A Cornucopia of Leftovers

It's come at last, after some time in the UK for various reasons interesting and less interesting, on Saturday my last obligation in England for a few months will be completed and I can get back to the farm.

Naturally this means eating up all the food in fridge before we go as Mr. Stripey Cat will be joining me there for a few days before the cat and I are left to our own devices once more.

Tonight's meal then is recognisably a veg*n standby but the recipe is a little haphazard - I give you Cottage Pie.

The base mixture is made from a finely chopped onion, a finely cubed carrot and a finely cubed raw beetroot all gently sauteed in a little vegetable oil until they soften. To this was added a goodly quantity of slightly past their best mushroom, I'd say in the region of 400g if you pushed me but I didn't bother to weigh them. To soak up the moisture released by this quantity of mushrooms I added a couple of tablespoons of bulgar (cracked wheat) and chucked in the remainder of last night's even less glamorous vegetable stew.

For seasoning, the stew contributed some saffron and chili, I added a little dried thyme and soy sauce and then a big handful of finely chopped fresh herbs; a spring of sage and lots of mint and parsley. When everything was lightly cooked and combined it went into the pie dish.


Pink Fir Apple Potato on Pot

The mash was made from a random selection of potatoes including some Pink Fir Apple at the absolute end of their season. If you've never had mash from PFA you haven't lived but they are a bugger to peel and I don't like potato skin in my mash. No matter, mash the cooked spuds with a little cooking water and about 200g of soya yoghurt, then squidge it through the potato ricer onto the filling for that thatched cottage look. A sprinkle of oil on top and it's ready for the oven.

Cook at a reasonably hot temperature, say 200C for at least half an hour and anything up to an hour, very handy if you don't know what time the man plans to come home for his dinner (call me unresconstructed!) and enjoy with some cheap plonk to take away the corners of the day.



I must thank Charlotte for her kind words about the Kolokithopita

There have been more visitors here in the last few days than for the previous month. I hope at least some of you will find it worthwhile to come by again from time to time but I fear there will be a slight hiatus because as far as I know the phone line is still damaged from the winter storms and it's going to take a week to get that sorted out when I finally get back to France. So don't give up on me, I'll be back!