Tweetand2Veg

This is my absolute never-can-be-beaten favourite soup. Ever.

Sweet Potato and Chorizo Soup is from the lovely Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food recipe book and is easy-peasy to make:

Serves 6-8

Peel and roughly slice 2 carrots, 2 onions, 2 cloves of garlic and 800g sweet potato. Roughly slice 200g chorizo sausage, 2 sticks of celerly, and chop a bunch of flat leafed parsley (stalks and all!).

Heat 2tbsp olive oil in a large pan and add all the ingredients, plus 1 heaped tsp of curry powder (sounds crazy, but the soup isn’t the same without it!). MIx all the ingredients together and cook for around 10mins with the lid askew until the carrots have softened but are still holding their shape. Add 1.8ltr of stock (chicken or veg), give the soup a good stir and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 mins until the sweet potato is cooked through.

Season with salt and pepper, blend the soup with a hand blender or liquidizer until smooth and serve! (Jamie suggests serving with a little shopped chilli on top - but I like it just the way it is!).

Enjoy!

soup food chorizo sweet potato sweet potato and chorizo soup jamie oliver the ministry of food recipe

24

My favourite local produce…

Tweetand2veg is now 4 months old! hurrah! Over those last four months I have had many opportunities to sample some delicious local food and drink, and products like these make me feel so lucky to live where I do! Here are some of my very favourites…

Bath Ales

A long-standing favourite for many people in Bath and, increasingly, a lot of the UK, Bath Ales never disappoints! The experience always begins well with a lovely pub; The Salamander, The Hop Pole or The Swan to name a few, food is always delicious, and the pubs are always full of a wonderful welcoming atmosphere without feeling pretentious - you always feel as though the staff behind the bar know their products! My personal favourite is Bounders Cider, just the right amount of sweetness, with an authentic cidery taste - since moving to the South West I have drunk rather a lot of different ciders, but I will always look forward to afternoons full of sunshine and Bounders! Bath Ales often has a seasonal special on offer, and at the moment the spotlight fall on Summer’s Hare, a really light ale, delicious in the sunny weather! Visiting friends are always impressed with the quality of drinks from Bath Ales, and my Dad is always pleased to receive a case of Gem!

http://www.bathales.com/

Field Bar Wines

I recently discovered Field Bar Wines at the LoveFood Festival in Bath, tried their absolutely delicious sparkling elderflower wine, and instantly regretted not buying any at the time! Weeks later, and I was ecstatic to find their stall at the Taste of the West Festival in Milsom Place, Bath. The stallholder was so knowledgeable about his products, and so passionate - I walked away with a bag full of wine, feeling very pleased with myself! Field Bar Wines are based in Gloucestershire and only make their wines from locally grown fruit, my two favourites are the Elderflower Sparkling Wine, and the Elderberry Rose (best served at room temp!) - absolutely delicious throughout the summer months - it’s always 6 o’clock somewhere, right?!

http://www.fieldbarwine.co.uk

Bath Pig Chorizo

I love pigs, I love Bath, and I really love chorizo - Bath Pig Chorizo is my absolute favourite local food - and is fast becoming that of many friends and relatives too! Bath Pig Chorizo comes in three delicious flavours - Original, Garlic, and Hot and all can be eaten raw as a snack or cooked to create a beautiful meal - I use it in stews and jumbalaya - amazing! I recommend this brilliant pork product to everyone - and look at how happy their piggies are!

http://www.thebathpig.com/

bath local produce bath ales field bar wines bath pig chorizo chorizo wine ale camra food southwest

2

Some photos from the recent Flavours of the West festival held in Milsom Place in Bath…

I love this festival and it gets bigger and bigger ever year; particular highlights included Crumpets cupcakes, Bath Pig chorizo, duck burgers from Taunton and Field Bar wines (I had been craving the sparkling elderflower wine since the Love Food Festival in Green Park Station!)

Scrummy!

flavours of the west milsom place bath food festival festival food wine chorizo duck burger elderberry elderflower

1

Love Food Fest

Today I visited the Love Food Festival in the Green Park Station, Bath. Despite the torrential rain there were some big crowds enjoying local food and drink; there were a large number of pop-up eateries featuring Thai and Jamaican food as well as local lamb and venison burgers - which I am assured were ‘delicious’. Dick Willow’s farm shop was present and selling pints of cider to customers sat on hay-bales, and I sampled a lovely floral elderflower champagne. I was also finally able to sample some Bath Pig chorizo, and not being able to decide on which to buy, simply purchased all three varieties! I was also pleased to see Sam’s Kitchen present - a deli that has recently moved into Walcot street, and after sampling their white chocolate and macadamia brownie I have decided that I need to visit their lovely looking premises very soon! I was pleased to see some other stalls that were not just about buying and tasting food - plenty of children were having a go at making their own cheese, and we had a good nose around a plant stall which featured many local and rare herbs - my personal favourite was the Doone Valley thyme - yum! The usual Green Park stalls such as the Thoughtful Bread Company were also open and doing a roaring trade!

Overall the festival was a really nice little event and had the weather been better we probably would have sat drinking and eating local produce all day…!