As promised heres the Tomato Tarte Tatin Recipe

You Need-

250g of puff pastry

4 tbsp of sundried tomato pesto

75ml of balsamic vinegar

1tbsp of caster sugar

2tbsp of thyme leaves, plus a little extra for serving

500g of sugardrop tomatoes, stalks removed

1. Pre heat the oven to gas mark 5 190 C or fan oven 170 C. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/2 cm (1/4) thick and forms a square larger than 26cm across. Cut out a 26 cm-diameter circle and spread with the pesto.

2. Pour the vinegar into a non stick 23 cm (9in) ovenproof frying pan and scatter the sugar and the thyme evenly over the base. Add the tomatoes in a single layer and drape the pastry circle over the top, Pesto side down. Gently tuck in the edges to encase the tomatoes and then bake in the oven for about 30 mins, until the pastry is puffed and brown.

3. Let the tart cool for a few mins, Then place a large serving dish on top of the pan, and wearing oven gloves, carefully (and I mean carefully) flip the whole thing over. Scatter with the remaining thyme and serve with a salad and some crumbled goats cheese…….and really cold glass of white.

As I mentioned in my last post (providing you read it of course) im looking at starting a community small holding/allotment in Melton Mowbray.

Well today was the day of the first meeting and I was really looking forward to speaking to people who were as interested as I am and as committed to getting this project started.

I met with the chairman of a local residents association in the town and straight away got the impression that actually he wasn’t as interested in this as maybe I was, but I stuck with it and found out what he wants to do and the ideas he had for the project. It soon became apparent that we were singing from a completely different hymn sheet.

He then offered to show me the plot that they have been allocated and apart from the area that it’s in and the reputation that it carries, The land was surprisingly big.

Obviously its wasteland but with a bit of work it could become something really good. There’s the obvious discarded needle here and there which then set the alarm bells ringing, What would it be like if we cleaned it up? Would it turn into a place to ‘doss’ with some veg potted around?

I took some photos so that I can have a look through and get some ideas of what I wanted to do with the land, But on the walk home and after considering the chance in front of me I suddenly thought why be part of something good when I can create something amazing.

So that’s what I’m going to do, I’ve politely declined the opportunity to work with the group and Im now looking to get a group together who want the same thing and have the same ideas.

So at the moment thats where I am with this I’ve not gone backwards If anything I have taken a very positive step forward to having my on small holding.

If you live in melton and are interested in getting involved then please do get in touch I’d love to here from you.

I finally found my green fingers.

It all started with a random conversation with my mum, her boyfriend and my wife over Sunday lunch about their veg patch in the garden and what they grow, I’ve always taken the odd beetroot or courgette from there patch but have never really thought about growing my own veg before. They offered to set me up with a “starter kit” to help me out and they left it at that.

A few days later I decided to venture out to B&Q and buy some more pots, well an hour later and £60 lighter I leave with 10 packs of seeds 5 bags of compost and a new found enthusiasm for planting and growing my own veg.

I set my self up in the garden pots all neatly lined up and a plan in my head of where it was going to go and what I wanted to grow. I set about eagerly adding seeds to the trenches and watering each one carefully, by the end of it there wasnt a neat row of pots any more but empty packets blowing across the decking, small piles of compost that the dog had tried to dig out and ripped up compost bags blowing down the garden and one very unimpressed wife.

Well her mood wasn’t about to be lifted anytime soon as I plucked up the courage to tell her that I am commandeering the spare room to start germinating the seeds and using the benches from our dining room table to put the herb boxes on. Once I explained to her how good this will all be for us she finally got on board, although I’m pretty sure she still hates the idea of them in the spare room.

Every day I go up to the room to check on them and water them, I’m not quiet at the point of talking to them but now I’ve really started to feel a sense of responsibility for them and to take care of them and it’s all starting to pay off.

Phone calls have been made to my mum in an almost war like affair to see how her and her crop are faring and who’s is better.

Over the last few days thankfully the sun has started to make an appearance and so have the shoots on each of my veg plants, there not giant oaks by any means but they are a giant step in me reducing my food miles and hopefully this will encourage other people to do the same thing.

I’d love to hear from you if you are growing veg or starting out on the same path so please feel free to contact me.

So, This is my first Blog entry iv spent a lot of time thinking about what I’m going to write and really why I’m going to write a blog in the first place, so here goes.

I’m a 28 year old food fanatic who one day wants to make this his full time job, but a lot like setting this blog up im not really sure where to start or how to do it, so this seemed as good a place to start as any and hopefully this will be the start of something good.

My all-time favourite dish is Duck confit, there’s a reason that they are called classic dishes and this is a shining example of that.

There’s always a lot of argument about what to serve it with, is it mash is lentils but I think the best this to serve it with is something that doesn’t take away from the star of the dish, and that’s the duck. If done right this is one of the most comforting dishes you could make and surprisingly simple (just don’t ask for the calorie content).

Iv recently become involved in setting up a community small holding in Melton Mowbray with a group of (what I hope are) likeminded people as I’m actually yet to meet them. The aim of the project is to turn a patch of wasteland in the town into a small holding where we can grow veg and raise a few small animals for food.

Im not sure what my wife thinks to all of this may be she thinks its a very early mid life crisis but either way she has been really supportive, Partly I think because she gets to eat all of the food I cook and grow.

I think that it’s important that other groups get involved in something like this as I thoroughly believe in reducing  food miles and producing fresh seasonal produce, I’ve already started with this in my garden and its starting to pay off already.

Well that’s really it for my first entry I didn’t really know what to write at the start of this but hopefully  this has put me on the right path and I guess the more I write and the more you read you will hopefully understand what I’m trying to say. I will keep you updated with the progress of the small holding and get some recipes into this along the way.