Victorian Farm Cottage - A Thermos Before Bed?

I spent last week at Henley Cottage on the Acton Scott Estate in Shropshire (http://www.actonscott.com/henleycottage.php). The cottage was used in the BBC 2 series Victorian Farm and is a without running water, electricity or gas in true Victorian style. Cooking on a solid fuel range by candle light and oil lamp has a real rustic charm and the break was a great experience. I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to have a taster of living in a Victorian farmer's cottage.

The cottage was just as the series showed on television and in the book and took you back to Victorian England, the golden age some would say. The cottage was a really good relaxing break, set in the stunning Shropshire countryside, surrounded by sheep on one side and cows opposite, the location was also ideal for exploring the local area.

The only thing that I really missed was being able to have a cup of tea as soon as I got up. Clearing the fire out from the night before, relighting the range which took an hour to heat up and then another 30 mintues plus to boil the kettle. May be I should have made a thermos before bed!

For pictures of the cottage, also see my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/saladorsoup/sets/72157626936819486/

Vegetarian's Delight from a Meaty Carnivore - Vine Ripened Tomato and Herb Pasta

My next dish was inspired by seeing Rick Stein make pasta with tomatoes, capers and mint from his Mediterranean Escapes series (Saturday Kitchen, BBC on 28th May 2011).

I followed the principle by gently infusing some olive oil with a couple of cloves of garlic, added some onion and crushed fresh tomatoes (seeds removed) and simmered them on the stove. I then added some fresh parsley and basil leaves and a spoon of pepper pesto and continued to simmer and then seasoned to taste. Served over some spaghetti with parmesan shavings and a sprinkle of extra parsley, a vegetarian's delight from a meaty carnivore.

My verdict 9/10, the basil was too floral due to the basil growing too bushy and flowery. Perhaps next time I will add some yellow pepper for a sweeter taste or for the carnivore some chorizo.

Sausage Roll - Sunday Brunch

Having perused from cover to cover and back again my BBC Good Food Magazine, i liked the look of their ultimate makeover of sausage rolls (July 2011). Using less pastry, pork mince to reduce the fat, green lentils to reduce saturated fat, fresh herbs instead of salt, they sounded perfect.

So having the inspiration I decided to ignore the makeover version and go for the traditional sausage roll to satisfy a Sunday morning craving. Puff pastry, pork mince, fresh sage, onion, breadcrumbs and some salt and pepper and there you have it. The results were lovely, especially when straight out the oven.

My verdict, 8/10 – next time a dash more salt and a little less sage.