Our second year without guests for Easter. It’s so sad.
However, we are celebrating as if we had a full house (although it’s rather quiet). We love cooking and make lots of things ourselves. Those who have been in past years will have enjoyed our fresh homemade hot cross buns, our Easter cake and the famous lent pie (see the recipe below).
This will be our eighteenth Easter and we’re enjoying ourselves as much as we did back in 2003. We opened on a Good Friday and went from complete novices to a full house overnight. It was an ordeal by fire, but we survived and we’re still here.
We have also been busy outdoors. On our daily walks into the Quantocks we’ve foraged for wild garlic to make our annual wild garlic, walnut and West Country cheddar pesto, which we often serve as a light starter for guests dining with us.
It is also a tradition to plant our new potatoes on Good Friday. After the sun we’d had a few days before, the weather forecast was not so inviting, but it was a gloriously sunny day and once out of the wind, lovely and warm. Five rows of spuds went in which should allow us to dish up ultra fresh pots to those lucky enough to be eating with us in the summer. Just imagine; steamed charlottes, a sprinkling of sea salt, a knob of butter and a sprig of fresh mint …
And, of course, there’s our new helper, Jasper.
Lent Pie
- Bake a 20 cm pasty case blind (or buy one)
- 45 g ground rice or rice flour
- 300 ltr semi skimmed milk
- 35 g caster sugar
- A drop of vanilla essence
- 1 egg yoke
- A handful of raisins (don’t tell my mother as these are not traditional enough!)
- Freshly grated nutmeg
Add the milk to a saucepan and then whisk in the rice and sugar adding the vanilla as you go. Start to warm the rice and then whisk in the egg yoke and bring to the boil slowly. If it gets too thick, too quickly add a little more milk. Sprinkle the raisins into the pie case and then pour over the rice pudding mix and grate over a little nutmeg. Leave to cool and set.
Serve with a dollop of clotted or ice cream. Eat it all in one day and regret it the following!
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