Summer reflections & Autumn arrivals

In this month’s Kitchen Diary we look back on a busy summer with a recipe right at the end of the season and look forward to the cool mornings and cozy nights of Autumn with all the November goings on at Blake’s HQ.

Image: @ljdaviescreative

Summer ‘21 was filled with familiar faces and some new decoration at Clanfield. We held our first post-pandemic bread making cookery school (massively delayed by the pandemic - email us if you’re interested in signing up for the next course, date TBC). We also immortalised our bread bags in tea towel and jute bag designs (available to buy in store and online today).

Every Saturday throughout November the team will be proudly wearing t-shirts purchased in support of Amber Lights in Oxford, an initiative set up to support Homeless Oxfordshire and the fantastic work they do, visit the website to find out more.

Like Blake’s, Amber Lights in Oxford has its roots in Clanfield and now, particularly as the weather turns colder, is the perfect time to show our support for a great cause.

Image: Amber Lights in Oxford

November means new dishes on our seasonal menu, new bread made without gluten-containing ingredients (coming soon, keep an eye on our online store for details), changes to our outside space with new heaters and furniture for the colder weather and, preparations for Christmas…

Recipe:

split pea & mint hummus

While the Blake’s menu begins to take an Autumnal twist, our Spilt Pea & Mint Hummus has proved super popular so we thought we’d share the recipe so you can continue to enjoy it at home…

Ingredients

• 350g cooked green split peas

• 100g tahini

• 2tbsp garlic powder

• Zest & juice of 1 lemon

• 6g cumin seeds

• 3g salt

• 60g olive oil

• 25g parsley

• 10g mint

Method

Put the parsley, mint & olive oil into a food processor to break down the herbs. Add the tahini, garlic powder, lemon & salt.

Lightly toast the cumin seeds and grind in pestle and mortar and add to the mix

Finish with the green split peas and blend until smooth. Add a touch of cold water to get a slightly smoother finish.