We've got a few birds back on the feeders now ... mainly goldfinches ... I expect the rest will be back soon
My main task today is to make a raised pork and rabbit pie ... Haven't made one for ages ... Felt inspired by the conjunction of a rabbit in my fridge and GBBO pastry week ...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Wow! That's quick ... I didn't take it to the PO until late morning yesterday ... the postie must have run all the way ... mind you, it is downhill from here to you
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Great to hear from you, DD, and that you're well, busy and happy. Glad Charlie has some new furry friends too! And, as others have said, the right man will come along at the right time... best not to jump in too soon and complicate things further.
That's a cute wren, Fairy. There's a young robin keen to help in the garden at the moment - my worry is that he's not yet developed enough of a respect for the local cat population to survive the winter though
After a couple of dry days (and yes, hooray! I cut the grass and did the edges), today is back to normal thick drizzle. Ah well.
Going to plan a little holiday in January. We thought we'd try La Palma - supposed to be not too hot or cold, interesting walking (if steep), plenty of flowers. Anyone been?
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Never been Liri, but just googled and it looks beautiful
Had a long lie in .....its been a busy week. Grey but not raining so I’m heading out to the garden - I have foxgloves to plant, tomatoes to clear and tenders to get under cover. Can’t believe its that time of year already
Great to hear your news DD - what are your plans for the garden?
Lie in here too but cos of a broken sleep - active brain and purry Cosmos. It's sunny and started fresh but will climb to 20C like yesterday.
NO gardening for me today. Getting ready for tomorrow's lunch so making the casserole part of a Dartmouth Pie today and prepping bread and butter pud with local brioche then fixing seats for my newly renovated dining chairs and then getting spruced for tonight's festivities.
Sorry you have a migraine LG - not good. Maybe a gentle potter will help. I usually have to hide.
Great news from DD. Definitely need to concentrate on Charlie and business and not waste time on needy men. There are better ones about aren't there Hosta? OH is one - when he's not grumping.
Found a website with average temps and rainfall for the Vendée. I a normal year we'd get more rain in Jan and Feb than we've recorded since mid Jan. Humph. Temps also way above norms in May, June and August but not worried about that as it's dry heat. Desperate to get in my beds tho and rescue hostas and plant other stuff and get the potager sorted.
Have a good Saturday everyone.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Dartmouth Pie sounds interesting Obelixx ... not one I know, and googling reveals some very different recipes, some with mutton and a large proportion of beef suet, some with pork, apples and cider ... how do you make yours?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Mine is a recipe in the Observer I think, in the 80s. I've done it with mutton and beef in the past. This one will be venison. It's a result of her research into medieval English recipes. She also developed a recipe for salmon in pastry and stuffed with stem ginger, raisins and sliced almonds that is just glorious.
Dartmouth Pie
This recipe was developed by Joyce Molyneux who owns the Carved Angel restaurant in Dartmouth, Devon which gives its name to the pie. It is very mediaeval in its combination of meat, dried fruit and spices. It is wonderful in winter and makes a great buffet dish for a party.
The meat should be cooked at least one day before the pie is needed so that the flavours can develop. The pastry top is then added on the day the dish is required.
1 kilo beef carbonade, stewing mutton (not lamb) or venison 2 tsp black peppercorns 1 blade whole mace or a good grinding of fresh nutmeg 1 tsp whole allspice berries 5cm stick whole cinnamon 2 tsp coriander seeds oil to brown the meat - grapeseed, safflower, sunflower - not olive ½ kilo onions, peeled and chopped ½ litre beef or mutton or game stock
150 g dried apricots 150 g pitted prunes 120 g raisins juice and grated zest of 1 large orange shortcrust or puff pastry to cover 1 egg, beaten
Cut the meat into 3 cms cubes. Grind all the spices to a powder. Heat some oil in a large frying pan. Brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, sprinkling each batch with spice powder. Transfer to a casserole. Add the onions to the frying pan and stir well. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 150C. Add the fruit and orange juice and zest to the meat in the casserole and stir well. When ready, add the stock, stir well then cover tightly and cook in the oven for 1½ - 2 hours. Check seasoning, adding salt if required. If the mixture seems too wet, either thicken the sauce with cornflour (fécule de maïs) or reduce by cooking a little longer without the lid according to your preference. Leave to cool overnight in the oven. At this stage, the meat mixture can be frozen. Thaw overnight then bring to room temperature before completing the dish
To complete:-
Heat oven to 200C.
Transfer the cold meat mixture to an ovenproof dish. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 3mms. Place a 2cm wide strip of pastry around the edges of the dish a
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Whoops! looks like the end has been chopped off ... but I can probably work out the rest from there ... thanks very much Obelixx.
JM and The Carved Angel had a great reputation ... I think Keith Floyd often sang its praises ... then John Burton Race took over, and what with his marriage shenanigans it all went downhill
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Posts
We've got a few birds back on the feeders now ... mainly goldfinches ... I expect the rest will be back soon
My main task today is to make a raised pork and rabbit pie ... Haven't made one for ages ... Felt inspired by the conjunction of a rabbit in my fridge and GBBO pastry week ...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Hosta....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Wow! That's quick ... I didn't take it to the PO until late morning yesterday ... the postie must have run all the way ... mind you, it is downhill from here to you
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Morning all. Hi Pat, when/if you look in...
Great to hear from you, DD, and that you're well, busy and happy. Glad Charlie has some new furry friends too! And, as others have said, the right man will come along at the right time... best not to jump in too soon and complicate things further.
That's a cute wren, Fairy. There's a young robin keen to help in the garden at the moment - my worry is that he's not yet developed enough of a respect for the local cat population to survive the winter though
After a couple of dry days (and yes, hooray! I cut the grass and did the edges), today is back to normal thick drizzle. Ah well.
Going to plan a little holiday in January. We thought we'd try La Palma - supposed to be not too hot or cold, interesting walking (if steep), plenty of flowers. Anyone been?
Morning. Just having a scoot through - raised pie caught my eye! I fancied having a go at the pasteis de Nata as I adore them.
Have a good day, whatever you up too folks.
Never been Liri, but just googled and it looks beautiful
Had a long lie in
.....its been a busy week. Grey but not raining so I’m heading out to the garden - I have foxgloves to plant, tomatoes to clear and tenders to get under cover. Can’t believe its that time of year already 
Great to hear your news DD - what are your plans for the garden?
Lie in here too but cos of a broken sleep - active brain and purry Cosmos. It's sunny and started fresh but will climb to 20C like yesterday.
NO gardening for me today. Getting ready for tomorrow's lunch so making the casserole part of a Dartmouth Pie today and prepping bread and butter pud with local brioche then fixing seats for my newly renovated dining chairs and then getting spruced for tonight's festivities.
Sorry you have a migraine LG - not good. Maybe a gentle potter will help. I usually have to hide.
Great news from DD. Definitely need to concentrate on Charlie and business and not waste time on needy men. There are better ones about aren't there Hosta? OH is one - when he's not grumping.
Found a website with average temps and rainfall for the Vendée. I a normal year we'd get more rain in Jan and Feb than we've recorded since mid Jan. Humph. Temps also way above norms in May, June and August but not worried about that as it's dry heat. Desperate to get in my beds tho and rescue hostas and plant other stuff and get the potager sorted.
Have a good Saturday everyone.
Dartmouth Pie sounds interesting Obelixx ... not one I know, and googling reveals some very different recipes, some with mutton and a large proportion of beef suet, some with pork, apples and cider ... how do you make yours?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Mine is a recipe in the Observer I think, in the 80s. I've done it with mutton and beef in the past. This one will be venison. It's a result of her research into medieval English recipes. She also developed a recipe for salmon in pastry and stuffed with stem ginger, raisins and sliced almonds that is just glorious.
Dartmouth Pie
This recipe was developed by Joyce Molyneux who owns the Carved Angel restaurant in Dartmouth, Devon which gives its name to the pie. It is very mediaeval in its combination of meat, dried fruit and spices. It is wonderful in winter and makes a great buffet dish for a party.
The meat should be cooked at least one day before the pie is needed so that the flavours can develop. The pastry top is then added on the day the dish is required.
1 kilo beef carbonade, stewing mutton (not lamb) or venison
2 tsp black peppercorns
1 blade whole mace or a good grinding of fresh nutmeg
1 tsp whole allspice berries
5cm stick whole cinnamon
2 tsp coriander seeds
oil to brown the meat - grapeseed, safflower, sunflower - not olive
½ kilo onions, peeled and chopped
½ litre beef or mutton or game stock
150 g dried apricots
150 g pitted prunes
120 g raisins
juice and grated zest of 1 large orange
shortcrust or puff pastry to cover
1 egg, beaten
Cut the meat into 3 cms cubes. Grind all the spices to a powder. Heat some oil in a large frying pan. Brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, sprinkling each batch with spice powder. Transfer to a casserole. Add the onions to the frying pan and stir well. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 150C. Add the fruit and orange juice and zest to the meat in the casserole and stir well. When ready, add the stock, stir well then cover tightly and cook in the oven for 1½ - 2 hours. Check seasoning, adding salt if required. If the mixture seems too wet, either thicken the sauce with cornflour (fécule de maïs) or reduce by cooking a little longer without the lid according to your preference. Leave to cool overnight in the oven. At this stage, the meat mixture can be frozen. Thaw overnight then bring to room temperature before completing the dish
To complete:-
Heat oven to 200C.
Transfer the cold meat mixture to an ovenproof dish. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 3mms. Place a 2cm wide strip of pastry around the edges of the dish a
Whoops! looks like the end has been chopped off ... but I can probably work out the rest from there ... thanks very much Obelixx.
JM and The Carved Angel had a great reputation ... I think Keith Floyd often sang its praises ... then John Burton Race took over, and what with his marriage shenanigans it all went downhill
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.