Oh, no peanut butter

It was a beautiful warm October day. We decided to enjoy the warm sun and do some jobs in the garden. The lavender was in need of being cut back, as over the last couple of years it had got a bit unruly. We have some gorgeous mature lavender plants all around the house where the silvery blue greens of the plants compliment the stone of the house. In summer the scent of lavender greets you as you walk through the gate. Today we were up for giving them a really good prune, in addition to trimming off the flower stalks, this will help prepare them for a beautiful array of flowers next year.

Earlier in the week, when we’d been shopping, I’d failed to find peanut butter. Not wanting to be beaten by this hurdle, I decided to make it. It was actually quite simple, toast 200g of peanuts for 10 minutes in the oven, stirring them on the tray to stop them catching. Then once they are totally cooled whiz them in a blender. I added a bit of salt, and some walnut oil as they were a bit dry. I didn’t have peanut oil otherwise I would have used that.

So when we got in from doing the garden, I cooked us the Peanut Butter Chicken Curry, that I’d found in the September edition of Good Food magazine, and it was simply delicious. I used chicken thighs but I think the addition of a chicken breast would be good, or potentially do it as a vegetarian option, maybe with halloumi cheese. I will definitely be making it again. (The recipe below does say it’s gluten free, but mindful to use GF soy sauce) We enjoyed it with a rather nice chilled bottle of Alsatian Riesling from G.Metz, their Grand Cru Muenchberg.

From the Sept edition of Good Food magazine – here’s the link https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/peanut-butter-chicken-curry