AA Breakdown Service Somerset

On a drive today the temperature gauge on my car suddenly shot up into the red. Stopped and found that I'd lost all the water from the radiator. Bugger: a burst hose, I thought. Called the AA breakdown service. Waited patiently in my car for almost an hour and a half for them to arrive, only for the mechanic in AA transit van to say "sorry can't do anything. It looks like your water pump has gone. If you upgrade your membership, I'll call a truck to take you and the car home". Paid £100 for the upgrade to relay. Waited another hour and a half for that to arrive. Still, at least the car and I are now home. Tomorrow I'll take the car along to my local garage and try and get the car fixed. Did choose a scenic spot to break down though. Click the picture to see what I mean!

Exmoor Carrot Jam

This recipe is supposed to imitate apricot jam, but, uses carrots instead of apricots. This recipe is again at least one hundred years old.

Ingredients: for every pound of carrot pulp allow 1 lb of pounded sugar, the grated rind of 1 lemon, the strained juice of 2, 6 chopped bitter almonds, 2 tablespoonfuls of cider brandy.

select young carrots; wash and scrape them clean; cut them into round pieces, put them into a saucepan with sufficient water to cover them, and let them simmer until perfectly soft; then beat them through a sieve. weigh the pulp, and to every pound allow the above ingredients. Put the pulp into a preserving pan with the sugar, and let this boil for five minutes, stirring and skimming all the time. when cold, add the lemon rind and juice, almonds and brandy; mix these well with the jam; then put into pots, which must be well covered and kept in a dry place.

West Somerset Devil

Here's a snap I took last week of a West Somerset devil! It's on a very old cottage, but, where? A packet of the splendid Co-operative Indian Prince tea for the first person able to correctly identify the location :-)

Fried Vegetable Marrow

This recipe for fried vegetable marrow has been tried and tasted and can be recommended.

3 medium sized Marrows
Two Eggs
Breadcrumbs
Hot Lard

Peel and boil the marrows until tender in salt and water; then drain them and cut them in quarters, and take out the seeds. When thoroughly drained, brush the marrows over with the eggs, and sprinkle with bread crumbs. have ready some hot lard, fry the marrow in this, and when of a nice brown, dish up. Sprinkle over a little salt and pepper, and serve.

Co-operative's Indian Prince Tea

Utterly useless information and blatant plug time. My favourite tea is Co-operative's Truly Irresistible, Fairtrade Indian Prince. Available as loose leaf or as teabags. Truely wonderful stuff. Try some soon if you haven't done so yet. Far better than PG Tips, Typhoo, and the usual supermarket own brand tea.

Somerset Farmers' Fruit Cake

This is an untested recipe for Somerset Farmers' Fruit Cake and looks like it would make the perfect afternoon tea cake to go with a nice cup of black tea. I've left the recipe details exactly as I discovered them.

1 lb of Apples
1 teacupful of Golden Syrup
1/2 a cupful of Sour Milk
1/4 lb of Butter
2 teaspoonfuls of Cinnamon
1 of baking Soda
1 of Cloves
1 Egg
1 lb of Flour

Peel, core and chop the apples fine, and let them simmer in the syrup till tender. Work the butter into the flour, next the sugar and spices, mixing well, then add the milk, the egg and the syrup and apples before they sre cold. Beat the cake well, and bake it in a buttered tin for 1/2 to 3/4 hour in a moderate oven.

Please contact me or leave comments if you find the time and inspiration to try this recipe out for yourself. Invitations for tatsings in the Exmoor and West Somerset area warmly welcomed!

Exmoor and West Somerset

Hello and welcome to a new development for my long-standing Exmoor and West Somerset website. A blog. Come back soon to catch up on what recipes from my one hundred year old cookery book I've deciphered, tried and can recommend; see some of my photographs; and read about what I've been up to in and around the Exmoor and West Somerset area.