Recipes
Pork fillet
Monday 20 October, 2008
When we got our pig back from the butcher, there was a lovely piece of pork fillet included. We had it the other night, with roast potatoes, runner beans and peas - all our own produce. Most satisfying!
Dan stuffed it with a mixture of white bread crumbs, sage, thyme, onion, butter, lemon and egg, wrapped it in streaky bacon, glazed it with honey and mustard before roasting it. It was really delicious.
Homebrew on the horizon
Thursday 20 December, 2007
A long time ago we tried making our own wine. It wasn't a total disaster, but while the resultant blackcurrant and pea-pod wines were alcoholic and just about palatable, they didn't seem to be worth the effort - a 3 quid bottle from Tesco was infinitely better than anything we could produce ourselves.
Our wine kit was duly sold on eBay, and we've been happily drinking supermarket wine ever since.
One thing we're talked about many times since then has been brewing our own beer. Never ones to be put off by previous failure we're now embarking on that particular journey - today I ordered a Premium Real Ale Starter Kit from Brew it Yourself.
Bradley smoke generator in action
Wednesday 14 November, 2007
In advance of me getting my finger out and putting up some proper information on making bacon, here's a quick video showing our smoker setup.
Before we got the Bradley smoke generator we used a gas-ring to heat a metal plate, on which we would pile sawdust. It produced pretty good smoke, but also too much heat. Now the generator sits in the greenhouse, the smoke goes through the cardboard box and up the tumble-drier hose, outside and into the smoker. By that time it's pretty much at the ambient temperature, which at this time of year means damned cold.
Smoked bacon and Christmas cake
Sunday 4 November, 2007
Dan fired up his smoke generator today and smoked one piece of streaky bacon. The rest will get done tomorrow. He's really pleased with his new equipment - now he's talking about building a smoke house!
The best thing is that he's got the generator in the greenhouse - to get it in, he had to clear out the greenhouse, a job I've been trying to get to all week. So I can score it off my list without having expended any effort!
He also harvested the remains of the runner beans, which are on their way to being butter beans and are drying in the greenhouse - another one off my list. With that bed clear, I can now get some manure on it. I'm aiming for one barrowload a day, as I take it off the field. Why doesn't anyone want this lovely fertilizer and soil conditioner? It even smells nice...
Pork progress
Saturday 3 November, 2007
Well, really bacon progress. The bacon is now cured, rinsed and drying in pillowcases in the garage. On Monday, Dan will fire up the smoker, with its new Bradley smoke generator and maple briquettes, and smoke it. He promises me that he will put something super-duper in the articles, showing the process.
The back bacon looks particularly good and the butcher who butchered the pigs has agreed to slice the bacon, so roll on the first bacon buttie. Even if it is bad for you!
What some folk eat...
Monday 22 October, 2007
I was browsing the Ascott Smallholders' Supplies website tonight - retail therapy, I'm afraid.
The website's been upgraded since the last time I looked and it now has one of these facilities that shows you what the last person who bought that item also bought.
There was a book listed called "Home smoking and curing". The person who bought this also bought a multi-mouse repeating mouse trap and a live catch rat trap.
Garden progress
Monday 16 April, 2007
A wee bit more progress has been made over the weekend in the garden. I sowed six rows of swede (Marian) and Dan sowed 32 sweetcorn seeds (Sweet Nugget). I didn't make a very good job of netting the swede so will redo it tomorrow night. I was back to work today after a fortnight off and I'm absolutely dead beat, so am having a night off.
A cauliflower seedling is showing and I only sowed them last week - that's my kind of plant! The tomatoes, cucumber and courgette need to be potted on but Dan's going to do that in his "Gardening Hour" before work. He's only got three more days of gainful employment with the Council - then at least he'll only be doing one job.
Muffins
Monday 26 February, 2007
A friend loaned me a book of muffin recipes. While I was on holiday at half-term, I sorted out a basic recipe then started adding things. During the week I made blueberry; banana and walnut; apple and cinnamon and, finally, blackberry and vanilla (the last one was supposed to be raspberry and vanilla but what I thought were raspberries when I took then out the freezer, weren't). Dan (always conscious of his waistline) was taking them to work to hand out and I was sending his Mum home with some most days - she put on a pound and half that week. Dan started to count up the calories - but I argued that they're GOOD calories.
Curried sweet potato soup
Tuesday 16 January, 2007
We had this lovely soup at Carol and Graham's just before New Year. First time I made it, I forgot to add the coconut milk, but it was still lovely.
1kg sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 onion, peeled and chopped
two dessert spoons of curry paste
1l vegetable stock
can coconut milk
olive oil
Sweat the onion in oil, add paste and cook for a few minutes, add the sweet potato and the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes or so until the potato is soft. Add the coconut milk. Whizz until smooth.
Marmalade polenta cake
Saturday 6 January, 2007
This is for Anna, who has lost this recipe. It was in "Country Living " magazine in February 2006, inspiring me to make marmalade for the first time. I opened the last jar this morning, just in time for this year's Seville oranges to hit the shops.
Anna recommends this cake as easy and delicious.
200g softened butter; 250g golden caster sugar; 1 medium orange; 2 tbsp of fruity virgin olive oil; 4 large free range eggs; 150g SR flour, sifted; 1 tsp baking powder; 100g polenta flour or fine polenta; 100g Seville orange marmalade.
