Last night we were visited my friends – both old and new – for dinner. My aim was to feed them on produce from the garden, with any additional ingredients sourced locally. It’s such an abundant time of year that this turned out to be relatively easy (until I got to wanting ice cream).
Our main course consisted of:
-
Yum!
Frittata, which is a sort of vegetable quiche without the pastry. Ours contained eggs, potatoes, courgette and peppers from the garden, plus onion and tomatoes from a local organic farm.
- Glamorgan sausages, which are a vegetarian dish made from wholemeal breadcrumbs (flour from the local water mill), cheese (Snowdonia Black Bomber – a Welsh Cheddar) and sage (out of the garden) bound together with beaten egg (home-produced) and shallow fried.
- Cherry tomatoes (from the garden)
- Lettuce (from the garden)
- Boiled potatoes (from the garden)
- Monkey bread (flour from the local water mill, herbs straight out of the garden)
- Couscous (haven’t found a local source of this yet!) with home grown pepper, coriander, courgette and tomato
For dessert we had:
- Strawberries (from a local organic farm) and blackberries (picked in the afternoon from a local hedgerow)
- Meringues (home-produced egg whites, but bought sugar)
- Whipped cream (bought)
- Homemade chocolate ice cream (home-produced egg yolks, but all the other ingredients bought)
You may be wondering why I bother to make ice cream at home when we live near The Hive on the Quay – a great source of locally produced honey ice cream. Well, the issue is that being lactose intolerant, I can’t eat it… so I make my own lactose-free ice cream and it helps to use up the egg glut when there is one (like now).
So, there you have it… a diversity of food, with very few miles on the clock… and now I have a few less courgettes to think what to do with too!
The Snail of Happiness 
The Belmont Rooster
/ August 23, 2013You could stop any time (but please don’t).
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highbankcottage
/ August 23, 2013…courgette ice cream?
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 24, 2013I think it’s more suited to sorbet!
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Maya Panika
/ August 24, 2013If you’re lactose intolerant, I can’t recomend ice cream made from cashews highly enough. Not exactly local, of course, but incredibly delicious and good for you, and if you buy fair trade, you’re benefitting a lot of not-local people. 🙂
We’re eating loads at the moment, with the abundant wild fruit around here – whortleberries, raspberries, brambles and strawberries from the garden, black bananas are briliant too. It’s simplicity itself to make: soak cashews in water overnight. Strain them, whizz them in a blender or processor with as much water as you need to make a thick cream – I usually add the sugar and a little vanilla at this point – then toss in the fruit, cocoa, whatever flavouring you’re using (a tablespoon or so of coconut oil added at this stage makes a richer, creamier ice cream). Then whizz again till it’s blended and creamy, and freeze. When you’re ready to serve it up, tip the frozen block of cream back into the processor and whizz till it’s creamy (but not melted!). I can’t begin to tell you how delicious it is. I’m massively addicted.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 24, 2013That sounds fantastic… I will give it a go!
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Maya Panika
/ August 24, 2013Excellent! Let me know how you get on with it. I discovered it relatively recently and I’m not joking when I say I’m addicted!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 24, 2013Just need to get some cashews…
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thesmithdefense
/ August 26, 2013Wow! Great job keeping it local.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 26, 2013We’re trying!!
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