The flood warnings
didn’t put us off heading over to the Lake District this weekend.
Having survived an epic storm and a flooded basement last week we
shrugged at flood warnings and set off. There was another little guy
along for the ride too, apart from TLI, Mr. Smokerson, my newly
acquired smoker and firm friend; but more of him to come... My
adventures in smoking have begun...
The weekend turned out
to be warm and dappled in beautiful sunshine most of the time, apart
from the bit when we were an hour from home up a deserted valley and
the heavens opened. I thought it was snow at one point, but no, just
huge, huge raindrops soaking us to the skin. Sheltering in the forest
seemed a good idea at first; but when the rain stopped outside, we
were still in the forest and the water falling from the trees
continued to saturate us...
A few hours later I was
sitting in the sun making a salad, it is a pretty funny kind of
summer we're having... This salad is a little preview of sorts. I am
hosting, alongside Carruthers and Kent wine merchants of Gosforth, a
little food and wine evening. A taste of the Middle East with lots of
different courses of sharing plates matched with different wines, I
do the food, they do the wine. The event is part of the EAT Festival,
which is currently in full swing. Our original date for the 19
th
July sold out more or less straight away, so we have decided to do it
again, on the Friday 27
th July. If you would like to come
along you can find all of the
details here.
This broad bean and
pomegranate delight forms one half of the salad course, alongside a
tomato, feta and tarragon salad with sumac dressing. As well as smoky
dips, Moroccan breads, slow roast salted lamb, pistachio bombs,
Lebanese reds, raki and more, it promises to be a lovely evening...
Shell and peel about
600g of broad beans and set them to one side. Then cut a pomegranate
open and remove the seeds, you only need the seeds from one half,
make sure you pick out all the skin. Finely slice 4 radishes and add
them to the bowl with the pomegranate seeds. Remove the leaves from 4
sprigs of mint and finely shred them, add them to the bowl too. Then
pick the leaves from 6 sprigs of parsley and add them whole.
Drop the broad beans
into a pan of boiling salted water and blanch them for 2-3 minutes.
Allow them to cool then add to everything else. At the very last
minute dress everything with a glug of extra virgin olive oil and a
splash of sherry vinegar. These amounts will serve 4 with other
salads, or 2 as a larger portion.
It is a salad full of
flavour, crunchy sweet pomegranate seeds, creamy smooth broad beans,
peppery radishes and tons of herbs. We ate it in the sun alongside
Mr. Smokerson, while he did his smoky thing with a piece of pork for
9 hours. I'm currently documenting the build, the smoking and the
mistakes made...
