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

Blowing our own trumpet

It has been an extraordinarily exciting time for us lately.

Creating a new brand from scratch was a daunting prospect, especially on a shoestring.  Other well known brands of pots and pans have huge marketing budgets, which seems a little unfair when you consider that so many of them are already household names.
I suppose we also tied one hand behind our backs with the decision to sell our wares through the independent, imaginative and often eccentric shops on your High Street, rather than going for the lure of the mega order from the chain stores.
This (still) means, as you probably already know, my filling up the car - the original Little Blue Van - has been replaced by a newer blue van - and touring the country looking for likely stockists.

These wonderful shops are, quite literally, our shop window and have done so much to bring our range to the public's attention.  We love the fact that establishments as diverse as pubs, bookshops, farm shops and fireplace showrooms are just as likely to stock us as traditional cook shops and that all of these offer true individuality, a great choice of goods, genuine passion for what they are doing, great product knowledge and customer service.
I'm sure that the reps who go into some of the bigger department stores for meetings don't get a hug!!

They have supported us and we are doing whatever we can to support them - and the best way we can do that is to supply them with great British-made cookware, that people will come looking for.
Thank you to all of them. Please help us by visiting them - you can find them all listed here

And that is why we are so very grateful to the well known and professional people who have lent us their support.

We know that our pans are good, but when highly respected chefs say so, then people start to pay a little more attention.
First up is Stevie Parle from the Dock Kitchen in London - he spotted us way back and has been using our casserole dish and frying pans ever since.  He created a fabulous recipe for the Sunday Telegraph, for whom he is a regular contributor and cooked it in our casserole dish


Since then his head chef, the talented Rich Blackwell keeps me posted with what's going into the frying pans. 

Many of you will know James, as son of Dick Strawbridge and they took delivery of some pans to use on their hugely entertaining Saturday Farm TV show, that was filmed at Daylesford Farm.

James is now the proud owner of one of our tagines and if you look further down the blog, you will come across the special chicken recipe he created just for us.

On now to the stars of Shropshire and many thanks for all your support to......

Will Holland, who has now migrated to Wales and cooked this gorgeous Tarte Tatin in one of our oven safe crepe pans  As far as we know, Will is now in Jersey

Marcus Bean has not only used our pans on stage at the Shrewsbury and Ludlow Food festivals, he takes them with  him to all his demos and regularly uses them at the Cookery School.

He also included us in his Kitchen Saviours article for the Guardian, describing the usefulness of the Kitchen Companion, one of our most versatile products.

Chris Burt's prodigious talents see him running the stunning Peach Tree and Momo-No-Ki restaurants in Shrewsbury and he is so impressed with our woks, that they are the only ones used in the Momo-No-Ki kitchen  Update: Chris is now cooking up a storm at the Mytton and Mermaid and still using Netherton pans

Suree Coates  is a celebrated and award winning Thai chef.

Robert Swift, master baker has lent his support and expertise to the development of the latest addition to the Netherton range - these superb loaf tins will be available in February, complete with recipes by Robert.

But I've been saving the best news til last.............

Drum roll please..............

Showcasing the pans at Taste of London, was Michelin starred chef Adam Gray,from the Skylon restaurant. Adam is now at the Devonshire Club

Food writer and broadcaster par excellence, Diana Henry recommended us as her find of the year in her "must have" Christmas gift guide 

And finally, as an early Christmas to both herself and us - the undisputed goddess of the kitchen, Nigella Lawson got her hands on one of our slow cookers.

    

As if all that weren't enough, we were honoured and privileged to be asked to present one of our hand painted tagines as a Shropshire gift to HRH the Princess Royal on her recent visit to the Shropshire Women and Children's Centre at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.  We were fortunate enough to meet Her Royal Highness.

Read all about the visit here...

Last week brought yet more excitement with our attendance at Theo Paphitis's #SBS event in Birmingham, where he told us that we all have to blow our own trumptes, because if we don't no-one else will.

Well, it looks as though he may have half a point there - because we have been blowing so hard, that we now have a backing chorus blowing along with us.

And that backing team includes his #SBS  team who selected us as one of seven companies to be showcased in 10 key Robert Dyas stores.

We are not there yet, and there is still a long way to go, but we are certainly on our way to becoming a household name and giving the "big boys" something to think about.

So a HUGE "Thank you " to everyone supporting us on our journey, keep shouting, there are still some folk at the back that haven't heard (of) us yet.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2015

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

The Demo Chef - two new recipes

PHIL LEVERINGTON

THE WORLD'S ONLY NON-CELEBRITY CHEF

We have been fortunate to have the support of Phil, who describes himself as the world's only "non-celebrity chef" from the early days of Netherton Foundry.  Our British made cookware chimes with his philosophy of supporting local producers and championing traditional cooking.

"A passionate advocate of a return to more traditional methods of sourcing, preparation and cooking of local food"

He has taken our pots and pans around the country to all manner of foodie events and his demonstration skills and witty banter have entertained and informed thousands of people.

Seriously - if you want to draw the crowds at your food festival - book the Demo Chef.

Phil LOVES cooking and is always happy to help us with development work - he is the inspiration behind the bacon and steak presses - watch the video to see him create a restaurant quality dish using One Pan, One Knife, One Dish 

Here are two brand new recipes that he has created for us, using locally sourced produce and a selection of his Netherton Foundry wares.

Caramelised Fennel Dauphinoise

(Serves 8-10)

1kg medium-sized potatoes, very thinly sliced

2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced, fronds reserved

300ml whole milk

400ml double cream

100g butter

Butter, for roasting dish

2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan

Maldon Salt

Black pepper

Method

Generously butter a  casserole dish

Heat the oven to 180ºC or 160º for a fan oven, gas Mark 4

Layer half of the potatoes and butter in the casserole, seasonng lightly as you go.

Our on half of the cream and milk.

In a frying pan caramelise the finely sliced fennel - gently heat a tablespoon of rapeseed oil, add the sliced fennel and cook slowly until they start to take on a golden colour -  then lay them on top of the first layer of potatoes.

Layer the remaining potatoes and butter and finish with milk and double cream, again seasoning lightly as you go.

Scatter with Parmesan. Bake for about an hour until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife.

Snip the reserved fennel fronds over before serving.

Easy!

Smoked Onion and Black Garlic Ketchup

1kg white onions

8 cloves black garlic

100g dark Muscovado sugar

Maldon salt to season

Rapeseed oil

2oz butter

Method

Coarsely chop the onions.

Set aside uncovered for 2-3 hours and allow a pellicle to form; this is a dry skin in the food that allows the "smoke" to adhere to the food, giving it more flavour without drying it out in the process.

Following the instructions - smoke for one hour in your Netherton Foundry smoker. You can do this on the hob or using the Kitchen Companion.

Remove the smoker set and wash out the casserole. Replace it on the Kitchen Companion or on the hob.

Add the butter and rapeseed oil and heat gently. When the butter foams, add the onions, black garlic, Muscovado sugar and cook for about 15 mins.

Add salt to taste and a knob of butter to add a shine.

Set aside to cool.

When cooled place in food processor / blender and puree.

Store in the fridge for up to a week.

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk