tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76249382917876464122024-03-14T09:07:07.402+00:00The GrazerFood blog of recipes, supperclubs and artisan experiments, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England.The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.comBlogger255125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-30846809576496041582019-08-02T14:48:00.002+01:002019-08-02T14:48:47.871+01:00It has been a while...It has been quite a year... apologies for the lack of recipes and writings! I have been quiet as I have been writing a book and opening a restaurant, both of which now exist!<br />
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It turns out that these things take up quite a lot of time! I spent last summer writing my first book, 'Cook House - How to leave your job and open a restaurant even if you're not sure how'.<br />
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IT IS OUT VERY SOON on 5th September 2019, published by Head of Zeus. It is a collection of recipes and stories, charting the opening of little Cook House in the shipping containers and all the trials and tribulations along the way.<br />
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You can pre order copies now! and hard copies will be available from 5th September, the first ever copy is winging it's way to me now in the post and I can't wait to see it...<br />
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Copies are available online now from:</div>
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Amazon: <a href="https://t.co/GAQ526IyT9">https://amzn.to/2Oe7LER </a></div>
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Waterstones: <a href="https://t.co/dd21Xm69ir">http://bit.ly/2YlczMF </a></div>
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Blackwells: <a href="https://t.co/WW8wNiMJaq">http://bit.ly/2JYE31t </a></div>
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Hive: <a href="https://t.co/sV1ncYilTH">http://bit.ly/2GrpxhH </a></div>
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Writing a book is incredibly hard work it turns out, I just had no idea, I love writing and documenting, but actually getting all of those words out, so many words, is just incredibly exhausting! I had migraines and many low points, but it is now all done! It is so exciting, and I really can't wait to see the final product.<br />
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We closed the doors to the containers on November the 10th and opened new Cook House on December the 11th. Now if I thought writing a book was hard, then opening a restaurant was ten fold. We managed and designed everything ourselves, tradesmen are unruly and untruthful at times and trying to get people to finish things or even just communicate things honestly was frustrating to the point of tears. We painted every inch of the building ourselves, on site every hour, with only instant coffee and Polish powdered milk for sustenance, and the occasional Gregg's.<br />
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Finishing the build and opening the restaurant happened at the same time, I literally ran from a meeting with the fire officer to my first service, having no idea where anything was or what I was actually going to do in the kitchen. Perhaps that lack of time to think was to our benefit, as there wasn't a second to get scared, we just motored in and haven't stopped since. We have found our way through trial and error, and with a very hard working, happy and experienced team, constantly helping us to improve. I couldn't be happier with the place and there is still lots more to come.<br />
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If you haven't been down you can find us on Foundry Lane in the Ouseburn, we are open Tuesday to Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I will be back soon with some recipes from our new kitchen!<br />
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<b>You can book a table by emailing us on <a href="mailto:cookhousebookings@gmail.com">cookhousebookings@gmail.com</a> or phone us on 01912761093</b></div>
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<b><a href="http://cookhouse.org/">cookhouse.org</a></b></div>
The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-71399367050729261612018-06-27T21:40:00.000+01:002018-06-27T21:40:02.549+01:00A couple of Cherry RecipesA huge thank you to everyone who joined in with our Kickstarter! We did it! We hit our target and raised all of the money, more infact! So I am very excited to get on with work at the new place and welcome you there as soon as we can! We have a planning application in and the builders will be starting soon, I will keep you up to date as it progresses.<br /><br />Back to food! It's cherry season! I love cherries, being particularly partial to a black cherry ice-cream, or a maraschino cherry at the bottom of a strong cocktail in Nite Hawks, in a bakewell, or morello cherry jam on toast... There are big boxes of cherries for sale in the Grainger Market for £2 at the moment, it really would be rude not to... So I thought I'd share two simple recipes... <br /><br />The cake is my take on a bakewell, all the flavours, but in a simple cake. The pickled cherries are a slight twist on a Diana Henry recipe, they go very well with a plate of cheese and are also good with things like chicken liver pate, terrines and cured meats. Enjoy cherry season while it lasts! <div>
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<b><i>Cherry and Almond Cake </i></b><br /><br />First a simple but delicious cake recipe! Heat the oven to 160˚C. Then melt 150g of butter in a pan, once melted set it aside to cool slightly. Combine 225g of self raising flour, 225g of caster sugar and a teaspoon of baking powder in a bowl. Then beat 2 eggs and 1/4 teaspoon of almond essence together in another small bowl.<br /> <br /> Prepare the cherries, for this I used 2 handfuls cut in half and de-stoned. Line a regular cake tin with greaseproof paper, I cut mine into a circle and tuck it in rather than faffing on with different pieces, it also makes it easy to lift out at the end. <br /><br />Finally combine the flour mix, butter and egg mix. Bring it together with a spatula, it is quite a thick batter like mix when it's done, mix it until it is smooth. Then add 3/4 of the mix to the cake tin and spread it out. You will think it seems like not very much but don't worry. Then lay the cherries over the mix in an even layer. Add the final 1/4 of the mix to the centre of the cake on top of the rhubarb. Quickly pop it in the oven and bake for 50 minutes. </div>
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Leave the cherries stone in and stalk on, this avoids a lot of faffing about but also makes them easy to eat and pretty I think, you need about 500g. Then heat 350ml of white wine vinegar with 400g of caster sugar, 4 cloves, a cinnamon stick, a pinch of chilli flakes, 10 black peppercorns; stir so the sugar doesn't stick to the bottom. Bring to the boil and then add the cherries for 2 minutes. <br /><br />Scoop them out into a 1 litre sterilised jar. Then continue to boil the liquid until it is a bit more syrupy, just for 5 minutes or so, then pour over the cherries. They should sit for a week or so before you eat them and will still be good after a year, getting more and more wrinkly and intense. </div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-86535376265541514112018-05-10T17:00:00.001+01:002018-05-10T17:00:47.396+01:00Cook House is moving! And we need your help!<div style="text-align: left;">
Cook House has been open for 3 and a half years and the place has gone from strength to strength, winning awards and gaining national recognition. We found out last year that our street was going to be redeveloped so have been looking for our next home ever since. </div>
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Cook House is tiny and unique, housed in two black shipping containers, with small gardens front and back, a wood burner and a lovely atmosphere. It's important to us that the next place keeps the feel and ethos of what we have created, but at the same time allows us to grow. </div>
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We have raised half of the money we need to set up our new home, and we are launching a crowd funding project for one month to raise the other half. </div>
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<b>Launching on Thursday 10th May you will have 28 days to buy a series of food related rewards to help get the new project off the ground. You will be able to book and pay for things now as 'rewards' and come and enjoy them when we open towards the end of summer, these include:</b></div>
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<b>- cookery classes</b></div>
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<b>- supperclubs</b></div>
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<b>- a day in the kitchen</b></div>
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<b>- cheese making classes</b></div>
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<b>- tickets to our summer BBQ</b></div>
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<b>- tables for lunch and dinner</b></div>
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<b>- gift vouchers</b></div>
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<b>- christmas parties</b></div>
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<b>- tickets to our private launch party</b></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/114314449/cook-house-a-new-home" target="_blank">CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR KICKSTARTER PAGE & WATCH OUR BRILLIANT FILM!</a></b></div>
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We have found the perfect spot right in the heart of the beautiful Ouseburn. It is full circle for me as it is taking on the building where I used to work as an architect before I entered the world of food! An unusual building with loads of space and potential. </div>
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The expansion is really exciting as we as we are looking to add many new aspects to what we already do. We will have our own grocery store, where you can buy many of the amazing local produce we use in the kitchen, cheese, vegetables, milk, eggs, local meats will all be on offer, as well as a range of our own Cook House products. </div>
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We will have loads more space so will be able to offer coffee, breakfast, brunch, lunch... and dinner! Which is very exciting! We will be fully licenced and will still host supperclubs and interesting food events in line with what we have developed over the past few years, also introducing more food demonstrations, chef collaborations and classes. </div>
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There will be a beautiful herb gardens with outdoor seating and room for a bbq and an ice cream cart in summer. Inside on the lower level we will house our shop, a space for cookery classes and a casual cafe and bar area.</div>
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Upstairs will be home to our light, bright kitchen and dining room and an amazing outdoor dining terrace. You can sit out on our terrace right at the centre of the Ouseburn, in amongst our plants and strings of lights looking out at the dramatic buildings and bridges of the valley. We're going to introduce a bit of fire cooking up here as well! </div>
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It is quite a big new project. We have raised half of the money ourselves but still need to raise £28,000. Things don't come cheap these days and we are keen to move beyond using second hand kitchen equipment out of my parents garage! </div>
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It has been a great 3 years at our current site. We have fed an awful lot of people, we've travelled the region hosting dinners in beautiful locations. We have gained a loyal following of lovely customers who we hope will be really excited about this next step. </div>
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We appeared on the Radio 4 Food Programme last year, and on Channel 4's 'Hidden Restaurants' series, cooking and filming with Michel Roux Junior at Cook House, this was an unbelievable boost to business. We were named as one of the Top 25 New Entries in the 2017 Good Food Guide and one of the Top 25 Coolest Restaurants by The Times in 2016, Top 5 Restaurants in Britain by Olive Magazine in 2015 and one of the Ten Best Budget Eats in Newcastle by The Guardian. </div>
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We recently won an Observer Food Monthly Award for Best Cheap Eats in the North 2017 and re-entered the Good Food Guide for 2018. We very much hope to continue and build upon this success in our new home. </div>
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I hope this new home for us, will not only be one of the most unique and brilliant spots within the Ouseburn, it will be also that within the whole of the city. The concept of coffee, breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, drinks, classes, demonstrations and shop, all combined in a unique and interesting building with outdoor gardens and terraces is one I would be pretty keen on hanging out at. All adding to the rich and talented independent food scene in Newcastle, that I'm very proud to be part of.</div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-48287056805784964212018-04-23T16:33:00.001+01:002018-04-23T16:33:40.893+01:00I'm going to publish a cookery book!!I am very excited to announce that my first book will be published next year! I have been keeping it under my hat for far too long! ‘COOK HOUSE’ will be a collection of recipes and the story of following my passion for food, published with the brilliant <a href="https://cookhouse.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7a78dc80826381f302c4815ad&id=afaa1ba3cc&e=b1f51ffef7">Head of Zeus</a> in September 2019.<br /><br />I have been working on my proposal since last summer, with the help of my agent Daisy at <a href="https://cookhouse.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7a78dc80826381f302c4815ad&id=0363e382d3&e=b1f51ffef7">Lutyens and Rubinstein</a>. The proposal described the concept of the book, which is a recipe book, but also the story of Cook House, of leaving one career to follow a true passion, I hope it will inspire other people to do the same, or at least dream. It also included a full recipe list and examples of my writing, example chapters and other little snippets I would like to include in the book, it was pretty lengthy by the end.<div>
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We sent it out to a list of chosen publishers in February and then waited nervously. I was delighted when Head of Zeus made an approach to buy the rights. I went down to meet the team in London a few weeks ago and am really looking forward to working with them. I will be working hard to put the whole thing together by the end of the year, you can follow the journey on <a href="https://cookhouse.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7a78dc80826381f302c4815ad&id=52e41ccb6c&e=b1f51ffef7">social media</a> and here on The Grazer.<br /><br />I can't wait to hold my own book, it is hugely exciting. It is so surreal to think I will be able to go into Waterstone's and pick it up, with my name on it. I still can't quite believe it!<br /><br /><br /></div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-36734325963833921662018-04-09T21:05:00.000+01:002018-04-09T21:05:11.092+01:00Pickled Rhubarb with Ginger, Orange & CloveMy god it's been a long winter, not that we are even out of it yet, but at least there are some signs. Today I felt the warm sun on me as I walked outside and I began to feel hopeful. Tomorrow it is forecast to rain all day, continuing for the rest of the week; but at least there are glimmers of hope...<br />
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We really felt this winter at Cook House. I lost track of how many times they tried to fix the roof, each time it seemed to have stopped leaking there would be another big freeze, a thaw, a shift, and subsequently a new leak. From November to February there was an issue almost every day and I shed some frustrated tears on occasion. Then the snow storms came, and there were no leaks as we were enveloped in a layer of snow and ice inside and out, totally frozen solid.<br />
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I can talk about it now that the other side is in sight, now that the daffodils are coming out and the sticks of rhubarb are beginning to appear at the allotment. People often ask me what to do with lots of rhubarb, it is a common allotment affliction, I only have a small plant and it produces more than enough for all my rhubarb requirements. Pickling is one of the answers I think; this pickle is really pretty damn good. It's lovely on it's own, great with cheese, rich liver pate or on top of a salad, and its super easy to make.<br />
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Fill a large, sterilised, 2 litre kilner jar with rhubarb cut down into 1- 2cm diagonal batons. I have seen recipes that ask you to put the rhubarb into the hot pickling liquid, but I find this generally makes it fall apart, so prefer to add the hot pickling liquid to it, as it softens, but keeps its shape.<br />
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For the pickling liquid combine 750ml water, 500ml white wine vinegar, 350g caster suger, 15g maldon sea salt and heat to dissolve everything. Then you can add your flavours, I used thick slices of fresh ginger, a few large peels of orange zest, a cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, a pinch of chilli flakes and a few black pepper corns. They all bring something to the party, heat and a kick from the ginger, warming chilli, fragrant orange... I don't usually love cloves, but here they really work and the musky flavour is mild but pleasant. Feel free to experiment with other flavours such as juniper, mace, cinnamon, coriander seed, fresh herbs...<br />
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Simmer the mix for 5 minutes to bring out all the flavours, then pour the hot liquid over the rhubarb and seal the jar, it will all bob up to the top to begin with and you may need to push it back down a few times over the course of first few days. It is delicious after a couple of days, really delicious after a couple of weeks and will keep well for months if you can manage not to eat it all...<br />
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<br />The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-64408834025251730122018-02-26T17:18:00.000+00:002018-02-26T17:18:51.031+00:00Whipped Feta on Toast with Smoked Leeks and Black Sesame<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sat round
the little pot bellied stove on a winter lunch time, chatting with a couple of
very talented chefs who wanted to come and do a guest chef night at Cook House,
one of them suddenly looked at the fire and said, 'you could cook aubergines in
there, or leeks...' and just as fast I was kicking myself that I had never
thought to do just that. I love cooking on fire, I have a fire... it took
someone else to join the dots that day, but I haven't looked back... Sticking a
bunch of leeks into the flames before you could say... burnt...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is now a staple item on the <a href="http://cookhouse.org/" target="_blank">Cook House</a> menu. The whipped feta is a good vehicle for any number of toppings, salty cheese whipped
up with thick creamy yoghurt and bitter good quality olive oil. It works well
with fruit or slow cooked veg, the salty bitterness of the cheese and oil balancing
well with sweetness in the toppings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I've
had it on and off the menu in a huge number or different guises; <i>Grilled peach and mint, fresh pear and
rocket, blood orange and toasted walnuts, pickled grapes and mint, roast
tomatoes and lovage, roast red peppers with rosemary... </i>But this was one of
the first variations I came up with and is still a favourite.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Crumble 200g of feta into a bowl and add 50g of good quality, live, full fat yoghurt and 25g of extra virgin olive oil, either put it into a
stand mixer and whisk on high for 5 minutes, or use a hand whisk to do the
same. There will still be some tiny lumps of feta, but in general the mix
should become lighter, smoother and more aerated. Now chill for an hour or so
before using and it will set a bit and retain the air.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Shove a
couple of large leeks into the flames of your fire, so the whole of the white
end and most of the green is engulfed by heat and flame, leaving the leafy end
poking out so you can get hold of it to turn. You can do this in a woodburner,
an open fire or if you're having a bbq shove them into the coals. They will
take about 15 minutes, turning occasionally; the whole of the outside with go
black and charred. You will know that they are done as when you pick them up,
using long heat proof tongs, they will collapse and bend as the inside is
cooked and super soft, juices sizzling into the fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Take
them out and put them into a baking tray and cover with cling film, leave them
to cool so you can handle them, this also allows the smoky flavours to sink in.
When they are cool enough to handle remove the black outer layers, it's a messy
job... You will be left with the soft cooked inner part of the leek that is
lightly smoked and sweet in flavour. Shred this all up into a tangle and dress
with a little olive oil and salt, it doesn't matter of you get the odd black
bit here and there, I think its unavoidable really. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To
assemble, toast some nice sour dough, spread with the feta mix, a good
centimetre thick, then top with a tangled pile of smoked leeks and a scatter of
toasted black sesame seeds. It's delicious; salty, smoky, sweet and nutty, a really
good balance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-79925009735658461362018-01-15T18:45:00.001+00:002018-01-30T08:42:39.672+00:00Kombucha Tea RecipeHappy New Year! Gut health isn't exactly a glamorous subject but one that has hugely interested me since reading <a href="http://michaelpollan.com/" target="_blank">Cooked by Michel Pollen</a> and more recently since meeting <a href="http://www.tim-spector.co.uk/" target="_blank">Professor Tim Spector</a> at the <a href="https://www.schoolofartisanfood.org/" target="_blank">School of Artisan Food</a>. He gave a fascinating hour long talk about understanding the microbes in our own gut, keeping them well looked after and in turn improving our health, weight and mental well being.<br />
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The gut is the largest organ in our body and keeping the microbes it contains alive and flourishing affects all aspects of our well being. It helps us digest things easily, controls calories absorbed, provides vitamins and keeps our immune systems strong. Modern diets that are full of processed supermarket ready meals, factory farmed meat full of antibiotics and fatty fast foods is destroying our gut health and preventing us from feeling fit and protecting ourselves against illness and diseases.<br />
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I've learnt that a diverse range of real foods, cooked yourself; and especially live foods are all things our gut loves. It's all good really as live foods covers wine and cheese; as well as live yoghurts, fermented foods such as kimchi, pickled fruit and vegetables, olives, miso soup, aged cheeses, live beer, sauerkraut, keffir and kombucha. These things used to be much more prevalent in people's diets when fridges were none existent or a luxury, as people were frequently preserving fruit, veg, milk, grapes etc as a regular part of life.<br />
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This led to my interest in keffir, which is a fermented milky yoghurt drink, and also kombucha which is a fermented sweet tea drink that tastes a bit like apple juice. I would highly recommend giving either a go at home if you are interested, we have both on the go, and also recently added a big vat of kimchi to our fermented house pals. Small bottles of keffir or kombucha are pretty expensive in the shops, but you can produce litres at home for pence. <br />
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Kombucha is such a tasty, refreshing, beneficial drink. I've also been looking at using it in our menus; whilst in London I had a salad of kombucha plums, beetroot and goats curd at Brunswick House. It was totally delicious. Simply by adding fruit to your kombucha for a week, you can flavour the drink and also get tangy delicious fruit to use in salads or puddings as you wish.</div>
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This Kombucha tea recipe is pretty simple. I ordered my 'scoby' online, this is the live element which looks a bit like the contents of a petri dish, it's a bit weird! It was in a pouch with a little bit of kombucha liquid, already fermented, which gets your batch going. You simply brew a big batch of strong sugary tea, I used 2 litres of water, 7 tea bags and 170g of caster sugar. I've been using breakfast tea but am going to try out other types next, green and early grey I think. Leave the tea to brew for 30 minutes then remove the tea bags.<br />
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Kombucha doesn't like metal, so you now need to transfer the tea to something glass preferably, and stir with a plastic spoon if you need to. Once the tea is cold, combine the scoby and the tea in a big glass jar and then leave it to ferment, I cover the top of mine with some kitchen roll and an elastic band so it can get some air. It is ready when it no longer tastes of tea, the fermentation process feeds on the sugar so it is no longer sweet, almost like a tart apple juice, slightly cider like taste. Strain off the kombucha leaving behind the scoby and a cup of kombucha, then start the process again, brewing a new batch of tea.<br />
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At this stage you can flavour the kombucha you have removed. I like it as it comes, but you can add fruit, apples, oranges, plums, pears, ginger, herbs... for a week, the strain again and drink. You can use the fruit in salads or puddings too. My first batch took a month to ferment, but has since sped up to a couple of weeks as the scoby has settled in and grown a bit. It's a strange yet fascinating process! Feel free to get in touch with any tips or questions!<br />
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I love it, I'm also drinking as much as possible of it and my keffir at the moment, everyone around me has flu and I'm determined not to succumb. I'm armed with fermented fluids and a big bag of clementines!</div>
The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-56163462073831686912017-11-07T19:39:00.001+00:002018-01-30T08:45:52.821+00:00Beetroot and Dill GravlaxI'm just back from an intense eating schedule in London. A wedding invitation that wasn't even in London but took us quite far south was excuse enough. I mark little stars on my maps of everywhere I'd like to eat around the world, with London being particularly heavily populated. The trouble is trying to narrow it down when we actually visit anywhere. I have the fear of getting it wrong, I only trust a few people to recommend and even then I don't always agree, I'm not fussy, I'm just always in search of the perfect meal!<br />
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We took in Kiln, a lovely wedding, St John (my all time favourite) A Wong, Brunswick House, Noble Rot, Pop Brixton and Black Axe Mangal... all in the name of research you understand, I took a lot of ideas home. I won't be adding up the receipts.<br />
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I have been getting my salmon from the Grainger Market at Lindsey's recently; they get it from Wester Ross, a salmon farm in the sea lochs of North West Scotland. <br />
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Salmon farming is a contentious subject and one that I have read frankly disgusting things about, I wouldn't buy salmon from the supermarket anymore, nor meat to be honest. So apart from eating wild salmon that isn't always available, I have been looking for sources and information that I trust. This is an independent operation that uses no antibiotics or chemicals, rears their fish by hand and gives them space and clear water to grow in without growth promoters or supplements.<br />
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I'm always looking to find out more however, about where my food comes from and the life it has had be it fish, fowl or fennel...</div>
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This works best with a big piece of fish, preferably a whole side, which will set you back about £35. I'm thinking Christmas here, as once cured it keeps well in the fridge and you can cut slivers off as required for canapés, starters and unexpected guests at any time.<br />
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Check over the salmon gently with your fingers and remove any bones with a pair of tweezers, then cut your piece of fish into equal length halves.<br />
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In a large bowl combine 300g caster sugar, 300g maldon sea salt, 15g black peppercorns crushed in a pestle and mortar, a roughly chopped bunch of dill and 2 peeled then grated beetroots. Give everything a good mix.</div>
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You will need a container that the salmon fits quite snugly in, I use a tupperware. Add about a quarter of the mix to the base, then one piece of salmon skin side down, then add about two thirds of the remaining mix and spread it over the salmon, add the next piece of salmon, skin side up, like a sandwich, then top with the remaining mix. Then you need to weigh it down, I usually slot in another tupperware and fill it with tins, or use a plate with something heavy on top... Then pop in the fridge.</div>
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If you are using large pieces I would cure it for about 5 days, turning both the pieces of salmon over daily; smaller pieces will be ready in 3 days. When it is ready take it out and brush off the mix, much of which will have turned to liquid and rinse under cold water, then dry thoroughly with paper towels. You will notice how much it has firmed up as it has cured, shedding its water and absorbing flavour. As you do this more you will learn whether you prefer the firm very cured bits at the edge or the softer lightly cured almost sashimi bits in the middle and you can cure your next piece to suit.</div>
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Leave the salmon attached to its skin and carve very thin slices with a very sharp knife on a slight angle. I love it with a winter salad and some brown bread and butter, I could happily eat a whole plate as canapés topped with fresh dill, and I particularly enjoy being the one carving as you get all the scraps. The sweet, salty flavour is delicious, oily rich fish and earthy beetroot and dill.</div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-22468376352676445242017-09-26T10:04:00.000+01:002018-01-30T08:47:19.329+00:00Apple and Cinnamon CakeWe have a ton of apples again this year at the allotment, part of one of our trees has collapsed due to the weight of apples and our trees sag across the path blocking people's way with apples. I am pretty sure everyone at the allotment thinks we are useless, we haven't been as much as I'd like this year, but I still love it.<br />
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Our allotment is 'wild' in style. I'm very tidy in the rest of my life, constantly picking things up, cleaning, reordering, stacking, straightening... I think you need to be like that to run an efficient kitchen... but it's nice to have a place in my life that is just a bit messy and free and still beautiful at the same time. I don't care if you can't get down some of the paths, or that you have to crawl under the apple trees to get in. It is overgrown with apple boughs, flowers, vines, blackberries, honeysuckle, creeping nasturtiums, huge fennel plants that have gone to seed, but I personally think that that is the beauty of it. It's not like it's a big patch of nettles; but I'll await my next warning email because I don't think the allotment committee agree...<br />
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I think I've been asked for this recipe more than any other recently, pretty much everyone who has ordered it at Cook House wants to know how to make it so I thought I'd better get on with writing it up. <br />
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Incidentally it is the cake that a woman once described on Facebook as 'so dry it was impossible to swallow'. She laid into me in front of lots of customers at Cook House when I had just opened, I'll never forget it. She said she would never be back, thankfully. I'd also like to add that she ate every last (dry) crumb of her cake. Thankfully everyone else seems to like it a lot. I suggest you try it and see for yourself...<br />
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Get your cake tin ready and lined and preheat the oven to 160˚C.<br />
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Peel one large cooking apple... I'm going to have to make a lot of cakes to get through all the allotment apples! and cut it into thick slices.<br />
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Melt 150g of butter in a pan on a gentle heat. Then add 225g of self raising flour to a bowl, followed by 225g of caster sugar, a teaspoon of baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Give all the dry stuff a good mix and make sure there are no clumps. Beat 2 eggs in another bowl and add a dash of almond essence, about 1/4 teaspoon.<br />
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Then add the eggs and the melted butter to the dry mix and quickly bring it together using a spatula, it is almost like a batter when it is fully mixed.</div>
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Add 3/4 of the mix to a lined cake tin and spread it out. It might seem like there's not much of the mixture to you, but don't worry, that's how it is meant to be. Then add a layer of apples to the top of the mix, covering the whole lot. Then add the remaining 1/4 of the mix to the middle, on top of the apples. Then quickly pop it in the oven and bake for 50 minutes.<br />
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Sprinkle the top with a tiny bit of sugar when it comes out, it will smell amazing, all being well. The batter like mix means you almost get a buttery crust to the edges of the cake, with the middle staying warm and crumbly with soft layers of sweet apple. It is very good still warm from the oven with a dollop of cream, and will keep well for a couple of days in an airtight tin if you're feeling restrained and don't eat it all at once...</div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-38368832297411819642017-09-24T10:06:00.000+01:002017-09-24T10:06:02.726+01:00Spiced Goat Mince Meatballs in a Roast Tomato & Pepper SauceThese meatballs were just a bit off the cuff on a Friday night faffing about in the kitchen; I had a packet of goat mince that needed cooking and made it up as I went along. They turned out to be an absolute triumph, and one that I can't wait to make again. I flavoured the meatballs with fennel and coriander seeds, roast them and tossed them in a roast tomato and red pepper sauce, it was so delicious! If you haven't had much goat in the past I would highly recommend it, not as strong as lamb or beef, just a really delicate beautiful flavour, try it out...<div>
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<br />Start with the tomatoes, I used a packet of regular sized vine tomatoes. Cut them into quarters and pop them into a baking tray, add a generous splash of olive oil, a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of sugar and some black pepper, give it a good mix and then pop it in the oven at 200˚C for 30 minutes, keep an eye on them as all tomatoes differ. You want it to start to colour and most of the water to cook away, until they start to look a bit sticky and caramelised. When they are ready tip them into a little blender and wizz them up until smooth, they almost become creamy. It's my new favourite way of making a tomato sauce, especially while tomatoes are in season I much prefer this roast fresh tomato method rather than using tins.<div>
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<br />While you are waiting for the tomatoes you can start the meatballs. I used one slice of stale brown sourdough bread, crusts removed, wizzed up into a fine crumb. Put the bread crumbs into a bowl and added a splash of milk and leave them to soak.<br /><br />Toast a teaspoon of coriander seeds and half a teaspoon of fennel seeds in a small pan until you can smell them, then pop them into a pestle and mortar and grind until you get a rough powder.<div>
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I used 400g of goat meat for 2 people, this was quite generous, and would feed 3 easily! I get my goat meat from The Goat Company who trade at Jesmond Food market, on the third Saturday of the month. Get a few packs and keep it in the freezer, it really is such delicious meat.</div>
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<br />Crumble the mince into a big bowl and add the spices. Then add half a finely chopped onion, a grated clove of garlic, a big pinch of maldon sea salt, some black pepper and the bread crumbs; and mix it all together. Then form into balls and roll together in your hands, about the size of a golf ball.<br /><br />Put them into a baking tray with some olive oil and a thinly sliced red pepper, coating everything in oil before putting them in the oven. Bake them for 25 minutes, but give them a shake after 10 minutes. They should take on a bit of colour but you don't want them to cook for too long and dry out.<br /><br />While they were in the oven I cooked a sliced onion in a bit of oil and butter until golden, then added the blitzed tomato sauce into the pan to warm through. A lot of fat came out of my meatballs, which was great as they ended up so juicy, so instead of adding the sauce into the baking tray I scooped them out of the fat with the peppers and tossed them into the sauce in the pan.<br /><br />Serve with some buttery polenta and some chopped fresh sage. They were SO good, really juicy delicious meatballs and the sauce was lovely and rich, perfect with buttery polenta and little bursts of sage. </div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-2566307442418812022017-09-23T09:08:00.002+01:002017-09-23T09:08:41.984+01:00Nasturtium Pesto<span style="font-family: inherit;">When Channel 4 phoned and said would I be interested in cooking with Michel Roux Junior on television, this was the recipe I came up with, on top of a chilled summer cucumber soup. I think I was a bit overwhelmed to be honest. I'm still a bit confused by my decision, and couldn't tell you where on earth it came from, but it is definitely tasty. I was inspired by the Ouseburn farm where I get some of my veg, it was August last year and there were huge beds of bright nasturtiums climbing all over, little courgettes, herbs and spiky cucumbers all waiting to be picked. So I made the soup and Michel made the pesto, he was very nice if you're interested, very nice indeed...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />It seems like Autumn is on it's way in , but I still have nasturtium leaves creeping all over the allotment, so if you have access to any you could give this a go...<br /><br />You need approximately 25g nasturtium leaves. These are very easy to grow in a pot if you fancy, just chuck a packet of seeds in some compost early summer and they should provide you with spicy leaves and edible flowers all summer. Pick 6 mint leaves and 10 nasturtium seed pods. These look a bit like capers and have a massively spicy kick to them, when the flowers wilt you're left with a seed pod, which you can eat, or keep and plant again. You will need 25g pumpkin seeds or pinenuts, a pinch of salt, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Michel does things properly so set about this is a pestle and mortar, but I mostly use my little whizzer; don't tell him. Add the nasturtium leaves, mint, seed pods, pumpkin seeds, a pinch of salt and a good glug of olive oil to the whizzer and blend until smooth. You might need to add more oil, I like it so you can drizzle it off a spoon rather than a thick paste, but it's up to you. Add the lemon juice at the end to taste, just a dash should do.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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</span>The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-67100174898774649722017-08-21T18:22:00.000+01:002017-08-21T18:23:19.454+01:00Grilled Peaches with Cheese - Sweet or SavoryI had some amazing peaches arrive at Cook House a few weeks ago, the perfect sweetness and the perfect ripeness, I have been putting them on the menu at home and at events as much as possible ever since. It's a good time for these late summer fruits; apricots, nectarines, grapes too... I've been cooking, grilling, pickling, poaching and more.<br />
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We held a big BBQ night at Cook House a few weeks ago and decided to do every course on the BBQ, including pudding and cheese accompaniments... When you have cooked all the meat and vegetables on your BBQ it often gets to the point that you think it's a shame that you still have such a nice fire and nothing else to cook. So I loaded the grill up with fruit! Grilled grapes are delicious with cheese I've found, just pop them on the BBQ at the end until they start to blacken and burst, let them cool a little and let people pick at them with some lovely local goats cheese.<br />
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Grilled peaches are my current favourite, and can be served in a number of ways, just with a dollop of cream or here I've included two recipes; a lovely lunch dish with feta on toast, and also served as a pudding with a delicious sweet whipped cheese. <br />
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Your peaches need to be ripe to start with, there is just no point in putting on a rock hard under ripe peach. This might mean buying them a good few days before you need them if they are not ripe in the shops.</div>
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Run a knife round to half them and twist to free from the stone, then lever the stone out with a knife. Brush the cut side with some oil and place cut side down on the grill. I grill them for about 5 minutes on this side, don't move them around, just leave them, if your fire is particularly hot they may need less time. Then using a fish slice scrape them free and flip over, and leave them to grill until hot and juicy, until they look like they are starting to collapse a bit. The fire brings out all the juices and delicious sweetness. Remove from the heat when you think they are done, they can be served hot or left to cool to room temperature. <br />
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They are great in a salad, with crumbled cheese, toasted nuts and rocket or with some cured meats. Here I have included a savory lunch dish and a sweet pudding both based on the same idea of fresh cheese with peaches and mint...</div>
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<i><br />Grilled Peaches with Feta & Mint on Toast</i><br />
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Toast some sliced sour dough and drizzle with some good quality extra virgin olive oil, crumble over some feta cheese and top with the room temperature grilled peaches, some torn up mint leaves, a bit of black pepper and some more olive oil. The sweet peaches are delicious with the salty cheese and fresh mint.</div>
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<i>Grilled Peaches with Whipped Fromage Blanc, Mint & Toasted Hazelnuts </i><br />
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Whip together 150g cream cheese, 100g double cream, 150g yoghurt and 75g sugar. Whip with an electric whisk until it starts to thicken, it takes a while, then add the juice of half a lemon and whip for a few more minutes. Serve this sweet cream with warm grilled peaches, a sprinkle of toasted hazelnuts and some torn mint leaves. The sweet cheese is a bit like a cheesecake topping and is so delicious with the juicy peaces and the crunchy toasted nuts.</div>
The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-79429564067226321252017-07-10T20:21:00.000+01:002017-07-10T20:21:51.496+01:00Poached Peaches with Ginger, Lemon & CardamomApricots, strawberries, peaches, cherries, raspberries are all abundant at the moment and we've been ordering them by the box load at Cook House. The window between not ripe and overripe can be small, sometimes overnight on a hot day... Remember those, we had a few before we hit monsoon season...<br /><br />We're pickling cherries by the bucketload, using a Diana Henry recipe with vinegar, sugar, cloves, black pepper and juniper, they are totally delicious with cheese... I want to keep plenty for autumn however as I think they will be brilliant with some autumn game; duck, venison, pigeon... The syrup even has a use when the cherries have all been eaten, a splash of soda and you have yourself a brilliant cherryade! Add gin at your own discretion... <div>
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<br />I've been poaching the apricots and peaches, to serve with a cardamom panna cotta and also with yoghurt and granola for breakfast. I love the flavour of both and I think poaching them really brings it out, it's like that peak ripeness that you get for 5 minutes extended into something that keeps for a while. It also takes me back to those tins of fruit that my granny used to serve with ice-cream and a wafer. I always liked the peach, the bright red cherries were the best, and I staunchly avoided the gritty white bits which I guess were pear perhaps? </div>
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I've been poaching them in a 1 part sugar 3 parts water syrup, it isn't overly sweet, I prefer it this way as I want to taste the fruit not a sugary sweet syrup, but if it is not sweet enough for you just increase the amount of sugar.<br /><br />Take 400g sugar and add to a pan with 1.2litres of water and heat to dissolve. I've added a few different flavourings, I really like a bit of fresh ginger, if the peaches are quite ripe they need a bit of lemon and today I added 2 bashed pods of cardamom. Other ideas I might try are rosemary, juniper, thyme, pepper, star anise, fennel seeds...</div>
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<br />I added 1 lemon, the juice squeezed in and the squeezed halves added in too, 6 or 7 slices of fresh ginger and 2 bashed pods of cardamom. Simmer this for 5 minutes, then add the peaches. I used 6 large peaches cut into quarters with the stones removed. Simmer the peaches gently for between 5 and 10 minutes, until soft. It will depend on how ripe they are to start, it's better to be a bit under cooked as they can fall apart when overcooked. The skins will fall away as they cook, just pull them off. Cool them in the syrup and keep them in the fridge.<br /><br />They are delicious with yoghurt for breakfast, or with a bit of thick cream for pudding. I've been serving them on top of a cardamom panna cotta too which is bloody lovely!</div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-19610410271291977012017-06-11T18:40:00.000+01:002017-06-11T18:40:26.784+01:00Elderflower VinegarFlavoured vinegars bring to mind a foodie gift that no one uses, in a pretty bottle from a posh deli. At least that was until I started experimenting with <a href="http://the-grazer.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/drinking-vinegars-or-shrubs.html" target="_blank">making shrubs; flavoured vinegars for drinks</a> and cocktails, and suddenly I've become a bit more interested...<div>
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<br />At Cook House at the moment we have vinegars infused with pineshoots, cherries, raspberry and black pepper, lovage and parsley, and most recently Eldeflower. I've got a long list of other things that I want to get on the go as they come in to season; full tomato stems on the vine, fennel, nasturtiums, gooseberries, rhubarb...<br /><br />The Elderflowers are out everywhere at the moment, it seems to be a bumper year as I've spotted their big white blousey flowers waving at me everywhere I go. I have a good spot near Cook House that I pass when I walk down in the mornings so I filled a bag as soon as they appeared.<br /><br />I've made batches and batches of Elderflower cordial in the past, but wanted to do something a bit more interesting with them this year, and something that I could add to the preserving shelves and use all year round. I'll have to think of something else to do with them too as there are just so many it seems rude not to.</div>
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<br />I gave the flower heads a gentle shake to get rid of the tiny black bugs that love them so. Some of these will no doubt get in to the vinegar, but you can strain it through a cloth before you use it and it'll be fine. I went for the most straight forward approach for this vinegar, no heating or additional flavours. Simply fill a jar with flower heads and pour over good quality white wine vinegar. That's it. Give it a bit of a shake to get rid of any air pockets and then leave.<br /><br />I've been giving it a bit of a swirl everyday and after a week the smell was delicious, really powerful Elderflower, stronger than the vinegar. Sometimes it can smell a bit sickly sweet for me so it works well in vinegar which balances it out. It is great in salad dressings, drinks or a spritz over BBQ'd meat or fish in place of lemon.</div>
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<br />I have left the flowers in for two weeks so far and it is smelling and tasting very good. I strained some off to use in a cocktail at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cookhouseouseburn/posts/1922932377925505" target="_blank">Cook House's Spring dinner evening last week (you can see photos here</a>). We served 1 part gin, 2 parts lemon cordial, 1 part Elderflower vinegar and topped up with soda water. It was delicious! The cocktail aspect has definitely got me thinking about what to pop in the next jar of vinegar that might go well with a gin...</div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-24260410987595459532017-06-04T19:47:00.000+01:002017-06-04T19:47:25.060+01:00Lovage SaltI don't know why you don't find lovage in the shops alongside the likes of parsley, mint and dill. It's very easy to grow, keeps well and has grown in Europe for centuries.<br /><br />Some friends gave me a cutting of it a few years ago to go in the allotment, it took well and we now have a huge bush of it that requires no looking after at all. I hadn't really known it's flavour much until then as you rarely come across it.<div>
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The leaves are used like a herb and you can eat the root too, but I'm yet to dig it up, the seeds can be used too. It's flavour is similar to celery, celeriac and parsley, but I enjoy it more than all of them, slightly more pungent and complex. If you just eat a leave straight off the plant it is pretty intense, it works best in small doses to complement other things.<br /><br />I love it in a tomato salad, in a leek and parsley soup, in a mayonnaise; it works really well with roast chicken which is how this salt came about, a simple idea but lovely sprinkled over moist roast chicken and it's buttery juices. I have chopped it up and mixed it with crème fraiche before and stuffed it under the skin of a chicken before it goes in the oven where the cream and flavours sink into the meat as it cooks.<br /><br />I have used it in sweet stuff too, to flavour a panna cotta, and while going through a phase of candying everything last year I candied little sections of the stem. It's delicious as something sweet, a bit like angelica, lovely sweet fennel like flavours<br /><br />This salt also works well with other herbs; like thyme, sage or dill. Simply chop the herbs finely and mix with an equal quantity of Maldon sea salt. Mix them together and I find it best to put it in the sun and let it dry out over a few days. The water will gradually evaporate and you are left with a delicious flavoured salt that can go on roast meats, salads, soups, bloody mary's, whatever you fancy...</div>
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<br />If you want to try this with roast chicken, I would smear it all over with butter, squeeze over the juice of half a lemon, pop the lemon in the cavity and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes very hot, about 220˚C, then 40 minutes at 190˚C for a relatively big chicken. When it is done leave it to rest for 15 minutes then carve it into the buttery juices in the tin and sprinkle with lovage salt.</div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-57442190571569631242017-05-16T11:42:00.000+01:002017-05-16T11:42:28.532+01:00Butter & Cardamom BunsI was back at the <a href="https://www.schoolofartisanfood.org/" target="_blank">School of Artisan Food</a> again this month, for their Food for Thought lecture weekend; not as a speaker this year, but a guest. Which meant I could fully enjoy it with no nerves. It was a brilliant weekend last year and proved so again this year. It's almost a bit overwhelming listening to that many fascinating speakers.<br /><br />Over a sunny weekend on the Welbeck Estate we listened to Bronwen and Francis Percival talk about cheese, about tracing flavours back to what the cow eats in the field and everything along the way. Nicole Pisani and Oli Pagani spoke about the move from professional Nopi chefs to running school canteens for over 500 children. We heard about biodynamic soil, Pakistani seasons from Sumayya Usmani, spices, the power of food social media from Felicity Cloake, diet myths and gut microbes from Tim Spector, sustainable diets for the future from Professor Tim Lang, small food revolutions and much more besides, it was utterly fascinating, hugely educational and inspiring.<div>
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<br />The School of Artisan Food is an amazing place, with the baking at the school being particularly impressive, over breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea we were served sour doughs, focaccias, malt loaves, crackers, cookies and amazing brownies...<br /><br />I've been baking a bit more recently, we currently have a pork bun on the menu at Cook House. Pork we buy direct from the farm in Medomsley, it's a mangalitza, saddleback, middle white cross and it is so delicious, a real depth of flavour that I've not had the like of before. It seems only right to give it a freshly baked bun each morning. I guess these little buns have similarities with a brioche style bun, slightly sweetened, inspired by reading the Nordic Bakery book.<br /><br />Get everything ready before you begin. Weigh out 500g of strong white bread flour and add a 7g sachet of dried yeast. Weigh out 75g of sugar and add 1 teaspoon of salt. You can add flavour at this point, I have used ground fennel seeds, ground cardamom or black pepper in the past, my favourite is the cardamom, add half a teaspoon of your chosen spice. <br /><br />Weight out 75g of softened butter, and beat one egg in a separate bowl.<br /><br />Heat 250ml of milk until warm, not hot, test it with your finger to check. Remove from the heat and add a couple of spoonfuls of the warm milk into the egg, mix, then add the milk and egg back into the milk pan. Then add in the sugar, salt and spice and whisk until it is all dissolved.<br /><br />If you are using a stand mixer or Kitchenaid combine everything into the bowl, flour, yeast, butter and the milk mixture, and put it on to mix with a dough hook for 10 minutes.<br /><br />If you are doing it by hand combine everything in a large bowl, bring it all together with a spatula and then turn out onto a floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes. It is quite a light sticky dough, so you may need to keep flouring your hands.<br /><br />Bring the dough into a ball and leave it in a large bowl, covered with cling film in a warm spot for about an hour or until it is doubled in size. It starts about the size of a melon. The weather and temperature of the day have a huge difference on how quickly this happens, it won't take long on a warm sunny day and you'll get sick of waiting in the winter! After this time knead again for 10 minutes either by hand or in the mixer.<br /><br />Now it is time to form the buns, tip out the dough and weigh it, for tiny buns divide by 20 and for larger buns divide by ten. If you do ten they end up roughly the size of a burger bun.<br /><br />Cut off the correct amount of dough, it is usually about 95g for the larger buns, then holding your hand like a claw with the dough under it, move the dough round in circular motions on the work surface. You might need a little flour if it is really sticky but I find it easier to form without. The motion should be pushing the edges round and under and forming a neat little ball. I then dip the bottoms in flour and place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof a few inches apart.<br /><br />Cover them all with cling film and let them sit for another half an hour. Then wash the tops with beaten egg and you can sprinkle on seeds or spice too.</div>
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<br /><br />Bake at 200˚C, 10 minutes for the tiny buns and approximately 15 minutes for the larger ones. I turn the larger ones after 10 minutes if they are not browning evenly, you want an even golden colour all over and they should sound hollow when you tap the bottoms. Then leave them to rest for half an hour before you dive in...<br /><br />They are so bouncy and delicious, slightly sweet and buttery and especially good with cold butter or slow roast pork!</div>
The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-1853342642589523742017-03-21T19:21:00.000+00:002017-03-21T19:22:27.710+00:00Rhubarb & Almond Cake with a side of Michel Roux JnrIt's been a very busy few months, with charity and TV taking up all my time, which sounds glamorous but in fact has just been very, very hard work. <a href="https://somethingforsyria.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Something for Syria</a> came to life at the end of February. A night that began as an idea at Christmas to raise some money for the people of Aleppo and escalated into a full on massive do at Wylam Brewery that raised over £30,000; thirty thousand pounds! It still makes me quite emotional. It just shows what you can do when a few of you put your heads together and call on the kind and talented people of the North East... <br />
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Just when it felt calm and I could get back to the work and life I had totally ignored running up to the event I got a call from Boomerang Productions; I was going to be on tv... Cook House appeared last week as part of a new series on Channel 4 called Hidden Restaurants with Michel Roux Jnr. The crew spent 10 hours filming at Cook House last summer; who knew there was so much to film in such a tiny space! I was incredibly nervous, thankfully that didn't seem to show through too much.<br />
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So one August morning Michel Roux arrived at the door, off we went to the Ouseburn Farm and picked some lovely fresh vegetables and herbs then cooked together at back at Cook House! I lost all sense of what to say, how to move and talk at the same time, how to chop... but thankfully they were a very encouraging and friendly bunch and were also very good at editing! That Michel was a pro, super professional, a really nice guy. Since it has aired Cook House has been inundated with new customers, which is wonderful, and incredibly hard work! I'm definitely going to need a holiday at some point!</div>
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In other news the rhubarb is up! So I thought you might like a simple but delicious cake recipe! Heat the oven to 160˚C. Then melt 150g of butter in a pan, once melted set it aside to cool slightly. Combine 225g of self raising flour, 225g of caster sugar and a teaspoon of baking powder in a bowl. Then beat 2 eggs and 1/4 teaspoon of almond essence together in another small bowl.<br />
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Prepare the fruit, for this I used 2 sticks of rhubarb cut on the diagonal and tossed in a bit of sugar to take the edge off them. This cake also works well with apples, raspberries, pears, plums... anything fruity you can throw at it I think!<br />
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Line a regular cake tin with greaseproof paper, I cut mine into a circle and tuck it in rather than faffing on with different pieces, it also makes it easy to lift out at the end and deals nicely with my slightly leaking cake tin.</div>
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Finally combine the flour mix, butter and egg mix. Bring it together with a spatula, it is quite a thick batter like mix when it's done, mix it until it is smooth. Then add 3/4 of the mix to the cake tin and spread it out. You will think it seems like not very much but don't worry. Then lay the rhubarb over the mix in an even layer. Add the final 1/4 of the mix to the centre of the cake on top of the rhubarb. Quickly pop it in the oven and bake for 50 minutes.</div>
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It is delicious, one of my favourite cakes, not overly sweet, but buttery and crumbly. The outside of the cake forms a delicious buttery crust and it is soft and fruity in the middle, lovely with a dollop of cream!</div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-50683958259410356652017-01-31T15:15:00.000+00:002017-01-31T15:15:26.552+00:00Venison Loin in Butter, Thyme & Garlic<span style="font-family: inherit;">'Are you interested in a roe deer?' Well yes, in short; regardless of who is asking and in what context. Max the chef at Bistro 46 had a deer going spare 'head off, hoofs off, skin on' did I want it? So I found myself the owner of a new headless pet... I enjoy a bit of butchery, but have only really dealt with game birds and small animals to be honest. The thought of the deer didn't really phase me. I was excited to get to grips with it, really interested, and I like learning new skills. I watched a few videos, but in the end I took it along to <a href="http://charlottesbutchery.com/">Charlotte's Butchery</a> and asked her to give me a lesson, as I was concerned I didn't have the right tools, I need to invest in a few saws...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Charlotte took me through it. Removing the skin to start, which wasn't as difficult as I thought, then breaking down the deer into shoulders, legs and loins. I'd happily tackle the next one myself as it is easy enough to figure out, following muscles and the obvious joints of an animals body. It's an art I think, and one I would like to become better at.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />There are two loins either side of the spine that once you know what you are doing are pretty easy to remove. They would serve 4 people, but we ate one between two because that's what often seems to happen in our house and also, we were on holiday. I have to say it is the most delicious venison I have ever had, which could be for any number of personal reasons, but it just was. It was shot near Chevington, just up the road, and I hope it won't be the last venison I can get from Max.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />I haven't had a pan large enough on any occasion to cook the loin all in one piece, and it doesn't suffer at all from being cut in half, one end seems slightly thinner than the other, this may be my butchery skills, so it needed a touch less cooking.<br /><br />Bring the loin to room temperature, for at least an hour, maybe more; then dry it thoroughly with kitchen roll and season generously with salt and pepper, more than you think, as if you were salting a pavement I read somewhere...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Take a heavy non stick frying pan and add a little bit of oil, it doesn't need too much. Then when it is hot you can add the venison, it should sizzle loudly as it hits the pan. Add both halves to the pan, don't move them or touch them or press them, just leave them to cook for 2 minutes. Watch them, the pan should be hot, but if it smells like its burning then turn it down a touch. After 2 minutes turn the loin onto the other side and give it 2 minutes again, it should have taken on a lovely golden colour. <br /><br />I'm generally more at home with slow cooking, lots of flavours gently mingling together, rather than fast paced hot pans. But I find it exciting, I'm working on becoming more au fait with cooking with fire. Francis Mallmann, Niklas Ekstedt and others are inspiring me. Ideally I would have done this in a big heavy cast iron pan over a drift wood fire on the beach... another time, this time will come.<br /><br />When the loin has had 2 minutes on each side turn the heat off and throw a big knob of butter into the hot pan, along with a crushed clove of garlic and some thyme. Then start to baste the meat for ten minutes, spooning over the delicious melted butter that has picked up all the flavours of the meat, the garlic and the thyme.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />Finally remove the loin and rest it somewhere warm for 5 minutes. Carve into 2cm slices and serve, drizzle a little of the pan juices over the meat on the plate. We had it with some sticky beetroot and red cabbage and some celeriac mash with lots of butter and a bit of nutmeg. The meat is on the rare side of medium rare, and is so beautifully soft and delicious. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed both of the loins, each as delicious as the other.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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</span>The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-44393543401828023232017-01-22T18:17:00.000+00:002017-01-22T18:17:35.616+00:00Shetland Scallops smoked over SeaweedThe little grey fish van pulled up just as we were about to give up. We had seen a few up in Scrabster; little vans that drive around, you can flag them down and buy fish anywhere you see them. We hadn't found any fish shops and had left a message with a man about some lobster but that was yet to come to fruition.<br />
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We've been up in the very North of Scotland for a weeks holiday, just a cottage on a beach, surrounded by sea, big skies, hills and nature.<br />
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There were no lobsters and langoustine aboard unfortunately, but plenty of other guys, we ended up with some massive Shetland scallops, a couple of kippers and a wild card of some cod roe. I wasn't sure what to do with it at first, but ended up smoking it by the beach fire and blitzing it into a version of taramasalata that was delicious, considering I guessed how to make it.<br />
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I'd read something in Niklas Ekstedt's book about scallops and cucumber steamed over seaweed, so set about making a plan, as when you're staying in a cottage on your own beach that's the kind of wonderful plan you need...<br />
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I wandered down and cut some fresh live seaweed from the rocks, you shouldn't use stuff just lying on the beach. I've been reading a bit about seaweeds lately, you can eat all of them in Britain I believe, but some are just disgusting, I plan to dry some out and use it for seasoning. There were a couple of types on the rocks, the one you make nori from and another with bits you can pop, I'm not down with the names just yet. I picked a big serving bowl full.<br />
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We built a small fire in amongst some massive rocks, where it would still get plenty of air flow from below, but was a bit sheltered from the winds whistling in off the sea. We got it going using driftwood twigs and dried out seaweed from the beach, topped with some birch logs. Nicklaus always uses birch wood so we followed his advice, he knows what he's doing when it comes to fire, and scallops for that matter...<br />
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There are two stages to this; the pan, then the seaweed... So once the fire was pretty strong I put a bit bit of butter into the pan and heated until it sizzled over the fire. I need to invest in some good cast iron numbers for this really. Then add the scallops and cook for roughly two minutes on each side. They will have taken on a lovely golden colour, remove to a warm plate, then add a bit more butter to the pan until melted, stirring up all the scraps of flavour from the bottom of the pan, then remove the pan from the fire.<br />
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Now quickly cover the fire with seaweed, all over, you don't want it to go out but conversely you don't want the flames coming through burning the scallops. A nice thick seaweed bed for the scallops to sit on.<br />
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I'm not sure whether Nicklaus' version is to steam or smoke these scallops but ours were definitely smoked. I left them on for about 2 minutes on each side, the seaweed began to change colour to a deep green and just as it began to catch fire and flames began to lick through the seaweed we took the scallops off. Season with salt and drizzle with hot butter from the pan.<br />
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I loved them, I really hope I get a chance to do this again. They were rich and smoky, but slightly different to a wood smoke taste, more mellow, and you could still taste clearly the sweet soft scallop and the sea. I really loved them, did I say that already... There's something exciting and magical about cooking outside on the fire, it makes everything taste better. We rushed inside to eat just as it started to rain.<br />
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<br />The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-55607911730847041572016-11-29T22:28:00.000+00:002016-11-29T22:28:38.744+00:00Pigeon ProsciuttoI want my game to taste of game, I like it hung and full of strong gamey flavour, it's one of the highlights of Autumn for me. These little pigeon breasts do not disappoint in that respect and are full of flavour. The Feathers Inn had too many to deal with so sent some my way, I think about 20, and I wanted to do something a bit different with them.<br />
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I've read about duck ham, although not yet tried it out, so did a bit of reading around the subject. I couldn't find anything about any cured pigeon but thought I'd give it a go anyway. I liked the idea of some cured gamey meat with pickled pears and walnuts, it was ticking a lot of autumnal boxes in my head...<br />
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Pigeons are pretty easy to pluck, the feathers come out pretty easily and don't generally tear the skin, it becomes harder work the bigger the bird and how presentable you want them to look at the end. I quite enjoy it, it can be quite messy so recently I've been wrapping up warm and setting up outside with a table and a bin bag, utilising the wind to clear up all the stray feathers, rather than intensive hoovering.<br />
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If you're giving this a go starting with a feathered friend, gently pull out all the feathers covering the breast, using your thumb and forefinger. Remove all the feathers from the neck, on the shoulders, down under the wings, over the breast and down to its bum... If you were going to roast it whole you would need to continue to pluck the whole bird, remove the head, wings and legs and then gut it, but that's another story and actually quite easy once you've done it a few times.<br />
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Once all the breast feathers are removed take a very sharp knife and make an incision down the centre of the skin along the breast bone, then pull the skin back from the meat to reveal the whole pigeon breast. Then pick a side and keep your knife as close to the bone all the way along from neck to bottom, gently running the length of the bird to remove the breast in one piece with as much meat as possible, aiming to leave little or none behind on the carcass. Repeat on the other side. Then there you have it, a butchered pigeon, you will improve the more you do it, I found doing 20 odd quite satisfying and was pretty proud of my efforts by the end.<br />
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I used a cure of 3 parts fine salt and 1 part sugar as I wanted a slight sweetness to it. I added some black pepper, torn up bay leaves, some rosemary and some crushed juniper berries. Sprinkle half of the mix over the bottom of a flat container that will fit all your pigeon breasts, then cover everything with the other half of the cure.<br />
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I wasn't sure how long to leave the pigeon to achieve what I wanted, but I put them in one afternoon and checked them the next morning and they were done. I had imagined 2 or 3 days but it was much quicker. The cure had turned to liquid, in turn drawing the liquid out of the meat, the meat had become harder and more solid over night. Remove the pigeon and rinse under cold water, then dry them off with some kitchen roll. I left them out to dry in the air for a few hours, but they are ready to eat straight away. They are rich and gamey, delicious, with a salty hit. I was really pleased with them.<br />
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After eating a whole one straight off and patting myself on the back a bit I wondered what to do with them. Curing something always feels a bit like magic to me, you've created something quite complex by doing something quite simple, I always feel a great sense of achievement! I put these guys into a salad that was delicious with bitter radicchio, sweet pickled pears, toasted walnuts and the salty rich irony pigeon, it worked really well.<br />
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<br />The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-31015193089666694472016-10-18T17:33:00.000+01:002016-10-18T17:33:10.501+01:00Goat Mince RaguAll through October chefs and restaurants all over the country were taking part in something called <a href="http://www.cabrito.co.uk/goatober/" target="_blank">'Goatober'</a>. I've got to say, it's not the catchiest of titles, but you get the jist, goats and October being the important bits. <br /><br />Goatober is the brainchild of Heritage Radio Network Executive Director, Erin Fairbanks, and renowned New York cheesemonger, Anne Saxelby. An annual campaign every year in October in the US. In 2010, Heritage Foods USA partnered with a dozen goat dairies around upstate New York and Vermont to purchase their unwanted males, who, as unable to produce milk for dairy products, are killed at birth. Over 50 New York City chefs agreed to feature goat on their menu for the full month of October including Gramercy Tavern, Babbo, Spotted Pig and Bar Boulud and the campaign’s success has continued to grow to year on year.<div>
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<br />This year <a href="http://www.cabrito.co.uk/" target="_blank">James Whetlor of Cabrito</a>, a relatively new company bringing British goat into the mainstream food market, has been championing the event over here in the UK. I decided to get involved as I really do like goat and was keen to support James, and also my local goat suppliers <a href="http://www.thegoatcompany.com/" target="_blank">The Goat Company based up in Morpeth.</a><br /><br />This Goat Mince Ragu recipe has been on the menu at <a href="http://cookhouse.org/" target="_blank">Cook House</a> all month, I'm serving in on toast smothered in delicious Doddington cheese. It is also great served with pasta, in a lasagne or with some buttery polenta.<br /><br />To start finely dice 1 onion, 1 carrot and 1 stick of celery, then add to a big pan with a pinch of salt, a bay leaf, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 15g butter and cook slowly until soft and turning golden, for about 15 minutes. </div>
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<br />While this is going on add 4 large tomatoes cut into quarters, or the equivalent amount of cherry tomatoes to a small baking tray with a couple of cloves of garlic, add a splash of olive oil, and a pinch each of salt, pepper and sugar. Then roast at 200<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">˚</span>C for about 20 minutes, until soft and starting to brown. Then remove from the oven.</div>
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<br />Grate into the onion mix, one clove of garlic and a few sprigs of finely chopped thyme and stir through. Add 1kg of goat mince, this will serve 4 generously. Gently stir the goat mince on the heat until it is browned and breaks up evenly. Then add 2 heaped desert spoons of plain flour and stir through, allow this to cook for 5 minutes. Then add 2 heaped desert spoons of tomato puree and stir through and allow to cook for another 5 minutes.</div>
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<br />Add the roast tomatoes to a blender and blitz until totally smooth and then stir this into the goat mince, post flour and tomato puree. Add a big pinch of salt, lots of ground black pepper and a teaspoon of sugar and stir to combine. It will begin to smell and taste delicious at this stage. You're looking to layer as much flavour into the pan as possible, the golden veg at the beginning and then these delicious roast tomatoes all help that along.<br /><br />Then add about 600ml of beef stock and a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce; preferably homemade stock made with roast beef bones simmered for a few hours with stock veg, which will yield the most delicious results. Then let the mince simmer for an hour, covered, very gently, so it's just moving. If it seems too thick add a little more stock. After an hour remove the lid and if it seems like there is a bit too much liquid, take the lid of and turn the heat up and let it reduce for about 15 minutes, stirring now and again so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Turn it off when it is the desired consistency, check the seasoning and let it sit for 15 minutes, just to let let it settle and for all the flavour to come out. It is even better the next day, so if you can make it ahead that is ideal...<br /><br />To serve, pop it on toast with lots of grated cheese, or stir through some pasta, again top with cheese, or layer it up into a homemade lasagne, making sure to top with cheese!</div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-20077336602603355502016-09-21T22:48:00.000+01:002016-09-21T22:48:39.623+01:00Pit Cooking - Lamb in the GroundI have wanted to experiment with cooking something in a pit in the ground for a long time; a lamb or a pig, out in the wild... surrounded by nature, digging up beautifully cooked meat, grilling lovely vegetables on the fire... I watch Francis Mallman on 'Chef's Table' with envy, and make plans to light fires, cook whole venison and river trout at the top of a deserted valley with friends and family one summer. I'll send out invitations with just a little map; everyone will walk for miles to the delight at the end, maybe no one will want to come, but I will! However, if I'm ever going to actually attempt that I needed to practice; because that's not just going to fly on the first attempt!<div>
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<br />So a few weeks ago we set off to the lakes with a big leg of lamb and a vague plan. I read various websites and put together an idea of what I might do. In short, dig a hole in the ground, fill it with stones, burn a fire until the stones are red hot, put the lamb in, cover with soil and turf and hope for the best...<br /><br />I settled on a cooking time of 12 hours, various times were mentioned on line but this allowed us to leave it in all night, get it out in the morning, and have time to rescue it if needs be before guests arrived for lunch. So we had to forgo the 'big reveal' of digging it out of the ground to the waiting crowd, but it seemed like the sensible thing to do as I had read reports of joints being burnt on the bottom and raw on top and various other disasters...</div>
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<br />The hole in the ground needs to be deep enough to accommodate a layer of large stones at the bottom, the lamb in the middle, more stones on top and then a layer of soil and turf, so we ended up with a pit about half a metre deep, measuring about the same in width and length. <br /><br />We collected stones from the river, going for pretty large ones, as they need to retain the heat for a long time, about the size of your head I read, I chose slightly smaller ones as I had to carry them! The idea is to heat them as hot as possible, burning a fire around them for a good few hours, letting your fire eventually disappear , leaving you with stones that are about 200/300 degrees.</div>
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We lined the bottom and the edges of the pit with the stones, then placed a few more in the middle that we ear marked as the ones that we would then lift up and put on top of the lamb when it went in. Then covered the whole lot with kindling and logs and got going with the bonfire, gradually adding more logs as it burnt bigger, building it up to heat all of the stones. I think we burned it for about 3 hours in the end. It was very enjoyable sat round faffing about with the fire, a glass of wine in hand, excited to put the lamb in and wondering what on earth was going to happen.</div>
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I marinated the leg of lamb in garlic, rosemary, lovage, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and left it out to come up to room temperature while we got the fire going. Before it goes in it needs to be wrapped up very tightly in foil, do this carefully as you don't want all the lovely juices to leak out, I used quite a few layers. Then wrap it in an old damp towel or a damp burlap sack. This creates a barrier between the lamb and the red hot stones and prevents burnt spots.</div>
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<br />The fire burnt and burnt, we moved the logs around so every stone was enveloped with heat and slowly we let it burn right down, pushing the embers away into the gaps between the stones, until it had all but disappeared and we were left with red hot stones. It took about 3 hours in the end; it is worth taking your time over this bit as if the stones haven't heated right to the core they aren't going to be very good at cooking your lamb for 12 hours. Obviously this is a difficult thing to assess, testing the middle of stones, but I figured a long, long fire was the answer. </div>
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Then the parcel of lamb is placed in the middle. We had big fire proof gloves to lift out some of the stones, put the lamb in place then put some stones back over the top, so all surfaces were covered. It was starting to get dark at this point and the heat was so intense, it was a bit of a frantic getting everything into place... Then dig the soil back over the top, covering the whole thing so no little jets of steam and smoke are escaping, finally placing the square of turf back over the whole thing and stamping it down, you shouldn't be able to feel any heat coming out at all. Almost as if nothing had happened.</div>
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<br />Night had begun to fall and we were shoveling soil back into the pit by the light of an iphone, anyone passing may have thought we resembled a scene from Midsummer Murders... It was all very exciting to see what we would find in the morning!<br /><br />It was a really cold night and there was a icy dew covering everything when I went outside at about 9am and you could see your breath. I could see patches of dry soil and around the edge of the turf top, and the ground felt warm when you put your hand to it... joy! it had actually stayed warm overnight, so something must have happened... We carefully lifted the turf lid then began to dig away the soil, slowly uncovering the lamb bundle. It was a warm bundle when lifted out, and unwrapped the lamb was actually cooked! Lovely smells wafted out as I unwrapped it, finding soft, cooked, aromatic lamb, actually cooked!</div>
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<br />It was pretty anaemic looking, it doesn't colour at all as it is basically steaming in its little bundle, so there's no great 'wow, look at that transformation' moment, it's just cooked. But it felt pretty good that we'd managed to actually cook it with just some stones and a fire. For lunch I put it in the oven to heat through and crisp up, it was very tasty sat at the long table next to the pit with the carved up lamb, big salads, bbq potatoes and vegetables, a smoky aubergine yoghurt, mint syrup, spicy tomato sauce and everyone tucking in.</div>
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<br />I'm keen to try it again as soon as possible. There are some things I would like to improve on. When we took it out of the ground it was warm, but not hot, and would have needed a blast of heat from an oven or bbq regardless, so I think I left it in a bit too long, or, the stones could have been hotter to start. The lamb doesn't fall apart as it would in an oven braise, you had to carve it into slices, and I think perhaps it didn't reach a high enough temperature for long enough, so again, perhaps heating the stones better at the beginning might improve this. That said it was a pretty satisfying day all round! I'll report back on take two...</div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-55530030519355703582016-08-16T12:05:00.000+01:002016-08-21T17:11:18.741+01:00Drinking Vinegar's or 'Shrubs'I've come across drinking vinegars or 'shrubs' as they are known in a few places over the years, I think the first time was in Ducksoup in Soho, but I chose wine instead... They sparked my interest but I hadn't actually ever tried them, and added them to a long list of 'things to try out'. <br />
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I'm a fan of the sour, the pickle, anything sharp, whether it is in food or drinks, a sour beer or a sour cocktail, always gets my attention... I'll order food based on the presence of a caper sometimes, those little bursts of something sharp with a rich meat or a buttery sauce is the best balance in my mind. Fergus Henderson gives warning however; as much as you think you love the caper, don't overdo it - they should be discovered like a prize, the 'Ho! Ha! moment of surprise and delight' he calls it...<br />
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Making a shrub is similar to pickling, an old fashioned way of preserving fruit. Fruit mixed with vinegar then made into a syrup. I have seen it done the other way round where the fruit is macerated with sugar first, then mixed with vinegar, but I prefer the former. You have more control over the sweetness that way, and a more versatile product because the fruit vinegar is a delicious thing in its own right that can be used in salad dressings, braises and sauces, to name but a few...<br />
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The drink itself is great just with soda, a sharp drinking cordial. It seems odd to be drinking vinegar, but it's just a sharp kick the same as you would get from using citrus in a good punchy lemonade. It is also double great in a cocktail, I made a cherry shrub, elderflower cordial and gin fizz recently that was a summery gin delight!</div>
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Cherry was my first shrub experiment. I had a beautiful big box full and wasn't sure what to do with them all, I pickled some first off, these are really good with cheese or pates. Then set to making my first shrub. The good thing is that you can use fruit that's a bit on the turn too, so if something looks like it's a bit overripe or you're not going to use it up, just put it in a shrub...</div>
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Wash whatever fruit you are going to use. I stoned a load of big fat cherries, about half a big kilner jar full. Just tear them in half into a bowl, then mash them up either with your hands or a potato masher, crushing the flesh and getting all the juices moving. Add them to your jar and you want to add the same quantity of vinegar to fruit, roughly. I don't think you need to be super accurate with any of this. I used white wine vinegar this time round. Seal the jar and give it a good shake. Then leave for 1 to 2 weeks, giving it a shake every few days, you want the maximum amount of fruit flavour to come out as possible.</div>
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Then it is time to strain it and add sugar. You can strain it through a muslin cloth or through a sieve, it is fine if a bit of pulp stays in the mix, it's just down to preference. Then add sugar to taste. I have been adding about half as much sugar to liquid, some recipes say equal amounts, but I found this far too sweet, I want to taste the fruit, not just sugar. So if you have about a litre of fruit vinegar add about 500ml of caster sugar. You don't need any heat, just stir until it is dissolved. Then it is ready to use.<br />
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I have been using about 1 part shrub to 5 parts soda or water, or gin... But it is down to personal taste really. I would like to make some with some unpasteurised vinegar, this is a live fermentation and so full of probiotics and very good for you.</div>
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Since using the cherries I have also made a gooseberry shrub, with lovely fat gooseberries from the Ouseburn Farm. I also tried a Strawberry, Raspberry and Black Pepper one too, which is delicious with a warm spice from the pepper. Long before I started thinking about shrubs I also put some new pine shoots in to vinegar to flavour the vinegar, not thinking that it was the beginning of a drinking vinegar, I tried it recently and it'd delicious, but I'm aiming to leave the pine for at least 6 months as that was the original plan. Larger harder fruits or leaves can either be left much longer to break down, or there is a method of cooking them slightly first with spices, water and sugar, then adding vinegar. I'll give this method a go too and see which I prefer; regardless I'm a total drinking vinegar convert now, hope you feel the same...</div>
The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-27808316160961326062016-06-29T19:57:00.001+01:002016-06-29T19:58:22.525+01:00BBQ Bavette and friendsI'm trying to expand my cooking on fire repertoire; so I took the opportunity to try a few new things recently, on a short break in the Lake District. Fire makes me a bit more apprehensive than the safety of an oven, but it also allows you to be outdoors, and is a lot more exciting... I'd always be outdoors if I could choose... if only the weather was a bit better...<br />
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I've been watching the new series of Chef's Table on Netflix, I love it, one of my favourite episodes is from the first series about Francis Mallman, he has a restaurant in Argentina that focuses on Patagonian cuisine. When he's not there he seems to wander the country cooking outdoors in the most remote and beautiful spots. At one point Francis and his team are out in the snow on the edge of the forest, they had dug a fire pit that morning and set up whole lambs cantilevered over it, cooking all day. They set up a full table, rugs, furs, chairs, giant bottles of red wine; and laughed and feasted in the snow, it looked perfect. He has a small fishing boat, that has a little BBQ attached to the side of it so he can float around on the beautiful lakes of Argentina, catching fish, putting them straight on the coals, relaxing in the boat, drinking red wine. So that's where I'd like to get to, set ups like these one day... out in the quiet, fresh air, water, nature, fire, cooking and wine, that's my idea of a good life...<br />
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But for now I've just got a small BBQ, and I'm thinking about where to dig the fire pit... but there's always the future. It's not all about huge chunks of meat either, so let's start very small... with BBQ pea pods.</div>
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Peas are in season right now, so get some fresh peas in their pods. You can put them on very early while you're still waiting for the coals to all turn white, when it's still a bit too hot for the meat. Lay out a layer of pea pods over the grill, turning them around now and again, until you get a good char on the outside, then take them all off into a big bowl. The peas will have steamed cooked inside their pods. Sprinkle with lots of salt and suck the peas out of their pods, a lovely snack while you wait.</div>
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BBQ New Potato Skewers are a good new discovery I've found. Par boil your new potatoes, about 3 per skewer, depending on how big they are. They should be almost done. Drain then, leave them to dry in their own steam, then toss them in olive oil and salt. Thread 3 or 4 onto wooden skewers and place them on the BBQ, leave them for a minute on one side, then turn, a minute on the other, depending how hot your fire is, they should take on a deep golden skin. Take them off when they are ready and serve with lots of cold butter or a really good aioli.</div>
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Then to the BBQ Bavette Steak. I used a 2kg piece of bavette, which is also known as the flank steak. This was for 6-8 people and was plenty. It is marinated, cooked quite quickly so it stays pretty rare then sliced thinly. Make the marinade first, some olive oil, a splash of sesame oil, a couple of centimetres of grated ginger, a clove of grated garlic, a splash of soy sauce, a teaspoon of sugar, salt and pepper. Mix it up and taste, alter to suit, more salt, more sweet, however you like it. Then cover the steak in it and leave at room temperature for an hour or so, or you can leave it in the fridge over night.<br />
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When the BBQ is hot, all the coals white and the flames have died down it is ready. Put the steak on and leave it, don't touch, give it 4 minutes on the first side, don't move it, this allows a crust to form, then turn, for another 4 minutes, but it can vary, so prod it with your finger, if it feels very soft it's still very rare, you want it when it just starts to firm up, like the bit of your palm feels next to your thumb when you prod it... Remember don't move it around, just two turns... Then get it off when you think it's done and rest it for 5 minutes, covered. This allows it to relax, keep its moisture and generally get over the aggression of the fire it's just been on... Get a sharp knife and slice thinly to serve, about half a centimetre ish... It should be beautifully pink inside and totally delicious...<br />
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Everything is a bit ish when it comes to cooking on fire, just try and practice and find your way, I'm starting to...</div>
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The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7624938291787646412.post-90663037159703495932016-06-01T21:02:00.000+01:002016-06-01T21:02:24.172+01:00Hawthorn Blossom SyrupThe blossoms are in full bloom on the Hawthorns at the moment. I have read an account of people eating the new leaf shoots in sandwiches, in bread and butter, or in salads. I have tried them straight off the tree and I don't think they are much to shout about to be honest...<br />
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Then I found a recipe using the blossoms, an 18th century recipe that was published in E. Smith's <i>The Compleat Housewife</i> originally. They are long winded instructions about gallypots, thank fully the book I found it mentioned in simplified matters for me, a little bit.<br />
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I picked a carrier bag full of lovely white blossoms. You will need about 1 litre of blossoms. Gently snip the flowers from the stalks and pack them loosely into into jars in layers about 2.5cm deep. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar between each layer of flowers, until the jars are full.<br />
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Then heat 800g sugar with 1.25litres of water and 7 tablespoons of lemon juice in a pan, bring it to the boil for 3 minutes, then set aside to cool. Pour the cooled syrup into the jar with the flowers and put the lids on loosely. Stand the jars in a big pan on top of a few sheets of folded newspaper, with some newspaper between the jars so they don't touch. Then fill up the pan with cold water, bring to the boil slowly and simmer very gently for 1 hour.<br />
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Finally lift out the jars and tighten the lids. When everything is stone cold open the jars and strain the flowers out of the syrup through a cloth and seal into sterilsied jars or bottles. Keep it somewhere cool and it will keep for months.<br />
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It's a delicious apricot coloured syrup, serve with soda, ice and a squeeze of lemon, with a few flowers scattered on top... It's good with gin and tonic! or drizzled over panna cotta or ice cream...<br />
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<br />The Grazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05314621149033937165noreply@blogger.com0