Green sauce

There are lots of green sauces - I love them all.   This one, which comes from Claudia Roden's Spanish Food, is predominantly coriander.  It is meant to be served with wrinkled, salty new potatoes, but it was excellent with dry meatballs.

75g fresh coriander, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 green capiscum, 1/4 tsp cumin, salt, pepper, 1& 1/2 tbsps white wine vinegar - + olive oil.
Mix all ingredients, except oil, in a food processor until very fine.  Remove and mix in olive oil to make creamy sauce.

Mine did not really make a creamy sauce - the consistency more like an indian fresh chutney - but v.v. delicious (if you like coriander).  Would be good with all sorts of things, but really worked well, setting off the meatballs and the green beans (and the new potatoes everyone else had).

Sourdough 2

I have kept the sourdough going for 12 days now - very good... the latest loaf was huge and delicious, but infuriatingly I forgot to put salt in it (I usually add it with the last helping of flour).  The kids prefer sourdough to the other kind (probably because I tend to make white sourdough).

I have also go an ongoing sourdough cake mix, the dreaded "Herman" - I have made several cakes of different kinds, including a rather successful simnel cake.  The important thing is that one adds lots of moist ingredients.  For my next one I am planning to make a pineapple and coconut cake - with a drop of rum perhaps.  The walnut and apple one is lovely; the banana one is ok, but doesn't remain moist for long (add sour cream/yoghurt to the mix perhaps?) and the choc chip and toasted hazelnut was intolerably dry.  

Sourdough

I once managed to create viable sourdough from flour, sugar and water.   Since then I have failed every time.   A few weeks ago I made sourdough from left over pizza dough, mashed into warm water with a bit of extra flour and sugar.  Next time I tied it didn't work.  So I tried again this week - saving some dough from a loaf, mixing in warm water and flour and making sure it was a fairly thick paste, rather than too watery.  This worked brilliantly and the following day I had a fantastic bubbling mix.  I topped it up with another cup of flour and a cup of warm water.  Another day and I divided it, made a loaf of bread, very good sourdough, with it. Now I have another loaf about to go in the oven, and then a further mix.   It's quite good making bread by the sponge method.  You start with the sludgy sour dough mix - add some more warm water and flour and leave it for a bit.,   Then add a further quantity of flour(s), seeds and salt and knead, etc. as normal.  

Good Places to eat No 1.

I have little to report on the catering front, but I have made one or two discoveries about places to eat out.  Firstly is the Three Mariners at Oare near Faversham.  It's a really nice pub with a fantastic a la carte menu, but two good value 3-course lunch time menus.  I've had the "walkers' menu" twice now - quite similar both times, but still good: yesterday, croque madame, whiting aioli and veg, cheese for £11.50 - increasing to £11.95 shortly.  My only reservation, maybe not enough variety in the menu, and exactly the same puddings...  maybe just coincidence.  I was tempted by the slightly more interesting £16.50 Business menu - it had duck, gravadlax and more interesting puds.    To my shock although it was a wet Thursday lunch time they were "full" - but kindly agreed to let me and Lorna eat there any way.   Book next time!