A very fishy Devonian Christmas and easy cranberry sauce for leftovers

Christmas came early in North Devon this year. A week early in fact, as I planned to visit my in-laws up in Yorkshire to celebrate the real Christmas day.

Our first stop for our pre-Christmas weekend was the farmer's market at the Big Sheep, in Abbotsham - the perfect place to pick up veg for Christmas dinner and some last minute Christmas presents (sheep's wool mittens for my niece and brother-in-law). 

The Big Sheep's farmer's market also has an incredible selection of locally sourced fresh fish - crab cakes made with Lundy Island crab, sea bass from the coastal waters, herring from Clovelly and mussels from the estuary. As a proud part Pole (my Mother's side is Polish) we of course had a traditionally fishy (and huge) faux Christmas Eve supper, including some of the crab cakes we picked up at the market.

My Mum also made an incredible open lobster and spinach lasagna with fragrant, aromatic lobster and star anise bisque. The lobsters (of course) were also local... that's one of the things I miss so much about living in Devon - the access to so much fresh seafood on a daily basis. 

Right, I promised a simple cranberry sauce recipe for your leftovers (if you still have any!)...this one, which accompanied both our faux and real Christmas day dinners, is so easy to make and encapuslates traditional Christmas flavours perfectly. I made a batch as soon as I got back to London to jar up and wrap prettily... the perfect Christmas present. It also goes amazingly well with any leftovers you have... perfect in sandwiches, with a ploughman's or just with cheese and crackers.

Makes two 8oz jars, plus a little extra. 

350 g) fresh cranberries(chopped)
1 large cooking apple (cored, peeled and chopped)
Zest and juice of 1 large orange 
1/2 tsp ground ginger 
3oz caster sugar 
1 Cinnamon stick
4 cloves 
4 tbsp Port

Add all the ingredients (apart from the Port) to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer with the lid on for five minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Port. Place in jars while still hot. 

See, I told you it was easy!

I'm in The Alps at the moment, drinking vin chaud and eating lots of cheese... more on my Alpine adventues to follow soon... Happy New Year everyone!

Mortehoe Shellfish

There's nothing quite like eating fresh fish beside the seaside... North Devon's Mortehoe Shellfish offers lobster, fish and shellfish platters in 'rustic' surroundings (by this I mean in the front room of their family home).

Our platters came with 8 types of fish and 12 types of seafood including lobsters, picked crab, smoked fish, pickled fish, prawns in all shapes and sizes, baby squid, cuttle fish, baby octopus, mussels (green-lipped and local), whelks, cockles, clams, salmon, bass, catfish kebabs, sardines and anchovies to name a few...  

Definitely one to experience after a blustery walk on the cliffs.

They also have a seafood van which tours the North Devon coast, offering freshly caught lobsters and fish to those wanting a picnic, BBQ or to cook at home.

Devon foraging

We are not accustomed to foraging in the UK and often pass by fruits, flowers and funghi, leaving them for the animals.

On a recent cliff walk in North Devon (from Mortehoe to Lee Bay and then from Croyde to Puttsborough round Baggy Point, two of my favourite coastal routes with stunning views), we came across blackberries, mushrooms, honeysuckle and sloes growing on the cliff edge.

Unfortunately I didn't have a bag to pick them but did have a camera (and stained hands from eating too many blackberries!).