A few winter goodies

I love winter.   Now that the Aga is on all day our kitchen it toasty warm it is time for some slow roasting and winter casseroles.  Yesterday was cold, wet 'n miserable all day and, with fires roaring, I got to do my favourite thing, which is hang out in the kitchen and catch up on some cooking and inside jobs.  I made some lemon cordial from the new season's lemons..

I can't tell you how much I am loving roasted cauliflower.  You need to cook it in a hot oven with a lick of oil so it gets burnished on the edges.

Whilst I am happy to eat it on its own, it enters a new realm when doused with a tahini sauce:

To make the tahini sauce, blend 3 tblsp olive oil, 2 tblsp tahini (unhulled if you can get it), the juice of a lemon and 2 tblsp tamari.  Give it a good mix around then taste it and add more of whatever you think it needs.  Add  little water if it is too thick.  I usually go heavy on the tahini because I love it, but you may prefer it to be more lemony.  You can add a bit of honey if you like it sweeter.  

Then sprinkle over some toasted sesame seeds and some chopped parsley.  I serve it with a blob of greek yoghurt sprinkle with some sumac.

Here are some other things I have made this week:

Slow roasted shoulder of pork

I slow cooked it for 7 hours then flashed it in a hot oven for 30 minutes to crisp up the crackling.  It was  incredibly tender.

Tarte tatin for dinner on Saturday night (rhubarb in the centre)

At last some carrots have been successfully extracted from the veggie garden.  In the past I have never had much luck with carrots, but this time I dug a deep trench and filled it with a light potting mix to plant them in, then gave them lots of liquid fertilizer.

The broccoli has been wonderful too.

One of my favourites

I planted two of these beautiful camellias in a pot outside the kitchen window.  I love the buttery cream flowers, hopefully there will be more to come.  Another reason to love winter..