the best things in life are free . . . wild leek potato cakes

wild leek potato cakes

I don't know if Bing, Satchmo, Billie, Tony, Doris, June or my favourite Mills Brothers were much into their food or even foraging but when they sang "the best things in life are absolutely free . . ." Perhaps the writers of Pennies from Heaven, Arthur Johnston and Johnny Burke had something else on their mind. But for me it really sums up foraging in my back garden for the dreaded invasive wild leeks which can be quickly turned into a delicious meal, whether it is the main ingredient in pesto, stirred through pasta or in a meaty stew or roasted with the Sunday joint.

I made potato cakes again, using the finely chopped leaves from my annoying garden invaders (allium triquetrum or wild leeks), with a few spring onions rather than standard cooking onions for extra green zip and zing. It was enough to put a spring in my step, and they were perfect with my roasted fennel and sausage stew too.

Pennies From Heaven
(Arthur Johnston and Johnny Burke)A long time ago, about a million years B.C.
The best things in life were absolutely free.
But no one appreciated a sky that was always blue
and no one anticipated a moon that was always new.

So it was planned that they should vanish now and then
and you must pay before you get them back again.
That's what storms were made for
and you shouldn't be afraid for:

Every time it rains, it rains, pennies from heaven
Don't you know each cloud contains pennies from heaven?
You'll find your fortune's fallin' all over the town
Make sure that your umbrella is upside down

Trade them for a package of sunshine and flowers
If you want the things you love, you must have showers
So, when you hear it thunder, don't run under a tree
There'll be pennies from heaven for you and me

So take a big deep breath of the clean fresh air
Put a smile on your face be a millionaire
The streets outside
Are paved with gold
There'll be pennies from heaven for you and me