SIMPLE: A book by Diana Henry

You will recall my trip to Otter Farm earlier this year for a food writing course with Diana Henry.
You may also remember my trepidation at the thought of submitting a piece of homework for review by our talented teacher.
This was a sample of work, written BEFORE the course - definitely an opportunity to "compare and contrast" our writing abilities, in the manner of the old English O level questions!

Well .......... the homework came back duly marked and I think I can safely say that the comments could be interpreted as a solid 7/10.
Diana's comments were incisive and very helpful.  I am putting them into practice with my writing now and hope that the results are evident.

But this all gave me an idea and as she has written, albeit privately, about mine, I have decided to write about Diana's writing.  I have several of her books and, in my opinion, each one is even better than the last.
Her latest, is certainly my favourite.

SIMPLE:  Effortless food, big flavours

To be honest, there's not much more to add to that.  We learned on our course that "less is more" and not to pad out our writing with unnecessary waffle.  The title and summary really do describe the book to a T.

Damn, Diana is a clever writer!!

This book shows you how to turn a few ingredients into tantalising, easy to prepare and visually impressive meals without having to be a trained chef or have a kitchen full of specialist equipment.
OK, so some of the ingredients are a bit off beat for us rural mice - pomegranate molasses in Highley anyone? - but surely that's what the internet is for.  Hello Souschef.

Take, for example, huevos rotos:

"SPANISH BROKEN EGGS; spicy, cheap, calls for a cold beer."
No spare words and already I am hooked.  After all, an excuse for a beer on a school night signposts me to a recipe every time.

"In other words, perfect midweek food" 
Who can argue with that?  
A total of only 16 words and they speak volumes.

This not only sums up the recipe, but everything that Diana taught us. Choose your words carefully and sparingly and they will deliver your message. Blather on and the message will be lost.

Now go and get yourself a copy of the book - and treat yourself to some remarkably SIMPLE food.

© Netherton Foundry 2017

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

Spring is in the air

The clocks have gone forward, nights are getting lighter and there are yellow flowers everywhere; celandines, daffodils, primroses, cowslips, dandelions.
It can only mean one thing - Spring has arrived and with it a fantastic crop of wild garlic.

We always eat sackfuls of the stuff and I like to find new ways of cooking it every season.
If you read back through the Spring months from years past, you will find a lot more ideas and recipes for wild garlic, which grows in abundance along the banks of the River Severn.

This one is a zingy, bright sauce to serve with lamb or grilled Halloumi.

1 Tblsp rapeseed oil, Bennett and Dunn is our favourite 
2 shallots
4 chestnut button mushrooms
150ml red wine
3 sprigs mint, chopped
10 large wild garlic leaves, chopped
2 lamb steaks, or a pack of Halloumi
40g butter

Chop the shallots and mushrooms very finely.
Put the rapeseed oil into a frying pan and heat gently over a medium heat
Add the shallots and fry gently until translucent.
Add the mushrooms and cook until soft.
Pour in the red wine, bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer and reduce by half.

Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl while you cook the lamb or Halloumi
Add a small knob of butter to the pan and increase the heat.
When the butter stops foaming, put the steaks into the pan.

Cook according to taste, we like ours a little pink so we cook it about 3-4 minutes on each side.
When the lamb is cooked to your liking and put aside, covered in foil, while you finish the sauce.
Alternatively, add a little more rapeseed oil to the pan and when it has heated, put in thickly sliced Halloumi and cooked until golden on both sides.  Remove from the pan and keep warm.
Return the wine sauce to the frying pan and add the mint, garlic leaves, butter and a pinch of salt.

Heat gently until the butter has been incorporated into the sauce.

Place the lamb steaks or Halloumi slices onto plates and pour the sauce over.
Delicious with the first Jersey potatoes and some peas.

Serves 2

© Netherton Foundry 2017

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Day trip to Kent

A couple of weeks ago, I packed up the blue van and headed south to Kent for the day.
Yes, I know it's a long way, but when you can be sure of a warm welcome at the other end, it's worth the early start.

The motorways, M42, M40, M25, M26 and M2 were all clear of roadworks and "incidents", making the journey smooth and trouble free.

First stop was Pastures New in Rochester to drop off some new stock; a lovely shop with some delightful, hand painted children's wooden wares.  So if you are on the lookout for a very special, personalised present, go and talk to Sue.

A quick drive around the castle, after all why go all that way and not fit in some sightseeing, then off to Faversham.

At the invitation of the staff, I was spending a "Meet the Maker" day at Macknades Farm Shop, an impressive food emporium, cafe and retailer of Netherton wares.
As warm a welcome as my last visit and the coffee lived up to my memories too.

The product display in the shop looks great and, I guess, even without my standing there in my Netherton apron, regularly attracts a lot of attention.
Numerous staff and customers came over to chat and ask questions and a number of purchases were made too.

One lady even spotted our Twitter notification that I would be there and came over especially to me meet me - I felt like a minor celebrity.

Last time I visited Macknades, was in the autumn and I came home with a bagful of seasonal vegetables which were turned into a Selling Road salad.
This time, I couldn't resist the new season rhubarb and I have created this recipe with Macknade's in mind.  I think I shall call it a Faversham Flavourbomb

Social media and the press are currently awash with rhubarb and blood orange recipes, and as fascinating as it is to see trends emerge and take hold, I fancied adding a different element. 

6 stalks rhubarb

2 dessertspoon orange infused sugar (or granulated sugar and the grated rind of one orange)

50ml water

Cut the rhubarb into 1" long pieces and place in a prospector casserole 
Sprinkle the sugar over the top and pour in the water.

Cover with the lid.

Cook over a gentle heat for about 15 minutes,  until the rhubarb is just cooked.  
Taste and add a little more sugar if it is not to your liking.  Be careful, this will have a sweet topping, so don't go overboard.

120g butter

100g sugar

60g black treacle

2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 170ºC

Separate the eggs.

Melt the butter and treacle together in a saucepan, and set aside to cool a little.

Whisk egg yolks and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

If you happen to have a bottle of beer open, add a splash to the eggs and carry on whisking.

Add the melted butter mix to the eggs and whisk again.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and then carefully fold into the egg and treacle mixture.

Spoon this over the cooled rhubarb in the prospector pan.

Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Serve warm, rather than piping hot either on its own or with Greek yogurt, cream or creme fraiche.

It is lovely and light, but with a rich, sticky toffee flavour.

I reckon this would also work with other sharp fruits such as egg plums or gooseberries, when in season.

© Netherton Foundry 2017

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

FRIDGE FORAGE, COOKING UNDER PRESSURE

It's been one of those days; late deliveries, cold callers offering health protection for me and my boiler, lost pens, blunt scissors, a truculent computer and cold rain.
Time to switch off the lights, lock the doors and head home.
Our 13 mile commute takes us through the Wyre Forest, an ever changing backdrop and a daily game of "dodge the Deer" as muntjac and fallow pay no heed to the Green Cross code.  Darwin may well be Shropshire born, but he may have re-thought his theory of evolution if he'd met these Salopian residents.
Time to let go of work and slip back into domesticity.
So an idyllic countryside gives way to a home-scape of breakfast pots left on the worktop, a discarded pair of trainers in the middle of the floor and a washing machine in need of emptying.
Dinner is required to feed body and soothe the soul. It's midweek and a quick fridge forage is initially uninspiring, but a little imagination and inventiveness, fuelled by hunger, can generally result in something edible.

There is a number of staples that, as a rule, I can rely on finding - onions, garlic, pulses, sundried tomatoes, spices, a selection of carbs and, more often than not a lemon or two.
Do you have any ingredients that are always in the cupboard, from which you can make a meal, however basic?

Life before blog and social media was simpler, make food, serve food, eat food.
But now, I constantly ask myself whether or not the dinner is photogenic; worth recording for posterity, or at least the occasional repeat or refinement; can I/ should I recreate it; shall I jot down the "recipe" on the back of an envelope as I go along; was it well received; did it pass the second helping test?

In the past, something thrown together in a hurry has turned out to be delicious and two hours later I have forgotten what I did, so now I try and take a more methodical approach with pen and envelope always to hand.
The recipe that follows was definitely born of desperation, but turned out to be a keeper.

1 pack of good quality sausages, once again I turned to my stash of Finnebrogue sausages
2 red onions, sliced
The zest of 1 orange
8 sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 bottle red wine
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a cast iron casserole, over a medium heat.
Add the sausages and brown all over. Add the onions and soften.
Add all the other the ingredients.
Put the lid on and simmer for 40 minutes.

Serve with creamy mashed potatoes and green beans.

What inspires and drives you in the kitchen? Do you prefer the luxury of perusing your book collection, making copious notes, carefully selecting a menu, shopping for the ingredients and then spending the afternoon carefully creating your chosen dishes?
Or do you work best under pressure - fridge forage, the baying of "hangry" kids and a deadline of getting dinner on the table in time for football practice or their favourite TV programme.
Whichever it is, I urge you to enjoy your kitchen time as much as I do.

© Netherton Foundry 2017

Cooking for a food writer

So what do you do when a Leith trained food writer comes to see you? 

1. Offer to cook them lunch.
2. Panic.
3. Lie down in a dark room, waiting for the rush of blood to pass and figure out what you are going to prepare.  Let's face it, a sandwich is not going to cut the mustard.

On Thursday, we had a visit from Xanthe Clay, to talk to us and find out more about what she described as our "famous pans".  You may already have seen some of the pictures she posted on Instagram.
As she was due to arrive, with photographer, at around noon, it would have been churlish to offer no more than a cup of tea and a biscuit, so I took the sound advice offered up by Bill Clinton in his 1992 campaign KISS, Keep It Simple, Stupid.

The weather being somewhat unpredictable at present, soup seemed like a good option; warming if the wind blew in from the North East, but full of Spring vegetables.

This is what I made and I am pleased to say everyone present had 2 helpings.  What more could I ask for?   The onion and olive focaccia was baked in a 10" Prospector pan and the photo is courtesy of Xanthe.

2 Tblsp rapeseed oil, we always use Bennett and Dunn 

1 large onion

3 carrots

1 potato

1 can cannellini beans

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

750ml water 

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 handfuls kale

1 handful wild garlic

1 tsp sugar

2tsp salt

Finely chop the onion.  Cut the carrot and potato into 5 - 10mm dice, trust me, this is the hardest part of the whole recipe.
Pour the oil into a casserole or large pan and warm gently.
Add the onion, carrot and potato and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes. You do not want the vegetables to brown, just soften.
Add the drained beans, tomatoes, thyme, sugar, salt and water. Cover with a lid.
Simmer for 30 minutes.
Roughly chop the kale and throw into the soup.

Cook for another 10 minutes, then add the chopped wild garlic (omit this if it is out of season, when you can substitute spinach if you wish).

Let the garlic wilt into the soup and serve immediately.

© Netherton Foundry 2017

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Marmalade flapjack

As you may know if you follow our social media accounts, we are fond of the outdoors and all manner of outdoor eating.

That extends to packed lunches for walking and climbing trips and my challenge is to keep coming up with new ideas. 

OH is very fond of home made malt loaf and I follow a recipe from my Good Housekeeping recipe book, 1979 , baked in our own loaf tins, naturally.

But he also likes a good flapjack and I have been working on some new combinations that are a little less sweet and sticky and a bit higher in protein, great for topping up on the go or post exercise.

This recipe can be modified by changing the dried fruit; try apricots or cranberries or a mix of whatever you have in the cupboard;  chuck in some chopped nuts and ring the changes with the seeds, I used sunflower and black sesame this time, but chia and pumpkin seeds are also good.

4oz butter, 
4oz peanut butter
4oz marmalade -  I used home made 

2oz golden syrup

8oz porage oats

4oz raisins

2oz mixed seeds

Pre heat oven to 150ºC

Melt the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan 

Put the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir well to distribute the fruit and seeds.

Pour in the melted ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Line a 20 x 20cm baking tray with greaseproof paper or a butter wrapper.
Turn out in to the baking tray and pat flat.

Bake for  20 - 25 minutes.

Turn out while still warm, not hot, and cut into squares.

© Netherton Foundry 2017

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk