Fava Bean Soup

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

300 dried fava beans
1 can tin of chopped tomatoes
1 clove garlic, chopped

1 large small onion, chopped
Himalayan pink salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¼ tsp. ground cumin

Method

1. Bring the fava beans and 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat; reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered and stirring, until tender, about 40 minutes. Do check . You might no need as long as 40 minutes.

2. Heat oil in another large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion till it is softened and add the can of tinned tomatoes stirring constantly, until it begins to thicken, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the softened onions and tinned tomatoes to the the fava beans add one close of crushed  and cumin. Heat through the stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Then use a hand blender to purée . Serve with crusty bread.

This was my first ever attempt at soup , my only other foray into soup was using a can opener. So another first accomplished in the kitchen !! one day master chef might beckon.

Please pop over to the Credit Crunch Munch pages on Helen’s  and Camilla’s sites.

Travelling places to visit before you die ~ assisting the grim reaper

There are lists that scream at you to travel here and there before you die , I'm not sure about you but I don't want to feel like I'm travelling with the grim reaper.

I would much rather compile a list of where I wish to travel in my lifetime.

And why when I'm finally left this mortal realm , can't my son and subsequent heirs travel in my memory, adding their own adventures as they go  . Life is all about adventure , and I'll never stop thinking about the next adventure.

And I do adore travelling so very much.

Of course you don't have to get on a plane to travel not all us can or want to, but I do. I am not showing of saying I have been here and there. Next year I am going to Washington DC I will be seeing the White House , also standing on the steps where Martin Luther King gave his "I have a dream speech" Arlington cemetery you name it.

So many places and I don't want to think of it as so little time as I am now a single over 40.


Rome I will meet you one day.

Berlin you as well.

India your colours will take me on a novel throw back of Passage to India.

Jordan Petra.

Iceland.

The cherry trees of Japan.

Boston

New Orleans

New England , colour my world with your shimmering shades of Fall.

Kenya

New Zealand

Australia


Easter Island


WHO knows, who knows if I will achieve all of these but I jolly well tell you , I am going to live my life and not worry about my mortality. Now please excuse me whilst I pick up my leaflets that have fallen from my WI magazine offering me life insurance, and a rather fetching cover for my sofa and my goodness I need those fluffy sheepskins slippers.

I'll just miss

I'll just miss

I'll just miss the tooth paste round the bowl

I'll just miss fetching you your drink 

I'll just miss you

The door closing as you go to school

Fetching you your ice cream 

Buying that one brand of cereal 

I'll Miss

The leave the cat alone 

As you approach adulthood 

I Miss you 

Paul Smith Eau de Toilette From House of Fraser

Choosing gifts is one situations in life that I see as a task, especially when you have been as married as long ( runs out of fingers) as I have and you have given each other all the gifts you can think of.

I however find it much simpler , when I am faced with that situation to have a good , well laid out website in front of me that has great products and shows me items that I might otherwise never have though of.

Mr T is as obsessed with his aftershaves as he is with his watches , if I had a penny for all the watches  and aftershaves he had then well I would be very rich.

Life would be very boring indeed , if we didn't have that 'me' time once in a while , Mr T is infact off on a works do this Friday and will be wearing Paul Smith Eau de Toilette . I however will be surfing the House of Fraser website seeing what I can achieve for my bit of 'me' time sure Mr T will feel a twinge of pain in his wallet !

‘This review is in partnership with House of Fraser’.

Duck With A Madeira Wine And Mushroom Sauce

Duck is one of those notorious dishes that sometimes you can't be quite sure what to do with as it is quite fatty but if you get duck strips from some where like Waitrose then you can quite a light meal. The strips of duck combined with a Madeira and mushroom sauce beautifully compliment the richness of the duck without being over bearing.



Ingredients

Duck strips
15ml Olive oil
Salt and freshly milled pepper
100g/40z chestnuts mushroom ( I think Oyster mushrooms would work as well)
100ml/5 TP of vegetable stock ( vegetable Bouillon would work here )
45ml/3TP of Maderia wine
3tp of tarragon
3tp of Thyme
3tp Mint

Method

Heat a large non stick frying man or griddle with the olive oil and add the duck heating through till cooked. After the duck is cooked though place on warmed plates and loosely cover with foil to keep warm.

Reduce the heat under the pan. Add the mushrooms cooking for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next add the stock and continue to heat , slightly increase the heat and boil for 3 minutes till reduced.

Add the wine and cream and reduce for a further 3 minutes.

Until the sauce has thicken , then at this pint stir in the herbs

Now I served this on three piles of mashed potatoes but I think a nice potatoes dauphinoise would work as well.

I served this with a nice Lindeman's Shiraz wine which I had let breathe for half an hour ( just one of the
tips I picked up at #britmumslive


Disclosure : This recipe is utterly my own and I was just sent the wine to try and was not told what to write or say. * PS the wine was jolly nice too.