Recipe Time

I recently tried this recipe from Yottam Ottolenghi's The Cookbook. I had my eye on two sweet potato recipes in it, and this is the one that I went with. He attributes it to Epicurious originally, though I imagine he's added his own twist.

Dice about 2lb /850 g sweet potatoes UNPEELED into 3/4" cubes. Toss in 3 tblsp olive oil, season with salt and pepper and back at 190C for approx 30 minutes till just tender, turning over gently half way through.

When you first put them in, toast 35 g pecans for about 5 minutes, then chop coarsely.

Dressing: 

4 tblsp olive oil (I used half olive, half sunflower)

2 tblsp maple syrup

1 tblsp sherry vinegar

1 tblsp lemon juice

2 tblsp orange juice

2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

salt and pepper to taste.

Whisk together.

When the potatoes are ready, put in a large dish.

Add the nuts, along with 

35 g golden raisins

4 spring onions coarsely chopped

4 tblsp chopped parsley

2 tsblsp chopped coriander leaves

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

Add the dressing, toss and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Serve straight away or at room temperature.

I think it should be lovely at room temperature, but so far we've managed to eat the entire lot hot, so I haven't got to try it yet. The first time I had no cilantro (coriander) and used mint instead, which was very nice. 

Friday night was a warm, balmy evening. We went for a walk in the park. They'd been cutting the long grass now that the fawns are growing up - reminded me of the time I was lucky enough to go for a walk there a few years back when they were baling it. It's only the second time ever I've heard the deer making so much noise - the other time was when I had to walk home from work in the snow. They sound like a flock of birds mewling. The workmen must be getting the Papal Cross (from Pope John Paul's visit) ready for the upcoming papal visit.

Park time

I had to go out shopping yesterday morning; the weather was a bit mixed but I stuck my camera(s) and some old bread in the car just in case, and it was well worth going for a quick walk in the park. It wasn't enough to wake me up sufficiently, apparently. I managed to delete, beyond retrieval, the photos on the Olympus, including some good tufted duck ones, and the female mandarin. Luckily I had used both cameras and still had a few photos left at the end...

Tufted Duck

A red-eared terrapin - presumably a released pet

I nearly missed noticing the terrapin, because it was unusual to have such a good view of the tufted duck staying still in one place, but I caught sight of it in the corner of the camera viewfinder. A moment later and it was gone.

My echinacea is long over, and I never got a photo of it. Mind you, it was nothing like as spectacular as this in Farmleigh!

Mrs Robin's plumage has grown back in - she now looks fresh and pretty, and is much less timid again also.

A Park Walk

Now that all our high-profile guests have been and gone, the park is open again and we can park in our normal spot. Since yesterday was a lovely bright sunny evening, though still a little windy, we went for a walk after dinner.

Jackdaw in the woods

Deer in the parkland

Look carefully - you can just see the little coot chicks climbing out of the nest.

A coot chick. I always want to call them moorhens because of the red beaks, but they must change colour as they get older. For sure it's adult coots feeding them, as per the very short video. I need to find a way of cutting the sound out when it's not suitable for use - C was singing over most of this. I think I'll have to use some birthday money and invest...

Well - everything uploaded today with no problems. I don't know where my two birds in a bush photos ended up last night because they're not showing in my album. The mysteries of cyber-space!!

Park Pictures

These are some of the photos from Tuesday evening. A couple more of the heron, one view across the city and some of the deer. It was so funny the way all the stags were lying together in two big groups, and the does and fawns were much more spread about and grazing.

This morning I spent a while watching the young gulls on the river - it was almost as if they were playing, drifting backwards on a strong current. But in case I sort out a couple of photos, I'll save a write-up till then.

Winter Photos

Sneak Peek for the MMTPT74 challenge:



C says the photo of the heron is my reward for going for a walk in the park with him this morning when I didn't really want to...

The deer picture was taken on Christmas morning.

In a way the park was disappointing then - our local green was much more of a winter wonderland.

But it was fun to see the lake frozen over, and after we heard a bit of clashing of antlers going on, we saw that buck in the photo above give chase to another one - at quite some speed.

A sunny day...

...so we went for a walk in the park in the evening. The reflections were down by one of the ponds. C took a little bit of persuading to go that way, as there was less direct sunlight. So when we came up from the hollow we struck across the open grassy areas and encountered the deer. The sweetpeas are my own...

The park, again

Thank goodness for some rain, or I'd have been out watering the garden yet again. We've had such amazing weather that a bit of rain is welcome. Unfortunately right now C's motorbike is sitting uncovered in the front drive, getting wet. His brother is over from Australia with the family (last time they all came was sixteen years ago and there were only three of them, now there are two girls). They were here today, so when we went for a walk in the park, we couldn't all fit in the car - so C went on the bike, and his brother borrowed my helmet and went along pillion. I think we walked a bit further than they were used to, but the girls really wanted to see some deer - and we did :D. Luckily I'd stuck my tele-zoom in the bag.


We had Rick Stein's Moroccan Tagine with Ras-el-Hanout and couscous, followed by homemade strawberry and vanilla icecreams, meringues and chocolate sauce. I think it's the first time I've cooked for anyone else who also works in the cooking field, so it was just slightly intimidating.