Just snatched a few days break down on the south coast of Britain to celebrate a friends ‘noughty’ birthday. He is one of the pioneers of the organic food movement in the UK. An original rocker, he regaled us all with a feisty rendition of Egg and Daughter Nite by John Prine and Buy Organic, Save the Planet, first recorded in 1991.
Friends came from all over the world to celebrate this special birthday and to enjoy the gorgeous feast of summer salads and koftas and the most unbelievably beautiful 80th birthday cake lavishly decorated with fresh flowers which had been lovingly transported all the way from Bristol to Hastings.
Also loved these bhajis which our wonderfully colourful hostess with her wildflower tiara shared with us. Following the party, we spent a night in Ramsgate, ‘been there done that’ but don’t need to rush back…
Margate however is quite a different story, it’s really rocking, it’s all happening in the seaside town with lots of independent shops, cafés, markets, clubs.
A highlight for us was to see the mysterious Shell Grotto, a series of underground passages and little rooms lavishly embellished with sea shells. It was discovered in 1835. There are lots of intriguing theories but as yet despite much diligent research no one seems to know who is responsible for this wonderful creation. The shells are somewhat discoloured from many years of gas lighting, but the patterns are still evident.
How about making a beautiful folly at home or in your garden from mussel, periwinkle, cockle, scallop and oyster shells which are mostly discarded so save your shells even if it’s only to embellish a picture frame or a mirror. Not sure if you’ve seen the beautiful Shell House, Blot Kerr Wilson embellished in Kinoith Gardens in 1995, it’s open to the public every day, year round except on Sundays.
Next day, we made a pilgrimage to The Sportsman in Seasalter, Stephen Harris’s pub with a well-deserved reputation for some of the best pub food in the UK. As ever they were totally fully booked, but I pleaded for a table or even a stool. The meal was so worth the detour with one delicious plate after another plus a couple of superb desserts. A summer herb panna cotta, also a fruit salad of summer berries including Kent cherries, loganberries and little green gooseberries scattered on top of a scoop of lemon verbena granita in a crisp basket. There were also several homemade breads, including this riff on Irish soda bread with home churned butter from Stephen Harris’s cookbook, The Sportsman published by Phaidon in 2017 is now sadly out of print, but I’ve managed to track down a copy in a West Cork bookshop. It’s got a Michelin Star but mercifully none of the fluff and foams and skid marks on plates that one expects from these starred restaurants.
Our final night was spent at Uptown Farmhouse near Deal, a beautiful country house with extensive gardens. Just six bedrooms and irresistible food. This is quite the find, owned by London chef Rowley Leigh’s daughter Ruth and son-in-law Ali. Both dinner and breakfast were memorable. Fresh beautiful produce, carefully sourced from the garden and local area. Juicy roast pork with borlotti beans and warm cherry tomatoes was particularly memorable as was a salad of buffalo mozzarella with chunks of ripe, doughnut peaches, basil and whisper of chili. It’s close to the town of Deal with its beautiful long sandy strand and numerous indi shops, cafés and the multi award winning Black Pig Butcher owned by Lizzy Douglas, winner of the BBC Radio 4 Food Programme’s Food and farming ‘Food Producer’ Award in 2022. Lizzy specialises in nose-to-tail eating and artisanal butchery and buys her superb naturally reared meat locally.
The trip was far too short. We discovered a part of England that we had not previously visited. Miles of beautiful coastal footpaths to explore, we even saw the legendary white cliffs of Dover. Can’t wait to return to explore at a more leisurely pace.
The Sportsman’s Soda Bread
Recipe from The Sportsman by Stephen Harris published by Phaidon
During the 1980’s, my dad lived in Dublin and when I used to visit him, we always ate the local soda bread. It left a lasting impression on me, and I now use it for some snacks and starters, as well as serving it on our bread board. I have seen many customers eating this bread with our butter and not wanting to move on. This version is based on Richard Corrigan’s recipe but over time, we have added more treacle.
Makes 1 loaf
125g wholemeal flour
65g self-raising flour
65g pinhead oats
30g bran
15g wheatgerm
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp treacle
300ml buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas Mark 7 and generously flour a baking tray.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the treacle and buttermilk and mix together until fully incorporated.
Turn the sticky dough out onto a well-floured work counter and knead lightly, just until no longer sticky. Form into a loaf shape and lift onto the prepared baking tray.
Bake for 5 minutes in the preheated oven, then lower the temperature to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and bake for 30-40 minutes. When the loaf is cooked, it should sound hollow when you tap the underside. Or test with a skewer, which should come out clean when inserted into the centre of the bread.
Allow the bread to cool on a
wire rack.
Savannah’s Vegetable Bhajis
These delicious bhajis can be made with carrot or sweet potato or a mix of both. Thank you for sharing Jo.
600g sweet potato/carrot grated on a large grater in a Magimix
300g chard or baby spinach, chopped
3 tbsp chives finely chopped
1 tbsp turmeric
2 tsp Kashmiri or Aleppo chilli pepper or mild paprika if you prefer it milder
5 eggs
200g plain flour or gluten-free flour
2 tsp baking powder
salt and pepper to taste
Mix eggs and dry ingredients together to firm batter, add all other ingredients and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
Heat oil in a wok or deep frying pan
Shape about 2 tablespoons of the bhajis mixture in your hands into a rough ball shape and add to hot oil. Fry until crisp and golden brown, 2-3 minutes approx. The mixture is a bit messy but if the oil is at the correct temperature, it should hold together.
The bhajis will puff up so you only need a small amount of batter mixture per fritter. Drain on kitchen paper.
Serve with a yoghurt based dip.
Plaice or Lemon Sole with Herb Mussel Butter
This Ballymaloe classic is a very simple ‘master technique’ which can be used not only for roasting plaice and sole but for all very fresh flat fish, e.g. brill, turbot, dabs, flounder and lemon sole. Depending on the size of the fish, it can be a starter or a main course. Because it’s cooked whole on the bone, it retains maximum flavour. Peel the skin off the top when cooked and coat with the herb and mussel butter. We sometimes add a few peeled shrimps, cockles or periwinkles to the butter or sauce for an equally exquisite dish. The Sportsman used slip sole.
Serves 4
4 very fresh plaice or lemon sole on the bone
20-28 mussels, depending on the size of the fish
Herb Butter
50-110g butter
4 tsp mixed finely-chopped fresh parsley, chives, fennel and thyme leaves
salt and freshly ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5.
Turn the fish on its side and remove the head. Wash the fish and clean the slit very thoroughly. With a sharp knife, cut through the dark skin right round the fish, just where the ‘fringe’ meets the flesh. Be careful to cut neatly and to cross the side cuts at the tail or it will be difficult to remove the skin later on.
Sprinkle the fish with salt and freshly-ground pepper and lay them in a generous 5mm of water in a shallow baking tin. Roast in a moderately hot oven for 20-30 minutes according to the size of the fish. The water should have just evaporated as the fish is cooked. Check to see whether the fish is cooked by lifting the flesh from the bone at the head; it should lift off the bone easily and be quite white with no trace of pink.
Wash the mussels under cold water and drain well.
Put into a saucepan, cover and cook on a medium heat. Check after 2 or 3 minutes by which time the mussels should be open and have given off some liquid. Remove from the pan, as soon as the mussels are cool enough, extract from their shells (save the shells to make a folly). Strain the mussel liquid.
Just before serving, melt the butter and stir in the freshly-chopped herbs, add the mussels and a little mussel cooking liquid. Just before serving catch the skin down near the tail and pull it off gently (the skin will tear badly if not properly cut). Lift the fish onto hot plates and spoon the herb and mussel butter over each one. Serve immediately.