Saturday 25 May is the start of English Wine Week, which runs until Sunday 2 June.

Wine has been produced in this country since the time of the Romans, and possibly even earlier. And there are still over 400 wineries in the UK — an astonishing number for a country which isn’t supposed to be able to grow grapes.

We all know that a glass or two from a lovely bottle of wine can put the special touch to an evening with friends or family, whether at home or at a nice restaurant. And I know from experience English wine is as good as any in the world, although not made in such large volumes — there are even English champagne-type wines.

Over recent years it has become easier to find English wine, with many vintners and supermarkets stocking it, although their ranges are often still limited. But it is well worth seeking out and Waitrose are apparently one of the few big retailers championing the cause.

There are a lot of English Wine Week events across the country; they’re all listed, along with more information at www.englishwineproducers.co.uk/news/events/?eww=1 and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EnglishWineWeek2013.

Hot on the heels of British Tomato Week, 20-26 May is also National Vegetarian Week.

National Vegetarian Week, which is all about how surprisingly simple it is to go vegetarian, is the annual awareness-raising campaign promoting inspirational vegetarian food and the benefits of a meat-free lifestyle.

Despite popular misconception, vegetarian food needn’t be dull, boring and tasteless; quite the opposite, good veggie dishes can be just as tasty, nutritious and fulfilling as any meat dish. As an example see my recipe for Veggie Crumble.

There are many reasons for being vegetarian from not liking meat right through to not liking to kill animals. For some it is a lifestyle choice; for others it is a matter of religion and for a few it is a medical necessity.

While I’m not veggie, and I doubt I could ever be 100% veggie, I do enjoy and we often choose to cook vegetarian dishes — and as regular readers here will know, we like our food! So I’d say that if you’ve ever even considered being vegetarian, then now is the time to try it. You might like it!

You can find details of National Vegetarian Week, including some more easy recipes, over at http://www.nationalvegetarianweek.org/.

British Tomato Week, which runs from 20 to 26 May, is a celebration of the range and quality of British tomatoes.

Sponsored by the Tomato Growers Association, British Tomato Week offers imaginative events but with a serious message: British tomatoes offer a fantastic range of healthy, wholesome fruit bursting with flavour and nutrients. And yet 4 out of 5 tomatoes eaten in the UK are imported.

Commercially tomatoes are grown in glasshouses to protect them from the cold and concentrate the sunshine they need. Amateur gardeners, of course, often grow tomatoes outside.

Tomatoes aren’t just those round, red, golf-ball sized fruits you find in the supermarket; there is a wide range of varieties! They come in all sizes, from small, sweet, cherry-sized fruits to deliciously large beefsteak tomatoes the size of a large fist. And in a range of colours from very pale yellow to deep red and even green.

Added to which tomatoes are actually incredibly good for you. They are a good source of Vitamins A, C and E, the natural plant pigments beta-carotene and lycopene, and also flavonoids … all of which have accepted health benefits.

Find more information on the British Tomato Growers Association website at .

Following on from yesterday’s Food-day past, I though I should post the recipe for the terrine — which I have to say is extremely yummy — I’ve eaten worse in good restaurants!

This is what I did, but like most recipes around here you can vary it almost any way you like.

Just one word of warning: as you see in the photo, these quantities make a huge amount; ours over-filled a large Le Creuset casserole; so you might want to make a smaller quantity.

Chicken Liver & Pork Terrine

Ingredients
2x 400g packs (organic) chicken livers
2x 400g packs good pork sausagemeat
thick slice of bacon (or 4-5 rashers of back bacon), cut into 5-10mm lardons
large red onion, finely chopped
large packet stuffing mix
6 large cloves garlic, crushed & chopped
2 peppers, finely chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 large handfuls fresh herbs (parsley, tarragon, basil or whatever is to hand), chopped
1 tbsp garlic paste
3 tbsp tomato paste
wine glass liquor (armagnac, brandy, whisky or wine, as preferred)
10 juniper berries, crushed
Worcester sauce
olive oil
butter (for greasing the casserole)
salt & pepper

Method
1. Well butter a large casserole or cake tin.
2. Tip the stuffing mix into a large mixing bowl and hydrate it with hot water as per instructions on the packet; but don’t make it too stiff, slightly too wet is fine.
3. Sauté the chopped onion, pepper, garlic and juniper berries in a little olive oil until the onion is just going translucent. Add the chopped bacon and cook for a few more minutes until the bacon is almost cooked. Add this to the stuffing, juices and all.
4. In a little more olive oil sauté the chicken livers until partly cooked but still bloody in the middle. The idea is really only to make them a bit less yeuchy to deal with. Set them aside to cool for a few minutes.
5. While the chicken livers cool, add all remaining ingredients except the egg to the mixture and start mixing it together.
6. Finely chop the chicken livers on a plate (they will still be bloody); or if you’re feeling really blood-thirsty blitz the livers in the food processor. Add the livers (with juices) to the mixture.
7. Add the beaten egg and mix everything together well.
8. Pour the mixture into the casserole and firm it down well.
9. Cover with a lid (or foil) and bake at about 160°C. (If the casserole is really full, stand it on a baking sheet.) To test if the terrine is cooked, insert a knife in the middle for a few seconds; if it is hot to touch when removed the terrine is cooked. I then gave mine another 10 minutes without the lid just to colour up the crust slightly. Overall mine took just shy of 2 hours.
10. Remove the casserole from the oven and allow it to cool for a little. Then press the terrine overnight as it cools (use a board or plate with a heavy jar as a weight); the more it is pressed the better.
11. Devour the following day(s) with good crusty bread and a glass of robust red wine.

There are an endless number of variations you can work here. Instead of (or as well as) the peppers use tomatoes, fennel, celery, aubergine, mushrooms. Use whatever herbs you fancy or have to hand; or replace the herbs with (wilted) spinach. Add (whole) kidney beans and maybe reduce the meat content. Use breadcrumbs instead of stuffing mix. It might even work with the addition of some (unsweetened) apple or apricot. Try it!

No today isn’t Friday, it’s Food-day. It has been one long food-a-thon of a day.

We started off this morning with our usual jaunt to the supermarket; we were slightly late this morning and got caught up with all the urchins going to school. It goes as follows from arrival at Waitrose … Look at the meat to see if there are any good bargains or reductions. Having done that off to the café for breakfast — tea and a bacon roll for me; coffee and sausage in a bun for Noreen — and a chance to wake up! Then we stroll round the store filling our trolley and ending with the fruit and veg.

This morning we struck lucky with the meat bargains. Short date chicken pieces reduced; and chicken livers. Same with duck breast roast. And sausage meat. And some lamb leg steaks. Hmmm … OK … lots of meat with short dates. No problem! Oh, there’s no room in the freezer. Ah! OK! … Hmmm …

And so much of the good fruit and veg was also on “3 for 2” offer: Jersey Royal potatoes, English strawberries, English raspberries, blueberries (OK, they were Spanish), and English asparagus. We just couldn’t lose today.

Finally home about 1115 for a quick sit down and a cuppa before lunch.

So after lunch we have to set to and deal with all this meat. Duck roast straight in the oven; done in 40 minutes and ready to be eaten cold, with asparagus salad, tomorrow.

Second. Make some yoghurt-y curry marinade for the chicken pieces. They’re sitting in the fridge until tomorrow, when they’ll be baked for cold on Sunday.

Then we have to deal with chicken livers and sausage meat. That means only one thing: an enormous terrine; basically a variant on my Game Terrine. Lots of chopping, messing and seething, but this is now sitting being pressed and cooling.

At that point we ran out of steam, and were in danger of running out of time too. So we had a clear up and another cuppa … before rounding everything off with a lamb sag curry and a couple of beers.

OK, so we failed with the apple, strawberry and raspberry crumble. That’ll have to wait until tomorrow — for a fresh supply of energy and a couple of dishwasher runs!

But that, to me, is a hugely successful day, as we have some great food lined up for much of the next week. Most of it at bargain prices! And all done by hand from fresh ingredients.