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on June 01, 2014

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Roast muntjac with red wine, rosemary and redcurrant & mustard mash recipe

Just in case you are reading this and wondering what on earth muntjac is: it's a type of deer, lighter and generally less gamey than venison with a very low fat content and a wonderful taste which I would compare to rare beef. We get lots of muntjac in the area I live in as we are quite close to where muntjac originated. Well obviously not originally - originally they were from China but were brought to Bedfordshire in about 1900 by the Duke of Bedford. Escapes and deliberate releases have resulted in a fairly wide spread of wild Reeves" Muntjac to give them their full name. Interesting fact - they are believed to be the oldest breed of deer with prehistoric remains found dating back to as long as 35 million years ago! They are considered a serious threat to woodland management as they will eat almost any plant material and therefore I am occasionally offered haunches by a local gamekeeper who owns and manages a local ancient woodland. So - onto cooking. Y...

Desperate Dan Cow Pie, inspired by Black Country memories

When I was young it was a real treat to be taken to a chain of novelty pubs in the West Midlands where amongst other delights you could order a Desperate Dan Cow Pie, complete with pastry horns. The Little Pub Company had a number of pubs including the Worcester Sauce Factory, the Dry Dock (which had a real canal boat as a bar) and of course the Pie Factory. I recall the pies being quite a feast with whole potatoes, sprouts, meat, carrots - basically a whole meal under a crust. I believe some of the pubs still exist and still serve the legendary pie but are no longer owned by "Mad" Colm O'Rourke who was a friend of the family. Pies of course have had something of a revival and recently a friend suggested we hold a pie night where all the guests brought along pie, sweet or savoury. I've been wanting to try and recreate the Cow Pie for years so after a chat with my mum (who used to watch the pie fillings being made decades ago) I decided to have a go alb...

Ancient & Modern -Side, Antalya, Turkey

We first visited Side in the Antalya region of Turkey over 30 years ago. It was a budget honeymoon choice but we had such a wonderful time we've always wondered about going back. A travel agent warned me a few years ago the town had changed beyond recognition and advised we never return to preserve our happy memories. Fast forward to recent times and I'll be honest, times have been tough. It's led us to live in the moment and so we decided to book a trip back to Side. Frankly Turkey is one of the cheapest holidays you can book from the UK right now but browsing hotels we realised that Side has now expanded far beyond the tiny old town where we once stayed a stone's throw from the ocean, Apollo's Temple and the bazaar which had traditional woven carpets slung across between buildings to keep the sun off haggling shoppers. After a false start via Jet2 who had to change our original choice of hotel we settled on the New Garden Luna aparthotel which offers a mix of hot...

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