Market time

Stoke Newington Farmers' Market was busy and blustery. My first stop was at the
Muck and Magic stall to buy some meat - it's lovely stuff. Nigel and Amanda's farm is in Suffolk, and I snaffled a pack of chipolatas before pondering pork or beef? (Tamworth or Red Poll?) In the end, I went for beef brisket - it's a lot less fatty than the brisket I remember my mother serving up. I suspect I'll end up doing a pot roast with some red wine.

At the entrance to the market, there's a chalk board highlighting the day's produce: the first strawberries were in, courtesy of the Apricot Centre. I bought a small punnet and gobbled one down on the bus home: it had that great spicy tang that home-grown berries have.

I wandered down the street to have a nose around in the garden centre - and spotted salad burnett among the herbs. I think I remember reading somewhere that this is a great herb with broad beans, so I bought a couple of plants.

My final purchase was a couple of Portuguese custard tarts from a cafe on the way back to the bus stop - one day, I'll get round to making them, but in the meantime...