As promised, here is my favourite recipe.
You need:
A bottle of red wine
500g lamb neck fillet
500g tomatoes (skinned, cored and chopped, but let’s face it, a tin will not hurt)
One large onion
220g (about four) carrots
220g (about three) parsnips
250g (three-ish) potatoes
Half a cabbage of your choice
Three cloves of garlic
A pint of stock (I’m showing off as I make all my own now I have a pinny)
A handful of rosemary (fresh and chopped is best, but dried is more likely)
All weights are approximate as I have no idea where my scales are. There should be enough to feed four hungry people with a little left over for lunch tomorrow.
Start with a glass of wine as it is important to familiarise yourself with the ingredients. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4. I have no idea what temperature that is as I have never owned a cooker less than ten years old. Brown the meat in a big oven-proof pot, have a swig of wine, wash, peel and roughly chop the veg. Add the onion to the pot to soften. Perhaps have a drop more wine whilst you are waiting. Finely chop the garlic and chuck it in. Stir. Sip wine. Add the potatoes for a moment to seal them. More wine, perhaps? Remove the cat from the chopping board and add the rest of the veg. Stir and add the tomatoes. Reward this stage with another delicate sip from your glass. Now stir in the rosemary and stock, cover, and pop it in the centre of the oven. Finish that second glass of wine. Remove the pot from the oven and share a half glass of the good stuff with your casserole. Replace in the oven, and then go and find something to do for a couple of hours. The weather has been nice, so maybe you could sit outside with a glass of wine. Check on the pot, and turn down the oven if it seems to be drying out before it has cooked. Serve with a knife, fork and spoon depending on your table manners. A piece of bread and a pint of water may also be a good idea if you can see more than one oven.
Please note this recipe works for my family, but then we have cast iron stomachs thanks to 18 years of my cooking. Therefore if any of my methods made you wince, I am sorry, and I take no responsibility for any illness resulting from following this recipe to the letter. Enjoy and have a good week.
©Meriel Flavell 2010
Monday, 19 April 2010
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Ms Cradock the Second
I am over the moon... I have a pinny! I had looked in a snobby department store at aprons recently, and yes, I do appreciate how sad that sounds, but the only one I really liked was too small for me. Shame really, as it was pink with a silver sequin trim. I could overlook the fact it said “Mummy’s Little Helper”, but I could not fail to notice it was more than a little bit too small for me. Lee the Veggie Man had read last week’s blog and I am now the proud owner of a Riverford pinny. So what if I am a walking sandwich board for my favourite organic food company, at least I will no longer be popping to the shop for a bottle of wine with a great big splodge of tomato based sauce down my top. I feel like a real chef now, so much so that I thought I might soon share my favourite recipe with you – home made Lamb stew. Or is it a casserole? I never did grasp the difference. Regardless, it has been a winner every time, without exception. The recipe will be on next week’s blog.
I know I bark on about how Riverford are the best thing since the discovery of crop rotation, but I am a genuinely happy customer. My only real issue are those ‘easy fold’ boxes. They really are not easy at all. I spent ten quality minutes with them this week but they refused to flatten. I left them for Lee the Veggie Man today and was glad to be out when he called as I just know he would have insisted on showing me again how to fold them. Clearly origami does not come naturally to me.
I have ordered a roots and greens box because my boys are house sitting for my parents, which means they will survive for three days in their pjs, with the curtains still closed, glued to the xbox and only eating anything which takes five minutes to microwave. Therefore they will need me to cram them with veggies and other real food to build up their resources and warm up their pale skin. No doubt they will need a long bath too. Honestly I hope they go on to university after all this student lifestyle training.
Before I sign off, I have to tell you that the PSB – purple sprouting as my Granddad used to call it (said with a very thick Black Country accent) was beyond divine. It is in season now, and it is very good for you. I steamed mine, retaining the flavour and goodness. Thankfully no one noticed I had somewhat more on my plate than they did.
Join me next week when I will publish my lamb casserole recipe and put a bottle of red wine to good use.
PS. Lee the Veggie Man, if you are reading this, how I wish I had a new car...
©Meriel Flavell 2010
I know I bark on about how Riverford are the best thing since the discovery of crop rotation, but I am a genuinely happy customer. My only real issue are those ‘easy fold’ boxes. They really are not easy at all. I spent ten quality minutes with them this week but they refused to flatten. I left them for Lee the Veggie Man today and was glad to be out when he called as I just know he would have insisted on showing me again how to fold them. Clearly origami does not come naturally to me.
I have ordered a roots and greens box because my boys are house sitting for my parents, which means they will survive for three days in their pjs, with the curtains still closed, glued to the xbox and only eating anything which takes five minutes to microwave. Therefore they will need me to cram them with veggies and other real food to build up their resources and warm up their pale skin. No doubt they will need a long bath too. Honestly I hope they go on to university after all this student lifestyle training.
Before I sign off, I have to tell you that the PSB – purple sprouting as my Granddad used to call it (said with a very thick Black Country accent) was beyond divine. It is in season now, and it is very good for you. I steamed mine, retaining the flavour and goodness. Thankfully no one noticed I had somewhat more on my plate than they did.
Join me next week when I will publish my lamb casserole recipe and put a bottle of red wine to good use.
PS. Lee the Veggie Man, if you are reading this, how I wish I had a new car...
©Meriel Flavell 2010
Friday, 9 April 2010
Officially Converted Organics Lover
Oh yes, now I really do know what I’m talking about. I can identify my kale from my Swiss chard, tell you how best to cook artichokes, and I can gratin my leftovers. I do admit to the odd mishap. I threw what I had guessed to be spinach leaves into boiling water the other day, but realised, when my house began to smell like a French brothel, that it was in fact wild garlic. I have only ever used garlic in clove form, so I had a good root (hee hee) through the Riverford Farm Cook Book which Lee the Veggie Man kindly lent me, and I plan to use the ‘wet and wild garlic risotto’ recipe. Now there is a phrase I never thought I would find in a cook book, along with Chocolate Courgette Cake, which is not something that can tempt a traditional chocoholic like me. It is a good read though; the recipes are easy to follow, but also allow for a little creative interpretation. There is some fascinating information about organic farming, a subject that is surprising quite interesting as the passion for real soil growing real veg rather than supermarket slop is apparent within the text. I keep eying up the plots on the allotments over the back of my house, but it’s still a bit too nippy for me to be out all day. My Dad and Granddad used to have a plot when I was little, and I spent many happy summers picking the gooseberries whilst they were having a beer and a smoke in the shed. I was rewarded by sitting in the wheelbarrow for the ride back home. I wish my children could be as gullible as I was.
I am so getting into cooking now that I might buy myself a pinny. I am making batches of meals and freezing them for my little dustbin, trying out different and various meal combinations for the men in my house, I made what could only be called ‘flatulence stew’ for my veggie friend, and I am even making my own vegetable stock. To my critics, I give the bird. I really am a domestic goddess in training. I couldn’t give Lee the Veggie Man my box back though because he giggled at my efforts of flat packing last week and showed me with a flick of his wrist how to do it. I have spent ten minutes with the dam thing and it just will not collapse for me. I’ll have to set some time aside for it this week.
We’re off to Stockley Farm for a day out over the Easter Holidays as I am very keen to see where most of my meals are coming from, my little girl is very into farm animals at the moment (although she thinks everything should growl like a lion), and also it would be good for my boys to experience daylight during those long two weeks they are off school. Happy Easter to all, and I’ll tell you all about my PSB next week (don’t worry, it is a veggie abbreviation, not an antisocial rash).
©Meriel Flavell 2010
I am so getting into cooking now that I might buy myself a pinny. I am making batches of meals and freezing them for my little dustbin, trying out different and various meal combinations for the men in my house, I made what could only be called ‘flatulence stew’ for my veggie friend, and I am even making my own vegetable stock. To my critics, I give the bird. I really am a domestic goddess in training. I couldn’t give Lee the Veggie Man my box back though because he giggled at my efforts of flat packing last week and showed me with a flick of his wrist how to do it. I have spent ten minutes with the dam thing and it just will not collapse for me. I’ll have to set some time aside for it this week.
We’re off to Stockley Farm for a day out over the Easter Holidays as I am very keen to see where most of my meals are coming from, my little girl is very into farm animals at the moment (although she thinks everything should growl like a lion), and also it would be good for my boys to experience daylight during those long two weeks they are off school. Happy Easter to all, and I’ll tell you all about my PSB next week (don’t worry, it is a veggie abbreviation, not an antisocial rash).
©Meriel Flavell 2010
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Becoming a ‘Seasoned’ Pro
As well as a medium veg box, I had milk, eggs and garlic with my order this week. Although I was tempted to keep the perfectly creamy organic milk carton for myself, I did share it and intend to make a regular order as my boys really enjoyed it. The eggs made for a great change to Caitlyn’s breakfasts, after she demonstrated her distain for baby rice the other day by spitting like a llama. I use garlic a lot, mainly because my eldest son displays some gothic tendencies, so I include it in my cooking to discourage some of his unnaturally pale faced friends. I was then thrilled to find an aubergine in my box, as the two are a perfect compliment. However, I also discovered something which baffled me. What was this odd looking root veg in my box? I had said I was feeling adventurous, so rather than just hope it and all its friends would go away, or turn into something I recognised, I got on the phone to Riverford. The woman I spoke to was not in any way patronising as I tried to explain the appearance. “It’s like a potato, but at the same time it isn’t” was the best this so called writer could come out with. Anyway, it turns out they are Jerusalem artichokes, which I thought was appropriate given that we are in lent. She explained they have quite a sweet taste and even suggested how to cook them. We chatted for a while about roasted parsnips, before I realised I was holding the poor lady verbally hostage, but I was glad to have solved the mystery and looked forward to getting my chef’s hat on.
My poor family has been subjected to my previous healthy efforts of frozen greens for clearly too long and were especially horrified the time when I had added sprouts to a chilli-con-carne. A generous portion of roasted Jerusalem artichokes were well received and their clean plates made me proud to be feeding my family with so much healthy goodness. Unfortunately, they have a rather noisy side effect, but this kept an uncouth family like mine amused all evening. Honestly, I would much prefer them to say “pardon me” than “pull my finger”.
With my family now better fed thanks to Riverford Veg Boxes, I would have been the picture of motherhood perfected, if it was not for the large glass of vino I knocked back to celebrate a job well done.
I greeted Lee like an over excited Golden Labrador when he arrived with this week’s veggie box this morning. I do hope he was warned about women like me as part of his training. I’ll update you next week with how I get on with the contents.
©Meriel Flavell 2010
My poor family has been subjected to my previous healthy efforts of frozen greens for clearly too long and were especially horrified the time when I had added sprouts to a chilli-con-carne. A generous portion of roasted Jerusalem artichokes were well received and their clean plates made me proud to be feeding my family with so much healthy goodness. Unfortunately, they have a rather noisy side effect, but this kept an uncouth family like mine amused all evening. Honestly, I would much prefer them to say “pardon me” than “pull my finger”.
With my family now better fed thanks to Riverford Veg Boxes, I would have been the picture of motherhood perfected, if it was not for the large glass of vino I knocked back to celebrate a job well done.
I greeted Lee like an over excited Golden Labrador when he arrived with this week’s veggie box this morning. I do hope he was warned about women like me as part of his training. I’ll update you next week with how I get on with the contents.
©Meriel Flavell 2010
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Experimenting With an Alien
I am becoming a veggie nerd. I have harked on about my Riverford Organic Vegetable box to anyone who would listen for the past week. My closer friends are glad I have changed the subject from what I have learnt on CBeebies, but our plumber was rather bemused by my explaining the benefits of organic veg and left with a rather dazed expression.
This week, Caitlyn’s weaning took top priority and the first meal for my little one was a three root combination of potato, swede and carrots. My sweet little girl turned into a black hole as I shovelled the food in. Thanks to the generous size of my veggie box, I have been able to make a week worth of meals for her and freeze them. Why would anyone want to waste money of jars of slop for their children with who-knows-what amount of preservatives in, when you can have fresh organic ingredients with no hidden surprises for little effort and with the same level of convenience? My other half, who is a bit of a greens-dodger, dared to say “yes, but I bet she won’t eat broccoli”. How foolish to dare me. He clearly underestimated his daughter who happily wolfed back a generous puree of broccoli, potato and chicken yesterday.
One of the few benefits of pre-packed foods are the sell by dates, but Riverford have a clever way of informing you these by supplying a freshness guide, so by storing my vegetables where appropriate, I was easily able to plan the weeks meals. I was truly surprised at how fresh everything kept, and I can only put this down to the short time between being plucked (or whatever the agricultural word is) from the field to arriving at my front door.
If you read my blog from last week you may be waiting in anticipation to hear what I did about the fennel. I’ll not keep you in suspense any longer. Thanks to Riverford’s website, I found and carried out a recipe for fennel and onion soup. It smelt so good that my other half asked if he could take some to work for his lunch. I am glad I used the website as it was more fun to cook something different than to draw three eyes on it and pass it off as a Martian, as was my first instinct.
I missed Lee the Veggie Man (as he is now named) this morning, but he left my box round the back of the house and wrapped in a liner, so it was perfectly safe and dry. This part of the service must be very reassuring for people that are normally out all day. Riverford Organic Vegetable boxes come in all different sizes with varying contents to suit your needs and all are amazing value for money. However, I ordered another medium box for this week and emailed Lee to ‘surprise me’ with the contents as I’m feeling rurally adventurous – not enough to grow my own though. I’d get my pretty pink wellies dirty! Want to know what was in my box this week? I’ll tell you all and what I did with it in next week’s blog.
©Meriel Flavell 2010
Meriel Flavell is a freelance writer with two teenage boys and a baby girl, all of whom are on a mission to eat her out of house and home. www.merielflavell.co.uk
To experience excellent organic food at affordable prices with convenient free delivery, go to www.riverford.co.uk, or if you live in the Shropshire/South Staffs/Wolverhampton area, call Lee on 01952 433066 and prepare to have your taste buds tickled!
This week, Caitlyn’s weaning took top priority and the first meal for my little one was a three root combination of potato, swede and carrots. My sweet little girl turned into a black hole as I shovelled the food in. Thanks to the generous size of my veggie box, I have been able to make a week worth of meals for her and freeze them. Why would anyone want to waste money of jars of slop for their children with who-knows-what amount of preservatives in, when you can have fresh organic ingredients with no hidden surprises for little effort and with the same level of convenience? My other half, who is a bit of a greens-dodger, dared to say “yes, but I bet she won’t eat broccoli”. How foolish to dare me. He clearly underestimated his daughter who happily wolfed back a generous puree of broccoli, potato and chicken yesterday.
One of the few benefits of pre-packed foods are the sell by dates, but Riverford have a clever way of informing you these by supplying a freshness guide, so by storing my vegetables where appropriate, I was easily able to plan the weeks meals. I was truly surprised at how fresh everything kept, and I can only put this down to the short time between being plucked (or whatever the agricultural word is) from the field to arriving at my front door.
If you read my blog from last week you may be waiting in anticipation to hear what I did about the fennel. I’ll not keep you in suspense any longer. Thanks to Riverford’s website, I found and carried out a recipe for fennel and onion soup. It smelt so good that my other half asked if he could take some to work for his lunch. I am glad I used the website as it was more fun to cook something different than to draw three eyes on it and pass it off as a Martian, as was my first instinct.
I missed Lee the Veggie Man (as he is now named) this morning, but he left my box round the back of the house and wrapped in a liner, so it was perfectly safe and dry. This part of the service must be very reassuring for people that are normally out all day. Riverford Organic Vegetable boxes come in all different sizes with varying contents to suit your needs and all are amazing value for money. However, I ordered another medium box for this week and emailed Lee to ‘surprise me’ with the contents as I’m feeling rurally adventurous – not enough to grow my own though. I’d get my pretty pink wellies dirty! Want to know what was in my box this week? I’ll tell you all and what I did with it in next week’s blog.
©Meriel Flavell 2010
Meriel Flavell is a freelance writer with two teenage boys and a baby girl, all of whom are on a mission to eat her out of house and home. www.merielflavell.co.uk
To experience excellent organic food at affordable prices with convenient free delivery, go to www.riverford.co.uk, or if you live in the Shropshire/South Staffs/Wolverhampton area, call Lee on 01952 433066 and prepare to have your taste buds tickled!
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
In the beginning...
I used to watch “The Good Life” with awe, and hoped one day I would look as good as Felicity Kendal in dungarees and wellies whilst growing most of my own food in a rural idle. The harsh reality thirty years on is that I live in a city, am useless with house plants, let alone my ‘garden’, and I do my supermarket shopping online. Although I do have some gorgeous pink wellies, no one looks good in dungarees. My local shops are diminishing, and the green grocers and butchers have been replaced with a Blockbuster and an Indian take away. Along with most people, I am aware of the need to eat healthy foods and that organic is the best choice, but the nearest farm shop is not close enough to be convenient for regular use, and even the local Waitrose organic range looks and tastes like it has gone through the washing machine first. However, with my teenage boys now eating like boars and my daughter ready for weaning, it seemed obvious to call in the Riverford boys for regular orders. After having a good read through of their website I decided to start off my organic resolution with a medium veggie box. I am not ashamed to admit that I was really quite excited about the forthcoming delivery.
A pitfall of working from home is how over excited you are to see people in the day time. I’ll happily talk them to pieces given half a chance - the postman, a sales man, and now Lee, my local Riverford man. The friendly service was beaten only by the delights of my box. I’m no vegetarian, in fact anyone who knows me will testify my love of meat, but as I unpacked my box and breathed in the earthly smell, I did wonder if I could be turned. The food was so fresh in colour, scent and texture that I would have sworn it left the field that very morning. I had potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, kale, onions, broccoli, leeks, swede, cabbage and fennel. As I got busy storing them in the fridge and vegetable rack, my mind was almost spinning with what I would cook for the week with such a vast variety.
I have started out by serving my ravenous brood a hearty stew using onion, carrots, potatoes, swede and cabbage. Tomorrow I have in mind a tasty dish using my massive mushrooms and kale bunches. I will update you soon with my domestic goddess regime, but in the meantime I need to refer to the Riverford website for advice... what on earth do you do with fennel?
©Meriel Flavell 2010
To experience excellent organic food at affordable prices with convenient free delivery, go to www.riverford.co.uk, or if you live in the Shropshire/South Staffs/Wolverhampton area, call Lee on 01952 433066 and prepare to have your taste buds tickled!
A pitfall of working from home is how over excited you are to see people in the day time. I’ll happily talk them to pieces given half a chance - the postman, a sales man, and now Lee, my local Riverford man. The friendly service was beaten only by the delights of my box. I’m no vegetarian, in fact anyone who knows me will testify my love of meat, but as I unpacked my box and breathed in the earthly smell, I did wonder if I could be turned. The food was so fresh in colour, scent and texture that I would have sworn it left the field that very morning. I had potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, kale, onions, broccoli, leeks, swede, cabbage and fennel. As I got busy storing them in the fridge and vegetable rack, my mind was almost spinning with what I would cook for the week with such a vast variety.
I have started out by serving my ravenous brood a hearty stew using onion, carrots, potatoes, swede and cabbage. Tomorrow I have in mind a tasty dish using my massive mushrooms and kale bunches. I will update you soon with my domestic goddess regime, but in the meantime I need to refer to the Riverford website for advice... what on earth do you do with fennel?
©Meriel Flavell 2010
To experience excellent organic food at affordable prices with convenient free delivery, go to www.riverford.co.uk, or if you live in the Shropshire/South Staffs/Wolverhampton area, call Lee on 01952 433066 and prepare to have your taste buds tickled!
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