March H2B, Sunday Lunch

March H2B, Saturday Lunch

My favourite sort of lunch!

March H2B, Friday Supper

At the weekend we had 25 people for another Heart2Bless event. This was supper for Friday night. A veggie delight!

March in BBQ

BBQ in March!

Wild Garlic Pesto

This week I went for a bit of a forage in our local public gardens and harvested several bunches of wild garlic. Nothing better to do with wild garlic than make pesto...mmmmmm!
This recipe is by Sarah Raven.

For a large jar:
2 handfuls (about 100g) of wild garlic leaves with flowers
200ml extra virgin olive oil, plus a bit more for sealing
50g pine nuts or walnuts
2 garlic cloves
50g parmesan cheese, grated
salt and black pepper

Blanch the wild garlic leaves in boiling water for about 10 seconds. Refresh in cold water and pat dry on kitchen paper.
Put the wild garlic, olive oil, pine nuts or walnuts, together with the garlic cloves, into a food processor and blend to a puree.
Transfer to a bowl and mix in the grated parmesan.
Season carefully and put into a sterilised jar.
Pour over a little extra virgin olive oil to seal and cover tightly.

Chai Tea Syrup

A couple of weeks ago it was my friends birthday. She loves syrups in her coffee so I thought she might enjoy this alternative, Chai Tea Syrup. I used a recipe from my little brother's blog but only used half the amount of sugar as I prefer a less sweet cup of chai.
My friend really enjoyed it. Thanks Jono!

today on the farm...

sowing surplus salad seeds

It has been a productive day on the farm today, after morning prayers…

I filled & covered the right half of the compost bin with the contents of last year’s plant pots and window boxes ready for re-planting

I emptied THREE WHEELBARROWS FULL (120L I reckon) of 18-month-old-home-made-compost from the left half of the compost bin ready for re-filling

I sowed last year’s surplus salad-leaf seeds under a spontaneously-scrap-built ‘polytunnel’; old wire fencing covered in the ripped remnants of the trampoline netting

I had a picnic lunch with Pixie al fresco

I had my hair cut by Rebekah…

… who rewired the light fitting in the hallway so that it holds three light-bulbs instead of one

made some chai syrup

And had a French lesson

Favourite Spiced Parsnip Soup

This is our favourite parsnip soup, by Sarah Raven, and is just the best when we find ourselves snowed in here at Bethanie in the winter.

For 6:

30g butter
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 onion, chopped
675g parsnips, chopped
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1.2 litres vegetable stock
salt and black pepper
A little milk (optional)
150ml single cream
yoghurt and chopped coriander to serve (optional)

Melt the butter with the oil in a large heavy-based pan and add the chopped onion and parsnips. Sweat them for 5 minutes, without allowing them to colour. Stir in the spices and cook gently for another 2 minutes.
Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the parsnips are quite tender. Allow to cool slightly, season carefully and puree in a food processor.
Return the soup to a clean pan, adding a little milk if necessary, depending how thick you would like the soup.
Add the cream and warm through gently without allowing the soup to boil. Serve with a dollop of yoghurt and some chopped coriander.

The Temptation of the Parsnip

So, day 1 of our Lent Challenge was indeed a challenge.
The French don't really do parsnips, at least not the way the Brits do, so it is not often you'd find them for sale and, if you do, the quality tends to be quite poor. In the 18 months that we have lived here, we have never seen them in our local store. And as our own supply from the patch ran out a while ago, we've started to get a few cravings, especially for our favourite Spicy Parnsip Soup by Sarah Raven.

So I think you'll understand my dilema on Wednesday, as I was standing in the vegetable aisle of our local supermarket, staring heartbroken into a panier of fresh fat parsnips...Origine: Grande Bretagne! Oh the irony!

Lent Challenge

The season of Lent is upon us and this year our Lent commitments are:

• to buy local - we're only going to buy meat, fruit and vegetables that are 'Origine de France'
• to reduce our consumption of meat - we're only going to eat meat 3 times a week

We really want to be better at buying food with a low carbon footprint, as well as investing into local economy. We want to reduce our meat intake for environmental reasons and also because we do enjoy vegetarian food and would like to increase and develop our veggie repertoire.