Holiday break: garden yield, jams & chutneys

Hello everyone,


It's been a while. Holidays! I am taking a little break too.. That's why you are not hearing much from me right now.


After Ireland we've been taking it easy with light food (salads, mini BBQs, etc). We have been pretty lazy too. Just as it should be during the holidays ;-). On top of that, it was around 30+ degrees here last week for most of the week and that seriously stops me wanting to cook anything that takes a lot of time and/or effort.


We have however been harvesting quite a few nice things from the garden. Nearly all the broadbeans, from half of which I made a broadbean, pea, herb & bacon risotto. 







Golden & red beetroots, which I sliced very thinly for a salad with smoked mackerel and herbs from the garden. The first blackberries - just ate them as they are :-)! The first carrots: super flavour - very strong! More rhubarb, which I put in freezer for strawberry, rhubarb & ginger jam - to be made after we've been holiday with the four of us.


Talking about jam, the past two Saturdays we've visited our local market to buy serious amounts of fruit...! We tend to put the fruit in the freezer before making jam as the structure of the fruit breaks down in the process with a better jam as a result.

Only the raspberry jam I made straight away. Made it a lime & rose raspberry jam this time. Yummmm!! Might have to make another load at the end of August as it's flying out of the pots...

From the rest of the fruit I think I'll make the following jams:
- strawberry & redcurrant
- strawberry, rhubarb & ginger
- plum & redcurrant
- apricot
And perhaps some plum chutney too.


I don't know about you but I don't like strawberry jam just on its own as I find it too sweet so I always add a zing factor like redcurrants or rhubarb & fresh ginger to give it a more refreshing flavour.


Also, our neighbours across the road have an apple tree which is absolutely laden with fruit this year but they don't know what to do with it... So I have offered to make a load of spicy apple chutney (my favourite chutney!) from a Darina Allen recipe which I have adapted over the years.


Good thing we've kept every single jar that was emptied in this house over the past year or so...!


Soooo.....more to come on the jam & chutney front after the holidays.


I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday so far and that you are making the most of all the beautiful seasonal food around.


We're off to France in a couple of days (at last!!!!). I am sure there'll be some foodie news during or after that trip :-)!


Love,
X Bee

Letterfrack, Connemara

Hello everyone,


What can I say....?


It is so good to be back in Letterfrack, Connemara, the very far West of Ireland. Back 'home' in a way. I have lived here twice. Half a year each time. First in 1997, then 2007. A funny 10 year cycle. Both times were pretty much life changing for me. There's something very down to earth yet (or perhaps because of it..?) spiritual about this part of the world. I go here for my sanity. If life has been too demanding and I simply need to find my energy (or myself for that matter!) again - then this is where I go. This is where I become 'me' again.


It's still pretty wild and unspoilt here. Can be desolate too. Great for introverts like me. You could go for days without having to listen or talk to anyone. At times, that can be brilliant. For me anyway. You can be with people if you like. But equally spend days without seeing anyone.


Duncan and I went here together for the first time at Christmas 2009. For two weeks. Very special. Rented Grace's Cottage in Moyard. Lovely house and location.
So this is his second time. We're staying with Jeremy & Nicole who've become very good friends since I first came here. Nicole is also a very good cook and they are both absolutely super hosts. Have had so many hilarious dinner parties here. Loads 'n loads of good memories.


So.....let's talk food....and Guinness of course ;-)! I love Guinness. But really only here. Or no, perhaps I should say preferably here. It just tastes so much better than the imported version. It is in fact different by the way. A slightly different brew to the one made in England.


After our flight into Knock last Saturday we drove straight to Westport and had lunch at McCormacks (upstairs, around the corner from McCormacks butchers). Always heaving. Always sharing a table with others. It has the feel of eating in someone's kitchen really. Uncomplicated. It's about the food. I will attach a picture of the open crab sandwich I had. Man, the amount of fresh crab was not from this world. And the Irish brown bread underneath: deliciously fresh. Such a 'welcome back' lunch. Duncan went for the seafood chowder. A big bowl of it. Absolutely laden with fresh fish.


Because McCormacks is not really a place for beer, we decided to go to Matt Molloy's pub afterwards for our first Guinness this trip. Matt Molloy is a member of the band The Chieftains (see previous post on my blog) and we saw him play two weeks ago in Brussels. His son was behind the bar in Westport on Saturday. Gosh, he's like an exact copy of his dad. Amazing.
Pint of Guinness was delicious and finished pretty soon.. See photos.


On to Letterfrack where we were welcomed by a bouncy Nicole and the (always) very calm and balanced Jeremy (well...nearly always!).
Off to Veldon's (V's to us) a bit later for more Guinness. Outside, blue sky, sunshine.. Unbelievable! Have included a picture to prove it! Good to see John too and catch up with him.


Back home for supper: a wild salmon caught by Jeremy himself. They do a lot of fly fishing around here. We had the fish with new potatoes from the garden (they were yum!) French beans and a salad. Duncan made a video of Nicole making a Hollandaise sauce to go with all the above. We laughed our socks off. She did it in a 'Nigella kind of way'. Sensual, shall we say..
It's a foolproof way of making Hollandaise sauce in the magimix. We know now how to copy this :-)! Thanks to Nixie the Irish pixie!


She had also made fresh strawberry icecream and a beautifully tangy, zingy Tunesian orange cake (from Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery Course book). Definitely going to try that too when I get back home.


Everyone full and tired on sofa but not for long....we all needed a good night sleep!


Big fry up for brekkie with N&J's own bacon. Yum!! Pete and his two little girls Rose & Mary joined us too. Lovely to see them again. Couldn't believe how much the girls had grown.. With the weather being absolutely gorgeous (soooooo lucky!!), the four of us were definitely going for a good walk. Killary Harbour! Bit like a 'fjord'. Path on rocks, sea below you. Will add picture. Glad we went. It was brilliant!
Guinness for us and Irish quantity rosé (......!!!) for Nicole at V's as a reward afterwards. Happy days :-)! Also caught up with others whilst there. For example Stephen Gannon who owns the (busy as ever) hostel in Letterfrack. And of course Squire - glad to see him in hood form. Everyone seems to be in good form actually and things haven't changed a bit.


Back home for supper. Quails on the barbeque. With spicy mini roasties and VERY spicy roast veggies... More Tunesian orange cake for afters. Lots of music. Bed.


Started reading 50 Shades of Grey this morning. Read 80 pages in one go and that's quite an achievement for me. You all know probably that it doesn't get really exciting until page 200 so nothing to report yet...!
As it was raining anyway and Nicole & Jeremy were off to work we didn't get up until 11.30....!! What a luxury!


Quick brekkie - the brown bread Nicole and I made last night - and off to Clifden to see Nicole in her bookshop and have a general mooch around.


Did a little tour by car as fine drizzle on and off. Roundstone: lunch at O'Dowds. It's gotta be done ;-)! Very lucky again as Roundstone heaving but table free in O'Dowds: OUR table too! Oysters to share. Mussels for Duncs and crab claws for me to follow. See piccies. Feeling very lucky generally and thoroughly enjoying this trip. Pinching myself all the time...


Bit more touring after Roundstone and back at da house now. Relaxing. Writing blog post. We have butterflied leg of lamb from the BBQ to look forward to. And crêpes Suzette for afters! Is there a better hotel around here...;-)?


So.........that should give you a bit of a picture of our Connemara time so far! Apératifs now. Nicole in kitchen again. Always love it when I see others who spend so much time with food. Talking about it. Reading about it. Cooking it. Eating it. Brrrrrrrilliant! She won't let me do a thing though...


Have a good food one everyone!


Love,
X Bee

That HUGE open crab sandwich at McCormacks 

That first pint at Molloy's..

Done.....!

That blue sky for our pint at V's....soooooo lucky!

 

The Killary Harbour walk.....spectacular...

 

Nicole's 'pint' of rose........!!!!

BBQ'd quails, mini roasties & VERY spicy roasted veggies - spot the beautiful sweetpeas

Lunch at O'Dowds...

Still having lunch at O'Dowds!

Millbrook Inn

Hi all,

We had supper at the Millbrook Inn last night here in Southpool, Devon. It was my last night here. Off to the London area soon and flight to Knock tomorrow morning for leg number two of this holiday.

And a delicious meal it was last night! Nice chat too with the lovely Jean-Philippe Bidart, the head chef.

I have attached a few photos.

My starter: scallops with cauliflower mousse and black pudding dressing. Ruth had a beautiful crab bisque to start.

For mains we both had the John Dory (see picture) with mussels, a creamy reduced jus of white wine, fish stock etc. and crushed new potatoes with ginger and chilli...... I mean.... Heaven! We were speechless!! It was rich. But absolutely divine. It didn't take very long to empty our plates... See photo!

A last picture of JP and his kitchen staff - after they finished their service.

Already looking forward to coming back boys!

Anyone who reads this and has plans to go to South Devon: do go and have a meal in the Millbrook Inn! It is so worth the trip.

Thanks Ruth and Freddie for a wonderful time. I will miss you :(! Have a lovely time together when daddy Matt arrives tomorrow!

Love,
XB

Quickie

Still in Devon Folks! Alas...rain today after lots of sunshine for the past two whole days.

Going to keep it short as writing from phone but here's a couple of things we cooked.

Made a smoked mackerel salad with beetroot, watercress and fennel for lunch. Delicious mix of flavours, light and easy to make. See photo.

In the evening we did a 'Ready Steady Cook' on everything we still had in the house/fridge.

Made tomato & garlic bruschetta on toasted sourdough bread. You just cannot beat it! As long as you have very ripe tomatoes, you can't go wrong.

White asparagus (which I had brought with me from Belgium) the Flemmish way: with Ruth's leftover ham from Sunday, boiled eggs and melted butter. A first time for Ruth. Think she liked it................!!! See picture.

For afters I put 4 quarters of pear with stilton and honey in the oven. Again with some toasted sourdough. Simple. Very tasty. Especially when finishing that bottle of Chateau Musar! A wine Ruth and I have lots of good memories associated with from our management consultant days....... Say no more, say no more....

Thanks Ruth for the very personal conversations we had. You are a beautiful person and a great friend!

Tonight we shall be having supper at the Millbrook Inn next door. SUCH a treat! Can't wait.... We have organised a babysitter too so it will be an uncomplicated and relaxed eve of food, wine and fun. Brrrrrrrring it on!

Love,
X Bee

First encounter with Devon crab

First full day in Devon.....

Potted crab for lunch (see picture) at the lovely Millbrook Inn (literally next door to Ruth & Matt's cottage). Cannot start to tell you how delicious a simple dish like that can be. It was potted, but it was so fresh! Loads of flavour. Sooooo much better than lobster in my humble opinion.
Thanks JP (Jean-Philippe Bidart: head chef at the Millbrook Inn) for this first delicious meal in Devon!

Feel utterly lucky and spoilt being here.

Tonight we're going to cook Jamie's sea bass (just bought it from fish mongers in Kingsbridge - wild, not farmed!) with sweet potato mash and Asian greens with soy & chilli. Yum!

Also bought a few bottles of Crabbie's original alcoholic ginger beer - the rrrrrreal one (see picture). Look forward to having that at some point with some ice cubes and a slice of lemon. So British - wonderful!!

Totally winding down here. So relaxed. Anyone for a holiday in the UK...? Yes, please!!! Weather holding up beautifully too. That must've come with tons of luck.... Or perhaps we've just deserved it ;-)?

More Devon foodie news to follow later I'm sure!

Love,
X Bee

See you later garden.. Thanks for your byootiful produce!

Morning all,


I am in the UK now. Hurraaaayyyy!!


It was really good to come out the other end of the Eurotunnel yesterday *sigh*....!
Apart from the fact that EVERYONE was driving on the fast lane. Will you ever learn it..;-)?


Sitting in Lilly's part of the bunk bed now (yes - the bottom bed!) writing this post on my phone. We had a delicious buffet lunch with our friends Matt & Ruth and their kids Lilly, Dottie & Freddie yesterday - keep those yummie hams coming Miss B!!! Were you ever really a vegetarian.....???!!
Super to see Tom and Emily too and to meet their very handsome little boy Iestyn for the first time. Generally very good to catch up with everyone. Thanks very much Ruth & Matt!!


Before we left yesterday, we spent Saturday making sure that the garden was in good nick (amongst packing, cooking, etc.) so that Michel (local gardener) only has to worry about watering it (IF needed.....BIG IF...!!).


Some of you might have seen my tweets with garden pictures on Saturday already but I will include some here too.


I noticed that, having spent every day doing SOMEthing in the garden for a while now, I was finding it very difficult to let go for 12 days...
What if ALL the broad beans were ready to pick in the middle of those 12 days? What if I missed the awakening of the next dahlia ('Dutch Explosion')...? What if all the beetroots were ready to harvest well before we would come back? What if all the rhubarb chard would grow the size of giant rhubarb..? What if there was a blackfly infestation (not unlikely!) on any of the other young greens...?


Well...actually...so be it! Just let go Bee....


I tend to be 'a bit' of a worrier... Always have been. But I had to let go because in the end I was going on two super mini holidays: first to Southpool in Devon with my lovely friend Ruth and the delightful 9 month old 'rugby prop to be' Freddie and next to see my friends Jeremy & Nicole in Letterfrack, Connemara. Fresh fish here I come in both cases :-)!!!


By the way, Susie & Matthew are off to North Devon with aunty Annette and uncle Stevie - doing some surfing with their big cousins. Duncan has to finish one more week of work and he and I will reunite on Friday eve to fly to Knock (West Ireland) together on Saturday morning. Soooooo nice that I get to go away to my beloved Connemara with just my lovely husband for 5 days.... What a treat!!!


So......back to the garden. I know that Michel will take good care of it and I have told him to take home and eat any fruit/veg that need picking, harvesting.


I did however make the most of it on Saturday and took quite a few pictures in the garden of:
- the second dahlia: 'Crème de Cassis' (a beautiful deep purple)
- the pumpkin flowers
- the 'caged' 'Nigella Moody Blues'
- the last crop from the garden before trip to UK/Eire (beetroot, chard, radish, rhubarb)
- the most amazing (almost 'artistic') beetroot on the planet: Barabietola di Chioggia
See all the pictures below.


Ended up making a salad with the (very thinly sliced raw) beetroot, radish and rhubarb chard. Dressing with olive oil, lemon, honey and grainy mustard. Looked great - tasted even better!
We had it with a bowl of (Doves organic gluten free) pasta with fresh chorizo, fennel and red onion. Bottle of Barbera d'Alba.... All of it enjoyed outside during a dry spell between two showers: very lucky!


When I checked the fridge earlier that day, I discovered 4 eggwhites (from ice cream making the week before) so I quickly whipped them up with some sugar to make meringues for individual pavlovas. We had one each that night. Can't beat it. Always a good option. And so incredibly easy.


Spent the rest of that evening packing and getting organised. Went to bed a bit shattered but too hyper to fall asleep quickly... You'll always see that ;-).


Anyway, I'm here now :-). And loving it! I do think that somehow I belong here in England....more than anywhere else....perhaps Ireland....


We checked the situ in Southpool last night and eventhough it was flooded on Saturday it seems to be fine now so we're heading off at lunch time to make sure that the lovely Freddie will sleep in the car for a large part of our journey.
Can't wait to also visit the 'Millbrook Inn' - a very good gastro pub indeed with amazing food and lovely atmosphere. Whenever you're near Southpool: an absolute MUST!


That'll be it for now. Will try and keep you posted on Devon and Connemara - am sure there will be enough to write about!


Hope you can all keep the floods at bay...........


Love,
X Bee

Nigella Moody Blues

The raw beetroot, radish and chard salad

Pumkins-To-Be......hopefully!

Barabietola di Chioggia

The pasta sauce with chorizo, fennel and red onion

The al fresco supper with a glass of Barbera d'Alba

Produce from garden on Saturday

The gorgeous dahlia 'Creme de Cassis'

Matthew's Day

Hi all,

Today, Susie went off to stay with her (boy)friend Ytse - staying the night as well..! They're only 6 years old remember..

So, this meant that Matthew had the entire house - well...almost - and my full attention to himself. Good for him!

After dropping Sus off, we quickly went to the garden centre to get a few things. The most important event followed soon after that..........
After MONTHS of nagging, we finally went to 'Dreamland' (the name gives it away really..): a HUGE toy store close to where we live. Matthew finally got to buy his yellow 'Monster Truck'....!!! Remote control! Happy as Larry. See picture below.

After ripping open the boxes once home he went out and even attracted our neighbour Philippe (adult boy!) to come out and play with cars. Brilliant!

We made another little trip to the outdoor store to get him a new pair of walking boots for the holiday. Successful too. Now this is a boy who knows what shopping is about ;-).

When I asked him what he wanted to eat, he went for an Insalata Caprese. See picture. What a good choice for an 8 year old! Got some very nice buffalo mozzarella, very soft - not the 'rubber' version ;-). Shrimp croquettes (very Belgian) and shoestring fries for mains. Strawberries and custard for afters.

Good day. He just told me he had super day. Lovely..!!

Forgot to tell you that after all the shopping we both had a dip in the paddling pool, which I had emptied first and put fresh water into. Much needed as we had yet another 28 degree day. Not complaining!!
Torrential rain, lightning and thunder soon followed which has saved me from having to water all the pots 'n plants!

Happy (holi)days!!

Matthew's watching the last part of Cars 2 in the playroom and I am watching Jon Snow and his Channel 4 News team: a daily must!

Night all.

Love,
X Bee

Gennaro Contaldo's pizzas

Holidays!
Friends over to play!
Hot dogs for lunch!
Gennaro Contaldo's (Two Greedy Italians) home made pizzas for supper!

All tucked up now. Peace......

Night night!

XB

More radish

Just took out more radish - from the two wine cases I put the seeds into.
They look yummie!!

The long ones are called French Breakfast, the round ones Scarlet Globe.

Nice for with our sandwiches on the first day of the summer holidays.
And it's a sunny one :-)! Just as well with the criminal amount of washing I am facing today....!

Off to horse riding later. Then that long promised haircut for our little Susie... She's grown her fringe since last August so we basically let the whole lot grow.. About time we make it look healthy again. But long.. It's GOT te be long. Otherwise I'll be having a war going on here for quite some time to come.. Better give the hairdresser some clear instructions.

Guess it's paddling pool after that ;-).
Bit of splashing time always good.

Simple bowl of my 'fake carbonara' pasta (see one of previous posts) and another long sleep for the three of us. Boy do we need it.... Zzzzzzzzzzzz...

Love,
XB

The weekend - family over for Chieftains concert

Hello everyone,


Been mad busy since I last posted something on Wednesday. Susie's 'end of reception years' ceremony on Thursday (well done sleeping beauty!) last morning at school on Friday (followed by pancake lunch as start of holiday!) and food prep for the weekend.


Thursday night was turkey schnitzels with Duncan's home made chips and salad and on Friday eve Nonno (my dad - all the grandchildren call him Nonno which is Italian for grandad) treated us to a lovely al fresco meal at the local Brasserie Louis, preceded by a couple of cold beers in the warm evening sunshine on the terrace of our favourite bolthole the 'Refuge' (good name too!). What a start of the children's summer holidays!


Saturday lunch time my sister arrived with her new loverrrr Diederik! Lovely man! Great to get know him a bit. So nice to see my little sister happy again!
We all had a relaxed time hanging out in the garden drinking rosé, enjoying the new herring, more baby squid (see last week) followed by lamb skewers & Za'atar chicken from the BBQ. Made jewelled couscous, pickled cucumber with dill and a tomato & herb salad on the side. Home made vanilla ice cream with summer berries and framboise & rose liqueur for afters. Cornettos for the kids ;-)!


Then mad rush to get ready for the Chieftains concert in Brussels. Sorry Eline (new babysitter) for arriving in such a hectic mess..!


Concert was amazing. Was very touched by the opening tune... And I wasn't the only one.. And not JUST the opening tune.. 


So many memories of my time in Ireland came back to me. Wouldn't mind living there again one day I think. Good thing Duncan and I are going to Letterfrack in two weeks time to stay with my friend Nicole and her husband Jeremy. The good times....!










The Chieftains







Matt Malloy on the flute


Glass of red and some cheeses when we came back from the concert. Nice chat and some more Irish and bluegrass music. Oooooh the lovely Alison Kraus...
Late to bed of course so a big breakfast this morning! Fruit salad to start (to just feel healthy again after big day/night) and scrambled eggs with crispy bacon to follow (for a bit of power). Strong coffees in the garden for everyone after tidying up brekkie stuff- and of course that long awaited Holland-England game of table football...! Duncan & Matthew beat Nonno & Diederik... Much to the delight of Matthew and for that matter all of us as we would've ended up with a very grumpy boy for the rest of the day!


Everyone left after that, including Duncan & the boggins (for Bday party) so I went out to pick the very first soft fruit from our own garden: gooseberries, blackcurrants (black gold!) and a few raspberries - see picture below. Am very proud of our first little bowl of produce!


Now having some much needed peace before my three lovelies come back for a bit of a leftover feast. Think will have Eton mess with the just picked berries for afters..... Yummmm...


Hope to stay awake for footie final... Leftover gorgonzola dolce feels like an appropriate companion for that part of the evening. Forza Italia!!!


Alas...no school tomorrow. Not for another NINE weeks..... Can you believe it..?
Much needed long sleeps for boggins and I hopefully. Duncan off to UK early (wish you were here with us darling for your 'even more needed' long sleep...!).


Duncan back late Friday night.


Lots of washing to do this week.
Then Saturday to pack and Sunday off to Blighty: HURRAY!!!!!!


Checking out now.


Enjoy the game later!


Love,
XB