Sweet tart...

If you travel on the the boat between Scilly and the mainland on a flat day, it's magical. The Scillonian has a bad reputation which I think is unfair. The amount of times I've seen people wolfing down pasties declaring they never get sea sick only to be seen staggering around the main deck twenty minutes later a moss shade of green. You are travelling thirty miles into the Atlantic for goodness sake.

There's a technique to it. You have two options. One: stay on deck and don't move. If you're doing this, wrap up warm and wear a lot of sun lotion. Option two: go downstairs and keep going. There is a little room at the bottom with beds, blankets and pillows. Take sea sickness tablets and go to sleep...preferably for 2 hours and 40 minutes and wake up on the mainland.

When I leave the islands I'm generally taken on board crying and holding on to the ankles of my family. I go straight downstairs so I don't have to see myself leaving Scilly. But occasionally I wake up in time to watch the voyage along the south coast of Cornwall......

Last night mum and dad came over and I drove down to meet them in Penzance....

We went for dinner at The Navy Inn. I had Monkfish with Mushroom Risotto. It's just a stone's throw from Newlyn the best fishing port in the world and the monkfish was fantastic. Mental note: must cook more fish....

We had a bit of a wait before they docked so we sat crossed legged on the harbour eating these....

Strawberry and Clotted Cream Shortcakes.....(Makes 15 to 20 depending on how thin you like the shortbread)

150g plain flour

100g cornflour

70g caster sugar

125g salted butter

1 big pinch Cornish sea salt

150g strawberry jam

1 large punnet of strawberries (with about 10 strawberries in it)

1 200g tub clotted cream

Put the flour, cornflour, sugar, butter and salt in a food processor and whizz together.

Pull the mix together with your hands until it becomes a dough. Roll out until it's about the thickness of a one pound coin. Cut into circles about the size of a jam jar lid.

You should have preheated the oven now by the way to 180'c. Grease a bun tin and place the circles in each hole. Prick with a fork. (I have no idea why you do this. I do it because it's been drummed into me. If you know..tell me!)

Bake for about 15 minutes until light brown. Take out of the oven and leave to cool for 20 minutes. Run a knife around them just to make sure they haven't stuck to the tins. Put a small tsp of good quality strawberry jam on each shortcake and pop back in the oven for 10 minutes.

Take out of the oven and leave to completely cool. Top with a small scoop of clotted cream and half a strawberry.

Premium Cornish bitter....

The advantage of the days following the Royal Cornwall Show is that the fridge is bulging with everything I bought home with me. There's no after work panic about what to cook because it's all there waiting to be eaten. So I go for a walk along the north coast around Gwithian.

The sun's on my back all the way. My bare legs being stung by the maram grass that lines the paths. Eventually I get down to the beach, trotting down the sand dune which is too steep to talk down. It's a strange combination. A cold wind forcing me to wrap my cardigan around me as many times as it will go, while my toes are digging into warm sand, scorched by a days sunshine.

There's dead jellyfish everywhere paralysed on the sand.

In the end I find a sheltered sand dune and lie arms outstreched, legs together, my face looking towards the sun. I realise I'm pouring the sand through my fingers like an egg timer....and I've been doing it for the last 10 minutes. Lying in the sun, pouring sand through my fingers. I could spend every evening like this.....

Cornish blue and radicchio salad on walnut toast with Helford apple dressing....(serves 1)

4 big radicchio leaves (this is the first thing I've eaten from my allotment!)

1oz/25g Cornish blue cheese

1 slice walnut bread

1 tsp olive oil

3 tbsp Helford Creek apple juice

1 pinch Cornish sea salt
4 grinds black pepper

Cut and toast a slice of walnut bread.

Thinly slice the radicchio leaves toss together with the crumbled cheese.

In another bowl mix the oil and juice and season. Whisk and add to the salad mix.

Place over the toast and add more dressing if you like.

Royal Cornwall Show.........

I was going to go all twenty first century on you and I filmed a short video of the food on offer at the Royal Cornwall Show 2010. But I forgot I'm way back in the twentieth century and have no idea how to edit it together. So here are some photos instead......

I came home with lots to blog about....but was too tired to cook. So here is what we ate....

It was fantastic. They add coffee to the fudge sauce. Good idea.(By the way if anyone knows how to edit clips together on a Zi8 I'd be most grateful.....

Royal Cornwall Show....

Tomorrow I will be here blogging my heart out about the Royal Cornwall Show....

I've raided the cash point this afternoon so I'll be heading straight for the Food tent!

Drifting off.....

I'm in love. My palms are sweating. I can't stop thinking about it. It's like every song on the radio is about us. Ok the last bit is not true and I might be going a tad over the top but last night's meal at The Driftwood at Portscatho was possibly the best I've had there. It was a romantic treat to mark three years of me and the other half being together....and we left there more enamoured than ever...with the food.

You might notice that this is the first blog post I've done without photos. It all stems from the Word of Mouth Blog where they wrote about Giles Coren's article about taking photographs of your food in restaurants. To be honest I've never had a problem with it and have happily taken a few snaps of special meals. Maybe it was his argument about thinking about the chef or maybe it was the 'white and flabby' comment that got to me. Who knows? But I decided not to take a camera. So you'll have to rely on just my writing for one day only.

So this is what we had...For your information I am about to include every single thing I loved so if you can't be bothered to read on here's a summery. The Driftwood is great. Go there. Eat there. Be happy.

Here's the long version.

I love their gin and tonics. In long tall glasses, filled with ice. Keep in mind that while drinking it you're looking out right across the Atlantic. Imagine that it's 100 years ago...this view hasn't changed. Sea, cliffs, birds. The only thing that's different is that I have a gin and tonic in my hand and I wasn't married off at 15 with 17 children. Then the waiter brings a little tray of nibbles. I feel bad at this pointing saying a negative comment as I am gushing so much. But last time we got some really great little pastry bread stick things. This time it was just perfectly marinated olives and cheese. But I'll forgive them for that.

After being taken to our table the bread arrived. I could write a whole blog about the bread. Dried fig and hazelnut....warm from the oven. At this point I decided to ignore my dairy intolerance altogether and spread half a cow's worth of deliciously salted butter on it. Then we had a second. I could have had a third.

Every time I go I forget you are given an amuse bouche. (I hate that phrase, it's ridiculous). This time a celeriac and apple veloute with a tiny sausage roll. Have I used the word amazing yet? Probably. A few times.

Then...get ready...now it's time for the star of the show. Scallops and pork belly, cauliflower, sherry and toasted grains. God I miss that starter. I'm kicking myself for letting the other half try some. There is no plateful of food that can ever compete with that starter. The other half had asparagus, duck ham, a poached pheasant egg, orange and hazelnut. Good...but it was no pork belly.

By the time the waitress had wrenched my starter plate out of my hands our mains arrived. I had chicken, wild garlic spatzle, confit leg, morels and Madeira. I have no idea what a spatzle is. I'll look it up now.......(First minutes of internet searching happens) I'm no clearer. It seems to be something to do with a sparrow or a soft noodle and I'm pretty sure neither made an appearance on my plate.

Then came pudding which I am going to try and recreate at some point. Caramelised banana, gingerbread and salted peanut ice cream. It was so pretty I was loathe to eat it. But I did. And I don't regret it.

So that's it. Gushing over. Hopefully my many "amazings" and "delicious'" haven't put you off. The Driftwood is great. Go there. Eat there. Be happy.

Honey Roast Pork Belly with Fennel....

There are good points and bad points about getting up at 5am. It physically hurts when my alarm goes off. I've tried several different alarms they all sound the same...like someone jumping up and down on my head. No one else works the same hours as you...so lying in the sun is fun but not as exciting as lying with someone else. Post 9pm television is also a rarity. But......when it rains all day I am left smug in the knowledge that when I left home I saw the best of the day.

And it means I can spend a bit more time making tea....

Honey Roast Pork Belly with Fennel..........(serves 3)

1 1/4 kg pork belly

1 tbsp Cornish sea salt

1 tbsp fennel seeds

2 tbsp runny honey

Preheat the oven to 250'c.

Dry the pork, wiping it down with a clean tea towel. Score the pork with the sharpest knife you had. (At this point I decided to check how sharp my knife was by running it down my palm. I can confirm it is sharp and I ha to stop the recipe at this point to administer first aid.) As well as not scoring your hand, make sure you don't cut into the pork flesh.

In a pestle and mortar crush the salt and seeds. Rub over the skin an push into the scored skin.

Put in the oven and cook for half an hour. Reduce the heat to 180'c. Cook for a further 2 and a quarter hours. 15 minutes before taking out of the oven brush the crackling with the honey. Pop it back in the oven. Leave it to rest for 20 minutes.

Slice and eat with potatoes and peas. Or just in a roll.

Flattery gets you everywhere....

I woke up this morning in a strange bed. Cool, clean sheets with light streaming through the blinds. I knew I wasn't at home. Our flat feels as if we're in the middle of the Gobi desert
rather than in South Cornwall. I stayed the night at some friends house enticed by a chilled bottle of wine and a prospect of an empty flat. (The other half is on a stag do).

We ate Mexican chicken and tortillas and sticky toffee pudding while sitting in the evening sunshine. The star was the host's salad which she snipped from overgrowing plant pots on her patio. Although I've had a few lettuces the only stars of the allotment are my herbs..........

So they are the only things I can use regularly without worrying about running out....

Allotment Flatbread......(makes 3)

400g 00 flour

100g bread flour

1 sachet dried yeast (7g)

1 tbsp Cornish sea salt

1 tbsp caster sugar

tepid water

what ever herbs you have (I used dried rosemary, parsley, chive flowers)

olive oil

garlic

more sea salt

Put the flours, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl and mix together. Add a little tepid water at a time until you can bring the mix together as a dough. On a floured surface knead for 5 minutes. If it's too wet add a little more flour. Leave to rise for 30 minutes.

Spit the dough into three. Again on a floured surface roll out the dough until really thin. You may have to add more flour and keep flipping it over to make sure it doesn't stick to the work surface. Place on a greased tray (I use spray oil). Don't worry if there are little holes...it just reminds me that the dough is thin enough.

Now get your herbs. My rosemary has been drying since I cut it back in the winter. I just use bits and pieces when I need it in pasta sauces and on roast dinners.

Sprinkle the herbs over the bread. (Except the rocket and chive flowers). Drizzle some olive oil over the top and sprinkle some sea salt.

Sorry I forgot to tell you to preheat the oven to 200'c. Nice and hot so the bread is crispy and breaks when you snap it.

Put it in the oven...and wait for 15 to 20 minutes...

Snap into pieces and pile high on a board or plate. Sprinkle some rocket and flowers over the top and a little olive oil if you like. Serve with dips or with cold roast chicken.