Down On Jollity Farm…

I have been catching up on recorded TV in odd moments, and as well as the Tudor Monastery Farm, I’ve managed to watch “Nigel and Adam’s Farm Kitchen” too. The critics seem to dislike it, but I thought it was fun. However, I cannot understand why the relevant BBC recipe page puts up a very old picture of clean shaven Mr Slater, when he is now exceedingly hirsute.

 

I did try out one of his recipes though, with moderate success, yesterday. Having a last minute request to preach locally [a minister friend had emergency surgery and was unable to take the service] I knew lunch had to be simple to prepare. I wanted something which wouldn’t take much thought and effort when I got home [but also substantial – preaching always makes me terribly hungry]

I opted for Nigel’s Cotswold Pudding [his recipe is here] It is basically a sort of Yorkshire batter pudding, but with added veg. I made mine with the carrots, sweet potato, celery and regular shallots. These were the veg I had in the fridge. I completely forgot about adding the thyme and garlic. For extra protein, I threw in a few IKEA meatballs from the bag in the freezer, and served it all with rich gravy [from granules, but with a splash of brown sauce] and spring greens as a side dish.

I prepared the veg and briefly cooked them before I went to church, leaving them, plus a jug of batter** in the fridge. I put the dish [with mixture of Trex and oil] in the oven on auto-timer. When I got in from church, it was sizzling hot. In went the veg for 5 minutes, then I poured over the batter and cooked it through. It was a satisfyingly filling Sunday lunch on a cold winter’s day. I put the gravy in my little Hornsea ‘Heirloom’ jug, bought at the yard sale in July.

After lunch, tiredness caught up with me and I dozed on the sofa for about 4 hours!

I have decided that I have got rather a lot of jugs – last week I started arranging them along the windowsill. There are at least 6 more which are not in this line-up. I really must cull this collection – but I cannot decide which ones should go. Some I keep for sentimental reasons – others are just a good size and pour nicely.

** made from my big pack of Approved Food Batter Mix, so it cost just a few pence and was very quick to make.