There are some things in life that you just can't live without. Thinks like hugs and love . . . chocolate and cherries . . . puppy snuffles, good chips, bacon, and . . . ok, I'll admit it . . . curry!!

I had only ever had curry once before I moved over here in 2000. An acquaintance of mine in Suffield, Alberta, who also happened to be a Brit, had us over for a party one time and she made a killer curry! Wowser! It was fantastic. Spicy and delicious and quite unlike anything I had ever tasted. Her name was (K)Cathy Giles, and I have been looking for her since I moved over here to no avail. She was a Mancurian or maybe even a Liverpudlian. I only know she was from the North West and her hubby was named Mick . . . she had two sons and a daughter, Louise, and she made a mean curry!!

I have come to really love curry since moving here and have also come to realize there are many different kinds. I do love a good Indian, but last summer I was introduced to Thai Curries and I adore them too!



I was craving a curry today, and remembered a rather tasty one I had seen on Kevin's page, Closet Cooking. It was fruity and looked spectacularly delicious, with distinct Thai Flavours. It was also quick and easy and I am rather lazy at times, you know . . .

I was sadly lacking in a few ingredients though, the main one being fresh apricots. Ok, the only one being fresh apricots. I do, however, always have several tins of them in the larder. They come in really handy to make cakes and crumbles and all sorts!




It would seem they also come in very handy when making this delicious curry because . . . we quite, quite liked it! I have adapted his recipe a bit to my own tastes and methods, and this is what you see here, but by all means hop on over and see his original recipe. You won't regret it as he has a fabulous cooking blog and always cooks the most interesting foods!

If you don't want a lot of faff (ie. Peeling and stoning of fresh apricots) then . . . just cook my adaption. Either way I'm sure you will agree, this is one mighty tasty curry. (You can adjust the heat by upping or downing the amount of curry paste. Just sayin is all . . . ) You won't need any salt either, as fish sauce is quite salty.




*Fruity Chicken Curry*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

Loosely based on a Thai Curry, this is quick, easy and quite delicious! (Plus it uses stuff that I always have around!)

1 410g tin of apricot halves in juice, well drained
1 heaped dessertspoon of apricot preserves
2 TBS Thai Fish Sauce
the juice and zest of half a lime
1 TBS oil
2 to 3 TBS of red Thai curry paste (I used Blue Dragon)
3 large free range boneless, skinless chicken fillets, chopped into bite sized pieces
small handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped (Cilantro)
1 small red chili, thinly sliced

Place 8 apricot halves in a blender along with the apricot preserves, fish sauce and lime zest and juice. Blitz to puree. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a deep skillet. Add 1 TBS of the curry paste and heat and then throw in the chicken pieces. Cook and stir until no longer pink. Pour in the mixture from the blender. Allow to simmer on a slow bubble for about 10 minutes, stir in the remainder of the apricot halves, cut into 1/2 inch chunks, the coriander and the rest of the curry paste to taste. (I like it a bit zippy, so use about another 1 1/2 TBS, but you do it according to your own tastes.)

Serve spooned over top of some warm basamati rice and garnish with some thinly sliced red chili. Delish!

One cut of pork that I really love is Rack of Pork. I know, it may seem like a boring cut to choose, but it needn't be! Rack of Pork can be succulent and delicious as long as you follow a few rules.

• Remove the crackling and cook it separately. (in order to get really crispy crackling you would have to cook it at such a high temperature you meat is more likely to dry out before your crackling is crisp)
• Leave a good layer of fat on the surface, about 1/3 inch at least. Score lightly, but not all the way through to the meat.
• Do not overcook! You are better off taking it out whilst still a bit pink in the middle and allowing it to set for a fifteen minutes or so, lightly covered with foil. During the setting time it will finish cooking through and still be lovely and moist.

To make crunchy pork crackling, cook the rind separately from the meat. Cut the rind from the meat with a small, sharp knife and place it in a shallow baking dish; brush rind with one tablespoon of vegetable oil and rub with one tablespoon of coarse cooking salt. Bake, uncovered, in a very hot oven for about 40 minutes or until rind browns and crackles. Drain on absorbent paper. (I have a smaller oven on top of my larger oven and I cook it in this while the roast is cooking in the oven below.) No more crackling failure!



I toyed with the idea of stuffing my rack with fruit and other goodies, but in the end I decided that I would stay more traditional and rub it all over with a tasty mixture of herbs and olive oil. Roasting some root vegetables along side . . . delicious sweet potato, carrots and potatoes. I also decided to make good use of the gooseberries that are ripe in my garden at the moment.



Fruit goes very well with pork and need not just be apples, which are oh so scrummy. Gooseberries also go wonderfully! I added a hint of sharpness to the sauce by adding some creamy horseradish to the mix, along with the richness of a knob of butter.

This always turns out fabulously.  Why not put some pork on your fork! You can't get a much nicer cut than the rack!



*Roasted Rack of Pork and Roots with a Gooseberry Horseradish Sauce*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A traditional roast, moist and delicious, accompanied by a variety of roasted root vegetables and served with a scrummy Gooseberry Horseradish Sauce on the side!

1 four rib piece of Rack of Pork (Free range of course!)
(about 2 1/2 pounds)
(Remove the crackling and reserve for another use)

For the rub:
4 to 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed (depending on how much you like garlic)
2 TBS olive oil
2 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/2 tsp dried thyme

For the vegetables:
4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 large baking potatoes, washed, unpeeled and cut into chunks
2 TBS olive oil
2 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

For the Gooseberry Sauce:
50g of golden caster sugar (1/3 cup)
250g of topped and tailed gooseberries (about 2 cups)
2 TBS white wine
pinch salt
a knob of butter
1 tsp creamed horseradish

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Remove the crackling layer from your pork, leaving about 1/3 of an inch of nice fat. Score this in diamonds with a sharp knife, without cutting all the way down to the meat.

Whisk together the olive oil, seasoning salt, black pepper, paprika, parsley flakes, thyme and garlic. Mix well and then rub this all over the meat until coated. Place in a roasting pan and then cook for about 35 to 40 minutes while you get the vegetables ready, and make your sauce.

Prepare your vegetables. Put them into a bowl. Whisk together the oil, parsley flakes, salt and pepper. Toss the vegetables with this mixture, coating them all over.

To make your sauce, place the gooseberries in a saucepan along with the wine. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a slow simmer and cover. Simmer for about 10 minutes until very tender. Push the mixture through a sieve into a clean pan, scraping through as much as you can. Discard any solids left in the sieve. Whisk in the salt, sugar and butter. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes. Keep warm.

Remove the pork from the oven. Move it to the side. Toss in the vegetables and roll them around in the pork fat in the roasting tin. Move them until they are around the roast. Cover with some aluminium foil and then return to the oven. Roast for a further 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the pork and place on a plate, covering loosely with foil. Give the vegetables a stir in the pan juices. Increase the oven temperature to 230*C/450*F/ gas mark 7. Return the tray to the oven and roast uncoverd for 10 to 15 minutes, until they are tender and beginning to brown.

Serve the roast cut into slices, one rib per person, along with a portion of the roasted vegetables and some of the sauce. Pass the remainder of the warm sauce at the table.

I have to just say, this was one very tasty joint of pork! I'm still licking my chops!! (no pun intended!)

A few weeks back I was invited to visit Jimmy's Farm with a select group of other Food Bloggers here in the UK. This was to be a special event designed to Promote the One Pig Weekend, which is happening on the 30th and 31st of July. The One Pig Weekend has been created to inspire people to dedicate one weekend in the year to buying and cooking British Pork, and why not turn it into a party at the same time!

Anyhoo . . . what better way to kick it all off than by treating some of us dedicated foodies to a special day at Jimmy's!! When I was first invited I almost decided not to go as with my knees being the way they are, I was not sure I would be able to cope with the long trip down to Ipswich from Chester and then to spend a day walking about. Thankfully my good friend Julie offered to go with me and Chris was more than happy to have her join in, so all was well!



It was a fabulous time. Everything, including the trip down and the whole day ran smoothly like clockwork. Our every need was attended to. Julie and I had a very comfortable trip down on the train the day before, Sunday . . . a comfortable evening in a great hotel the night before (where we talked each other silly until the wee hours of the morning about everything under the sun . . . but mostly food . . . you know how it goes!) . . . a lovely cooked breakfast when we got up in the morning and then a comfortable ride out to Jimmy's Farm.

We could not have been given a warmer welcome or had a finer day for traipsing around a farm! The sun was shining. The air was sweet with the smell of summer blossom . . . the sounds of twittering of birds . . . I was quite surprised actually. I had expected a pig farm to . . . well . . . PONG big time! But it quite simply didn't. Seriously.



We could not have had a nicer host than Jimmy. I know that it was an event, but you just can't fake sincerity and I was impressed with his warmth and affability. This is a really nice guy! He was genuinely pleased to be showing us around the farm, and his love and passion for what he does was very apparent in every step. This is a man who loves his animals and cares a great deal for their welfare, even if they are going to end up on someone's plate. Animal Husbandry is clearly very important to him and it showed. He was informative, genuine and very down to earth.



The pigs ( fabulous rare breed Essex, Saddleback and Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs) were in small groups, scattered all over the farm, free to do what pigs do best, wallow in the mud, snuffle up goodies with their snouts . . . walk about in grass and dirt and flower, free to be, well . . . pigs.



This particular one was my favourite. Just look at that face!! I am a firm believer in "happy" meat. I think it tastes better, I truly do.

We really had a wonderful time walking around in the sunshine, seeing where the animals live . . . learning all sorts of interesting facts and folklore about pigs. For instance, did you know that Old Spot pigs are said to have developed their spots because they were traditionally held in Apple Orchards and the spots were said to have been developed by falling apples!



We got to walk through his Butterfly House . . . hot and humid but fascinating. There is a great lack of butterflies in the wild today, due to climate change, the spraying of pesticides, encroaching habitation of their habitats by mankind, etc. We just don't see them like we used to and it was wonderful to be inside where they were flying about in abundance, so very pretty!



There were chickens, beautiful chickens! (I love chickens!)



Sheep and ferrets and guinea pigs. All sorts to entertain a family. I could see where it would be a wonderful place to bring your children on a sunny Saturday.



After our tour of the farm we were treated to a special Butchering class given by Joe Collier from the famous Berkhamsted butchers, Eastwoods. Joe took us through the butchering of a whole side of pork whilst Jimmy explained all the cuts and what we could do with them. I found it very informative and could not wait to get home and put some of it into action! Especially interesting was all the information we were given regarding the "lesser" cut of pork, or cheaper cuts. I have always found that these are the tastiest bits!



After the Butchery Class, we were treated to a lovely lunch in Jimmy's Restaurant.



Tasty snacks of Pork Scratchings and slices of a variety of Jimmy's sausages (all delish!) kept the hunger at bay whilst we waited for our lunches to arrive, which interestingly enough was all the same! Go figure. Given our choice of anything on the menu, we all had opted for the Tasty Pork Burger with onion relish and wedge potatoes, fried in pork fat. Oh sooooooo scrummy yummy!! Normally the Toddster trys to discourage me from taking pictures of my food in restaurants . . . but I quite happily clicked away with abandon along with everyone else!



Jimmy was kind enough to sign copies of his books for us and then sit with us afterwards whilst this very busy man had some lunch of his own.

Julie and I both came away from this day with a much better idea of what British Pork is all about and really enthused about this whole Put Pork on Your Fork Campaign! I, for one will be planning something special on the day, and I know Julie is as well. I'm not quite sure just what yet, but I have my thinking cap on. Do make sure to check out the Put Pork on Your Fork page online, and also sign up for their Facebook Page! You can also keep up to date on their Twitter Channel ( @onepigweekend).

All in all this was a fabulous experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. I am so glad that I was able to put my mobility fears behind me and very grateful for Julie's having gone along with me. We got to meet some really nice bloggers, had a really unique and wonderfully informative tour from Jimmy, learned a lot about pork through the Butchery Class, ate some beautiful Pork Burgers, and came away with some lovely pork cuts to take home and cook ourselves, a nice cookbook and having had a truly worthwhile experience. It's not really about all of that though . . . it's about supporting our British Pork Farmers and speaking up for responsible and ethical farming practices by putting our food pounds where our mouth is!

Many thanks to Chris and his crew for helping everything to run so smoothly and affording us the opportunity to particpate in this fab event, also to Jimmy for being such a gracious and warm host, to Joe for sharing his expert butchery skills with us, to the staff in Jimmy's restaurant for treating us so well and serving us so efficiently!



(Chris and Julie. I know!! I didn't end up with one snap of her with her eyes open! Wot is she like!!)

In short . . . thanks all for a fabulous couple of days! (Oh and thanks Julie for being so kind as to come along with me!)

Tune in tomorrow to see what I managed to cook up with my lovely piece of pork!

What is it about summertime and soft fruit desserts! I just can't get enough of them! I guess that is because it's when they are readily available locally, fresh and ripe for the eating!



This is another recipe that I flagged from the latest issue of Jamie Magazine. As you know I really do like that magazine. And yes, I have now remembered to subscribe!! (yipee!)



The picture of this dessert in the magazine immediately caught my eye for several reasons . . .

• It was pretty
• I love berries
• I love cheesecake
• I love easy
• I love shortbread biscuits!

You can almost fool yourself into feeling selfrighteous when you are eating this because it is so light and healthy looking . . . minus the cheesecake cream of course . . . oh, and the shortbreads.



Sigh . . . this really did taste like cheesecake! There was none of the trouble of having to bake it and then having your dog eat half of it. I had it on the table in about half an hour actually . . . it was fabulous!

Try it! You WILL love it!



*Cheesecake Cream Topped Summer Berries*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Its like cheesecake without any of the faff!!! Delicious!

300g of fresh blackberries (about 1/2 pound)
300g of fresh blueberries (about 1/2 pound)
1 to 2 TBS caster sugar, or to taste
the finely grated zest and juice of one orange
a splash of Grand Marnier, or other orange liqueur, if desired
shortbread biscuits to serve (optional)

For the cheesecake cream:
190g Cream cheese (3/4 cup)
75ml of double cream (about 1/4 cup)
a few drops of vanilla
60g of caster sugar (scant 1/4 cup)
a squeeze of lemon juice

Place the berries into a large based saucepan, along with the caster sugar, orange zest and juice, grand marnier (if using) and a small splash of water. Heat over medium heat just until the berries hit a very gentle bubble and immediately remove from the heat, cover and set aside to cool.

To make the cheesecake cream. Whisk together the cream cheese, cream, vanilla, sugar and lemon juice to get a thick and smooth mixture.

Serve the berries warm or at room temperature, spooned into bowls with a dollop of the cheesecake cream on top and a few shortbread biscuits on the side. Nom Nom!!

I am not actually here at the moment! I'm down in Ipswich with my friend Julie, visiting Jimmy's Farm as a part of the Put Pork On Your Fork Campaign! We travelled down by train yesterday and have spent a lovely night in a local hotel, been treated to a spectacular breakfast and are spending today touring Jimmy's Farm, having a special butchery class, eating in his fab restaurant, speaking with and grilling Jimmy and in general being made to feel very special indeed! Don't look for a post from me tomorrow as I won't be home until late tonight, but watch out for Wednesday! I'll reveal all then!

One of my favourite cooking magazines has to be Jamie. I can't wait for it to hit the shelves each month. I really need to subscribe! (I tell myself that every month, and then I forget!) If I don't there will come a month soon that it will be sold out at the newsagents and I won't be able to get my hands on that issue.



I always, always, always end up cooking at least a third of the recipes in the magazine, if not more. That's the truth. His food is fresh, innovative and delicious and there's not an awful lot of faff involved either. Anyone can cook it.

The latest issue is the Barbeque issue/June/July 2011 and it's filled with some lovely stuff.



As soon as I bought it I earmarked several recipes to try. This was one of them. The picture in the magazine looked so fresh and delicious.



I was not disappointed. I always have a bottle of Limoncello in the larder. (Doesn't everyone?) You can easily make your own so it needn't be expensive. Giada has a recipe here. I love fresh raspberries. I love lemons. Combining the two with a creamy limecello spiked syllubub is genius, pure genius!



Just be careful not to overwhip your cream though, or you'll end up having to throw it away. It's really, really important that you only whip it until it is light and frothy. Lemons react with cream and thicken it pronto, so you do NOT want it whipped even until you get soft mounds . . . just light and frothy. Trust me. It will work.

This dessert was light. It was delicious. It was easy. I was quick. In one word . . . Perfect!




*Lemon, Limoncello & Rasberry Syllabub*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Creamy, delicious and refreshingly light (texture that is!). Perfect dessert for after the Barbeque.

70g of caster sugar (a scant 1/3 cup)
the juice of two lemons
100ml of limoncello, plus extra to serve (optional) (1/3 cup)
350ml of double cream (1 1/2 cups)
400g of fresh raspberries (about 3/4 pound)

Place the caster sugar, lemon juice and limoncello into a saucepan. Gently heat over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar completely. Taste and adjust amount of sugar as necessary, if you would like it to be a bit sweeter. Set aside to cool.

Whip the cream just until it is light and billowy. You don't want it to form even soft peaks as it will thicken greatly when you add the lemon syrup. Pour the cooled lemon syrup into the cream, folding it in gently as you go. It will thicken remarkably. You may or may not need it all. You want a softly whipped consistency.

Mash the raspberries lightly with a fork. Gently stir them through the cream to cause a ripple, without over stirring. (You don't want your cream mixture turn pink.

Spoon into shallow glasses and chill until you are ready to serve. If you want you can serve these with an additional splash of limoncello on top. I didn't do this as I had extra lemon syrup and I just drizzled a bit of that on top. Delicious!!

.Oh my . . . it is the most delicious cake. All buttery and moist, and studded with sweet yet tart black currants . . .