winter's end

More glorious, otherworldly sunshine today: blue skies ablaze, even some spring coats on show in the streets. Only a matter of time until the bare legs (rumoured to be sported in a certain Sussex village this week) are seen on display further north - rising up the country like the cherry blossom front in Japanese weather reports!

My nearest supermarket was as uninspiring as ever for foraging a lunch today. For the first time in months I didn't feel like my fall-back regulars (soup or curry) and nothing salad-like is in season. I was half-heartedly settling for a vegetable samosa with carrot soup, when some watercress from the UK caught my eye, quickly followed by mackerel pate. Delight! I have a stash of oatcakes in my desk, so from just £2 I will reap two or three meals. Two or three meals of iron-ey, hot, fresh watercress against creamy, salty mackerel pate. After last night's over-indulgence there is also a wonderful, healing pleasure in eating something healthy: the protein will keep me going, and the greens and oily fish (I like to imagine) are already repairing me inside and out.

What happened last night? Dinner with the North London Ladies, Hammersmith branch. And, to be more accurate it was the rum and coke and red wine that are to blame for any residual fragility - my fault entirely: the meal was a complete delight. We chatted to an accompaniment of manchego cheese and salted, roast almonds; olives and artichokes in oil; roast beetroot with goats cheese, and some bread and a delicious savoury red paste called sobrassada.

Then we moved on to a beautiful venison stew with roasted squash and foil-baked potatoes. It was a celebration of the end of winter, with carrots, onion and the sweet squash all having a last dazzle before retiring gracefully until next autumn. I have not had venison in a long time and had forgotten how lovely and red-meaty it is - it produced a wonderful gravy to mop up with the squash. We finished with soft chocolate puddings, raspberries and ice cream - perhaps a hint of the summer to come? A lovely, relaxed evening with great food and company that held us until that time of night when one worries what time the last tube actually is!

I am now fairly obsessed with manchego. My friend explained that she buys a whole cheese and, when fresh and unripe it tastes milky and soft, but when it has matured a little, the taste changes - which explains why it tastes so different to when I have had it before. It was a beautiful combination with the almonds and I am set on finding some for my own fridge very soon!

The venison stew was based on this abel and cole recipe but with one or two adjustments to the cooking method.



Tuesday 16th March 2010