Winchester - Morestead - Cheesefoot Head - Twyford -Winchester & Cheriton's green lanes.

A nice couple of days spent back in Hampshire over the easter holidays walking in some of my favorite areas.
The first walk was with a walking group I have joined and started in Winchester from Bar End near to St. Catherine's Hill.
We followed a footpath that ran parallel to the old roman road to Morestead, crossing the road at Morstead Down and joining Fawley Lane before walking up and over Fawley Down to Cheesefoot Head. This is a great place to see Skylarks and there is a very healthy population on this part of the downs. I also saw my first Swallow of the year as we were passing over Morestead Down.

View from Cheesefoot Head looking south west.

From Cheesfoot Head we descended Warren Lane before turning right into Honeyman Lane. The banks of these old drovers lanes were covered with wild garlic, just coming into flower, a few handfuls went into my pockets.
We crossed the road at Bottom Pond Farm and continued along Stags Lane before joining up with the Monarch's Way and Love Lane which led us into Twyford. This partof the walk was covered in an earlier walk on this blog.
After a very welcome lunch break in the Pheonix Inn, Twyford we followed the river Itchen back into Winchester, taking a slight detour after passing under the M3 to walk along the now restored viaduct at the Hockley Link.
We then followed the Itchen Way back into Wichester, passing the foot of St. Catherines Hill, an ancient hill fort where we were treated to one of the best displays of Cowslips I have ever seen.

The following monday I explored the old droves and green lanes around Cheriton - these are a net work of tracks to the east of the village, which is also where the source of the River Itchen is situated.

Alresford Lane

We strated on Alresfrod Lane before crossing to Broad Lane via a footpath.
When Broad Lane merged with Hinton Lane we headed back south before turning into Cheriton Lane which led us back past the Long Barrow to our starting point.

Hinton Lane

There are lots of these old droves cris-crossing Cheriton and the surrounding area and they make for very good walks avoiding most roads.

Cheriton Lane

Balsamic Roasted Strawberries.

A delicious and simple way to serve strawberries!
Hull your strawberries and sprinkle with a dessert spoon of sugar.
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Melt a knob of unsalted butter in a non stick pan and add the strawberries.
Cook for a few minutes making sure all the strawbs are coated with butter, add a good dash of quality balsamic vinegar and transfer to the oven.

Cook for five to ten minutes depending on the size and ripeness of the strawbs.
Remove from the oven and let cool, basting with the cooking juices every so often.
Reserve the best half of the strawbs and place the rest in a blender with the cooking juices and a good dash of lemon juice.
Blitz to a puree and taste. Add more balsamic and sugar if needed and blitz again.
Serve with whipped or clotted cream.

Pigs Cheeks with Perry and Mustard.

I was delighted to find pigs cheeks in my local supermarket and as I had not cooked them before looked up a couple of recipes for them.
This was the second time I cooked them after a trial run and they are delicious, but need a long slow cook at a low temperature to tenderize them.
Perry is a drink similar to cider, but made from perry pears, you could also use pear cider or conventional apple cider.
Season the cheeks with salt and paper rub in a little oil and some lemon juice and leave to marinade overnight.
Add a knob of butter to a frying pan and colour the cheeks on both sides.
Transfer to an oven proof dish with a lid.
In the same pan soften a chopped onion with some chopped thyme, deglaze with enough perry to nearly cover the cheeks and add a good dollop of english mustard and a squeeze of tomato puree.
Cover the cheeks with the onions and sauce and transfer to a low oven (100-120 degrees) and cook for at least an hour - longer on a lower heat is better.
Serve with mash and seasonal veg.

Chicken Provencal.

I used chicken thighs for this but you can use breast or drumsticks or even buy a whole chicken and joint it.
First cut the aubergine in to cubes, place into a colander salt and place a small plate and weight on top. Leave for at least a few hours preferably longer until most of the water has been drawn out.
Wash the salt off and quickly dry with a clean tea towel.
Season the thighs and colour in a pan with some olive oil and transfer to an oven proof casserole or similar.
In the same pan soften a chopped onion, a diced courgette or two, de-seeded and chopped tomatoes the aubergine and a chopped pepper.
Add a bay leaf or two and chopped parsley or basil, cover with a good glug of oilive oil and a generous squeeze of tomato puree.
Cover the chicken pieces with the vegatables, cover and place in a low oven for 50 mins to an hour or until the chicken is cooked through.

Traditional English Mint Sauce.

This is the last post of things I made while still at Ladysmock Cottage and was made in mid March just before leaving.

All the herbs were starting to grow again after the winter and mint was plentiful.

This recipe is almost exactly the same as the one passed down to me from my mother, who taught me in the seventies to make mint sauce - the only difference being I now use white wine or cider vinegar rather than malt.

I have toyed with the idea of changing the name of the blog now i have no connection at all with Ladysmock, but until I think of a better name will continue with the existing one!

First remove most of the stalks from the mint and place on a chopping board. sprinkle with a tea spoon or two of sugar.

Holding a knife in with the fingertips of both hands chop the mint until it is very fine - you end up with a mush as the sugar gets chopped into it.

Transfer to a small bowl or ramekin and just cover with boiling water.
Leave to infuse and cool then add white wine or cider vinegar (or malt if you prefer) to the desired consistency.
It will keep for weeks, if not months in sterilised jars.

Clams in Cider with Parsley.

A delicious and very simple supper that only takes a few minutes to cook.
First clean your clams and discard any that don't close.
Finely chop a shallot, a couple of sticks of celery and half a bulb of fennel.
Soften in butter in a pan large enough to hold all the clams comfortably.
Add a bottle of good quality cider and boil off the alcohol.
Add the clams give the pan a shake and steam for 3-4mins or until they are fully opened.
Ladle into bowls and scatter with freshly chopped parsley.
Serve with good crusty bread for the juices.
this also works very well with muscles and cockles just adjust the cooking times.

Lamb and Mushroom Hotpot.

A quick and easy one pot supper.
Cut your lamb into chunks roughly 2cm square.
Season and dust with flour. cook in hot oil until the outside is coloured and set aside.
Add more oil to the pan and soften a chopped onion and sliced carrot with thyme.
To create the hotpot add a layer of the onion and carrot mixture to an oven proof pot, then add a layer of the lamb and finally a layer of uncooked sliced mushrooms.
Continue doing this until you have used up all the ingredients and add a layer of sliced potatoes to the top, arranging them in an overlap.
Add a small cup full of veg or lamb stock and dot the top with butter and season.
Place in a med- low oven and cook for about 40-50mins or until the potatoes are cooked through and serve.