Petit pois and turning leaves

It seems like an age since my last post here.  Things have been hectic at The Shady Pine and there are a few projects on the go seemingly all at once!

One such project has been some landscaping which has been on the back burner for a long time.  The intention was to do some of this work over summer but it was such a wet summer that there never seemed to be more than a day when the heavens didn't open up.  So a few things got delayed.

As the drier autumn weather started to appear, Mr Shady Pine and I wanted to get some of this work out of the way before the long winter inevitably arrives.  And I am so glad that we waited.  We got to labour away outside in some glorious autumn sunshine with the bearest hint of crispness in the air.  Besides that, the changing scenery outside was something to behold.  The leaves had started turning into their varied hues of amber and gold and the colours were glorious in the afternoon sun.

One evening recently, we had a few friends over for dinner and we enjoyed some great laughs.   One of the side dishes for the main meal were these peas or petit pois.  I love their green vibrancy and the fact that this is a warm and easy side dish.  I'll talk obout the main feature of the meal in my next post but for now I hope you enjoy this little side dish.  This is a great accompaniment to all sorts of meat dishes and super easy to prepare.

Petit pois

Serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

300g frozen baby peas

1 cos lettuce, shredded

1 leek; white part only, sliced

8 slices lean short cut bacon, sliced

25g good quality butter

1 Tbs olive oil

S&P

1.       Heat the olive oil in a non stick frying pan over medium heat.  Add the leek and bacon and cook for about 5 minutes until the leek is soft and the bacon is cooked.  Set aside.

2.       Boil the peas for about 3 minutes until just cooked.  Drain and set aside 2 Tbs of cooking water.

3.       Place the peas and reserved water in a bowl.  Add the leek and bacon mixture to the peas.

4.       To the peas add the lettuce, butter and S&P to taste.  Mix well until the butter is melted by the hot peas and all the ingredients are well coated.  Serve immediately.