Chocolate and fig cake

As I have said before, figs are the Marmite of the fruit world; people either love them or hate them.  We fall in to the love camp, the two haters here being the junior Nethertons, now enjoying (semi) independent lives in fig free environments.
Never immune to a bargain, I bought a stash of figs when they were on offer at less than 10p each in our local Tesco earlier this week.
Two dozen of the purple beauties were gently poached in a syrup flavoured with orange sugar. 
Some were eaten for breakfast with yogurt, a couple were eaten with rye bread and blue cheese and eight of them have been added to a chocolate and rosemary cake.

Start by gently poaching eight figs in a little water, with a couple of teaspoons of honey or sugar.

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC

Grease a 9" savarin ring.  You could make this in a cake tin, but you may need to use your skill and judgement to adjust the cooking time.

70g 60% dark chocolate

60ml olive oil

60g natural yogurt ( I used Greek)

120g sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

120g self raising flour

Melt the chocolate, either in a microwave (sorry, absolutely no idea, we haven't got one!) or in a bowl over hot, not boiling water.

Whisk together the oil, yogurt, sugar and eggs.  Add the melted chocolate and rosemary and mix thoroughly. Stir in the flour and pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

Arrange the figs evenly around the cake and place in the oven.

Cook for approximately 35 minutes until it passes the skewer test.

Leave to stand for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.  Place a plate under the rack to catch any dripping fig juices.

Whilst still warm (but not hot), invert on to a serving plate, decorate with rosemary sprigs and serve with cream of yogurt.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Honey and fig cheesecake

The farmers' market haul from a recent trip to Riga included a jar of intensely flavoured, buckwheat honey.  Dark brown and heady, it was never destined for toast, but cried out for a creamy counterbalance.  Plump and purple figs at 30p each were too good to ignore and who can resist honeyed figs?  Thus was born the honey, walnut and fig cheesecake.

6 figs,

2 tblsp orange juice

2 tsp honey

Carefully make 6 incisions in each fig, without cutting through the base.  You want to end up with 6 "petals". Place the figs into a prospector pan and add the orange juice and honey.

Cover with a lid and cook gently for around 20 minutes until the figs have gracefully unfurled and there is a sweet and sticky syrup in the bottom of the pan.

Set aside to cool.

170g plain biscuits, such as Digestives

80g walnuts

125g butter

Crush the biscuits, chop the walnuts (not too finely) and melt the butter.  Mix all three ingredients together and press into a 10” pie or flan dish.  Place in the fridge while you make the filling.

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC

300g cream cheese

100g sour cream

80g runny honey

3 eggs

30g ground almonds

Beat the cream cheese and sour cream until smooth.  Then add the honey and eggs and mix thoroughly.  Stir in the ground almonds.

Pour the mixture over the chilled biscuit base and place in the oven.

Bake for around 30 minutes, until the edges are just taking on a little colour and the centre is firm to the touch.

Allow to cool and then drape the figs languidly on to the cheesecake and spoon over the syrup.

Enjoy! 

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Concentrate on your dinner

Have you ever eaten your breakfast on the way to work, your lunch at your desk, dinner in front of the telly or scoffed an entire bucket of popcorn at the cinema?

Try this at work: ask your friends/colleagues what they had for dinner last night.  How many of them remember?
You will be surprised how few can readily recall last night's meal.  Can you remember?
The Netherton family is fond of its food, cooking it, reading about it, eating it, buying it.  Nearly all meals at home are made from scratch and it's a rare day when there isn't dessert.   We even have a food diary going back over 30 years, with records of dinners eaten, restaurants visited, new recipes tried.
And even with this level of interaction with our pans, plates and palates, we sometimes take a minute or two to be able to answer that simple question; what did you have for dinner/tea/supper last night?

Much has been written about so called mindful eating - this article from the Washington Post is an interesting take:

Many people seem to assume that mindful eating means eliminating distractions, though that isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, for many people struggling with eating disorders or a conflicted relationship with food, mindful eating may increase anxiety during meals, while distraction may be therapeutic.

For the rest of us, research does show that eating while distracted can lead to increased food intake at that meal and the next meal, in part because it affects our memory of what and how much we ate.

This is one of many articles and studies about how distracted eating, ie scarfing your dinner in front of the telly, can influence food intake, appetite and weight gain.
We think it's simply bad manners not to pay attention to the meal that has been prepared for you.
And here you can read about how our food memory is messing up scientific data too.

At Scout camp, where catering for a lot of kids in less than ideal conditions is a challenge, we sit the kids down at communal tables for breakfast and dinner and no-one leaves the table until the last person has finished eating; seconds are never served until everyone has finished eating and the plates are not cleared until everyone has finished eating.
It is disquieting to see how fidgetty this makes them on day one, but how quickly they fall into the routine.

We do not want anyone to think that we are rooted in Victorian values. We spend as much time on our phones as anyone else, to say nothing of taking a photo of our food before we eat it.
But we would encourage everyone to take more notice of what they eat, to focus on the food and the company, participate, converse, concentrate, if only one a week. Savour the flavour

Fish and chips, pizza and spaghetti Bolognese may come top in polls of Britain's favourite meals, but the Sunday roast can always be found within the top 10 and it's fair to say that the ritual is as much a part of the magic as the roasties.
Before my mother died, a couple of years ago, she taught my father to cook for the first time in his long life.  Now, aged 90, he cooks himself a full Sunday dinner, at least twice a month, sets the table and sits down to eat it as if surrounded by the whole family.
This is a huge achievement for someone whose culinary ability ran to jam sandwiches until 3 years ago and keeps him connected to the woman who fed him for nearly 60 years.

You don't have to lay the table, be formal, use the correct cutlery, sit up straight and keep your elbows off the table to enjoy eating together - have a picnic, even on the living room floor; build a fire and cook and eat outdoors save up that little bit extra and "eat in" rather than "take away" once in a while, but whatever else you do, turn off the phone for half an hour and savour your dinner.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

A guest post from Blake and Bull

We were very proud to read this lovely write up on our customer, Blake and Bull's website. And if you haven't heard of them, this is what they do, when they are not selling Netherton cookware: 

We sell, re-enamel, refurbish and convert these wonderful cookers and in our online shop we sell hob covers, enamel chip repair paint, our fab airers and more! 

We are independent and not supplied or endorsed by Aga Rangemaster Ltd or Aga Rangemaster Group Ltd. Many of our products are Blake & Bull 'Originals'. 

Sustainable, Low Impact, Hand Crafted Cast Iron

Our cast iron collection of pans, trays and bakeware has its roots sunk firmly in craft and sustainability. Each piece celebrates honest materials sourced responsibly.

Do not be deceived by its rustic simplicity. Each piece is expertly designed, crafted and tested. We simply cannot enthuse about this product too much! 

It doesn't take much to find a reason to fall in love with the @nethertonfoundry and its range. Here are a few...

So easy to cook in and versatile too! This joyful sticky recipe 'Pudding In A Prospector Pan' can be found amongst other happy meals cooked by folk at The Netherton Foundry, shared on their blog.

The Prospector Pan the perfect companion for an Aga range cooker. Suitable to use in and out the oven, with no handle to remove. Use it as a frying pan, roasting dish & baking tray. The cast iron retains heat as you move it about, so you don't waste as much time and fuel getting a pan back up to temperature. 

Due to its robustness and conductivity it also performs brilliantly when cooking out of doors. Fling it on the BBQ when your Aga range cooker is off for the summer. Simple summer suppers served in style! 

So easy to maintain and cleaning products are low impact. Each little bottle of English cold pressed flax oil should last you 10 years (per pan).

This range has longevity not only because of the inherent qualities of the material, but also because of the re-seasoning process (here is Matthew's guide). This can be off putting, as it sounds laborious and time consuming. The reality is that it is quite simple and the kind of job that almost 'does itself' so you can go potter in the garden, have a cuppa, and just check on progress intermittently. Much like when you revive your hotplates, seasoning uses low impact products.

The pans are reassuringly naturally non-stick. 

Multi purpose pieces, giving you more bakeware for your pennies!

We loved hearing from Ruth at the beginning of this year. Ruth is a big fan of the Baking Cloche, "The crust and crumb were amazing."

But it is not only a cloche, the tray can be used in all manner of ways! As a baking tray, pizza tray, serving platter....!

Made in the UK, every last little bit! Each Piece is individually hand crafted using traditional machines, reassuringly slowly, you cannot rush craft! This is a 1930's flypress, a precise and powerful piece of equipment. Neil is punching a hole in a pie dish for the all important Netherton rivet!

The spun cast iron has all the benefits of cast iron but with half the weight. It holds heat brilliantly and cooks evenly. 

I just love the little brass rivets. ..

Each one pressed in with care. Skilled staff, here is Mandy, make sure each item is individual.

Each hand spun solid oak handle and knob is branded by hand. The oak is sourced from a low impact,independently managed woodland. Seasoned for two years. Cedric, The Forester, documents each felled tree's journey in a humble notebook. From one mighty oak, many handles and knobs are made. 

The heavy duty baking sheet, especially designed to be suitable for the runners of an Aga range cooker, ensures that your pizza cooks evenly. Preheat them in your roasting oven and cook 4 pizzas at a time! Don't forget your pizza peel!

Did you make it through all that information! Thanks for reading, we hope that you love the product as much as we do!

Here are 10 reasons why we think this is a purchase that will last a lifetime 

1. Cast Iron Is just brilliant at retaining heat, for even baking around and underneath your bake.
2. Cast iron heats evenly, ensuring that browning is consistent.
3. The Bakeware can be used in very hot ovens for recipes that require a burst of heat, up to a whopping 300℃!
4. They are solid, no springs to weaken, no loose base to go missing, no joins to come apart. 
5. If re-seasoned regularly, they are naturally non-stick.
6. The bakeware is responsibly made in the UK, using traditional methods to hand-spin the iron, by a family firm. 
7. They are 100% recyclable, not that you'd need to any time soon, but it is reassuring to know that they are a low environmental impact purchase. 
8. They are simply put, beautiful. 
9. The bakeware is resilient, the cast iron is reassuringly strong and gains character and patina as it ages. 
10. Every piece is handmade, so unique to you. Each item is part of a comprehensive collection, to accommodate all your baking needs.

Our current range includes - 

1. A 8.5" Cake Tin
2. Two sizes of Loaf Tin 2lb and 1lb
3. The stunning Cloche
4. A versatile and heavy duty Baking Sheet - perfect for flat bread bakes, scones, pizza and more!
5. The Ultimate Kettle
6. A sturdy Cook Book Stand, that can hold substantial cook books. 
7. A neat little Trivet, capable of withstanding the hottest of pots
8. A perfectly poised Pizza Peel
9. A large base Frying Pan, perfect for a fry up! 
10. A Prospector Pan, great for cooking tagines & casseroles, although it is just as usable for fast cooking too! Easily transferred from hob to oven
11. Flax oil, a re-seasoning essential.

Delish foodie photos thanks to Sue at Netherton and her food filled blog!  

< GET THE LOOK! DISCOVER OUR RANGE OF CAST IRON

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Katy Boys

Author

Katy is a rural girl at heart. She loves long walks, home cooking, paddling in rivers, warm fires and socks and stomping in leaves with her children. After studying ‘drawing stuff’ at university in Bath, Katy spent 10 years selling wares and managing folk at Habitat in Bath. Welcoming children into her world prompted her to return to drawing things, people and places from home. This led her to us at Blake & Bull and the rest is history. She draws our stuff, provides cuddles for the office dog, and is here to chat to you lovely lot.

Plum cake

I promised you plum cake and here it is.
No, not the plum pudding of Victorian novels and Christmas past, but a light sponge, studded with pistachios and topped with yellow mirabelles, foraged from a Shropshire hedgerow, as a counterbalance to the sweet cake.

125g butter
125g sugar
2 eggs
1 tblsp plum jam - last year's egg plum jam here!
1 tblsp Greek or natural yogurt
50g shelled pistachios
350 g stewed, sweetened plums - add sugar to suit your own palate.

Gently poach 350g plums and sweeten to taste (Don't overdo it, the tart contrast with the sweet cake is a joy).

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC and lightly grease a 10" prospector pan.
Cream 125g butter with 125g sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in 2 eggs and then stir in 1 tablespoon of Greek yogurt and another one of plum jam (we used some of the jam from last year's plum harvest), with 50g of chopped pistachios.
Fold in 125g self raising flour.
Spoon the mixture into the prospector pans and level off with a knife. Spread the cooked plums over the top of the mixture and place into the oven.
Cook for 25-30 minutes, until it passes the skewer test.

Serve warm with cream or yogurt.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk