On one of our days out while visiting the above-mentioned Uncle, who is a confirmed carnivore, we went to an unusual type of farm shop. It was at an ostrich farm, which sold the meat and eggs from their ostriches, as well as other unusual meats including crocodile, wild boar, kangaroo and zebra. They also sold venison, and camel and llama when in season.
Now, although I eat meat I do like to know that the animal or bird in question has had a good life, so it was good to see the ostriches living a happy free-range existence at the farm before having a "mixed grill" - only in a frying pan - that evening. We were assured that the other speciality meats that we tried had been either culled due to overpopulation or farmed naturally on wide open pastures. A major selling point was also the fact that the meats are a low fat option. We liked them all, the crocodile was a bit like chicken, and I liked the kangaroo best, it was very tender and flavoursome.
Read more about the farm at www.oslinc.co.uk.
That afternoon, we drove further on, to the coast, and found a beach with more samphire than I had ever seen before. I had picked and eaten samphire from Wells-next-the -sea harbour before but this was something else!
I'm not saying where it was as I was a bit worried about the entire beach being decimated. We saw a group of people pulling it up by the roots and taking it away by the sackful! They claimed it was for their own personal use but that seemed a bit unlikely to me. I thought perhaps they had a pub or restaurant and it was going to feature on the current weeks specials board or something... they did give me cooking tips though.
We picked a sandwich box full and not by the roots, enabling the plants to re-establish and grow again.
Apparently picking it by the roots enables you to prepare it by holding it by the roots, swishing it in some clean water to wash, then stripping off the good bits. I just floated ours in a bowl of water and let the dirt fall to the bottom, then wrapped it in a tea towel and whirled it around my head while standing in the garden. I simply boiled it, then added butter and black pepper. Salt isn't required as it's naturally salty from growing in sea water.
It's good with a poached egg on top, with seafood risotto, or as an accompaniment to fish dishes. I've seen it used quite a bit on masterchef this year. See www.bbc.co.uk/food/samphire for more ideas.
Today is the last day of the year, so I've totalled up by new recipes for 2014 - and there were 87, including 13 meat free main courses. Since January 2008 the running total is 821.
May there be many more in 2015! It's the first time the annual total has dropped below 100, but that was due to the car crash rather than lack of inspiration...
Thank you for reading. I'm hoping to write another post about this year's Christmas menu today too and I've got lots of ideas for future posts, so I'm firmly back in the blogging community.
More soon,
Caroline x
I always steam samphire when I'm cooking up a big pot of mussels. It all goes in together and you get great natural seasoning!!
ReplyDeleteOoh that sounds like a good idea!
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