FLOWER POT KITCHEN: April 2021

7 Apr 2021

PORK AND PRAWN SESAME POT STICKER BALLS

Gluten Free

Recently having to remove all flours from my diet due to anaphylactic shock from eating a bread has pushed my inventiveness of some of my favourite foods, admittedly this is after I finished chewing on a lemon about being restricted with choices of food for life ! But when life gives you lemons, make LEMONADE...

These gorgeous balls are full of the aromatic flavours of ginger, lemongrass and sesame mixed with minced cold water prawns and belly pork make these a divine kind of pot sticker that when dipped in a sweet and vinegary soy sauce with a kick of wasabi are just as good if not better than that memory of a traditional pot sticker.

Prep 10 minutes / Cooking time 10 minutes

Ingredients

(makes approx 20)

20 raw cold water prawns

400g organic pork mince

1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

1/2 tsp minced lemongrass

2 clove garlic chopped

3 spring onions finely chopped

2 tbsp shaoxing wine

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

sea salt

white pepper

Dipping Sauce

100ml light soy sauce

50ml rice wine vinegar

10ml mirin

2 red chillies finely diced

1 spring onion finely diced

3 drops of sesame oil

1 pea size of wasabi

De-vein the prawns and chop by hand, place in a large mixing bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and mix together well.

With damp hands form into firm balls about the size of golf balls and place on a baking tray, bake at 180 C / 356 F for around 7 minutes or until cooked through, alternatively you can pan fry these instead.

Meanwhile make the dipping sauce, mix all the ingredients together, serve as soon as they are cooked and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy...

5 Apr 2021

FRENCH COGNAC CHICKEN LIVER PARFAIT

Really quick and simple yet very show stopper for that wow flavour impressing family and friends. This can be as boozey or not as you like, for my family and friends they love the brandy buttery hit in this simple French classic pate. This can be made days in advance and kept in the fridge and as a bonus freezes well, I make a double batch and freeze half.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(makes 6)

300g organic chicken livers trimmed

100ml Tio Pepe and 200ml water mixed

1 shallot finely diced

1 clove of garlic finely diced

25g of butter

1 dash of ooil

1 sprig of thyme leaves only

80ml ish of brandy

100ml double cream

120g melted butter for the seal

Salt and pepper to taste

Place the chicken livers in the combined TioPepe and water and leave to soak for 30 minutes. This releases any ammonia. Drain and pat dry.

Meanwhile gently melt the butter with the olive oil and soften the shallots and garlic without colouring, add the chicken livers to the shallots and gently pan fry until pink, turn up the heat briefly, add the brandy, reduce by half, add the thyme leaves and taste for seasoning, I add a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper.

Leave to rest until cool, then blend all the ingredients together until smooth or to the consistency you like, add the cream, give a quick blend, taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

If you want a really smooth pate, after blending smooth, pass through a sieve using the back of a

spoon. Place your pate in a pretty ramekin or ball mason jars, gently melt the remaining butter and pour over the pate to seal and stop oxidation of the pate.

This is a nice way to serve as the butter seal can be used on your fresh baked french baguette.

LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.