Well, not exactly, but pretty close. River Cottage recommended the use of something called PDV salt for curing. PDV stands for pure dried vacuum. It’s made by pumping water into underground rock salt beds, then drying the brine under vacuum.
The only downside? It comes in 25kg bags!
A couple of months ago, an irresistible offer dropped into my inbox, advertising a River Cottage training course on how to butcher a pig. Since the My Little Porkie scheme from the very wonderful Samphire had been such a success, we thought we might butcher one to our own requirements next time.
What a successful day!
Posted in Cooking
Tagged Pig butchery course, River Cottage course, River Cottage Pig in a Day
We rarely eat Christmas pudding these days. It’s pretty weighty stuff, especially after an already-rich roast lunch. But our local church do a Christmas Fayre* to raise funds, and had called for contributions, so we thought we’d make something. I can’t bake cakes to save my life, so puddings seemed like a nice idea.
And although I say it myself, they turned out looking quite professional.
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Posted in Cooking
Tagged Ankarsrum Assistent, Christmas Pudding, Delia Smith Christmas recipes, Figgy Pudding
As autumn establishes itself, what could be nicer on a chilly evening that a generous plate of nicely spiced Indian food? We’re both very fond of Roghan Josh, although not what passes for it in many local restaurants, which appears to be an Indian/Italian fusion made with copious amounts of tomato sauce.
This recipe uses no tomato whatsoever, nor onions for that matter, and produces a silky smooth sauce and tender meat with a quite wonderful flavour. Recipe from Pushpesh Pant’s “India Cookbook”, constant stirring courtesy of the Jamie Oliver Home Cooker.
For well over twenty years, our everyday wine of choice has been a blended Côtes du Rhône sold under the brand name Cellier des Dauphins. The makers claim that one bottle in every six Côtes du Rhône sold is one of theirs, and I can well believe it. It’s simple and unpretentious, whilst remaining distinctively of the region. And it’s remarkably good value. Here’s a Cellier des Dauphins review.
A short post, this one.
We had poached eggs on toast for brunch. The hens have now completely stopped laying for the season, so we’ve reverted to commercial eggs. Nice premium grade free range ones, of course.
But oh dear, what a difference. Nothing like the treat that we’ve got used to over the spring and summer. It’s not as if it’s the first time that it’s ever happened, but it still comes as a bit of a shock.
As always, with a new gadget, there’s a temptation to over-use it in the first flush of enthusiasm. But I have to say, after our initial risotto, the next three experiments have been remarkably successful. I won’t keep posting pix of the machine itself, because they would become repetitive. It is, after all, just a self-stirring saucepan.
First up, pytt i panna.
Posted in Cooking
Tagged Jamie Oliver Home Cooker, minestrone, Philips Home Cooker, pytt i panna, vanilla flan
Years ago we were given a gadget called an SEB Le Saucier. It was a self-heating self-stirring saucemaker. It wasn’t brilliant, because the stirring paddle was just a smidgeon too far away from the base and sides of the pan, so it was only too easy for ingredients to catch and burn. We used it only occasionally, and so it lasted for many years before it finally gave up.
More recently, I’ve been casting lustful eyes on a Thermomix, with its far more sophisticated chopping, stirring, heating, and steaming functions, but the price is astronomical at around nine hundred pounds.
Then, the other day, we saw in Costco the “Jamie Oliver Home Cooker”.
Posted in Cooking
Tagged Jamie Oliver Home Cooker, mushroom risotto, Philips Home Cooker, SEB Le Saucier, Thermomix
Last year we went to the Cake and Bake Show because we won a pair of tickets. We enjoyed it so much that we went again this year. We had a great day, but perhaps not as fantastic as in 2013. There was loads of pizzazz, with TV chefs and personalities all over the place, and some wonderful sugarcraft on display, but for our bread-making interests there was perhaps just not quite enough substance.
We went to a bread making “masterclass” given by the very talented Richard Bertinet, who runs the Bertinet Kitchen Cookery School in Bath.
Posted in Cooking
Tagged Cake and Bake Show 2014, Eric Lanlard, John Whaite, Marriage's Flour, Richard Bertinet, Yvies Cupcakes
Our local church decided to expand their normal harvest festival with the addition of a rather grandly-titled “Autumn Food Fayre and Farmers Market”. It sounded like a good cause, so we (well, I, actually) volunteered to do a display of rare-breed chickens, and to bake some bread for their cake’n’bread stall.
The stated objective was to raise money for charity. I don’t know exactly how much they raised, but if it was a couple of hundred quid*, I’d be surprised. So that’s a fail, then. But everyone concerned seems to be delighted. It was, apparently, a “great community event”. So I too will accentuate the positive, and agree that there were plenty of visitors, and that a good time was had by all.
Posted in Allotments, Cooking, Poultry
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