Walnut and Stilton Salad.

Walnuts from a friends garden in France and a gift of Stilton for xmas resulted in this tasty salad.
Shell the walnuts and soak in rapeseed or walnut oil for half an hour or so.
Drain the nuts and place on a bed of salad leaves with crumbled Stilton.
Add some Stilton to the oil,season and add a dash of good vinegar.
Mix all the ingredients together dress the salad and serve.
You could also add apple cut into matchsticks and rolled in lemon juice to stop it discolouring.

All the birds seen at Ladysmock.

 

As I am no longer at Ladysmock and back in London one of the first things I have noticed is the lack of birds.
It got me thinking about all the species I saw in the four and a half years spent there.
I will add to this list as I recall them!

Seen in the garden -

Great Tit
Blue Tit
Coal Tit
Long Tailed Tit

Blackbird
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Redwing
Field Fair

House Sparrow
Dunnock (Hedge Sparrow)
Robin
Wren
Garden Warbler
Starling

Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Bullfinch

Great Spotted Woodpecker
Green Woodpecker
Nuthatch
Tree Creeper

Little Owl
Sparrow Hawk

Magpie
Jay
Crow

Wood Pigeon
Collard Dove
Stock Dove

Pheasant
Partridge

Seen (over) and heard from the garden
Tawny Owl
Cuckoo
Swallow
House Marten
Buzzard
Mallard

Other animals seen in the garden

Badger (while watching little owls at dusk one appeared three feet away from me).
Fox
Grey Squirrel
Roe Deer (two walked up the drive one evening!)
Toad (a regular in the greenhouse during winter)
Snake - moved too quickly to see but most likely a Grass Snake.
Wood Mice
Shrew

Game Pie.

A boxing day supper with the game marrinaded in Port, but you could use red wine instead.
Place the pieces of mixed game (I bought a mixed pack from the butcher) in a ceramic bowl with a few sprigs of thyme, a couple of bay leaves, three or four crushed juniper berries and a clove of crushed garlic and cover with port.
Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for a couple of days.
Drain the pieces of meat and reserve the liquid.
Dry the game thoroughly, season and dust with flour.
Colour the game pieces in a frying pan transfering to a sauce pan as you cook them. Deglaze the frying pan with the marinade and add to the sauce pan. Cook on a low heat until the game is cook through and transfer to a pie dish and allow to cool.
Top the pie with slices of potato, season and add a few dabs of butter and cook in an oven until the slices are cooked through - around 35 - 40 mins.
You could top the pie with pastry or even mash like a cottage pie.

Pigeon Breast with Sloe Gin Vinaigrette.

A nice starter - I like to cook them rare, but if you like medium just extend the cooking times slightly.
Season and pan fry your pigeon breasts in an oven proof pan for two - three minutes on each side and then place in a pre heated oven on 180 degrees for ten minutes.
Prepare a plate of mixed salad leaves.
remove the breasts from the oven and transfer to a warm plate cover with foil and leave to rest.
While they are resting deglaze the pan over a medium heat with sloe gin.
Reduce to a syrup and remove from the heat.
Add rape seed oil to form a dressing.
Slice the pigeon and place on top of the salad leaves.
Add any juices to the dressing.
Dress and serve.

Braised Pigeon Breasts in White Wine.

A very simple post Christmas supper.
In an oven proof casserole sweat some carrot, onion and celery until they are slightly softened.
In a pan colour your pigeon breasts on a med high heat for a few mins on each side and add to the casserole.
Deglaze the pan with white wine and add to the pigeon and veg - add a little stock if needed and some chopped mushrooms with the lid on.
Place in low oven (120 - 140 degrees) for about three quarters of an hour.
Serve with creamy mash to soak up all the juices.

Pork Baked with Potatoes and White Wine.

I had a browse through several cook books looking for a new way to cook pork with the few other ingredients I had to hand and came across a few versions of this recipe.
The first was called Farmer Wife's Pork in a book by Jenny Baker and was very similar to this except it had sliced apples on top sprinkled with cinnamon and used cider instead of wine.
The other variations used either thyme or rosemary instead of juniper berries, but all had the same basic potato and onion layers below and above the meat and emphasized long slow cooking at a low heat.
In the end i went for a version similar to Elisabeth David's in French Provincial Cooking.

Finely slice a potato or two and cover the bottom of a lidded oven proof dish.
Add a layer of sliced onion.
Colour your pork chops / steaks in a frying pan and place on top of the onions.
Deglaze the pan with a little white wine and pour over.
Add three or four slightly crushed juniper berries a couple of bay leaves and season.
Cover the pork with another layer of onions and top this with more sliced potato.
Dot with butter and season lightly, add a little more white wine and cover.
Place in a low oven around 120 -140 degrees and cook long and slow.
Serve with a sprinkling of fresh parsley and braised celery as it contrasts well with the sweetness of the meat.

Herb Encrusted Roast Pork Tenderloin.

For the herb crust I wizzed the only herbs still growing in the garden - rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage and a little tarragon in an old coffee grinder until is was very finely chopped.Any herb combination that takes your fancy will do.

Season your tenderloin and rub it in with some good oil and a dash of lemon juice. Then roll in the finely chopped herbs until the meat is covered. Leave to marinade.
Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees.
In a oven proof pan heat a mix of rape seed oil and butter. On a high heat colour the tenderloin on all sides then add tomatoes on the vine if you wish and coat with oil and place in the oven for 15-20mins depending on the thickness and size of the loin.
Remove from oven, cover with foil and rest in a warm oven for 5-10 mins.
Carve and spoon over any excess cooking juices and serve with mash and the tomatoes.