Netherton Foundry Shropshire

Netherton Foundry Shropshire
Classic cookware, made in England

Tuesday 24 November 2015

Apples - waste not

If you have been following our social media, you'll know that we have signed up to Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's War on Waste not campaign.  Please take the time to sign up if you agree with what he is trying to achieve
We have always been keen on the reuse/restore/recycle mantra and of course, our cookware is designed with long life and sustainability in mind.
The flax oil coating can be restored again and again, so there is no need to throw away your cookware. what's more we offer a full range of spares, so you can sort out any minor problems.

You may also have seen that we are lucky enough to have some heavy cropping apple trees in our garden and the route between home and workshops is lined with wild fruit trees.


Kate has expressed more succinctly and eloquently than I could hope to, the view that food education is a key factor in the throw away culture in which we live.
I agree wholeheartedly with what she says and regularly rant about this from the dizzying heights of my personal soap box.  I urge you to read and comment on her beautifully written and well set out blog post.
I am on a personal mission to educate our scout group about food in general, alongside teaching them to cook something more sustaining than cup cakes.So many of them are reluctant to touch raw meat and have no idea how to prepare veg.

Enough of the moralising..... what did I do with all the apples from our trees this year?




Chutneys - beetroot and apple, using up some slightly wrinkled beets, and a spicy apple chutney based on a recipe in my battered copy of Jams, pickles and chutneys, which I've mentioned before and which is sadly out of print.


Crumbles, pies and cakes..... More on pies in a new blog coming soon.

Bags full of chopped apples stored in the freezer
Apple sauce to go with the pulled pork posted last week....
Added to red cabbage with juniper, cider and brown sugar and simmer for ages
......and juice.


and this is how I made my own, delicious Howgate Wonder apple juice


Quarter the apples, no need to peel or core

Put in a pan - just choose the right size for the number of apples you've got.
On this occasion I had so many that I used my trusty old pressure cooker, the biggest pan in my kitchen
Add water to the level of the apples and simmer until the apples fall apart.
Press through a sieve, until all you have left are skin and pips.
Then strain the pulp through a muslin.


                            


You will now have a bowl full of juice and cloth full of purée.
Return the juice to a pan and add sugar to taste, our apples, Howgate Wonders are quite sweet already so I only added 2 Tblsp sugar to 3 litres of juice.
Bring to the boil, making sure the sugar is dissolved.
Allow to cool and either bottle or pour into jugs and store in the fridge.
Won't keep for long, so enjoy it while it lasts

And as for the purée, what about a special apple pie...........recipe coming soon.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015










Wednesday 11 November 2015

Slow cooked pork

It would seem that everyone has a recipe for pulled pork these days, I'm not even sure when the phrase became so ubiquitous and I make no claims for originality or authenticity for the version I'm about to share with you.  An amusing tweet I saw claimed that someone's "pushed pork" simply hadn't taken off, but who knows, it could just as easily have been the latest craze.

This one was dreamt up when I was catering for the Scouts' Bonfire Party and wanted something that we hadn't offered before, alongside the traditional hot dogs and home made baked beans.

The speed with which it disappeared gave me the verdict I needed to turn this into a formal "recipe" and share it with you guys..... no kneckers or woggles required.



1 large shoulder of pork joint - the size is entirely up to you.
Remember, you can always freeze the leftovers for another occasion.
¼ head of white cabbage
1 large cooking apple
1 dessertspoon black treacle
1 dessertspoon white wine vinegar
200ml water
Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 150ºC or use the slow cooker.

Coarsely chop the cabbage and put in the bottom of a casserole dish
Cut the apple in quarters - no need to peel it - and take out the core.
Cut each quarter in half and add these to the cabbage.
Lay the pork on top of the cabbage and apples and season with salt and pepper.
Mix the treacle, water and vinegar and pour into the casserole.
Cover with the lid and place in the oven or on the electric base of the slow cooker
Cook in the oven or on the LOW setting of the slow cooker for around 5 hours

Remove the casserole from the oven and turn up the heat to 200ºC


Cut the skin off the pork and place in a prospector pan. Season liberally with salt and return to the oven for about 15 - 20 minutes to become crisp.  Cut into shards


Meanwhile, shred the pork using 2 forks and keep warm over a low heat.


Serve in bread rolls with apple sauce and shards of crackling, all washed down with a good cider.

Alternatively, served with baked or roast potatoes and buttered carrots, but always with apple sauce.






© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015





Sunday 1 November 2015

Cauliflower soup

I hadn't intended to write this one up, after all, it was just "lunch". But after I carelessly posted a picture on Twitter, I got a request for the recipe.



So without further ado and none of my usual ramblings, here we go:

4 tblsp rapeseed oil
1 onion
1 cauliflower
2 large potatoes
700 ml vegetable or chicken stock
Grating of nutmeg
Black pepper
Grated Parmesan
50g hazelnuts
Sage leaves

Chop the onion finely.
Warm half the oil in a large pan or casserole
Add the chopped onion and cook over a gentle heat until soft and translucent.
Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and chop into even sized chunks.
Cut the cauliflower into florets
Place potatoes and cauliflower in the pot with the onions.
Pour in the stock, season to taste with nutmeg (optional) and black pepper (essential!)
Bring to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes until the vegetables are very soft.

Stir in Parmesan to taste.
Blend the soup until smooth.
Check the taste and add salt if you wish - do not add salt before you add the Parmesan, as it contains a lot of salt itself.
Keep warm.
Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat - keep an eye on them, they can burn in the twinkling of an eye
Chop coarsely when cool enough to handle.
If using the sage leaves, warm the remainder of the oil in a frying pan and drop in the sage leaves. Cook briefly - we are talking seconds - until crisp.

Drizzle the oil (either cold or from the frying pan) over the soup and sprinkle on the nuts and leaves.

You can make a vegan version of this by omitting the Parmesan

Serve with bread or cheese scones.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015