Roll on February. We can take it.

Fantastic.  
Just around the corner, and in places under the snow, lies spring and all of it's edifying sproutings. 
Before then, there is still plenty of time for comfort eating and watching the telly with a blanket on your knees.

If you are planning a romantic dinner for Valentine's Day, how about a delicious indian? 
Nothing says "I love you" like garlic breath.


Lamb Curry

Homemade curry paste
500g lamb neck fillets
A big handful of green beans
300ml tomato passata
1 tin of coconut milk
100g ground almonds


For the paste:

2 or 3 garlic cloves
Chillies - number to your taste
3 or 4 Shallots
About an inch of fresh root ginger
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
Toast the coriander and fennel seeds in a dry frying pan until a little browned and then grind up in a pestle and mortar. Add to the blender with the peeled garlic, ginger, shallots and the roughly chopped chillies and their seeds.  Use a glug of olive oil to loosen the mixture.

You can now put your lovely paste in to a jar and keep it for a couple of weeks in the fridge if you like.  It is good to do it a little ahead of time to let the flavours mingle.

In an oven-proof casserole, brown the sliced lamb in small batches and set aside.

Now fry the curry paste gently for about 10 minutes until cooked.
To the paste, add the lamb, passata and coconut milk and place a cartouche on the top - a piece of baking paper to protect the top.
Now bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for an hour and a half.

After this time, add the green beans and the ground almonds.  Replace the cartouche and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes.


You can use any meat in this sauce - reduce the cooking time for chicken and prawns. Alternatively, use your favourite veggies. Cauliflower and squashes are good.

I am mad enough to have tried making my own naan breads and believe me, it's not worth it.  Unless you have one of those clay ovens, they just turn out like crispy pizza bases.  However, when ordering a take-away, get some extras and stash them in the freezer for later.  They warm up from frozen to be fluffy and delicious.  Best naan flavour? Peshwari of course.


Around the Grounds

My grounds are frozen solid!  Thick ice prevents any preparatory work in the garden so this week I have cast my eyes skywards and couldn't fail to notice this beauty:

The Earth's Moon is really quite remarkable.  Have you ever pondered the fantastic co-incidence that due to relative size and distance, the Sun and the Moon appear roughly the same size to us.  The Sun is roughly 400 times larger than the Moon and also, 400 times further away. This makes the total eclipse possible.  Astounding.
Unlike the surface of the Earth, the crust of the Moon is solid and not continually recycled.  This is why it bears the craters from meteorite strikes that have been happening since it's formation, approximately 4.6 billion years ago.


A walk for the Weekend

Keswick to Castlerigg Stone Circle.
4 miles, circular.

This is a stunning walk through farmland and along quiet roads. 
Now, you may find stone circles quite fascinating, and bear in mind that this one dates from 3000BC. 
It is dramatic and complete with a backdrop of Skiddaw and Blencathra.

However, if you are taking kids along, don't build up the destination too much or you may receive the review that my kids gave it;

"It's just a load of stones".

The quiet walk through the countryside should be reward enough.

Funny of the Week

Would you like to be Tom Cruise?

http://youtu.be/pA34Wd-aA4o