Just peachy...

Two food related things delighted me this weekend...one was Ottolenghi recipe for cauliflower tabuleh - was real goood and other was this ridikulous peach marketing ploy.

Fab few food weeks

I love Autumn...bright blue skies, tantilising tendrils of wood smoke combined with the late bounty of squash, cavelo nero and other harvest delights.

So I decided to make the most of the season by taking weeks staycation during which I racked up quite a few food forays.

First up was talk by Rachel Demuth at Newton St Loe farm shop (hidden gem just between Bristol and Bath in super cute village that has a village hall that doubles at village pub). 

The demo showed how to make the most of Autumnal delights and the menu was as follows:

• Sautéed wild mushrooms with quince membrillo
• Roasted pumpkin, hazelnut and feta salad
• Watercress and walnut pearl barley risotto 

Rachel raved about another use for quinces which was to make a Quince vodka infusion that apparently takes much less time to mature than say sloe gin..so inspired by this I've got a batch on the go and will report back on success at Christmas. It contains masses of sugar so I'm hoping for fragrant syrup to give as presents and douse ice cream with.

I then headed off for few days mooching about Cotswold's staying up in Worcester at the very comfortable Eckington Manor...oak beamed building with under floor heating, goose down bedding and Fired Earth bathroom suite. Which also has cookery school and we booked in to learn the science behind meringue, macaroon and marshmallows. 

It was a great demo but not sure I'm inclined towards the accuracy these things need but I do own a sugar thermometer so perhaps I should face the fear and get hot and sticky!

Also whilst visiting the nearby Snowshill Manor (two manors in one day - get me) I picked up some beautiful apples..small, sharp flavour bullets that I'm going to relish with a very ripe cheese.

 

A dash back to Bristol took me to a special Halloween dinner put on by the Mi Casa crew. We were told to meet down an alley in a very insalubrious part of town..where a cloaked man holding Victorian style lamp was waiting (he tried to keep a somber face but by friend had him struggling to hide smiles). He then walked us to back of building and into old lift that descended doooown into low ceiling-ed basement where this greeted us.

thank you for a super supper

Luckily what followed was delicious feast including beetroot martini and a gruesome shortbread finger.

Chestnut, ricotta and vin santo ice cream

Confession time - I really really like food packaging and often find myself wandering foreign supermarket isles the way other people mooch about art galleries.

I'm not sure what it is specifically I like about packaging but think it might stem from these little beauties I can remember admiring as a teen in France.

real purdy tins

Anyway I have quite a collection of these creme de marron tins so decided it was time to start consuming them! I pondered for a bit, considered mont blancs, cakes and other things but settled on a surprising ice cream using ricotta and vin santo and lemon zest.

The result was freakin' awesome...light, fragrant, protein pack and pleasantly grainy. I served it up to my lil' brother as part of a birthday feast after Beef Bourguignon and sticky braised lemony fennel.

Here's the recipe I used and I modified it by using tinned puree (instead of making my own) plus added some chopped whole chestnuts instead of candied fruit. Thereby using up another ancient pantry item - huge jar of whole chestnuts in syrup from Turkey.

I've still got 3/4 jar of whole candied chestnuts left so if anyone has ideas on what to use them do holler.

Thrifty gift

Picked up a footstool at Cheddar car boot for a ridukulas 3 quid...then covered with fabric to modernise and voila! xmas present for busy friend who needs to put her feet up more often.

I recently won a place at Demuths cookery school in Bath so booked in to find out how to cook a vegetarian Thai meal. I regularly cook 'thai' inspired tucker but never get the balance quite right.

So the menu was: Thai Red Curry, Spring Rolls, Nam Prik Pao-chilli dipping Sauce and sticky black rice pudding with chilli papaya slices.

Was a lovely relaxed evening and here are the Thai Top Tips I learnt...

1. it's all about the balance of sweet (jaggery), sour (tamarind/lime leaves) and hot
2. take the time to roast garlic, chilli and shallots in a little foil packet sans oil before you pound and you will be rewarded with excellent flava
3. the order of ceremony for assembling curry is onions, spices, coconut > simmer THEN add veg..I used to add veg before coconut and got a soggy overly creamy affair
4. add funny ear shaped mushrooms and pea aubergines for interest and authenticate taste
   

Just back from ferreting around an amazing flea market in Carmarthen and picked up this fab rocking chair for the measly sum of £13!

Later discovered it was only a blinkin' made by famous Finnish designer in the 1940’s and sells for c.€200 plus on ebay – lucky me.

The start of a fantastic grande family weekend to celebrate my Dad's 70th or 840 moons. We stopped en route to a spectacular house in Llanfairfechan and bought this deelish Shropshire pork pie.