Saturday 2 May 2009
Wonderful - the bank holiday weekend stretches ahead luxuriously with, unusually, the promise of glorious sunny weather. The ceanothus is looking gorgeous and the farm shops are brimming with good things - baskets of local asparagus bundles and bright green just-picked herbs. The fish van came round yesterday from Rye and we just managed to snaffle some gurnard and red mullet before it all went. We'll grill the fillets tonight and serve them with sizzling chorizo, garlic, thyme and lemon, steamed buttered asparagus and some new potatoes with chives. Huge herby sausages from the Rare Breed Pig company and chubby chicken drumsticks will go on the grill tomorrow. A good tip is to simmer sausages in water for 10 minutes or so before offering them to the barbecue to avoid the "burnt on the outside, raw in the middle" problem that so often occurs. Similarly with chicken on the bone, either simmer it or bake it in the oven first and then just finish it off on the grill for the last few minutes to get a nice smokey taste on the skin and to ensure the meat is cooked right through to the middle.
Talking of chicken .... our two little hens are in their absolute element these days (aside from a slight setback during the rain on Monday where quite a lot of forlorn bedraggledness occurred) - they are dashing around the garden chortling and hoovering up bugs and slugs, staying up late every night - and getting up very early in the morning ... They're both laying again (one had a few months off in the winter) and twice this week we've had one big egg and one the size of a grape - they look so sweet next to each other. The little, extra-speckeldy ones have such tiny yolks but are just as tasty as the regular ones so they still get eaten!
Baking included lemon muffins with homemade "jam" in the middle. Basically some leftover raspberries an blueberries, about 120g each, were warmed up with a little icing sugar till bubbling and then thickened slightly with cornflour. Whisked for a couple of minutes over the heat and a gorgeous, jewelly, glossy jammy sauce appeared. Half the muffin mixture was then put into the paper cases, followed by a spoon of the jam, then the rest of the mixture was added with a sprinkling of sugar on top. Baked for about 20 minutes in a hot oven and they were done and really yummy. Any jam will do of course but the impromptu fruit compote made a lovely juicy middle to the buns.
For the next week or so we're going to be frugal and try not to do any major food shopping, just be inventive with whatever we have in the fridge, larder and freezer. The rule is only to shop for staples - milk, butter, teabags, onions, garlic, olive oil, cheese etc. Rummaging about we find a tin of organic chickpeas - fabulous. Chickpeas automatically = nubbly homemade hummus to have with hot toast or crackers. Just drain the chickpeas, whizz with garlic, lemon juice and slowly-added olive oil, some chilli powder or tabasco. If you have some tahini then a dollop of this makes it authentic, but I sometimes toast sesame seeds and add them instead for some crunch. Tasty, nutritious, filling and CHEAP. If you have other canned legumes - a can of butter beans or pinto beans for example -these also make a lovely dip or spread for lunch. A bag of pasta, a tin each of tomato and tuna and you have the ingredients for a pasta bake. Find frozen peas and you can make soup, or a puree to accompany lamb, chicken or fish. Sardines in tomato sauce - yummy on toast. A bag of noodles and a can of coconut milk with jars of thai or indian spices will make a soothing, spicy, soupy supper. Plenty of choice - thought I think we will draw the line at the can of horrid hotdogs (where did they come from??) 3 years past their sell-by date!
By the way a good tip (pun intended) for keeping asparagus fresh - if you're not eating it on the day you buy it, put the stems in a jug of water like you would cut flowers and they'll last a few days without going bendy!
Happy cooking!
AMT
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