Forever chemicals or a forever pan

 A forever pan

When we first started making our black iron cookware here at Netherton Foundry, we made the decision not to use chemicals or plastics, but to use natural, renewable or recyclable materials. These include the iron pan bodies and handles, the oak handles and knob and our organic flax oil for the seasoning

The wax oil on our local oak handles and knobs is a clear, food safe finishing oil made from a blend of natural vegetable oils and waxes. This means that your pan should last at least one, if not several lifetimes, which is the kind of forever we prefer. A Netherton pan can be re-seasoned time and again, using natural oil, can be repaired and as a last resort can readily be recycled.

On the other hand, we find impact of alternative coatings, the evolution of the modern approach to convenience and supposed ease of use. PTFE, PFOA and now PFAS – the acronyms drop like confetti, although the impact is considerably less pretty and a lot longer lasting than coloured tissue paper in the churchyard. Chemical coatings have many names and like food additives are not only best avoided, but are also unpronounceable and thus reduced to more innocent sounding and obscure abbreviations.

The following quote is from a Guardian article by Leana Hosea and Rachel Salvidge earlier this month. “The cost of cleaning up toxic forever chemical pollution could reach more than £1.6tn across the UK and Europe over a 20-year period, an annual bill of £84bn, research has found.

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” are a family of more than 10,000 human-made substances. Manufactured by a handful of companies, they are widely used in consumer products and industrial processes.

They can be found in nonstick pans, pizza boxes, cosmetics, waterproof clothing, firefighting foam and pharmaceuticals, among other places. The properties that make them so useful – heatproof, greaseproof and waterproof – also have fateful downsides. Almost indestructible without human intervention and persistent in living organisms, PFAS have been linked to infertility, cancers, immune and hormone disruption, and other illnesses.”

Increasing understanding and awareness of this makes scary and alarming reading, and reiterates things we have known for a long time. It also strengthens and confirms our resolve to carry on doing things our way.

Here are two of our stories highlighting our concerns and brought to public notice in the Wall Street Journal and in the cinema.

Bee Wilson agrees https://www.netherton-foundry.co.uk/Bee-Wilson WSJMay 12th 2023

https://www.netherton-foundry.co.uk/Dark-Waters-PFOA 12.03.2020 Available on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81192027

This is the Guardian article in full.

https://www.theguardian.com/.../cost-clean-up-toxic-pfas...

Leana and Rachel are founders of Watershed Investigations , where you will find a lot more of their environmental reporting

Spice up your Sunday lunch

Who doesn't love a Sunday roast?  And this delicately spiced chicken will liven up the dinner table, whilst sitting happily along side traditional accompaniments such as roast potatoes. Alternatively, bread to mop up the spicy butter and a green salad would be fine additions.

2kg chicken
80g butter
Seeds from 6 cardamom pods
1 tsp cumin seeds
1tsp fenugreek
1 tsp kalonji
½ tsp Kashmiri chilli
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp salt
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
6 tomatoes, halved
 
Heat the oven to 200ºC
Mash all of the spices and salt into the butter.  Spread this liberally over the breast of the chicken.
Sit the buttered chicken into the roasting tray and put it in the oven.
After the chicken has been roasting for 40 minutes, take it out of the oven and baste it lavishly with the melted butter and chicken juices.
Add the potatoes and tomatoes to the tray and return it to the oven for another 60 minutes.
Carry the tray to the table, carve the chicken and serve the vegetables. 

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2022 ☺

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Cherry tray bake

 A new recipe or a brand new product in the prospector range.

So many of you asked us for a rectangular roasting tray and it took us a while to figure out how to make it. But we got there in the end.

And once it was made, of course we had to test it out. Our spiced roasting chicken recipe will be up here shortly, but to demonstrate its versatility, we have been using the new tray for baking too.

First of all we made a rosemary studded foccacia, which we ate with the chicken and then we turned our thoughts to something sweet and made a delicious cherry tray bake.

This will make 18 portions

Set the oven to 170ºC

250g butter

250g sugar

160g natural yogurt ( I used Greek)

4 eggs

Seeds from 12 cardamom pods, ground.

250g self raising flour

250g good cherry jam

30g shelled pistachios, roughly chopped

Beat the butter, sugar and yogurt until very pale in colour and well blended.

Add the eggs and vigorously mix again.

Gently fold in the flour and cardamom.

Lightly grease your tray and pour the mixture in and spread it evenly.

Dollop the jam at random and then swirl it into the mix with a knife.

Sprinkle the pistachios over the top.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until it passes the skewer test.

Serve warm or cold, on its own, with cream, ice cream or custard.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2022 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Spiced green beans

 A recipe for spiced green beans with paneer. I hesitate to call it curry, as there is no Indian authenticity here, nor do I claim a detailed knowledge of the cookery of that area of the world. But we love the flavour spectrum that comes with the spices popular in so many curries, so here we go.

For 4

Oil or ghee, I used 1 tblsp of Happy Butter Ghee

2 onions, sliced

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1” ginger, peeled and grated

1 tsp mustard seed

1 tsp fenugreek seed

1 tsp kalonji (nigella)

1 tsp turmeric

5 cardamom pods, lightly bashed

2 heaped tsp tamarind paste

1 block of paneer

250g green beans

200ml coconut milk

200ml water

Salt

Melt the ghee or heat the oil over a medium heat.

Add the onions and cook slowly until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.

Throw in the spices and mix thoroughly. Cook for 2 minutes and then add the paneer and beans.

Coat the beans and paneer in the spice mix and then pour in the coconut milk and water. Add salt to taste

Simmer for 30 minutes and serve with rice.

This was cooked in a 12" prospector pan and you can find the full range here

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2022 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

The Frank Zappa cake

 I am sure you have all been there - find a recipe that perfectly suits a principal ingredient that you need to use up, only to discover you are missing some of the key ingredients.

And at 4pm on a Bank Holiday Monday, there is not a lot you can do about it.

Thus was born the Frank Zappa cake - Frank's work " is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation" his band was called the Mothers of Invention and with the necessity for a spot of improvisation, it seemed only fitting to name this cake after him.

A large tub of blueberries, plus a large dollop of inspiration from Honey and Co's The Baking Book resulted in this blueberry, Feta and almond cake.

Heat the oven to 170º while you prepare the cake mix.

140g feta cheese
110g yogurt
120g butter

100g sugar

1tsp dried thyme

Zest and juice of one lime

3 eggs

150g ground almonds

20g plain flour

150 g blueberries (raspberries would work just as well)

30g flaked almonds

25g demerara sugar.

In a food processor, whip together the feta and yogurt until smooth.

Add the butter, sugar and eggs and beat until thoroughly mixed.

Briefly mix in the thyme, zest and juice, plus the almonds and flour.  Do not over mix.

Pour into a greased 8½" cake tin and scatter first the blueberries and then the flaked almonds evenly over the top.

Sprinkle with the demerara sugar and place in the oven for 50 minutes.

Serve at room temperature.

8 generous slices

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2022 ☺

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

An inauthentic Asian style dinner

Cultural appropriation is quite the hot potato these days and we are making no claims whatsover about this recipe, but we will thank all the writers and compilers of Asian recipes for their inspiration.

This is not claiming to be anything other than a jumble of some of our favourite flavours.

Serves 2

Marinade

15ml soy sauce

15ml sesame oil

3 tsp brown sugar

15ml rice wine (or dry sherry)

2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed

2cm ginger, grated

150g tofu

125g pak choi

40g spring onions

50g mushrooms - Shiitake for preference

200g ramen noodles

Mix together all the marinade ingredients, ensure the sugar dissolves.

Cut the tofu into 2cm cubes and add to the marinade.  Stir to coat each cube.

Leave aside for a couple of hours to let the tofu soak up those flavours.  In warm weather pop the dish in the fridge.

Warm a wok on a medium heat.  I used one of our prospector woks, so I could serve straight to the table and save on washing up!

Then add 2 tablespoons rapeseed or sunflower oil.

When the oil is hot, add the tofu and marinade andd cook for 5 minutes.

Throw  in the vegetable and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Stir in the noodles nad cook just long enough to heat them thoroughly.

Take the wok to the table and tuck in.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2022 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Carrot and feta fritters

 Not much to say about these other than they are easy, quick and delicious.

First make a batter:

1tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
20g Hodemedods pea flour

80g gram (chickpea flour)

If you haven't got pea flour, just use 100g chickpea flour

1tsp salt

150ml cocnut milk

50ml water

1tsp paprika 

Whisk all of these together and leave to stand for 30 minutes.

Then add 

90g coarsely grated carrot

100g crumbled feta (use tofu if you want a vegan version)

70g sweetcorn

Mix thoroughly.

Heat 2 tblsp of rapeseed oil over a medium heat in a frying pan - I used my biggest, but you can do this in batches, keeping the cooked ones warm as you finish of the rest.

Drop tablespoons of the batter into the hot oil and cook for 2 - 3 minutes on each side until crisp and golden.

We ate these with potatoes and peas in a spicy tomato sauce, with yogurt, flecked with chopped parsley and spiky with lemon zest.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2022 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk