Comfort Food

It's been a pretty rubbish week all in all. Horrendous, never ending wind and rain. Leaks in our kitchen window, car issues, broken glasses, no washing machine and illnesses. Still, as we live in Somerset I know full well that there are many people having a much more difficult time and we have kept reminding ourselves throughout this niggly week that we are lucky to be in our house and in the warm.

I took these pictures of the Somerset Levels three weeks ago, from the train.

I had been on a post Christmas health kick but this week has broken me and I've gone all out for comfort food!

Stews...

Soups....

and cake which had to be made after I bought these pretty cake tins.

The stew is made with Hodmedod's split Fava beans which I've been with experimenting recently. Although I'm vegetarian, I'm quite uncomfortable with the food miles that can sometimes be involved in that. These are pulses which are grown in the UK.

Here's my recipe...

Smoky Split Fava Bean Stew

1 onion, chopped

3-5 potatoes

2 carrots, sliced

1 parsnip, diced

1 cup of diced swede

1 pint of veg. Stock

1 cup split Fava beans

1 tsp smoked paprika

Salt and pepper

Mixed herbs, dried

Fry the onion for a couple of minutes, until transparent. Add the vegetables and fry for a couple more minutes. Add smoked paprika and stir well. Add stock and beans, seasoning and herbs. Top up with kettle to cover veg. Bring to the boil and let the stew cook rapidly for 10 mins, then simmer for 1 hr 30 mins - 2 hours. (I do all this in my wok).

Top with dumplings and finish in the oven for 30 mins.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy