BROAD BEANS

At last the first hints of spring. Although the winter has been mild not much happens. I have a small 30 watt heater in the sump tank. I aim to keep the water in the Fish tanks above 4*C so a juggling act between weather forecast and switching the heater on. Temperature variations above 2*C per day can stress the fish.

This year for the first time I planted winter Broad beans. My gardening friend said he planted one for him and one for the mice. As a comparison I planted some in the earth garden. About 80% casualties. So very hungry mice. The difference in the AP system is striking as you can see from the photos.

The main reason for the winter planting is to avoid black fly. This can be troublesome with later planting.

After talking to my gardening friend about broad beans I said I would go to the garden centre to buy some seeds. OH No he said. Go to Ron’s Stores in Rodbourne Swindon Wiltshire. They sell them loose. Ron’s Stores is an Aladdin's cave. A true old fashioned ironmonger. They do indeed sell them loose. A quarter pint or a half or a full pint. Imperial measures like these disappeared years ago in the UK. My quarter pint £0.6  were wrapped in a brown paper bag. The measures are older than I am and possibly valuable antiques.

Sometimes you encounter an old tradition that brightens up your whole day.

PURPLE BABKA

I spend, a lot of time sat at my kitchen table. It is the centre of my universe.

Over endless cups of tea the fortunes and misfortunes of our family are discussed at length.It is the backdrop for the majority of photos I post on this and other sites.

The table is round.

Our chosen positions vary. This adds to its attraction. There is no head of table to lecture from or bottom of table to be banished to.

3 O clock has the best view of the TV, but  also the closest to the sink and the dishwasher.

 9 O clock is closest to the cooking side.

Once nine has served the dinner three better think about clearing the dishes.

Sat at nine I could see the comforting light of the UV filter.

Shining in these cold wet January nights. All is well. The pumps are running. Fish are fine.

I no longer needed the UV light and decided to switch it off.

The dark January nights somehow seemed to creep closer to the round table.

Your thoughts turn to comfort food. Let’s be honest things mum used to cook.

Long, long ago in a camp in a very cold land my wife’s family survived on Babka. Today we eat it because we like it.

The recipe varies. Tonight. Two slices of pork belly. Diced as finely as I can be bothered. A couple of rasher of smoked bacon. Low heat. Do not add oil let the fat render out of the pork. Fry till crispy. Add the bacon towards the end. Set aside

Meanwhile Peel and grate about seven medium potatoes. Also one large onion.

I then put these into a plastic carrier bag. Add two eggs seven tablespoons of flour. Salt and pepper. The now cooled meat and rendered fat. Mix.

Turn out into a suitable baking tin. Bake for about an hour.

Slice and enjoy with your favorite pickles.

Optional.

Add a small red/blue LED light to the pump circuit.

Comfort food

Purple Babka

OCTOPUS CARPACCIO

Although this is an Italian dish. I first tasted it in Spain. We had caught the,”Frexisenet Express” north from Barcelaona to the village of Sant Sadurni d’ Anoia. With a couple of hours to kill before our scheduled tour of the,”Cava” Centre we wandered up into the village.

The road bollards are the shape of champagne corks. Champagne is a protected name for wine from a distinct region of France.

Or to look at another way. The French word for The Spanish Cava.

OK I am a little biased.

We stumbled upon this little restaurant.

I enjoy talking to people.

I also enjoy listening to people.

Sometimes just a few words of encouragement is all that is required.

My open smile and praise for the wonderful, octopus carpaccio we had just eaten was enough.

It would have been rude not to buy the second round of Grappa but certainly the third was not needed to pass on the recipe.

I am sure there are other recipes equally as good but this is the one he told me.

Boil the cleaned octopus for one hour.

Leave to cool in the water.

Put the octopus into a plastic bottle.

I used a cut off UK milk bottle. Depending on size.

Push, pound it down into the bottle to eliminate air pockets.

Freeze.

I don’t have the skill to carve thin slices with a sharp knife.

I used an electric slicer. Carve, slice the frozen octopus.

Add paprika, oil and salt to taste.

My wife suggested using garlic infused oil. Hm. Maybe.

UV LIGHTS and OTHER DISTRACTIONS

They say that holidays are a time to recharge your batteries.

Trouble is when you hit 65, everything takes a bit longer.

In Barcelona on my birthday we were upgraded to the Presidential suite.

Gosh. If I had known how well Presidents lived I would have been one earlier.

Private bar. 15th floor. Lights of Barcelona at night!

Not bad!

Home to reality.

One small piece of advice I would give to those contemplating retirement.

Don’t!

You have more time so you need more money.

Plane landed at 23.50. Back to work at 7.55am.

I need to work to maintain my standard of living. Truth is I would also be bored.

Work however sometimes get in the way of doing the things I love.

I can buy pickled onions.

I choose to sit watching old movies wearing a diving mask. Peeling onions.

Pounding cabbage for sauerkraut and coring apples to dry.

I get distracted.

Robert Harris the author was launching his new book in Hungerford. A town about 8 miles away.

My son flew in to Bristol. I picked him up and we went on to The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Australia v Fiji . I have to confess I wore an Aussie scarf but chanted Fiji too. An evening to remember.

I wanted to take some local photos.

 This week is, ‘Mop’ week. In the past this was a time local landowners would hire new workers. Today the celebrations include a, ‘fair’ in the main street. I figure you have all seen fairground rides so no photos. Next week.

Busy busy.

 Also a time for reflection.

Five years ago I was diagnosed with cancer. Five year survival prediction. Less than 50%

It has been a great five years!

Looking forward to many more!

Oh! Forgot to say. Added 9watt UV light to my quarantine tank set up.

New fish coming soon.

Life is not about delivering a perfectly preserved body to the finishing line.

It’s skidding across,  at the last second. What a rush!

PICKLED ONIONS

I am making pickled onions. 10Kg maybe I should have bought the 5Kg bag.

Peel. Soak in brine for 48 hours. Add pickling spice and non brewed condiment.

Easy.

It’s the protective suit goggles and gloves I find a little awkward. 

About half way!

IF I HAD A HAMMER

I posted recently about pounding meat to tenderize it but forgot to add a photo.

This is a shot of my meat hammer.

Do not buy one in a fancy high priced kitchen shop.

Instead look for them when you are on holiday, in the Asian shops in Spain and Portugal. 

These loin steaks will be cooked with lemon and garlic for tonights dinner.

Bit of a treat tonight!

‘Eton Mess’ for pudding!

Fresh raspberries, Meringue and fresh cream! Bliss!

Shop bought sadly.

My Raspberries are slow growing. So maybe later in the year.

MAMA'S PORK CHOPS

Mama’s Sunday Lunch

My mother in-law came to the UK from Eastern Europe a long time ago.

She cooked this meal for us many times. I never quite achieve the same memorable taste of those formal Sunday afternoon lunches.

Horse racing on the TV. Table groaning with food. Handed a glass and a bottle of vodka. Sit! Drink! Eat!

We had a mutual respect. She never really forgave me for marrying her daughter.

Forty six years later! Maybe her opinion has changed.

Food was always important to her.  When your early years involve railway trucks and camps. Constant fear and hunger. Breadcrumbs are precious.

She had a lump hammer.

Pounding meat tenderizes it. I have a small meat hammer.

A vegetable cube would be crushed and mixed with flour. Dusted in this mixture the pork chop would then be dipped in beaten egg covered in breadcrumbs and very slowly fried.

This was always served with mashed potatoes. Cream and butter added and when available chopped dill. 

Sliced cucumber was salted and mixed with tinned cream. A little vinegar added to sour the taste. Today I buy fresh sour cream from the supermarket.

Pickled cucumbers were always on the table. The bucket full of them kept under the bed. Non’t ask.

Today we substitute white wine for vodka and add a salad.

Watercress, spinach and sorrel from the AP. Boiled eggs and anchovies.

Olive oil and whole grain mustard salad dressing.

A whole new generation!

Whisper it softly.

Mama’s pork chops were the best!

Smoked Haddock Stack

Not so much a recipe as a serving suggestion.

Creamed Spinach surrounds an island of mashed potato topped with Smoked Haddock and a poached egg.

The cream spinach is made with a simple white sauce to which I add grated cheese and the spinach. I wilt the spinach in a little water and then chop with scissors. I find a little grated nutmeg enhances the taste of spinach. Steam the fish above the potatoes.

As it is a holiday here we had this with a bottle of Prosecco and freshly squeezed peach juice. Peach Bellini.

Bliss!!!!

Smoked Haddock Stack

MINK,BROCCALI and UNCLE BEN

How is your day going?

It’s a bank holiday weekend here in the UK. Which means it’s raining!

Wife, got called into work but thats Ok we are going to my daughters for dinner.

Er No! She is not feeling well. Change of plan.

Phone rang.”A mink” has moved onto your boat! A what! We have a small boat on The Kennet and Avon Canal a few kilometers south from home.

Now this is not the USA. I do not have a high powered rifle. Even if I had I wouldn’t. You know what I mean. I am thinking furry rats. Bait. The only chocolate we have is my wife’s uneaten Easter Egg. I set off thinking. Here minky minky! No. These are American mink. Howdy Mr mink? Yogi Bear! Smarter than the average bear! keeps going round my head.

Nervously I eat some chocolate. Harry Potter!

When I get there he has gone! Moved on. Not before he has left me many presents. Hm next time raisons. I brush and wash the floors. Yes! Dear with bleach.

Dinner? We have some broccoli in the fridge. Broccoli and Stilton soup? All right broccoli and Danish Blue soup.

Peel and roughly chop an onion. In a pan with water. Roughly chopped broccoli in steamer above. Heat say thirty minutes. Cool. Blend. When you reheat add the cheese.

I am starting some more seeds.

When dealing with very small seeds I use a plastic chop stick we got free from Uncle Ben.

I open a bottle of wine and have a drink. I deserve it!

Only then do I realize I left the Easter Egg on the boat!

SPINACH

This will be my last post on Spinach.

 I took this photo this afternoon just before we picked some for tonights dinner.

It is perpetual Spinach. We are now self sufficient. A continual supply of fresh greens for salads and other dishes.

However this particular harvest is not destined to join a salad.

Butter,flour and milk. A standard white sauce. I make it a bit thicker than normal and then add grated cheese. Our choice cheddar. I then scoop out the centre of a tomato and fill it with the creamed cheesy spinach mixture.

In the past I have always added grated nutmeg to spinach. It softens the sometime metallic taste. I find I am adding less to the AP spinach. I don’t know if this is because of an iron deficiency in my system or simply because it is fresher.

Fill the tomatoes. Bake for about thirty minutes.

RED CHARD

Red chard is a new vegetable for me. I bought the plants at the tail end of last year. A remnants sale in the local garden centre.

Really for some sort of bio-load in the grow bed over winter.

The last few weeks with the warmer weather they have been growing like crazy. 

So Sunday both of us have a day off. Real food tonight!

 Instinctively I turn to the Mediterranean for inspiration.   

Finley chop  a shallot onion and four cloves of garlic.

I am always an enthusiastic user of garlic. Long ago I had a garlic crusher gadget. Today I crush it with the blade of the knife and then chop. If in doubt add another clove.

Fry in half and half butter/olive oil.

Strip the leaves from the chard.

Roughly chop the stems. Add to the pan.

Pour a full glass of good white wine.

Two good swallows should leave you with a half glass.

Add this exact amount to the pan.

Reduce. Add the chopped chard leaves, half a hand full of grated  Parmesan cheese and stir.

Finish off with a squeezing half a lemon.

By the time you have washed your hands it’s ready.

As I said this is a new vegetable for me. If you have a favorite recipe I would love to hear it.

                                                                                     

Spinach for dinner

Three weeks ago I posted a photo of the grow bed. Just before i cut some spinach for dinner. Well guess what? Spinach again tonight.

I tried to take this photo from the same position

THREE WEEKS GROWTH 

Grelos de Santiago

The small plant in the fore ground is Grelos. Grelos de Santiago.

I bought it on E bay Espana.

It is grown all over northern Spain and is a key ingredient in Caldo de Galicia.

This is a rich stew of pork, beans and potatoes.

Grelos is a member of the turnip family. However it is grown for it’s leaves not the tubar. They add a Kale type strength and bitterness to this stew.

When I have cooked this stew here in the UK I have substituted kale.

I am impatient to try this, once again but with the real thing.

To the English eye Grelos looks like Brussell sprouts.

A thick central stem, but instead of the, baby cabbages, broad leaves.

It is a pick and come again vegetable.

On the,” Camino”

A pilgrimage to the cathedral in Santiago it was a common sight. The thick stem, sometimes three centimeters wide with the broad dark green leaves flanked our journey.

At night in soup or stew a staple.

Roast beef? London.

Pasta? Roma.

Grelos? Galica the Camino!

BACON PUDDING

Long ago the days were white and the nights were black.

Radios had to warm up.

Small children wore short trousers and balaclava helmets. Knitted by their grandmothers.

Food had to warm you up.

Bacon pudding

Mix four ounces of suet with eight of self raising flour. Add a pinch of salt, grate in a large onion. Add water as required.

Roll out. Cover with rashers of bacon. Roll up to form a ’Roly Poly’

Bake in the oven for about an hour.

Mash cabbage and gravy go well with it.

Ah! We had eaten half before I thought to take the photo!

ROAST PORK KNUCKLE

Tonight I am cooking. Roast pork knuckle with roast potatoes and cabbage.

We first had this dish in Prague. The Czech republic.

My version is modified a bit. I omit the caraway seeds, increase the garlic add a bay leaf. Later I add brown  sugar.

It was a wonderful Prague Sunday lunch. The sound of the OM PAH band could not be resisted.

The music drew us in. The black larger confirmed we were in the right place.

I am an English bitter drinker but the Czech people make a fantastic beer.

Even my wife, a wine drinker, enjoyed the beer.

It is the custom to tip the band by putting notes into the horn of the Tuba player.

I had never realized how deep a Tuba was.

Today;

My son texted me from Southern Spain, where he lives. 25*C on the beach. Cold beer, olives and fried squid.

My eldest  daughter from a coach somewhere in the UK. Away football game for my grandson. Sandwiches! Bless!

My youngest daughter from Lacock. A one table invitation only restaurant in a, “ nice private  house” “ Fantastic food” “great company”

However. Boil the knuckles for about an hour. Let cool.  Move to a roasting tin. Add some of the stock from the boiling. Add brown sugar. 

I cannot remember wether Mick was discussing Brown Sugar or Honky Tonk women, but say two table spoons.

I like my music loud when cooking.

This may have affected the amount of sugar I added.

Then roast for about  an hour and a half in a medium oven.

Baste a bit in between tracks.

Increase the heat for the last 30 minutes.

The addition of sugar will blacken the skin.

On a wet cold English Saturday night, Good grub!

PS Current medical advice is that with carefully controlled exposure to rock music I will eventually remember the sixties.

NEW and OLD

Just before I picked some spinach for tonights dinner I took this photo.

Early last November I picked up a variety of plant plugs in the reduced section at the local Garden Centre. Very cheap. I washed the roots and put them in.

The grow bed is outside with simple drop down plastic curtains.

Admittedly they didn’t do much over the winter. The last few weeks of warmer weather has seem them really grow.

This will be our first harvest of the year.

The other photo is of my seeds germinating. This was a cheap LED fixture. It works great for germination. Not sure if it has enough power for full growing.

Me Too!

The downside of an outside aquaponics system in the UK is that inevitably you are going to get cold and wet.

I need sunshine! I lipread from outside, on the cold and wet side of the double glazing! Hmm. Me too!

We fled south to Spain for a few days. A walk on the,’Sunny Side’

A ‘Chiringuito’ is a bar/restaurant on the beach.

 I will never tire of watching the Mediterranean. 

Combine this with grilled sardines and a cold white wine. Hmm Me too!

After lunch we found : ‘The Racing Club in Torrox Costa, Malaga, Andalusia, Spain.

On Saturday afternoons they have an open jam session: Mandolin Mick joined us that afternoon. Enjoy!

BURNS NIGHT

I am not Scottish but for many years I have had, a fondness for Burn’s Night.

Haggis, Neeps and Tatas on the table. Flower of Scotland in the background and ‘The ode’. Fun for all the family and lifts the spirits in January. Yes, and a good excuse to drink a drop of whiskey.

This connection with Burns night started for me in Southern Spain.

January is a quiet time on The Costa Del Sol. Many of our local bars were closed.

In the few Ex-pat bars that were open there was more time to chat.

This particular bar was run by a chap from Liverpool.  It was very close to our apartment and a warm escape from the cold wind.

This was before satellite TV and the internet. Newspapers were at least a day old and told stories of a UK, somehow remote. Life was local and layered. Spanish friends and work colleagues but also the relaxed repartee in the ex-pat bars at night. Drink was cheap.

My wife and I were the only customers and we sat chatting to the owner.

Talk turned to attracting more customers. We had owned restaurants and although not a chef I am a fair cook. Offer food was an obvious solution. But what?

Another mutual friend had called me on Christmas Eve morning for help.

He had forgotten to defrost the turkeys for his restaurant . With loads of booking for that night. He was panicking. One oven and four frozen turkeys in the freezer. We put the turkeys in the bath to defrost. One after another in his oven. One in ours and I drove fifteen miles to my mothers house where she cooked the final one. Chaotic but everyone had a great night.

With this little accomplishment in mind maybe I was a bit arrogant.

Why not do Burn’s Night? You provide the whiskey I will do the Haggis.

Mashed potatoes and swede was easy. How do you make Haggis?

No internet to look up the recipe. No cook book.

 Oh dear phone my Mum. 

She had a friend who was a butcher. A Welsh butcher! 

Oh well. Oats? Would Ready Brek do? Sheeps; liver, kidneys, hearts and lungs.

No butcher in Spain would sell me lungs.

The rest we minced and mashed tied up in a new muslin cloth and steamed for hours.

It was a great night. Half the customers were Spanish. I never really found out what they thought about this strange Scottish fare.Cooked prepared and served by two lads from Brighton and  Liverpool.

We never made Haggis again.

He moved away

My friend! I raise a glass to you every twenty fifth of January and remember the happy times.

Shaving a Pig

Should I use an electric or wet razor? This was the dilemma I faced on Christmas Eve. It’s a special event.Let’s go for the close cut of the wet razor!

Whilst washing his face I had noticed quite a bit of stubble.

The blow torch had reduced it considerably but some of those irritating patches remained.

It was while I was tackling a particularly tricky bit round the chin I happened to glance up his nostrils. After a good twirl the cotton buds were still coming out green.

A lick and a promise were not enough to wash this bad boy’s face!

OK face down in boiling water for ten minutes.

Now you are ready! Just a tad more Rosemary.

Into the oven. As with most meat very hot to start and then reduce the temperature.

About four hours in total.

You need to wrap foil around the ears and the nose to prevent burning these extra special bits. We took turns to baste him in honey.

Onto the serving plate. A cocktail stick secured the customary apple.

It was carried through to the dining table.

The smoke coming from the super clean nostrils added a nice dramatic touch.

Pig’s snout anyone? Or would you prefer an ear?

It tasted delicious.

The cheeks were particularly good!

Luba's Chicken Pate

Luba was our friend.

She grew up in Beirut.

Long ago before the troubles came.

She told stories of a home in an apartment block built around an open atrium.

At night in the summer heat they would lean over the balcony facing the atrium chatting to neighbors.

Many neighbors many languages. She spoke more languages than I have fingers.

One Christmas she made a large amount of chicken pate.

She put the pate into the cups of a tea set.

Cheaper than buying Tupperware, “She said”

I have one sixth of the tea set.

I don’t remember the recipe for the chicken pate.

I remember Luba.