A mid winter feast is just an excuse to have friends around! It doesn’t have to be classic British cooking as in a mid winter Xmas feast – and this won’t be. But it will include great ideas for entertaining, and a delicious menu including comfort foods and seasonal produce.
Oh-la-la …More French with A Trip to Normandy
Thursday 27th or Saturday 29th
Think Calvados, cider, cream, camembert, coquille St Jacques, crepes (all the c’s!) and galettes! A gorgeous collection, so perfect for this time of year.
And French wines and tasting specialties, of course.
I cannot walk past a pile of borlotti beans without wanting to grab a bunch. They’re pretty stunning with their stripy pinky pods and randomly pinked beans. I’m hoping to have a pile to cook on my autumn class
With dirt and twigs still attached, the first of the season walnuts caught my eye at La Cigale market on Saturday. I had to have some! And you can too…over the next few months they’ll be available at many farmers’ markets around the country. Don’t think about going, just GO! You’ll get the pick of the produce too. Farmers’ markets reflect the true seasons, with the first of each fruit or vegetable appearing long before mainstream supermarkets stock them.
Our cat Grigio (a loveable lump of lard, though looking quite respectable in this pic), does NOT like chillies and is only hanging around in the hope of yet another stroke of his whiskers. You can see some of the chillies in the basket are starting to dry, and they can be left on the plant until they reach this point but you must be careful to remove them before damp weather conditions prevail or they will rot. You can string up large ones and hang them in the garage to dry, or, if you are vigilant, dry them in a wicker basket turning them every day to prevent softening. If you have a dehydrator, split each chilli and dry for 12 hours at medium heat. Once chillies are dry you can drop them into soups, stews, curries, chilli con carne and numerous other dishes to add a bit of zing during the cold months.
