Orange and thyme syrup cake

Zesty and zingy, this is moist, syrup drenched, gluten free cake to be eaten as an indulgent pudding.

2 eggs
120g butter, melted 
120g + 30g sugar
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
Small sprig of fresh thyme
60g polenta
60g ground almonds
A slug of orange booze (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC
Line the base of a cake tin with greaseproof papaer or baking parchment.  This is a fragile, friable cake and this will help to turn it out.

Whisk the eggs until light and fluffy.  Stir in the melted butter, 120g of sugar and the orange zest.
I used some orange scented sugar to boost the citrus hit.  Next time you peel an orange, place the peel straight into a jar of sugar and store in the cupboard.  The peel will slowly release its oil into the sugar, making it perfect for baking, sweetening poached rhubarb and perking up a meringue.
Fold in the polenta and ground almonds and spoon into the cake tin.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until firm to the touch and golden brown.

While the cake is baking, mix the orange juice with the remaining sugar and, if using, the booze.  I had a bottle of Seville orange and clove vodka to hand, which was just perfect, but Cointreau would be a good substitute.

Remove the cake from the oven and drench in the syrup - the sugar will form a crunchy crust on the cake.

Serve with something creamy, like Greek yogurt, double cream or Mascarpone.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

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

Sunshine on a cloudy day

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day
When it's cold outside, I've got  

........... the sunshine colours of squash, red pepper and sweetcorn, with the warmth of some La Rossa spice blend from Mr Wolf's Spices

1 tblsp rapeseed oil
2 tsp La Rossa spice blend
4 chicken thighs
320g squash or sweet potato
1 red pepper
150g sweetcorn, fresh, tinned or frozen

Mix the oil and spice together and massage into the chicken thighs.
Peel and de-seed the squash and cut into hearty chunks. Cut the pepper into similar sized pieces.
Throw the chunks and the sweetcorn decorously into a 10" prospector pan and sit the chicken thighs on top.
Place in a pre-heated oven at 180ºC for 25 minutes.
Serve with green salad on the side and bread for mopping up the juices.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

New product, new recipe

One of the joys of developing new product ideas is the opportunity to create some new recipes.
If you have been watching our social media closely, you will have noticed that the chapa family has grown.
We now have a compact 12" chapa, the family sized 15" chapa, the party version, a split giant chapa, measuring 24" in diameter and the barbecue chapa.
The record breaking Easter weekend weather  saw an outbreak of barbecues across the land, but I waited until today to try out the barbecue chapa; cue torrential downpours, a thunderstorm and a power cut!  But then the sun came out, and so did the chapa.
The wind certainly helped with the fire lighting, just enough to create a good draught and also ensured that whichever angle I approached from, I was guaranteed a face full of woodsmoke.

The first test was some juicy pork loins, marinaded for a couple of hours while the rain came down.

This gives you enough marinade for up to 8 pork loin chops.

1" root ginger, peeled and grated
Juice and grated zest of 1 lime
1 tblsp honey
2 tblsp soy sauce
1 tblsp oil (I used Bennett And Dunn smoked rapeseed oil)
Generous grinding of black pepper
1 tsp crushed fennel seeds

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and place in a shallow dish.  Add the pork and ensure that each piece is well coated.  Leave to marinade for at least 2 hours.
Light a good fire under the chapa and allow the grid to get hot.  Be patient, have a glass of wine, relax.

When the grid is nice and hot, place the pork on top and cook for 10 minutes on each side.  

Check that the meat is cooked through and serve with a cold noodle salad. 

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

The Burger Book - a review

Let's start by getting the fact that Christian Stevenson, aka DJ BBQ is a Netherton fan out of the way; he is accumulating an impressive collection of (paid for and gifted) Netherton wares and a lot of them are featured in the photographs, by the awesome Davis Loftus,  illustrating his new book.
Ok, but that's not gonna influence our thoughts about his latest book, The Burger Book, published by Quadrille on 18th April.

If i were a publisher and someone pitched a book about burgers, I suspect my reaction might be "Yeah, right, whatever.  Next!"
But when that someone is Christian, i'd be signing him up and signing myself on as chief taster.
So if you thought you know about burgers, if you thought that burgers begin with McDonalds and end with a bad barbecue in a mate's garden, it's time to think again.

Christian is a man of boundless enthusiasm and energy, a commitment to charcoal, a connection to the burger and a man with seriously dubious dress sense, as anyone who as ever seen him in neon lycra will attest.

The Burger Book celebrates and shares his love of this most beloved food; bursting with his own and his friends' brilliant takes on the classic beef patty. There are fish recipes, lamb, pork, chicken as well as vegetarian and vegan offerings.  These are fresh, exciting ideas, with something for everyone and a bit on the side to boot!
And because he recognises the vagaries of the climate of his adopted home, there are also indoor cooking instructions for those days when "rain stops play."

We are forecast to have a great Easter weekend, before you know it the summer will be here, so it's time to check out our outdoor cooking products, or dust off your barbecue, bag a copy of the Burger book and get partying!!
A couple of pictures, featuring our 15" griddle plate and a 10" oven safe frying pan

  

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

New Kitchen Basics, a review of the latest book by Claire Thomson

I was given my first recipe book, Penguin Cordon Bleu Cookery for my 18th birthday, by a school friend called Margaret.

I have lost touch with Margaret, but I still have the book, which triggered a life long love of cookery books and cooking.
The first dish I made from that book was Spaghetti Bolognese, an antidote to the bland and boring diet of 1970s Yorkshire.  It necessitated the household's first non-medicinal purchase of olive oil and a tub (the shame of it!) of Parmesan cheese; neither of these exotic items were available in Broughs or Hintons, Northallerton's supermarkets (in truth, no more than large grocery stores) and meant a trip to the exotic and expensive Lewis and Coopers, who are still going strong today.

So what has this got to do with Claire Thomson's new book, New Kitchen Basics?

Well, Claire starts NKB with a reminisce about her mother's spaghetti bolognese, "My mum....would agree that she cooked this dish, every week, all year round.  Yet it still felt like an exotic, international supper."
Even more so in the rural Yorkshire of the seventies, where Elizabeth David was unknown and spaghetti bolognese was something served up in the bohemian London suppers of novels by the likes of Muriel Spark, Beryl Bainbridge and Margaret Drabble.

All of this meant that I was drawn in by those opening lines and didn't put the book down until I had read it cover to cover as I once read the novels of the above.
And no, this review has not been influenced in the slightest by the photo of a prospector pan on page 23!

It is a brave move to create a new set of Kitchen Basics, after all, we all have our go-to dishes, served up as regularly as clockwork, or Claire's mum's spag bol.  Cookery books, magazine article and on-line advice all tell us to Keep It Simple, just roast a chicken and buy a dessert.  Stick to the basics, don't stress.
And "10 essential ingredients, 120 recipes,: revolutionize the way you cook, every day" is a very bold headline.
But what Claire has done is take 10 basic ingredients, ones we all fall back on, and created not so much new kitchen basics, but a whole set of new classics.
We all know that avocado and tortilla chips are the perfect partners, but the first recipe I cooked from the book took that pairing simply as a springboard to a complete dish, combining the ideal combination of flavours and textures - Spiced Roasted courgette with Lime, Avocado and Broken Tortilla.  Starting with the tortillas, avocado and lime liaison we all love, then adding more flavours, more textures and a bit of heat - from the oven and from the chillis - and you are in a whole new ball park.  And yet the prep was simplicity itself,  it only took 20 minutes to make; an ease and speed at odds with the complexity and lip-smacking, lip tingling taste of the finished dish. 
Guacamole and chips is never gonna be enough from now on.  

The book is living on the kitchen table, is full of page markers, which will undoubtedly get moved around as each must-make is ticked off. 
This is a book for everyone; as Claire says "for the contentedly greedy and the curious." 

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Cauliflower and cheese

My late mother once served up a dinner comprising poached cod, mashed potato and cauliflower with white sauce (milk and cornflour, bit of salt, pinch of ground white pepper).  It was on a white plate, there was no side order of irony.
It was more a piece of surrealist art than culinary temptation.
There wasn't even any white cheese in the sauce and everyone knows that cauliflower exists to be paired with cheese, don't they?
So this is a new take on a classic combination; cauliflower and cheese.  I doubt my mother would have approved, but I can just add it to the very long list of things that met with her disapproval and disdain.

1 cauliflower
1 block Halloumi cheese
2 tblsp rapeseed oil - we use Bennett and Dunn
2 tsp Mr Wolf's Peaceful Turk Spice mix  or use your own favourite spice blend, ideally with a base note of cumin and a high note of paprika
Parsley - handfuls 

Pre -heat the oven to 180ºC
Put the oil and spice into a large bowl and mix together.
Cut the cauliflower into florets. Cut the Halloumi into around 6 thick slices, then quarter each slice.
Tumble the cauliflower and chesse through the spicy oil and toss into a prospector pan
Place in the oven and roast for around 40 minutes.
Liberally strew with an abundance of chopped parsley.
Equally good hot or cold.

Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk