Something of a lost opportunity. The Two Brewers is a traditional pub in just about the perfect English village setting (yet close to London). With the right owner it could be a great pub, but instead it’s a moderate chain pub with restaurant-cum-hotel pretensions. The food was 5/10, certainly not bad, but nothing of note.
After months of wrangling and worry we finally exchanged contracts on our new house. Here it is. The strange raised section with a window on the right is the wretched flying freehold that caused everyone so much trouble:
The lane:
Big garden!
This is where Mito can stay when she comes. Probably when the house was built in the 1920s it was the toilet …
Things have been tricky for the past couple of months because of the uncertainty about where we are going to move to, but it’s possible tomorrow we may have some good news …
I got up at 7am this morning, got on a crowded train at 8, worked from 9 to 6.30, went for a quick drink, London Shitland was delayed on the way back, got home at 9.30! And now I’m knackered.
Not sure about the whole message there, but anyhow … inspired by this advert, I bought a packet. 59p per packet, and they are quite tiny compared to the real pocky. Also the milk chocolate is horrible compared to the plain chocolate pocky they sell in Japan.
The garden is full of stinging nettles at the moment, vicious little bastards. What better way to show them who’s boss than to make nettle soup. I collected a large pot full of the shoots and heads, which turned out to be about enough for two people:
This is the soup, with a sprig of mint leaves (also from the garden). Very delicious — we should eat nettle soup more often.
I have to admit I was watching the excellent Jamie at Home last Friday and he made a slow-cooked roast shoulder of lamb, similar to the ones I’ve made here before, except he used garlic and rosemary for the classic base seasoning.
This is my version, much modified. I cooked the shoulder for 4½ hours, first for 15 minutes at maximum (220°C), then at 130°C. The meat just falls away from the bone after this, and the dissolved fats and sinews in the meat make it moist and rich:
I made a gravy in the usual way, but added fresh mint and capers:
Rosemary and mint came from the garden, lamb from Yorkshire, and the carrots and sweet potatoes from the UK, so this is local food for local people.
