Look at this little face - butter would not melt. Forgive my puppy adoration but I thought some of you might be quite happy to see a Bert update! He's nice and warm here in front of the Aga this morning, but he did also really love charging about in the snow. We think he's being pretty adorable - hope it lasts!
I know for many the snow has caused no end of challenges. Fortunately for us we had no need to go anywhere over the weekend so we were able to enjoy everywhere looking beautiful, go for snowy walks, and then head home and light the fire. Selfishly I rather enjoyed it while it lasted. Now it's all disappeared we can see these beautiful little snowdrops peeping out of the ground - I love them.
On the subject of love ... everyone needs to be shown a little love sometimes, so my way of showing a bit of love is to offer 10% off everything on the website (excluding tins of olive oil) for this weekend only. Just head to the website www.finooliveoil.co.uk and use LOVE2019 at the checkout to receive the discount. With Valentine's Day round the corner why not grab a Jam and Cheese Gift Pack - you can chose either the Chilli or the Chorizo Jam and with this offer it will come with a heart shaped Godminster Cheddar - I am sure it will make someone feel very special, and it's totally delicious too.
To make things super easy here's an idea for a special supper too. As always very simple but really tasty.
SPICY CHICKEN WITH ANDALUCIAN VEGETABLES AND PEARL BARLEY
Serves 4
For the chicken - 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp cayenne, pinch salt, 8 skinless boneless chicken thighs
For the vegetables - 2 peppers (I used yellow and orange), 6 medium tomatoes (finely chopped), 2 garlic cloves, 1 tbsp tomato puree, 8 anchovy fillets (optional), 3 tbsp Fino olive oil, 1/2 glass of white wine, 150g pearl barley, salt and pepper to taste, plus 1 cup chicken stock (if needed). Mint for garnish.
Mix all the spices together and rub on to the chicken thighs until they are coated. Place the spicy chicken on a plate, cover and put in the fridge to marinate for an hour or so.
Pour 3 tbsp olive oil into a pan, add the peppers, garlic and anchovies and cook down until the peppers are soft. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook over a gentle heat for a few mins. Then add the pearl barley and white wine (plus some stock if you feel it needs a bit more juice) and then place in the oven at 120C to simmer for an hour, or until the pearl barley is cooked through.
In a frying pan quickly brown the spiced chicken thighs, a few mins on each side, then place on a baking tray in the oven at 180C for a further 15/20 mins to cook through.
Serve the chicken on top of the vegetable mixture, with greens of your choice (we used green beans). Garnish with chopped mint.
Really hope to hear from you
Susie