Home grown

The agapanthus have been lovely this summer, they just love the blazing heat.  It's time to cut them back now though so they don't spread their seed.  An English friend once told me agapanthus are considered an exotic plant in the UK.  Here they are verging on a noxious weed!

We had a totally homegrown dinner the other night.  It was very simple, but really you just don't need to mess with food that tastes so good as it is.

I was quite chuffed with this.   The lamb was tender.  The tomatoes have been beautiful, the basil abundant.  The zucchinis have just taken off so need to be checked every day so we don't end up with marrows.  There is immense satisfaction in turning those tiny seeds into food you can eat, with no pesticides or herbicides, producing food that is so full of flavour.

I marinated a pork scotch fillet last night.  It was also very tender.  I meant to cook it on the Weber, but got distracted and forgot to light the heat beads.  So it went into the Aga.  

I didn't photograph the finished product as Tim was very late.  So when it was cooked (thank you digital meat thermometer) I put into the warming oven where it sat for 45 minutes.  Such is the wonder that is the Aga, it was still perfect when we carved it, incredibly succulent.  Here is the marinade I used:

3 preserved lemon rinds (make sure you rinse them and scrape off all the pith), chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
a few flakes of dried chilli (you can use fresh, I just didn't have any)
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tblsp honey
1/4 cup olive oil
chopped coriander.
Combine the above and thin it down with some water if necessary.

I cooked it on a rack beneath which I put a sliced onion and some fennel.  I then poured in about 1/3 cup of verjuice with 1/2 cup water.  It took about an hour.