Sweet and savoury

Two lovely new dishes for you to try and which will warm you up now that the winter is approaching.

The first one is inspired by my Chinese friend, Sophie and demonstrates that not all Chinese style food has to be cooked in a wok!  This is simplicity itself and requires virtually no effort to create a delicious, low fat meal which will get your tastebuds tingling

Slow braised tofu with aubergine
250ml stock ( I used vegetable stock to make a vegetarian meal, but beef would work too)
2 tblsp soy sauce
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns
3 star anise
1 stick of cinnamon
1 aubergine, cut into cubes
400g tofu, cubed

Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker bowl and cover with the lid.
Place on the heater base and cook on KEEP WARM for 8 hours
Serve with noodles and beansprouts or boiled rice.

This quantity is enough for 6 people, but you can easily make double the amount in one go if you are entertaining a crowd.

And for afters.........

Ginger Apple Topsy

125g  + 50g butter

100g golden syrup

25g black treacle

125g sugar

2 eggs

150ml milk

250g self raising flour

1 tblsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon

Stem ginger

5 apples, peeled, cored and cut into large chunks

Place the slow cooker bowl on the hob over a low heat. Melt 50 g butter.  Place the bowl on the heater base and add the apples to the butter. Stir well to coat.

In a separate pan, melt the rest of the butter, syrup, treacle and sugar together over a low heat.

Add the flour, milk and eggs and beat well to create a batter.  If you really like ginger, chop some stem ginger and add it to the batter.

Pour over the apples and put the lid on.

Cook on LOW for 3 hours.

Serve with whipped cream ( add some syrup from the stem ginger to make it even more special!)

Enough for 8 greedy pudding fans!





A last taste of summer

Autumn has well and truly arrived this week, hasn't it?   I hope you are all keeping warm and dry.  It is certainly the season for slow cooking and I am going to be experimenting with lots of new ideas in the coming weeks - so keep watching.

But for now, I want to show you what you can do with one of our frying pans and relive those (few) days of summer that passed too quickly.

A tomato tart to brighten your day.

                               

Take the handles off your pan, as this is going to go into the oven.  The oven which you will already have pre-heated to around 190ºC. Or use one of our oven safe pans
Place the pan on the hob and gently warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a knob of butter.
Halve enough ripe and juicy tomatoes to fill the pan and place these cut side down in the oil and butter.
Scatter over some fresh thyme and marjoram, a teaspoon of sugar and a good sprinkling of salt.  Drizzle in a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and cook for about 5 minutes.



Roll out some pastry - I used half a pack of Sainsbury's all butter puff pastry - and place it over the tomatoes.  Tuck in the edges and place in the oven.

Cook for around 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden

Place a large plate ( there will be juice to catch!) over the tart and invert the pan to turn out the tart.

Garnish with basil and serve immediately.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2012 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk



Gold medals

Well, the Olympics and Paralympics are now over and it seems very strange not to be checking the news for the latest Team/Paralympic GB gold medal.
Wasn't it fantastic?  There may have been those who doubted we could do it, but I have to say I thought that the London Games couldn't have been bettered.  The performances by the athletes were matched by the efficiency and friendliness of the Games Makers and all the members of the Armed Forces, who came to the rescue at the eleventh hour.  Seb Coe got it right when he said last night that "Made in Britain" is an indication of quality.

I managed to get tickets for the final of the ladies football at Wembley, which was played to the biggest ever crowd for a ladies match - the atmosphere was electric and everyone had a brilliant time.  We certainly got to see plenty of medals, with a presentation to each and everyone of the Bronze, Silver and Gold winning teams. I wouldn't have missed it for the world and hopefully it's an experience the kids will  never forget.  We have met so many people from overseas who have complimented GB on the success of the Games, so let's hope that the feel good factor and sense of pride nad achievement will stay with us and lift us out of the doldrums.

We too have got our very own gold medal - albeit made of chocolate, but we too can proudly say "Made in Britain" and get a sense of satisfaction knowing that it really does mean quality, service and innovation.

This was the fantastic window display at Below Stairs in Ambleside If you thought that the Lake District was just full of climbing and walking shops, think again and go and visit this great family owned Cook Shop, full of great products and run by a fabulous and friendly team.  If it's history you're after, then you'll be intrigued to know that the shop is located on the ground floor of the building where William Wordsworth once sold stamps.  I love going to visit, because I know that  I will always be made welcome and that there is always something to catch my eye.  We are delighted that Ros and her team are stocking the Netherton Foundry range.

We all know that the Lake District is a wonderful place to visit, but I want you to add Below Stairs to your list of attractions - there's more than lakes and mountains up there!

I know that they have actually sold this particular slow cooker already, but what I want to know is "who ate the medal?"

Here comes the sun

Wow, summer has arrived at last, which means I can get the Garden Hob out tonight and cook in the garden.  What a change from the recent deluge and so quickly too. Barely time to change out of the wellies and get the sandals on!

I can never quite get over our Great British weather and how we can experience all the seasons in a day.  But today, I can safely say has been summer, summer and more summer.

So, it being the summer holidays and with nothing else to do, my talented son has been out in the sunshine,  trying out a possible future career as a photographer and has created some great new images for our website, but I want to share them with you here and now.

He is only 14, so any encouragement you can give him would be greatly appreciated - please leave a comment on the blog or contact us through the website and as long as he doesn't start demanding professional fees, I'll pass them on.

Astonishing what a difference good, natural lighting makes to a picture and I absolutely love these. 

Our style guru at Cornflower and Calico has already made the following remark:  Excellent, lovely clean pics

Thanks for that, Pete.

Please let me know what you think, so he can feel that it was worth all the effort - he is a teenager and hard work is an alien concept!





Good morning

A very early Good Morning to everyone reading the blog over the ocean in the USA.

Please let me know how you found us, what you think of the products and if you would like to see these in America.

What are you all having for breakfast this morning?  Did you know you can cook great oatmeal (or porridge as we call it) in a slow cooker.  Wake up to a delicious, healthy breakfast to make a great start to your day.
Or what about the great classsic, Huevos Rancheros?  Cook the tomato and pepper base overnight and then add the eggs when you get up - a fantastic brunch and in the large cast iron bowl you can make enough to invite the neighborhood!

And on the subject of classics, can you send me your definitive recipe for Boston Baked Beans.  I guess this is just like asking for the only recipe for Yorkshire puddings here in the UK, but  I would love to see what you all think makes the perfect can of beans.

What would you cook on the Garden Hob?  This is the wettest summer any of us can remember here in England, so the Garden Hobs are all sitting in the shed, but we have been promised a late summer in September, so I am starting to get my ideas ready now.
These products are ideal for all of us who do not have a huge back yard, but still want to eat outside and they are compact and easy to store when you are not using them - we don't all have the space to pack away a huge gas barbecue in the bad weather!

I discovered this week that the world truly is a global village - one of our Dutch friends introduced us to a customer in South Africa - I got a message about one of his connections via Linked In - the connection lives in Britain and bought one of our slow cookers.  In fact, I hope to be publising some of his Kosher recipes very soon! Six degrees of separation - who can you connect me to?

More coincidences in the next blog!

Get in touch via the website or sales@netherton-foundry.co.uk

Piggy perfection

Making the most of a joint of belly pork......

If any of you were reading Twitter yesterday, you will know that I was feeling creative and trying out a new recipe for the slow cooker.  Well I am delighted to say that it turned out even better than I could have expected and, in the words of my 9 year old food critic , Megan, was absolutely amazing - full review after the recipe.
This was so simple to make, the preparation time was less than 10 minutes and the end result was so tender and full of flavour.  What's more, belly pork is a very economic cut and you don't need to add much to it to make a gourmet dish.
As you can see in the picture, the meat just fell apart at the touch of a fork.
I am guessing that this would be delicious served cold in a crusty cob, but I can't swear to that because there is none left to try!



3 onions, thickly sliced
1 joint of belly pork (mine weighed 750g)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons five spice powder
3 dessertspoons runny honey
300 ml water

Lay the onions on the bottom of the cast iron bowl. If they don't cover the bottom - add some more.
Mix the salt, five spice powder and honey together and rub all over the pork, ideally with your hands.  Messy, but that's half the fun of cooking.
Put the pork on top of the onions and pour the water round.
Cover and place on the heater base.
Cook for 8-10 hours on KEEP WARM.

And here is what my harshest critic had to say:

Ahhhhh, the pork is all I could ever think of. Absolutely gorgeous.  Meat soft and chewy, sauce is superb and skin is just delicious.  Everyone need and MUST try it.  It was heaven for me.

Megan, age 9



Thank you for your kind words, Megan and I love Piglet!

Where are you?

I have just been checking the statistics for the blog, just to make sure that I am not simply writing to myself. 

It would seem that this is not the case and you, my dear readers, are out there, all around the world.

So, you have an insight into my life - on the road; in the shops; cooking; tasting; eating.  Is it too much to ask that I get a brief glimpse of who you are and what you are doing? 
How did you find me?
What's your favourite post?
Have you got a recipe for me to publish?

Of course the hot (or not so hot) topic here in Britain is the dire state of our British summer weather.  As Annie Lennox so beautifully sang, "Here comes the rain again" and "Is it raining with you?"
Let me know where you are and what the weather is like.

Of course, whatever the weather, one of our slow cookers or the kitchen companion is invaluable - you will already have seen the summer recipes, but if you fancy something to warm you up, there are plenty of those to choose from too.

Please get in touch, we love to talk to people, even if it's only by e-mail.
Leave a comment on the blog, send us an e-mail or contact us through the website. 

Let me know you are really there!
Meanwhile, I'm off to put the kettle on.