A tempting treat

I cannot take the credit for this variation on Jansson's Temptation but am indebted to the delightful and talented Sarah Bailey, for contributing this for us to share with you.

Those of you on Twitter can follow Sarah @layingthetable, where she will entertain you with comments such as "One deep inhalation of Marmite does me a power of good."

And if you enjoy this recipe, why not try more from Sarah's Cookerebook, available on Amazon.

Smoked Salmon and Potato layers

Lime in this dish makes a refreshing change from lemon

2 medium to large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 small onion thinly sliced

1 tablespoon cooking oil

125g pack of smoked salmon pieces

1 lime, zest finely grated, and juice squeezed

1 dessertspoon cornflour, mixed in a cup with a little cold water

1 teaspoon vegetable stock granules

Vegetable of your choice

Cooking equipment

1 all purpose pan Why not use one of our classic frying pans?

Method

Heat the oil in the all purpose pan. 

Put a layer of potatoes in the pan, using about a third of them.

Follow this with half of the onion, and half of the smoked salmon pieces scattered over the potato and onion.

Repeat the layers, in this order, half of the remaining potato, all of the remaining onion and all of the remaining salmon.

Sprinkle over the grated zest and juice of the lime.

Top with the rest of the sliced potato.

Add the vegetable granules to the cornflour mixture, top the liquid in the mug up to two thirds full, and pour over the ingredients in the pan.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes approx, until the potato is cooked.

Alternatively, when the potato and fish mixture has come to the boil, you could cook this in the oven at 180ºC Gas Mark 4 for 20 – 30 minutes Use one of our oven safe pans, or simply remove the oak handle covers while you finish off the dish.

I enjoy this with an accompaniment of asparagus at this time of year, but broccoli or spinach are equally good, and of course, what better with any combination of fish and potato, than everyone's favourite - peas?  Preferably not mushy ones!

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

An eclectic mix and an openminded approach

Looking back 18 months to when we first started the Netherton Foundry adventure, I wonder if we were entirely sane?

There were so many good reasons for doing what we embarked on, provenance, sustainability, eco awareness  - of which more later, but with the High St in the doldrums and the economic outlook gloomy to say the least, WHAT WERE WE THINKING?

We even decided to supply only to independent outlets and not approach the multiple retailers, but one of the reasons for that is that we are fond of our High Streets and we don’t want them to lose their individuality and originality.

And now in 2013,  we face more economic hardship, and we have seen the disappearance of some major retail names, but our determination to succeed and bring quality, value and British made products to High Street is as strong as ever.

Naturally, when we set out we assumed that the obvious place to sell our first item, the cast iron slow cooker, would be in traditional cook shops………

So, being perverse, I went to a local ironmonger/hardware store run by the 4^th generation of the same family and a local delicatessen!

Sadly the ironmonger has decided to retire and generation 5 was disinclined to carry on the business. However, such was the appeal of the products that all was not lost as the gift shop next door simply took over and now Editions on the main street in Bewdley sells the slow cooker, a range of clocks and our lovely new cookery book stand



Of course, there are now lots of cook shops – but still not enough – selling the Netherton Foundry range, but the range of outlets serves to highlight how imaginative and adventurous independent retailers can be.

Not only can you buy Netherton Foundry products in cook shops – a full list is on our website, but you can also find them in museums, farm shops, delicatessens, interiors shops, gift shops, hardware stores, pubs and service stations on the M6 and now the M5 (admittedly these are  the wonderful Tebay and Gloucester Farm Shops, but they are still technically  service stations!).

We are now regularly featuring these stockists on the home page of our website , so have a look and see who you recognise.



We started with a strong sense of what we wanted to achieve, supported by all those feel good words that are so often bandied about – ethics, sustainability, quality, principles, mutuality.

We have learned from our local history here in the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, matched traditional crafts to modern technology, sourced natural and local, wherever possible, materials and set up trading terms to support and sustain independent and local businesses.  We do not demand huge minimum order quantities, we listen to our stockists, and we talk and listen to our customers. And we are constantly looking at ways in which we can do better.

We are small and friendly – we want to grow, we do not want to lose our identity or our connections with our customers.

So please help us and support your local shops.  If you know of anyone who would be interested in becoming a stockist, ask them to get in touch.
I will be doing a special blog shortly, all about the fabulous independent shops in Bewdley, so keep a look out and if you want us to tell people about your local shops, we'd be happy to support them.