I look back at some days and it seems Philip and I sit on our computers on different tables and time seems to disappear into the afternoon. So much so that on a very windy day this week we didn’t hear the big machinery clearing the weeds off our land and preparing it for the tree planing job in the future. It was with surprise and astonishment that we walked up the drive in the mid afternoon to find a huge grader working methodically cleaning the ghastly Vipers Bugloss , wild verbascums and thick weeds. Bring in the boys with the big machinery and when you blink your wildest dreams come true in a matter of hours . Miraculously all our land is cleared and ripped ready for planting.
For dinner I made a batch of my ‘Go To’ pork meatballs and served them on fresh pasta with my simplistic cherry tomato sauce from Day 1. Simply topped with thinly sliced leeks panfried in a little butter with salt and pepper they were delicious as always.
Pork and Lemon Meatballs
500 grams minced pork, 100 grams grated parmesan , 1 cup dried breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup parsley, chopped, zest and juice of a lemon, salt, 2 eggs, olive oil , 2 glasses of white wine, hot water, 8 bay leaves
In a large bowl place the minced pork, grated cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon zest and salt. Mix together with the egg. Either with a wooded spoon – or I like to use my hands (with cloves on) – very satisfying to feel the mixture squelching through your fingers. Form the mixture into small balls. Wet hands or hands make it easier. Heat a thin layer of oil in a pan – large enough to take the meatballs without over crowding. Fry on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until nicely browned on all sides. Shake the pan a little to make sure they are not sticking. Add the wine; turn the heat up and cook for a few minutes to let the alcohol burn off. Pour in enough hot water just to cover the meatballs. Add the bay leaves and leave to simmer until the sauce is well reduced and starting to become syrupy. Add the lemon juice and zest and cook a few minutes more. Remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon into a serving dish. If the sauce is still too runny, thicken very slightly with potato starch and cold water .Bring to the boil. Spoon over the pan juices and serve with pasta, polenta, risotto or potatoes.
I even made desert – a tray of baked stuffed apples that we could also eat cold.
Baked Stuffed Apples
6 apples – e.g. pacific rose, gala, 100 grams Amaretti biscuits, 100 grams toasted walnuts, 150 grams muscovado sugar, 125 grams coconut, 100 grams currants – soaked in ¼ cup brandy for 10 minutes , 2 teaspoons caster sugar, 1 cup white wine
Cut a thin slice off the top and bottom of the apples. Core using an apple corer. Cut in half around the middle. Scoop a little of the apple flesh to widen the cavity. Reserve the flesh. Process reserved apple flesh, amoretti biscuits, toasted walnuts and brown sugar until roughly chopped. Transfer to a bowl and combine with melted butter and soaked currants. Fill each apple half with the biscuit mixture – making a mound on the top.. Place the filled apple halves into a baking dish. Sprinkle with the caster sugar and pour the wine into the base. Bake for 40 minutes at 180 Celsius – or until tender. Dust with sieved icing sugar before serving. It’s also lovely with homemade custard, whipped cream, yoghurt or icecream.
Note : I did modify this recipe because I still had some of our Anzac Day Gingerbread cake with nutty topping left over. So it got blitzed in the food processor with toasted walnuts and melted butter. It was added to the chopped apple and became my new filling. I also placed a spoonful of my grape jelly (any jelly ) in the bottom of each apple half and folded warmed grape jelly through yoghurt to serve.
Quess What : Meatballs the following night – this time served on labne with hot cherry tomato sauce ( I did have a lot of cherry tomatoes thanks to my Tarras neighbour Lesley) .Recipe in April Day 8
Travel Memories – Isle of Mull
My local guide Alan an ex principal on the Isle of Mull extolled his passion for Mull and Iona. He generously shared his comprehensive local knowledge, telling stories and singing songs . We later found out singing was his passions and he loved singing in choirs – consequently he was ecstatic to meet Sheryl and Jenny our talented choir singers.
The very cute fishing village of Tobermory in up the coast on the Isle of Mull and is the largest town. Travelling the roads of Mull involves patience, consideration and tolerance and forget any chance of trying to hurry. The narrow one lane roads have few passing bays. The little houses in Tobermory are all painted in bright colours – one of my ladies asked me why? I always believed it was because the fishermen would often be at sea for several days at a time, but if they were close enough to shore, they wanted to be able to identify their home.
But have also read :
- Salty sea air and wind is really hard on wood and buildings. Brighter colours will show fading faster, so they will know when painting is needed in order to keep the wood protected.
- Used the leftovers from painting their boats. It was cheaper than normal house-paint, so painted their house with what they had.
Whatever…. they look wonderful side by side.
I leave you with a link that one of my tour ladies Beverley Eriksen sent me today https://bbc.in/3bRKArs
Hang in there everyone .
XXXJude
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