An offal day

Today I bought a pair of lamb's kidneys and a pound of pig's heart, the latter mainly because it was very cheap and I thought I could use it as a beef-substitute in the various recipes that assume that slow-cooked beef is economical. Also a piece of brawn, which was a bit of a logistical mistake due to my self-imposed rule that you don't eat meat for more than one meal per day -- I was now stuck with three short-shelf-life items (offal normally has to be cooked the same day, especially if it has been carried home in the heat).

So I ended up freezing two bags of chopped pig's-heart (apparently it tastes more like beef than pork when marinated; I had a lot of success marinating my lamb steaks, apart from the fact that if you use olive oil the marinade solidifies in the fridge!), and simultaneously advance-cooking a rassol'nik (Russian kidney and pickled cucumber soup) and khoresh karafs (Persian celery stew). The resulting aromas were incongruously assorted, but very un-English! ( Read more... )

The plants are getting bigger

I did a lot of potting-up and planting-out today. ( chillies )

( basil )

I also potted up some of the calendulas and marigolds that I sowed, leaving the other half in the seed compartments but with more space around them. And spread out some more of my mesembryanthemums into a square tray to give them room to sprawl (where I promptly caught a slug this evening!)

( poppies )