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| Flowering Quince |
We've quite enjoyed the novelty of Winter this year after five blistering tropical years on the island where the humidity runs at nearly 100% and temperatures average in the late 30's/early 40's most days. It's amazing how same-y Paradise can get: Alice de Janze' s oft quoted "Not another f****g beautiful day" springs to mind and it seems that endless turquoise sea and palm trees does not necessarily bring about a state of bliss as advertised.
I love having seasons to watch again but can confidently say that we've now had enough of our cold, dusty Midland's Winter and we're ready for Spring. All the dead looking sticks and bushes have pretty blossoms on them, although we've been given dire warnings of Black Frosts in Mid September. I've had all my propagated hydrangea bushes clogging up the entrance hall for a few months now, so we should be planting these out hopefully just as we start to complete the first stage of building. This year definitely seems to be about taking time and learning patience. I am not good at either, as I whizz impatiently through everything in my Type A way, so I'm spending quite a bit of time spinning my wheels in a Groundhog Day way.
I am also a mite tired of hearty brown food and a 100 variations of beef casserole. All the spring foods look so pretty after the corduroy tones of Winter and I'm craving all things green and crunchy again.
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Spring inspiration from Pinterest: Left to right: bakersroyale.com; deliciousmagazine.co.uk lagelidaanolina.blogspot.se and hastoft.dk |
It's been a long few weeks with sick children, house building and other tribulations including missing husbands. Not much magic has been happening in our kitchen of late and I even made Macaroni Cheese one desperate day which was a low point.
Just as the first signs of Spring started peeping through, so did my enthusiasm return and last weekend we got our mojo back on again as we cooked up a storm for visiting friends. We had one of those fabulous Sundays where lunch turns into afternoon tea which morphs into evening drinks and then supper, which really are our favourite type of days and when I miss Tyler the most (apart from when the chain saw stops working, that is).
In a burst of cooking zeal we made all kinds of new things including an Asparagus and Boudin Tart, a really juicy Meat Loaf with a serious kick and a delicious Lemon Orzo & Smoked Trout Salad which I'll make again and snap to share.
There were also the usual disasters including a handsome looking Autumn Fruit Cake from Gennaro Contaldo's Seasonal Recipes which was frankly a waste of good fruit, but wasn't helped by the fact that I burnt it too. I also clearly haven't mastered how to make beef Carpaccio just yet either, as guests diplomatically steered round it. I also haven't worked out how to do all the cooking plus playing gracious hostess and then photographing everything for here which explains why I always talk about things more than I show them. I'm not too clear on the etiquette here either - surely it must be a bit tedious for guests as the host keeps taking food selfies?
It's interesting to see what plants grow here in our cold, claggy clay soil and I was surprised to see how well sorrel has done. Sorrel is a lovely, lemony herb and good with fish, so I'm going to fiddle around with some trout and sorrel and see what comes out of that. Today for lunch I made a Half Winter/Half Spring soup with potatoes, leeks and sorrel which was pretty delicious and an amuse bouche of seasonal things to come.
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| Julia's iPad |
Garden Sorrel Soup with Leek & Potato
Big handful of sorrel, washed and chopped
8 medium sized potatoes, scrubbed and diced
1 bunch of leeks, washed and chopped
1 onion, chopped into small dice
1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup plain yoghurt
Lots of white pepper and salt
Knob of butter and glug of sunflower oil
Method:
- Fry onions and leeks in butter/sunflower oil until translucent
- Add potatoes and stock and simmer for about 30 minutes
- Season well
- Add sorrel and simmer for another 5 minutes or so
- Add the lemon juice to accentuate the lemony sorrel flavour
- Whizz up in a blender. I never go too smooth as I like a bit of texture
- Mix yoghurt and some soup liquid to thin out the soup as it can get a bit thick
- Sprinkle over garnish of finely julienned sorrel
- Can also be served cold like vichyssoise
Serve with lots of crusty bread and crispy white wine, sitting on the stoep and remarking about Spring.
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