Moules Mariniere

I really love seafood, a lot. In particular, mussels. When I lived in Falmouth local ones from the Helford River were a given on the menu of any self-respecting restaurant. Usually the Helford River is better known for its Oysters (which, you can buy here in London incidentally) but the mussels win it for me every time. Unassuming, and ridiculously affordable at a mere £4 a kilo on Broadway Market (alas, from Wales, not Cornwall) I'm slightly embarrassed that I haven't cooked them before. Still... there's a first time for everything and tonight was such an occasion. No fuss, I went for the classic Moules Mariniere, recipe courtesy of my good friend Sarah, chef at the Seafood Bar in Falmouth.

Moules Mariniere
Melt a healthy knob of butter in a large saucepan and cook a finely chopped onion and garlic for a couple of minutes (I opted for two garlic cloves, but would actually use three next time). Add 1-2 glasses of dry white wine, season and turn up the heat high. Once the pot is sizzling away add the mussels (de-bearded of course: we had 1kg between 2) and put a lid on - they'll need to be steamed about 4-5 minutes, until they have all opened. Once opened, give a good stir, add a healthy amount of chopped parsley and some double cream and allow to thicken. Serve with chunks of fresh bread after a minute or so.

Bake your lawn

(pic. courtesy of The Cornish Mill and Bakehouse)

I really like this. A chap called Andrew Whitley (baker and all-round organic food champion by the sounds of things) has started a campaign called 'Bake Your Lawn', encouraging people to start growing their own wheat at home. Sadly, as pointed out in the article, if most people were to grow enough to cover the average family's bread requirements they would require 297 square meters - still, it's a step in the right direction, and I never heard of anyone not growing vegetables because they wouldn't be able to cover the entire year's worth.

I'm not sure if I've blogged about this before but I've been making my own bread now for a while, and it certainly does taste better and takes sandwiches to a new level of comfort-eating. I dream that at some point in the future I will have enough land that would enable me to do something like this, but for now I'll stick to using flour from Shipton Mills, or The Cornish Mill and Bakehouse.

Another day, another pie

For the first time since New Year David and I managed to get down to Broadway Market together. And it was nice. We got there early, so it was still quiet and the selection was good. One thing I was particularly keen to show him was a discovery made last week of Les's Game (his choice of grammar, not mine).

Les is a fantastic poacher (and if you're reading this Les, I hope I'm not offending you by calling you poacher, I just don't know the proper term without saying "He's a great hunting, shooting-type person"). Anyway, I digress - he pretty much lives up to all you'd imagine a great hunting shooting type person to be. Fully decked out in army green with a few choice hunting badges proudly sewn onto his waistcoat - let's not be squeamish, it'd be rude not to make the most of the season. This is organic proper meat at it's finest (if not cheapest) so I'm getting stuck in. Last week I bought a rabbit, this week we decided to try his Mixed Game pie - and mighty fine it is too!

With a strapline like "Fine Game, Posh Poultry and Pies" what's not to like? (excusing the veggies out there, of course). Get down to see him at Broadway Market whilst you can - the season's end is upon us.

Les - 07799 176013
6 Whielden Lane, HP7 0NP

ps - have since met Les' insanely cute Jack Russel terrier, named Gooner. It just gets better!

No Catch Cod

It's a shame, reading in the Guardian today I see that the No Catch Cod company (the world's first organic, sustainable cod-farm) has gone into administration. Although it expensive (it costs around 50% more than wild cod) it is sustainable, and might I add, really bloody tasty too!

Let's hope this doesn't mean the end for guilt-free fish.

all quiet on the hackney front

It's not that I don't want to blog anymore, or even that I have nothing to write about. It's more that I haven't got time for anything other than college work and the pedagogical world. I don't read my own books anymore - I read children's one, to plump out my literacy log. Honestly... this teaching malarkey isn't just a career change!

Still, in the meantime here are some things I got up to over Christmas...

1. I made a pork pie, well, more like a pork cake. In a 23cm diameter cake tin. What can I say, it nearly turned me vegetarian and I couldn't look at it for two days, but it did taste good ;)
2. I received a) a fishing rod and b) a reel to go on it. I couldn't have been happier... and I got taken out for a Boxing Day fishing trip. This little dogfish christened the rod, and yes, I threw it back. I plan to catch and eat a lot of fish this summer, when I finally get my 6 weeks holiday.

It's grim in school

I ate the worst meal of my life today: Christmas school dinner. I couldn't identify the meat (although frankly it'd be lucky if it even had a Bernard Matthews label on it), which can't be good.

What can I say? I did it for the kids. One thing though - if this is the shit they're shovelling down their throats no wonder they can't concentrate.

Jamie Oliver - your work here is not yet done.

Stichelton

Holy shit this cheese tastes good!

A new cheese made to an old recipe (from the 13th century no less) by the chaps from Neals Yard. It's very similar to Stilton but is not allowed be named as such due to the fact that it's made from unpasteurised milk. According to Country Life it is set to become the new king of the cheeseboard - I'll drink to that.