Borage Flower Ice Cubes

I found some borage growing in our allotment and was scrounging around for ideas on what to do with them. I found this fab idea on the net that meant the flowers could be used for a long time and in pretty cocktails. All you do is wash the flowers put them into ice cube trays, fill the tray and freeze. I improvised and used sweet lime juice instead of water to make it a bit more interesting. Easy peasy! Ann x

P.S. Apparently borage is good for the spirits so if you are having one of those down times, trying munching on some flowers ( unless you are pregnant!)

Courgette and Lemon Jelly Sorbet

Like most allotmenteers, we've been having a courgette glut this year. I've used these babies in pretty much any recipe I could think of and slowly getting bored. Yesterday I happened to see a recipe in the Times for a courgette sorbet and I instantly loved the idea. As we were planning a picnic with friends I wasnt sure the frozen sorbet would really work so I improvised a bit and added a couple of my own ingredients- gelatine and rum. The result was tasty. Different but tasty. Here is what I did.

I chopped a couple of small courgettes and pureed them in a blender with 1/4 cup of lime juice. I then added caster sugar, rum and a few mint leaves and blended the mixture again. In a small saucepan I added 1/4 cup of water and added two gelatine leaves. I simmered this so as to melt the gelatine leaves completely. I then added the gelatine mixture to the green mix in the blender, blended a couple of more times before pouring them into jelly moulds and freezing them. To serve, garnish with a mint leaf and a top with a teaspoon of rum!

Cornwall Camping Highlights

Polkeris Beach

St. Michael's Mount

Fowey Harbour

The beautiful St.Ives

St. Ives Beach. Gorgeous light and white sand

Camping grub from our allotment

Who said camping can't be civilised?

Dinner cooking

Bird of Paradise at Eden Project

One tiny bit of the magnificent Eden Project

Fishmongers at Padstow

Rick Stein Oyster take-way

Rick Stein's Fish & Chips

Newquay-surfers paradise

Ferns at the Lost Gardens of Heligan

Lizard. UK's most southerly point

The stunning Kynance Cove beach. Check for the tide table

Shakespeare in the moonlight at Minack theater

Lavender and Honey Panacotta

 

I don't know if you do this but I sometimes daydream myself into what I think is a brilliant idea. Edible flowers have fascinated me of late and as I sat staring at my garden one day I thought of making panacotta using lavender flowers. I've made panacotta a few times before and its so lovely yet simple to make. I thought lavender would add a touch of exotic to this creamy dessert. 

The recipe is very simple. I simmered 300ml of milk in a saucepan and after it reached boiling point, I added a few fresh lavender flowers. These mask the milky smell (which I detest) and bring out a lovely flavour. I soaked 3 gelatine leaves in water so as to soften them and then added them to the mix. I then added a couple of tablespoons of sugar and some honey to taste. Then in goes 300ml of double cream, stir, stir stir and leave it to cool. I poured the mixture into ramekins, covered them with clingfilm and left them to set in the fridge. The next day, I used a small knife to tease them out of the ramekins.

To serve, I poured a spoon of organic honey and garnished the panacotta with fresh lavender flowers. This was an experiment that went well. I'm thinking lavender ice-cream next! Ann x

Spicy Mackerel with Samphire

 

Waitrose do the best mackerel I've had in the UK, other than of course freshly sourced ones from Billingsgate. For the last few days I've been craving this delicious oily fish and decided to pick some up whilst in Waitrose. I also found some Cornish  samphire (a sea vegetable)  which I've read about in Rick Stein's English Seafood Cookery book. As I love mackerel in a curry for fried in spices, I decided to do a curried, baked version of the fish. We also picked some fish radishes from our allotment and sauteed them along with the samphire and red onions. The result was absolutely lovely. Here is how I cooked it.

 Method: Marinate the mackerel in chilli powder and turmeric and bake in a greased shallow baking for about 15 mins. Meanwhile, chop 2 onions,a handful of breakfast radishes and saute them together. Add a teaspoon of garlic paste/crushed garlic. Wash the samphire thoroughly and add to the mix and saute for another 3-5 mins. Serve hot. Simple yet so very tasty!  P.S. A photo of one of our first harvests from the lottie!

We are Allotmment People!

I received a very unexpected call whilst working from home one day in March. We were offered an allotment plot!! We have been on the waiting list for the nearby allotment for over a year and were 11th on the list last year. Somewhere along the line all the competition had vanished and we were given the the choice of two plots; one an overgrown and waterlogged half plot  and the other a humongous full plot with a polytunnel that reminded me a bit of Jungle Book. We chose the latter fully knowing how much hard work it would be. I will post our progress on here as often as I can. Wish us luck!!

P.S. Here are some photos of the allotment as we found it, tilled and with recycled  raised beds 

Fresh Figs and Pear Tart

I know I've been cheeky posting lots of photos of food recently with no recipes attached. Sadly the day job and stuff has kept me so busy that I've had no time for blogging. I've promised myself I'll finish the incomplete posts after April. Anyway, I'll leave you with one nice and simple recipe that is yum yum yum! My husband finished off most of what I made of this already and its not been very long at all! Here you go.

Ingredients:
6 Fresh Figs
1 Pear, peeled
250g puff pastry
Flour and sugar for dusting

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 200 C. Roll out the pastry till its about 2.5 mm thick. Cut out circular sections (approx 5-6cm dia is what I used) using a pastry cutter or dish. Slice the figs and pear and place them in each of these pastry sections. Sprinkle sugar. Stick it in the oven for about 20 min at 180 C. When the pastry has browned and risen well and the figgy juices start to flow, your tart is ready to eat. Its lovely eaten on its own or with some vanilla ice-cream. Enjoy! Ann x