Our colleague John came into work on Friday with a real 'glow' about him.  I knew it had been sunny throughout the week but he really looked tanned.  When complimented on his colour he mentioned how he had purchased a new 'anti fatigue' cream from L'Oreal...he just omitted that it was a cream which not only helped with the fatigue but also with a hint of self tan!!!

 

You can imagine the ribbing he got after that admission and I decided to complete it with the below ad:

 

 

When arriving back on the train last night I stepped out of the busy station only to see a small ginger cat sitting outside the main entrance!  It was certainly not something I was expecting but did make me chuckle out loud.  Anything to brighten up the long commute home :)

Whilst flicking through our Saturday paper last weekend, I came across three recipes.  I immediately read up on how to make one of the dishes and then just continued about my day as per normal.  The recipe was for jam roly poly...mmm

 

Then on Sunday morning when asking Rich about what we should do for the day, he said, lets make that recipe from the paper.  Yum I thought what a fab idea.  He then started rattling on about how we would need to dig out some gardening gloves and how I should probably not go out in my silver ballet slippers.  I enquired why he thought the supermarket had suddenly got a dress code when he told me "we're going to pick stinging nettles for that soup recipe!"  Nettle Soup!!!  it was one of the two recipes I immediately skipped in favour for a jammy delight but he was insistent that it would be nice to adopt that 'hunt and gather' mentality for our supper that night. 

 

Bear in mind that it was peeing down with rain but in (semi) good spirit I donned my hat scarf and raincoat and off we went.  According to Hugh Fearnly Widdly Sticks March was a great month for an abundance of nettles, we headed off to the canal and found it difficult at first to find any!  But sure enough we found a load and started filling our carrier bags up with stinging nettles.  For anyone walking past we must of looked like a pair of idjits but we soon filled our bag with our leaves.

 

Once back I have to admit that I left the cooking of the nettles to Rich, I was still irritated by being stung earlier in the day...despite wearing gloves!  You had to sweat the nettles down and I tell you what...they stank!  It really wasnt pleasant and I think we both began to wonder what the hell we were going to be eating.  After a while though the smell dissapeared and it actually started to have quite a nice aroma.  40 mins or so later a cannelini bean and nettle soup was ready. 

 

Despite knowing that the sting will have been boiled away, it didnt stop me from taking my first hesitant spoonfull of soup.  Once Rich had his first spoonful I managed to have mine and actually the taste was not too bad!  A couple of sips in, I was quite into my nettle soup but then the next mouthful and then each one after had a bit of a gritty bite to it.  My mind then took over and all I could think of was that I was eating dirt and worse than dirt...stinging nettles!!!  I couldnt finish the soup but did decide that should we have thoroughly washed the nettles beforehand, I could probably eat them again.  So much so that I think we will attempt the other recipe; Ricotta and Nettle gnocchi!

 

For those of you that may wish to try the soup, below is the recipe we followed:

 

About 200g fresh young nettle tops (ie, four big handfuls)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 fat cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2 x 410g cans white beans, such as cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

175-250ml light vegetable or chicken stock

Salt and freshly ground pepper

To finish

Very good extra-virgin olive oil

Wild chives (optional)

Wash the nettle tops well, put them into a pan, along with the water that is still clinging to them, and place over a medium heat until wilted (about five minutes). Drain, squeeze out any excess water and chop roughly.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a low heat. Add the garlic and cook very gently for a minute or two, taking care that it doesn't colour. Add the beans and stock, and bring to a simmer for five minutes or so. Scoop out around half the beans and liquid, and process in a blender to create a rough purée. Return the puréed beans to the pan, stir with a wooden spoon, roughly crushing the whole beans as you do so. Stir in the nettles. Taste, season generously and bring back to a simmer. You can add a little more stock if you like, but this is meant to be a very thick, coarse soup.

Spoon into shallow bowls, swirl a generous amount of your very best extra-virgin olive oil over the top and finish, if you like, with a scattering of snipped wild chives. Serve straight away, with chunks of rustic bread.