We've been out gallivanting again. No historic houses or castles, this time it was the turn of the Scottish countryside. But before we leaped into the car, a little preparation had to be done. We made a flask of black coffee and D made some egg salad rolls which included our first harvest of
'lollo rosso' from the 3 by 3 garden plot. Then it was about having the right outfit on. As it was not the sunniest of days, I put on my raincoat and my walking boots and off we went.
There were so many cyclists and motor-bikers on the road loving the windy Scottish country roads. We stopped at various locations covering different postcodes including Dumbarton, Stirlingshire and Perthshire. Many of the places we stopped at today, we've visited before such as
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, Crianlarich, Tarbet, Ardlui, Callander (bridge below) where there is a colourful all-year round
Christmas shop. Our final stop was Doune, where my husband gifted me with a lovely framed picture, which I will show off later in the week.
We also walked up
'the Queen’s View' reputed to be one of Scotlands most outstanding beauty spots and most photographed. On a clear day,
unlike today of course, you can get a panoramic view of the mountainous scenery and the blue loch. Breathless. All this walking and fresh air in my lungs, as much as I am enjoying it, wears me out when I get home.
So you can imagine that I was so glad that I made these last night. Oven baked the 'wild garlic' potato cakes and a bean ragout made with the carrots I bought at the farmers markets yesterday.
Both the wild garlic potato cakes and white bean ragout were flavourful. I especially liked the subtle hint of the chilli in the ragout hitting the back of my throat and the sweetness of the sun dried tomatoes. The carrots also still had a bit of bite, I like them that way.
White bean ragoutServes 2 - 3
Ingredients
1 x 400g can of white beans, drained and rinsed. I used haricot beans.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely sliced
1 carrot cut into small pieces
2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed
pinch of chilli flakes
400ml vegetable stock
2 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes in oil, minced
1 tablespoon wild garlic, minced (optional)
Method
Heat the oil in a pan, add the onions, carrot, garlic and chilli flakes and cook for about 8 minutes. Then add the vegetable stock and cook for a few minutes until the onions and carrots are tender. Add the beans, sun dried tomatoes and wild garlic if using and cook until the beans are warmed through. This dish can be reheated.
This is a simple recipe. I mashed about 500g - 750g Maris piper potatoes (no cream or butter required), added about two tablespoons of minced wild garlic, seasoned with S&P and then shaped into 8 potato cakes. Put them in the fridge to chill, then when I was ready to eat them. I heated a lightly greased baking tray in the oven before putting the potatoes onto it to bake. After about 15 minutes, I turned them over to bake for another 10 minutes.
I had expected these Rhubarb and ginger pancakes to have a bit of a pink tinge, but that was not the case and I wasn't going to add pink dye just for aesthetics. I wanted to enjoy these au naturale. I also noted that the sharp and tartness of the rhubarb did not come through. Maybe I have become accustomed to its flavour. What was really lovely was these pancakes were indeed light, fluffy and quite splendid. We had these with some chopped bananas, the sweet juices of the cooked rhubarb and some Greek yogurt. I have to point out I do not think the Greek yogurt worked well, perhaps I should have stirred a little honey to it. 
Rhubarb and ginger pancakes
