#16

It's September! The surfing season is almost here. I'm considerably out of condition this year because of it raining throughout June and July -- meaning less walking, less gardening, less Cortina renovation work, and more sitting inside watching TV whilst eating cake and frowning at the black clouds though the window. It is only for the past few weeks that I have been solidly chanting the mantra: "Got to get in shape for the surfing season.", in my head over and over, and increasing my fitness. For me Summer starts now, even though now it is technically over, because now the sea is nice and warm and soon the children will be back at school and the holiday making traffic will subside... all is calm... all is uncrowded... on the coast.

And so, except for the bit by Bristol, the drive to the North coast of Cornwall down the M5 and the A30 is basically like a magic carpet ride. Come October, once you have cleared the winding stretches of Birmingham motorway your speedometer needle, quite literally, need not drop below 70 miles per hour for two hundred miles (well, bar that very windy bit that connects the M5 with the A30, and when you stop at a service station...and, well, OK drop the 'quite literally' bit). So here's to a great September, October, and November for every one. Oh yes, and lets hope I don't cripple my legs while surfing like I did the last two years, but looking on the bright side, on both occasions, the injuries did not occur 'til mid November, anyway...so it just meant bringing forward the Christmas pudding season a bit...mmm. There is one in the pantry right now maturing that can be called-upon immediately in the event of such an emergency.

Today I took a bit longer than usual to make lunch. One of my favorite lunches is pitta breads stuffed with water cress, olives, sweet pepper, tomatoes, chillies, lettuce and ... topped with Stilton which when put in the microwave for 2 minutes and 40 seconds melts through over all the afore mentioned ingredients and tastes so, so, good. Stilton -- THE KING OF ALL CHEESES! It's genius reasons like Stilton why I worship the very soil of Britain. Other countries look upon our food and scoff, but really they are crying inside because they know deep down that in reality they are nothing, nothing I tell yee. Hahahaha. STILTON, THE KING OF ALL CHEESES, I tell yee. (And that's just cheeses, don't get me started on puddings and cakes.)

Err, right, I'll continue... the problem with this recipe is that the Stilton (which is the king of cheese in case you didn't know) does not melt right down inside the pitta because pitta's don't stand-up by themselves and so you have to lie them down on the plate while cooking in the microwave... ah but not anymore, I couldn't take the sadness of partial Stilton pitta penetration any longer so I nipped into the workshop and knocked-up a twin pitta bread support (a bit like a two slice toast rack for very fat bread). If you're not already bored, then read-on for a step by step demonstration of making the support and the meal.


First get a bit of wood -- make sure it has not been treated with wood preserver or anyother chemicals. I cut-off a bit of branch from an American Oak log which has been seasoning in the garden for a couple of years.




Then I planed one side of it to form a flat base:-


Then I shaved-off the remaining bark (it's going to be a quick rustic affair because my stomach is rumbling and I want my lunch, but I thought leaving the bark on was going a bit too far)...


Then I cut a couple of capacious slots in the wood, here's first one being made:-



Then a quick sand, and then the initial feasibility test (placing empty pitta breads into the slots)...


Then, for the microwave compatibility test, I put the pitta bread support on a plate (without the pitta breads) into the microwave oven, first for 20 seconds, then for 40 seconds, then for a couple of minutes... ha, it passed the test, no explosions due to trapped moisture, phew. The smell from the microwave was similar to roast chestnuts.

Great, so now to the food. Ever-so slightly wet the outside of the two pitta breads (about one raindrop's quantity of water rubbed-over each side of each pitta bread). Then put'em in your pop-up toaster on a light or medium setting (vitally: long enough to make them puff-up without burning or going hard). Remove them from the toaster straight away after it has popped-up (otherwise they will dry-out and go crispy and brittle making it difficult to open them-up later). Put them on your plate, but don't open them for a couple of minutes because they are full of super-heated steam. Instead prepare your salad stuff.

I put the following vegetation in my pittas:-

• Green olives from a jar (well rinsed of salt and check for stones),
• Sweet peppers (with the stork, core and seeds removed) cut-up into short centimetre wide strips,
• Chillies (with the stork, core and seeds removed) chopped finely.
• Water cress (cut-up the long stems in particular because it does go a little stringy when cooked).
• A bit of lettuces.
• Some blue berries.

Now it's time to cut-open the pittas and stuff'em with stuff. Cut open each one along one of the long edges and open them out so that they make a pocket. (If one of the long edges is sharper than the other, cut along that edge, because the blunt edge of a pitta is better at flexing to take the filling without cracking).



And finally it's ready to be topped by Stilton so that it will melt down over everything....



And into the microwave for 2minutes 40seconds...


All nicely melted, now but still a little on the top, yummy, yummy. Just pick-up with your hands and eat. Yummy, yummy, yummy. Most yummy indeed.