It was clear, which my longstanding friend and accomplice on a recent off piste ramble had also ascertained, as we moved closer that the proposed path was blocked off by seven foot tall fence that contained sharp spikes at its top. The only other times I had seen this fencing were around the perimeter of my old school and at Wormwood Scrubs. We would have to find another path and that meant cutting back through the dried up riverbed. As we dropped onto it I clasped the Dogg close, like I was holding a new-born baby, and lurched and fell under low hanging branches criss-crossing the riverbed as I did a rugger-like shoulder barge into the side of the riverbank. We soon found our way through to the shoreline and after finding the path again and noting some exotic fruits to forage we crept back to our respective houses having enjoyed a piece of brief but uninterrupted freedom and downtime on a wonderful local walk.
Upon my return home I fancied something quick and sensed the temperature dropping which made thoughts turn to making a soup. I wanted to try out the fresh mint that I had cultivated in the back garden. Mint is a really versatile herb as it can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. It needs to be grown with caution however as it's wise to only grow it in a pot otherwise it can quickly take over and run amok if planted directly into the ground.
A personal Spring and Summer Favourite of mine is Mint and Potatoes and I decided to combine them into a soup that was refreshing and not overly stodgy.
On the player was a box set by the late, ill-starred but talented original frontman of Pink Floyd the one and only Syd Barrett. The box set in question is called "Crazy Diamond" and I first heard it when I got it as a Christmas present in 1999 just before the millennium landed jamside down on us. It contains Barrett's two studio albums "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett" together with the rarities collection "Opel". All three albums are essential. The two studio albums are essential and offer a portrait of a man trying to recover his position after a breakdown while the embers of his original creative fire glow and threaten to ignite fully. The Opel album meanwhile shows Barrett could go from failing epically on one song to successfully knitting fog to make magic on another.
The recipe for this soup was as follows:
Five large White Potatoes, peeled and cut into eight pieces for each Potato.
Six Shallots, peeled, topped and tailed and fully diced.
One White Onion, peeled, topped and tailed and fully diced.
Five Leaves of Fresh Mint from my garden carefully shredded.
Half a pint of Vegetable Stock.
A pinch of White Pepper.
The method is as follows:
1. In a large saucepan sweat in Olive Oil the Potatoes and Onions for around ten minutes.
2. Add the Mint and White Pepper and mix together.
3. Add the Stock and simmer for around twenty-five minutes.
4. Blend and then serve.
There's always a risk with Mint recipes that the flavour of the mint will overwhelm everything. However this was avoided here as the White Potatoes proved to have a flavour all their own which counter balanced the Mint and gave the feeling of having a fresh meal in a hot beer garden somewhere on a summer's day.
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