Spring into Sunday

Today was, much like a lot this July, a day that held weather not unlike how summers often were in my childhood in the 1980s; in that the temperatures were fresh, it was often wet and windy and the results of games of cricket, at all levels, often depended upon the weather. 

I was about to have a wander with a long-standing friend and our Doggs after coming off the end of a week chock-full of fraternal activities, a sunlit evening game of cricket against the Kashmir XI and quality time with the Most Important Person. All this said I decided I needed something substantial for the upcoming walk. 

A lot of much needed weeding on the back garden the day before had revealed I had some thriving Spring Onion and that the Chives and Russian Tarragon continued to grow. This, plus some spare eggs in the fridge, inspired me to make some Scrambled Egg. However rather just any Scrambled Egg I decided to use the things from my garden to make a butter sauce to drizzle on the Scramble Egg.

On the player was the Band's 1970 effort "Stage Fright". After the pretty much flawless brilliance of their rootsy, back to basics sounding first and second efforts, "Stage Fright" came to some as a disappointment. I remember my Dad recalling, when he was a fluffy Chemistry Student at a local University at the time of the record's release, the album being criticised in the student press as not being as good as the previous two. 

However in the fifty-three years that have passed since that review, time reveals the record to contain much that is worthwhile and illustrates that it is a collection of great songs rather than a great album. There's plenty to marvel at including the buoyant, nerve-ridden rocker "Shape I'm In" while "Time to Kill" and "Stage Fright" reveal a set of musicians still capable of making great music while being clearly fatigued by the constant pressures of touring. 

...And now back to the food; this is how to make the dish

For the Scrambled Egg

 2 Eggs Beaten

Tablespoon of Semi-Skimmed Milk.

Pinch of Nutmeg

For the Spring Onion Butter Sauce

1 Spring Onion from my garden, tailed and cut finely.

100 grams of Russian Tarragon from my garden sliced finely.

25 grams of Chives from my garden sliced finely. 

Half a teaspoon of Black Pepper.

A tablespoon of Cider Vinegar; I used one that was blended with Lemon Juice and Ginger. 

150 grams of Salted Butter.

Serve with:

5 Gluten Free cheese-flavoured oatcakes.

The Method

The method goes like this:

1. Beat the Eggs together in a measuring jug, then add the Milk and Nutmeg and stir together.

2. Melt the Butter in a Saucepan then add the Spring Onion, Chives, Tarragon, Black Pepper and Cider Vinegar and stir well together, while cooking on a very low heat on the hob, for around five minutes. 

3. Line another saucepan with Rapeseed Oil and add the Eggs, Milk and Nutmeg. Stir regularly over a low heat, to stop the contents sticking to the saucepan bottom, for around five minutes.

4. Place the Oatcakes in a pattern on a dinner plate. Add the Scrambled egg and then drizzle the Spring Onion Butter Sauce over the top and serve.

Afghan Adventures

It was the middle of January and the mild weather was slowly giving way to some Tundra type frosts. In order to prove that the January Blues were a mere urban myth we had booked to spend a long weekend in North Yorkshire. It was a weekend that was memorable, spontaneous and full of winter sun. On the Saturday evening of the trip we went a-wandering to downtown Pickering and stumbled upon a wonderful curry house for our evening meal. It seemed that anybody who was anybody in the village was there and I enjoyed an excellent Afghan Curry. It was, in fact, one of the best curries I had ever tasted. A link to the site of this tasteful restaurant is at: Noyon | 7 Eastgate, Pickering, YO18 7DU | 01751476969 / 01751477039 | (noyonindian.co.uk) 

A weekend later, with time on my hands due to the Dogg and I not wanting to walk far in the cold Sunday ice, I decided to make my own version of this curry. 

The ingredients were as follows:

Two Chicken Breasts cut into small cubes and supplied by the ever wonderful Stretton Hall Farm | Facebook 

Two tablespoons of dried coriander. 

Two tablespoons of dried mint.

Two teaspoons of dried Cumin.

Five crushed cloves of Garlic

Four Tablespoons of Coconut Oil.

Two teaspoons of Garlic Salt

Half a teaspoon of Black Pepper.

One well-diced Red Onion. 

A tin of chopped Tomatoes.

A tin of Kidney Beans in Chilli Sauce. 

One Vegetable Stock Cube

On the player was Sinatra, Frank Sinatra. On this particular release from 1968, he and Duke Ellington teamed up and travelled incognito by calling the record "Francis A and Edward K" being their first names and middle initials. The record finds the pair in the early Autumn, in the case of Sinatra, and the winter, in the case of Ellington, of their careers. They however handle the excellent choice of material assuredly to create an engaging album. 

So to the method of this dish, it goes like this:

1. Put half the Coriander, Cumin, Mint, Garlic Salt Coconut Oil and one of the Garlic Cloves into a bowl with the Chicken Pieces. Mix the ingredients well together, cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave in a cool place for a couple of hours to allow the mixture to marinate. 

2. When the marinated chicken is ready add to a Le Cresceut or large, deep frying pan with some melted butter. 

3. Fry together with the red onion on a medium heat for around twenty minutes then add the rest of the herbs and spices, Coconut Oil and half the chopped tomatoes before stirring them together and cooking for another fifteen minutes. 

4. Add the vegetable stock cube and the other half of the Chopped Tomatoes and mix together keeping the heat at just below medium for another twenty minutes.

5. Add the rest of the Garlic and the Red Kidney Beans and stir thoroughly while keeping a medium heat to ensure everything is cooked and blended together. After fifteen minutes of doing this the flavours should be blended and the dish ready to serve. 

On this occasion I served the dish with Rice that was mixed with Cardamom pods. The unique part of this curry is that the mint gives it a fresh flavour that contrasts with the spices to ensure it is strong tasting but has a rich creaminess behind the initial strong taste. It was a flavoursome replication of a meal that was part of a wonderful, memorable weekend. 

Broadbean Bazaar

 It was the wettest day of the month and rain drops hung like beads of sweat on the lush grass growing near the railway track running close to my home. It was the morning after some hard work in helping my cricket team to get a draw and the lion's share of the points to move ourselves off the bottom of the table. It was also the morning after some revelations, albeit ones that would naturally open the door to something wonderful and new, with the realisation that the love you take is always equal to the love you make.

Against these rather deep Sunday Morning thoughts it was time to get creative with the remainder of some delicious bacon sourced from Stretton Hall Farm | Facebook . I had three slices left and I slashed these into small cubes and fried them for around three minutes. Then I put them to one side on a serving plate. 

As I steamed the Broad Beans I had plucked from my garden, the Rolling Stones' excellent album "Exile on Main Street" blared noisy defiance on the player. It was just the inspirational music that was needed after some recent challenges I had faced. The record is one that despite containing sounds as old as the hills, remains fresh and vital. Those of you who haven't checked it out could do worse than take a listen at: Exile On Main St. - YouTube  

The Broad Beans were steamed for around ten minutes to ensure they remained flavoursome but not too al dente. After that I fried in the bacon fat left over from the earlier frying two diced Onions and a diced clove of Garlic. I fried them for ten minutes until the Onions were translucent. I then added the Bacon Pieces, the juice of one Lemon, six fresh Mint Leaves and three small heads of fresh Parsley and mixed all these ingredients together. Then I added the Broad Beans and warmed everything through. 

I served the mixture on a bed of fresh red lettuce leaves. With the use of a lot of fresh, green vegetables this dish had the positive tastes that summer meals bring.