I am never one to shy away from washing up, but even I like to make meals which only require one pan. This curry could equally be made with chicken or just vegetables, or maybe lamb fillet or pork chops. I am in the habit of making it on a Friday night, as I love a curry, and making it in the oven means that the fish does not have to be stirred in a pan and potentially spoilt. Friday for us is nearly always fish, as old habits die hard! It is also the day we tend to do our shopping, and I like to have fish as fresh as possible. Plus, Waitrose has a 20% off fish offer on Fridays!
Tray-bake Fish Curry for 4 people
Ingredients
Fish pieces weighing about 1 1/2 lbs (600g) – I used trout, but you could use salmon, cod, hake or other white fish. Something chunky works well
3 Portobello mushrooms
4 medium-sized tomatoes, quartered
1 can of chickpeas
A few handfuls of spinach – about 4oz (100g)
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
3 medium-sized new potatoes, cut into big slices or chunks
1 large onion
Half a 400g of chopped tomatoes
2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 fresh chilli, deseeded and sliced
small piece of fresh ginger
1 tsp turmeric or a lump of fresh turmeric if available
2 tsp garam masala
Half a large can of coconut milk
3 tabs full-fat Greek yoghurt
Oil such as rapeseed or sunflower
Tray-bake Trout Curry
Method
Put your sweet potatoes, onions and potatoes into a large roasting tin – mine measures 30 x 22 x 6cm (length, width, depth). Scatter over the spices. I bash up the ginger and turmeric in a pestle and mortar. Mix in some oil and coat well. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. The vegetables will not be fully cooked – all the other ingredients cook more quickly, so you need to give the potatoes and onions a head start. Take the tin out of the oven and add the mushrooms, chickpeas and fish. You can cut the fish into four pieces or leave it as one big piece. Sprinkle over some more oil and roast for another 20 minutes.
By this time, everything should be more or less cooked and smelling good. Add the canned and fresh tomatoes, spinach and coconut milk and mix them gently into the vegetables. Leave the fish exposed. Roast for another 5 minutes. It should all be cooked by now, but do check that everything is soft. Mix in the Greek yoghurt.
I served this with beetroot raita (a grated, raw beetroot mixed with 3 tabs yoghurt and a tsp of cumin seeds) and a freshly cooked poppadum.
Tray-bake Trout Curry with Poppadom and Beetroot Raita
I love squid, and fortunately Paul does too! Even my daughter Jess is gradually getting a taste for it. She prefers it cut into rings, in breadcrumbs or batter, deep-fried. This however is one of my favourite ways of serving it. Do try it, and I can assure you that it will not be tough and rubbery! You probably know that squid either needs to be cooked very quickly in a hot pan, or long and slow in a casserole, for at least 45 minutes. Anything in between and it will be as tough as old boots.
Squid stuffed with Spinach and Pinenuts, served with Roasted Vegetables and Tomatoes
Ready to cook in the above photo
Ingredients for 2 servings
6 squid
4oz Fresh Spinach
2oz Pine Nuts
1oz Chunky breadcrumbs (make your own from stale bread)
3 sun-dried tomatoes
1 fresh chilli
4 medium-sized new potatoes
1 courgette
Olive Oil
Stick of fresh rosemary
Half a 400g can of chopped tomatoes
Method
Slice the potatoes into chunky pieces – about 4 slices from each. Put in a small roasting tin. Drizzle with olive oil, add the rosemary stick and seasoning and roast for 20 minutes at 200 degrees. Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a small, dry, frying pan. Slice the deseeded chilli and cook for a few minutes in a little olive oil. Put the spinach in a colander and pour boiling water over it. This will wilt it. Mix the spinach, breadcrumbs, pine nuts, chillis and chopped, sun-dried tomatoes. Prepare the squid by pulling the legs out of the bodies. Make a small snip down the side of the body, about a quarter of the way down. Fill the bodies with the stuffing mixture and secure with cocktail sticks. When the potatoes have roasted, add the courgette to the tin, sliced into chunky pieces. Roast for another 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan until it is smoking. Add a small amount of olive oil and sear the squid bodies and tentacles for a couple of minutes each side.
Squid cooking on the Griddle
Remove the tin from the oven. Add the tomatoes, then put the squid bodies and tentacles on top. Cook for another 5 minutes in the oven.
This is a meal in itself, but if you are like me you might dollop a spoon of thick Greek yoghurt on the top!
Squid stuffed with Spinach and Pinenuts served with Roasted Vegetables and Tomatoes
On Wednesday 11th October I met Ali Sparkes at the launch of the Berkshire Book Award.
In my previous existence I was a school librarian (cruelly made redundant from my last post!) and have in fact worked for over 20 years in the profession in school, college and public libraries. I am still a great advocate of children’s books and the value of libraries, so shall occasionally be writing related blog pieces and promoting authors.
I have heard many authors talk to pupils and adults over my many years of working as a professional librarian, but I have to say that this had to be the most enjoyable and inspirational to date. Ali engaged the pupils from the start by warming them up with some typical audience participation preparation. This was in the style of a radio show or a family pantomime. She had cards with appropriate words on to hold up, such as ‘Groan’ (for cheesy jokes), ‘Gasp’ and ‘Clap Loudly.’
She then started her presentation by taking us back to the 1970s with a magical whirly, whirly gadget! This beginning really engaged me, as I too was a child of the 1970s, so had to laugh at Ali’s tales of how life was then, with no mobile phones, television just suddenly stopping when there was nothing else to broadcast (I remember the Test Card fondly!) and the knowledge that if you went out with your friends, in all likelihood your parents would have no idea where you were or what time you might be home! Her description of her school days was honest and heart-rending. Owing to some ‘modern thinking’ she failed to learn the alphabet properly and as a result was at one time the worst reader and writer in her school. She then discovered the library and had an inspirational art teacher who inspired and encouraged her. She discovered literature and the magic of stories through Enid Blyton and in particular, ‘Five go to Smuggler’s Top.’ Many of the pupils and staff listening were also great Enid Blyton fans.
Ali wrote her first series of books (inspired by Enid Blyton!) at about the age of 15. She showed us her illustrations for the book on the big screen. The plot revolved around Ali and her friends staying in a tent and having a lot of improbable adventures, with plenty of time for tea breaks. Cue for cheesy joke here and the use of the ‘Groan’ card – it was a very ‘intense’ story!
Ali also read other authors avidly, including Roald Dahl, Joan Aiken and L.M. Montgomery. She did send her cheesy tent story to a publisher but it was rejected. In fact, she had many rejection letters over the years – always remembering that J.K. Rowling was rejected by 12 publishers before finally being accepted – and this brutal honesty was both amusing and sad. You could see that the pupils really identified with her.
Over the years she worked for a local newspaper and the BBC, and finally had her first book published in 2006, with the help of an agent. This book was The Shapeshifters: Finding the Fox. One idea for a book which she has still not had published I thought was inspired – a noisy book called The Boy who said Plop with the added novelty of the reader being able to record their own ‘plop’ sound to use. Unfortunately this proved too expensive to be viable! She did have a mock-up of this book, and volunteer pupils from the schools were given the chance to try out the recording of the ‘plop’ sound.
In both the morning and afternoon sessions, pupils were keen to ask Ali questions. These included: ‘How much money do you earn from writing a book? (about 50p from a book costing £6.99 is the truth!), ‘Where do you get your inspiration from?’ and ‘How long does it take to write a book?’ (about 6 months on average).
I have to hold my hands up here and admit that, despite reading many books for teenagers and children, I had not managed to read a book by Ali Sparkes before now. I have immediately rectified the situation by buying a copy of Car-Jacked and had it signed. I am looking forward to reading this, and next on my list is Frozen in Time. This has a theme of going back to the 1950s with echoes of The Famous Five, so I just cannot wait to get started on it!
Of course at the end of the session, the Whirly Whirly gadget had to do its magic and bring us back to the 21st Century!
This is a great lunch-time soup. You can make it vegetarian by leaving out the bacon, but I do love the salty touch of bacon in soup.
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 Corn Cobs – corn scraped off with a sharp knife
2 medium carrots – peeled and chopped/sliced (I cut into big diagonal slices)
1 stick of celery – chopped
1 onion – chopped roughly
Half a fennel bulb (optional)
2 medium potatoes – chopped roughly
1 chilli, deseeded and chopped (I always wear surgical gloves for this job or else I end up burning my skin!)
4 rashers back bacon – snipped with scissors into small pieces
3 tabs olive oil
small handful of mixed herbs – I used basil, parsley and coriander – chopped
For the Toppings
Half an avocado – roughly chopped
Half a dozen cherry tomatoes – quartered
Half a lemon or lime
2 tabs of thick Greek yoghurt or to taste
A handful of grated cheese eg cheddar
Method
Saute all of the vegetables and the chilli, but not the corn. Soften for about ten minutes. Add two pints water, chicken stock or vegetable stock. If you only have water available then it is fine as long as you check your seasoning. Bring to the boil and season well with sea salt and freshly milled black pepper. Simmer gently, covered, for about 20 minutes. Check the seasoning. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a little more oil in a small pan. Blitz the soup, but not fully, using a stick blender. I like it about half and half chunky and blended. You can do this easily with the stick blender in the pan, without having to remove any of the soup. Put the pan back on the heat and add the bacon, half of the herbs and the corn. I do not like pureed corn, which is why I add it later on, rather than risking blending it with the other vegetables. If it is not creamy enough, you can add a dollop of yoghurt or cream. Simmer for another five minutes to cook the corn. Mix the tomatoes and avocado with the rest of the herbs, some lemon or lime juice and a splash of olive oil.
Serve the soup in bowls, letting your guests choose their own toppings. If you want to push the boat out and are extra hungry, you could also sprinkle over some tortilla chips.
This is a recipe which I adapted from BBC Good Food Magazine, April 2017 issue. The original recipe is for Pot-Roast Bombay Chicken. I have changed it quite a bit, so give you my version below. My main changes were to add more vegetables for extra goodness, and to make my own spice paste. I also add Greek yoghurt, as I am addicted to it!
Serves about 4 People
1 Chicken weighing about 1.5kg or 3lbs
2 cloves garlic
2 fresh red chillis
small piece of ginger
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp spice mix such as garam masala
2 tsp turmeric
1 tab fenugreek seeds
6 tabs full-fat Greek Yoghurt
4 tabs sunflower or other oil (not extra virgin olive oil)
2 onions – I used one red and one ordinary – cut into big chunks
3 carrots – cut into large chunks or slices
750g new potatoes – halved or cut into chunky slices
Half a cauliflower – broken into big florets
100g spinach
About 6 medium tomatoes – quartered
Fresh coriander – a handful
4 tabs dessicated coconut or a can of coconut milk
Method
You need a large roasting tin or a big casserole which will hold all your ingrdients with the vegetables around the chicken. Sear your vegetables in the hot tin/dish. Add the fenugreek seeds and some grated ginger. Meanwhile make a spice paste with the all of the spices apart from the fenugreek and just half of the ginger. I put them into a mini blender with 2 tabs yogurt and 2 tabs oil and blitz into a paste. Smear half of this over the chicken. Boil some water and soak the coconut in about half a pint of water.
Remove the vegetables from the pan and sear the chicken on its own until nicely browned on both sides. Add the rest of the spice paste and put the vegetables back in the pan. Strain the coconut liquid over the vegetables and chicken, or pour in a can of cooconut milk. Season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the rest of the yoghurt and mix in. Add the tomatoes. Cook this uncovered in the oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 180 degrees and cook for a further hour or so, basting occasionally. Check that the chicken is cooked by pulling a leg to see that it comes away easily.
Add the spinach to the tin and stir until it is wilted. Leave the chicken to rest for about 10 minutes. I put it onto a carving plate and kept the vegetables warm over a low heat on the hob. Sprinkle the vegetables with some fresh coriander. Carve the chicken and serve with the vegetables and amazing gravy which will be in the tin.
I have never bought a tin of magnolia paint or any colour described as ‘white with a hint of…..’
The photo above is of Paul and me on our wedding day in 2004. The chocolate wedding cake by the way was made by our dear friend Julia Higgs. I was really pleased that Paul decided to go along with the purple theme, and he surprised me with this amazing shirt and white suit on the day. My own outfit was from Monsoon – for a second wedding I did not want to wear white, which for me has associations of purity and innocence, which did not seem appropriate!
I have always loved bright colours, not primary colours, but vivid shades of pink, yellow, turquoise and purple. It may be that I am compensating for being excessively shy as a child. Having bright colours in the home and in my wardrobe is always a talking point. We went to a party recently to celebrate a 50th birthday and to say farewell to dear friends Liz and James, who have gone to live in France – thanks for a great party Liz and James! My outfit attracted so many comments; who else would go to a party dressed like this?!
Sarah at Liz and James’ Party
It was lucky that I happened to have some sunglasses to match my flamingo dress! By the way, if anyone is interested, the dress is from https://ladyvlondon.com/
I am thinking of getting the Domestic Goddess dress next, which has a design of domestic appliances!
Some people have commented that the colours of my clothes are quite similar to the colours in our home, and that I blend in really well. This cannot be denied! Below you see pictures of some of the rooms in our house, and get the general idea.
Yellow Wall in KitchenPink and Purple Stripy ArmchairTurquoise SofaPurple SofaPink wall in Living Room with Os Guarda-Chuvas Canvas
I am particularly proud of the canvas in the above picture. It was made from a photo I took in Agueda in Portugal last year. I was so inspired by the Umbrella Sky Project there. I call it Os Guarda-Chuvas which is a litle joke of mine – the picture is my version of Renoir’s Les Parapluies.
It has been pointed out that the kitchen colour resembles very closely the colour that the Lady in the Van kept painting her van!
Here are some more of my outfits that I enjoy wearing to parties, all guaranteed to be an ice-breaker.
Sarah with a glass of champagneSarah and Hidden Bulb Cake
At the hotel on Burgh Island
Sarah with her tart
I have just realised that in the above picture, the kitchen walls are painted a different colour. I was seriously fed up with that colour, which was supposed to be terracotta but did not really have the right effect.
I buy most of my clothes nowadays from Joe Browns, and I have over the years bought Paul a variety of shirts from there too. The men’s shirts are just as loud and colourful as the women’s clothing. The one with the naked women design is particularly amusing.
If anyone is interested in getting my advice on clothing or interior design, you know where I am………….
I am a keen gardener when it comes to growing food, but not always successful. Some years I spend weeks and weeks sowing and nurturing vegetable seeds, and then they either produce very few crops, or the whole lot is consumed by slugs. I have had success some years with beetroot, spinach, peas and courgettes, but have to admit that this year was a bit of wash-out.
This is why fruit trees can be so rewarding; you generally get very good crops for little or no labour at all. Of course the down-side is that there is an awful lot of fruit to deal with all at once. We are consistently getting good crops of apples from our three trees (Cox’s Orange Pippin, Ribston Pippin and Bramley) and this year we had 11lbs pears from the Doyenne du Comice tree.
In the picture above you can see me harvesting the pears in our garden. I have never tried storing apples and pears for use later in the season. In theory I know this should be possible by wrapping perfect fruit individually in newspaper and then putting them into a dry box. The box would then have to be stored in a cool, dry place. We have sheds which are damp and prone to infestation by bugs and larger creatures, so this storage option does not seem worth the risk for the amount of fruit that we have. We therefore enjoy fresh apples for as long as we can, and I cook as many dishes as I can from the rest of the fruit. We prefer our pears cooked, and the fruits in our garden never seem to reach that perfect ripeness which makes them worth eating raw.
Pear Harvest from Vine Cottage – 11lb Fruit
Below I show you some of the dishes that I have made from our harvest, with an indication of the source of the recipe. There are two recipes of my own, with a quick resume of my ingredients and method.
Pear and Cardamom Tart
This recipe is from the trusty BBC Good Food magazine, and includes a frangipane, one of my favourites, which works so well with both apples and pears. Using cardamom in sweet dishes may be new to some people, but it does work really well. My only change to this recipe was to slice and cook and cook the pears first, as there is no way they would have softened enough just cooking them in the tart without the pre-cooking. Obviously this depends on your pears. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1758664/pear-and-cardamom-tart
Apple and Pear Crumble with a Meringue Topping
It may seem odd to put a meringue topping on a crumble, but it is something my mother picked up from Fanny Craddock I believe! She used to make crumbles in this way when I was a child, particularly if we had egg whites lurking in the fridge (perfectly fresh of course!) The meringue makes the crumble a bit more squidgy, which is very pleasing.
New Jelly StrainerVine Cottage Pear JellyVine Cottage Apple Jelly
I am a great fan of jellies, so treated myself to a new jelly strainer from Lakeland recently. It is quite a challenge to store in my small kitchen, but is well worth the bother. Before I had the jelly bag and stand, I was hanging a muslin bag from a cupboard door and in danger of causing damage to the cupboard (never mind the inconvenience of not being able to use the cupboard whilst jelly-making was in progress!)
Jelly is a great idea for using fruit which is too awkward to peel and cut into sensible shapes, for example crab apples. I also think it is the best way of using medlars and quinces. However, I love jelly so much that I tend to make some every year from whatever apples and pears I have not made into tarts and other dishes. If you have not tried it before, or only bought it from the shops, give it a go. I use jelly in all my gravies, and it is also very good with bread and cheese or a pork pie. The recipe I use is based on one by Sarah Raven in her book Sarah Raven’s Garden Cookbook. Basically you need 450g sugar per 600ml of liquid, but do have a look at some recipes for more detail.
Pork Shoulder ready to slow-roastSlow-roast Pork Shoulder with carrots, roast potatoes and Celeriac and Cavolo Nero Colcannon with Thyme and Bacon Crumb
This was last night’s dinner. The Colcannon recipe is from the BBC Good Food Magazine October issue. This would make a meal in itself, and could easily be vegetarian without the bacon. Slow-roast or pulled pork may be very popular and on many restaurant menus, but that does not stop it from being an excellent dish. It also pervades the house with the most amazing aromas whilst it is cooking!
I did my own recipe last night. I do recommend a pork shoulder if you can get one, as it is cheaper than some other cuts. However, any pork roasting joint will be fine. Mine weighed just over a kilo and was enough meat for 4 people. As there were only 3 of us, we have left-overs. It is probably not worth slow-roasting a joint much smaller really.
I put the meat into a large roasting tin, and added some big chunks of apple and onion. I studded the meat with some rosemary stalks and bay leaves. I then added about 300ml red wine to the tin and swilled out a dijon mustard jar, pouring the liquid over. I covered the dish with foil and cooked it at 150 degrees for 4 hours, addding some more wine after a couple of hours. I then poured away the juices and put the meat back in the oven, uncovered, smeared with a little maple syrup. I turned the oven up to 200 degrees and roasted some potatoes at the same time. I made my gravy with the juices from the tin, adding some vegetable water, pear jelly and more red wine. I mashed in some of the apples and onions, and served the rest as a side dish.
I hope you too enjoy harvesting fruit from your garden if you are lucky enough to have some. If not, you can always make friends with someone who has excess fruit in their garden and would be glad to pass it onto someone else! Please share your recipes if you have any particular favourites.
Being a fan of Radio 4 and a long-term listener to Desert Island Discs, I thought that it would be fun to list my all-time favourite cookery writers. This is not a list of books, but of the writers, as I’d find it so hard to choose one book by each writer. In addition, please note that these are not in order of preference. as that would also be a hard choice to make. I have picked 8, as there are 8 tracks allowed on the Radio 4 desert island.
Nigella Lawson – chosen because she is a cook rather than a chef and loves good, home-cooking. She is also not afraid to add her own twists to classic recipes. Her descriptive, chatty style also appeals to me, and the fact that many of her books are arranged by themes rather than traditionally separating out main courses, puddings and so on. In her new book, At my Table: A Celebration of Home Cooking, there are no chapters at all, although the last section is devoted to puddings and cakes.
Nigel Slater – again he is a home cook rather than a chef and is a master of fast food with no compromises on ingredients or flavour.
Jamie Oliver – his sheer enthuiasm and love of food is infectious. His recipes really work, and he really cares about the quality of food and the state of the nation’s diet. I own more of Jamie Oliver cookery books than I do of any other cookery writer.
Delia Smith – I grew up cooking with Delia. At school, studying home economics, we used to watch videos in class of Delia’s Complete Cookery Course. She is not afraid to go right back to basics, but also has some really innovative recipes.
Rick Stein – a couple of years ago I went on a half day course at Rick Stein’s Cookery School. I love fish, which is how I first came to Rick, but in recent years I have really enjoyed his themed books based around his global travels. He is of course a chef rather than a cook, but his recipes are still good for the home cook.
Madhur Jaffrey – years ago, Madhur was one of the few writers I came across writing recipes for genuine Indian food. I have always been a fan of spices and even 20 years ago I had given up on curry powder and have always ground my own spices.
Sophie Grigson – another writer who uses fresh, seasonal produce. My particular favourite is Sophie Grigson’s Country Kitchen, which takes the reader through the seasons with suggestions for use of ingredients. They are recipes you actually want to make, rather than just read.
Yotam Ottolenghi – I love Middle-Eastern food, so could not manage without Yotam. I particularly love his imaginative vegetarian recipes. Many people have commented that his recipes use far too many ingredients, or ones that are difficult to come by. This is not my experience, and is perhaps a reflection of what I typically keep in my storecupboard!
I have had a Bucket List in my head for many years, but never actually written it down or analysed how many items on my list I have in fact ticked off. Now is the time to put that right and put together some sort of organised list. I give you below my more or less definitive list, with an indication of whether or not I have managed to achieve any of my ambitions. I shall then include a selection of items on friends’ bucket lists, once again using my Archers’ Appreciation facebook group as the sample of people surveyed. The picture above represents the nearest I have ever got to going on a cruise; the ferries we take from Portsmouth to Bilbao or Santander and from Barcelona to Sardinia, are like little cruise ships with not quite as many facilities, and you cannot stay at sea for longer than one or two nights.
To travel beyond Europe before the age of 40 – I managed this at the age of 39 and a half. I married Paul (second marriage for us both) and booked a honeymoon in Cuba! Yes, this holiday did live up to my dreams, and I do intend to return to the Caribbean one day!
To go to America before the age of 60 – I keep moving the goal post for this one, as I am 52 now and did not manage it before I was 50! We did have a holiday planned to Florida to see a dear old school-friend of mine next year, but this may not happen as I carelessly lost my job this year!
To go to America by boat – yes, this one is separate from the general one about seeing the USA. I love travelling on ships, and think that sailing into New York by ship would be so romantic. Paul and I also have a strong aversion to flying and airports in general!
To go on a world cruise including seeing Australia – yes, I am a bit obsessed by ship travel!
To go on a shorter cruise, maybe around the Caribbean.
To go on a long rail journey, maybe across India. I am forever drooling over the Jules Verne holiday brochures when they come through the letterbox. A trip on the Orient Express would be perfect.
To travel first class on a train, preferably to somewhere interesting with good scenery. Paul had the really helpful suggestion that we could go first class on the Marlow Donkey from Maidenhead to Marlow, but I am not sure that this would really hit the spot!
To run out into the middle of the road and shout ‘taxi!’ – I did this when with some friends in Cardiff. Of course you have to make sure that you only try this with licensed Hackney Carriages, not private hire taxis, as doing it with the latter is not legal!
To jump into a taxi and shout ‘follow that car!’ – this one is a bit of a flight of fantasy, as I am not planning on a life of crime or a new career as a private detective.
To jump off a moving vehicle film-star style and land gracefully on the pavement! In my early 20s as a student in London, I did jump off a routemaster bus, as the bus conductor told me to (we were not stopping at my requested stop). Unfortunately my landing was anything but graceful, and the bus stopped so that the conductor could check if I was okay!
To own a house and be able to design a new, huge kitchen of my own – not sure if this one is achievable or not really!
To use a talking telescope on a cliff-top tourist destination – Paul adamantly objects to my spending a pound or a euro to have this experience, so this one is a bit of a standing joke between us now!
To travel on a tourist open-topped bus or a tourist train – this is another one that Paul is not keen on, so I’ll have to find a way of doing this one (we do most of our travelling and sightseeing together).
To go the Edinburgh Festival – I have never quite managed this, and we have been in the habit of going on holiday in August to sunnier climes in the past few years. It would be a shame to never go though!
To meet Nicholas Parsons – I adore Nicholas and Just a Minute is one of my all-time favourite radio programmes. I have been to a recording, but have not actually spoken to him. Now I really had better hurry up and organise this one, as he is in his 90s…… maybe a book signing session would be best for the chance to actually speak to him!
To speak on Radio 4 – for this to happen I shall have to make more of an effort with phone-in programmes I suppose, as I am not going to do this any other way! Related to this, I have been interviewed for local radio and I have had letters/e-mails read out on Radio 4!
To take part in a film or television programme – this one I have achieved by appearing in a Heston Blumenthal cookery programme on Channel 4! Okay, I did not speak live, but you can definitely see me, and we did all get to chat to Heston during the recording. I should like to make more appearances though, and to this end I have registered with an Extras agency – watch this space!
To learn Spanish and Italian enough to be able to converse with local people – I speak French, but am finding learning languages so much more difficult now that I am older….
To improve my piano-playing skills. I can read music and play to a very basic level, but it is one of my huge regrets that I did not start learning younger. I think that this one should be possible if I work at it.
To play another principal singing and acting role in the theatre – preferably one of each. I have appeared live on stage in principal roles and numerous times in the chorus, but I’d like to have another chance at playing some principal roles before I shuffle off this mortal coil…..
How does my list compare with that of my Archers’ Appreciation friends? Such a diverse range of ambitions that people have on their lists. Some people have questioned the point of having a bucket list at all, and some responses were to suggest I might like to buy some brightly-coloured buckets.
Many bucket lists include far-flung places to visit or dangerous sports to try out. Places people would like to visit include: New York, Canada Rockies, Australia, New Zealand (Andrew Gosling), Nambia (Jane Baker), the Giraffe Manor in Nairobi, where apparently you have the chance to eat breakfast with giraffes! (Jane Kirkham). Rachel Blanchard has a long list of places she has been planning to visit for a number of years and has so far only managed Japan from the list! The complete list is: Tibet, Taiwan, Japan, Chile, Terra del Feuago, Buenos Aires, South Pacific Islands, Myanmar, Sumatra, North Vietnam, Moscow, the Trans Siberian railway, Las Vegas, Alaska, Canada, Peru, Hawai and New Orleans! Good luck with that Rachel! The Northern Lights is popular (maybe I should add that to my list!) and is mentioned by Gary Cavie, Jon Mitchell, Joan Shoesmith and Berni Anderson.
Jane Walker has a list of pieces of music she would like to play in the orchestra pit, including most Mahler symphonies, Shostakovitch 5, Sibelius 7 and any opera. I might consider something like this for my list had I progressed a bit further with learning musical instruments.
I do like some of the more mundane items such as Cecilia Potten’s which is to ‘live to a ripe old age and become a rich widow.’ June Coles would like to visit all the piers in the UK. That is something that I think would definitely be worth achieving! Annette Harris would like to retire – okay not right now, but she rightly points out that many people are not lucky enough to have a long and happy retirement and do all the things that they don’t have time to do whilst working full-time. In the same vein Pam Pummell would like ‘to live at least 10 more years (to the age of 78) and not be doolally.’ I love the word ‘doolally!
There are a few people who have dangerous or possibly exciting things on their lists such as Penny McElhinney wanting to kayak up the Amazon, Sally Owen wanting to learn to surf, Melissa Seymour wanting to skydive and Jemima Green wanting to handle snakes and Ian Williams wanting to walk with mountain gorillas (he has ticked this one off his list already!)
Finally I love the honesty of Jude Platts who says, ‘I’d quite like to see my house tidy. Just once.’
Thanks for all the contributions. If you read this all the way through, it would lovely to have some more feedback or comments on what you think about my Bucket List!
You may have spotted by now that I cook proper meals every day, and that I use a fair number of recipes from cookery books and magazines/newspapers, as well as devising my own recipes. I thought it would be interesting to sometimes write a diary for the week showing you what I have cooked for dinner. I am not including breakfasts, as my breakfast is usually the same each morning – Greek yoghurt with fresh fruit and honey. I have not photographed every meal, especially as sometimes we eat left-overs of a previous meal. For lunch I usually make sandwiches or have left-overs of some dinner which needs eating up. I’ll include the lunches if they were particulary notable or if I made some bread from a recipe that I’d like to share. Sometimes I shall also include some home-bakes for afternoon tea or pudding.
Sunday 10th September
Dinner: Roast Chicken and Potatoes with Apple Stuffing, Carrots, Peas and Gravy
Although I have no photo of this meal, I’d just like to tell you about the stuffing. We have three apple trees in our garden, all of which produce reasonable crops each year. Having not had time to make an apple pudding, I decided to make an apple stuffing. For this I mixed 4oz breadcrumbs, 2oz melted butter (you could use suet instead), a handful of freshly chopped herbs such as parsley and thyme, a beaten egg, two grated apples and a little lemon rind and juice. On this occasion I stuffed the body cavity of the chicken, but you could also make stuffing balls. To make this meal easier, as we were sitting in the living room having drinks and nibbles with relatives whilst it was cooking, I put some unpeeled maincrop potato pieces in the tin with the chicken whilst roasting it.
Later on I cooked fresh carrots and peas together in a pan with a small amount of water, rosemary, vanilla extract, a knob of butter and a teaspoon of sugar. I cooked the carrots for about 10 minutes before adding the fresh peas and then cooking them together for another five minutes. I always make my gravy by adding some vegetable water, wine, dijon mustard and a spoon of home-made jelly to the juices in the roasting tin.
Monday 11th September
I unexpectedly went out for an early dinner/meeting, so made pizzas for Paul and Jess. My dinner is pictured below. We went to the Black Boy pub in Shinfield: https://www.baronspubs.com/blackboy/
Fish Tortillas at The Black Boy in Shinfield
The meal was excellent, and the staff were really helpful and available with accurate information for a colleague who is gluten intolerant.
Tuesday 12th September
Pork Osso Buco with Aubergines, Apples and Chickpeas, served with mash
Okay, confession time! This recipe was not one of my best! I wanted to leave something for Paul to put in the oven whilst I was out at yet another meeting. I could then make the mashed potato on my return. The dish would have been perfect without the aubergine, but it was in the oven too long and was of too soft a texture to go with the other ingredients, particularly serving it with mash. I cooked the meat in some lovely cider which we bought on holiday in Spain this year: http://www.agroturismoarratzain.com/
So in future, I’d leave out the aubergine and use some fennel instead for a crunchier texture.
Wednesday 13th September
Ratatouille and Melting Mozarella Crumble from Sainsburys Magazine September Issue
This dish was a real winner! We eat vegetarian food at least a couple of times a week, and this dish fitted the bill and satisfied Paul, who misses the solid taste of flesh more than I do! It is a fairly standard ratatouille recipe with the addition of spinach. It is piled into a baking dish and has mozarella torn over the top before adding a crumble topping made with breadcrumbs, rosemary and toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds. You then bake it until it is crisp and bubbling. I think that my breadcrumb mixture was particularly tasty, as I was using up some mini bruschetta topped with tomatoes and olive oil. They had gone soft, but were perfect blitzed into crumbs, tomatoes included.
Thursday 14th September
Indian-spiced Celeriac Rosti with herb yoghurt from Sainsburys Magazine September Issue
Indian-spiced Celeriac Rosti with Herb Yoghurt and Left-over Aubergine Sauce
In the picture you will see that I did also eat up the remains of the aubergine sauce left-over from the pork casserole, so for me this was not quite a vegetarian dish. Rosti are a fun dish to make and to give a different texture to vegetables. Apparently celeriac is also very low in calories. The suggestion was to serve the rosti with mango chutney, and I just happened to have made a couple of jars of that recently – so much better home-made!
Friday 15th September – Fish Pie made according to a Jamie Oliver recipe (The Return of the Naked Chef 2000)
Fantastic Fish Pie from The Return of the Naked Chef
I have made this wonderful pie many times, and have adapted the recipe to suit my tastes and preferences. The best tip I learnt from Jamie by making this pie was that it is not necessary to cook fish before putting it into a pie. This means that you use fewer pans, and that the fish holds its shape better. Jamie includes spinach and carrot in his recipe. I have always used more carrot than he suggests, and I also add fennel and celery. Originally this was a way of bribing my daughter Jess into eating more vegetables, as she has always loved fish pie. I continue to make the pie with these additions even if I am not trying to deceive children.
Saturday 16th September Chicken with Chorizo, Chick Peas and Kale from Davina’s 5 Weeks to Sugar Free
I was not particularly looking for sugar-free recipes, but I spotted this book in my mother’s house and noted a few really good recipes in it. Chorizo and chick peas are two of my favourite ingredients and I could happily just make a meal out of these ingredients. This went really well with a jacket potato and butter.
