More food. Some of the family will come for lunch tomorrow. I don't often buy meat, though I eat it, but I've decided to cook the first Sunday roast of the year - pork in this instance, followed by Queen of Puddings, which is Dilly's favourite and has the advantage of using up a glut of eggs, plus a rhubarb crumble with home-grown rhubarb.
Walking to the butcher's, I passed the fishmonger and we smiled at each other, so then I wanted fish, of course. I called in on my way back and decided on some Cornish squid. Then I noticed the dish of seaweed, three different sorts. I've never cooked with seaweed, I said, so it's about time I did. No idea what to do with it yet, but I'll find out.
Then to the greengrocer and I saw the asparagus. I can hardly believe that there is English asparagus in the third week in March. It didn't have a price on it. If I'd asked, I'd probably have been too alarmed to buy it, so I didn't ask. Comparing notes with Wink afterwards, she made the same decision. Then I spotted the lion's mane mushroom. The thing is, when an independent greengrocer decides to buy in something expensive, he has to sell most of it to break even. It's not on sale or return and it's very perishable. So I bought some of that too, along with the veggies for tomorrow.
The bantams have been laying very well recently, but they're going broody, so it'll all pause while they ponder their maternal instincts. I really must do something about finding a nice cockerel, so that I can let them rear some chicks.
I put the tortoises in their outdoor run on Thursday. It's chilly overnight, but they've got a choice of two shelters (and they each have opted for a different one). They're out and about all day and much happier than in their comfortable, spacious indoor run. Wild animals in captivity deserve the most natural conditions possible. I feel guilty about having them at all, but I'm stuck with them, so do my best.
2 comments:
Asparagus is very early this year, the kilogram of Franconian may be around 15 € - but I have not seen it on the market yet due to not-market-visiting.
I had to look up the lion's mane mushroom - I never have seen this on the market here, a culinary adventure !
I would not know what to do with seaweed ; friends from Vietnam used small seaweed rolls, it was spicy as I remember, but I do not know whether this came from the filling or the seaweed.
Good luck ! I admire your curiosity.
Asparagus is always expensive because it's harvested by hand and, though it's cropped for a short season, it's in the ground all year. I don't begrudge it the price. The mushroom has a texture rather like puffball and an excellent flavour. I had to look in several fish recipe books before I found one for seaweed and that just had the fish steamed on top of it, then the cooking liquor reduced into the seaweed, which didn't suit my dish. So I just rinsed it and added butter, as if it were spinach. It's delicious and quite rich tasting - distinctive, you know it's seaweed, but not spicy (not this, anyway), I've still got some left. I've got fish for dinner again this evening, if there's any seaweed left then I'll freeze it.
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