A Dreamy Day Gardening in a Spring Garden and a Sublime Tunworth Cheesy Supper...

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Finally, after many months of searching for the fabulous Tunworth cheese, I managed to acquire some!!

I had been searching for this cheese, local to the South of England, since I read about it on Mark’s wonderful and informative blog  http://marksvegplot.blogspot.com/

 

Mark has been so very helpful and encouraging to me since I started blogging just a few months ago and I would therefore like to dedicate this blog to him in very grateful thanks.

Thank you Mark!

And now to the garden...

We have not had the best of Springs what with the incessant rain and then the odd, unexpected cold frosty day...

But this is typical of South Wales and I suspect we are not alone in having days like this...

However, today was a marvellous warm Spring day-full of promise and optimism...

Our valley looked truly wonderful in the bright sunlight and, for once, no snow at all on the far mountains...

 

The Welsh countryside across the local Llanfrechfa Valley seems now to be an optimistic spring green in colour with emerging shoots and signs of new life stirring...

In the garden I pottered around and tidied up the flower beds and when I pulled away the dead and rotting leaves from the beds I was very pleasantly surprised to find some lovely flowers hidden down below... 

Emerging sky blue Hyacinths, not as prolific as when they were in pots in the house but still giving lots of delightful Spring colour in the undergrowth... 

 

 

Frilly purple Polyanthus-just a little nibbled around the flower heads but after many years still growing very strong in the garden...

 

Emerging catkins waving cheerily against a clear blue sky...

 

And when you looked in detail at some of the plants you could only marvel at the sheer beauty such as this emerging new growth on a red current...

 

I felt so virtuous working industriously all day getting much needed jobs done-it's funny how such simply things like working in your own garden gives you so much pleasure.

To have such a warm Spring day in the garden is truly wonderful...

Finally, I retreated indoors, and as much as I wanted to cook a more elaborate meal for supper-I simply didn’t have the energy...

Instead it was a very quick, simple supper of freshly baked bread and cheese. But the cheese was the lovely Tunworth Cheese, recomended by Mark.

Tunworth is an unpasteurised soft brie like cheese made in Hampshire in the South of England. www.hampshirecheeses.co.uk 

And very nice it was too!

Thanks again to Mark for the recommendation and all his encouraging help to a new blogger...

As I wanted a quickly made supper, I baked one of my usual soda breads but this time with a twist-I added some chopped fresh Sage leaves from the garden plus the last of my over Wintered Spring Onions  and some Parmesan cheese.

Cheesy Sage and Onion Soda bread

 

340g stone-ground oak smoked flour

½ tsp Maldon sea salt
1 tsp creme of tartar

1/2  tsp bicarbonate of soda

284ml buttermilk

1 and a half TBS of chopped fresh sage

100g grated parmesan cheese

3 spring onions-finely chopped  

Method

Turn the oven on to 200C and flour a baking sheet ready.

In a large mixing bowl, place the flour, salt and bicarb of soda, crème of tartar, grated parmesan, finely chopped sage and finely chopped spring onions.  

Mix lightly together then make a well and add the buttermilk. Stir gentle with a fork to mix everything in. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and with floured hands very, very lightly knead-do not over knead as this will result in a heavy loaf. Try not to add too much extra flour to the kneading surface as this will make the loaf too dry. Shape into a round and place on the floured baking sheet. Lightly flour the top of the loaf and then cut the top with various slashes-horizontally and vertically-this will help to bread rise and give your own individual marking to the loaf!

Bake for approximately 35 minutes. Check if done by tapping on its bottom to get that desired hollow sound signifying it is done.

Allow to cool for as long as you can bear without succumbing to that just baked herby cheesy bread aroma wafting around, then gently cut into thick tasty slices, slather with butter and enjoy...

Serve with some delicious Tunworth cheese and homemade chutney-a very tasty supper feast!

I do hope the rest of you had a productive and enjoyable day in your garden if the weather allowed...