Scrambled egg topped with crispy bacon, chive flowers and a warm tomato dressing

It has been ages since I last posted a recipe – as a result I can’t remember what I’ve been eating over the past few months and I don’t have the notes written down anywhere to recreate anything nice that we made.  Last night’s dinner was worth finding some time to sit down and share it with you – I could have eaten platefuls.

To start with, there was scrambled eggs on lightly toasted bread.  I like to make my scrambled eggs by melting butter in a pan, cracking in the eggs, letting them cook a little before breaking them up a bit, letting them cook some more, stirring, and so on.  This produces a scrambled egg with bits of white and yolk rather than just a uniform pale yellow version.

I also fried some pieces of streaky bacon, before using the same pan to whistle up a warm tomato dressing.  I didn’t tip away the bacon fat, instead I chopped up the tomatoes and tipped them into the hot fat, cooking them quickly so until they almost disintegrated.  To the tomatoes, I added salt and pepper, and a tiny splash of sherry vinegar.

So, to buttered toast I added the scrambled eggs and popped the crispy bacon bits on top.  Then I realised that I hadn’t stirred my chopped garden chives through the egg, so resolved to sprinkle them on to at the end.  I spooned over the warm tomato dressing, and topped it off with a good handful of chopped chives and purple chive flowers.

I just love the colours as well – it’s like summer on a plate.  This will be one version of scrambled eggs that I won’t be forgetting soon and will definitely make again.

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Asparagus, mushrooms and thyme flowers on scrambled egg

Tonight we had to make something quick as Mr Rigg was heading out for a bike ride with Buddy.  So I made our favourite scrambled eggs on delicious Campanou bread (a French country style loaf) from Barbakan.

I boiled some asparagus, fried mushrooms in butter and added some pretty pink thyme flowers, before lightly frying the asparagus in the mushroom pan to give it a bit of glisten!  All on top of the scrambled eggs and soft bread it was lovely.

Made-up mini meatballs with spaghetti and tomato sauce

Spaghetti bolognese and variations of it are one of Mr Rigg’s favourite meals.  I’m not so keen on spaghetti bolognese as we know it in this country, made with minced beef – I would rather make a sauce of slow cooked meat.

So whilst trying to be a good girlfriend, last night I used some leftover minced pork to make tiny meatballs to sit on a bowl of pasta and served with lashings of homemade tomato sauce.

I say they were ‘made up’ meatballs, because I just added bits and pieces as I saw fit.  The ‘bits and pieces’ included breadcrumbs, fresh sage, grated Parmesan, an egg and seasoning of salt and pepper.  I mixed this all together and started to make my meatballs.

I made them quite tiny – like a large marble size – and popped them on a tray and into the fridge to firm up for a bit.

Next I fried them in a little oil to brown them – and set off the smoke alarm…which is a regular occurence in our house – our neighbours must think we are terrible cooks!

Then the final stage of cooking them was to pop them into the oven covered with foil whilst the pasta cooked. 

I popped the cooked meatballs on top of the pile of steaming pasta and then ladled over some of my homemade tomato sauce.  Topped with a little grated Parmesan and plenty of black pepper for me, they were scrumy.

Potato and chorizo hash with spring greens and an egg

For lunch today we had a delicious and quick meal – potato and chorizo hash with spring greens and a fried egg.  It’s a great storecupboard or leftovers meal, we used up some leftover cold new potatoes and a chorizo sausage we had in the fridge (they keep for ages).

Heat up a pan nice and hot, slice up the chorizo into smallish piece and fry until they start to brown.  Slice the cold new potatoes and add them to the pan, stirring carefully over a medium heat. 

Season with some ground black pepper and cook until the potatoes start to go golden and crisp.

Finely shred a couple of handfuls of spring greens and add to the pan and stir in.  Add a little dash of sherry vinegar and some salt (not too much, the chorizo is quite salty).

In a separate pan fry your eggs.  When they’re ready pop the potato and chorizo hash onto a plate and top with a fried egg.

Sorry no pictures – maybe when I get a new camera I’ll make it again and take some snaps.

Excellent local food on our travels in Surrey

Last weekend N and I had a lovely weekend down South, visiting some friends in Surrey and doing a bit of wedding planning (how exciting!) – we went to view these stunning giant tipis as a possibility for our wedding reception…

But back to food.  We visited a National Trust property called Polesden Lacey (a beautiful house, gardens and stunning view – well worth a visit if you’re in the area) which also has a recently opened farmshop. 

Always on the hunt for delicious local food, we chose a couple of local cheeses, a sausage roll and a pork pie.  The sheep cheese we bought called Lord of the Hundreds is so tasty I could eat the whole thing in one sitting.

On Sunday night we cashed in a voucher for a free night’s stay at a hotel called the Bishop’s Table in Farnham.  It’s a pretty old building painted sky blue, which has recently been refurbished downstairs combining modern and old very nicely.  Upstairs hasn’t been updated, but we had a large room with a big bathroom with delightful old shutters – the only thing offense about the bedroom was the garish flowery wallpaper and matching curtains.

Breakfast, however, was going to cost £12.50 for each of us, which I think sounds quite a lot!  I wasn’t convinced the breakfast would live up to its price tag, so before we left for our weekend away I had a search on the internet for an alternative option for a tasty Monday morning breakfast.

I discovered Farnham Pottery farmshop and coffee shop, which is located just outside Farnham in a place called Wrecclesham.  Originally a Victorian pottery the buildings have been sympathetically converted into a small farmshop and coffee shop.  With only four tables in the tiny coffee shop, it felt cosy but light and airy with a lovely atmosphere.

From the breakfast menu, N chose a bacon breakfast bap accompanied by a pot of Earl Grey, and I went for the English muffin with scrambled eggs (it did come with smoked salmon but I was far too full after a weekend of good company and good food) and a Delightful Detox smoothie (yoghurt, raspberry and pineapple).

The food was delicious.  My English muffin was toasted to perfection and the scrambled egg full of flavour and moist, N’s bacon bap disappeared without a murmur, and the smoothie was scrumptious.  And the cost – £12.60 – just 10p more than it would have cost for one of to have breakfast at the hotel, and it was just what we were after.