Category — Cooking

The 34th Annual Flower and Vegetable show was held this Saturday in our village. A great bustle filled the air as the villagers took their wonderful produce to the village hall to await judgement. The eighty categories make it a fabulous affair.  The hall was filled to bursting with all manner of  superb vegetables with the Onion Competition displaying some of the biggest and best onions I have ever seen.  Every vegetable from the common potato and carrots to the not some common kohlrabi,  very popular in Germany and known as the German turnip, it dates back to the 16th century.  Also on display  were the marvelous  victoria sponges, fruit cakes, plum breads, apple pies,  jams and preserves, such wonderful jars of pickle onions and mint jellies. Mostly all the items are auctioned at the end of the day, selling at  the most reasonable prices and the villagers snap up the  scrumptious cakes  and first class vegetables. On arriving home I  made  a very  good leek au gratin for supper and some  butternut  squash and chili soup for freezing.

It has not been a very good summer  this year and yet these amazing village gardeners always managed to produce the most wonderful vegetables and should be so proud of themselves when collecting their various plaques and trophies.

It is such a nice social afternoon with tea and cakes or a glass of wine for those who choose.  Long may this wonderful show continue, I look forward to the 35th Flower and Vegetable show, in our really lovely little village.

This well used recipe has been used by us for as many years as I can remember.

4 egg whites ( room temperature)

8 oz’s caster sugar

1 heaped teaspoon cornflower

1 teaspoon white vinegar

Whisk egg whites until stiff. Whisk in sugar half at a time until stiff and glossy. Whisk in cornflower and vinegar.

Turn onto baking sheet ( lined with bakewell ( baking)l paper) and shape roughly and slightly hollow out centre. Bake @  150c  ( 300f/MK2) for one hour. Turn off oven and leave to cool. Do not  open oven door until really cool.

When cool, gently peel back baking paper and set on pretty plate or tray and pile high with whipped double cream and decorated with your favourite fruit of the season. Simply wonderful with poured- over  blackberry puree. ( made from blackberries washed well and drain and cooked gently with a little sugar and mashed through a sieve until smooth and thick.) Made with Love it always turns out well…

Larger Pavlova needed  – just double the quantities

As a child our Mother used to make Lentil soup so I suppose my love of this rich delicious pleasure was laid down early on in my memory of  favourite tastes. Then as an adult I made it often as a winter warmer for my family but I have never tasted one so good as the Lentil soup served at the Hilton Hotel in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi. I sneaked into the  restaurant kitchen one  evening after having their sensational lentil soup yet again as a starter. Of course the very nice chef was not about to give his secret recipe away but with some gentle persuading I manage to  glean the little tips that make all the difference to achieving  a really great lentil soup. My recipe is now as follows.

3 tablespoons of butter – Salt and black pepper.

1 large onion chopped -    Juice of 1 lemon.

1 stalk of celery chopped – 3 carrots chopped.

3/4 lb lentils rinsed and soaked over night – 2 teaspoons of cumin.

3 pints of good rich meat stock -  1  beef meat bone ( optional).

Small garlic flavoured croutons.

Now either red, yellow, green or brown lentils can be used -see the two photos – I do like to soak mine overnight after rinsing well, these days the quality of lentils is so good this  may not be necessary still I feel it makes a difference. Never soak your lentils in salted water as this makes the skins hard .

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and cook the onion slowly, until soft  and a golden colour. Add the celery, carrot and saute for a few minutes. Add the lentils and the meat bone ( if using) and the rich meat stock. Bring up to the boil and then turn down to simmer for at least  1 &  1/2 hours, longer if possible, gentle long slow cooking makes this soup . When the lentils are soft and cooked, season the soup with salt and black pepper. Then add your lemon and cumin, we like rather a lot of cumin but I have suggest 2 teaspoons to start,  Remove the meat bone and simmer for a further  5 minutes. Allow to cool a little and then blend in an electric blender – or squash with a potato  masher until a smooth puree.

Return the soup to your pan and bring gently to the boil once more and then down to a simmer – ready for serving. – I serve with a little  Creme Fraiche, and some sprinkled  chopped chives and we like ours rather thick, but you can adjust with a little more stock or further blending should you choose.

Serve with croutons of  bread fried in olive oil,  to which a  clove or two of crushed garlic has been added. This soup is still a very cheap option and is great for  lunch with crispy french bread or makes the perfect starter particularly on a cold winter’s evening.

Remember, cooking with love, it makes a difference you know . I do hope you enjoy it.