Stormy Soup

The storm quickly closed in on Friday as we left work. A colleague hurried quickly to her stables so as to move her horses to new pastures. I meanwhile pushed the Panda to the limit to retrieve the Dogg from a local safe house and do the shopping before the worst of the weather hit. 

I had been selected for the first game of cricket of the season, which was supposed to be taking place the following day. That said I had the usual mix of excitement at the promise of good cricket and making more memories, slight nerves and burning anticipation that comes before the first match of the season after long months of practice in Winter and early Spring. If the game was going to go ahead I realised that I needed to be fortified with a warming homemade soup as the match temperatures would be Baltic and the wicket and outfield a sodden glue pot fashioned from the hordes of local clay and buckets of rain. 

I went for a Leek and Potato Soup recipe but decided to put a bit of a twist into it in order to make it more flavoursome and avoid the blandness this recipe can create if it's not done properly.

On the player was, appropriately in light of the weather outside, Bob Dylan's 1977 live album "Hard Rain". The record documents Dylan's legendary 1975/76 Rolling Thunder Tour and while there are better recordings of that tour available, this album still packs a primal power that makes it essential listening. 

The ingredients for this soup are:

8 Shallots, topped, tailed, peeled and finely sliced. 
1 Leek, topped, tailed and sliced thinly.
1 Garlic Clove, topped, tailed and sliced narrowly. 
1 ounce of Mustard.
1 ounce of Mustard Seeds.
1 ounce of Dried Tarragon. 
1 White Potato, peeled and cubed. 
Half a pint of Vegetable Stock. 

The method is as follows:

1. Stew the Shallots, Leek, Garlic Clove, Herbs and Spices in Olive Oil in a Le Cresceut on a medium heat for ten minutes. Stir periodically and when not stirring keep the lid on the Le Cresceut dish to help cook the ingredients. 

2. Add the Potato and repeat the stewing process referred to above for a further ten minutes. 

3. Add the Vegetable Stock and then simmer the ingredients on a medium heat for forty-five minutes. 

4. Leave ingredients to cool and once cooled blend them. 

5. Once blended warm the soup through in a pan or Le Cresceut and once warmed serve in bowls with a garnish of Fresh Parsley. 

Tarragon and Mustard always make a tasteful pairing and when they were coupled with the overripe Shallots it give a richness and flavour to the Leek and Potatoes that made this a filling soup that was delicious. Although the horizontal rain put paid to the cricket match the soup proved good brain food as I used Saturday's Downtime to plot a new course. 

Fancies Allsorts

My Gran always warned us about hanging washing outside on Good Friday. Apparently it's bad luck because of what Christians believe happened on Good Friday and therefore could mean that hanging washing outside could lead to the death of someone close to you. Fortunately for me my washing remained hidden inside the house. Hopefully that meant I had dodged a bullet. 

One activity that isn't frowned upon on Good Friday however is baking and in my case during this Good Friday some Fancies. I put a twist on the traditional approach to preparing Fancies, that usually involves putting Dolly Mixture Sweets atop the cakes, by decorating mine with Liquorice Allsorts. 

As the late April Sun slow cooked the Chilli Plants in the conservatory, I commenced work on the Fancies. On the player was Rush's excellent live album "Snakes and Arrows Live". I was lucky enough to see the band on the UK Leg of the tour this record was culled from with two people who've had a very positive influence on my life. There's something about the rhythm and feel of Rush's music that tends to make me push hard to produce quality food and this cooking project was no exception to that rule. 

The ingredients for this recipe were: 

For the Cake Mix

175 grams of Unsalted Butter.
175 grams of Brown Sugar.
175 grams of Self- Raising Flour. 
3 beaten Eggs. 

For the topping

525 grams of Icing Sugar.
5 tablespoons of Warm Water.
Some food colouring.
Various Liquorice Allsorts. 

The method for this recipe is:

1. Cream the Butter and Brown Sugar until it is fluffy. 

2. Gradually mix in the beaten Eggs until you have a thick paste. 

3. Stir in the Self-Raising Flour until you have a thick paste mixture.

4. Grease 12 Bun Cases and distribute the mixture equally between each bun case. Add the bun cases to a baking tray with 12 spaces for the Bun Cases. 

5. Cook in the top shelf of the oven on Gas Mark 5 (or 190 degrees) for 35 minutes. 

6. Remove from the oven and cool in the fridge for an hour. 

7. Make the topping by sieving the Icing Sugar into a bowl and gradually stirring in the water and no more than three tablespoons of food colouring. This should result in a thick paste. 

8. Once the cakes have cooled spread the Icing evenly over each of them and top them with a Liquorice Allsort of your choice. 

9. Return to the fridge to allow the Icing to solidify and when ready to eat remove from the fridge and allow to warm up at room temperature for about 30 minutes. 


These alternate take on Fancies proved popular both with a good friend, and intellectual giant, when he consumed one after we'd conquered a challenging local mountain on Easter Saturday. While another visitor enjoyed one with a strong glass of pale ale after an evening shift at work. 

They were tasteful cakes for a tasteful and extremely memorable Easter Bank Holiday. 

Two of the Fancies made a delicious late night snack accompanied by some strong Pale Ale.

Duck in the Canaries

The new collection of Duck Eggs had arrived at the greengrocers.Some were a pale shade of turquoise, like a cloudless sky at dawn, while others were speckled and white. I picked a speckled white egg. The day was Saturday and it was the second one in April. 

Freezing hale cut into the Dogg and I as we sat in front of a memorial, that can be seen for miles around, for our picnic dinner of raw lettuce, hummus and cheesy crisps. That said it was the case that by the evening a warm curry with the crew in town was just what was needed. 

The morning after a wonderful night, that was chock full of entertainment, insight and a variation on the Five "Megamix", my eyes were opened by the weak sunshine and I drifted slowly down the stairs to make breakfast.

I employed some ideas from my time in the Canary Islands to poach the Duck Egg and garnish it with a rich Mediterranean Tomato Sauce flavoured with a North African spice that is typically used in sauces of the Canary Islands.

The first Seal Album was on the player with the funky, energetic third track "Crazy", one of the standout tracks, leaping from the speakers. 

This is what I used:

• Three Spring Onions, topped, tailed, and sliced finely.
• Three Tomatoes cut into cubes. 
• Three Basil Leaves that have been shredded thinly. 
• A tablespoon of Smoked Paprika.
• A tablespoon of Ras-El-Hanout Seasoning. 
• One Duck Egg.
• Some Olive Oil.

This is how I did it:

1. Gently fry the Spring Onions and Spices in Olive Oil in a Le Cresceut or a deep frying pan on a medium heat for five minutes.
2. Meanwhile grease the poaching pods of an egg poacher and bring the poaching pan to the boil on the hob. 
3. Add the Tomatoes and Basil to the Le Cresceut or frying pan and stew on a medium heat with the lid on for fifteen minutes. 
4. Crack the Duck Egg and put the white and the yolk in one of the poaching pods and boil in the poacher for five minutes.
5. Serve with the sauce and you should have a runny egg that is very rich but spicy thanks to the tomato sauce.