DIY Dry Aged Beef

Firstly, Happy New Year to you all. I had a wonderful Christmas eating well, drinking well and, in one particular area, saving well.

About two months ago a friend mentioned they had seen an article on air drying beef at home. This was facilitated by a special bag and that was as much information as I had. A little while later with the help of Google's search engine I found these Dry Aging Bags

 . I ordered some and split them with my friend. A day or so later I managed to buy a nice cheap piece of topside with a reasonable marbling. It was not 'matured' or 'dry aged' so it was around £15 for a large joint. I followed the simple instructions and bagged the meat before placing it in a clear space in my fridge on a metal rack . They advise that for the first 4 days there must be a clear space around the meat while the bag 'sticks to the meat'. A week or so later all was looking well and Ikept a weather eye on the joint over the next 2 months while it slowly turned black and shrunk.

Just before Christmas I removed the meat from the fridge and wondered. It was black, dry with just a little hint of a salami type mold on the surface. I removed a thin layer of the 'rind' before cutting the joint into steaks with a beautiful purple brown colour and a fantastic nose. I froze the steaks immediately to stop any further aging or deterioration but the smaller ends were cubed and popped in my Instapot to brown prior to creating a simple beef casserole with root vegetables, onion, leeks beef stock, herbs and lentils and a half bottle of cheap port (used to make 'Smoking Bishop' but more about that later). An hour later I was greeted by a wonderful, comfortable bouquet of the casserole as I released the steam. The first bite of a beef chunk told me the wait had been more than worthwhile. A tender and flavourful mouthful of this fantastic aged beef was reward a plenty. Better still, I have the steaks to look forward to. 

There is another joint bagged and drying in the fridge now. I will take photographs over the next few weeks as the next treat matures.

The supplier I ordered from ships from the US and it was not cheap but I did notice that these are now available at a much more reasonable price thanks to reduced postage costs but I have not tried them myself.

Dry Aging Bags at Butchers Sundries

Amalfi inspired

Following a recent visit to Conca Dei Marini on the Amalfi coast, I created a Limoncello inspired recipe. The holiday was a real treat of sun and relaxation at an apartment called Villa Donna Antonia . The apartment had a very serviceable kitchen so I was looking forward to some cooking. We arrived lat on a Saturday night and were greeted by one of the hosts, Francesco, who gave us a good overview of everything we needed to know about the area from restaurants to transport links and places to visit. I learned that the local supermarket would be open on Sunday morning. In the meantime, we satisfied our appetite with a plate of local ham and hay smoked mozzarella but more about the cheese in a later post.

Sunday morning was beautifully warm and sunny and we strolled up to the supermarket to stock up the kitchen. This was when we began our adventures. I could not find lemons and on enquiring, I was told lemons should be in on Wednesday and onions on Monday. Over the next two weeks, we learned when things were in stock along with finding a great butcher who was open until at least 10pm along with a vegetable seller with a little truck who appeared in one or two locations during the week. During some of these shopping excursions, I purchased an Amalfi lemon about the size of a grapefruit. This was the inspiration for the recipe.

On one of our final days, the extra-large lemon still very present by the fridge, I decided to create a pasta dish. I carefully peeled 2/3 of the lemon rind away and finly chopped it. I then took the remaining 1/3 and finly julienned it. I then peeled the lemon and broke up most of the fruit into small pearls of lemon.

I prepared some fresh pasta with oregano put some water on to boil. I created a small amount of sugar syrup with equal parts of water and sugar. Once it was clear I added the julienned lemon rind and some green peppercorns and let them simmer.  I cooked off some prawns (sufficient for two people) with half a bulb of garlic finely minced, some fresh zucchini and small chili from the garden. I cooked the pasta with the finely chopped lemon rind and reduced the syrup until it was almost sticky. I drained the pasta, added it to the prawns and added the lemon pearls just before plating up. I then poured a small glass of vodka into the lemon sugar syrup and added a little salt. I then placed the candied rind on top of the dish and poured the Limoncello inspired sauce over the plate. The result was a dish now affectionately known as Limoncello gamberi  Villa Donna Antonia con pasta limone.  The presentation is not all it could be but I worked with what I had.

È ora di migliorare il mio italiano

My shiny new Blast Freezer arrived as expected yesterday. After wrestling the 50kg unit through the house the next problem was to find a temporary home for it. Once it was installed and had settled for a few hours I thought it was time for a try out. I soon had it up and running so I opened the manual to see how to freeze my first items. Che catastrofe. Tutto era in Italiano. OK, I realise the home of excellent ice cream is Italy and the blast freezer is an ideal tool for creating such a product but all bar a very small section with basic ‘how to turn it on’ instructions were in Italian.

              I soldiered on and managed to get it working. Taking the temperature down to -40C I soon had a couple of chicken thighs reduced to frozen solid. My only issue was a periodic beeping and the whole freeze process on hold. A few hours later I guessed that Ld that was flashing on the display had something to do with the door. It seemed closed but on touching it the error message vanished and the freezing recommenced. I have now come to the conclusion that the sensor is not correctly positioned so as the temperature drops, the door contracts slightly and a false error is created.

I will endeavour to correct the sensor issue over the next day or two as time permits and I can then try a little experiment. We all know that putting Vodka in the freezer thickens it but at -27C or so it should freeze. This means I can make Alcohol Cubes to put in my tonic. More on this later

Back in business (at last)

I had got so bored with the same old same old and had entered something of a rut when it came to cooking and eating. What I needed was a few new toys in the kitchen. I was waiting for the delivery of a new BBQ ( https://thegadgetflow.com/portfolio/portable-outdoor-cooking-stove/ )and a new Sous Vide ( https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sousvide-supreme-touch-plus#/ ) from kickstarter type projects and was still hunting around for a blast freezer at a fair price. Finally, after over a year of waiting my internet controlled SousVide has arrived and is fully functional. The BBQ has arrived and tomorrow a nice new (if small) blast freezer arrives (https://www.sousvidetools.com/blast-chillers/sousvidetools-2-3gn-blast-chiller-and-freezer) . I can finally get back to a little creativity in my cooking again. If I really want to push the envelope then I can use my 3d printer (a gift from my wife at Christmas) and its upgraded print head to create custom shaped silicon cookware. Other additions to the arsenal are a centrifuge and an instant pot pressure cooker along with a Thermomix. OK, I still need to build a blast chamber for a vacuum distillation setup and I am no nearer the purchase of an anti-griddle but you can't have everything.

Hope to have a few more interesting posts very soon.

March 2018. That was the expected delivery date of my new internet connected sous vide but I am sorry to say it is still in development with no real hope of seeing it in 2018. It's a shame as I was looking forward to it kick starting my creativity but instead it has somewhat put me off kick starter as a way of buying things. Two delayed kick starter projects and a delayed indiegogo project. The latter being an Aquaforno II. I guess they will all turn up one day but until then I need to stick with the kit I have or I can buy on line or in the store that is available and not a pipe dream.

I was chatting with a work colleague today and I showed him this rather neglected blog. 15 minutes later I remembered

a) how much I enjoyed writing it
b) how much I have neglected my cooking skills of late

I guess I ought to brush off the pots and pans and get back in the kitchen. The summer and salad days are over so we can get down to some real cooking. Since the last time I was writing this the equipment in the kitchen has had an addition. I finally invested in a Thermomix and Cookido.

When it first arrived I decided to test out the machine and the platform with sweet potato curry. It sounded like my worst nightmare. A simple vegetable curry. How wrong I was. I followed the recipe here https://cookidoo.co.uk/vorwerkWebapp/app#/recipe/8837276385910 and was rewarded with an excellent curry for one.  Since then I have enjoyed cakes, sauces and meals prepared with the aid of this wonderful tool. I will start to add some comments on my adventures here from now on.

Has it been that long

Sorry everyone. I have somewhat neglected this for a long time. I still cook and I still enjoy restaurants but my creativity has been a little off kilter in recent years so this just became somewhere I came back to for ideas. The reason for the renewed interest is two fold. Firstly I need to get back to writing up my food experiences and, secondly, I have received great news from the Sous Vide Supreme guys.

I love my Sous Vide but the biggest issue I have with it is that I either have to leave food in it all day while I am at work or I have to switch it on when I get home and wait for it to reach temperature. Finally, they are going to produce an Internet connected Sous Vide that I can control via Alexa or an app. Awesome. I will be able to cook at weekends. Freeze the results and then place the frozen food in  the sous vide as I leave for work. Set a temperature, start and finish time and great food at serving temperature will be ready when I need it. Better still, if I decide to go for a beer on the way home or there is a problem at work that delays my return then I can re-schedule dinner via the app.

If you want to get on board and get an excellent discount then take a look here :

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/135140520/sousvide-supreme-touch?ref=FundedToday&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=1e.fnd.to

I have made my pledge and am looking forward to receiving my new souse vide sometime in March 2018.

The trouble with salads....

The Autumn has arrived and with it, my interest in real cooking. Having spent the summer enjoying the odd BBQ, tapas and a lot of salad there has been little to write about here. Now that the nights are drawing in and the chill is at the door I find I am drawn back to real cooking.


Earlier today, on a wonderful sunny autumn afternoon, I pottered up to the shops to see what would light my imagination with regards to a supper tonight. I soon found four leg steaks on offer and decided to be a little creative with them.

 I recently joined the fad and purchsed a Nutribullet. While I have enjoyed the affectionatly known 'sludge' for breakfast and sometimes lunch, it is hardly cooking. The resulting 'sludge' has ignited the odd thought with regards to sauces and rubs so I decided to employ it in tonight's preparations. Firstly, I put two long peppers ( http://www.steenbergs.co.uk/product/238/long-pepper-specialist-spice) into a Nutribullet cup along with some a dried chili, a teaspoon of white peppercorns, two cloves and a teaspoon of juniper berries and a pinch of oak smoked sea salt. I blitzed this and added it to some plain flour to dust the meat with.

I cut the meat into 1" cubes and rolled it in the flour and spice mixture before browning it in a very hot iron casserole pot. Meanwhile, I put a handful of fresh sage, 3 garlic cloves, 2 eating apples, a red/orange pepper, 2 shallots and some water into a large Nutribullet cup and blitzed that. I added two coarsely cut red onions and a chopped red./orange pepper to the meat and stirred it for a minute or two before adding the blitzed fruit/herb mix. I added a pint of pork stock and brought the dish to the boil. I then simmered it for 40 minutes with a bouquet garni.

I added a can of chick peas and 100g of chestnuts and cooked this on for another 10 minutes, finally I added some button mushrooms and left this on the heat while I floured and fried some fresh courgette from the garden.

I served the pork on a bed of wild rice and quinoa with the courgette as a side. Welcome back Autumn :)

It's been an age since I had the pleasure of visiting Hammet House but I finally managed to tie up all the loose ends and spent a wonderful evening there last night. I loved the product of their last chef Andy Beaumont​ and it was with no little trepidation that I sat down to a meal from their new chef Matt Smith. I was worried that old menus would be 're-wrapped' or that standards would fall but my worries were unsubstantiated.  We were presented with an exciting and different menu that lit the blue touch paper on the imagination. While we chose, an amuse bouche of cheesy chips and a chicken truffle helped get the juices started.  After sitting at the table a stunning bread board arrived with a sodabread accompanied by Welsh butter, a leek and Perl Las role with crab butter, salt glazed with a herb butter and a granary with a walnut and balsamic vinagar. It was clear that if the rest of the meal was as good as the bread we were in for a treat.

There was a tough choice from the start(er). Diver XL scallop with chicken wing (my wife's choice) or Smoked salmon with cucumber ketchup, wasabi snow. While we waited for our starter to arrive, a second amuse bouche of pea and parmesan arrived.

The salmon was dramatically served in a dome filled with smoke that was a bit of a let down as it smelt of burnt paper rather than a good smoking recipe but the effect was theatrical . I am told there is a Smoking Gun ( http://polyscienceculinary.com/products/the-smoking-gun ) in the kitchen and I suggest green tea or fruit wood chips would have given a better aroma. The salmon was served with a wasabi snow that complimented the dish well and gave me some ideas as a larger amount of Zorbit ( http://www.modernistpantry.com/tapioca-maltodextrin.html )would create a foam over the salmon rather than the snow that I look forward to trying out.

My main course was never in doubt.  While we waited for it to arrive a treat of sewin with samphire arrived. Perfectly cooked and perfectly delicious. When the main course arrived  my wife enjoyed scorched langoustines with slow cook pork belly while I tucked into lamb loin and sweetbread. Excellent wine was available and enjoyed. The service was unintrusive but attentive.

As we contemplated dessert a pre-dessert was served, described as a gooseberry pebble it looked remarkably like a slate pebble dredged from the river Teifi outside but was light and delicious.

When we arrived at dessert we had already hit the full mertre but the menu was exciting enough to bend the needle a little. My Mum had joined us for the meal ( for the detail entranced - no starter and the same main as me) so we chose three desserts to share: honey roasted peach with lavender, lemon curd with toasted meringue and ponzu pineapple and tahini. The mix was perfect and we all enjoyed tucking in to each of the temptations before retiring to the bar for a digestif.

Thank you to all at Hammet House who made this another wonderful evening. Also thanks to the very comfy bed in room 3 that gave me a quiet and relaxed sleep to help digest the repast. Needless to say that after such a sumptuous meal the night before, breakfast was not partaken of.

I would love to provide a full section of food porn photographs but after the food started to arrive I forgot to use the camera.

All in all, I miss Andy's exquisite pallate (and will track it down again soon) but Matt did not fail to deliver on an exciting food adventure.  Take my advice and book soon.

Celebration Cake ?

I was recently asked to make the celebration cake for a family do. A dual Birthday and a Wedding Anniversary. In addition it needed to be able to cope with the 'does not like marzipan/royal icing/fruit cake/sponge cake requirements. An easy brief then added to by my insistence not to create 'the usual' style cake. The answer:

Blueberry and Pistachio Cake with Cardamom flavoured cream. I had seen a recipe online that seemed to fit the bill. Complicated in that it started with a whipped custard base but the idea seemed nice. A test bake proved not all that satisfying. The Cake was neither light nor moist so I decided to take the idea and modify the method.

Firstly, I took 8 egg yolks ( I needed a big cake so feel free to half the quantities), 500 g of caster sugar and 350 g of melted and cooled butter and mixed them together in the food processor. While they blended I whipped the 8 egg whites to soft peaks. I then folded the blended ingredients carefully into the egg whites. Finally I folded 170 g of ground unsalted pistachios and 150 g of fresh blueberries in before splitting it into 2 x 23 cm and 1 x 20 cm sandwich tins that I had lined with oiled baking parchment. Into a preheated oven at 180 C for 30 minutes (check with a skewer and let it cook a little longer if not cooked) .

I left the cakes to cool. Next I blended 200 g of unsalted butter with 400 ml of double cream, 400 g of icing sugar and the seeds from 12  cardamom pods, ground. The layers were sandwiched with this and the remainder put over the top before sprinkling with 400 g of blueberries and 190 g of roughly chopped pistachios.

An expensive cake, destructive to any diet but looked great and tasted even better.

I have listed the ingredients  for half the quantities below that should provide two 20 cm sandwich tin layers

4 eggs
250 g caster sugar
175 g of melted cooled butter
85 g of ground pistachio nuts
75 g of blueberries

for the decoration

100 g unsalted butter
200 ml of double cream
the ground seeds from 6 cardamom pods
85 g or roughly chopped pistachio nuts
75 g of blueberries

Dehydrator snacks - Lemon Jeremys

I followed the crackers up selection of sweet dehydrator snacks. The first of these was a great success with my wife who took some in to work as an alternative to lunch. They are very filling and as they are basically raw seeds then the energy is released slowly keeping you feeling full for longer. In an e-mail telling me how much she liked them she asked what they were called. I flippantly replied that they were 'Lemon Jeremys' this has now stuck so all of my sweet dehydrator cookies are affectionately known as Jeremys.

The Lemon Jeremys are particularly satisfying with a great lemon taste and are so simple to make.

150 g Ground Cashew nuts or Almonds
150 g desiccated coconut or dried shredded coconut
Rind and juice of 1 Lemon
1 Tbsp of agave nectar

Mix these together in a bowl and when the mixture has pulled together take small balls of the mix and press onto a board to form 0.5 cm thick cookie shapes. Lift these carefully and place in your dehydrator. Dehydrate at 50 C for around 8 to 12 hours.

Alchemy - Springtime, smoke and fire

A favorite tree died a year or so ago in the garden. It gave great shade during the Summer and stunning colour in the Autumn since we moved in. We finally decided to give up on any possible resurrection and so it was brought down and turned to logs and kindling. Today, being the first day we could spend in the garden this year, I decided to clean out the fire pit and use a few of the logs and burn off the twigs etc. to keep warm and to clear the rubbish. With a great bed of white ash and hot charcoal in the pit it seemed like a good time to begin the out-door cooking for 2015. I dug out my lodge pot and fixed it in the hot ash. In went some home made pancetta trimmings (the pancetta is drying in the conservatory and should be perfect by the end of March.)

Next, a half shoulder of lamb was seared on this very hot pan.

Next, I de-glazed the pan with 500ml of merlot, Added small onions, coarsely cut leeks, carrots and squash. sliced garlic, fresh herbs and seasoning.

500ml of stock and on with the lid for an hour or so. 

I had to top up the liquid a few times as the fire was hot. When the meat looked cooked (shrunk back on the bone) I steamed some sugar snap peas and purple sprouting broccoli ready for serving. The broccoli was placed in a vey hot oven for a few minutes with some grated cheddar and Parmesan long enough for it to melt. Meanwhile I added a tablespoon or two of maple syrup to the lodge pot to finish the sauce. The result was a wonderful, smokey meal and a great way to use the garden fire to create a memorable and tasty Sunday supper.

Dehydrator snacks - Crackers for cheese

I used to enjoy my boxes from graze.com but now I have more time on my hands I thought I would create my own tasty and filling snacks at home. After research and a little trial and error I now have some great tasting recipes that are easy to put together and are very tasty. The first is a full flavoured cracker that goes well with a little soft cheese but is equally capable of supporting a strong cheddar.

You will need a dehydrator to dry the crackers or you could try drying them in a cool fan oven

Soak 1 cup of sunflower seeds (hulled) for 2 hours before running through a food processor until it forms a paste.
Grind 1 cup of golden linseed in a spice mill to a coarse flour.
Grind 3 tbsp of caraway and 1 tbsp of fennel seed
Coarsely chop two medium to large red onions.

Add all of this to a large mixing bowl and add 100ml of dark soy sauce and 150ml of basil infused olive oil.


Mix this all together and press onto parchment or Teflon baking sheet cut to fit your dehydrator. Place in the dehydrator for 12 hours at 50C. You can either make these into individual crackers or do as I do, make large round sheets of the cracker that I then cut into portions with a sharp knife.

Sorry guys - I forgot this. Still, there is next Christmas.

I have just realised that I didn't post up the three awesome Christmas drinks I knocked together just before the big day. To be honest they are not season specific so you can always give them a go. On top of which, if you don't have a sous vide and a ziplock bag or chamber vacuum sealer then it's going to take a few months to get the same result so here goes for next Christmas.

I had been into our local Costco and picked up some dried cherries, blueberries and cranberries. The primary reason was a little more healthy than these recipes and that was to mix them with nuts for some healthy snacks. I just happened to be reading up on recipes for bitters and decided I fancied trying to create a Cherry bitters so I popped a bottle of blended whiskey, 4 vanilla beans split in two, a teaspoons of fennel seeds, two star anise and a crushed stalk of lemongrass into a bag along with a cup of dried cherries. Vac sealed and into the sous vide for 2 hours at 70C and on to the next recipe.

My wife is a sucker for a Cosmopolitan cocktail and I thought that something along those lines would make a great gift. A litre of vodka, a cup of dried cranberries and the rind of an orange were popped into a vac pack bag and joined the cherry bitters in the sous vide.

Now the question was what to do with the dried blueberries ? A little research on flavours and recipes led me to another litre of vodka, a cup of dried blueberries and the rind of a lemon heading in to a vacuum bag and joining the other two bags in the sous vide.

Two hours passed and the contents of each of the bags were strained. I retained the now spirit plumped fruit for use in a Christmas cake ( that turned out to be a good decision ). The only variation was the blueberry vodka that I poured over a bunch of fresh bruised basil while it cooled.

Once the items were cool enough to try I discovered that they needed no more sweetening for our taste but you can always add a simple sugar syrup to sweeten to taste.

The cherry bitters makes a great addition to a simple gin and tonic. A few drops can add a great edge to such a simple drink. I also enjoy a few dashes in tonic water if I want a low alcohol drink.

The cranberry and orange vodka was put in the freezer for 24 hours. This thickened it up and created a great frozen shot but it was best served as two measures of the vodka to 1 measure of bitter lemon or lemonade and squeeze fresh lime juice to create a great alternative to a Cosmo.

As for the blueberry vodka. I tasted this and found the rich flavour delicious. It has yet to be drunk but I think this will be another frozen shot that will be perfect on a summers day.

If you don't have the luxury of a sous vide then the same recipes put into a sealed storage jar and left in a dark cupboard for 3 to 6 months should produce similar if not richer results.

As for the Christmas cake. That will be for another post .....

New Year - New recipes. Updated

I've been out of the loop for a while after a major operation. Although there has been a little creativity in the kitchen it has taken a while for me to get back in my stride. Now the Near Year has arrived and my health is back it is time to get back to the kitchen and this blog.

Over Christmas I tried to make a maple cured bacon but the result was a little too salty. Having reviewed my recipe and carried out a little more research I am trying again. I managed to pick up a nice 2 kg loin of pork in my shopping today at an excellent price  so I decided to use this.

Firstly, I mixed the cure, making it very simple and lower in salt than the last attempt.

The cure.
4 tbsp of caster sugar
4 tbsp of fine sea salt
4 tbsp of maple syrup

Having mixed the ingredients together I washed the pork joint with vinegar. I then coated the joint in the cure and placed it in a vacuum bag. I put the remaining cure into the bag and sealed it. I then placed this in the fridge where it will live for the next 8 days. I will rub and turn the bag each day to ensure the cure coats the joint evenly. I'll wash it off next week and let you know how it tastes.

Well, 7 days have passed so I thought I'd wash the bacon off and have a little taste for lunch. The result, scrummy. A perfect sweet cured bacon. It is currently hanging in the conservatory drying before I slice and pack it. Next time I may add a little nutmeg to the cure just for a little something extra in the taste but it is still my best bacon yet.

Back in the kitchen

I've been away from the kitchen for a few weeks after major surgery. I'm fine now but get tired easily at present so the kitchen has been for tea and soup. Today I ventured up to town and realised I was ready to get back in the kitchen. It was about lunchtime and my local Waitrose had put out some discounted meats. I spotted a favorite at a silly price, four pigs cheeks for £1.49 (reduced from £2.49). These are cheap at the best of times but these were a bargain. Three packs later I hunted down a bottle of Heston's mulled cider and headed home.

I've used a sous vide to cook this but because the temperature is so high then a standard slow cooker can be used. The sous vide lets me cook this at 82.5C but anything around 80C will be fine.

Firstly I put a heavy pan on the heat and, after seasoning the cheeks, browned them off. I took the cheeks off the heat and added 6 crushed cloves of garlic to the pan and 50ml of olive oil. After about 30 seconds I added 350ml of the spiced cider to deglaze the pan. Now it is time for the long wait. I bagged the cheeks into three bags along with a sprig of rosemary and a bay leaf. The bags were then cooked in the sous vide for eight hours. If using a slow cooker I would be tempted to ziplock bag the cheeks into three bags and cook them in water in a slow cooker. Remember, you could equally cook just 4 cheeks with 2 cloves of garlic and 110ml of spiced cider for this part of the recipe.

After cooking over night, chill the bagged cheeks in iced water and then leave in the fridge for up to 48 hours (or freeze for later) before finishing the dish off for serving.


Serving (for the contents of one bag):

Place a heavy casserole pan on a stove and add a tablespoons of olive oil. Fry off 100g of lardons and 150g of slice shallots. Add 300 ml of spiced cider to de-glaze the pan and add two sliced, large carrots and a chopped celery stick. Add tbsp of balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, and 1 tbsp of maple syrup ( or sugar/honey). Lower the heat, place a lid on the pan and simmer for 20 minutes making sure that the pan does not catch. Add more mulled cider (or water) if necessary. Next add the cheeks and the juices from the pouch and bring back to a simmer. Simmer for a further 20 minutes so that the cheeks are warmed through. Remove the cheeks and place in foil to rest. Turn the heat up under the remaining sauce and reduce until it coats the carrots. Serve with a puree of butter beans (a little cream and butter to taste).

This is a delicious way to use a very cheap cut of meat. Serve it to the most discerning guest and watch them wax lyrical about the flavours and textures.

The benefits of a warm Autumn

We have had a great Summer here in the UK with just about the right amount of rain and sunshine. This was then augmented by a blissfully warm beginning to the Autumn with the weather only finally cooling off in the last few days. This has resulted in a bumper crop of ripe 'Brown Turkey' figs from the garden.

Most years I have to resort to pickling the unripe figs so the efforts of the tree do not go to waste but this year we have a sudden glut of ripe and sweet figs. As much as we enjoy eating these raw with a little prosciutto ham, thin parmigiana slices and a green salad, the quantities we have this year might be a little much for this simple salad.

With Christmas on the way, I thought a nice warming fig jam might be in order. Perfect on toast or with a good strong cheese. I collected 1.2 Kg of figs from the tree.

These were then chopped and mixed with 1.2 Kg of preserving sugar and 1.5 tbsp of ground ginger.

This was left in a covered non metallic bowl for six hours to draw the moisture out of the figs. The resulting mixture was then transferred to a preserving pan with a peeled and diced cooking apple, 50 grams of chopped preserved ginger (in syrup), 90 ml of white wine vinegar, 280 ml of water and the juice of three lemons (as usual the rind goes into a jar with some vodka to be turned into Limoncello when I have enough rind).

Stir over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved then increase the heat and boil for around 20 minutes until the setting point is reached and the fruit is soft (220C). Leave to cool for a further 20 minutes before bottling in clean dry jars. Seal the jars and place in a dark cupboard for a month or so for the flavours to develop. A perfect reminder of the balmy days of 2014 during the potentially cold winter months.

Now in the jar, this rich brown jam tastes great (should be even better in a month or so). Thank you Summer :)

The first Autumn storm - Something warming needed

After a Summer that felt like it would never end it was only fitting that as November approaches, an Autumn storm crashed the party. After a week of warnings about the remnants of hurricane Gonzalo hitting the UK with high winds and rain it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib in the South East of England. Nevertheless, the temperature fell from its balmy 20C to a much more Autumnal level and thoughts turned to a warming supper.

A trawl through the fridge revealed some chorizo that would  soon reach its best before date. This triggered an idea so I popped up to the shops for some chicken thighs. On my return I put a large cast iron casserole pot on the stove and put the heat up high. I added a little oil and then browned off  the thighs having cut some deep cuts into each to help them soak up the flavours of the dish. Once these were browned I removed them from the pan and finished them with a blowlamp to give them a little char grilled flavour to bring to the party.

I turned the heat down on the pan and added around 400 g of diced chorizo to brown. I then grabbed a bag of shallots from the vegetable rack. The smaller variety as these are
 what I happened to have.

I peeled and very coarsely chopped  8 of these and added them to the pan

Next I added two sticks of chopped cellery, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 5 medium thickly cut carrots,  and 150 g of sliced mushrooms. I then added 350 ml of red wine and a litre of chicken stock along with a bouquet garni. Once this had come to the boil I popped it into the oven for 2.5 hours at 150C. The result was a warm, rich casserole that went perfectly with some butter beans in a light cream sauce. Eager to sample this comforting dish I clean forgot to take a photograph but trust me, it was a perfect meal for a blustery day. Bring on the winter.

Another gluten free baking experiment

After replacing the flour in my last cake with coconut flour and being resonably pleased with the results I decided it was time to try again. The new recipe:

100g of coconut flour
100g of rice flour
1tsp baking powder
175g of coconut oil
175g of caster sugar
6 large eggs
2 or 3 drops of vanilla extract
2 tbsp caraway seeds

Soften the coconut oil and cream with the sugar. Add the eggs one by one until you have a loose batter. Now add the rice flour, vanilla essence and caraway seeds and mix well. Next add the coconut flour and the batter will stiffen to a more usual consistency for a Madeira style loaf cake. I like to sprinkle caster sugar on the top before it goes into the oven to give a crisp, sugary crust.

Put into a greased large loaf tin and place in the oven at 170C for 1.25 to 1.5 hours. Check with a knife and when cooked allow to cool.

The result

A good textured cake. Other than a hint of coconut (thanks to the flour rather than the oil). I was pleased with the results. The rice and coconut flour mix made this a much lighter cake perfect for those with a gluten problem.

Monday - Memories

(Found this lurking in the drafts folder so it is a few weeks late :) )
I had a rather stressful day in the office not helped by a turned ankle which made me the proverbial 'Bear with a sore head'. I made my way home in need of something comfortable to eat. During what should have been a lunch hour, I wandered to the so called 'kitchen' on our floor (well, it has a dish washer and a microwave which in modern cuisine terms is 'fully equipped' ) and one of my bosses (we have a matrix organization which has none of the romance or the facility to use a machine pistol of those who try to stop you getting the job done of the film series of the same name) was  heating a pie in the microwave. I came home wanting comfort food with 'pie' shoehorned into my psyche. Luckily I got home in time to get to Waitrose and pick up some organic pork chops. Jersey potatoes and some chestnut mushrooms to help me stay away from a pie. A bottle of cider and some cream and we were about to cook on gas (literally! My hob is gas and the oven is electric. Who the hell wants a gas oven when the heat is governed by what your neighborhood  is cooking or heating on a Sunday\?)

I threw the pans on the heat and started to cook off a dish that has evolved from my first real cooking success. Back in the annuls of time, I realized Mum and Dad had a special wedding anniversary on the horizon. I couldn't afford to send them for a nice meal (tightwads when it came to pocket money :) ) so I cooked them pork chops in a white wine, garlic, mushroom and cream sauce I invented on the fly. Their expressions as they ate this set me on the path to enjoying cooking. Not being the most socially intelligent member of the community, hugs and cuddles are an anathema but the thrill exposed by the expression on peoples faces when I 'got the food right' gave me a love for cooking.

Tonight's dish was a throwback to that first cook off. Garlic, chili (a touch) cream, a hint of vanilla, black pepper, onion and, of course, the wine to de-glaze the pan having seared tprize of the spring, Jhe organic chops. I boiled the pretender to the thrown of the spring crops (Jersey Royal's) in a little slated water and some peas to accompany the meat and sauce. Why pretender? If you asked that then you have never had the pleasure of an early Pembroke Potato. Heaven...

A nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. The remnants of a day full of sunshine and a meal full of memories. A great way to sooth the troubled waters of a stressful Monday

Time on my hands and a new flour in the cupboard

After months of stress and chaos I now find I have a little more time on my hands. This means that I can spend a little more time on the things I love. Having returned from vacation a week ago, I have been busy sorting out my kitchen and getting it ready for some hard work. After a short trip to the store today I thought it was time for a little baking. Needless to say, this was not going to be a standard cake.

I had managed to get hold of a large bag of coconut flour. I've never used it before but the description on the packet made it sound like a challenge. I decided to use it to make a cherry and walnut cake for afternoon tea. I had my standard recipe:

100g Self Raising flour
100g Plain flour
3 large eggs
1 tbsp of milk
a few drops of vanilla essence
175g of unsalted butter
175g caster sugar
a few drops of vanilla essence
(cherries, walnuts, coconut or caraway seed depending on my mood)

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, Add the milk and vanilla extract. Add the flour and the flavourings before popping it into a hot oven at 170C for 1.25 to 1.5 hours. Never fails.

A little research told me I needed to replace the gluten with egg (or xanthan gum). Around three eggs per 125g of flour. I decided on adding 6 egg yolks to the mixture and increased the milk to 1/2 a cup before beating the egg whites to soft peaks and folding them into the mixture. I then added the cherries and walnut pieces. Into the oven for 1.25 to 1.5 hours and the result ....

Well. If I am honest, a little dry though it was better the second day. Good texture and flavour but I think that next time I will use 175g of coconut flour to replace the plain and SR flour or I might use 100g of coconut flour and 100g of white rice flour to lighten the mixture and make it a little less dry. I will keep you updated with the results