellfish doesn't agree with me (apart from scallops for some reason which I love). Mackerel, fresh and smoked, monkfish, hake and gurnard also looked good on the ice. I chose the mullet because I'd never cooked with it before and it looked good and fresh so two of those were filleted and popped in my bag.

Next up was a cheese stall where Liz chose, after much sampling, a piece of Wife of Bath, a mild creamy semi-hard cheese. Bread next, a loaf of fig sour-dough, crusty and not too dense, an inspiration for my next baking session perhaps.

Two meat stalls, both from the Chilterns to the north-west of London supplied us with a rolled venison shoulder, some sausages (hickory smoked and Lincolnshire varieties), a kilo of beef shin (possibly the best cut for slow cooking) and a pheasant pie.

Some purple sprouting broccoli, winter purslane and land cress from the vegetable stall along with two punnets of  mixed tomatoes (red, yellow, green, striped and deep purple) from the Isle of Wight (stretching the local aspect of the market there me-thinks!) would provide an accompaniment to the pheasant pie and the fish later. Last up a mixed half kilo of apples; Egmont Russets, Braeburns and the wonderfully named D'arcy Spice to see us through the week.

After a lunch of pie, salad and apple at home we strolled down our street to the where the local allotment centre was having their Spring Show. I had no idea there were so many types of daffodil! From pure white to deepest golden yellow. From simple trumpets to frilly doubles. From single large blooms to multiple small ones there must have been at least thirty on display!

Cakes, jams, marmalades, sausage rolls and handicrafts were also on display for judging all crammed into the church hall. We bought some seeds from the HAAGA (Horsenden Allotments And Garden Association) stall and trundled home with a copy of the show schedule where Liz seemed quite keen for me to enter one of the classes in the Summer Show.

As to what to grow this year in the garden. The same as usual for the most part. Runner and broad beans, tomatoes (several kinds), Jerusalem artichokes (mainly because once you have them you can't get rid of them!). Courgettes, herbs, rhubarb (already 15-20cm tall and may be ready for harvest soon), apples and salad greens. If I see something interesting in the garden centre later this month I may stretch this list a bit more but let's see. 

Royal Berkshire Show

I've been going to the Royal Berkshire Show (or the Newbury Show as I still call it) each year since I met my wife, who grew up within turnip throwing distance of the show ground. It is both a full on agricultural show with judging of cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens etc, show jumping, mad axe wielding maniacs and a market catering to the people of the M4 corridor. The latter includes a large craft tent with everything from grandfather clocks to ocarinas via silver jewellery, ceramics and pretty much everything else you can imagine (though thankfully the didgeridoo seller has moved on! There is also a huge farm food tent which as you can imagine is my favourite part (well apart from the otter pond!).

The farm food tent contains numerous stalls selling local (and not so local) produce. I use this as an opportunity to fill the freezer with fine cuts of meat from a butcher from Devon, my store cupboard with herbs and spices, flavoured oils and vinegars, marmalades and chutneys and the occasional kitchen gadget!

This year the weather was warm and sunny, though to be honest we have rarely had a bad day weather wise in the past twenty or so years, and the sun glinting on the steam engines and the haywain  in the vintage farming display was glorious.

Now it's time to carry out the last few harvests of my own in the garden. It's been a good year for courgettes, runner beans and tomatoes. The apple trees are laden with fruit though the plum didn't do so well this year nor did the rhubarb. We also need to make some space under the plum tree for the bench we bought at the show which will be delivered some time in the next couple of weeks.

Here's a few photos to give you a feel of the day.

Clear Round

Raising Steam

Bringing the Harvest Home

Pancakes!

Simple stuffed pancakes for supper last night. Felt very full afterwards, worth the effort.

Ingredients for the filling
1 small bag of baby spinach
2 medium leeks finely shredded
150g chestnut mushrooms finely sliced
100g grated Emmental or similar cheese

50g butter
Salt, Pepper and Nutmeg to season

Make four pancakes in the normal fashion and put aside while you make the filling

Sweat the leeks in a pan with the butter until softened, add the mushrooms and fry again until softened. Add the bag of spinach and stir till wilted. Add the grated cheese, seasoning and nutmeg and stir together.

Put a 1/4 of the filling in each of the pancakes and fold into a triangle. Put in an oven-proof dish, grate some more cheese on top and grill until browned.

Not Quite a Cock-a-Leekie Soup

Gosh it's been ages since I last wrote a post. I haven't stopped cooking (and I certainly haven't stopped eating) but just haven't got around to writing up my creations. New Year - new resolution to try and post at least once a month.

Sleety, grey skies and a biting north wind and the need to have something warm and satisfying to eat before movie night turned thoughts towards a sturdy soup. A loaf of freshly made bread cooling in the kitchen with some nice cheeses went very well along side it. It started off as being a cock-a-leekie soup but as there is more leek than chicken I was going to call it Leekie-Cockie but that didn't sound very appetising...

Serves 3 with bread and cheese on the side.

Ingredients
3 Medium Leeks, trimmed and sliced
1 Medium Carrot, finely diced
1 Chicken thigh, skinned and diced
1/2 Small Green Cabbage, finely shredded
5g Dried Porcini Mushrooms
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Bay Leaf
1 Handful of Pearl Barley
1 Litre Chicken or Vegetable stock

Method
Sweat off the leaks and carrots with the bay leaf until softened but not coloured.
Add the chicken, stock, pearl barley and dried mushrooms.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until the barley is cooked.
Check seasoning - depending on your stock you may not need any.
Add the shredded cabbage and simmer for another 5 minutes.

A Fortuitous Combination

A rainy day in Burford after a late departure (car problems) was saved by a fine lunch at Huffkins and a browse around the wonderful shops along the high street. The Wren Gallery is full of glorious art, just out of our price range unfortunately (or is that fortunately) but this weekend's discovery was Cotswold Cheese Company. A fantastic range of local, national and continental cheeses alongside interesting biscuits, breads, oils, vinegars, olives and pickles. The staff are knowledgeable and friendly and generous with the free samples!

Anyway knowing that we would be arriving late in Nailsworth and not feeling like a full on meal we combined some light as a feather cheese scones with a fresh, soft Windrush Valley goat cheese. It was like a savoury cream tea, just missing a savoury, spicy tomato chutney to fill in for the strawberry jam!

Anyway we bought some more of the cheese (along with some proper Double Gloucester made with raw milk) and I made my own cheese scones to go with.

Makes (8-9 scones)
225g Self Raising Flour
55g Butter
25g Strong Cheddar (Grated)
150ml milk
1tsp English mustard powder
1/2tsp cumin seeds
1/2tsp oak smoked paprika

Mix the flour, mustard, cumin, paprika together and then rub in the butter. Add the cheese and milk and form into a soft dough. Roll out to about 2cm thick and using a 5cm cutter cut out the scones. Gently kneed together the scraps and cut out some more scones to use up the scraps (or make them into cheese straws!).

Brush with milk and bake for 15 minutes at 220C.

Cool and serve with a soft cheese or just with butter. Bet you can't just eat one!

A Fruity Autumn Tart

Not one my strong points pastry but after having a fab meal at the Gilbert Scott restaurant last week I thought I'd have a go at the pudding I had there.

I used Nigel Slater's recipe (though I added a little vanilla in the frangipan mix).

Even if I say so myself it came out looking rather good!

Hope Liz is not late tonight otherwise it might all be gone!

Pork Chops with Star Anise Scented Plums

I'm on a bit of an inspired cooking binge at the moment after a fine meal at the Gilbert & Scott Restaurant in the St Pancreas hotel on Friday. Fantastic 'Modern British' cuisine in a great setting. On Saturday I picked up two thick, meaty pork chops from the butcher in Pitshanger Lane and decided to combine them with some of the plum glut I have at the moment. Very simple but very tasty.
Serves 2.

Ingredients
2 Pork Chops (nice and thick if possible)
3 Large plums (halved and stoned)
2 Star Anise

Heat a griddle pan till very hot. Oil and season the chops and press pieces of star anise into the plum. Fry the chop for 3-5 minutes on each side. Place the halved plums on the chops and put in a moderate oven (180C) for 15-20 minutes.
Serve with roasted potatoes and green beans.

A Quick Lunch

Couldn't resist pairing some very ripe figs from the Pitshanger Lane greengrocer's with some ripe tomatoes and courgettes from the garden in a quick lunch before heading into London for a bit of 'culture'. Serves 2

Ingredients
3 Ripe Figs
Small chunk of blue cheese
Parmasan shavings
6 Cherry or small plum tomatoes
1 Small round courgette (or a normal one)
Fresh Thyme
1/2 a lemon
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Balsamic Vineger

Pre-heat the oven to about 150C.
Slice the courgettes length about the thickness of a pound coin (about 3mm for all of those who don't have Pound coins). Mix together the thyme, lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil. Griddle courgettes in a ridged pan for 5 or so minutes on each side, adding the tomatoes towards the end.

Meanwhile cut a cross in the top of each fig (to about half-way down), squeeze gently and put 1/3 of the blue cheese in each. Put in the oven for about 7 minutes until the cheese has melted.

Arrange nicely on plates with a few parmasan shavings, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and any marinade that is left.

Lamb Cakes

This weekend we made our annual visit to the Royal Berkshire Agricultural Show (or as we ill always know it the Newbury Show). As well as lots of animals on show in all their shampooed and primped glory, the craft tent full of glorious treasures there is the farm food tent. As usual we came back with the car loaded up with high quality meat, artisan chutneys and oils and far too many interesting ciders, vodkas and gins!
Last night we had a simple roast leg of lamb (the freezer was full and the lamb wouldn't fit) with some of the vegetables from the garden. Tonight I fancied something different rather than a straightforward salad.
Serves 2.

Ingredients:
3-4 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled and riced
Good handful of shredded or chopped coat roast lamb (beef would work as well)
Bunch of parsley finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
Salt & Pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and shape into four cakes about 1.5cm thick. Put in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up.

Heat some oil in a pan and shallow fry until crispy and golden on both sides.

Serve with a punchy green salad with watercress and rocket in it. Add some quartered or halved tomatoes and some sliced raw mushrooms. Dress with a vinaigrette (I used a mix of raspberry vinegar and extra virgin olive oil).