Borrowed Broad Beans........

The broad beans in the veg patch have been attacked by a mass of green insects and, consequently, we have only managed four pods so far from about 20 plants - very disappointing as I had such high hopes. Never fear, the mother-in-law has been to the rescue, sending up supplies from her (always prolific) plants in West Somerset, which is a relief as I always think that supermarket broad beans taste as if they've been sitting around for ages.

Broad beans with chorizo is one of my favourite combinations and tonight I blanched the beans, fried some chorizo and chopped spring onions for a minute or two in some olive oil and put the whole lot in a salad bowl with some fresh thyme and a little lemon juice.

With it, grilled garlic and lemon-marinated chicken breasts and a few new potatoes (also provided by the mother-in-law) tossed in extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice and paprika.

Our wine this evening was a red Saumur 2007 from Cabernet Franc - a light-bodied wine from the Loire that benefits from a light chilling on a hot day and worked wonderfully with the paprika/chorizo flavours which were prominent in the dish. A heavier style of rosé would work too - Grenache-based from Southern France or Spain (Lirac, Tavel, Navarra spring to mind).

By the way, it's not all doom and gloom in the garden. Yesterday I made courgette fritters using our very own courgettes - delicious. The cucumbers are going crazy as are the tomatoes, sweetcorn and aubergines.

Meatfest

After yesterday's meatfest on the barbecue (homemade lamb and mint burgers with pork ribs marinated in maple syrup, garlic, paprika and tomato puree), I find myself, of a Monday evening, with yet more lamb mince to do something with. We also had aubergines, broad beans, feta cheese, mint and olives. So here's what I concocted:

I fried an onion with some garlic (5 big cloves - I do like a lot of garlic) and then added the lamb mince. Once browned, I threw in some cinnamon, cumin and dried thyme, chopped black olives and some aubergine that I had sliced, brushed with olive oil and grilled. The aubergine was chopped into smaller pieces before being added to the lamb. I simmered the whole lot for 20 minutes or so in some fresh vegetable stock and seasoned it well.

At the same time, I boiled some broad beans, took them out of their thick, outer shells and added crumbled feta, chopped mint, lemon juice and a drop of extra virgin olive oil.

We scooped up the lamb and broad bean salad into toasted pitta bread - messy but delicious. To drink, we had a young Spanish red from Tempranillo which worked fairly well although I think, given the richness and oiliness of the lamb, a crisp Loire Chenin or even a Jurançon Sec might have been more interesting and a bit different.

I would try this again with pieces of shoulder or neck of lamb, slow cooked and served with couscous but I would stick to a red wine for this heavier style of lamb.