I spent 4 hours rolling, folding, cutting and meticulously filling the seafood pasta. The sauce alone used three different pans and the finished dish required me to make 4 different flourishes to decorate and add those precious final touches. It smelt amazing and tasted even better. My clients went wild for it. Instagram did not.

I photo and post on my instgram a sliced avocado and an egg at 11 am on a Sunday morning and that turns out to be the crack cocaine for the social media world. If I had included a picture of a kitten I guess I would have crashed the whole system. I was amused to say the least.

It was my fist time cooking for a group attending the Hay Festival (some readers may think, as this event takes place at the end of May, I am well behind with my blogs but I think you will find I am helping you forward plan for 2018) and I have to say I am hooked. Ten days filled with authors talking about anything from the importance of the biodiversity found in a mudflat (truly fascinating) to ‘how to date in the modern day’, there are concerts, workshops, book signings and in true British fashion enough bunting to stretch from Land’s End to John o’ Groats.

I highly recommend attending at least a few days next year, there will certainly be at least three events a day that peak your interest, and the surrounding area is truly beautiful with the Brecon Beacons and Herefordshire countryside providing a truly bucolic backdrop.

As with any festival, once you are there it is best to stay put, so a decent breakfast for the group was a must. There are of course the usual array of food stalls on site for snacks and lunch but its not much fun queuing an eternity with your fellow bookworms and you don’t want to be late for your next talk on the ‘secret life of Xanthoparmelia’ or ‘lesser known knots and how to use them’.

The Booker Prize for breakfast went to this postcards recipe poached egg with tahini, avocado and ricotta with chilli flakes but before I give you the recipe I want to indulge in a little writing focusing on food in literature – oh the glory of having an indulgent uncensored writing platform. …

My childhood memories of food and books instantly flash up a few characters.

Our father would read to us each night, a little too well, so instead of having the desired effect of sending my sister and I off to sleep mum would usually have to come in and calm the situation down and prevent further jumping around and re-enactment of sword fights ( and that was just in attempt to control dad let alone us)!

I loved the image of Edmund scoffing the Snow Queens Turkish delight in The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. The absurdity and brilliance of the never ending tea party in Alice in Wonderland ( the mad hatters punishment for attempting to murder time) and I cannot look at a tin of sardines without thinking of the comfort it bought little mole in the Wind in the Willows when he was tired and had been cold and lost.

This quote ftom A.A. Milne’s honey crazy bear I think is rather sweet and simple;

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.”

For those of us who think porridge is somewhat dull at heart just think of the adventures it led to for Oliver Twist when he asked for more (although extra oats in the morning does not guarantee a work placement in a undertakers, heavy involvement in a criminal gang or the discovery of a rich relative).

Food can also be used to describe a character with much effect. Clear favourites include the famous Belgium detective ( Hercule Poirot) who is naturally OCD about his

“Order and method are my gods. For my breakfast, I have only toast which is cut into neat little squares. The eggs – there must be two – they must be identical in size …”

Holly Golightly ,who favours carrots to set her up for the day in Breakfast at Tiffany’s though clearly these are the non edible kind.

Then there is the exciting, dangerous and variable life of the worlds favourite spy James Bond, and his preferred start to the day when at home in London providing a civilised and reassuring constant in his somewhat otherwise turbulent life.

‘Sitting down to The Times, he breakfasts on two large cups of “very strong coffee, from De Bry in New Oxford Street” brewed in a Chemex coffee maker and an egg served in a dark blue egg cup with a gold ring round the top, boiled for three and a third minutes. There is also wholewheat toast, Jersey butter and a choice of Tiptree ‘Little Scarlet’ strawberry jam, Cooper’s Vintage Oxford marmalade and Norwegian Heather Honey from Fortnum and Mason, served on blue Minton china’
On a more sinister note we have the control, torture and manipulation people can use through food like in Gabriel García Márquez exquisite novel Love in the Time of Cholera. The central character decides to shun love for money by marrying the towns most eligible bachelor on the condition he does not make her eat aubergines. However the mother in law insists they are served every day out of respect for her dead husband…no wonder mother in laws get a bad name.

In Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier (everyone should read this book and I defy them not to squeal out loud at certain seminal points) we finally see the timid and lost Rebecca manning up as she defies the overbearing house keeper by changing the traditional menu at Manderley. You have to read the book to get the full significance of this but I assure you it is time well spent.

Then there is Hannibal Lecter and his taste for human flesh but I would rather skip over that and get back to focussing on my infamous poached eggs and avocadoes . However for those of you who feel a little overwhelmed by all this creativity and fuss over the first meal of the day and feel somewhat belittled with your offerings ( try seeing how many likes you get for a bowl of all-bran) I will cheer you up with what the witty Oscars Wilde’s thoughts on the subject were…

“Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.”

This Week

I love : The hay festival

Avocados used: 20

Eggs used : 176

I recommend: the OakchurchFarm shop

I’m Driving: a Vauxhall Astra, great for taking the corners and carrying the shopping

Every home should have : a river bank.

Poached eggs, tahini, ricotta, avocado and chilli flakes.

The richness of a good egg will help distract true foodies that this is actually a trendy healthy breakfast.

Serves 1

1 slice sourdough

1 dsp tahini

1/2 avocado

1 dsp ricotta

1 organic egg

I hate it when people put vinegar in the egg poaching water to help bind the whites – it’s a distracting unwanted flavour and can ruin the rest of the day ( ok maybe not the whole day but a disappointing breakfast is a bad start) . The fresher the egg the firmer the egg white so the better they will poach.   Make sure the water is gently simmering and be ready to serve and eat once the egg is cooked.

Bring a small pan of water to a gentle simmer, crack in the egg and cook for 2mins . Remove with a slotted spoon and let any excess water drip away.

Meanwhile….

Toast the sourdough and place on a warmed plate.

Spread across the tahini ( tahini will often split in the jar so give it a good stir first .)

Layer the ricotta on top, then the avocado, sliced into a fan and finally top with the poached egg, a sprinkle of chilli flakes and most importantly a sprinkle of salt, an eggs best friend.

Next stop… the Pyrenees bike ride

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Gone Fishing.

This week, in order not to feel I was mindlessly cooking and gobbling lobster after lobster I have taken the time to learn a little more about this delicious crustacean.

Theoretically, a lobster can live forever. They have an enzyme called telomerase, which prevents the DNA from becoming damaged as it replicates – for us mere humans it is the shortening of the DNA strands that is thought to age us. What can however pluck the lobsters from their mortal coil are disease and various predators, including me.

In order to grow a lobster has to molt its shell. In the first year they do this about 40 times, the second year about four times, the third and forth years about two or three times and in the forth to sixth years about once a year. Once they reach age 7, which is roughly when they will be big enough to be eaten they usually molt once every two or three years. For Maine lobster it is about now in the year that they decide to do this.

The lobster sheds its shell then puffs itself up with water to stretch the new softer shell that was underneath until that too hardens. For eating purposes I think it is best to avoid these softer shell lobsters as although easier to get the meat out it can be quite watery and the yield much lower, particularly in the claws.   On a side note, a lobster who has lost one claw is called a cull and for the poor things that have lost both they are called a pistol.

When catching lobsters in your own pots there are strict rules about what you can keep and what you must release. Size is important. It must be between 3 ¼ inches and 5 inches from the extreme rear of the eye socket to the end of the carapace – which is the head section of the shell. You are forbidden to take a female if she is baring eggs or if she has a notch in her tail. The fishing area around Main have introduced a system where if you find a female that produces eggs but otherwise would have been ok to take, you put a notch in its tale to the right of the middle flipper. This will be noticeable for a couple of years and stop others from taking the egg producing lobster even if it doesn’t have any at the time of catch.

From a chefs and diners perspective it is amazing to cook and eat so many lobsters in a short time span and totally get to grip with cooking times and preferred methods of preparation. I have given you a few recipes and methods below after this postcard recipe for when you next want to indulge in a lobster fix.

Besides the luxury of having an endless supply of lobster and getting the chance to cook it in every which way, my highlight of the week was …catching my first fish.

I will try not to embellish the story and let writers’ creativity move it too far from the truth but it was far more exciting than predicted.

Our early morning start (by 5:30 am we had our backs to the shore) was soon followed by a lecture, but not in boat safety or tips on how to cast. No. I had once again made the mistake of joshing with a fisherman that I couldn’t quite see what would be fun about fishing that and that I suspected  a fishing boat was basically  a floating ‘man shed’.  Luckily the lecture was short and took mostly the form of just you just wait and see. I think this was due to the fact neither of us had had our morning coffee fix.

Traveling at a certain number of knots over a certain distance of nautical miles ( ok I clearly didn’t listen properly to that bit) we eventually stopped the boat and prepared to fish. Our aim was to catch some mackerel to use as bait to catch some striped bass – large silvery fleshsy white fish that are rather popular around the US of A’s East coast.

To catch the mackerel you dangle a line into the water dotted with bright lures and consistently sharply pull it up and then let it sink so it catches the mackerel’s eye.   I did this for about 10 minutes to no effect thinking well at least it was kind of a work out but then found myself gradually becoming transfixed by the waves, the sound of the water and continual motion of my surroundings.   I still hadn’t caught anything after 15 minutes but curiously noticed my involuntary reluctance at handing over the line.   My fishing partner caught one in about 5 minutes, which made me even more determined to take back the line and get one.

I shorty did and then riding on the high caught another two at once. Total pro I know !

The mackerel were kept alive and hooked up to a bigger rod, which we floated out to sea to try and lure a striped bass on to. I could tell you how within the first 10 minutes we both caught impressive three feet fish and which would have fed the North End of Boston but I would be lying. We watched the lines bob up and down for about an hour then as there were no takers packed up and went home. Anticlimactic? Not in the slightest, there is something incredible about being out on the sea early in the morning; very peaceful yet demanding and I can at least feel myself getting hooked.

The lobsters are now partying as my bags are packed and I am heading to Logan airport to hop back across the pond.   For this postcard recipe I give you the brioche recipe I used for making that East Coast traditional sensation: lobster sandwich.

This week;

Lobsters dispatched: 23

Mackerel caught: 3

The Field Magazine: have published my article on top shooting salads and recipes for what to do with this season’s grouse.

Top wine drunk: a delicious Peter Michael chardonnay from California

Brioche

 Definitely not one of my quicker recipes but I admit I am kind of obsessed with making it now I have mastered the perfect sugar / butter ratio in the mix.

 The Sponge

2000
ml warm whole milk 

9 g dry active yeast

1
large free range /organic egg

500g plain white flour

The Dough

100g caster sugar

5g fine sea salt

6
large free range / organic eggs, lightly beaten

350g plain flour 

180g cold salted butter plus 2 tbs. approx. extra for greasing

The glaze

1 egg

1 tbs. whole milk

 I used an electric mixer fitted with a kneading attachment but you can make it

by hand if you don’t mind getting sticky and messy.

Also it was pleasantly hot in the States, so if making it somewhere cooler your

resting and rising times may be longer.

Method

The sponge

Put the milk, yeast, egg and 250g of the flour in the mixers bowl, turn on to a

low speed and mix for a couple of minutes (you can do this stage by hand or with

a wooden spoon if it looks like it will be easier ).

Once mixed remove the bowl from the machine and sprinkle over the other 250g

of flour.

Leave at room temperature for 1 hour, it should be at least doubled in size and

the coating of flour cracked.

The Dough

Grate the butter with a cheese grater on the large side then leave out to soften.

Once ready add the sugar, salt, eggs, and 200g of the flour to the sponge.

Place the dough back in the machine with the dough hook and turn on to a low

Let it come together then add the rest of the flour.

Turn up to a medium speed and mix for 10 mins.

The machine may need stopping and the dough pushing back into place as it can

wrap itself up the dough hook.

After mixing add the butter in three stages over a couple of minutes it should

incorporate itself into the dough but again you may need to turn off the machine

and give it a helping hand.

The dough should be shiny, and feel quite moist in comparison to a basic bread dough.

Place the dough in a large buttered bowl and leave to rise at room temperature for 2 – 3 hours – it should double in size.

After this rise knock the dough back, form into a ball in the buttered bowl. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 6 hours.

By then it should have risen again and is now ready for its final rising and baking.

Shape the dough into loaves – you can make a regular loaf or make 6 balls placed side by side in two rows depending what you want.   It will be just over double in size when baked so choose the appropriate pan/ tin.

Leave at room temperature, covered loosely with some buttered cling film for two hours till doubled in size.

Pre heat the oven to 190°C place a baking rack near the bottom of the oven and a baking sheet at the top (this will help the loaf not take on too much color).

Mix the egg and milk for the glaze together.

When risen and ready brush the loaf with the glaze and bake for 30 mins. On the bottom rack.

Once cooked leave to cool for 5 mins then remove from tin.

Delicious warm/ cold / as is /toasted and especially good when used for a lobster sandwich.

Lobster methods,

Do NOT over cook your lobster – it becomes rubbery.

DO keep the shells it makes the most amazing stock

To boil a lobster;

Fill a large pot with water, bring to the boil and then add a good dash of fine sea salt.

Add your live lobster then place on the lid. Cook in small batches so the water comes quickly back to the boil.

A 1 ½ lb lobster needs to cook only for 10 mins, It will have turned a lovely shade of red and the meat will still be moist. Leave to rest for a couple of minutes before serving as it will carry on cooking and be perfect.

Smoking

This is my favourite way to prepare and eat them.

Plunge them live into boiling water for 3 – 4 mins – you just want to kill them.

Pre heat your smoker to 200F

Cut up the top of the lobster tail with a pair of scissors and put some cracks in the claws.

Stuff with a few spoonful’s of butter studded with chilli and coriander or garlic and parsley.

Lay some foil on the racks in the smoker and place your butter-stuffed lobsters in there. Add some wood chips to the coals (I like using apple wood for this task as it is mild enough not to mask the flavour but still adds that smoky wonder.)

Smoke for 40 mins. Serve with any buttery lobster juice caught on the foil poured back over the lobster.

Stock

The shell contains an amazing amount of flavour and should never be just chucked away. Place them in a large pot filed with cold water and bring to a boil, turn down and simmer for 40 mins then strain.

Reduce this to get your intense lobster stock. NOTE if you boil the stock with the shells in for too long it becomes bitter.

To BBQ ; get your BBQ to a high to medium heat and make sure the grills are clean. Prepare a flavoured butter such as chilli and lime or garlic and parsley.

Crack the live lobster in half by cutting down through the shell head first then along the tail – they do not feel pain in the same way we do so try not to feel bad while it gives you the evil eye.

Remove the claws and place them on the BBQ for 4 – 5 mins then place the split tail on flesh side down and cook for 3 mins each side. It will go translucent each side.

Next stop

Marloes, Wales…

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The Brunch club…

Anxious texting, emails, and phone calls preceded the start of the weekend.  The hosts and I were keen to make this season’s final pheasant shoot end with a bang (literally for the pheasants) and the Met Office red weather warnings littered with negative temperatures and snowstorms were not helping. I dressed in 5 layers from head to toe (I’m turning into such a softie southerner) and donned my boots to head north….

Travel plan A was vetoed as my car (stationed in the Borders) was snowed in, so I thought I would try my luck with the train in order to travel from Edinburgh to Perth.  Whilst scooting across town from airport to train station I noticed a charming element to Edinburgh, well actually there are many. Even if it is howling a gale and the chilled rain is lashing down everyone always queues very politely at bus stops, preferring to brave the elements rather than form a disorderly queue huddled under the shelter.  I don’t know what the‘Edinburghers’ would make of the T.F.L. shenanigans.

The train was quiet and much to my surprise out of the window was….. a perfect bright sunny Winters day which turned almost tropical when I arrived at my destination (well a barmy 1 °C and plenty more sunshine).  Ha! So much for red weather warnings.

My first task was to do the mammoth shop that every shooting weekend requires, although I had lugged up half a cow and some fish with me on the train. Zooming around the shops, I admit I can never quite believe my calculations…10 packs of butter, 90 eggs, 5 pots of double cream, the ½ a cow… but come the last meal of the weekend and seeing the nearly empty larders and fridges I am always relieved I stocked up.

A shoot weekend will often consist food wise of Friday night dinner, Saturday breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner and Sunday breakfast and then Sunday lunch.  The host this time however opted for a Sunday brunch, which I have to say, was a wild success.  After a few impressive days of feasting, partying and the occasional glass or two of wine, having then to scoff  a Sunday lunch can seem a bit of a hurdle as far as eating stamina goes.  Brunch however is great; it allows the guests time for a lie in, the food is naturally designed as a great cure for any possible hangovers (I know a cooked breakfast can do this too but Brunch somehow seems more digestible) and there is still time for a Sunday morning walk before everyone has to toddle back to their homes.   I tell you it’s all about Sunday brunch!

Brunch is said to have kicked off in the late 18^th century and was delightfully described as the Sunday meal for “Saturday night carousers,”.  This postcard recipe is the spiced baked eggs I cooked as part of theirs.

Job done, bags packed, the remaining pheasants are enjoying their end of season survival party and I’m heading to London to cook for some ‘ladies what lunch’…..

This week:

Is a better one to be a pheasant.

I’m travelling with my hot water bottle.

Every home should have: an Aynsley Gravy Boat

4.5 kilo of potatoes were scoffed.

Its ALL about brunch

Baked eggs with spiced tomato, chickpeas, coriander and yogurt

Serves 4

1 tbs olive oil

1 red onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic finely chopped

10g washed coriander, stalks finely chopped and leaves roughly chopped

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. finely chopped red chilli (more or less depending on your heat preferences).

800g tinned tomatoes

1 tin canned chickpeas drained and lightly rinsed.

4 free range/ organic eggs

2 tbs yogurt

2 spring onions roughly chopped

In a wide deep pan (I used a wok) that you can put a lid on gently fry the onion and garlic in the oil.

Once softened (about 4 minutes) add the spices and chopped coriander stalk, fry for a further minute.

Add the tinned tomatoes and chickpeas, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 10  – 15 minutes stirring occasionally. You want a tasty sauce that s not too dry or wet.

Check the seasoning and when perfect crack the eggs into the tomato mixture, place a lid on top and cook the eggs till for about 4 minutes (ideally you want a cooked white and runny yolk).

Slip out onto your serving plate and garnish with dollops of yogurt, a sprinkling of spring onions and the coriander leaves.

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Fur Coat, no twitters…

Never having been a seasonaire (usually someone in their early 20’s that spends their winter working in a chalet and off on the piste/p**s in some ski resort) I was not sure what to expect when asked to cook this week in Verbier.  With a ‘chalet girls /boys’ reputation of working and playing seriously hard, I hoped I could keep up with the pace…

The journey there was stunning.  I flew into Switzerland, then hopped onto the train that whizzed by the elegant Lake Geneva, then onto a bus that snaked up the mountain until I finally arrived in the swish ski resort of Verbier.   I am very glad I packed my warmest coat ( though it wasn’t fur) and multiple layers because as was expected, it was rather cold.

The days flew by as the chalets routine is rather busy, there wasn’t even time to tweet (Philippa Davis@phollowphilippa)

Up with the snow plough at 6:00am I was heading off to the bakery to get the first batch of croissants fresh from the oven.  A big breakfast of meats, cheeses, fruit, eggs, bircher muesli ( see recipe below) and yogurts fueled the skiers for their day ahead on the slopes.

When breakfast has been cleared up and a tea time treat has been baked this would be when, if you were in the swing of things, you too would head off out to the piste. If you were sensible however you would have a quick afternoon nap, providing you didn’t have to do a shop.

Shopping up the side of a mountain has its challenges.  On the positive side there was an amazing butchers, cheese shop, bakery and even the vegetables were impressive considering our location.  Getting them back to the chalet is not quite such a positive experience.  Over the week I unintentionally perfected my free style skating and am now worthy of a gold medal, although I don’t think path sliding is an Olympic sport, yet.

When the guests arrive back to the chalet around tea time they all need there little sugar fix after an energetic day on the slopes.  Cakes, tea and hot chocolate (recipe below) are all served then the fire is lit and its time to start the five course supper.

Canapé 

Deep fried mozzarella 

Starter 

Double baked cheese soufflé with radicchio, chervil and chicory salad dressed with pedro ximenez vinegar. 

Main 

Pan fried veal escalopes with rosemary and garlic roast potatoes and braised chard

Desert

Chocolate bread and butter pudding with salted caramel ice cream

Cheese Board

Goats Truffle log,  Aged Gruyere and Roquefort with home made oat cakes, honey and celery

When the last plate is washed, the glasses all polished and the breakfast table is laid, then you’re off the hook. Then you too could go off out on the “piste’ to one of the many late night bars and clubs tucked into the mountain OR off to bed, but that’s only if you were sensible…

Having had an enjoyable busy week and experienced the life of those young fun loving seasonaires,  I’m now heading home for a cup of tea and to watch Miss Marple, then its off to Cheltenham to cook for the races.

This weeks statistics

Hot chocolates drunk 7 ( without cream 0)

Altitudes reached 1592 m

St Bernard’s patted 3

Bircher Muesli

Possibly my new favorite breakfast option, this takes “rabbit food” like muesli to a whole new wonderful hight.

The recipe below is a starting point, use what you like in terms of fruits, nuts and seeds, if you prefer not to use fruit juice you could soak the oats in milk or in contrast omit the dairy side altogether and use more juice.

Serves 2

1 cup of oats soaked over night in 1  1/2 cups of either apple or pear juice or half milk half yogurt OR a dairy free alternative  ( upon first soaking the liquid should just top the oats)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 apple grated ( skin left on)

1 cup of ; mixed seeds/ nuts and dried fruit this could include hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, raisins, dried apricots, dried prunes, dried apple, linseeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds

In a bowl mix the oats with the chosen juice   / milk  / yogurt , the grated apple and the spices. Mix well and leave overnight.

In the morning mix the soaked oats with the dried fruits, seeds and  nuts, .  You can top with some fresh fruit like a handful of raspberries, blueberries etc.

Hot chocolate with cream

As comforting and warming as hugging a big hairy St Bernard a mug of good hot chocolate is the perfect sugar fix to a day out on the chilly energetic slopes. I used Swiss chocolate and then cream from the laitare in Verbier for my guests but the important point is just to get quality ingredients as its so simple and unadulterated. For me, making hot chocolate by this method is so much superior to any powdered coco/ hot chocolate you can get.

Per person

for an 8 oz mug you would need

4 squares of 70 % chocolate

Milk (almost one mug full)

a generous spoon of thick cream

Heat the chocolate and the milk in a sauce pan, whisking a little to get a slight foam. Once the chocolate is melted pour into the mug and slide in the spoonful of cream.

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In Dublin’s fair city, there is something delicious for breakfast….

So the conversation went a little like this…..

Me: “Good morning, would you like a fresh juice?”

Guest 1: “What’s in it?”

Me: “Apple, carrot, cabbage, ginger and spinach.”

Guest 1; “CABBAGE?!”

Guest 1 went a bit green, it had been a big night…

Starter

Lobster Thermidor

Main

Beef Three rib roast  with mashed potato and braised cavolo nero

Dessert

Steamed treacle pudding with clotted cream

Not forgetting the cocktails, much good claret and to finish some round belly glasses filled with armagnac.  He reached for the coffee and sat down quietly.

Then in limped Guest 2

Me: “Fresh Juice?”

Guest 2: “ Sure” takes a big gulp “Jesus! Whats in it? That’s delicious”!

Me, “erm…apple and ginger mostly”

Eventually all 12 of the guests, including no. 1 tried the juice and agreed it was surprisingly tasty ( for cabbage juice) and not at all a bad way to recuperate.

Juicing is a great way to get a vitamin fix. It should not replace eating whole fruits and vegetables, as it does not give you much fibre. It is also best drunk soon after making and on an empty stomach. Another advantage of having a juicer is that it’s a great way to use up odd bits of fruit and veg or clear out the fridge before going away.

Here are a few juices I whizzed up that weekend for the guests.

Spinach, watercress, cucumber and apple, White cabbage, pear, celery and lemon, Carrot, apple and ginger.

There was another job a few years ago in Ibiza when I was doing heaps of juicing for a group of health conscious and beautifully toned women.  The sun was shining and they were down by the pool, I took a tray of watermelon, lime and strawberry juices out to them with ice and mint sprigs.

One of them took a sip and said

“mmm…you know what would be delicious in this”?

“?”

“Vodka”

Back to Ireland, and this postcard’s real recipe, Boxty.

A light and fluffy Irish potato pancake that is SO good smothered in butter for breakfast and was just made for accompanying poached eggs and bacon.  It is also a most welcome sight after a heavy night if green juice is really not your thing.

Boxty 

Makes 4 

100g mashed potato (use a floury type like Desiree, Rooster, King Edward or Maris Piper, )

100g raw potato finely grated then squeezed to get rid of as much juice as possible.

50g plain flour 

1 egg

1/2 tsp bicarb

1/2 tsp baking powder

100g buttermilk ( or milk mixed half and half with yogurt) 

salt / pepper/ drizzle  veg oil

50g – 75 g of  butter 

1)In a mixing bowl whisk the mashed potato, egg and buttermilk till combined.

2)Mix the flour with the bicarb and baking powder then whisk into the egg mix.

3)Stir in the grated potato and season with salt and pepper

4)On a medium to high heat fry blobs of the potato batter ( you only need a drizzle of vegetable oil).  It should take about two minutes on each side.

5)Once cooked take out the pan and smear on some butter

Really delicious when served with poached eggs and crispy bacon. 

Next I am off to cook in the Caribbean…

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           Are you sitting uncomfortably………………….?  Good. Then let me begin.

For my Halloween special I thought you might like some sweet treats that are fun to bake with the family,cup cakes that look like mummies and that have scary faces on them.

Too unoriginal?

How about something that used up all that scooped out pumpkin, like pumpkin pie or pumpkin gnocchi with nut sage butter?  I am yawning myself.

Which is why I decided, what I really wanted to share with you this cold and dark Halloween (I am in Scotland so the chances are high of it being really cold and dark and possibly wet too) is the secret behind this rich…  Chocolate Truffle Mixture.

Ha! Trick!

That is actually a bucket of cooked blood that was about to be made into delicious Black Pudding.

On my last few jobs, cooked breakfasts have been required, some asking for everything you could ever hope to find on you plate in the morning, others requesting a more bespoke twist – Lightly scrambled garden eggs, streaky bacon and avocado or Black pudding, fried duck egg, granary toast and apple jam – a plate I would very happily start my day with.

Having long been a great admirer of black pudding and it’s Spanish spicier cousin morcilla, I thought it would be fun to go and watch it being made.  Most importantly I think it is delicious but I also have the approach that if the animal is going to be killed and eaten then we should use as much of it as possible, including the blood.

My first job in London was at Lidgate butchers in Holland Park, so I am well versed in butcher banter and so happily trotted off to  William Ovens in Lanarkshire, a local butcher to the good folk of Biggar and whose haggis is so good private jets have been charted in to collect them, but thats another story…

The two butchers Iain and Ian, presided over by the boss Mr Jimmy Bogle happily welcomed me in to witness the weekly Tuesday making of the 22 kilos of black pudding they sell every week.

“ You’re  not squeamish  are you?”

Iain inquired with a glint in his eye as he came out the cold room with a big bucket of blood.

I am not at all squeamish , unless of course I am presented with a child’s nappy to change, so we pressed on.

Firstly they take beef suet, which is kidney fat, and run it through a mincer with 10 litres of cooked blood.  It looks a bit like chocolate turron ( a spanish soft nougat).

Next into the mammoth mixing bucket goes about 12 oz of fine sea salt, 7 lbs of oatmeal, and a good few handfuls of seasoning that includes cloves and cinnamon.  Its given a good mix around then a 3 litre bucket of 1 or 2 day old blood is poured in.

Surprisingly the blood was ox’s and not the more commonly used pig’s.  Ian or was it Iain(?) delighted in telling me it was the apprentices job in the abattoir to keep the fresh blood moving before it coagulates and to keep removing any lumps and strands that formed. The poor apprentice is practically stuck under the carcass performing this task.  At this point he looked up again to see if he could detect signs of queasiness from me. I am made of sterner stuff having grown up with animals that were reared purely for our family dinner table, one gets very practical about these things, although I have to admit I would not want to be the said apprentice, especially after a heavy night out.   Once fully stirred the mixture gets packed into the sausage machine and is pumped into the skins that have been soaked for about 1/2 hour to make them more pliable.

They are cooked in a water bath at 80 c for 2 hours before being cooled down to sell.

This is unlikely to be something I ever try at home unless I try and reenact the ways of “The Good Life” but it was extremely interesting to watch.  If you would like to add black pudding to your Halloween menu why not serve it fried as part of a salad with spiced buttered quince and frisee lettuce with mustard dressing or crumble it up once cooked and toss it through a hearty thick ribboned pasta with cream, parmesan, chopped watercress and egg yolks.

I am now off to the North Yorkshire moors for to cook for a grouse shooting party which looks set to be fun, though not for the grouse..

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Well I have finished my job on the Emerald Isle and am off to Dorset to check in with the folks and see if I can catch the final days of one of my favourite foraged treats; wild garlic.

Truffle and I ( Truffle being my sister’s dog) both had our noses stuck out the car window as we beetled along the narrow country lanes.  You can smell it before you see it and although we have not yet taught her to alert us to its presence, I am ever the optimist. The month of June is a little late in the year to be picking wild garlic, usually the little white  flowers are out and the leaves are not quite so tender as they once were.   Determined at least to try and find some I yelled excitedly to “stop the car”! as I caught a waft of that sweet smelling delicacy.   There, beneath the ancient woodlands, Henry  VIII ‘s old hunting grounds no less, there lay a patch of edible green shoots and white flowers.  I leapt out the car and began my picking.  Truffle took one sniff at what I was paying my attentions to and darted off into the woods – she clearly did not share my enthusiasm.

A basketful later I called the dog so we could take this bounty back home and make a breakfast feast of wild garlic and scrambled eggs.  Before reluctantly jumping back into the car she reminded me of one of the rules of harvesting wild food by peeing on the patch I had just taken from – always wash thoroughly before use.

Dorset Wild Garlic with Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients (serves 4 hungry people)

A very well washed and drained bunch of wild garlic 

8 free range chicken eggs

Bread for toast

A good knob of butter.

A splash of olive oil

Method

Roughly chop the wild garlic into 2 inch pieces and wilt in a frying pan with a splash of olive oil- it will only take about one minute, season with salt and pepper.    Scoop the leaves out onto a warm plate, pouring away any excess liquid (or better still reserve the liquid and add it to an appropriate soup or risotto )  while you scramble the eggs. To do this I always melt a little butter in the pan  then pour in the lightly beaten eggs and stir gently with a flat wooden spoon over a low to medium heat. Before the eggs look fully cooked take off the heat and fold in the wilted wild garlic. Serve on buttered toast.     

It is hard to leave the comforts of home but with my adieus said I am now heading north ( having packed my rain coat) to take a trip to the bonnie hills of Scotland..

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The Emerald Isle

I am extremely fond of Irish Soda bread.  Firstly because it tastes so good with butter, and secondly because it saved my arms from looking like the incredible hulks.

Back in my restaurant days I had to make a lot of bread.  I would go to work earlier and earlier to keep up with the demand. I kept telling myself all that kneading was like a free Pilates class sculpting my arms but it is hard to describe the joy after one of my customers  (a retired Vicar) offered to bring his Irish wife in to teach me to make soda bread.   Ten minutes in from them arriving for my master class the loaf was already in the oven and we were sipping our second cup of tea.

Irish Soda Bread

In a bowl whisk together;

1 cup self raising flour,
1 cup wholemeal  flour,
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of Soda,
1/2 teaspoon of fine salt

then mix in with a wooden spoon 1 cup of buttermilk.

Use your hands to bring together into a loaf shape (  a round is traditional with a cross slashed into the top)

Bake for 30 minutes at 180 c in a fan assisted oven, its done when you tap the bottom and it sounds hollow. 

I frequently use this recipe and was not aware of any variations until I was on a recent job in Dublin. I was asked to make afternoon tea for some of the clients relatives who were to pop by later that day. In amongst the cheese scones, coffee eclairs and pots of Barry’s tea I decided to add the Irish Soda bread and serve it with horseradish butter, smoked salmon and lemon wedges, it was surely going to be a hit at this gathering….

Indeed the guests devoured it and as I was clearing away the empty platter and being complemented on the bread recipe the matriarch of the family chipped in that of course she always rolled her soda bread in oats before baking it. That sounds lovely, I thought, and then someone else said they always put caraway seeds in…again I thought that sounds delicious. My favorite idea however was had I tried making it with “the black stuff” …….Guinness, now you’re talking!

Guinness Soda Bread rolled in Oats with Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Butter

Makes 1 small loaf

I use a measuring jug and do it all by volume.

1/2 pint self raising flour
1/2 pint wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoon brown sugar

Tip all these dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

Pour in 1/4 pint of Guinness and 1/4 pint buttermilk.  Bring together into a round loaf, scatter some rolled oats onto a baking tray and roll the bread in them until it is coated all over.  Slash the top with a cross ( legends dictates this lets the evil spirits out  – I think it looks good) and bake for 35 minutes in a preheated 175 c fan assisted oven.

Cool on a rack then slice, slather it in horseradish butter ( I mix 3 tbsp soft butter with 2 tsp horseradish sauce)   and serve with smoked salmon and lemon wedges.

Job done! My bags are packed and next I am crossing the Irish Sea and am off to the west country …..

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