When the Road Turns into a Small River...

and the river overflows, you know that repairs will be needed afterwards.

It has happened a few time since we've been living here. This photo was taken last year in November or thereabouts (photo : Hugo Pasquet) As is the next photo. Underneath that rush of water is a garden path, running alongside the chicken run.

Photo : Hugo Pasquet

And that is why we have a lorry load of crushed rock on our property. To fill the potholes after such a deluge.

This time though, we'll have to look for another solution, because, as you will notice in the following photos, filling potholes can be a bit like carrying water to the sea ( no pun intended).

In the last two weeks we've had a few torrential downpours, with one lasting the entire day. And unless we buy ourselves a tractor or a Landrover-type thingy we won't be able to leave this property if this continues.

Now the road  resembles a dry riverbed. Not a track you can drive your just ordinary car over.

Instead of spending money on a tractor or four wheel drive, we'll go for a more sustainable option. At the end of this week or beginning of the next we'll have the diggers in. Drains will be dug and while we're at it, a pond too. Two strips of concrete for the sloping part of the road will also be put in place.

We were not planning on spending that amount of money on this, but it will make a huge difference to our land and come next spring all the scars of digging will have healed over by lush green vegetation again.

Pop in again for the progress report on this project.

Patricia xxx...x

Forgotten Carrots

I was reading a post on another blog,  awholeplotoflove , which reminded me that I had carrots in the vegetable plot.
Whoops !
Our tiny vegetable garden got sown and planted in a hurry, quite late in the season. Except for picking all the spinach at the beginning and some lettuce leaves every now and then and harvesting a nice produce from the courgette plants, I had forgotten about the carrots.
How can you forget about the carrots ? Well, I don't know !
I quickly ran out of the house and towards the raised beds. Rummaged through the lush green foliage to discover at least one fat orange stub sticking just above the soil.

A Wow! moment.

Stumpy and fat ! Deep orange and with a sweet and earthy scent.

Chomp chomp chomp.. Not bad for forgotten carrots.

Frankly, I have no idea what variety they were (the stompy variety).

And then she went to have a look among her seed packets. and found this :

Mystery solved.  And it looks like I still have time to harvest the rest (all 14 of them).

Patricia xxx...x

I Love Lentils - Green Lentils with Confit Duck Legs

I do. I do love lentils. And I have them in the pantry, always. 

I love their slight peppery flavour and the fact that they are so versatile. They get a few bonus points because they are also very nutritious. 

My mother, Irma, who used to be an adventurous and progressive cook when my brother and I were growing up, never made lentils for us. We didn't miss it, because we probably never knew of their existence.

I got acquainted with these little legumes when we moved here to Ireland the first time round (1995/96 or thereabouts).  Since then they have been a regular part of our diet. 

The following recipe is of French origin, but with some poetic licence.

I bought these duck legs in Lidl. They were not bad, but between you and me, they are nothing like the confit the canard I used to have in France. 

If you don't fancy or can't get hold of duck legs, don't panic. The lentils work equally well with pork,lamb or sausages.

If you don't fancy lentils, well ....try them !

Ingredients serves 2

• duck fat, lard, butter or sunflower oil
• smoked lardons (bacon pieces), 100 gr
• 1 medium sized onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 or 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
• provençale herb mix, 1 tbsp or a few sprigs of fresh thyme, rosemary and oregano
• 1 bay leaf 
• lentils (small green, brown or Puy), 300 gr
• red wine vinegar, 50 ml
• water, 500 ml
• seasoning, sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• parsley, chopped

Preparation

• On the hob, fry off the lardons in the oil or fat till they are golden brown. Do this over a gentle heat.

• Take them out of the pan, leaving the fat in the pan. Set lardons aside.

• Sauté the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Add the herbs.

• You might have to add a little more oil or fat and maybe even a splash of water. Again, do this gently with lid on to create a bit of steam in the pan.

• In the photo above you can see the level of doneness.
• Stir in the lentils and coat them with the fat (like you would be doing with the rice for a risotto) 

• Add the red wine vinegar and let it reduce.
• Next add the water, stir a final time and cover with lid.

• Simmer over a low heat for 30 to 45 minutes.
• Check regularly for doneness, add a splash of water if it has evaporated before its time.
• When ready add the bacon pieces/lardons.
• Season with salt and black pepper and sprinkle with parsley.

• I reheated and 'crisped'up the duck legs in a hot oven. The confit I've eaten many times in France is more moist and 'fall-of-the-bone' tender than this was. It probably has to do with the fact that in France they use the legs and magret (breast)of the very same ducks that produce the foie gras. As I said at the start as duck legs go, they were good, but don't expect confit, because to me it wasn't.
• Serve with bread.

I had made baguettes to serve with the lentils.

See recipe here. Unfortunately I misread my own recipe and added too much water. Had to rectify by adding more and more flour, which resulted in a denser crumb. Still bliddy tasty though. Even when I had to change their shape slightly too, to get them on my baking tray in the oven.

;o)

Come again soon.
Patricia xxx...x

The I-don't-want-to-make-soup Courgette Chutney

It has been quite a while since I last made chutney. But now, that I have a few veg growing again it seems like a good time to try out my new recipe. It is going to pack a punch. The courgettes have given us a very good crop and while I always try to pick them on the smaller side, sometimes you just turn your back for 5 minutes and a courgette has turned into a marrow. Now, I won't let the marrow go into overdrive, either. The skin should still feel soft and the flesh firm, if you know what I mean.
While the smaller courgettes have a delicate nutty flavour, the marrow lends itself as a good carrier for other flavours, like spices and herbs. It also bulks the chutney out, of course.
Most of my friends here in Ireland make fantastic chutneys and I think it is time for me to get back into the race.





Ingredients Yields +/- 3.5 ltr

• 2 kg courgettes or marrows, seeds removed and chopped. If you use the largest marrow you can find, check out if the skin is still soft. Press into it with your fingernail and if it is easy to make a mark there is no need to peel. If the skin feels like a steel armour, peel.

• 3 medium to large onions, peeled and chopped

• 3 apples, peeled and diced - unripe are best or sour cooking apples
• 3 pears, peeled and diced - mine were in the fruit bowl, still hard as concrete.
• 250 gr softened dried apricots, chopped
• 150 gr raisins or sultanas
• 1 red chilli, sliced
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 30 black peppercorns 
• 3 star anise
• 20 cloves
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds, dry toasted
• 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds, dry toasted
• 1 jar 300 ml crabapple jelly - use more sour apples if not available
• 1 kg cane sugar
• 1.5 ltr cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 500 ml water
• salt to taste

Preparation

• Yes, there is a whole lot of chopping and dicing to be done, but once you get through that stage, the rest is a doddle.
• Put all the ingredients, except the salt, in a large enough cooking pot and bring slowly to the boil, uncovered.
• Stir to dissolve the sugar while you're at it.
• Leave to simmer for 3 hours, while stirring the mélange every so often to prevent it from burning at the bottom.
• It is ready when the liquid has reduced, is thick and coats the back of your spoon. The colour has a deep amber glow.
• Taste test at this time and while this will not be the final flavour, you may or may not want to add salt at this stage.
• Fill up your very clean jars while the chutney is still hot. Fill them high. Put on the lids and let them cool in an upside down position. Nah ! Don't ask me why ! Something to do with air and creating a vacuum.
• Chutneys are best left to mature for 2 to 3 weeks. Optimum is 2 months, but it can be stored in a cool dark place for a couple of years at least.

Would you believe that I couldn't fit the last spoon into any of the jars ?  I had to eat it with Brie and savoury Scottish oatcakes. I can only imagine how good this is going to be when matured, it was already damn tasty now. A keeper, this recipe.

Bert was watching me fill the pots and when I finished he asked me if I would like it if he made the labels.  He did a fine job. Lovely !

Come again soon !

Patricia xxx...x

Photogenic Cats - Without Words

Only names. Fergus, Xena & Roisin.

Patricia xxx...x

Laundry Room Makeover

It is most likely a room that not many people get overly excited about, for me it was a long awaited project.
The Laundry Room.

The room where we plonked our washing machine and tumble dryer in more than 2 years ago, got an overhaul. And boy, was it time.
It used to be an en-suite bathroom to a downstairs bedroom. That particular bedroom, became Bert's office as soon as we moved in and he worked in there for, yes, almost 2 years. I shared his space with a corner for my crafts and it got out of hand very quickly. But that's another story, for another time.
Manoeuvring through 'the office' with baskets and piles of laundry was not my idea of fun. I suspect it wasn't Bert's idea of fun either.
After getting through and almost into 'the laundry room' there was another obstacle to challenge me. A washbasin that was positioned so close to the door, that you had a hard time passing through the doorway even without a laundry basket.

I'm not proud of the dump that was the 'laundry room' and to show you the photos of the before - I must be insane -  but there it is, warts and all.
The tumble dryer's vent had to be guided out of the once outside window.  I said once, because with all the other works that have been going on here, it now leads into the kitchen. Guiding the vent trough more appropriate routes to the outside was going to cost us an arm and leg, so we opted to buy a brand spanking new condenser dryer.

An Ikea Billy bookcase served what purpose exactly ?

With summer approaching and knowing that a season of lots of laundry would commence, I put my foot down.  I wanted an easy maintainable laundry room, albeit of bijoux proportions.
Looking on the internet to find kitchen cabinets or any cabinets in the area, didn't deliver any results.
That's when Bert decided one Thursday afternoon last April that he would drive to Ikea in Dublin the next day. It is only a 5 hour drive single journey, anyway...
And he did just that !

That weekend we had the whole, or near enough, laundry room makeover-ed.

 We had considered to remove the WC, but then decided against it. One can never have too many of them. Haha !

Yes, the washbasin was still there during the coming weeks, but we've sorted that too as soon as we could get the plumber in.

The cabinets are used for storing the linen that I use in our holiday let in the village. Keeping it fresh and dust free.

My new sink. 

The scars of the other one still visible.

I'm happy. I can keep it reasonably tidy and organised. Most of the time...

Patricia xxx...x