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Chickpea–the little wonder!

January 6, 2013 by Robin Ellis

This could apply to the edible pulse–which is a little wonder too: but here it’s a reference to our bantam cockerel, who goes by that name.

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Chickpea arrived with two companions about eight months ago.

For a while we laboured under the illusion that all three were miniature poules [hens].

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This is what Meredith had sought out at the chicken fair [foire aux poussins]  in a nearby commune of Couffouleux last May and had been assured by the sellers, that the three chicks were all dwarf hens.

French neighbours in the know were not convinced–and as the three grew larger, tell-tale plumage started to develop on two of the three.

It seemed those in the know were right!

We began hearing sounds that were only too familiar to us, living as we do in the countryside, surrounded by farms and free-range poultry!

OH NO! Please–we don’t want a cockerels, we asked for HENS. We like quiet in the mornings; we don’t want to be woken betimes with full throated  COCK-A-DOODLE-—GOOOODMORNING-TIMETOOPENTHEGATE-IT’SALMOSTLIGHTYOUKNOW–DOOOOS!! PLUS, we’d like the odd egg.

After a couple of months it was plain–two of the three were definitely male and intent on never letting us forget it.

Claude and Mrs Tweedy (Brahmas) are the more conventional looking couple and Chickpea  “the odd man out”–being so much smaller (a sabelpoot or booted bantam).

On the whole he seems to believe there’s safety in numbers and that three’s a GOOD crowd.

Though he’s not averse to putting on a one man show and one might say–getting a little above himself:

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Claude is a cock of the old order.

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He clearly believes things were better in the old days when brahmas held sway and bantams like Chickpea knew their place and didn’t go around trying to make friends with “the keepers”.

That is Chickpea’s instinct. He likes to hob-nob.

He’ll sidle up and circle, mumbling bantam small talk hinting that he would’t object to being picked up.

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Naturally a certain animal lover is only too keen to oblige and Chickpea is in heaven.

On Christmas Day, FINALLY Mrs Tweedy started laying an egg a day–so every four days we have omelettes for lunch–small omelettes as the eggs are modest.

(And it turns out those in the know can be wrong–they doubted she’d lay before Easter!)

Together they make a pretty picture and seem to know it.

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Here they seem blissfully unaware of tempting fate and giving the keepers ideas!

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chicken in a pot!

Posted in other sides to this life | Tagged , | 31 Comments »

Smothered Broccoli

January 4, 2013 by Robin Ellis

Poor broccoli is often the butt of jokes–probably because people remember it from their schooldays, served up looking limp and tasting of very little.
These days the tendency is perhaps to undercook vegetables.
Not this time!
Italian cookery writer, Anna del Conte, first ate this unusual dish in a friend’s house in Milan.

In this recipe the broccoli is cooked longer-than-usual–covered–on a low heat. It becomes meltingly soft with the cooking time and the flavours meld wonderfully.

Not a great looker, but wins on taste!
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for 2/4

700gms/1  1/2 lb broccoli–the bunched florets broken up into bite size pieces and the stalks stripped of their rough outer layer and diced
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5 garlic cloves–peeled, halved lengthwise and the little green shoot removed

1 red chili–sliced (hot chili!)

2 tblsps olive oil

salt and pepper

a lemon--quartered

Heat the oil in a sauté pan that has a tight fitting cover.

Add the garlic and chili and fry for a couple of minutes.

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Add the broccoli–stalks and florets.

Turn them over thoroughly in the oil.

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Cover the pan and turn the heat down to the lowest possible.

Cook for 40 minutes–checking from time to time to prevent burning.

Take care when checking not to break up the softening broccoli into a mush!
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Season with salt and pepper.
A little lemon juice squeezed over makes a good finish.
Season with salt and pepper.
A little lemon juice squeezed over makes a good finish.
We had it for lunch today with a baked sweet potato.

Posted in Food, Recipes | Tagged , | 11 Comments »

Red pepper halves with a tuna stuffing

January 2, 2013 by Robin Ellis

This is a “post festival” easy–and something to do with left-over rice.

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Most of the ingredients will be in the cupboard or the fridge; it’s simply a question of mixing them together and filling the pepper halves.

I tried this first with 100% rye breadcrumbs instead of rice. It was good but rice lightens the stuffing.

(Breadcrumbs remain an option, especially as you need some for the topping).

Then the oven does the work.

stuffing for 4 medium red pepper halves

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these are smaller than medium

1 200gm tin/jar tuna–drained of oil/water and flaked with a fork

1 tblsp parsley–chopped

1 garlic clove–chopped fine

1 tblsp capers–chopped

5 juicy black olives–chopped

3 tblsps parmesan cheese–grated

4 tblsps cooked brown basmati rice

1 egg–beaten

salt and pepper

2 red peppers--halved carefully lengthwise and deseeded

2 tblsps wholewheat/rye breadcrumbs for sprinkling

olive oil

1 lemon–quartered

set the oven at 180C/360F

Combine the first eight ingredients in a bowl and season well with salt and pepper.

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Lay the pepper halves on oiled foil in a shallow roasting tray and spoon the stuffing into them.

Place on a shallow oven tray that is covered with oiled foil.

Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

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Swirl olive oil generously over the peppers and put them in the middle of the oven.

Cook for about 40 minutes–checking after 30 that all’s well.

They should end up with some tasty charring–without being cindered!

Serve with a lemon quarter each for squeezing.

Posted in Food, Recipes | Tagged | 16 Comments »

Happy New Year everyone and thanks!

December 31, 2012 by Robin Ellis

As the New Year comes in–next year’s garlic crop is being planted in the fields around us.

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The weather is perfect today for the long and painstaking task–no rain and little wind.

Sitting in threes behind a tractor all day dropping the garlic clove by clove into the holes made by the drill machine is no party! They make it a family and friends affair round us like they do when lifting it in six months time.

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They’ll plant as much as they can before the big night’s celebrations later this evening.

New Year is as important here as it is in Scotland.

New Year cards arrive from our neighbours rather than Christmas cards.

I said “Bonne Année!” to a stallholder in the market last Saturday and she was quick to put me right.

“Non, non, Monsieur–on ne dit pas ça jusqu’a la veille. Bonnes fêtes!”

[No, no, Sir, we don’t say that until the evening before. Enjoy the festivals!]

Maybe it’s considered bad luck to wish the year over betimes–makes sense.

De toutes façons—anyway—be that as it may and with no disrespect to our lovely neighbors:

A very Happy New Year to everyone and a big Thank You to you all for supporting this blog. Your responses make it worthwhile. This year with all its ups and downs is one I shan’t forget.

The folk here say when wishing you Bonne Année always add “mais surtout bon santé“–“but above all Good Health“.

Here’s a gentle way to segue into 2013 with the oddly named but charming Unthanks…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2012/dec/26/unthanks-tar-barrel-dale-other-voices-video

Posted in other sides to this life | Tagged , , , | 31 Comments »

Christmas presents

December 24, 2012 by Robin Ellis

Meredith asked me at supper what was the first Christmas present I remember.

I’m not as good at remembering my childhood as she is.

I do remember the joy of anticipation waking up Christmas morning and feeling the weight of the now brimming stocking resting at the end of the bed–my parents’ keep ’em busy while we wake up solution to kids’ five a.m. insomnia.

I also remember retrieving, with a full arm, the perennial orange at the stocking’s foot, with a double sense of disappointment. Too soft to be a cricket ball and the knowledge that that was it, for several hours to come.

We were not allowed into the drawing room until eleven o’clock, where the real stuff was piled ’round the tree.

“We” meaning my brother Peter (six years younger) and me.

The gap between finishing up our orange juice (the oranges didn’t go to waste), bacon and eggs, toast and marmalade–and eleven o’clock was interminable.

A watched clock always runs slow and the contents of the stocking had a limited interest span.

AT LAST the key was turned  and we pushed passed Dad into the coal-fire warmth of the drawing room–(central heating was only something my mother dreamed about)–assessing the size of the piles round the sweet pine-scented tree, willing the larger ones to be ours.

This was the early fifties. Rationing was still in operation for some things (including sweets!).

Dad worked for British Railways–our parents did us proud on a limited budget–and we went by train everywhere.

I loved trains.

I wanted an electric train set.

This is the present I remember: An electric train set by Trix–(not Hornby, which everyone had!)

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Dad set it up in the Dining room (very cold, but I didn’t mind) and we all spent the rest of the day on our stomachs!

I’m kidding–Ma went off to the kitchen!

Posted in other sides to this life | Tagged , | 84 Comments »

Grapefruit alert!

December 18, 2012 by Robin Ellis

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This is sad.

Grapefruit as villain. What a turn-up!

The evidence is strong–grapefruit juice may cause some prescribed drugs to malfunction– in some cases with life threatening effect.

This beautiful oversized “orange”–colored like a lemon.

So sweet–and comes with white or pink interiors.

My parents had half a one each for breakfast, carefully separated into segments with a serrated knife.

The serrated knife with the annoying curve at the end–annoying if you wanted to use it for any other purpose–but satisfying if you hit the joins just right and made a good job of segment separation.

These ’50’s grapefruit put me off! They were white and sour! Sugar required.

A long gap to the haven/heaven of pink grapefruit.

It makes a sweet and comforting wake-up drink.

For years we’d squeeze the juice–half a fruit each–into mugs in the morning and fill  up with boiling water.

But a trip to Florida opened my eyes to the authentic grapefruit experience.

We were in Orlando at Meredith’s parents home.

At the front of the house there were two grapefruit trees–one with white fruit, one pink.

The grapefruit hung from them like enormous coloured canonballs–how could the trees support the weight?!

I was doubtful of the white fruit until I cut one in half and squeezed a little juice into a glass and sipped.

My mouth is watering now with the memory.

That’s how it will have to stay–a glorious memory.

This benign giant of a fruit is no longer benign for some like me who take a daily dose of drugs–hard to accept!

A slice of lemon in hot water with have to suffice.

Posted in Diabetes, Food, other sides to this life, Robin Ellis | Tagged , | 23 Comments »

Interesting cabbage

December 15, 2012 by Robin Ellis

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A cabbage once got the job of representing my head.

A grisly tale this.

In 1971 I played the foolish, arrogant, headstrong Earl of Essex in Elizabeth R opposite a formidable Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth.

The young jackanapes got it into his head to start a rebellion against the Virgin Queen.

He’d been her favorite for years and had been forgiven much–but this she couldn’t ignore. He found himself on Tower Green and a rendezvous with the headsman.

The powers that be at BBC Television Centre decided the most realistic way to replicate the sound of a head being chopped off was to lop a cabbage in half!

I have only recently been able to eat them without getting nervous!

Here the abused cabbage is restored to its proper place–on the table.

Not as spectacular, but last night we found ourselves forking a little more and then a little more onto our plates–until there was none!

for 2

1 small cabbage–halved vertically and sliced finely

1 clove of garlic–sliced finely

1 small onion–chopped small

10 juniper berries–crushed

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

a splash of water

  • Heat the oil in a pan.
  • When hot, sauté the garlic until it starts to color.
  • Add the onion and stir fry until the onion catches up with the garlic.

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  • Add the cabbage and the juniper berries and turn all together thoroughly in the garlic, onion and oil mix.

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  • Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook for a further ten minutes to soften the cabbage.
  • Add a splash of water if the cabbage starts to catch (stick to the pan)
  • Be generous with the pepper and sprinkle some salt over.

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Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, Robin Ellis | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments »

“Peasy” pumpkin soup

December 13, 2012 by Robin Ellis

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No peas involved–simple, easy, as in easy peasy!

Just looking at the colour warms you up.

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Adapted from a recipe in Leaves from our Tuscan Kitchen–a peak into the day to day ways of cooking in a Tuscan villa in the late 19th century.

for 2/3

1lb/450gms pumpkin–roughly chopped with its skin

1 medium onion–chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

1 generous pint stock (I use organic vegetable stock cubes.)

salt and pepper

  • Put the onion and the pumpkin pieces in a saucepan with the olive oil.
  • Add the spices with the salt and pepper.
  • Turn everything over, cover and sweat over a low heat for twenty minutes to soften the vegetables.

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  • Add the stock and cook uncovered for a further twenty minutes or so, until the pumpkin is tender enough to liquidize.
  • Liquidize the mix–best done with a stick mixer, saves much washing up!
  • A pinch of chopped parsley is a nice touch in each bowl.
  • I cut up some rye bread–a slice each–into crouton size pieces, sautéed them in a little olive oil and added a pinch each of salt and cumin powder.
  • Meredith suggested sautéed bacon bits would be good too.

Posted in Food, Recipes | Tagged , , | 18 Comments »

Brussel sprouts–sautéed with parmesan and breadcrumbs

December 12, 2012 by Robin Ellis

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Sprouts like a good frost is one of the few gardening mantras I remember growing up in the fifties.

My father must have said it.

Dad grew vegetables–mainly root vegetables in winter but sprouts as well–on their extraordinary rods.

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Late autumn/winter is their season–time of the first frosts.

Woke this morning to a white out–not snow, but a heavy frost–brussels came to mind.

At this time of year my mother would add the traditional chestnuts or bacon to liven them up.

She didn’t overcook them either–one reason members of the cabbage family remain unpopular with some.

This is a simple alternative–adapted from the wonderful Leaves from our Tuscan Kitchen.

for 2/3

1lb brussel sprouts–outer layers removed and larger ones halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons wholewheat breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons parmesan–grated

salt and pepper

  • Steam the sprouts for about ten minutes–to soften them but taking care not overdo it.

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  • Remove from the heat.
  • Heat the oil in a sauté pan and when it’s hot carefully transfer the sprouts to the pan.
  • Sauté on a high heat until they show signs of browning.
  • Add the cheese and breadcrumbs and stir fry for a couple of minutes–scraping the breadcrumb and cheese mix off the base of the pan (they become deliciously crunchy), while turning the sprouts.

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes | Tagged , | 13 Comments »

Keeping the Black Snake fat!

December 11, 2012 by Robin Ellis

It’s a while since I posted a Diabetes update.

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Recipes and cat tales are so much more uplifting.

But given my recent history, this new study deserves an airing.

After analyzing the medical records of almost two million people in the UK, the National Diabetes Audit found that people with diabetes have almost a 50% higher risk of a heart attack.

About 22,000 people with diabetes in England and Wales died prematurely in 2010/11, the report says.

“The finding that people with diabetes are almost 50 per cent more likely to have a heart attack is shocking; this is one of the main reasons many thousands of people with the condition are dying before their time,” said Barbara Young, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK.

About seven weeks ago, my cardiologist at the excellent local clinic wasn’t a hundred percent happy with the results of a couple of my stress test results.

(These were routine tests suggested by my G.P.–given my Type 2 diabetes.)

The local cardiologist sent me to the Clinique Pasteur in Toulouse, where late one Tuesday afternoon in October I found myself flat on my back, naked, in what felt suspiciously like an operating theatre.

(This isn’t my preferred theatre experience!)

Shortly after sensing something creeping up the inside of my right arm, a masked face pushed through the hygienic barrier, regarded me with two quietly friendly eyes and uttered words I shall never forget:

“Vous avez un blocage de l’arterie principale coronaire.”

[You have a blockage of the coronary artery.]

His tone was so reasonable, I heard myself replying in a similar tone:

“C’est sérieux, Monsieur?”.

He remained calm in spite of what he had just heard, and didn’t shout:

“OF COURSE IT’S SERIOUS YOU IDIOT!!“.

Instead I was relieved to hear him say he was going to insert three stents–then and there.

The seriousness of the situation only registered fully with me the following afternoon just before we left for home.

The doctor showed us a video of my heart and arteries BEFORE and AFTER.

Oh my word!

For the procedure my blood had been dyed to show up as black.

In the BEFORE version, a black (blood-rich) artery snakes across the screen to the rhythm of the heart–black except for a small section where the FAT black snake became a very THIN black snake running through an otherwise pale (no blood) tube.

Le blocage–a narrowed artery!

In the AFTER video–three stents in place–the black snake is restored to its glorious fatness.

I had none of the usual symptoms of narrowed arteries— shortness of breath while walking, pains in the chest.

I asked the Quietly Spoken One why?

He said diabetes masks cardiac symptoms–numbing the nerves.

So, j’avais de la chance, je crois!

[I reckon I was lucky!]

Posted in Diabetes, other sides to this life, Robin Ellis | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments »

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