Dippy eggs and asparagus…. all from round the corner! So lucky to live here!

Came home from work on Saturday to find a joyous husband dying to relate his latest culinary find!! ‘You know the woman we usually get our eggs from (down our road)……. well today I went to get some eggs and…. (all these pauses for effect!) she was selling asparagus for 1.50!’ I immediately thought ‘Probably weedy, thin, woody stalks’, but NO! fat juicy spears and a big bundle! We have regularly counted our blessings to live here this year (after 5 years of wishing to be back in Houston!) and today was another reminder of the brilliance of living in North Norfolk!

Now, if you have read my recent posts about asparagus, you may have read about my surprise at Abbie not liking it, after she couldn’t get enough of it last year. Well I have to say, I don’t do Annabel Karmel and hide it in her food, or turn it into a rocket/smily face/balloon animal! I just keep serving it up!! Research says that it only takes 10-12 tastes of a food that you don’t like before you can at least tolerate it….. I’ve served it up 4 times in the last fortnight and tonight was the first time Abbie gave it a thumbs up. Now we are off to get some more this morning – prepare for asparagus dishes aplenty!!

Look at that.... my idea of a perfect supper!

Success - 'mmmmm I like asparagus' was the quote!

A spring fritatta for the first day of the holidays….

Today is the first official day of our holiday and as the sun was shining in the garden, we made full use of the great weather.  Abbie and I planted garlic, shallots, peas and nasturtiums….. jumped on the trampoline, fixed up Abbie’s bike and ran around on the grass.  I then went to cook frittata and ‘horror’ no eggs in the fridge – it is times like this that you are grateful for the number of chicken owners within 1km of us! 

It is odd that Abbie is a bit funny about asparagus at the moment – she loved it last year, but obviously has forgotten this fact in just under a year – now it looks like a ‘new’ vegetable.  I will persevere; she ate more today than Saturday… I have another bundle in the fridge! Hope we get there before the ‘pop-up’ asparagus stalls start appearing at the end of our road!

Spring Fritatta – Feeds 2 adults, 2 children

Bundle of asparagus

4-6 large, cooked and cold new potatoes (could be leftover from previous day’s dinner), sliced

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 log soft goat’s cheese

• Preheat your grill
• Cut asparagus spears into 4 cm sections (approx) and cook over a medium heat in a frying pan for about 5 mins – I put a little water in the bottom with a bit of oil and then the water evaporates as the asparagus cooks
• When all water has evaporated and the asparagus starts to sizzle, add in the sliced potatoes and spread everything around so that you have an even coverage of both vegetables
• Add in beaten egg and swirl around so that again you have even coverage and then crumble the goat’s cheese over the whole lot – cook for 3-4 minutes on the hob, finishing it off under the grill until bubbling and golden on the top

Serve with salad leaves and cherry tomatoes, all dressed with a little rapeseed oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper

cook until bubbling and golden..

Tucking in!

Aylsham Farmer’s Market… another ‘picnic’ supper and Nigella’s Korean Calamari!

Saturday morning saw us making our monthly visit to our local (and excellent) Farmer’s Market. Although Aylsham also has a FM half-way through the month, the first weekend brings the best local producer’s and the fish stall is hard to beat!  We picked up some smoked salmon, smoked prawns (amazing), fresh anchovies and some fresh squid – passed up on clams until next month.  The veggie stall had some killer purple sprouting brocolli, so I bought loads in addition to a delicious looking free-range chicken (with giblets).  I was gutted that I had bought some cold-pressed rapeseed oil earlier in the week as a new, fabulous producer appeared for the first time at Saturday’s market. Nevermind, at the rate we use it, we could be getting some next month!

Abbie and the fantastic veggie stall

Anyway, to dinner – our picnic was a real mish-mash. Literally soemthing for everyone; Abbie wanted smoked salmon and olives, Jon wanted anchovies and quesadillas (just a tortilla, filled with grated cheese and sliced tomatoes, dry-fried on our skillet) and I was dying to have my first tasted of the year of smoked prawns and local early asparagus.

BUT I also was dying to try Nigella Lawson’s ‘Korean Calamari’…. I bought the chilli paste a few weeks ago, but have found squid really difficult to get hold of…. not anymore!! It was a delicious part of our supper picnic, but definitely would be better next time on top of some sushi rice, as recommended by the lovely Nigella!  It is incredibly easy to make and the squid stayed really soft, not at all rubbery…

Link for the recipe for this, from Nigella’s book ‘Kitchen’ is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/korean_calamari_77533

The laden picnic table

Abbie's selection - all eaten!