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.....
1 egg white
120g sugar
120g butter, melted and cooled slightly
60g ground almonds
60g ground rice
1 tsp vanilla extract
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" :-)
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
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
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