Elaeagnus ebbingei berry

Elaeagnus ebbingei berry

I planted a lot of Elaeagnus ebbingei bush as border plant, knowing that the berry is edible, good for birds and me.

This year there is going to be a big harvest, and is the first fruit to have of the year. Apparently it is a rich source of vitamins and minerals (especially vitamins A, C and E), flavanoids and other bioactive compounds. It is also a good source of essential fatty acids, which is fairly unusual for a fruit.

Elaeagnus ebbingei berry

The fact is the fruit is quite astringent when not totally ripe, and there is a big stone inside. This makes harvesting and processing not very efficient. Nice to snack on when walking pass the bush, tastes mildly sweet and sour.

Buddha hand and pear nut crumble

Buddha hand

This citrus fruit is so unusual, there is absolutely no juice inside, just like a giant irregularly shaped lemon skin, smells great (like lemon). 

Buddha hand

The peel is more juicy and softer than lemon peel, can be eaten as such, sort of like a lemony zucchini.

1. Slice Buddha hand thinly, mix with pear (cut into cubes) and juice of a lemon, place in a baking dish.

2. To make the crumble, roughly chop up a small bowl of nuts (almond/peanut/cashew etc), add a small bowl of flour, a bowl of desiccated coconut, 30gm brown sugar, pinch of salt, 30gm butter, mix well. 

Buddha hand and pear nut crumble

3. Press a tablespoon of nut mixture together, place on top of fruit, repeat until fruit is covered. Bake at 180˚C until golden, around 15 minutes.

Buddha hand and pear nut crumble

Kale and pear salad

To enjoy raw kale without being too hard to chew, it is better to squeeze the leaves a few times to soften. Pear adds juiciness and sweetness to the salad.

 

Kale and pear salad

1. Wash and tear leafy part of kale from tough mid vein.

2. Season with salt, a little sugar and pepper, mix well and squeeze a number of times until leaves soften, rest for half an hour, stir in between.

3. Peel pear and use peeler to cut strips of pear, mix with lemon juice to keep white, mix with kale.

Pork coconut curry with apple and Sichuan pepper

Adding sour apple in this rich curry helps to cut the heaviness of the dish, and apple goes with pork too. 

 

Pork coconut curry with apple and Sichuan pepper

1. Cut stewing pork into cubes, season with salt, brown sugar, ground Sichuan pepper, chili and soy sauce overnight.

2. Dust pork cubes with flour.

3. Sear onion, garlic and ginger until soft, add pork and sear until light brown, add into slow cooker, or cooking pot.

4. Lightly sear vegetables like daikon and carrot, add curry powder, mix well, add Bramley apple cut into small pieces, and coconut milk. Simmer until apple dissolves, season with salt and brown sugar if too sour.

5. Add vegetable and sauce into slow cooker with meat, cook gently until pork is soft, around 3 hour on high setting.

White asparagus raw salad

White asparagus

The asparagus patch was covered over winter to reduce weed, what a surprise to find asparagus pushed up through the soil as the cover was removed. Grown without sunlight, asparagus stays white.

 

White asparagus

I took the opportunity of these super fresh, fat asparagus to make a raw salad. Peel the outer tough skin, thinly slice asparagus using mandolin, season with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese . 

White asparagus salad

Prepared this way, white asparagus is sweet, crunchy and juicy.

Gloucester, UK, highway stop junction 11/12

Gloucester, UK, highway stop

This has to be the best highway stop I have came across so far. On top of a good size restaurant serving cooked and packaged food, there is this wonderful Farm Shop, selling farm produce from around that area. 

Gloucester, UK, highway stop

  

There is fresh vegetables, meat counter, fish counter, dairy, bread and cakes plus dry goods, a lot of the produce are organic. 

Gloucester, UK, highway stop

Spring berry flowers

Blueberry is the earliest berry bush to bear flowers, attracted a number of happy bees around. 

blueberry flowers

blueberry flower and bumblebee

 

Montefrio Organic Iberico Bellota Jamon

Finally sourced an organic acorn fed 3 years preserved Spanish ham, it is delicious and feels good to eat. 

Organic Iberico Bellota Ham

Organic Iberico Bellota Ham

 

Spit roast lamb leg

With 7 people for dinner, it is perfect time to spit roast a whole lamb leg. 

 

Spit roast lamb leg

1. Prepare a spices mixture of salt at 0.5% the weight of the leg, white pepper and Sichuan pepper (optional), rub all over lamb leg. 

Spit roast lamb leg

2. Rub sprigs of rosemary in olive oil then spread the oil on the leg to keep the surface moist. Wrap in baking paper then cling film and rest in fridge for at least a day. 

Spit roast lamb leg

3. Spit roast leg in charcoal or in the oven, at around 200˚C for 15min per 500gm plus 15min, rest covered with aluminum foil for 1/3 cooking time. 

Buddha hand

What a unique citrus fruit, my first harvest, very fragrant. Generally used to fragrant a room or to turn into marmalade. 

Buddha hand, flower buds May 2016

Buddha hand, flower

Buddha hand, fruit formed June 2016

Buddha hand, July 2016

Buddha hand, green fruit, Nov 2016

Buddha hand, mature fruit, Mar 2017

 

Pork, pear and Sichuan pepper

A good piece of juicy pork shoulder chop with clear fatty grains goes well with pear, spiced with Sichuan pepper. 

 

Pork, pear and Sichuan pepper

1. Season pork shoulder chops with salt and white pepper for an hour.

2. At medium heat, warm up ginger and Sichuan pepper until fragrant, keep at the sides, sear pork chops until just golden.

3. In the same pan with the spices around, sear unripe pear, cut into thick slices, until golden both sides, while resting pork chops on top to keep warm.

4. Turn off heat, add a handful of parsley and a tbsp soy sauce, mix well with cooked pear.

Forest walk

Typical spring day in the forest, trees with bare branches, lush green ground and rushing stream.

  

 

Coppa, cured pork sausage

Coppa, cured pork sausage

An Italian way of curing whole piece of pork, instead of making salami, which requires mincing the meat up. The seasoning could be similar, also cured naturally for minimum 3 months.

Sliced thin, this cured sausage is translucent reddish, very fragrant and tasty.

Pork shoulder 1kg

Salt 55 gm

sugar 25gm

smoked pimenton 15gm

espelette (chili) 4gm

black pepper 10gm

coriander powder 4gm

all spice powder 2gm

juniper berry powder 1.5gm

garlic minced 6gm

Coppa, cured pork sausage

1. Trim meat to fit into a fat sausage skin, rub with half of the spices mixture and marinate for 3 days. 

Coppa, cured pork sausage

2. On the third day, remove liquid, add the other half of the spices, marinate for another 3 days. 

Coppa, cured pork sausage

3. On the second third day, wipe off most of the spices, fit the pieces of meat into sausage skin. Prick any air pockets formed. 

Coppa, cured pork sausage

4. Hang in a box, covered with muslin cloth, under the roof of an outhouse in winter. 

Coppa, cured pork sausage

Coppa, cured pork sausage

Spring in France

peach

It is a glorious spring day when I return home. The most pretty flowering fruit tree at the moment is peach, followed by nectarine. 

nectarine

Garlic and broad beans sown last November are all a foot high. 

broad bean

 

garlic

Unfortunately broccoli planted just before I left have overgrown, turned into a head of small yellow flowers, which the bees love, at least I fed the bees. 

flowering broccoli

 

Barbeque mussels with pine needles

Barbeque mussels with pine needle

A fun way to cook mussels in barbeque, nicely infused with pine needle aroma.

Barbeque mussels with pine needle

1. Arrange mussels (small size ones better) standing up in a group, with open end facing down on bbq rack, this will take a bit of patience.

Barbeque mussels with pine needles

2. Pile dried pine needles on top, set fire with blow torch, the heat will cook the mussel, the shells open up facing down, no ash goes inside.

Pomelo salad

Pomelo salad

Always more appetizing to add fruit in any salad, for the juiciness and a different texture.

1. Peel pomelo into bite size lumps.

2. Cut bell pepper into strips, season with a little salt and rest for 30 minutes to soften.

3. Prepare vinaigrette dressing with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

4. Mix lettuce leaves, pomelo and bell pepper with dressing just before serving.

Apple sesame chewy cake

Apple sesame chewy cake

Nice twist in making these little cakes, crispy outside and chewy inside, with addition of sour apple to give a strong sharp flavor and sesame to add texture and fragrance.

100 gm sticky (glutinous) rice flour

50 gm toasted sesame

1 tsp baking powder

100 gm grated green apple and lemon juice to keep the colour

40 gm cane sugar

a pinch of salt

1. Mix the first 3 ingredients together, then mix the next 3 ingredients, finally combine the two to form a dough. The dough should be soft but not sticky.

Apple sesame chewy cake

2. Shape into little balls slightly smaller than ping pong balls.

3. Bake at 200˚C until lightly golden, around 30 minutes.