Charred; a book by Genevieve taylor

“Do you fancy coming to a barbecue this weekend?” – if you have ever been subjected to a partially cooked veggie sausage or a frozen garden burger, these words, as every vegetarian will attest, are enough to turn your blood cold and your stomach over.

For years, vegetarians and vegans have been as welcome at charcoal fuelled gatherings as the Grim Reaper and the catering has, more often than not, been deathly too.  Watery, yet burnt, I know, I know,  under-seasoned  vegetable  kebabs, a few commercial “veggie options” and a lot of salad are in no way satisfying, tempting or appetising.

Which is why this new book, CHARRED from Genevieve Taylor is such a joy.  Vegetables are the main course, the highlight, the centre piece, the works!  

This is barbecue food with a difference.  Properly cooked, highly flavoured,  masses of texture,  belly filling, smile provoking, happiness inducing food.

Barbecue favourites and standbys such as kebabs and burgers are included; with enough recipes to suit the most discerning of outdoor diners and satisfy the biggest fresh air appetites.  But these are just the start, chapters 1 and 2 to be precise.  Beyond the pleasurable delights of these plant based staples are more treats to tempt every palate.  We already have page markers in each of the Low, slow and smoked; Stuffed and wrapped and Sharing plates sections, where we also found the best advice in the whole book - "The best way to eat them (Caramelised fennel and oranges, page 166) is to get stuck in with your fingers".

As well as an abundance of recipes, including the all important relishes and sauces, the book brims with advice for how to get the best out of your barbecue; the practicalities; equipment and techniques, so you can face the fire with confidence.  And mindful of our fickle climate, instructions for cooking indoors are also given.

Genevieve is a fan of our chapa griddle plate "brilliantly sturdy and will last me a lifetime", regularly uses our prospector pans and is currently testing some new kit for us - keep watching for further updates. 

So if you know a barbecue king or queen, who could do with a little veggie help, we won’t mention any names, we promise, or you just want to expand and enhance your own barbecue reputation and repertoire – buy this book.

And if you fancy tasting a few of the recipes and enjoying a couple of beers, join us at the launch party on 1st June 2019.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Food; fads, fetishes and fascism

New year, new you; it used to be just ads for the gym and soon to be abandoned personal resolutions to somehow or other be "better", to lose a bit of weight, to give up smoking, chocolate, biting your nails.

But we are now faced with the Instagram onslaught of Veganuary and dry January.

What you eat is up to you, what we eat is our choice.  If I choose to eat jam and cauliflower, I don't expect you to follow suit (I don't by the way)....as a teenager my brother put Marmite on custard creams, it was just a phase which I put down to a lack of psychotropic drugs in rural Yorkshire.
I like to think my choice is well informed, balancing pleasure, nutritional needs, budget and a respect for the environment.  But researching this piece made me realise how hard this can be, how contradictory and confusing.

I do not take issue with meat free Monday, if you are already following a vegetarian or vegan diet, you are doing it any way and omnivores get to exercise a little imagination once a week.  But the on-line pressures to swap, whole-heartedly and without guidance, to a vegan diet present issues, as I see it.

Obesity, alcoholism, drug addiction, food banks, eating disorders, food allergies and a general lack of knowledge about basic nutrition and cooking skills are headline grabbing topics. Yet all of these are deeply complex and need to be explored from all angles.  There is no "one size fits all" solution, no magic bullet.  Knee jerk reactions, TV campaigns and sound bites are not enough.  

There are choices to be made and actions to be taken at individual, national and international levels, but the right choices and the right actions are hard to delineate.  Cooking from scratch and using cheap cuts of meat sound like a panacea to all our food issues, but if you haven't got the money to feed the electricity meter, a cheap takeaway may be your only option.  

As I started reading material relating to the things I was trying to get clear in my own mind, I felt like I was being sucked, like Alice on her trip to Wonderland, down a rabbit hole, only to end up on the dark side of the moon.  The sheer volume of material on all sides of the debate was overwhelming.  Some was carefully researched and scientifically beyond my comprehension, some bordered on dangerous lunacy.

If you then throw global famine, war, nuclear and chemical weapons, rising sea levels, plastic pollution, climate change, religious intolerance, refugee crises, modern slavery and terrorism into the mix, I feel like I have catapulted on to Ultima Thule, whose very existence was unknown to us until recently.

A quick scan of food trends for 2019 shows vegetarianism and veganism are on the rise. And fast food outlets and food processors and retailers are joining in.  The launch of Gregg's vegan sausage roll, the uproar it created and their magnificent PR handling of the entire event were as enjoyable as the product itself.  Try one, you never know, you may actually enjoy it.

No bad thing, but there are arguments on both sides.  It is generally agreed that we should reduce the levels of intensive animal breeding to reduce their impact on the environment and on the factors influencing climate change. 

Whether you eat meat or not, there can be no justification for intensive farming, poor animal husbandry and inhumane methods of slaughter.

But remember, when you campaign to save an endangered species, that many rare British breeds have survived to fill their place in our biodiversity, only because they have been bred for the table.   

These 2 articles demonstrate why we need to address a global uptake of veganism more carefully and not see it as a simple answer to an increasingly complicated question.

The first discusses how intensive dairy and meat farming is damaging, but so too are farms producing purely arable crops. A balance, well tended and managed, creates a richer biodiversity. 

The second addresses non dairy milks, hailed as healthier, more natural and more environmentally responsible than the dairy equivalents.  Like many vegan food products, the problem lies not in the ingredients, but the processes. 

And finally, this article touches on the concerns for the individual in swapping their diet for the promise of a "better" self. 

This is what causes me anxiety about the Veganuary campaign, the power of social media is a potent force and not everyone has the strength to resist its allure. A lot of people lead very healthy, active and happy lives on a vegan diet, but any and all diets need to be balanced, to give you everything your body needs and, in this writer's opinion, should also give you pleasure in your food.  

So, if you are well informed and sure that you are getting what you need, throw yourself in to Veganuary and don't be surprised that it is tastier than you think, but please make sure you know what you are doing.

And if you type vegan or vegetarian into the search box at the top of the screen, you will find some recipes to try out!  We are all for a more plant based diet, but please do not ask us to give up cheese!

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

The Urban Spice man cometh

It was an exciting day when the postman dropped off this parcel.
We have been entrusted with a selection of the Urban Spice Man's range of spice blends for pre-launch testing and honoured with the task of coming up with some recipe ideas.

Intriguing and enticing titles and a full menu of contents - I couldn't wait to get started.  But life has been hectic of late, so simplicity was the key consideration.  These spice blends are well thought out, beautifully balanced and absolutely zinging with flavour, so simple is anything but boring.

On a #MeatFreeMonday in dreary December, this zipadeedoodah green tomato and black bean curry was as bright and cheerful as a Spring day.

1 tblsp rapeseed oil, we always use our local favourite from Bennett and Dunn

1 onion, sliced

20g butter

2 cloves garlic, sliced

200g green tomatoes, chopped into large chunks - the last of the season, the plants withered by the first frost, the fruit clinging on, but with no hope of ripening.  You could also use any under-ripe tomatoes for this recipe, the astringency bringing another flavour dimension to the dish.

200g cooked black beans (or kidney beans)

2 teaspoons Wor Toon Curry Pooda (adjust the quantity to taste) 

50g creamed coconut

250ml water

4 generous handfuls spinach

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp salt

Put the oil and butter in a large frying pan or prospector pan and warm over a medium heat.

When the butter foams, add the onion and garlic and fry until translucent. Tip in the spice mix and cook for 5 minutes.  If the mixture starts to catch on the bottom of the pan add a little water (you don't need any more oil).

Put the tomatoes, beans and coconut in the pan and stir in the water.

Simmer for 30 minutes, adding more water if the sauce looks too thick.

Taste, add the lemon juice and season with salt.

Add the spinach, a handful at a time and when it has just wilted, the dish is ready to serve.

A handful of chopped coriander and some lemon wedges would not go amiss, but are not essential.

Serve with rice or naan.

Serves 4

Keep checking the website and our social media for more news from the Spiceman and more recipes.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2018 ©

https://www.netherton-foundry.co.uk/

Spiced lentil and sweet potato soup

A recipes for those in-between days - simple fodder after the Christmas lunch and before the New Year's Eve party.
There are so many recipes for lentil soup and now that the soup dragon has taken up residence within the internet, you are only ever a few clicks away from a bottomless cauldron of recipes.
Soup is a staple at Netherton Towers. When the offspring were small there was generally a pot of botbot (BitOfThisBitOfThat) soup on the go to feed them and any after school hangers on they may have picked up along the way. Leftover or limp veg, stock, rice and tins of tomatoes, the contents of the fridge - anything could be chucked together in an instant and I just love the power of the blender to hide things that kids claim not to like, but don't notice if they can't see them.

This one, on the other hand, was made in a more leisurely and considered manner, with the ingredients weighed out, so that I could share it.
It is a thick, warming soup, with a warm undercurrent and a little bite added to the  - long pause while I search for a less clichéd word than velvety; nope, brain has ceased up, the texture will remained adjectiveless - smoothness of blended lentil and potato.

1 onion, chopped
2 tblsp oil -  I used some garlic and chilli oil for an extra kick, but rapeseed or olive will work equally well
1 tsp ras el hanout
100g red lentils
450g sweet potato (or squash), peeled and diced
1 litre stock, vegetable or chicken (vegetable stock will make this a vegan/vegetarian dish)
1 red pepper, finely chopped

Put half of the oil into a large pan or casserole and warm over a moderate heat.
Sweat onion until soft and translucent.  Be gentle, you don't want brown or crispy bits, but you do want to coax the sweetness out of the onions.
Add the spice and stir well, cook for 2 -3 minutes.
Add the sweet potato, lentils and stock.
Simmer for around 30 minutes until the lentils are thoroughly cooked and the potato is soft.
Blend with a stick mixer or in a blender.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan
Add peppers, cook for 5 minutes

Stir into soup.
Serve.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2018 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

A taste of the Middle East

I am guessing that a lot of you have been watching Nigel Slater's Middle East and along with me are hoping that there is a book in the writing.
Here at Netherton HQ, we are very fond of Claudia Rosen's A New Book of Middle Eastern Food - an interesting title, as our copy was published in 1986.  But the recipes are timeless and classic and it was intriguing to compare her recipes with those being created in the homes that Nigel visited.  

This is not authentic, it is just a delicious combination of ingredients, inspired by the tastes of the Middle East, which I hope you will enjoy as much as we did.
We ate this with slices of bread, drizzled with Bennett and Dunn rapeseed oil, sprinkled with home made za'atar and then baked until crisp on our griddle plate in a hot oven.
It would be equally good with a flatbread and of course, whilst it makes a great vegetarian main dish, it would also be good with lamb chops!

150g butter beans, soaked overnight, simmered until soft in fresh water.
100g green beans, chopped
2 tblsp rapeseed or olive oil
1 red onions, sliced
2 fat cloves of garlic, sliced
1 aubergine, cut into ½" cubes
2 tsp salt
½ tin chopped tomatoes
1 cinnamon stick
Juice of half a lemon
1 tblsp chopped mint

Heat the oil over a medium heat in a Prospector pan and add the onion, garlic and aubergine.
Cover with a lid and cook slowly until the whole lot is soft.  This should take around 20 minutes.
Add the beans, tomatoes, cinnamon and salt, pop the lid back on and cook for 30 minutes.  
Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and mint.
Either serve immediately or allow to cool to room temperature. 

Serves 2

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2018 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk 

A recipe for falafel from our friend in Germany

How to cook Falafel in a Netherton Foundry spun iron pan

Thorsten lives in Germany and is a great friend of Netherton.  He has an impressive collection of our cookware.

He has been kind enough to share his pitta recipe with me - one for another day - as well as this super falafel recipe.

If you have tried making Pita, also called arabic flatbread or "Khubz", with a Netherton Foundry Kitchen Companion, you probably wondered about how to fill the nice pockets. Here’s a suggestion that is quite traditional and can also be eaten as a main dish, meat substitute or even a side dish: Falafel!

Falafel is very popular in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon, Israel and Egypt (in Egypt they are called “Taameyya” and are made with fava beans, not chickpeas). They are often sold as street food, and falafel booths are quite as popular as maybe Fish’n’Chips in Britain or Currywurst in Berlin.

Here is a version that you can make in your Netherton Foundry spun iron pan:

Ingredients:

6oz (170g) dried chick peas

1 onion

5 cloves garlic (use more or less according to taste)

1 bunch coriander (or parsley, but coriander is MUCH better)

1 tblsp ground coriander seeds

1 tblsp cumin

2 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1½ oz (45g) Bulgur wheat (or whole grain wheat flour)

To make the falafel fluffy, you may add

1tsp baking powder OR

1 slice of toast OR 

Both

Preparation

1. Soaking the chickpeas

Put the chickpeas in a bowl and cover them with plenty of water. Let soak overnight.

2. Prepare the falafel dough

Drain the soaked chickpeas with a strainer and transfer them into a food processor.

Add onion, coarsely chopped, garlic cloves, coriander sprigs coarsely chopped, spices, salt and Bulgur.

After you added all the ingredients into the food processor, close it and mix for half a minute.

With a spoon or spatula, scrape any dough adhering to the side walls off and put it back into the food processor. Mix again. Repeat several times until you get a homogenous, but slightly grained texture of the dough.

That’s it! You can keep the falafel dough in the fridge up to one week, or freeze it. So, if you plan a larger party, you can make the dough in advance!

3. Frying time!

Take your Netherton Foundry spun iron pan and pour vegetable oil into the pan until the bottom is well covered with oil (about 2-3 mm).

Put the pan on medium heat and wait a few minutes to let the oil get hot.

In the meantime, form small falafel patties, about ½ inch (1 – 1 ½ cm) thick, and about 2 inch (5 cm) in diameter.

If there is an Asian shop or an oriental market in your vicinity, you may consider getting a falafel maker / falafel scoop. They come in different sizes and shapes, sometimes they form little patties, sometimes they form rings. The size and shape is not important, but they usually have a spring-operated plunger that pushes the falafel patty out. This helps a lot and makes forming the falafel a lot easier.

You can of course also form the patties by hand, with a cookie cutter, or any other way you like. Try to make them with a similar thickness, so that they have the same cooking time. You can also use a burger press and create “Falafel Burgers”! Sometimes people even won’t recognize that they have no meat in their Burger. If you do that, be careful while removing the patty from the press, it breaks a lot easier than meat patties.

I used a falafel scoop to make little patties of about two inch (5 cm) in diameter. Just drop them in the pan and fry on both sides until golden brown.

Serve with Tahini sauce, or stuff them in the pita you made with your Netherton Foundry kitchen companion or casserole, or use them as a main or side dish.

This recipe is suitable for vegetarians and vegans!

Thank you Thorsten

You can find Thorsten on Twitter @Der_SMU

Sticky fig cake

For reasons that are too tedious to go into, I have been faced with the challenge of creating a vegan menu recently - not something that comes easily in this household, with its love of all things dairy and a passion for fresh eggs.
But I have never been shy of meeting a challenge, be it rock climbing or motorbike riding, so vegan cooking was simply going to go on the list.

Vegan main courses were fairly straightforward, admittedly I haven't come up with a decent cauliflower cheese, but we have had a number of vegan dishes which didn't even register as being of "special dietary interest".
It was puddings that proved the hardest...... you will already have seen a number of puddings on this blog and without checking, I can be pretty sure that every single one contains at least one prohibited ingredient.
It has to be admitted that some experiments are best glossed over, suffice to say that it's lucky some of our garden birds aren't fussy.
However, we did enjoy a treacle tart, with a pastry made from vegetable suet and filo tarts filled with cashew and pistachio cream and topped with poached apricots and, for the purists, maple syrup and the less pure, honey.

That said, the weather is getting colder and we were craving a proper autumnal pud, so the big challenge was to come up with a variation of sticky toffee pudding and this is the result. And for those of you who are not following a vegan diet, I have included the non-vegan alternative ingredients too.
I didn't tell all my testers that this was vegan, just to gauge the response and I am pleased to report that it got an all round thumbs up and surprise when it was revealed to have no animal products in it.

CAKE
4oz vegan margarine (or butter if you don't want a vegan version)

4 oz sugar

1 banana

2 oz soft dried figs
4 tblsp soaked chia seed jelly (or 2 eggs if you don't want a vegan version)

4 oz self rising flour

1 tsp baking powder

6 dried figs for decoration

Preheat the oven to 170ºC
Put the margarine/butter, sugar, banana and figs into a food processor and mix until smooth and fluffy.
Add the chia/eggs and beat again.
Fold in the flour, mixed with the baking powder.

Spoon into a greased 10" Prospector pan or 8½" cake tin
Split open the reserved figs and put them on top of the cake batter
Place into the oven and bake for approx 30 minutes, until the top springs back when pressed with your finger.
Set aside while you make the sauce.

SAUCE

4 oz sugar

Juice of 1 orange

2oz dried figs soaked for 30 min in 6 fl oz hot water. 

Put the sugar into a saucepan over a medium heat.
Cook gently until the sugar has melted and turned a rich brown.
CAREFULLY pour in the orange juice and continue to cook until the caramel has completely dissolved in the juice.
Add the fig purée and simmer for 5 - 10 minutes until it is a consistency to your liking.
Slice the cake and pour over the sauce.  This can served as it is or with cream, (vegan) yogurt or cashew cream.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2016

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

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

Mango chutney

I make no claims to the authenticity of this recipe - but I can lay claim to its deliciousness and it's just as good with a goat's cheese as it is with a Goan curry.

In this part of the world we are blessed with a fabulous collection of farm shops and local food producers, but there is a dearth of the "ethnic" shops that make city shopping so much fun.
There being no local mango growers in Shropshire, I was obliged to turn to Sainsburys  where I got this fantasitic mango box, containing 8 perfect mangoes.

4 have been kept in the fruit bowl waiting for them to ripen and turn into honeyed balls of  juiciness and 4 have been converted into homemade mango chutney.

The only thing I will say about this is that traditionally chutneys were made to preserve food and make it last - this doesn't happen to this in our house.

It's great to eat straight away and I have absolutely no idea if it improves with age - we have yet to be patient enough to find out.

Ingredients

4 green (under-ripe) mangoes

2 tsp salt

¼ pt malt vinegar

¼ pt distilled malt vinegar

5 oz sugar

½" ginger

10 cardamom pods

2 small dried chillis

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp nigella seeds

Peel and chop the mangoes and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle over the salt, cover with a clean tea towel and leave for 24 hours.

Drain and rinse the mangoes.
Place the vinegar, sugar and finely chopped ginger in a casserole dish or large pan.
Bring to the boil, then simmer for around 10 minutes.
Add the mangoes and nigella seeds.  tie all the other spices into a muslin bag and throw that it in with the mangoes.

Cook gently for about 20 - 30 minutes until the mangoes are soft and pulpy and the vinegar has virtually disappeared.

Taste and add more sugar, if desired.

Pour into a hot sterilised jar and seal.

Now - a note about seasoning the cast iron casserole: if you buy one of our casseroles, you will receive a note explaining that you should season it if your first dish contains a lot of acidic ingredients.  Obviously vinegar is an acid - acetic acid to be precise, so this may not be the best dish to christen your casserole with.

Acetic acid /əˈsiːtɨk/, systematically named ethanoic acid /ˌɛθəˈnoʊɨk/, is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH₃COOH (also written as CH₃CO₂H or C₂H₄O₂). It is a colourless liquid that when undiluted is also calledglacial acetic acid. Vinegar is roughly 3 %-9 % acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component of vinegar apart from water.

However, I have been using my casserole for over 4 years now and this is what it looked like when I cleaned out the chutney - so you need have no fears about any lasting damage!!

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

Wild garlic season again

Regular readers of this blog will know about my passion for wild garlic - abundant, easy to recognise, versatile, good for you and downright tasty.

Here are a few more ideas for what to do with this seasonal sensation.

First of all, pop the kettle on, as you'll need some boiling water.....

Spaghetti with cherry tomatoes and wild garlic puree

Cook as much spaghetti as you fancy eating in a large pan of boiling water.

Meanwhile, heat a large knob of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil in a casserole dish 

Add 6 to 8 cherry tomatoes per person and cook gently until beginning to collapse.

Blanch 1 handful of wild garlic per person with the boiling water, strain and blitz to a puree with a stick mixer or in the food processor.

Add the garlic to the tomatoes with 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and a knob of butter.

Warm through for around 5 minutes.

Strain the spaghetti, serve into warmed bowls and spoon over the tomato and garlic sauce.

You can add grilled Halloumi, crumbled feta or grated Parmesan to the finished dish if you wish.

White bean and wild garlic pate

                                       
Blanch a large handful of wild garlic, strain.
Drain and rinse a can of cannellini beans.

Put the beans and garlic into a food processor, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of ½ lemon.
Mix until you have a smooth puree.
Serve with hot toast.

Finally, I added a handful of chopped wild garlic to a cheese souffle made with Red Leicester cheese, but you'll just have to take my word for that, as it disappeared before I got the chance to photograph it.


© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015