Sam Raithatha’s gently spiced rice (for three)
Danny snaked back from the post run last night holding a Waitrose curry aloft. Like the Olympic torch. “£3.99 down to £1.49. We couldn’t make it for that price,” he beamed. Danny is a chicken Korma sort of guy. He doesn’t like hot, spicy food. “But you only eat mild curries and this is a Vindaloo – look, it’s got a 3 chilli rating.” “Oh.” “Never mind. I’ll whistle up some dishes that will cool down the heat. And we can try Sam’s rice dish.” Apart from having healing hands in common, both Sam and I adore food...
read moreWalnut vinegar recipe
Last year I was a bit late picking walnuts for The Grand Pickled Walnut Challenge. Not wanting to waste the nuts that were clearly far too hard to pickle, I flexed my muscles and cut a few in half. I added these to some white wine vinegar, popped the experiment onto a shelf in the barn and forgot all about it. About a month ago I was searching the shelves for empty vodka and gin bottles to make raspberry liqueur. My hand slipped and the bottle of walnut vinegar smashed on the ground. I managed to wipe a drop onto my forefinger as the vinegar...
read moreTales from a big bed: Algebra and physics
When I was at secondary school there were a couple of subjects that just didn’t sing to me. Algebra and physics. They came on the same day, bang in the middle of the school week. But I knew that if I woke at dawn and coughed hard I could create an instant sore throat by the time my mother came in to wake me. She’d immediately make me a hottie and bring up a cold drink. Then my mum would proffer a thermometer – the old fashioned type with mercury that you had to twist to see the result. And as she went to the medicine cabinet to find...
read moreGarden, beds and bugs
We have chunky tomatoes in the greenhouse that are just beginning to blush orange. I’ve spotted doll’s house sized runner beans on the canes. We splashed out and are growing two types this year: White Lady – a sweet and stringless bean recommended by Maurice and a nameless bean donated by John Coe. “These have wonderful long pods and bright red flowers.” He winked. The seeds were a motley purple and black colour. The kitchen garden is doing better than any year before and we’re half thrilled half terrified of being hit by the...
read moreSummer Crudités salad with toasted cashews and lemony dressing recipe
When I was a teenager my mother often took me and my sister to Paris for a month. It was always in August when a lot of Parisians are away from the city. Quite a few shops and restaurants were closed but the art galleries and the big shops were open and we generally found somewhere good to eat lunch. It was in one of those little left bank restaurants that I discovered the delight of Crudités – a plate of raw vegetables and aioli mayonnaise for dipping. The diffused light of the restaurant and clean tastes of the dish contrasted with...
read moreHampton Court Flower Show 2009. A great day out.
Although it’s almost a twelve hour round trip, I wouldn’t want to miss the final day of the Hampton Court Flower Show. Danny always gives me two tickets as a Valentine’s Day present. Fills his company car with diesel and happily waves me goodbye for the day. He doesn’t do shows. I have tried taking him but within 20 minutes he is back in the car with a newspaper. He’s happy for about an hour overall and then he gets dramatically restive. He might not even survive a visit to the Hampton Court Flower Show. It’s a great day out if you...
read moreWe have plans for our pair of guinea fowl
I love our guinea fowl. Particularly Cloud, the sweet natured Stepford wife who doesn’t appear to notice her husband’s rages or his need to cosy up to Carol, our Maran hen. Carol is not keen on this type of speed dating so rebuffs his advances. But I know that Thunder rattles her. Often I find her feeding with the younger chicken when I toss them mixed wild bird seed in the morning. Both guineas love these treats and don’t want to share. The rest of the flock are frightened by his mighty pecks. Thank goodness we have an arrangement...
read moreHessian sacks, traditional English sack and three legged racing
I’ve been storing the paper sacks from our chicken feed to house Danny’s spuds (if they sail through). I mentioned this to him last night. “I’d prefer hessian sacks, ideally.” A couple of years ago I’d found hessian sacks on the Isle of Wight garlic farm site. This morning I drew a blank. There is no search facility on the site. Perhaps they still sell them, I just don’t know. I motored over to Cambridge to visit my mum and on the way home I decided to drop into Notcutts, Horningsea. We needed short bamboo stakes to support our...
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