Week 43: Nettle Pesto

Picking a mixture of nettles - just the young tops and if you grasp firmly they don't sting ... apparently and wild garlic.

Same ingredients as last time - nuts and cheese mixed in with the nettles - lightly blanched before chopping finely.  We also sampled fresh nettle tea and pastry parcels made with nettles and cheese. 

It can basically be used like spinach and is incredibly good for you.

Ta dah!

Week 42: Brighton Veg Fest

I was lucky enough to win a ticket to this year's Brighton Veg Fest in a draw I entered at Seedy Sunday in February - there's a theme developing ...

I'm not a vegetarian and not planning to be one.  I don't eat a huge amount of meat and do care about how animals are reared, the way meat is produced and processed.

There were stalls spread around the various floors of the Brighton Centre.  Mainly food focused (vegetarian obviously) and many selling their wares and foodie treats in various shapes and sizes.  Several stalls were selling chocolate in a variety of forms and flavours from raw to dairy free (not as nice as the real thing).

In the end I came away with a couple of pots of herbs, a few samples and a new kitchen gadget - good for soups and smoothies.

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Week 41: Wild Garlic Workshop

Run by the lovely ladies at @PickItCookIt near Ashurst and the first of two workshops I've booked up.

Also known as Ransoms, wild garlic is one of the Spring plants that you can't miss when you come across them, due to their strong, pungent aroma.  They're found in woodland, often along stream and river banks.

After coffee and scones ... containing wild garlic ... on arrival - we head out to pick the wild garlic from the wooded area on the farm, alongside the stream.  On the way back we drop by the veg patch to pick a few leeks and then back to the outdoor workspace to put together pesto.

Pretty easy to make:  Finally chop the greenery - wild garlic and leek or onion if you prefer then mix roughly 2 parts greenery to 1 part grated hard cheese + 1 part crushed nuts - whatever you prefer, walnuts, hazel, almonds.  Add seasoning and spices to taste, mix with a good virgin olive oil or rapeseed to a paste.  Whatever combination and as rough or finely chopped as you like.

Tastes delicious on bread, with pasta or mixed in with pretty much anything.  It got added to pretty much everything I was cooking that week!

Wild garlic (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Week 37: Paddington Bear's favourite

I make marmalade every now and then, when I spot Seville oranges in the shops for the brief couple of weeks when they're available.  My organic veg delivery box had some available.

I tried a different recipe this year - Ultimate Seville orange marmalade (BBC Goodfood).  The principle is the same - oranges, sugar and water but a much quicker option is to boil the fruit whole before making the marmalade.

Sooo much easier to cut up the fruit when it's soft rather than the hours it takes normally me.  This is the fiddliest and messiest part of the whole process.  It's then a matter of putting all the ingredients together and boiling until you reach 'setting' point which is a fairly random point.  Over-boil it and you get too solid a marmalade, under-boil and it's runny.

I added ginger this year but you'd hardly notice - definitely need to add a lot more to get the lovely ginger kick.

Options: - thicker cut for a chunkier marmalade, add dark brown sugar or molasses for a darker marmalade.  It's also easy to make at any time of year with lemons and limes (very tasty) or you can even just use the sweeter, eating oranges or any citrus fruit.

Week 34: Brighton - Seedy Sunday

The melee that is Seedy Sunday at the Brighton Dome each February - where you can buy or swap seeds and enjoy a range of growing and gardening delights, talks and food.

I picked up a lot of seeds for this year's veg planting.

The knitted map of Brighton taken from an original 1792 Terrier map showing the Laines and Furlongs (strips of land). The different colours showing different ownership of the land.

Week 34: Wahaca - Deep Fried Plantain

Plantain fritters with vanilla ice-cream.  Not that exotic or unusual but not something I've eaten before, so makes the list.

Mexican street food from a restaurant built out of shipping containers.  Delicious!

We went for the easy option and the Wahaca selection - a mix of street food dishes.  Highly recommended if you're passing along the South Bank, although it was very busy at lunchtime.