Tag: Blogging

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Blog Desserts

Road to Nowhere

After several weeks travelling through Cornwall in our motorhome, we have finally run out of road. Yes, we have reached Land’s End, England’s most westerly point.

Out there beyond Longships Lighthouse, seen in my photo above, there is nothing but the Atlantic Ocean, stretching all the way across to the Eastern Seaboard. I waved a cheery hello to all our good friends and allies over there in Canada and the US of A 🙂 .

However, Cornish legend would have you believe that it wasn’t always just a great expanse of nothingness here. Back in the days of King Arthur (yes, him again), there was a kingdom known as Lyonesse that extended off the coast. That was until one particularly stormy night, when the city became engulfed by the waves, never to be seen again.

Lyonesse was reputed to have 140 churches. The story goes that, if you stand here surrounded by ocean on all sides, and listen carefully, you can sometimes hear the church bells ringing from the shadowy depths.

Well, I can’t say I heard any phantom bell-ringing (maybe I should come back at Halloween), but that didn’t stop me enjoying another enchanting tale from Cornish mythology.

To get here, we camped for 3 nights about a mile down the coast, near Sennen Cove, shown below. We walked the South-West Coast Path along some rugged headland to reach this famous land point.

Sennen is very remote and peaceful, with a relaxed way of life.

Just the place to enjoy some ice cream made with Cornish clotted cream, see below. That’s Cornish Sea Salted Caramel flavour on the left, and Cornish Strawberry on the right.

Having reached our journey’s end, it is time to head back home, which we will do gradually over the next 3 – 4 days. It’s been great fun travelling around Cornwall, enjoying the beaches, the legends, and of course the Pasties and Cream Teas.

I hope, like me, you’ve enjoyed the trip, and maybe learned something about the terrific food and drink this region has to offer.

Here are Talking Heads with Road to Nowhere.

I’ll be back next week with a new recipe.

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Blog Snacks

Cornish Cream Tea

A cream tea is a must when visiting Cornwall. There are plenty of cafes offering it, wherever you go. This one we enjoyed while visiting the town of St. Ives.

It’s a very simple and delicious meal: freshly baked scones, halved and spread with Cornish clotted cream and fruit jam. Served up, of course, with a pot of tea.

A debate rages about whether the jam or the clotted cream should be spread first – I’m a firm fan of the clotted cream providing the under layer, and then topping off with the jam, as my photo above shows.

For this meal, we actually bought a bag of scones that were fresh from the oven, in the St. Ives Bakery (the just baked aroma in the shop was heavenly). We also bought a tub of Rodda’s clotted cream, and took these back to our motorhome pitch, on a site perched up on the edge of St. Ives, with views over the bay.

We already had a jar of locally made mixed fruit jam that we’d bought earlier on our travels, in Boscastle.

St. Ives is a beautiful coastal town. At low tide you can walk into the main port across the expansive golden beaches.

At high tide also, there are many vantage points for enjoying the views.

As you can see, the sun was shining, so we sat al fresco and enjoyed this classic lunch. With Cornish Tea, naturally.

Talking about clotted cream gives me a natural link to this track by the original supergroup, for adding to the ADK Playlist. This is Cream with Badge. Take it away, Eric!

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Blog Mains

Return to Eden

Cornwall’s Eden Project really is a modern day wonder. Not only is it a great day out – it really makes you think.

Walking around this vast green and floral park on a sunny September day, it is difficult to believe that, until just a few years ago, this was an abandoned mining quarry, grey and ugly, ravaged by decades of underground metal extraction.

The transformation began in the 1990s, with an ambitious vision to turn it into a vast green oasis, showcasing plant life from all around the world, over a 30 acre site. I visited it soon after it opened in 2001, and found it very impressive.

On my current travels around Cornwall I was keen to return, to see how it was progressing. I’m pleased to report it is thriving and continues to be a very popular destination for visitors to Cornwall.

The central attraction is the Biomes – the huge, golf ball-shaped structures nestled in the centre of the valley. The first maintains a warm temperate, Mediterranean climate all year round. The second contains a fully grown rainforest, no less. Both are big enough to lose oneself in, and host mature, fully grown trees.

I enjoyed climbing the steps to the Lookout high up in the Rainforest Biome. It was very humid up there, and the steps did swing around a bit, but the views were great looking down over the whole of the rainforest.

These are more than just large scale greenhouses. The Eden Project is on a mission to highlight the modern day challenges to the natural world through climate change and human behaviour. They do a great job of taking complex subjects and explaining them in terms that are easy to understand.

Amongst the cacao and coffee trees in the Rainforest Biome, I learned how deforestation simultaneously reduces carbon safely stored in trees and underground, and increases the carbon in our atmosphere, thereby contributing to global warming. Deforestation is largely driven by economic pressures on producers, and countries like Costa Rica come in for praise for their efforts to combat these through sustainable reforestation. I learned that we can all do our bit to support them by choosing to buy Fair Trade coffee and chocolate, which I will now try to do.

I like the art that is scattered around the landscape, such as the Rites of Dionysus, Greek god of wine, in the Mediterranean Biome.

We came across this mirrored tree goddess high up in the outdoor gardens, just inside what used to be the rim of the quarry, now known as the Wild Edge.

The art carries a loose theme that cultural diversity is important, and that resource management is better led by local communities than big corporations.

We had lunch in the Biome Kitchen. All the ingredients used are seasonal and locally grown. Suppliers are all Cornwall-based businesses, like soft drinks from Jolly’s, and ice cream from Roskilly’s. Even the catering promotes a sustainable local economy.

My choice for lunch was this griddled flatbread, topped with white bean pate, leaves, marinated roasted vegetables, tomatoes, balsamic drizzle, herbs and toasted seeds.

The overall message from the Eden Project is one of hope. If a team of people can successfully transform a disused quarry into a beautiful, green paragon of sustainability, then most things are possible. We learn that every one of us can do our bit – small changes made locally can contribute to wider scale positive change. It is never too late.

Time to add Coldplay to the ADK Playlist, with Paradise.

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Blog Snacks

The Lost Gardens

Ssshh, tread quietly so you don’t wake her..

The Lost Gardens of Heligan, the latest stop on our travels around Cornwall, is full of surprises – just look who we stumbled upon having an afternoon nap in the woodland.

This 200 acre family-owned estate was founded in the 16th Century. For many decades, Heligan hosted a thriving and self-sufficient community, living off the produce of the land, including the substantial kitchen garden here.

Then it all changed after World War 1. A number of the gardening team went to fight in the war and, sadly, never returned. The estate fell into neglect, abandoned and overrun.

Until 1990 that was, when the efforts of an enthusiastic band of volunteers helped restore the Gardens to the horticultural wonder they are today. The old walled gardens and greenhouses are a centre for cultivation of heritage vegetables. Traditional livestock breeds are farmed and horticultural skills from a century ago are being practised once again.

Such is the interest in this heritage time capsule that Heligan is now one of modern Cornwall’s top visitor attractions.

Many come to enjoy the blaze of colour from the flower displays.

Seasonal produce grown here can be enjoyed through the dishes in Heligan’s cafe. The old buildings are well cared for, and beautifully presented, decorated with freshly cut flowers. I took this photo in the old potting shed.

I liked this image of the whitewashed wall inside a greenhouse, with the sun streaming through.

Those wishing to venture deeper into the estate can seek out the Lost Valley, stretching down towards the coast at Mevagissey. What had become a largely overgrown and impenetrable jungle can now be crossed by boardwalk and rope bridge, enabling the Gardens’ many rare and veteran plant species to be enjoyed once more.

There are also one or two newer, enchanting surprises to be found along the way, such as the Mud Maid in my main photo at the top of the post.

Foodwise, another pleasant surprise on my travels has been my latest variety of Cornish Pasty! The name of this one is Veggie Power, which struck me as just a brilliant name for a dish.

The steak in the traditional filling has been replaced with mushroom and butternut squash, alongside the usual potato, onion and swede. The pastry looks and tastes like it has a higher content of wholemeal flour than the traditional version. Take a bow, Rowe’s Bakery in Falmouth for this tasty and innovative twist on the traditional Cornish Pasty.

The next track on the ADK Playlist is one that the sleeping Mud Maid might appreciate. This is The Cure with Lullaby.

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Blog Snacks

Mount’s Bay, Cornwall

Our motorhome travels around Cornwall, in the south-west corner of Britain, have now brought us to Mount’s Bay.

St. Michael’s Mount is visible all around the Bay, from Marazion to Penzance in the west. It is an ancient castle and sacred site high up on an island, accessed via a causeway at low tide, as shown in my photo below. It’s a path well-trodden down the centuries by pilgrims and travellers.

Low tide was early morning when we visited, and the mist around the Castle had yet to fully clear. I clambered across the sand to get a dramatic picture of the Mount reflected in this rockpool.

By the time we had crossed and climbed the steep cobbled lanes to the summit, the mist had cleared. There were terrific views back to Marazion, the sun now glinting on the stone causeway snaking its way across the golden sand.

We returned ashore again before the sea flowed back, a few hours later. Anyone leaving the journey too late will receive nature’s reminder that time and tide wait for noone.

The stretch of the South-West Coast Path around the Bay is also a cycle trail. We were treated to more scenic views as we rode it all the way to Penzance.

Arriving in Penzance, I enjoyed a swim in the Jubilee Pool, a vast, open air saltwater lido. It dates from the 1930s and has an art deco design.

The main pool is filled directly from the sea, and was a bracing 16C (it’s, er, ok once you’re in and moving around!) I then warmed up in the Jubilee’s star attraction, a large geothermal pool heated naturally by an underground spring to a much more amenable 30C.

After all that walking, climbing, cycling and swimming, I reckon I had earned another Cornish Pasty.

These ones had a traditional filling of chopped steak, potato, onion, swede and black pepper, in a buttery, flaky pastry crimped together at the edge. They really are the most popular street food here, with thousands baked fresh every day by little independent bakeries. Warmed up that evening in the motorhome oven, it was delicious and filling.

Time for the next track on the ADK Playlist. Those misty, early morning images of the Mount kept reminding me of the lyrics in this track by Led Zeppelin ….pack your bags for the misty mountains, where the spirits fly….: This is Misty Mountain Hop.

Categories
Blog Drink Mains

Atlantic Coast Express

The next adventure on our foodie travels around Cornwall is a trip to Padstow, by bike along the Camel Trail.

Padstow, shown in my photo above, is a compact, picturesque and very popular little fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall.

The Camel Trail follows a disused railway line along the bank of the River Camel estuary all the way from Wadebridge.

This coffee stop along the route is housed in a refurbished railway carriage. It takes its name from the train service that used to travel this line back in the day: the Atlantic Coast Express. You place your order, then collect it when the toot-toot of the old steam whistle sounds.

There’s a relaxed vibe, with people chatting, checking the map, or just enjoying the views across the estuary.

It’s a good place for a spot of bird watching.

The cakes at Atlantic Coast Express are all locally sourced and look great. We shared a peanut butter chocolate brownie, giving us the energy boost we needed to complete the 5 mile ride into Padstow.

Padstow has been rather thrust into the foodie scene since celebrity chef, Rick Stein, set up his seafood restaurant here. It’s proven such a success that he’s followed it up with a cafe, deli and cookery school. Other restaurants and outlets have followed,  meaning the town now boasts a varied and quality food offering, whether sit-in or takeaway, to suit every taste and budget.

We bought these fillets of Cornish hake from the wet fish counter in his deli.

Arriving that evening at our next motorhome stopover, I cooked them in a foil parcel on the Cadac (my gas bbq). Ten minutes was all that was required, then a squeeze of fresh lemon and a few twists of black pepper. We served them up with Cornish new potatoes and broccoli.

A bottle of Cornish IPA was a perfect accompaniment to the meal, also biked back to the van in my pannier, from the Padstow craft brewery.

We had live music at our campsite last night, and this timeless classic is one of the tracks the band performed. It could be a motivational song when it comes to cycling, considering all the hills here in Cornwall! This is Jackie Wilson with (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.

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Blog

Magical Cornwall

We’re off on our motorhome travels again, this time around Cornwall in the south-west corner of Britain. I’ll be visiting some interesting places and posting about the great regional food and drink to be found in this part of the world.

First stop is Tintagel on the north coast – an ancient castle up on a rocky headland, with views out to the Atlantic. The site is full of mystery, having links to the legend of King Arthur.

Those making it to the summit are greeted by the imposing figure of Gallos, shown in my main photo above. This statue in bronze symbolises the power of the ancient Cornish rulers who reigned here in the Dark Ages, around the 6th Century AD. His ghostly, semi-transparent, sword-wielding figure evokes the legend of Arthur.

We walked here from our campsite, 3km along this rugged coastline via the South-West Coast Path.

The Castle ruins are on an island, reached by walking across a high suspension bridge that’s replaced the causeway – long since eroded and tumbled down into the sea.

Several steep flights of steps take you down to the beach below, which can only be reached at low tide. The final set of steps has been washed away by the sea, leaving one to clamber over the rocky debris to reach the sand.

Many people make the descent to explore the vast hole cut into the rock face by the waves. It is known as Merlin’s Cave, supposedly the place where the famous wizard resided.

I was surprised how vast it was inside. I took this photo looking out towards the headland opposite and the crashing waves.

Excavations of the Castle site suggest that the people who lived here in the Dark Ages ate and drank well. There is evidence of a sea trading network with the Byzantine Empire, and fine foods and pottery imported from the Mediterranean.

The taste for fine food certainly continues in modern day Cornwall, as a walk up into nearby Tintagel village will show. There is no shortage of tempting pubs and cafes offering delicious Cornish Pasties, cream teas and clotted cream ice cream. Meanwhile, any budding wizards will also find a unique range of shops specialising in all things alternative therapy, sorcery and witchcraft.

Hungry after a morning of walking, climbing and scrabbling over rocks, we settled at the Cornish Bakery, where I opted for this Cornish Pasty. It had a delicious filling of chorizo, mozzarella and Cornish sea salt.

Sweet was a slice of Cornish Pudding, a local take on bread and butter pudding, with pastry baked in custard, laced with berries and chocolate.

Magical!

Today’s musical choice just has to be prog rock: there is enough mysticism about Tintagel to inspire an entire Led Zeppelin album. This track is a duet between Robert Plant and Sandy Denny, from Fairport Convention, over some intricate acoustic mandolin by Jimmy Page. Light up an incense stick and enjoy Led Zeppelin with The Battle of Evermore 🙂

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Mains Recipes

Golden Corn Chowder

Fresh, golden sweetcorn is now arriving on the shelves of our supermarkets and market stalls. This is normally the time of year when I make a pot of sweetcorn soup, or chowder as it is traditionally known. This week’s creation is shown in the photo above, garnished with a sprinkling of cayenne pepper and some snipped scallions from the garden.

We are so used to having sweetcorn processed and ready-prepared for us, whether in tins, freezer packs or in cellophaned trays, that it can seem a bit strange at first to see them in natural form.

However, preparation isn’t difficult – I pull back the outer leaves to reveal the plump golden corn on the cob. Gathering the peeled-back leaves with my fist to form a grip, I stand the ear of corn in a flat-bottomed dish, and cut down the side with a sharp knife. Moving around the cob, all the corn then gathers in the bottom of the bowl.

And don’t discard those trimmed stalks just yet – snap one up to put into the chowder as it cooks, and it will add extra corn flavour (just remember to remove it before wading in with your blender, however).

One of the special pleasures about using fresh corn in this way is that one can appreciate why it is called sweet corn – taste a spoonful of this chowder and you may well wonder whether sugar has been added. However, there is no artificial sweetener involved – the pleasant taste is genuinely coming from the natural sweetness of the fresh corn.

Servings

For me, this made 2 adult portions with some leftovers for a lunch serving the next day.

Timings

10 mins to prepare, 20 mins to cook on the hob.

You Will Need

  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 – 3 celery sticks
  • 1 red pepper
  • 3 ears of fresh sweetcorn
  • 400ml vegetable stock
  • a few sprigs of fresh thyme
  • salt and pepper
  • a dash of milk
  • 3 scallions
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Method

  1. Drizzle some oil in the bottom of a large saucepan and place over a medium heat on the hob. Add in the crushed garlic.
  2. Roughly chop the onion, celery and pepper, and add to the pan. Put the lid on the pan and let it all cook for 5 mins, while the veg sizzles and softens.
  3. Meanwhile, peel back the outer leaves of one ear of corn and gather it as a grip with your fist. Stand the cob up in a flat-bottomed bowl and cut down through the corn with a sharp knife, moving around the cob so that all the kernels fall and collect in the bowl. Repeat with the other two ears of corn.
  4. Lift the lid of the pan and add in the corn. Give it a good stir, then pour in the veg stock.
  5. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 mins or so. Tear in the thyme leaves and add a few twists of salt and pepper.
  6. If you wish, snap one of the trimmed corn stalks in two and drop it into the pan – this will help add extra corn flavour as the chowder cooks.
  7. After 20 mins, remove the corn stalks and add a splash of milk.
  8. Blitz the soup with a handheld blender so that it takes on a thick and creamy texture, but with some of the corn kernels still clearly visible.
  9. Ladle into 2 bowls, topping it off with a sprinkling of cayenne pepper and chopped scallions.
  10. Serve on its own or with some fresh, crispy bread.

Customise It!

A couple of spuds will help bulk out the texture of the chowder if you wish. I have kept the dish vegetarian, but if you don’t mind your meat, then some finely chopped strips of salty bacon will also go down well as a garnish.

When it comes to pairing a fave musical track with Golden Corn Chowder, I am rather spoilt for choice. David Bowie’s Golden Years? The Stone Roses with Fool’s Gold? Maybe The Black Keys with Gold on the Ceiling? All would be excellent choices, as is this: Anymore by Alison Goldfrapp.

Categories
Bakes Desserts Recipes

Blackberry & Apple Crumble with Custard

You want comfort food? Here you go!

As my recent posts show, I’ve been making the most of blackberry season, and the generous bounty of juicy, fresh fruit burgeoning on our local hedgerows (see It’s Blackberry Time!).

This dish sees them combined with windfall apples that have tumbled on to the lawn from the trees in our garden, and topped with crumble. Serve it warm with a dollop of vanilla custard. And relax!

Servings

6 adult portions.

Timings

25 mins to prepare, and another 25 mins to bake at 180C.

You Will Need:

  • 4 large eating apples
  • 350g blackberries
  • 85g plain flour
  • 85g wholemeal flour
  • 85g butter
  • 85g caster sugar

Method

  1. Switch on a fan oven to 180C.
  2. Prepare the crumble by combining the flour, butter and sugar in a bowl. Rub together between the fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs in texture. Set aside.
  3. Put the blackberries in another bowl and place in the microwave on full power for 5 – 6 mins until soft and juicy. Remove and squeeze the juice through a sieve into a bowl, leaving the pips and pulp behind (to be discarded).
  4. Peel and slice the apples, discarding the cores. Scatter across the base of a casserole dish, then cover with the blackberry juice. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top. Place in the oven at 180C for 25 mins.
  5. While the crumble is cooking, make up some custard using a store cupboard mix like Bird’s, following the instructions on the packaging.
  6. Serve the crumble warm in a bowl, with a swirl of yellow custard alongside.

Customise It!

Cooking apples can be used in place of the eating variety, but you will need to sprinkle over a few large spoonfuls of sugar to counter the bitterness. Replace around 30g of the wholemeal flour with oats if you wish, to give the crumble an added oaty, biscuity taste.

I had thought of featuring another Oasis track here today, but after yesterday’s controversial concert ticket sale I reckon everyone’s heard enough of Noel and Liam just for the moment. Let’s hope the Man City front line this season isn’t as sluggish as the Ticketmaster website, eh lads?

Disco has been taking its place at this year’s Summer Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with full orchestral backing and being televised by the BBC. Here’s one of the tracks that’s been performed really well: Yvonne Elliman with If I Can’t Have You.

Categories
Bakes Recipes

It’s Blackberry Time!

Late August is the time when lots of free, fresh fruit starts ripening up on our local hedgerows – the joys of blackberry picking are here!

For me, this usually involves stowing a large sealed plastic box in the pannier of my bike, and heading off into our nearby country park. It is relatively easy there to find a quiet spot where the berries are glinting high up in the late summer sun, turning all those solar rays into vitamin C.

This week I brought home just over 300g from a half hour session. I like to bake with them when they’re still fresh, so aim to complete the transition from hedgerow to cake in under 3 – 4 hours. Solar powered baking, if you like.

I decided to make the Blackberry and Coconut Crumble Squares that I’ve featured previously on A Different Kitchen. You can see this week’s batch in my photo at the top of the post, and again below.

It’s a favourite in our household, and there is really only a short window of a few weeks every year in which this traybake can be made fresh – so why not? Just follow the above link to find the recipe.

I kept a few berries back as I like to have them topped over oats, nuts and seeds as a breakfast dish, with some milk and honey. Grating or chopping in some apple, fresh from our trees in the garden, is the perfect complement.

There may well be more blackberry recipes over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

Choice of music today can really only be from one band – the long-awaited Oasis reunion tour has finally been announced. Along with probably the other 65 million people who live in the UK, I shall be on the Ticketmaster site this weekend trying to get a ticket before they all sell out – wish me luck!

Then it’s a case of waiting until next summer to see the concerts. That’s presuming Noel and Liam haven’t fallen out again by then, of course…

Here they are at their Beatles-influenced best, with Whatever.