Cherry and almond cake

If you are one of our social media fans, you will already have seen tantalising shots  of our brand new Prospector pans, as well as the rather lush cherries that I have already cooked in one.
We are constantly reviewing our range, working out what's missing in our own kitchen and listening to the feedback from home cooks, professional chefs and food writers.
These came about as a result of comments from all of the above - including me.
Update, we have now added a cake tin to the range, which would also work well for this.

Our creative genius put on his thinking cap and I  have to admit the result is not only perfectly functional, but perfectly formed too.  Once again, he has combined beauty with utility.

What I have already found with these - and there will be more to come - is that they are not only useful on the hob, but also in the oven and I am working on a recipe which will see one popped under the grill too. They are equally good for sweet and savoury dishes, versatile, compact and easy to store.

You will also have realised by now that we are great believers in seasonal and local food and enjoy cooking according to what's in season, rather than flown in from other continents.
I appreciate that the political and economic debate about imported food is a vast and polemic topic, with issues such as supporting farmers in developing countries directly through trade rather than aid, air miles, agricultural grants and the globalisation and homogenisation of food cultivation and supply and I leave to experts cleverer than me to continue these discussions.
I am happy to admit that we do not live entirely on local produce and have been known to indulge in mangoes, pineapples, avocados and other delicious imports.

But when local fruit is in season and in abundance, nothing can beat it.  We are fortunate enough to have apple, damson and plums trees in the garden, which where here when we arrived and since then I have added a cherry tree.  The original trees, I guess are pretty old and the harvest is variable but in a good year the crop is sensational.
The cherry tree is prolific, but it's a race with the pigeons and blackbirds as to who gets the lion's share.

  

The bowl of cherries shown above got demolished pretty quickly, but our local farm shop  carries a tempting selection of locally grown fruit, as well as their own fantastic collection of apples and pears, grown in the family orchards.

Last weekend, I could offer no resistance when faced with lush, shiny dark cherries and came home with a large punnet, which I hid from the family in the back of the fridge whilst I figured out what to do with them.

OK, I admit it, I did feel the need to do a quality check on a random sample :-)

I had been avidly reading Ed Smith's supplemental  and yes, I do own up to a little favouritism - have you seen his photos of our pans - and was sorely tempted to do a clafoutis, but having had toad in the hole (recipe coming soon) the day before decided to make something NOT batter based.  I did however heed his advice to stone the cherries and then painstaking extract the kernel from the stones (the noyeux) which have a heady almond flavour, terrifically matched to the cherries.

This is, incidentally a gluten free recipe.

This is what I did with my locally grown cherries.....

2 eggs, 
1 egg white

120g sugar
120g butter, melted and cooled slightly
60g ground almonds
60g ground rice
1 tsp vanilla extract

250g fresh cherries, with the kernels of ¼ of the stones OR 8 fresh apricots

Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC

In a large mixing bowl or food mixer, whisk the whole eggs and egg white with the sugar until it is thick, pale and foamy.
Whisk in the melted butter and vanilla extract.
Fold in the rice and ground almonds

Place the stone cherries and noyeux (optional) or quartered apricots in a 10" prospector pan or cake tin

Pour over the cake batter and place it in the oven.

Bake for 40 minutes (approx) until a skewer comes out clean when dipped into the cake.  If the cake is browning too quickly, cover the top with a piece of greaseproof paper, foil or, as I did, a butter wrapper.

Remove from the oven and leave to stand for around 20 minutes - it will taste far better warm, rather than oven hot.
We indulged ourselves with homemade custard, whipped with Mascarpone cream, but this would be good on its own, with yogurt, creme fraiche, cream or ice cream too.
But to be fair, it would count as one of your "five a day" :-)

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2016

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Comfort food in troubled times

The last week or so has been turbulent and troubled, by any standards.  The world may still be revolving on its access, the word seismic has been overworked, but it definitely feels a little wobbly - like an old fashioned spinning top that is losing momentum.

A referendum was called to ask the man in the street (RIP Sid Vicious) to make a judgement on something that he/she was far from qualified to do and the resulting bitter campaigning and final outcome rocked the establishment that set the ball rolling. 

We now have a governing party whose leader has stepped down, and with a backbiting contest to find a successor.

Meanwhile the Opposition are led by someone who claims to have the backing of tens of thousands of party supporters, but who cannot fill his own front bench.

Throw the English football team's dismal performance in the Euros into the mix alongside the nosediving pound and you may feel like pulling the duvet over your head and waiting for Christmas.

I was about to add that nobody died, but of course, that's not true.  We must not forget the senseless murder of the MP, Jo Cox admired and respected across the political divide.

Of course, things could be worse, we are not at war and the sky has not fallen in, so let's look for reasons to be cheerful.

The Welsh football team have put in their greatest performance since 1958, when a young player called Pele put paid to their progress.

All credit to the whole team - many said before the tournament that it was Gareth Bale and 10 other blokes heading to France, but those 10 blokes have more than proved themselves.  As have the Welsh fans, who have conducted themselves admirably and of course, proved to be the best singers there.

And whilst they beat England, you have to cheer on the Icelandic team, drawn from a nation of just over 350,000 people.

What I'd give for a Wales v Iceland final :-)

As for the Netherton crew, last month, we were fortunate to have been invited to the official opening of Finnebrogue's new facility in Downpatrick, just outside Belfast, where the guest of honour, ceremonially cutting a string of sausages, was Arlene Foster, First Minister of Northern Ireland.

This is a remarkable success story and we are delighted to be associated with some of the team who made this happen.

We love owner Denis Lynn's philosophy:

Offer something truly different and unique. Really understand your competition and work out how to do it better.

Once you know how to do it better, then sell the story. Nobody will buy your products unless you can articulate your unique selling points.

Deliver both margin and volume. Avoid getting into the commodity trap by selling cheap basic products at low margins just to get volume through the factory.

Never Stop. Innovation is continual. Keep working on the next big thing and put as much energy into long-term as short-term.

Get a reality check: It is easy to get caught up in the world of innovation and product development, but unless you connect back to the real world, and the customer, then you can drift off course. Listen to the customer.

Don't innovate for innovation's sake. Ask good questions and listen to real people.

He has followed his own advice to create truly wonderful products and we believe that our aims are the same.

                         

We came away from the launch with a sackful of their top quality sausages, with which to create some new dishes.

This caused much amusement when our rucksack passed through the scanner at Belfast Airport - how many sausages!!!!!

In the interests of national harmony, I have used our English pan to cook Northern Irish sausages, made with Welsh Cheddar to produce a hybrid of two of my favourite comfort foods; shepherd's pie and bangers and mash.  Because this is made with pork, rather than lamb I have named it the Swineherd's Pie.

2 onions, peeled and chopped

1 apple, cored and chopped - no need to peel it

1 pack of Asda Extra Special Pork, Welsh Cheddar and spring onion sausages

300ml dry cider

4 medium potatoes

100g strong cheddar cheese.

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC

Put 1 tablespoon rapeseed oil into an ovensafe frying pan and put on a medium heat.

Once the oil is warm, add the chopped onions and cook gently for 5 minutes.

Chuck in the apple and cook for a further 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel the skin off the sausages and discard.

Once the onions start to take on a little colour, put the sausages into the frying pan and break them up with a wooden spoon.

Cook for around 5 minutes.

Pour over the cider and simmer for 20 minutes.

While the sausage mix is cooking, peel and chop the potatoes and boil until soft.

Drain and place back on a low heat to drive off any residual moisture.

Crush with a potato masher or fork - this is not going to be a smooth mash, so don't overdo it.

Stir in the cheese.

Pile the potato mix on top of the sausages and place the pan into the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, until the top is golden.

Pour yourself a glass of cider and tuck in!

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2016

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk