I made several new foodie things today but started with an old favourite, oats with cinnamon, raisins and apple.

Porridge made with 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup soya milk, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp raisins, 1 tsp sesame seeds and 1/2 a grated apple.  Yummy.

I haven’t cooked much lately and felt like baking today so I went for a browse around the supermarket.  It was good to bump in to Rachel and hear about how much fun Waddfest was.  Hi Rachel :-).

So lunch was rather unusual.

I cooked up the 3 globe artichokes I bought in Borough Market on Friday.  I brought a saucepan of water to the boil, added lemon juice and sea salt then added the globe artichokes and simmered with the lid on for 30 minutes.  Served with butter or French style mayonnaise which had Dijon mustard in it.

I really enjoyed mine but it is perhaps something to share with a girlfriend along side a glass of something cold, white and crisp.  2 hungry boys didn’t really get it.   They did both eat it but I don’t think I will serve it to them again.

Next on our unusual lunch menu were 2 prawn cocktails to compare:

The Waitrose one was a unanimous victory.  Hestons had vodka and vanilla in it – not great!  These were served with the little kohlrabi.  I had read that the best kohlrabi, particularly for eating raw, are the small ones.

I grated it with 2 carrots and stirred through some black sesame seeds.  No dressing required because the prawn cocktails had dressing on.

We all liked it and I loved it.  Raw kohlrabi tastes a bit like a cross between an apple and white cabbage and has a texture a little bit like a cross between an apple and a water chestnut.  The resulting grated vegetable mix was fresh and crunchy and delicious and went really well with the prawn cocktail.

By the time we had eaten our first 2 courses the cornbread was ready.  I haven’t had cornbread for years but a blog I regularly read had a recipe for cornbread with blueberries and pecans.  So thank you to Ashley at Edible Perspective for this lovely recipe for Blueberry and Pecan Cornbread.

Blueberry and Pecan Cornbread

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 3/4 cup medium ground cornmeal/polenta
• 3/4 cup fine ground corn flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsweetened milk
• 5 Tbsp honey [brown rice syrup or maple syrup]
• 1 large egg
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat your oven to 200 º C and take out a 9” square or circular baking dish or cast iron pan.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the cornmeal, corn flour, oat flour, baking powder, and salt until combined.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, honey, egg, vanilla extract and 1 tbsp melted butter, until combined.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, until just combined.  Make sure the large lumps are mixed up, but the batter will not be completely smooth.
5. Fold in 3/4 cup of the blueberries
6. Let sit for 5 min to thicken, and while that is sitting add 2 tbsp of butter to the baking dish or cast iron pan.
7. Place the pan in the oven for 5 min.  Remove from the oven, and carefully tilt the pan to grease the edges + bottom with the melted butter.
8. Pour the batter in and gently spread it around the pan.  It should be thick.
9. Add 1/2 cup of the blueberries to the top and sprinkle the pecans on top as well.  Press them into the batter slightly if needed.
10. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30min, varying slightly with pan size.  Toothpick test for doneness.  You want a moist, but not gooey toothpick.  The edges will be golden brown and the top will be cracked.
11. Let cool for 10min, then slice with a sharp knife + serve with butter and honey.

I used polenta and a fine cornmeal.

I couldn’t find any oat flour so I used finely ground oat bran instead.

This came out really well.

I would have preferred it moister and having written out the recipe I realise I didn’t use enough blueberries in the recipe.  Despite that it was lovely.  I tried to resist the temptation to serve it as Ashley suggested with butter and honey, but failed.  It was even better with butter and runny honey 🙂 .

I had 2 slices so we set off for a walk this afternoon.  Despite the rain we walked for an hour and a half and it was good to be out in the fresh air.

Supper was simple.  Homemade ratatouille with salmon and goat’s cheese.

I only had half a small fillet as I misjudged how many fillets were in the packet – d’oh.  I thought I was buying 4 but instead it was only 2 so James and I shared one and added goat’s cheese.  Harvey had a whole one as he can not eat cheese.

I have really cut down on my dairy consumption recently.  I have cut cheese down to once or twice a week and usually have my hot drinks with no milk so I really enjoyed the little bit of cheese I had tonight.

Today’s eating would not win any diet awards but it was mainly really healthy and nutritious.  I enjoyed cooking and eating something new and different.