Chilli

You may have seen our "guest photos" on Facebook and Twitter @NethertonNews.  We have certainly met some talented folk out there since we started selling our cookware and what is so wonderful is that they are prepared to share their talents with us.


This recipe is from the lovely Dan or @reddan956, as he is known on Twitter. You can see from this posting why we love him so much.............. flattery will earn you oodles of affection every time.

Reddan ‏@reddan956  Mar 30

@NethertonNews a variation on the #MexicanChilli #recipe but the best slow cooker on the planet no question!

Apparently the following recipe is from a a book called 100 Mexican Dishes that he bought when hanging out at Art College in the '80s.  Try it and tell us what you think.

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

Spiced, iced and sliced - lime and ginger cake

I've been on something of a baking spree since we launched the loaf tins and am more than happy to share the results with you.

Don't forget that the shop at the Workshops is open Monday to Friday, if you want to call in and see us, but please try and give us a ring in advance if there is something in particular that you are after.............. and if you give us enough notice, there may even be cake to share!!

My teenage son loves Jamaica cake - that sticky confection warmed with ginger, so I thought I'd try my own version, cutting through the sweetness with the citrus hit of lime - a classic partner to ginger.

125g butter
100g golden syrup
50g black treacle
2 eggs
2 limes
125 g self raising flour
1½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp mixed spice
100g icing sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC

Cream the butter with the syrup and treacle.
Beat in the eggs.
Pare the rind of one lime and reserve for decoration.
Add the finely grated zest of the other lime and the juice of 1½ limes and mix thoroughly.
Fold in the flour and spices.

Line a 1lb loaf tin with a butter paper of baking parchment.

Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin and level the top.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, remove the paper and allow to cool.

Make the icing by mixing the icing sugar with the remaining lime juice, adding a little water if necessary.

Spread the icing over the cake, cut the reserved lime peel into thin strips and scatter over the top.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Baking - bread and cake

I really LOVE our new loaf tins and it seems that our customers do too.  This set was a Valentine's day present.

And this one was photographed by Nigella Lawson as soon as she unpacked it!

We've asked the folk who posted these amazing photos on Twitter to send us their recipes and as soon as we've compiled them all, we will share them with you.

In the meantime, you'll have to make do with mine - although if you buy one of these lovely tins, you will get 2 recipes from master baker, Robert Swift, the fifth generation of the Swift baking dynasty.

In our house, we have genes running back to Eastern Europe and I think that's where our love of  "bread with substance" comes from.  These are not light, airy breads, but seriously tasty breads with a bit of "chew".
There are 2 for you to try - the first one is a delicious brown bread, which goes just as well with a strong cheese as it does with butter and honey and the second is a really easy, food processor loaf, which takes virtually no effort and is great for sandwiches.

Brown bread, seriously brown bread
1lb strong white flour, unbleached if possible
1lb wholemeal bread flour
3 tsp dried yeast

2 tsp salt

1 pt tepid water
1 dessertspoon malt extract
1 dessertspoon black treacle

Put 5 fl oz of the water into a large mixing bowl and add the yeast.  Sprinkle over 2 tblsp of  the white flour and set aside for around 15 minutes, until the yeast has dissolved and is beginning to froth.

Dissolve the salt, malt extract and treacle in the remaining water.

Tip both flours into the mixing bowl and add the water mix.

Bring the mixture together with a fork or wooden spoon.

Tip the dough out on to the worktop and knead well for around 10 minutes. You should have a smooth, elastic dough that doesn't stick to your fingers.

Place in a clean bowl and cover - use oiled cling film, a large plastic bag or, preferably a damp tea towel (we are minimising our use of plastic) - essentially, you don't want the surface of the dough to dry out.
Leave to prove until doubled in size.

Turn out again and give it a quick knead.

Grease 2 x 2lb loaf tins with butter or oil.

Divide the dough in half and put each half into one of the greased tins.

Cover, as before and leave until doubled in size

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC
Place the tins into the centre of the oven and bake for 30 - 40 minutes.

To check that the loaf is cooked, turn it out and tap the underside.  If it sounds hollow, it's cooked.  If it doesn't, stick it back in the oven, or you'll find you have a stodgy middle :-)

Leave to cool on a wire rack and serve in thick slices

Easy white bread
1lb strong white bread flour, unbleached if possible
10 fl oz tepid water
1 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tblsp olive or rapeseed oil

Dissolve the yeast in the water.
Tip all the ingredients into a food processor and mix for 30 seconds.
Cover any exposed surface of the processor bowl to prevent the dough drying out.

Leave to prove until the dough has doubled in size - I have been known to leave this all day, while I've been out at the workshops or overnight at the weekend.

Grease a 2lb loaf tin with butter or oil.

Put the dough into the greased tin.
Cover, as above while you pre-heat the oven to 200ºC
Place the tin into the centre of the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

To check that the loaf is cooked, turn it out and tap the underside.  If it sounds hollow, it's cooked.  If it doesn't stick it back in the oven, or you'll find you have a soggy middle :-)

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

And because we also like CAKE ..............

Cherry loaf
Personally, I can't stand glace cherries - they have the texture of plastic and taste of nothing more than syrup - but I do love dried cherries, so here is a new version of an old favourite.

125 g butter
125g sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
50g ground almonds
75g self raising flour
100g dried cherries
2 tsp grated lemon rind (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and lemon rind and beat again.
Fold in the flour, almonds and cherries.

Grease a 1lb loaf tin or line with a butter paper, greaseproof paper or a loaf liner.
Transfer the cake mixture to the tin, level the surface and place in the oven.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes - please remember that ovens vary, so it's worth keeping an eye on your cake the first time you bake it.
Check that the cake is cooked through - insert a skewer into the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean your cake is cooked.
If the cake is not cooked through, but the top is golden, cover with a loose sheet of greaseproof paper or foil - I use a butter paper - to prevent the top from burning, while the middle cooks.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Bat out of hell

OK, I own up, no bats were used in the making of this dish, but it's impossible to be of a certain age and not associate any kind of meat loaf with a certain well known record - as they used to be called!!
We're certainly very pleased with the performance of the loaf tins for making bread and I've been making rather a lot of cakes too......

... but in order to demonstrate how versatile they are, I wanted to make a savoury dish too.

This is a tasty meatloaf, with a bit of zing from the addition of lemon rind and fresh herbs, intended to be eaten cold.

PORK AND CHICKEN MEATLOAF

150g white breadcrumbs
50g ground almonds
100 ml dry sherry
500g minced belly pork
375g chopped chicken
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
2 tsp chopped sage
2 tsp chopped rosemary
50g salami
Black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C

Put the breadcrumbs and almonds in a large mixing bowl and pour the sherry over.
Leave to soak for 10 minutes.
Add the minced pork - do not be tempted to get lean pork mince, it simply won't work for this recipe.



And then add the chopped chicken, lemon rind, herbs and a generous grind of black pepper.
When I was devising this, my food processor decided to play up, so in all these photos you will see very finely chopped, rather than minced pork.  Your butcher should mince your pork for you if you ask nicely.

You probably won't need salt, as the salami will add the saltiness.

Mix well, you can use a wooden spoon, but the very best way is to get in there with your hands and bring the mix together.

Oil a 2lb loaf tin.
Put half the mixture into the loaf tin and press down.
Lay the sliced salami on top of the meat loaf mix.

Cover with the remaining mix.

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.

Remove the foil and cook for a further 15 minutes or until the top is taking on a golden hue.  

                                      

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.

Carefully loosen the edges of the loaf with a palette knife and invert onto a plate.
Put a serving plate over the top and invert again.

Voila - ready to serve.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Vegetarian chilli

The power of a picture.....

I was tweeting some stream of consciousness musings about feeding a houseful of teenagers, along with work in progress photos, when I was asked for the recipe for the chilli I was in the middle of preparing.

I had to cater for a group of teenage boys - all of them significantly bigger than me and each with their own food fad - a vegetarian, one who doesn't like baked potato, another who only eats "dry" food (no sauces, gravy, soup..... but with a distinct liking for beer), so the challenge was to come up with something they could all eat.

I settled on baked potatoes, French bread, grated cheese, baked beans and a veggie chilli, so they could help themselves to whichever components they fancied.

Pudding was a no brainer, everyone loves chocolate mousse.

Here are the recipes for the chilli and the chocolate mousse.

CHILLI

2 tbls rapeseed oil

3 onions, sliced

3 cloves garlic

2 tsp cumin seed

2 tsp salt

2 dried chillis

3 sprigs thyme

2 cartons tomato passata - or 2 tins chopped tomatoes

2 tins kidney beans

150g red lentils

2 tsp cocoa powder

1 red pepper, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

Heat the oil over a medium heat - the cast iron casserole dish is ideal for this quantity of food.

Add the onions and fry until translucent.

Crush the garlic, cumin seeds, salt and chillis with a pestle and mortar and add to the onions.

Fry gently for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes/passata, kidney beans, lentils, thyme and cocoa powder.

Simmer for around 40 minutes or until the lentils are cooked.

Add the chopped peppers and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Serve with baked potato, rice or bread.
Serves 8

CHOCOLATE  MOUSSE
200g dark chocolate
8 eggs, separated

Melt the  chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water.
Leave to cool, but not set
Beat the eggs yolks.
At this stage you can add extra flavours if you wish, such as grated orange zest, espresso coffee, brandy or even creme de menthe
Add the yolks to the cooled chocolate and mix thoroughly
Whisk the egg whites to a stiff peak.

Beat 2 tablespoons pf the whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen it.
Fold in the rest of the whites and transfer the mousse to individual serving dishes.
Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.



Serves 8 - 10

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Let them eat cake - a new recipe for the new loaf tins

We are delighted that master baker, Robert Swift has tried and tested the new loaf tins and agreed to give us a special recipe for both white and wholemeal bread for us to include with every tin.
Bread is definitely one of the finest foods there is and I have yet to meet anyone who can resist the smell of a freshly baked loaf.
Be it a ploughman's lunch or a humble jam sandwich, good bread is at the heart of so much that we enjoy.......... bacon sarnie anyone?
And there is something primordially satisfying in creating your own bread, so please create time for yourself and give bread making a go.

With Robert providing the bread making expertise, I decided to have a go at creating a brand new cake recipe to celebrate the launch of the loaf tins.
After all, if you can bake good bread in them, there's no reason not to use them for other things - I also have a meatloaf and a nut loaf in mind.............

But for now, make do with cake

This is not too sweet and I've used wholemeal flour, so that you can feel virtuous without sacrificing any yumminess.

100g raisins
Juice and grated rind of 1 orange
100 g butter
50g peanut butter
100g soft brown sugar
2 eggs
150g wholemeal flour

Soak the raisins in the orange juice for at least 30 minutes
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC
Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugar.

  

Add the eggs and beat well.

Stir in the raisins with the orange juice and the grated orange zest and mix well.
Fold in the flour.

Grease your 1lb loaf tin or line it with baking parchment, a butter paper or a loaf tin liner.
Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the surface.

Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes - or until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and peel off the paper.
Store in an airtight tin - if you can resist eating it all in one go.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk