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I have been really enjoying Sophia Dahl’s TV series The Delicious Miss Dahl. Last week she made a delicious vegetarian curry and dahl and knowing what a curry fan Mr Rigg is I thought I would make it as a treat last Friday night.
So I got all the ingredients – sweet potatoes, the spices to make the garam masala from scratch etc. When it came down to making it I followed the recipe and had fun making the aromatic garam masala spice mix by grinding it up in my loved-but-under-used pestle and mortar.
I seasoned the sweet potatoes and onions as instructed with the the spice mix – but not all of it. Then I tasted it and couldn’t really taste much, so decided to add in all the garam masala. On final tasting it just didn’t taste of anything. I was devasted.
Watching Sophia Dahl cook this recipe I could imagine how it tasted…and yet there were none of those lovely flavours I had dreamt of. I am sad to say that the curry was saved by a jar of Patak’s Balti sauce after a quick dash to the Co-op.
In the end it tasted ok, but was greatly lifted by Unicorn’s dahl (divine!) and fragrant rice also care of Sophia Dahl, which was delicious.
Yesterday we finished off my new herb beds at the allotment. We have created two L-shaped raised beds with timber planks left on our allotment by the previous owner. In the bare patch of soil between the beds we are going to put some turf and create a small grassy spot on which we can sit and eat our lunches.
So far in my new herb beds I have planted: 2 lavender, 2 sage of different varieties and a French tarragon. I am planning to make a trip to Kenyon Hall Farm to source the rest of the herbs to fill these beds as they have a truly wonderful selection – at least 20 varieties of thyme (which is possibly my favourite herb).
We also started digging on the next section of the allotment – I plan to divide it into four beds and plant potatoes into two of those – they have chitted well and I am behind in getting them in the ground. Work for this week.
I completely forgot to tell you that our lovely Little Heath Farm were featured as one of the producers on last week’s Great British Menu.
Their pork was used in Aiden Byrne’s main course of oak-roasted middle white pork with broad beans and wild mushrooms.
Sadly Aiden didn’t make it through to the final – it would have been great to see one of our local producers have their produce cooked for the Prince of Wales.
Tonight we enjoyed a picnic dinner at our allotment after an hour or two of raised bed construction. This is what we managed to achieve – one half of my new herb bed:
We ate Majorcan new potatoes boiled then smothered hot in goat’s butter and lots of salt and pepper … grilled blackened sausages from Little Heath Farm in Dunham Massey dunked in Wilkin & Son’s tomato ketchup …
sliced tomatoes sprinkled liberally with salt and garnished with torn basil leaves (totally unseasonal but irresistable as the weather starts to warm) …
and slices of coffee coloured seeded bread from Red House Farm smeared with Oxford Blue cheese …
Sitting on an old rug looking out over our allotment eating good grub – what a blissful way to spend a weekday evening. Buddy peered down at us from the boot of the car, his nose twitching as the smell of sausages wafted up his nostrils.
Two little robins hopped around the allotments, perched on the spade…
then a tub of chicken manure pellets…
and finally an orange plastic bottle balanced atop a bamboo cane…
Heavenly.
I’m busy getting lost in this great blog from Masterchef finalist Alex and have put his tomato and fennel soup on my list of ‘must cook’.
Meanwhile, we are majoring on spring stew – a meal of my own invention – pearl barley, pancetta and a host of vegetables. Served for friends on Friday night with poached chicken. Yum.
Today we have been busy at the allotment enjoying this fabulous heatwave. Covered in suncream we got about moving the ‘shed’ (it’s more storage than shed) forward about a foot so that we can get to the raspberries more easily.
Then we built a compost bin from old gates and a pallet. We feel like proper allotment owners now.
Here’s the before…
And the after…
We stopped lots to eat delicious chunks of frosting coated chocolate brownie cake.
At lunch we sat on the grass in the shade of the car and devoured hunks of bread smeared with gooey camembert.
We cleared a sizeable patch of the allotment which I’m planning on turning into a herb garden with a small patch of grass where we can sit and picnic during the summer.
Then we filled out new compost bin with bits we had dug up and a well-rotted heap of rabbit droppings.
Our day finished with the first barbeque of the year and dinner outside.
Sausages (from Little Heath Farm), lettuce, cherry tomatoes with basil and Parmesan, and bread.
It’s been one of the nicest, most relaxing and productive days we’ve had in a long time. Rosy cheeks all round.
Lunch today was made up from what was found in the fridge, and as always these turn out to be the best meals. A delicious lunch of capers, parsley, ham and new potato salad…
Peeled, boiled and cooled new potatoes. Chopped into chunks. A couple of teaspoons of mayonnaise, a spoonful of capers chopped, and another spoonful of whole grain mustard.
A handful of torn flat leaf parsley and some shredded ham (my favourite kind – Focolare Italian herb ham from Barbakan). Mix in some salt and pepper to taste.
For my granny’s 80th birthday I made her a lemon pound cake of gigantic proportions. Decorated with pretty miniature daffodils and a scattering of purple-ish blue hyacinth flowers, it was both delicious and beautiful.
Here’s how I made it with the recipe for one cake below…
First I weighed out my ingredients, including three, yes three packs of butter – don’t worry, the recipe for one cake only requires one. Golden yellow organic butter…
And I zested some lemons…beautiful Italian ones from Unicorn with an incredible fragrance that filled the air as I zested them…
Next I creamed together the softened butter and sugar – I used fair trade golden caster sugar that hasn’t been so refined as the pure white stuff.
Pop it in your mixer…
Blitz it up – to begin with it starts to look like lumpy wet sand…
Keep going and it will start to change and look more like a crumbly dough mixture…
It’s not ready yet, so let it continue to mix and even when it looks like it does below, it’s still not quite there…
Persist until it looks like this – pale and creamy…
Next you add to your creamy butter sugar mixture the lemon zest and vanilla extract and briefly mix…
Now you add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg until it’s just combined. These beautiful golden yolkers came from Abbey Leys Farm.
Finally, tip it out into a mixing bowl and add in the flour. I also added in some lemon juice to give it an extra lemony flavour…
Fold in the flour until it’s all mixed through and you have a lovely cake dough ready for baking…
Finally, spread the mixture into your cake tin – I used a large ring shaped tin and pop it into the oven to bake…
While the cake is baking, stand back to admire how many dirty bowls and spoons a gigantic cake creates…and wonder who’s going to wash them all up…
Hopefully when you take your cake out of the oven, allow it to cool then carefully turn it out onto a wire rack to cool it should look something like this…
The little sister and I then decorated the cake with a drizzling of lemon icing (lemon juice and icing sugar mixed together) and some pretty spring flowers. Granny was very pleased…
Below is the recipe – I tripled the ingredients to make the cake above.
Lemon Pound Cake
The Cake
250g caster sugar
250g butter, softened
250g self raising flour, sifted
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tsp lemon juice
Lemon drizzle icing
Lemon juice
Icing sugar
Preheat your oven to 180°C.
Lightly butter your cake tin and line with baking paper if you’re worried about it sticking – you shouldn’t need to line it if it’s a non-stick tin.
Beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy.
Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract and mix in.
Next, add the eggs, one at a time – mixing until just combined before adding the next.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and sieve in half the flour. Carefully fold in.
Add the lemon juice and the remaining flour, and gently fold in until well combined.
Spread the cake mixture into your prepared cake tin and pop in the oven to bake for about 40-50 minutes. To test if your cake is cooked all the way through, insert a skewer into the centre of the cake and remove – if it is clean it is cooked, if there is cake mixture on it pop it back into the oven for a little longer. Bake for longer if you are doubling the recipe – just keep checking on it.
Once the cake has cooled a little, carefully turn it out onto a wire rack and let it cool fully.
To make the lemon drizzle icing, simple sieve a cup of icing sugar into a bowl, and add lemon juice little by little mixing it in until you have the consistency you want. Don’t make it too runny or it will just run straight off the cake!
Once the cake is cool, drizzle over the icing and decorate if you wish.
Four day weekends should be had every week I think. We have had a lovely Easter weekend so far – today we went to Formby beach with Buddy…
It was so cold – I think N was the only one in shorts…the rest of us were sensibly wrapped up in coats, hats, gloves etc.
And yesterday it was my granny’s 80th birthday with about 20 of my family – aunts, uncles, cousins, you name it, they were there. My cake was a success, so I will find some time to post the recipe and show of the final cake all decorated with spring flowers soon.
Tonight I’m wishing for a quiet night in by a log fire.
Wishing everyone a happy start to the Easter weekend! I am about to head off to get some eggs so that I can start baking a beautiful lemon pound cake for my granny’s 80th birthday tomorrow.
It needs to feed 20 family members – wish me luck! If it works out I’ll post the recipe…
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