Thomas the Cook

I have sad news to tell:the greenhouse is no more.

The tomatoes didn't ripen and before they got a chance to be edible, they were nommed by a small army of ugly little caterpillars. Pretty much everything else went the same way, maybe because we have had such a wet and tame summer this year, I've heard similar experiences from other people.

Everything from the herbs to the budding aubergines had to be binned and as I've moved house, I can't see me getting into any more gardening.

It was fun while it lasted.

Next stop: more recipes 'n' memories 'n' stuff.

For a while I didn't think the gardening was getting me anywhere. Every morning I'd roll up the entrance to my greenhouse and be greated with a wave of humid air that'd fill my glasses with condensation. As I waited for them to clear, I'd hope that today would be the day things would've miraculously grown overnight. Up until recently I was often disappointed with the lack of vegetables appearing but after the first wave of courgette flowers started sprouting there seems to have been a chain reaction amongst the grow bags!







My chillis are now small and rugged-looking green things, but I know they'll turn into potent and glossy little gems soon enough.
















My pepper plants have also started looking far healthier and taller than ever before, but my courgettes have certainly been the star of the show this year. It has amazed me how big their leaves grow, how bright the flowers are and how much the flecked grin skins look like little lizards hiding in the undergrowth.









 I've also recently discovered some miniature green tomatoes peeking out of the dropping tomato plants I'd almost written off. Good job I didn't throw them out. Next stop: green tomato chutney. I've been promised a recipe by a friend of my mother's so I'll be blogging about that when the tomatoes are ready.

Last night I had a couple of friends over for an impromptu BBQ. It was one of the easiest ones I've prepared for as normally I torture myself trying to make 101 complicated dishes. But this time I just snipped a big bowl of salad leaves from the garden, and luckily had some left over feta etc in the fridge. I made a lot of food out of a nearly bare fridge and I'm quite proud of myself for that.

One of the friends who came is a baker and brought some chilli bread along with him. I'd never tried it and was pleasantly surprised. It's not hot spicy but has a lovely warmth to it. Today I made some panzanella with it, using leftover bits of tomato and salad leaves and a big handful of basil. Here's my recipe:

Panzanella

One big handful of fresh basil leaves
Salad leaves (optional)
Chunks of stale bread
Oil
Red wine or balsamic vinegar
Sugar
Onion relish/marmalade (optional)
Salt and pepper

If your bread isn't completely stale then toss it in some oil and put it in a low oven so it cooks through and then turn the oven up quite hot to get it crispy (be careful not to burn). I like mine to be somewhere between fresh bread and croutons in texture. Chop the tomatoes and stir to get the seeds and juices out, then add some oil, a sprinkling of vinegar and sugar and seasoning. Mix so it forms a sauce around the tomatoes. Take the bread out of the oven and mix the bread into the tomatoes, then add the basil (it's better to have the bread still warm to help the basil release its oils) and other leaves. Taste it to see if you need to balance the oil/vinegar flavours a bit and enjoy.

On Thursday I made my way to Hay-On-Wye for the Hay Literature Festival. I saw Gillian Clarke (poet) give a lecture, went to an interview with James Sommerin (chef), and an interview with Jon Ronson (author) who was brilliantly funny and I can't wait to buy his new book, The Psychopath Test.

The butternut squash salad I made was scoffed as soon as we got there and it held up pretty well during the 4 hour journey. I would definitely make that again.

In between the interviews we managed to eat yet more food. I spotted the scones as soon as I walked into the food tent. It's now my mission to learn to make nice scones as these were so fluffy and light. Although I would've preferred some clotted cream rather than the stiffly whipped double cream they used. It's also a possible way to eat Fiona, my formerly green strawberry who is not far off completely red.

Enjoy the obligatory picture of nummy food!

I cooked for hours today. It made me very happy indeed. I haven't been spending as much time cooking for myself as I usually like and so having the house to myself was the perfect opportunity to cook the things I've been craving to cook every time I open the fridge door.

I'm off to the Hay Literary Festival tomorrow and promised my friend I'd prepare a salad, as we both get rather grumpy indeed if we don't eat properly. With the help of some skewers I've assembled some lovely ingredients that I think go very well together:


- Roasted butternut squash
- Leafy salad base (I used lamb's lettuce and young rocket but raw spinach is also good)
- Mozzarella pearls or grilled halloumi chunks
- Crispy/fried pancetta cubes
- Fried and crumbled sage leaves

I've crumbled the sage leaves into the pancetta and kept it separately in a tub so they don't go chewy overnight. The leaves will stay crunchy as there isn't really a dressing (the oil from the other things will serve as one) and the skewers keep everything in tact. Quite ingenious I think!

I also made my minty feta squidge again tonight. It's basically just mint, crumbled feta, olive oil and a whole load of black pepper. You can keep the feta chunky, crumbly or smooth and it doesn't affect the taste. I like to use this quite crumbly and oily to spoon over lamb, or like tonight I make it quite smooth and dip in my vegetable kebabs. Once you find your own preferred flavour balance you'll find yourself making it often and even variations with different herbs and cheeses.

I caught the green fingered bug... wrong metaphor. Well, I caught something in January when I bought a chilli growing kit from Wilkinsons. I bored by friends to death by posting pictures up on Facebook everytime one sprouted and tended to them every morning. I bought a mini greenhouse stand and put the 20-odd chilli plants in it. It was soon joined by mini herb gardens and fledgling peppers. The mini greenhouse was loaded with soon-to-be goodies but I lost them all in a storm. The greenhouse blew over and everything was destroyed. Soooo annoying!

I quickly started again and now have a new sturdy greenhouse literally bolted to the floor and filled with everything from tomatoes to Persian cumin, from aubergines to spearmint. Now comes the next task: finding out how to best use these ingredients as they grow and ripen.

The first thing I will turn to will be the herb growing most abundantly and in need of chopping back, the frilly-looking Persian cumin aka caraway. I've had a nibble and it tastes like strong parsley with a faint aniseed hint. I'll spend the time until the next blog entry finding a worthwhile recipe and letting you know more about caraway.

Thanks for reading!

(And it's Fiona, as in Shrek)

Today I had one of the lushest things I've had in a while. It's easy to forgot how fabulous mushrooms can be, but cooking it like this will make you appreciate them all over again.


Mushroom ravioli con lushness

Take one pack of mushroom ravioli from the fresh pasta section of the supermarket. While it's boiling ( for about 5 minutes, maybe less so keep an eye on it) heat some butter in a pan. Don't try using margerine because it's not the same taste and it won't brown nicely.

If you just so happen to have some truffle oil or porcini mushroom infused oil (mine was a forgotten Christmas present) add it now to the butter. Once the butter is slightly browning, add some ripped basil leaves and leave them impart their flavour.

Once the ravioli is cooked, drain throroughly and add to the butter. There'll be no need to season it as the saltiness comes from the next step: lots of grated Parmesan on top (or Pecorino if you have it).

Enjoy!