This is the other kind of swallowtail butterfly in my garden, it is not as proliffic as the other scarce swallowtail I posted earlier.
I have begun to harvest my aubergines; they are so wonderfully hard and shiny when I pick them. There are so many ways to prepare and cook them and they taste really different in every dish so I never tire of them. Here is my recipe for Baba ghanoush.
Baba ghanoush
Serves 4-6
3 large melanzane (aubergines, egg plants) about 1 kg
1 clove of garlic, crushed to a paste with 1 teaspoon salt
Juice of half lemon
3 tablespoons tahini paste
4 tablespoons good olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
- Piece the skins of the aubergines to prevent them exploding and grill whole over a hot barbeque (you can do this directly on the naked flame of a gas hob, or under the grill) until the skin is charred and crispy all over and the flesh is very soft. You can also cook it in a very hot oven 220° C for 45 – 60 minutes but the result won’t be so deliciously smoky.
- Remove from heat
- When cool enough to handle, discard the tops and peel off the skin, scraping the flesh from the back of the skin. Place in a food processor. Add the other ingredients and blend quickly, I like a chunky texture so I do this for a very short time. Season to taste with the salt and pepper.
When I have some I like to sprinkle the top with ground sumac but this is not widely available and not necessary. Serve with toast, bruschetta or more traditionally flatbread.
Based on a recipe from “Moro the cookbook”
Something has been digging in the garden for the last few weeks and I hadn’t been able to work out what it was, then last week I was looking out of my studio window and I saw something moving under the mulberry tree; what was it? A cat? – no, a dog? – no – it was a fox, a little different to the English foxes I’m familiar with, not so red with longer sleeker legs and a dark tan colour but still unmistakably a fox. One evening he came close to me while I was eating supper outside, he looked at me, for some minutes, as if I were the intruder in his garden, then moved a short distance away, checking me out again, then decided to turn and run. Since then I’ve seen him (I don’t know why I think it’s a male) most days. I know,now, where he’s coming in, so this weekend is when the hole gets filled and the fence strengthened! Sorry so far no photo!
Poor Brother Fox, I expect he liked your garden ,but its not good when they dig and scent mark everywhere. I rather hope for foxes, as I have an on going rabbit situation. Love the butterfly.
Exactly, mr. Fox is well behaved enough to have created a toilet outside the garden, but he is scent marking; competing with the perfume of the roses, lavender etc.