Blog - All That I'm Eating

Vegetable Patch Update

May 13, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 12 Comments

Vegetable seeds started to go in to the soil and under the cloches back in March and now, in May, all sorts of things are happening. Since the first year I started gardening I grow what I know and always something new. This year I’m growing: beans (broad and purple), peas, courgettes (patty-pan, cousa courgette and bent Summer squash), tomatoes and maybe something else I’m yet to decide on. Peas are the newcomers in the patch this year.

Beans have always worked for me, especially broad beans. Purple beans were a bit hit and miss last year but I’m trying again this year. I plant the beans under cloches a row every two or three weeks from March until now.

This year is the first year I am growing peas; they seem to be doing well so far. Although tying string around every pea or bean stem is monotonous, I actually quite enjoy it. The peas and beans are successfully avoiding slug and cat attack so far.

I thought my rhubarb was gone forever; nothing seemed to be happening in the corner where I’d planted it. Finally and with much enthusiasm it has come up and looks fantastic. I think I’ll wait a little longer before I pick any. read more

Honey and Cinnamon Spelt Biscuits

May 9, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 18 Comments

I like books. I can rarely walk past a charity or second hand book shop without having a little nose around. My affection for literature is not just for old books, I love the smell of new ones. As a result of my fondness, and subsequent collection of books, it was about time I sorted a few out in order to prevent some sort of hardback avalanche occurring. So that I didn’t get bored I thought it was a good idea to intersperse the organising with some biscuit making. I had bought some spelt flour a while ago to make some soda bread and there was a recipe on the back for these biscuits. They sounded ridiculously quick and simple and I thought it would be rude not to give them a try.

You can find a very similar recipe on the Doves Farm site here.
You will need:
200g Wholegrain Spelt Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
125g Honey
75g Sunflower Oil

These are some of the easiest biscuits I have ever made; mix everything together, put on a baking tray and bake for only 8-12 minutes.

In amongst all the book sorting, biscuit mixing and desperation in trying to remember to remove all dough from my hands before it ended up on my books I have a few tips to pass on.

Firstly, if you weigh the oil out first and then weigh the honey on top of the oil it will all slide out together and you won’t be stuck scraping honey out of your measuring bowl. Secondly these biscuits grow quite like no other; at least doubling in size so leave plenty of room. Lastly they need at least 12 minutes baking, mine took about 15 minutes in total but that may have been because they were large. read more

Carrot and Orange Gazpacho

May 3, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 33 Comments

Apart from the occasional carrot cake or carrot salad I rarely have opportunity to make the carrot the star of the show. Carrots tend to make an appearance in the vegetable box but this time, instead of stored carrots from last year I had the first spring carrots. Thin and still slightly muddy with great green fronds, these carrots couldn’t simply be added to a stew. I had never made a cold soup before; I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. Was it going to feel like a soup that had been left in the bowl too long or was it going to be more like a vegetable smoothie? What if there were all sorts of unwanted lumpy bits and it looked like wallpaper paste? There was much ooh-ing and aah-ing as I tried to work out how best to juice a carrot. It turns out all the deliberation was worth it, carrot gazpacho is in a soup league of its own. You will need (for two):

500g carrots, peeled and chopped

1/4 red pepper, chopped

2 spring onions, chopped

1 garlic clove

1/4 cucumber, peeled and chopped

Few sprigs coriander, chopped

2-3 tbsp orange juice

extra virgin olive oil

white wine vinegar

salt and pepper

The Valle D’Oro at Newbury

April 29, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 12 Comments

Everyone has ‘that’ restaurant. For some ‘that’ restaurant can be a guilty pleasure, shrouded in memories or just because you love it and can’t quite put your finger on it. For me, The Valle D’Oro at Newbury is the restaurant I always call upon when I need something. Sometimes it’s to fill a hole with so much cheese I can barely walk, other times it’s just because I love it. Why do I love it? I cannot be specific as all the aspects of being there work together to ultimately provide an evening you cannot leave without feeling satisfied. read more

Cookery Demo

April 26, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 21 Comments

You may have heard that I had my first live cookery demo at the weekend. I’ve done a few smaller ones before but they were more a case of me trying to persuade people to try my wares as they walk past; people seem to think I’m trying to sell something so they tend to steer clear. Or maybe people don’t want to eat cabbage at 9am on a Sunday morning. This time it was all proper; kitchen, stage, mirrors above the worktop and everything. Fortunately it was inside so I didn’t have to contend with the weather as well as my nerves. I had no idea what to expect and not a clue how it was going to go. There were a few things that I had in mind to say but nothing particular. I had a bit of time to prep and get organised before I started but that went by in a flash.

My demonstration was all about asparagus; three different ways to cook it and three different flavours to complement it. Firstly boiled asparagus with lemon, orange and black pepper butter, secondly griddled asparagus with crème fraîche and chive dip and lastly raw asparagus salad. The boiled asparagus had to sadly be left out of the demo as I was using an induction hob and the pan I had brought to boil in wouldn’t work. Luckily my griddle pan was hob compatible so there were two bunches griddled and one bunch raw. It was remarkable that I managed to get it all ready at the same time, I didn’t leave anything out and it even looked slightly presentable. read more

Three ways with Asparagus 3 of 3: Raw Asparagus Salad

April 21, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 13 Comments

The third and final part of my demo is raw asparagus salad. This is a brilliant way of enjoying asparagus. It almost tastes of fresh peas or beans. Eating asparagus raw means you can enjoy its crunch and subtle flavours. Don’t worry though, it’s far more elegant than shovelling whole spears in your face, it’s delicately peeled into thin strips with a very simple dressing.

You will need (for two):

A bunch of asparagus Rapeseed Oil Old Winchester (or Parmesan) Juice of ½ lemon Black pepper Peeling the asparagus with a hand peeler is actually quite easy; you can attack it full force, bits of asparagus flying everywhere, and it seems to work pretty well. You could try it with a mandoline but I have too much affection for my fingers to try it.

Remove the woody ends of the asparagus but leave enough to hold on to. Peel the asparagus from stem to tip, keep the stems (non woody) for making into a soup, or if you’re really adventurous a soufflé or sorbet. Pile all your peelings into a bowl, drizzle over some rapeseed oil, lemon juice, pepper and a healthy shaving of Old Winchester. Old Winchester is our answer to Parmesan and if you’ve not tried it before it has a similar texture but a bit more bite and acidity. read more

Three ways with Asparagus 2 of 3: Griddled with crème fraîche and Chive Dip

April 20, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 11 Comments

The second part of my cookery demo is all about griddled asparagus. This is a great way of cooking asparagus as you can do it on a griddle inside or outside on the BBQ if the weather is on your side! Whichever way you choose you will get a wonderfully smoky, almost nutty flavour to the asparagus. It’s fantastic on its own or on the side with some poached fish, especially with the chive and crème fraîche dip! read more

Three ways with Asparagus 1 of 3: with Orange, Lemon Zest and Black Pepper Butter

April 19, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 19 Comments

This weekend I am doing my first proper cookery demo at The Greener Living Show in the New Forest. To make things as easy as possible I am keeping it simple and seasonal. I will be cooking asparagus three different ways to show how one vegetable, if prepared differently, can taste completely different.

First and foremost; boiled asparagus. A great way of cooking asparagus but it’s hampered with the lingering fear of over cooking it and ending up with a soggy, limp green stalk. I don’t bother putting only the stems in the water so the heads can steam gently, I just throw it all in and it works every time. read more

Leftover Sloe Chocolate Truffles

April 17, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 18 Comments

Considering how long these sloes have been hanging around it’s remarkable they’re still able to be made into something delicious. They were picked early Autumn last year and have so far been made into glorious gin and pleasing port. There comes a time in sloe port making where the sloes have to be removed. It’s an emotional time; what can you do now that many sloe avenues have been exhausted? Sloe chocolate truffles. The sloes were to be even further used and improved with deep, dark, luxurious chocolate. As the sloes had been steeping for several months in various alcohols I was under the impression they would be soft, plump and easy to extract the stones out of. After much ricocheting around the kitchen I managed to tame the sloes with a pestle and mortar. The stones were put back under the sloe tree, I’m not sure what effect alcohol has on sloe germination.

You will need:
A large handful port soaked sloes, de-stoned (recipe for making sloe port here)
150g dark chocolate
150ml double cream
25g butter
Cocoa Powder

Heat the cream up gently until almost boiling, stirring often so it doesn’t catch.

While the cream heats up, grate the chocolate into a bowl, cut the butter up and put this in the bowl too. To be honest I did this before I heated the cream otherwise I knew the cream wouldn’t get the attention it deserved and I’d still be cleaning the kitchen now. read more

Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Mixed Mushroom Risotto

April 15, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 13 Comments

I do like purple sprouting broccoli. It seems less like broccoli than a standard green tree and so I feel I should pay it extra care and attention. As much as I enjoy a stem or two on the side of the plate sometimes I want it to be the star attraction. There was a lot of purple sprouting broccoli to get through; a whole bag full in fact from the veg box. One of the reasons I like purple sprouting so much is that it signals the start of Spring. Along with rhubarb, when you see the purple tipped stems standing proud you know it’s only a matter of time until ‘the other stuff’ starts appearing; asparagus, beans, fruits, tomatoes and all sorts of other treats.

An Italian deli has recently opened up nearby and I am lucky to have access to many interesting ingredients that I didn’t before. This also means I have another local shop to happily support and one of the many reasons for returning is their mushrooms. Similar to mushrooms you can buy in a jar but you don’t pay for oil you don’t use. You get all different sorts of mushrooms in a light oil with herbs and a slightly acidic taste. These earthy mushrooms would make a brilliant partner for my sweet broccoli to top a white risotto. read more