You can never have enough garlic.

I know some won't agree but lovers of garlic know this is true. There is something seductively delicious about garlic whether in whole knobs slathered in olive oil and baked, crushed and added to pasta sauce, in stir fry or eaten raw.

It has been a great year for garlic in the garden. We have several varieties on hand, all with their own unique flavour notes. The Xian is earthy, the Italian White and Purple Monaro are sweeter and nuttier and the Ail de Pays Gers has a spicy heat that is reminiscent of garlic as eaten in France.

I have been reading about European peasant foods of late and recently came across a 70's recipe for a white gazpacho made with stale bread, freshly harvested garlic, olive oil and almonds. Who could resist! Garlic's flavour changes as it dries and matures but new season garlic has a moisture and freshness of flavour that lends itself to being used raw.

This recipe is a variation on the one in Rick Stein's book Spain  and there was little point deviating from the near perfect combination of ingredients, although there are a million equally luscious variations on the web. I could have made three times the batch as it is just as good for a high end dinner with friends as it is standing at the fridge drinking it from the container at midnight when it's still 29 degrees C. This is nirvana for garlic lovers and guaranteed to make your eyes roll back in your head.

I used Italian white garlic which has a slightly sweeter, milder flavour profile and a stale half loaf of white sourdough. I didn't worry about finding whole almonds, using a packet of left over ground almonds from the pantry fits with my resolution to use up the pantry contents. I do think that you need a really good olive oil, and sherry vinegar  has the right acidity for this soup. Remember that this is peasant food don't ever worry about experimenting, as long as you stick to the basic proportions you can't go far wrong.

My version is perfect for two people with some left over for lunch the next day. We followed it with a ham and peach salad using up the last of the Christmas ham.

Ajo blanco de Malaga (White Gazpacho with garlic, almonds and grapes)

120gms of stale white sourdough crusts removed

600mls of ice cold water (more or less to achieve the right consistency)

3 cloves of garlic chopped (add more or less according to your own taste)

60gms of almond meal or fresh blanched almonds whatever you have on hand

approx 80mls of good extra virgin olive oil

2 1/2 to 3 tbsp sherry vinegar

salt

approx 12 large seedless green grapes sliced in half

Chop bread into chunks and soak in 400mls of ice cold water for half an hour or until soft. Place in  food processor with garlic and almonds and process till smooth. Add oil in a thin stream while processor is running. It should emulsify into a thick pungent paste. 

With the processor running add  the sherry vinegar, a good pinch of salt (about a teaspoon) and enough ice cold water to make a soupy consistency. The soup is better a little thicker than thinner. You can add more ice cold water before serving if it thickens further in the fridge. Taste and adjust seasonings, but be careful, the garlic flavours will grow and develop as the soup chills so don't be tempted to add more garlic.

Chill well for two to three hours, or more, in the coldest part of the fridge.

Serve in chilled bowls with a scattering of grape halves, a drizzle of olive oil and a little cracked black pepper.

You'll be speaking Spanish in no time!

What will we eat? A resolution.

It's December 31 and we are still heaving under the weight of the Christmas feast. Everywhere I look there is food in this house. Three freezers and two fridges, a veg garden and a walk in pantry are at bursting point.  If I'm honest it's like that most of the time. When did we start to say what will we eat instead of what is there to eat?

Yep, we love food. We grow it, buy it, scrump it, cook it, preserve it, ferment it, jam it, smoke it and eat it. We also work too hard, spend too much time in the car, are totally over committed to all sorts of other things and people in our lives and don't ever get enough sleep. In short we are just like most of you, trying to eke out a living, pay our bills and make some sustainable choices that reduce the costs to our hip pockets and the planet without increasing the national debt or our overdraft. Most of the time we are just in a stew trying to get through each and every day.

We also throw out too much food. We piously convince ourselves that we recycle it through the compost and the chickens, but we just buy too damn much in the first place and are too flat out with life to remember what's there. This  results in not knowing what we have on hand and consequently by the time we reach that substrata in an expedition to the pantry or fridge it's generally no longer edible.

Since I'm fessing up here I have another guilty secret to share. I have enough cook books so that in the event of the next nuclear winter when all the power, food and technology  is owned by a few multi nationals and we can't afford to heat, light and run our houses, buy food or look up a recipe...hang on, what am I saying when?....my cookbook collection will become a mecca for people wanting to know how to do anything with food! I will be able to provide you with information on just about anything to do with growing, cooking, preparing and preserving because if it's been done, I've tried it. Someday I'll show you a picture of this little Nirvana of food information, right now I just need a ten step plan. 'Hello my name is *** and I'm a cookbook addict. It's been three hours and two minutes since I last looked at a cookbook'. When I enter the bookshop I need an ankle bracelet that will set off an alarm and scream 'step away from the shelf!'

How many recipes do you actually need? How long is a piece of string? How many cookbooks are out there? The current lust for cookbooks and celebrity chefs has created a dangerous environment for someone like me who spends every spare moment planning the next meal. Having said this I can honestly say I use these books, even my other half will agree. I've cooked recipes or used ideas out of every single one. I just want to try a new one every day.

The introduction of tablet technology into this house has created another opportunity to acquire cookbooks in  a 6' x 8' digital format without the need to go to the bookshop. Hmmm, let's not even go here. It's a blog for some other time.

So, this year I am making a resolution. One that will last past tomorrow's hangover. This is for real. I've created this blog so it's out there, while I can still afford the power anyway, and this is it...

For one whole year I am going to:-

Cook by asking the question 'What do we have to eat rather than what will we eat'.

This means:

· eating out the fridge, freezer and pantry before shopping for more (that'll take 6 months at least)

· using produce from the garden or that we've begged, traded, scrumped or otherwise acquired for free as well as eating what's in season (what am I going to do with 11kgs of raspberries and 30kgs of potatoes?)

· using every damn cookbook and collected recipe in the place to created luscious, beautiful food that is at times speedy, nicer to the planet and creates less waste but mostly just good to eat (did I mention we actually like to eat good food)

· not buy any new cookbooks (Oh man that's doomed to failure, oh well can't be 100% all the time)

· planning ahead a little and remembering what we already have in the house (all that thinking about food must be good for something!)

· being inventive with some really weird stuff that's been given house room in the pantry. What  the hell do you do with mastic and why do I even have it?

· tracking the highs and lows so we can do it better next year and reduce our carbon footprint to less that that of a small planet

· fitting this in around all the other crazy stuff in our lives and hopefully be healthier and a little more zen into the bargain and maybe, just maybe, have a fatter wallet from all the savings! Here's hoping.

So here it begins. I'll be back in a bit, just have to make a last minute dash to the bookstore!