Little Green Goddess

On a day that marked an important milestone in my life, we sat at a strategic social distance from the other guests in a room that backed onto a courtyard that was set out in a way to look like a place in Southern Europe. The room was a restaurant in a historic local hotel and the date we went there had been sometime in the fairly recent past towards the end of the first quarter of the 21st century.

The event celebrated at that time was a low key milestone but one that pointed the way, in spite of all the uncertainty, to a bright new future. The first course had arrived in the shape of the freshest and most flavoursome Pea and Mint soup I had ever tasted. It inspired the soup I made yesterday, following an afternoon of planting a series of seeds in the garden that may feature in this blog in the future if they grow to their potential. 

Yesterday had been muggy and almost dreamy in the weather that formed. I was dropped from the cricket team, again, in favour of rotating the squad, again, which is a sure-fire way for players lose match fitness and doesn't do much to bind together a proper team spirit or develop all players' match-play abilities on any kind of a consistent level. Realising life was too short- especially as the team deservedly won the day's game which was what mattered most, I didn't spend time fretting too long about this and, after I had spent the time mentioned in the garden, began my Pea and Mint Soup preparation.

On the player was the equally dreamy "The Big Huge" which is the Incredible String Band's fifth album and was released in 1969. It features lots of hypnotic sitar playing, nasal vocals, pastoral yet countercultural lyrics and a ton of atmosphere. If that's your bag then why not check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ns6VP3D4JtA1wRmmyptz2KKfh_lIxGkV4  , then support the artists who made it by streaming it on Amazon or Spotify or buying the album outright. 

So to the recipe which is as follows:

2 Garlic Cloves, peeled, topped, tailed and sliced very thinly. 

1 White Onion, peeled, topped, tailed and diced into small squares. 

2 New Potatoes, peeled and cut into circles. 

Half a pint of Vegetable Stock.

250 grams of Fresh Peas. 

4 Fresh Mint Leaves chopped finely. 

1 pinch of Demerara Sugar. 

1 teaspoon of Fresh Lemon Juice. 

2 tablespoons of Unsweetened Soya Milk. 

The method is as follows:

1. Warm the Potatoes, Onion and Garlic with some Olive Oil in a Le Cresceut or Deep Frying Pan on a low heat for 15 minutes. 

2. Add the Vegetable Stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. 

3. Add the Peas and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. 

4. Add the Demerara Sugar, Lemon Juice and Milk and blend on the puree setting. 

5. Return to the Le Cresceut or pan that was previously used, warm through and served. 

The tastes of this soup evoke the feel of High Summer. Fresh Mint and New Potatoes are traditionally served together, as are Fresh Peas and so this soup was perfect for this time of year. 

Butter would melt: a nob of Unsalted Butter is a great addition to this soup once served. 

The Garlic Invasion of Earth

One of the features of late Spring is the abundance of plants and flowers of all colours, sizes and smells. Among these is Wild Garlic. This plant often grows by streams and rivers in damp, wooded areas. It has thick, pointed leaves and blooms cascades of white flowers. The leaves can be harvested for a range of uses in recipes. A note of caution however, Wild Garlic looks very similar to the plant known as Lily of the Valley. This is poisonous and so should be avoided. The best way to tell is when harvesting the leaves, smell them and if they wreak of garlic you are safe to conclude that you have picked the right plant for your recipe. 

Wild Garlic has a range of uses in cooking such as roasted with chicken and cut up to be made into Pesto. Another recipe, and the one I'm going to follow in this blog, is Wild Garlic Scones. 

On the player, when I put this recipe together on a bright Friday Night, was Dutch Band Focus' confident and memorable debut album "In and Out of Focus". It contains many stand out tracks such as the reflective "Focus" , the Gregorian Chant meets Boy Scouts singing round the campfire vocal delivery of "Black Beauty" and the piquant "House of the King" which was recently used to great effect on the hit comedy show "Saxondale". If you fancy a listen then click on the link  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o34Hftlard4

The ingredients of the Scones are:

200 grams of Self-Raising Flour.
40 grams of Margarine. 
100 grams of Wild Garlic,sliced into strips around five centimetres long and one centimetre wide. 
60 grams of Wensleydale Cheese crumbled into small pieces. 
1 teaspoon of Chilli Powder.
1 teaspoon of White Pepper. 
0.075 litres of unsweetened Soya Milk. 

The method to follow is:

1. In a mixing bowl rub in the Flour and Margarine until you have a mixture that resembles powdered breadcrumbs. 

2. Stir in the Chilli Powder, White Pepper and Wild Garlic.

3. Add the Wensleydale Pieces and stir in. 

4. Slowly add the Soya Milk and stir in gradually until you create a moist dough.

5. Knead the dough and then roll it out into a flat rectangle or rhombus around one centimetre deep. 

6. Use a cookie cutter or the top of a jar to cut circles out of the dough.

7. Arrange the circles on a greased baking tray and cook on Gas Mark 5 for 25 minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack until they are ready to eat.

There's something strangely satisfying and almost life-affirming about cooking a recipe that contains ingredients that have been foraged. This is especially true in the totalitarian times we live in that have brought dystopian fiction jumping off the pages of novels and into our reality. 

Wild Garlic has as stronger taste and smell as its bulb counterpart with a more crunchier texture. In this recipe it offset well the mild taste of the Wensleydale while the scone dough was a gold colour with a crumbly texture. 

Before Cooking and After