Winter Fare

New seasons bring new produce and changes in our daily diets.  Hallowe’en and Thanksgiving are often associated with the pumpkin. My first dish, rather than a pie, is really a pumpkin tart, given the base is my shortcrust pastry without any top. The pumpkin flesh is roughly grated, microwaved for about 4 minutes to soften, then mixed with 2 eggs, sugar to taste and some flour to thicken the consistency a little. I add cinnamon and nutmeg before baking.                                               

A dish I enjoy at this time of year is beef stew and the best one I’ve tasted is that of my Greek friend, Angeliki. It’s very straightforward to make: chopped onions are fried in oil, then, as they soften the meat chunks are added. They are large to start off with as they reduce to quite an extent while stewing. The browning phase ends with a generous slug of whisky – her secret ingredient! It offers depth of flavour but without the bitterness that sometimes comes from the addition of wine in boeuf bourgignon. 

Another hearty dish is beans baked in the oven in tomato sauce - what brother-in-law, John, calls ‘furnace beans’, the Greek word for oven being fournos . My favourite type of bean is the barlotti bean, not just because of their beautiful burgundy -spotted colouring, but because of their gloriously creamy texture.                                             

A special event we celebrate is the birthday of Robert Burns and this year we introduced a couple of Greek friends into the ritual. As a starter I made pumpkin soup which, to give depth to the flavour, had a variety of vegetables added – especially onion and garlic to counteract the pumpkin’s inherent sweetness. This was served with crunchy bacon pieces and garlic bread.                                               

Below you can see Z doing the honours of stabbing then serving the ‘haggis’ – well, it was the Thrace equivalent called tzirosarmas, which our friend, the chef, had kindly made for the occasion - and brought more for the freezer, bless! Made from liver, with rice and lots of seasoning and herbs, it is not as ‘offally’ strong :o as the original dish. Very tasty, indeed! Served of course with mashed potatoes and a mix-and-mash of carrot and white radish – this is the nearest I can get to turnip!                                                  

For dessert we had a traditional Scottish dumpling,  and a tarte tartin, a long-time fave of Z.                                                 

  This next always reminds me of quite formal – well, catering-wise, for sure – Christmas Eve parties that friends used to throw. Pride of place as first course came her mother’s famed stuffed cabbage leaves. I had long wanted to try these out – the filling being mince with herbs and rice and the grated zest and juice of a lemon to give it more ….zest!  The leaves have to be blanched and carefully separated from each other and the spine removed for easier rolling.

If truth be told, they were irregular in shape and not things of beauty but, served with a lemon sauce which kinda covered their strange appearance, they were not up to my friend’s mum’s standard but they tasted good! We’ll try them again, for sure.                                                  

Recently I found a tin of imported Lyons’ syrup – yay – so decided to try out a Jamie’s recipe for sticky treacle pudding.

Question: why do most ‘treacle’ recipes actually contain syrup, rather than treacle???                                               

No offence, Jamie, but we could not eat this. I guess I underestimated the power of our microwave but I made what can only be described as having the texture of auld boots. That is one that will definitely not be attempted again. That idea really did come to a sticky end. ☹  

Spirit-raising sprigs !

 

 Since the last post – Funerals and Farewells - was a bit heavy, we’ll lighten things up with a floral tribute. 😊  We are so  fortunate in that our garden never seems to be flowerless which we appreciate as it helps us so much to cope with the cold, dull days. The narcissus is glorious –just one flower stalk in a vase fills the entire room with its heady fragrance.                                                     

The prunus displays its flowers way before leaf production and are the ones that first tell us spring is on the way. They really are beautiful blooms.

                                                   

The wild bluebell pops up in little corners of the garden and it too can bring its pungent aroma into the house with just one flower head.                                                         

I greatly miss the snowdrops and primroses which used to proliferate around Kilberry, thanks to the mild, damp climate. Years ago I found some primroses growing in the semi-Alpine area of Pelion and snaffled some roots to take home. They rooted, spread and surprisingly have survived and thrived despite disliking the intense summer heat. Sadly this strain lack the exquisite, delicate scent of our British blooms.                                            

This is our winter jasmine which often produces its lovely lemon flowers which, alas, are also scentless.                                     

 Now I have to admit I can’t name this shrub but at this time of year, when the garden is pretty bare, it produces both pretty pink flower heads and rich blue berries – a lovely colour combination!

                                   

And finally we have the beautiful rose that, thanks to our really mild winter, our climber produced on Burns’ Day. Couldn’t have been more appropriate or welcome.