Boy! It's been frantic since our last post. On Thursday we drove up to Cambridge to watch my sister graduate. Plenty of speaking in Latin and some odd ritual finger pulling. 
As a classicist I do adore the language but I can't abide those who converse in it. It is just plain pompous. My mother, who met us there, very kindly furnished us with some of her earliest potatoes and quite a major haul of gooseberries (more to come on those later). We also managed to visit a local pick-your-own with our friend Yvonne and as a result have plenty of Strawberries to add to those from our own plants. We took a drive into the country and discovered Chilford Hall Vineyard home to some truly mediocre wines and a very reasonably priced cookery book. I picked up my copy of East Anglian Food & Wine by Brigitte Tilleray for just 50p. Coming from Suffolk originally I am rather excited to give some of the recipes a go to find out just what I SHOULD have been eating when I lived there myself. The fried then pickled whitebait look to give me an excuse to go freezer diving later this week.
As a classicist I do adore the language but I can't abide those who converse in it. It is just plain pompous. My mother, who met us there, very kindly furnished us with some of her earliest potatoes and quite a major haul of gooseberries (more to come on those later). We also managed to visit a local pick-your-own with our friend Yvonne and as a result have plenty of Strawberries to add to those from our own plants. We took a drive into the country and discovered Chilford Hall Vineyard home to some truly mediocre wines and a very reasonably priced cookery book. I picked up my copy of East Anglian Food & Wine by Brigitte Tilleray for just 50p. Coming from Suffolk originally I am rather excited to give some of the recipes a go to find out just what I SHOULD have been eating when I lived there myself. The fried then pickled whitebait look to give me an excuse to go freezer diving later this week.Another event worth noting was the Mortlake Summer Fair, situated in the shadow of the soon-to-be-disused Budweiser plant. I managed to score us a coconut early on though in all honesty it pales into insignificance compared to our haul from the bottle tombola. A spend of £5 hooked us a strong 4 bottles of wine and one large Budvar. Tombolas are my downfall. Have been since I was a child begging my parents for just one last pound to pull those 5 tickets from the bucket. It is spoils such as these that make the chances worthwhile. Delightful. I'm sure the wines shall be featured as and when we reach them. We followed the fair with a trip to the Kingston Beer Festival with our friend Ricky who was very excited to learn a little something about tasting beer. We arrived late and got in free due to the low number of beers they had left.
Annie also found the time to whip up some falafel while I was out this weekend. All the trimmings too! From her own houmous (with tinned chickpeas) to those delicious almost crunchy carrots covered in a delicious garlic and parsley oil. They were pretty monstrous size-wise as I'm sure you can see. It was all quite garlicky, so it was lucky we only had to associate with one another that evening. I would definitely advise you against a pre-socialising falafel.
In our veg box this week we received a kohlrabi. Annie has just whipped
up a wee starter of shaven kohlrabi and goats' cheddar with sprinklings of thyme and sliced anchovy. Inspired by a recipe by Mr. Fearnley-Whittingstall in this weekend's G2 (which can be found here). I can't say it was the best showcase for the flavours of the kohlrabi, but texturally the vegetable was indispensable. It brought a freshness and crunch to the dry, salty cheese. The anchovy and thyme gave wonderful little bursts of earthy saltiness and herbal zing. I drank this with a Waitrose vintage french cider and, though the cider was middling, it was a fine pairing.
This we followed with the classic cheap and cheerful Jacob's Creek Sparkling Rose while we prepared a little something else. A fine tipple when you want something sparkling on a budget. I indulged in a corn-fed chicken from Waitrose today, a big spend and I am determined to make the most of it. I intend to get a good 4 meal out of the bird at least. Tonight we started with one of the huge breasts, fried until the skin was crisp and brown, covered in a remarkably simple Marsala wine and mushroom sauce. Fry the mushrooms with a little sage and a splash water in the same pan as you cooked the chicken in. Once they begin to take on a little colour toss in a healthy glug of Marsala and half that amount of double cream, allow that to cook down a little and serve it on top of the sliced chicken breast. Accompanied by some simply steamed vegetables, (we chose reduced baby turnips and veg box chard) dressed in a little oil of your choice, it makes a quick and delicious evening meal. The rich sauce doesn't drown the chicken provided it has been allowed to cook down enough and the sweet vegetables add another welcome aspect. The baby turnips received a mixed welcome. I enjoyed the sweet pulpiness and I also ate their peppery little stems. In all I was reminded of a sweeter, warmer radish. Annie was highly dubious. Their flavour is relatively intense and lasting, maybe some more experimentation is needed.
Very excited about the White Horse on Parson's Green's USA craft beer festival this weekend. A full report shall certainly be forthcoming. Hope to meet up with some of the chaps from ratebeer.com for some amazing ale and informed beer-talk.
I have also just read this funny little article on Wikipedia which I discovered via Steve William's great blog. Fun and informative, Obadiah unwittingly provides us with almost all we know about the origins of the Porter style.
That is it for the rather epic catch up. Cheers.
Annie also found the time to whip up some falafel while I was out this weekend. All the trimmings too! From her own houmous (with tinned chickpeas) to those delicious almost crunchy carrots covered in a delicious garlic and parsley oil. They were pretty monstrous size-wise as I'm sure you can see. It was all quite garlicky, so it was lucky we only had to associate with one another that evening. I would definitely advise you against a pre-socialising falafel.In our veg box this week we received a kohlrabi. Annie has just whipped
up a wee starter of shaven kohlrabi and goats' cheddar with sprinklings of thyme and sliced anchovy. Inspired by a recipe by Mr. Fearnley-Whittingstall in this weekend's G2 (which can be found here). I can't say it was the best showcase for the flavours of the kohlrabi, but texturally the vegetable was indispensable. It brought a freshness and crunch to the dry, salty cheese. The anchovy and thyme gave wonderful little bursts of earthy saltiness and herbal zing. I drank this with a Waitrose vintage french cider and, though the cider was middling, it was a fine pairing.This we followed with the classic cheap and cheerful Jacob's Creek Sparkling Rose while we prepared a little something else. A fine tipple when you want something sparkling on a budget. I indulged in a corn-fed chicken from Waitrose today, a big spend and I am determined to make the most of it. I intend to get a good 4 meal out of the bird at least. Tonight we started with one of the huge breasts, fried until the skin was crisp and brown, covered in a remarkably simple Marsala wine and mushroom sauce. Fry the mushrooms with a little sage and a splash water in the same pan as you cooked the chicken in. Once they begin to take on a little colour toss in a healthy glug of Marsala and half that amount of double cream, allow that to cook down a little and serve it on top of the sliced chicken breast. Accompanied by some simply steamed vegetables, (we chose reduced baby turnips and veg box chard) dressed in a little oil of your choice, it makes a quick and delicious evening meal. The rich sauce doesn't drown the chicken provided it has been allowed to cook down enough and the sweet vegetables add another welcome aspect. The baby turnips received a mixed welcome. I enjoyed the sweet pulpiness and I also ate their peppery little stems. In all I was reminded of a sweeter, warmer radish. Annie was highly dubious. Their flavour is relatively intense and lasting, maybe some more experimentation is needed.
Very excited about the White Horse on Parson's Green's USA craft beer festival this weekend. A full report shall certainly be forthcoming. Hope to meet up with some of the chaps from ratebeer.com for some amazing ale and informed beer-talk.
I have also just read this funny little article on Wikipedia which I discovered via Steve William's great blog. Fun and informative, Obadiah unwittingly provides us with almost all we know about the origins of the Porter style.
That is it for the rather epic catch up. Cheers.
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