I was interviewed!

My friend Laura is promoting a brand new drink called Carnaby Brown which is a lightly alcoholic fruit based tipple in two flavours, a melony, muscatty one and strawberry/watermelony one.  Both have a zingy sparkle.

While I'm a dedicated drinker of gutsy Italian and Spanish reds Laura bravely decided to interview me over a glass or two (actually quite a few) glasses of each variety.  During the interview we were chatting about who I thought the drink would appeal to and I thought that it would be a great drink for people who didn't really want to drink too much - perhaps at lunchtime or the afternoon when you still have to be able to function and not have a snooze......Part of drinking at those times for me is to be able to have a nice nibble at the same time - anyone who reads this blog knows how much I like my food and anyone who shares a bottle or two with us at home will be presented with olives from my Olive Pot and some toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds.  Click here to read Laura's interview with me!

I mentioned lemon marinated nuts in my interview which is something I've never actually made as I tend to use spices with nuts.  I've had a go at remembering what it is I actually do when I pop to the kitchen to rustle up a nibble or two for unexpected guests.

Non-marinated nuts to have with an afternoon tipple:

Melt some butter in a sturdy frying pan.
Add to it:
Soft brown sugar and let it melt gently
A couple of handfuls of almonds and cashews - actually any nuts you have will do
Maldon salt to taste
1.5 teaspoons cumin seeds
1.5 teaspoons ground coriander
Fresh rosemary sprigs
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some finely grated lemon zest
Dried chilli flakes to taste if you like

Let all of this heat through in the butter, stirring it all the time with a wooden spoon until the nuts have taken on a healthy colour and smell delicious.  The spices should smell fragrant and toasty, if you smell any burning or acrid, remove the pan from the heat immediately.

When they look delicious and tasty spread the nuts out onto a flat surface, don't heap them on top of each other.  This will let them cool and crisp up a bit.  Eat when cool.


This is one of my favourite things to make when I need to find a nibble, a tried and tested method.

Savoury Seeds in Tamari

Heat a heavy frying pan and add to it a handful of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.
Move them around constantly until they start to smell yummy, the sunflower seeds will start to jump up at you and the pumpkin seeds will start to puff up.  They will both begin to colour.
When they are nicely coloured but not burnt, remove the pan from the heat.
Stir in a couple of good glugs of soy sauce - I like to use wheat-free Japanese Tamari but I'm sure that whichever type of soy sauce you have in your larder will work perfectly well.
Once the cold liquid hits the hot pan it will steam and will seem to stick, so you need to have a wooden or silicone spoon/spatula to hand to start stirring immediately.
Keep stirring until all the seeds are coated and again, not burnt!
Remove to a flat plate or tray until cool and crisp.
Enjoy with a glass.  Or two.

I have written a blog post about my Olive Pot and here's a link to it: Click here to read about olives.