It's autumn, there's saffron

Exactly a year to the day since I noticed our first crop of saffron poking their little heads out of the raised beds down the hill, the first flowers are again starting to appear.

At the same time, white topped mushrooms have appeared in the lawn.

There has been lots of rain and a drop in temperature ... triggering this new seasonal growth.

We harvested heaps of mushrooms, cooked them in the oven and froze them to use in the future.

Ones we harvest in coming days we'll use immediately.

Meanwhile, the olives are starting to colour ... changing from green to deep purple.

The last of the big tomatoes are preparing to ripen.

I love to see how the potager (vegetable garden) changes with the seasons.

Lamb and quince tajine

Today it got up to 30 degrees, for what might be the last throw of summer.

I spent the afternoon by the pool. The water temperature was 17 degrees.

It was refreshing to dive in.

After each dip, the warm sun felt good on my watery skin.

Yesterday I cooked dinner ... something I rarely do these days. Cliona is queen of the kitchen.

I made a Moroccan lamb and quince tajine, accompanied by Yotam Ottolenghi's version of tabbouleh.

I was thrilled to be able to use some of my home-grown ingredients (mainly herbs) for this dinner.

The tajine recipe comes from Waitrose. It differs a little bit from the traditional recipe I first tasted in a lamp-lit room in a remote farmhouse, east of Fes, on the road to Algeria, in July, 1976.

I fell in love with that dish and have tried to recreate it on many occasions since.

On Thursday, I went to the Moroccan butcher shop near St Livrade sur Lot to buy some lamb to go with the quinces we'd got from a friend.

I printed off an internet recipe and assembled all my ingredients on the bunker.

In this photo you can see lamb chops, quinces, onion, fresh ginger, garlic, ground coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, saffron (home grown), salt and pepper.

I browned the lamb in butter.

I removed the meat and added spices, onion and stock to the casserole and cooked for a few minutes, then returned the meat to the dish.

I peeled the sliced the quince, then boiled them for a while in water/lemon juice to which I'd added some honey. Then, I sauteed the quince in butter, with more honey, to sort of caramelise the fruit and attenuate the quince's innate, bitter flavour.

After slow-cooking for 90 minutes, I added the cooked quince and fresh coriander (home-grown).

We'd bought a rich loaf from the local bakery.

It was ready to serve.

A 2012 blend of Grenache and Syrah from the Cotes du Rhone accompanied the meal.

I used heaps of my own parsley, mint and tomato for the tabbouleh.

It was a pretty good dinner .... even if I say so myself.