Stuffed Vine Leaves Recipe

Rice mix

1 cup of rice

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1/2 onion

Some mint leaves or whatever other spice you prefer

2 tblsp olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup sultanas

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pine nuts (not chopped)

Approx 30 vine leaves

Juice of 1/2 lemon

4 tblsp olive oil

1.5 cups water

Oven proof dish

Cook the rice and cool then add all the other ingredients in the rice mix. Allow to cool.

Blanch the vine leaves (or if they were preserved in some way they are ready already).

Line the dish with a layer of vine leaves (use the duds that are torn or whatever)

Roll the rice mix in to the vine leaves

Place some vine leaves in the bottom of the dish then put the rolled vines on top. You can stack one layer on top of the other.

Pour over the water, the oil and the lemon juice and cover the dish with vine leaves and then foil.

Cook in a 180C oven for 45-60 mins until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Serv hot or chilled with a squeeze of lemon.

Amaretti sweet and sour cocktail

Serves 2

30g lemon juice

30g grapefruit juice

60g Amaretto

Crushed ice

Lowball glasses

Some kind of garnish like a maraschino cherry or a coil of lemon peel.

Mix together the lemon, grapefruit and amaretto.

Fill the glasses with crushed ice

Pour the juice over the ice and drink!

Sorry no picture, too busy drinking!

Preserving vine leaves

We have a crappy vine that never has any grapes (except about 3 tiny ones last year that never ripened). To try to make it useful in some way (no slackers on the farm - and that includes the plants!) I have preserved some of the leaves to make stuffed vine leaves. I have never tried making them before but I need to now to use up those vine leaves!

For the preserving liquid (you need somewhat less than the total volume of your jars)

1l water

3 tsp citric acid or vitamin C (ascorbic acid)

2 tsp salt

Boil the water and add the acid and salt and boil for another 30 seconds

Vine leaves

Preserving jars - they need to be reasonably tall, although it is fine if they are a bit shorter than the leaves.

While the water is boiling prepare the vine leaves by washing them.

Then make a pile of 5 leaves and roll it up. Before rolling fold down the pointed ends so the roll will fit in your jar. You can tie with string if you want, but no need.

Make all the leaves in to rolls and stuff the rolls upright in to the jar. You want them fairly tightly packed so the leaves don't float up in the jar.

Once all the jars are packed pour the hot liquid over the leaves.

Put the lids on and process for 10 mins in a pan of hot water.

As the jars cool the tops of the lids should pop down. If not then reprocess.

This jar is about 500 ml, there are about 30 leaves in there. It could have been tighter packed.

Spooky sky

We have had a fair amount of stormy weather this summer. This has made for some good sunsets. This one gave a pretty weird colour to the sky.

Welcome to Raasay the Ram

You may remember that our Ouessant ram Tyson died recently. We have replaced him by swapping our boy lamb with another one that we found on leboncoin. We have called the new ram Raasay. He is about 5 months old and should hopefully be ready to do the business come mating season (in a couple of months time). He is quite friendly which the one we swapped him for was not. His horns are in a different style and I think will not curl right round like Tyson's did.

Marciac Jazz Festival

Although the Marciac Jazz Festival happens every year, it is the first time we have been. Marciac is about an hours drive away. Some friends were going, so we tagged along, otherwise we probably would never have got round to it.

The sun was shining and we had a very pleasant day out. In the evening there are various paid concerts, but during the day there is a stage in the middle of the town square with free jazz. We had lunch in a restaurant overlooking the square with the jazz as a nice background. Then we wandered around various market stalls (reminded us of our old home in Camden!). We didn't actually sit down at the stage and watch any of the music, but it made a very nice background to a lovely sunny day shopping (window shopping - didn't buy anything).

Marciac is about an hours drive away from the mountains. Round here they grow mostly maize (for animal food I think). Away from the mountains, where it is dryer they still grow maize (they have to water it) but also a lot of sunflowers. Fields full of them look very impressive.

Green Tomato Soup Recipe

The tomatoes got blight just before they ripened. They did better than last year though when they got blight earlier on and didn't even have any tomatoes. Very annoying, but it seems a shame to waste them.

Some green tomatoes

Some onions (about 1/4 the weight of the tomatoes)

Spices (i used a chilli)

A bit of brown sugar

Chicken stock (amount depends whether you want a thick or thin soup)

Chop the onion and tomato in to large chunks and put in a baking tray. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Cook at a medium temperature until everything is soft.

Put in to a pan and add the chilli or whatever spice you are using along with the chicken stock and boil for a bit until the spice is integrated. Liquidise.

To serve reheat and stir in a little cream.