herb and tomato salsa

herb and tomato salsa

Sunday lunch today was a shoulder of roast lamb marinated in a fragrant mix of middle eastern spices. I wanted a sauce to accompany the slow roasted lamb that combined the elements of traditional British mint sauce, which is typically a combination of mint, vinegar and sugar, with fresh Mediterranean flavours.

chocolate and cherry loveliness: black forest cupcakes

black forest cupcakes

I like to forage, mostly in green open spaces across London, although recently discovering new treasures at the bottom of my own garden. But I have also been known to forage in other people's kitchen cupboards, ferreting out interesting tins and jars that have languished forgotten, gathering dust and exceeding their use-by dates.

better than fairies at the bottom of the garden: wild garlic pesto

wild leek pesto

While some people delight at the fairies at the bottom of the garden, I am entranced by the swathes of what has turned out to be "three-cornered leeks" or allium triquetrum, (which is also a form of wild garlic). This invader from the south western Mediterranean has acclimatised over the past hundred years or so, often found on verges in southern England. It is very pretty, very like a white bluebell. Unfortunately, when it gets out of hand it does have a slight tendency to overwhelm anything around it, although it does die back by late spring, so it isn't necessarily competing with native fauna. Fortunately the bottom of my garden is a wild area (fairies not withstanding) and I am enthralled by a free supply of wild garlic flavoured leaves. 

weekend pleasures: a hash in the pan! (perfect corned beef hash)

corned beef hash

Corned beef hash is one of my guilty pleasures; I tend to make it when I have leftover spuds. While it is relatively frugal, my version tends to be less than virtuous. I have found that using leftover potato salad or dauphinoise, makes a brilliant hash. (Although the mayonnaise in the spud salad and the cream in the dauphinoise can make this hash greasy, so you will need to use less cooking fat.) Still delicious.

leftover easter egg brownies

leftover Easter egg brownies with
dried fruit and spices

I was given some chocolate eggs as Easter gifts. I am really grateful for the kind thought (it would be churlish not to be), but frankly there is just so much Easter egg I can eat. More of a nibble really. I am loath to say that they are wasted on me, but fortunately I had a good way of using up the chocolate.

roast breast of lamb stuffed with spiced couscous

spiced couscous stuffing for lamb breast

Unlike that nice child, Charles Augustus Fortescue, I have always had an aversion to fatty meat, while he "would beg them if they did not mind, the greasiest morsels they could find". In my persuit of thrift and frugality I have avowed to change my ways - although I am unlikely to ever live in Muswell Hill (or marry someone called Fifi!)

almost easter biscuits

knobbly Easter biscuits

Well it's it not yet Easter and these are not entirely traditional Easter biscuits. I like the symmetry. 

These spicy, fruited biscuits were traditionally eaten in England at Easter, very likely originating in the West Country. In theory, they should be flattened and regular shape, with a fluted edge. Unfortunately, my rather lumpy looking biscuits are as a result of not flattening them out, not using a fluted biscuit cutter and realising at the last minute that I didn't have any currants and subsituting my never-ending Christmas mincemeat. Again.

not quite simnel cake

not quite simnel cake

Simnel cake has its origins in medieval times, traditionally served at Easter and on Mothering Sunday. It is a light and fragrant fruit cake, topped with a layer of marzipan as well as balls of marzipan. However, the myths that surround this cake (the balls are said to represent the apostles, less Judas) are sadly sheer taradiddle. The Victorians were great reinventers of history and folklore and it would seem that the traditions supposed to surround this cake are a fabrication. Which is why I don't feel quite so bad about making a Simnel cake that is somewhat lacking in one of the key ingredients - marzipan.

what's in season: april

wild garlic in my
back garden

Oh, to be in England
Now that April's there,
Robert Browning, 1812-1889 

April is known as a "cruel month", not least because it is rather lean in terms of seasonal British produce. Stores of British fruit and vegetables are coming to an end and the new crops of vegetables are not up to maximum strength yet. Fortunately spring greens are beginning to appear, such as lettuce and watercress as well as spinach and broccoli, so it’s not all doom and gloom. I have just discovered a whole load of wild garlic in my garden, which makes me very happy, as you can imagine. I shall be making soup in the very near future.

a little bit on the side: puréed carrots

a mush of puréed carrots

A few weeks ago I posted a roast chicken recipe as a suggestion for Sunday lunch. Can I now put in a plea for the side servings, often forgotten in the rush to get to the main event?

It was years before I realised I liked carrots. I quite liked them as a small child as I enjoyed their sweet crunch. As a teenager I was bored with them - often the only edible ingredient in a school meal. Mmmn, carrots again today. But by the time I was in my 20's I had begun to feel a distinct antagonism. What you may wonder had the poor carrot done to feel my disdain?

a case of culinary serendipity: jerusalem artichoke and creamed spinach soup

jerusalem artichoke soup with
creamed spinach

The English language is a treasure chest of beautiful words and not just because our ancestors pillaged the globe absconding with words from other languages that suited their purposes. English is a glorious hodgepodge of Germanic roots and a liberal sprinkling of Latin, Ancient Greek, Norman French as well as bits of Old Norse, Dutch, Hindi and Urdu. Such is the flexibility of English, it is able to assimilate all sorts of foreign words as well as nonsense words. One of my favourite words is a made-up one: Serendipity - the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it. Not only does it have such a lovely meaning, but like a small child happily babbling nonsense, it seems to bubble with happiness . . . which brings me on to my soup.

simply hot cross buns

buttered hot cross buns

I have not always had much success with hot cross buns. I've made excuses that it's the recipe or the writer, but the truth is that it's just me. I need more practice of baking with enriched yeast. I have complete confidence in my ability to produce a good plain loaf. But add eggs and butter and I have an unerring ability to bake something that could replace military hardware (and probably save the Ministry of Defence billions . . . well they know where I am!