It was the week after the cricket season had ended. It had been another memorable one for me with a finish comfortably inside the club's top twenty bowlers in terms of wickets taken and my bowling average and a finish inside the top five for my bowling strike rate. In some ways that first weekend after the end of the cricket season can feel like a bereavement, as with it comes the feeling that shorter days and hostile weather are on their way. In turn with that comes a new way of living until cricket training picks up again in the New Year.
That's one way of looking at the end of the season. Another way of looking at it is that you can use the weekend to look back at all the memories you've made on the cricket field, and beyond, over the summer just gone. With the arrival from the courier of two Rugby games to play on my PS3 during upcoming the dark nights, a game of snooker at a nearby club and some heavy rain on the Sunday morning, I could quite easily have taken the former view upon the weekend.
However I took a short walk with the Dogg into my conservatory and then the back garden. The Pumpkins glowed like a dimly lit streetlight in the morning fog, while the Peas and Runner Beans dangled daintily from their host plants. In one corner of the conservatory the Aubergines we had cultivated since the frosts of January had swelled into deep purple and noir vegetables that were ripe for the picking. The Bell Peppers were scrunched and twisted in quirky ways while the Cayenne Peppers were sharply pointed like colourful fangs.
It was looking around the conservatory and garden at the plentiful supplies of fresh vegetables that we had worked hard to prepare over the year that gave me perspective and understanding. It was a realisation that for all the adventures on and off the cricket field over the summer, sometimes it is good to stop and appreciate all that you've achieved and bask on that to make more memories during the Autumn and Winter.
A way of appreciating the vegetables we had nurtured was for me to take something special for us both to eat and something to share with you all to help inspire you readers in your own cooking recipes over the coming months. I made an Aubergine and Sausage Casserole using the following ingredients:
Four Aubergines, diced and cubed sourced from those grown in my conservatory.
Two Red Bell Peppers, diced and sliced thinly from the crop grown in my conservatory.
One Green Bell Pepper, diced and sliced thinly from the crop grown in my conservatory.
One Cayenne Pepper, diced and sliced thinly from the crop grown in my conservatory.
Five fresh Basil Leaves from my back garden.
Six fresh Marjoram Leaves from my back garden.
Three Heads of Fresh Parsley from my back garden.
Eight Tomato and Pork Sausages- sourced mine locally from the ever wonderful Stretton Hall Farm Shop. Check out their page at: Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook
Six Tomatoes cut into small cubes.
Two diced cloves of Garlic.
A tin of Chick Peas.
A White Onion, peeled, topped, tailed and diced.
Half a pint of Beef Stock.
A teaspoon of Chilli Powder.
As I began work on preparing the dish, I slipped onto the player Morcheeba's 1996 offering "Who can you trust?". The album is another one in a long line of memorable British Trip-Hop albums from the 1990s and every bit as good as Massive Attack's "Blue Lines", "Dummy" by Portishead or "Maxinquaye" by Tricky.
The method goes like this:
1. Shallow Fry the Sausages on a medium heat for around five minutes until they are slightly browned. Then leave to one side.
2. In a Le Cresceut sweat the Aubergine, , Garlic, Peppers and Onions for around ten minutes or until the Onions are translucent, whichever is the sooner.
3. Add the Tomatoes and stew for another ten minutes.
4. Add the Basil, Chilli Power, Marjoram and Parsley plus the Chickpeas and stir these in.
5. Add the Sausages and stir in with around three quarters of the Beef Stock.
6. Cook in the oven on Gas Mark 3, or 275 degrees Fahrenheit or 170 degrees Celsius, for ninety minutes.
7. After ninety minutes remove the Le Cresceut from the oven, stir the contents and add the remainder of the Beef Stock. Return to the oven and cook for a further thirty minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and serve.
From a health fitness point of view the Sausages provided plenty of iron, while the Chick Peas had lots of nutrients and fibre and the Aubergine contained lots of minerals and potassium. From a taste point of view the herbs added much flavour and the homegrown vegetables were much sweeter and tastier than their quasi-manufactured supermarket counterparts would have been.
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