IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

Winter Warmers - Welsh Cawl Recipe

Most countries have rustic dishes of some sort, using up bits and pieces and leftovers.  The Welsh version would have to be Cawl, which essentially uses up winter root vegetables and the traditional, good old Welsh leek.  It can be made with lamb or beef; although as a child, my mother always preferred to make it with beef (shin pieces).  And so, in my adulthood, I have always made it with beef.  Quantities can be varied as it is a dish that uses up those bits and pieces from your larder/fridge.  Here’s one I made earlier (for about six servings):

Trevor Byrne, ghosts, lightning and a wee dram of whisky at the CheltLitFest

'Location, location, location' is a saying close to the hearts of estate agents, property dealers, property appraisers, surveyors, mortgage underwriters and the like.  It also applies to organisations with something to promote at a literary festival.  Canongate and Highland Park Whisky could not have found a better location for their marquee at Cheltenham's Literary Festival.  It was on prime walkway between the back entrance of the town hall and the rest of the tents, including the bookshop.  At times of heavy pedestrian traffic, the boys and girls were outside the tent offering a sample of their whisky and inviting you to join the latest Canongate author-in-attendance for their 15 minute sample read.  And so it came to pass that I became aware of author Trevor Byrne and also tasted my first Highland Park.

I hadn't tasted whisky for years and ventured into that first sip with some trepidation; it was rather nice and then a second flavour kicked in.  Peat.  Yes, Highland Park is a single malt of the peaty variety.  Not really for me, even after I confirmed my initial thoughts through another three free samples.

Waiting for the arrival of the author I found some blurb on him; I forget where exactly.  Trevor Byrne is currently a tutor in creative writing at Glamorgan University.  (Welsh connection.  Good. Definitely up for a blog post.)  Ghosts and Lightning is his first novel.  (Debut author. Doubly up for a blog post.)  It's the tale of someone trying to do the right thing surrounded by the wrong choices and a review said 'Revealing chronicle of our times from an exceptional new Irish talent.'  (Sounds interesting.)

And then came Trevor Byrne.  Before reading he gave a warning.  He explained that his novel Ghosts and Lightning is about 80k words long and that about 1 in 8 of them are that four letter word beginning with 'f' or derivatives thereof.  The two passages he chose to read had a higher proportion than average for the novel.  And then he read.  No one left.  More people joined.

Job well done, I think.

A Colourful Autumn in Cheltenham & A Little Bit of LitFest

Having arrived in Cheltenham, I picked up my tickets from the box office and then dashed into town for a few purchases.  However, the dashing became a meander as the north west side of Montpellier Walk beckoned due to colour and smells.  There was a market on that side of the road and beautiful it was too.  Here are some pictures:

A fantastic fruit and veg stall.  How could anyone avoid these fresh, healthy and colourful diet staples after seeing this?  They even had persimmons, juicy and ripe.

 
I'd never seen such a selection of wild mushrooms; the locals & visitors were in for a treat.

Some tins for Dorte

To ensure that Dorte never runs out of tins for her "Bait in the Box" quizes, here is my contribution of two:

First a very British tin.  It's one that holds "curiously strong mints" at Marks and Spencer.

Secondly, from the Netherlands, a tin that holds cocoa.  I loved this tin when I saw it in the Albert Heijn supermarket in Amsterdam last year.  I think it's quite beautiful and should be on display in my kitchen as opposed to in the cupboard.

Lastly, on the topic of Dutch cocoa and things foody, I believe it was Clarissa Dickson Wright of Two Fat Ladies fame who praised the Dutch for the quality of their cocoa.  Apparently, it's the only thing they're good for in the culinary world.  Or was, anyway.   Because I'd like to bring her up to date.

Today's telly chefs, when making something involving vanilla and not scraping out a pod or two, they are always at pains to tell us that we should avoid essence and go for a good extract.

You will often see a bottle of this on their shelves.

It's from Leeuwarden.  In the Netherlands.

And my apologies that the pics are wobbly.  When depressing the button on the camera, I also have a tendency to drop my whole hand.