Black Sheep Bread

This bread is in honour of the Yorkshire 3-Peaks Challenge Hubby & I completed last weekend. Thanks to everyone who sponsored us. We stayed at Pinecroft and it was somewhere I would highly recommend. We're thinking of returning with friends later on in the year.

It was a great experience and provided great memories from the bog jumping, being knee deep in mud, weird tasting watermelon jelly sweets, a sneaky pub stop and sunset at the top of Ingleborough. During the walk I gained the nicknames of Speedy Gonzales. Once I got going, there was no stopping me. This may have been due to a heady mix of ibuprofen, Lucozade, Jelly Babies & adrenaline. I'm really proud of myself & Hubby for completing it minus any injury, blister ache or pain (ooh get me!) and the training I did over the summer really paid off. Although it took us far longer than expected to complete due to an incident involving the Mountain Rescue Team 1 mile from the end (let's just say thank goodness for the training I did as part of my DofE Gold Expedition), some of us are planning to return next year to do it in around 10 hours. Others however have been put up hill walking for life! In a slightly crazy way I got a serious kick from the challenge and found it easier than I was expecting. Even after 25miles I could have continued, as someone has pointed out there is room for a female Eddie Izzard!



The reason for this bread being a tribute to our walk is that one member of the team (not me I hasten to add)sneaked in a cheeky half-pint at the Old Hill Inn - a fab pub between Whernside & Ingleborough belonging to the famous Black Sheep Brewery. Apparently this cheeky half-pint was one of the best drinks he has ever had and it provided some comedy moments for the rest of the team as it went straight to his head, he started to talk about how pretty all the trees were and I swear at one point he began to skip up Ingleborough. I've never baked bread with beer in it before, but have declared this bread to be a resounding success. It produces a beautiful fluffy bread with a slightly golden crumb. You can certainly taste a hint of ale in the bread. It's given me some ideas for some other bread that I've going to keep under wraps for now. This is also the first time I've used my new brotform and grignette and am really pleased how well they have worked.



Now, the after effect of endurance exercise is that it does 2 things to your appetite. Either you can't eat enough or your appetite is zapped. Now you would think when burning 9000 calories in 16 hours we would both have raging hunger...nope. Our appetite was completely killed and a week on it's only just getting back on track, hence why it has been so long since I've blogged. Normal service will now resume on my blog with both Hubby & I having lots of great foodie projects up our sleeves. So here's to carbs, the great outdoors and friends. Cheers!

Black Sheep Bread
Makes 1 large loaf

500g strong white bread flour
10g salt
5g fast action yeast.
300ml Black Sheep Riggwelter Ale (yes I know it's sacrilegious, but it needs to be warm)

1) Mix together all the ingredients until you have a rough dough. Knead either by hand or with a mixer for 10 min until you have a beautiful, silky dough. Shape into a round and leave to rise in a covered bowl for 1-2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

2) Knock back the dough, shape into chosen shape and place in/on tin or brotform and leave again covered in a plastic bag until it has doubled in size. If cooking on a baking sheet cover in polenta/course semolina before placing the bread on as this stops the bread sticking to the sheet.

3) Preheat the oven as hot as it will go. At the bottom of the oven place a baking tin of boiling water (this helps to develop the crust). If using a brotform turn bread out onto tray. If not using a brotform place the dough in/on chosen tin. Slash the top of the loaf (optional) then bake for 10 min.

4) Turn down the oven to 200oc and bake for a further 20-30 minutes. When the bread is ready the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Eating Berlin.

Last week I returned to somewhere that I left 17 years ago and holds strong memories for me - Berlin. And quelle surprise most of the memories relate to the food there! As a child I lived there for 3 years and saw the wall fall down. I also own piece of the wall I chiselled off with my own fair hands. I admit I was nervous about returning and worried it wasn’t going to be anything like I remembered. Although, yes, Berlin had changed, it didn’t disappoint. Prewarning - not the best of photos as we didn’t take our DSLR out with us.



Monday

After a bumpy landing at Schönefeld Airport we headed to our Meliá hotel on Friedrichstraße by the Spree. I had read good reports of it on Trip Advisor, hence why I booked it and our rooms were fantastic with lovely views of the Spree. We soon headed to some of the side streets by the hotel and settled on eating at Machiavelli as the menu was extensive and had many interesting dishes, which in turn challenged my knowledge of the German language. Who knew there could be so many words for mushroom. I went for a feta & broccoli pizza, odd sounding (hence why I tried it!) but surprisingly nice. I’ve only ever seen broccoli on pizza in Germany. I also tasted my first Malzbier a non-alcoholic beer that me tastes like cola & Guinness. After dinner we went on a short sunset walk to Brandenburg Gate and the Jewish Memorial which was very peaceful in the last light of the day.

Tuesday

Now, I had heard about the buffet breakfasts at the Meliá hotel, but nothing could prepare me for the extensive choice on offer. Churros, pancakes, various bread, fruit, yogurt, cereals, cheese, cold meats, pastries, eggs to order, fried potatoes, sausages, grilled tomatoes with pesto, rollmops, big selection of teas & coffee, champagne… you name it and it was probably there. Obligingly we all ate as much as possible for breakfast to ward off lunchtime hunger pangs. We spent the day walking around the Zoo then walking on to Charlottenberg to look for the Egyptian Museum which it turns out is no longer there and is in the process of being moved to Museum Island. All in all we ended up walking 15 miles that day, and most of that was looking for a museum that no longer exists. Lunch was grabbed on the move and for me was in the form of a delicious pretzel. During our mammoth walking trip we also took in Siegessäule and Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskitche.



For dinner that night we chose a place called Kartoffel Keller (English translation being Potato Cellar) - random but hearty. Certainly helped to fill a gap. One thing I learnt in Berlin is that they love sausages, potato & bread. If you don’t like these your stuffed. Thankfully I like all three, however I did find the odd true veggie option on their menu and decided to sidestep the meat for a change. Most restaurants don’t serve veggie meals or the “veggie” alternative was a fish dish. I chose a large kartoffelpuffer (aka latkes or potato pancake). Although they are traditionally served with applesauce I decided to top mine with vegetables, cheese and a herb butter. Surprisingly nice. Hubby ate pan potatoes with shrimps and leek.

Wednesday



The main aim for Wednesday was to visit KaDeWe. A famous department store in Berlin, much like London’s Harrods. As a child we used to go on school trips just to look at what’s called the Gourmet Floor. I can still remember walking around the floor in awe of all the counters stacked with the most amazing food and tanks full of lobsters and other sea creatures. Even with 17 years on I was still in awe of all the counters and shocked to say we couldn’t decide on anything to buy. Everything we fancied like some of the cheeses wouldn’t have travelled back to the UK well. This was a sneaky shot of one of the cake counters. Sneaky as little bro got told off for taking photos in there. After leaving KaDeWe we headed back to Gedächtniskitche where I promised Hubby he could taste the famous German street food that is Currywurst. I wouldn’t dream of eating anything like this in the UK, but for some reason here in Berlin it felt right and tasted good! We walked back to the hotel via Tiergarten in which Hubby got quite a shock considering I forgot to mention Germanys liberal attitude toward naturism.



For Dinner we headed down Schiffbauerdamm and liked the look of an Austrian restaurant called Brechts . Now rule 1 of looking for a restaurant to eat, look at the menu & prices before sitting down. Poor Dad got a bit of a shock when we sat down and the charming waiter handed out the menus. With 6 of us sitting down for dinner this wasn’t going to be cheap, However I have to say it was one of the best and most memorable meals we had in Berlin. Between us we had Wiener Schnitzel with cranberries and sautéed potatoes; pink lamb with risotto, ratatouille and asparagus and the final dish being ox cheeks with dumplings. I was thinking of dipping out of pudding, but I’m so glad I didn’t as the Crème Bruleè taster platter I had was amazing. Well worth the 10 EUR.



Top row (L-R) - rich chocolate Crème Bruleè, summer fruits in chocolate sauce, Plum sorbet
Middle row - apple compote, vanilla Crème Bruleè, blackberry sherbet (texture of cooked beetroot, but sizzled in the mouth.
Bottom row - vanilla ice cream, morello cherries, strong coffee Crème Bruleè

Thursday

The final full day in Berlin was probably the hottest day. While the men headed out of town us women headed towards Alexanderplatz. The initial intention was to go to Museum Island, but the queues were too long so continued towards Alexanderplatz tower, however not before stopping off at the Radisson Blu hotel for Kaffee & Kuchen and at 5.50 EUR it was a bargain considering I was getting used to seeing a basic cup of tea selling for as much as 4 EUR in some places. They serve coffee & cake in their Atrium Bar. It was an impressive space with a stunning aquarium leading up the middle. Never before have I been served such fancy tea with a little tea timer to ensure the tea leaves steeped for exactly the right amount of time. We must have spent over an hour there taking advantage of their air-con and posh loos you don’t have to pay for (a novelty). After making a brief visit to Alexanderplatz for old times sake started to head back to the hotel when I saw a place advertising iced bubble tea. I’d seen bubble tea many a times on Tastespotting and decided to give it a try. Well all I can say is that it is not my taste in the slightest and the tapioca pearls…euch.



While in Berlin I also managed to introduce Hubby to some food I used eat as a child there including Bifi Rolls, Erdnuss flips (think peanut butter flavoured Wotsits) & Kinder milk slice. Junk food maybe, but the German junk food of my childhood!

I was pleased as to how quickly all the German I learnt as a child came flooding back. As I learnt it in Germany I speak German with an authentic German accent, however this did cause problems when speaking to some people as they didn’t believe that I didn’t always understand them! I admit I’m far better at reading and listening to it than speaking it. Thanks to the lack of English channels on the hotel TV (there is only so many times you can watch BBC News 24) I soon got learning the lyrics to some woeful Europop and realised we are not the only country to have the I-know-it’s-dire-TV-but-I-like-it Snog, Marry, Avoid?

All in all it was a fantastic trip and I would recommend Berlin to everyone. I don’t understand why it isn’t more popular. I was warned before I went that German food isn’t exactly renowned, but if you know where to look there is some real gems…as long as you avoid the bubble tea.

Summer Good Food Show with Miele

I've been invited to quite a few Miele events before, but due to work commitments I was unable to make it so when they invited me this time I jumped at the chance. Before the Miele invite I was already going with Hubby & friends so they still went and I met up with them later. This was the first time I had met up with fellow bloggers and I have to admit I was quite nervous. I didn't have my SLR on the day and used my compact so I wasn't too happy with the photos I took so most of these photos are courtesy of Miele.

Joining in on the event was Nic, Sylvie, Anne, Sunita, Naomi, Celine and Jan

First part of the day was seeing Simon Rimmer in the Super Theatre. I've always been a fan of Simon Rimmer and Something for the Weekend is my Sunday morning lie-in TV. Any chef who has a recipe for Jaffa Cakeshas all of my respect! In the Super Theatre he made steak tartar and a delicious looking banana tatin. After seeing the show us bloggers went back stage for a drink, meet our fellow bloggers and also saw Gino d'Campo, The Hairy Bikers and Simon Rimmer.



After being given a bit of time to wonder around the show, where I met back up with Hubby & friends, we made our way to the Miele stand where their range of goods was explained to us. I liked the steam injection in their ovens which would be perfect for bread making. Once I don't live in a tiny Georgian cottage, where shiny-shiny-fancy-things don't look right, I wouldn't say no to one of their products.



Once the products had been demonstrated to us, it was our turn to get up on stage with Sophie Mitchell to do some cooking. Although I knew in advance I would be cooking with Sophie it was only a short time before the event that it dawned on me I would be cooking in front of an audience. I have to admit I nearly pulled out as the fear of doing something like this shot through me. Especially when I found out we would be cooking scallops, a food I just don't enjoy. The 2 dishes we made were Thai inspired with scallops for starter and the main being crab stuffed lemon sole on a spicy mango salad.



Well I'm very glad I didn't pull out as I really enjoyed it even if I did hash up taking the skin off a fillet of lemon sole thanks to a set of blunt knives. Sophie was lovely and I'm glad I had cooked Thai before as it helped me to keep up with her and understand what was in all the pots in front of me. We cooked our dishes using the steamer programme in one of the Miele oven. I was impressed as to how fast it was all cooked and with no additional fat. What made it even better was that we were able to try our cooking afterwards. I'm not a fan of scallops (I don't like the texture) but Hubby gladly ate them for me. After finishing our meals and taking lots of photos, well we are food bloggers, Miele gave us some goodie bags and I bid farewell to my fellow bloggers and headed back into the show with Hubby & friends.



As it was now about 4pm the show was beginning to quieten down making it easier to get around the stalls...and not be bashed in the ankles by those annoying pull along boxes many people had. Although it is smaller than the Good Food Show in November we still managed to find some gems.

Lauden Chocolates gave all of the other chocolate companies there a serious run for their money. The chocolates were not only stunning to look at but also absolutely divine to taste. The flavours literally exploded in my mouth. The people on the stall were also deeply passionate about their products.

This isn't the first time I've mentioned Teahouse Emporium, I mentioned them last time I went to the Good Food Show and purchased some of their blooming flower tea. This time I bought some Kalahari tea along with some Cranberry & Elderflower tea, the tea leaves alone smell delicious even before they have been infused in water.

As for the worst products - fizzy vodka..why? Brought back wrong memories of my student days and Yumberry Juice it deserves to be done for breach of product description. Yumberry juice is not yummy in the slightest.

It was a great day out and it was lovely to meet other food bloggers and be able to put a face to a name. A big Thank you to Miele for inviting me.

Cooking up camping grub

I can't believe it's been 12 days since I last wrote. I didn't get the job, but I have been offered freelance with them which I will do in the school holidays. It should hopefully open some doors for me and make them realise they should have taken me on as a full-time afterall! For the last week of my half-term we spent a few days camping in Edale...then recovering from walking the Edale Horseshoe along with some of the Pennine Way. We had planned to do Derwent Edge, but unfortunately the weather wasn't suitable. Climb when thunderstorms are predicted? um no thanks!

When camping I don't find the planning of food easy. We're quite hardcore when it comes to camping and try and keep it as lightweight as possible. For cooking we only use a Trangia stove and use meths for fuel. The food needs to be easy to prepare & transport, ideally a 1 pot dish and also packed with slow releasing energy so we can manage the walking & climbing we do. In addition it has to keep fresh without the aid of a fridge. I also don't want to have to take a multitude of ingredients as often you can't park next to the tent.



Apart from the one evening where we cheated and went to the The Old Nag's Head for dinner (they do very good plates of food for walkers) every other meal was eaten at camp.

Breakfast

When camping we want a breakfast that is filling and will keep us going until lunch.

Mornflake Lyle's Golden Syrup Porridge is one of the best breakfasts we have found. The main reason for this is that oats are packed with energy, it's warming and as the golden syrup is included we don't have to remember to pack sugar. We often eat a banana too for vitamins and as one of our 5-a day. We get around the milk problem by using small cartons of UHT. Not really what we would drink at home, but while camping with limited facilities it's all we can viably use. Bacon butties for breakfast are tempting, but the washing up of a greasy burnt pan puts us off!

Lunch

Lunch is usually eaten on a walk so it needs to require no cooking, won't get squished too easily (or tastes ok squished!), relatively light and energy laden. Lunch usually consists of some cheese, preserved meat (like salami) and tortillas wraps. Tortillas are better than traditional bread as it keep well and doesn't matter if they get squashed between the hydration bladder and emergency blanket. We also take some cereal bars. If I haven't got around to making my energy bars I find Eat Natural bars a good alternative, my favourite being the cranberry & macadamia bar.

Snacks

Snacks are essential when hiking to keep energy levels up. One of the most popular hillside snacks is Kendal Mint Cake. Considering it is essentially a big block of peppermint sugar it is great for a burst of energy, but at the same time has a habit of giving me a sugar high that can send me a bit hypo. We usually keep Kendal Mint Cake for emergency rations so for a quick sugar burst on the hillside we eat good old Jelly Babies. There is something comforting and refreshing about a few Jelly Babies that keeps us going to the end of the walk or till the next stop.

This time I also made a malt loaf. A delicious fruity cake that lasts for days and doesn't get squashed easily. However a whole cake can be quite heavy so we left it at camp so it was a treat for us to have with a well earned cup of tea when we got back.



Dinner

As you know, I'm not one to buy ready made food. I very much enjoy the whole process of making something from scratch however when camping this is when my two loves collide. Until I own a dehydrator or food-safe vacuum machine I think I will sometimes cheat as I really struggled to find a dish to make from scratch that ticks all of the boxes. One example of a dish I found in one of my "camping cookery" books was a stew that required 2 hours of gentle simmering. 1) how much fuel would that use?! 2) After a long day trekking the last thing I want to do is wait 2 hours for food.

A few months back in one of our walking magazines gave a very favourable review to a brand called Look What We Found so decided to give it ago. Previous camping trips we have tried dehydrated brands of food, of which, to put it politely, are horrible. We were interested in trying a brand that just needed heating up, but also used natural ingredients. It took some tracking down, but we eventually found some in Sainsburys. On the second night we ate their Chilli Con Carne and I was very impressed. It tasted just as good as my chilli and had a nice warming kick. We ate it with a portion of rice. It also had the added bonus of not giving me terrible indigestion like other processed meals go.

And how do we eat all of this food? With a trusty
spork & Orikaso dinner set. I'm not sure if the Orikaso company exists any more, which is a shame as their products are good and they featured on Dragons Den. The dinner set is lightweight and packs flat which is a huge advantage for us.

Camping & Hiking is such a huge passion for us and I try not to let my love fo food get in the way, but sometimes it can be difficult!

River Cottage Adventure - part 2

Sunday morning we awoke still full from the Valentine Feast and headed into Lyme Regis. Okay that is a slight lie we originally went somewhere else, but it was so dire we headed back to Lyme Regis.



After eating the essential fish & chips along the sea front, while dodging nose-diving seagulls, we decided to find The Town Mill Bakery where our Bread Making course would start on the Monday. Well what a gem. With two long benches and feel-good music pumping from the stereo we picked up a slab of wood and helped ourselves to the glorious cakes; cups of tea were then served at the table. Their brownies are one of the best I've ever tasted. I could have happily spent all day here drinking, eating and reading the cookbooks that adorn the bookshelves. If I was to run a bakery it would be exactly like this.

For the last 2 nights of our trip we stayed at Hedgehog Corner, a B&B just down the road from RCHQ. Joy, the owner of the B&B, was a fantastic host and had thought of everything down to the salt & vinegar for your fish and chips to the torch and high-vis jacket for the walk to the pub. She also cooked a great breakfast and is very passionate about where the ingredients come from. More or less all of the ingredients were locally sourced. I can highly recommend her muesli.



Monday morning we were back to Lyme Regis for 8.30 start at Town Mill Bakery. As we arrived we were met by Steve Lamb who recognised Hubby from Pig in a Day. In total there were 18 of us on the course and while waiting for everyone to arrived we tucked into tea and toast.



The first part of the course was with Aidan Chapman, passionate Master Baker who let us in to some of his baking secrets and the philosophy behind bread making. I found him incredibly inspiring. He also explained the the Chorleywood Process and how supermarket bread is by no means "real" bread. He then demonstrated the sponge & dough method where less yeast and salt used. He also uses wheatgerm in the majority of his bread for depth of flavour and texture. We then had a small masterclass on kneading 1 handed (so you can do 2 loaves at a time) & shaping bread. It took me a while to master the technique but by the afternoon I had it down to a fine are, Hubby was certainly the teacher's pet when it came to this! Aidan also explained how steam and how you slash the bread and significantly change a loaf. The longer and cleaner the slash the better. When putting my loaf into the giant industrial oven I was a bit over enthusiastic and sent my loaf straight to the back of the oven. I needed a bit of help to get it back out again! After our loaves were baked we headed in car convoy to RCHQ for the second half of the course. This was also to allow The Town Mill Bakery to open for customers.



The next part of the course was being lead by Dan Stevens, who had been head chef at the Valentine Feast. The afternoon started with us making our own bread dough. Like usual I made an absolute mess, but in turn produced great bread dough. Dan showed us another method of kneading. We left the dough to rise while Dan explained different doughs and demonstrated how 1 basic dough mix could make lots of different types of bread including flat breads, foccacia and English muffins. The flat breads he made were divine with the beetroot hummus. I could have easily swiped it all up and sat in a corner eating it. Interestingly he said the bread he couldn't master was naan bread. He concluded that the only way you can get naan bread as delicious as from the takeaway was to have a tandoori oven. What was interesting was that both Aidan & Dan recommended stones for cooking your bread on as it keeps it's heat the best.



Before lunch we all prepared a foccacia from the dough Dan had prepared earlier then set about making some pizzas for lunch. Then cooked them in the woodfired oven. The weather was so glorious we did this part of the day outside. The oven was so hot they cooked in less than 90 seconds and tasted so good. To accompany the pizza we also had some ham & purple sprouting broccoli gratin.

After lunch Dan explained the theory behind sourdough and how to make our own. I'm very intrigued by this bread and am planning to start a "mother" this weekend. While our final loaf was baking in the woodfired oven we wondered around the grounds. How I would love to own somewhere like River Cottage. We eventually left with 6 loaves of bread we had cooked between the 2 of us. Thank goodness for freezers!



I'm very thankful for Hubby taking me away to River Cottage to not only experience the Valentine Feast but to learn so much on the bread course. I picked up so many tips and hope I can implement them into my baking. In turn I should produce even better bread. It has made me think completely differently about how I bake. What I did notice on the course that I was probably one of the more experienced in baking there and saying that I still think I have a great deal to learn. I put it down to my food geekyness! The course certainly wasn't for bread beginners but keen home bakers and was the perfect way for expanding my knowledge. I would love to return for another course.

River Cottage Adventure - part 1

My Christmas pressie off Hubby had finally arrived. After me giving him an early Christmas pressie in the shape of Pig in a Day with Hugh F-W he returned the favour by taking me away for 4 nights to experience River Cottage, not once, but twice.

Saturday started with the obligatory trip to River Cottage Local Produce Store & Canteen. We arrived just as lunch service was starting and managed to grab a seat. The menu may be small with around 8 dishes, but the ingredients are seasonal and they are well priced. If I wasn't dining at RCHQ later on I would have tried the fish & chips as it looked delicious, but instead had a hearty bowl of leek & potato soup with pumpkin seed & parsley pesto. The pesto transformed the dish from a delicious soup into an absolutely delicious soup. Hubby had faggots which impressed him as they had been made with the traditional caul fat. As we left there was a significant queue of people waiting for a table.

Saturday evening was the Valentines Feast at River Cottage HQ. It started when we pulled off the country lane into a car park. Everyone was huddling around a fire in an attempt to keep warm while waiting for the tractor trip down to RCHQ. RCHQ is very well hidden and you wouldn't know it was there. Nestled in the valley below with minimal light pollution I just couldn't see it.



Now before I go any further I apologise for the grainy quality of the pics. I was using our compact rather than SLR and the "available light" setting to avoid using flash. No food pics, I'm far too self conscious for that! All I can assure you was that the food looked fantastic.

The tractor & trailer arrived and we all squished onboard for the bumpy ride down to the farm. I can certainly understand why they don't let you walk or drive down! At the bottom we were met by Peter, our host for the evening, who guided us to a lovely warm yurt where we were served a rhubarb Bellini and possibly the biggest oysters I've ever seen. I admit I chickened out of the oysters, but Hubby really enjoyed them.

We then walked to the barn and found our seats next to a lovely couple from Birmingham. This valentines event was unlike conventional Valentine events. Rather than separate tables for couples we were seated down two long wooden tables. There was a really great atmosphere in the barn. Not long after the next canape was brought out; a rough pâté of belly pork served on a small circular piece of toast. This was soon followed by seared paprika squid.



Once everyone had eaten their canapes Dan Stevens, Head Chef for the night, introduced the rest of the menu to us explaining where all the ingredients came from. I washed all of this beautiful food down with some Tayberry wine.

Roast wild sea bass fillet, artichoke & thyme risotto, crispy air dried ham with winter salad - I'd never eaten sea bass before Saturday and would now have to say it is one of my favourite fish. The risotto was made with spelt rather than traditional rice which gave it a lovely texture. I would love to make this dish again at home.

Crab bisque, sour dough and dressed crab - Probably my least favourite course as I do find crab a bit overpowering, but still a lovely dish. I especially liked the sour dough.

Seared saddle of organic Llyen Hogget, slow roast shoulder with celeriac puree and purple sprouting broccoli - I've been wanting to try hogget for a while so when it appeared on the Valentines menu I was really pleased. As a hogget is older than a lamb and younger than mutton it had a strong lamb taste, almost very slightly gamey. The saddle was cooked to perfection with a hint of pink and the shoulder just melted in my mouth. I would quite happily eat hogget again, just a shame it can be difficult to get hold of.

After the main course they brought out a bottle of Camel Valley Cornwall Brut for every couple. We weren't expecting a bottle of bubbly at all so it was a nice surprise. The hardest bit for me was not drinking it all has Hubby was driving and I wanted to leave some for him once we got back to the hotel. It was very drinkable.

Salad of Sharpham brie, pear and beetroot - Possibly the most interesting and my favourite course. The flavours, along with the digestive biscuits matched perfectly. The brie had been drizzled with a small amount of honey that really set the flavours off. Again another dish I would like to try and replicate at home.

Frozen meringue, orange and rhubarb parfait with ginger tuille - A refreshing end to the meal. I'm not usually a fan of rhubarb but this was delicious.



The evening ended about 11.30 with coffee and superb chocolates that were beautifully dark and just melted in my mouth. A perfect end to a perfect evening.

I would love to return to River Cottage again for an evening like this. It was a perfect place for me to try dishes I wouldn't usually choose in a restaurant. I would highly recommend a trip to eat at River Cottage to anyone.

Click on for - part 2!

Here's to 2009

We manage to pack so much into the 2 week-long festive break, but at the same time it was really relaxing. Most of it was spent catching up with friends, seeing the sights and indulging in some fantastic food and drink.

First stop was Bristol to stay with some good friends and their crazy, lovable cat called Simba. First night we went to their local to try some proper cloudy Somerset Cider. It was far too strong for me but Hubby, bless his big cotton socks, enjoyed a few pints of it and it sent him totally wappy. I think I may have temporarily disowned him on the way home after I spotted him wearing a traffic cone on his head. Previous years when we have gone for New Years we've all struggled to stay awake (we're becoming lightweights!), so this year made a conscious effort to stay awake...and that we certainly did. On NYE we dined on delicious Beef Wellingtonfollowed by a delicious cheese board and sampled various Ports while watching the Sky Lanterns people had set off throughout the village to bring in the New Year.

Finally on the 2nd we headed out to Brean Down to the south of Weston-Super-Mare (as shown in picture above). After a short climb to the top, in which my legs were quite adamant they weren't going to do, the view was spectacular, if a bit windy and cold. We must have spent an hour or so at the top admiring the views. The climb certainly dusted off some cobwebs.

This evening, after a long journey north trying to avoid the chaos of the M6 we eventually returned to our very cold cottage, the thermometer in the kitchen read 7oc...brrrrr. I think we'll be having a constant fire burning for the next 24 hours to warm the cottage back through. Thank goodness for hot water bottles!

I'm not usually a resolutions fan, but for this year I would like to:
* Acquire better knife skills, ask me to finely chop something...you can forget it.
* Eat at a famous restaurant (Hubby has sorted this )
* Also keep an eye out for River Shed HQ...Hubby's self-entitled project.

So with 305 items on Google Reader and Delicious, Fresh & Jamie Magazine to catch up on I bid you a great 2009 and I hope it is a fantastic foodie year.

Well that was Christmas...

After what seems like a month or so planning and baking it's all over in a flash. I found the above photo on our camera. Hubby took it on the 23rd, you can see me rushing around and the chaos of the cottage in the run up to Christmas. It also makes it look like our cottage is huge, trust us it isn't.

This year Hubby & I spent Christmas with my parents Oop North. As a pressie for my parents I offered to buy the turkey. 3 days after Christmas and 3kg of turkey later, plus a multitude of variations on a turkey theme it is eventually finished. The same can't be said for the Christmas ham which is going to be reincarnated into a ham & leek pie later this evening.

Christmas started when we arrived on the afternoon of Christmas eve and the men cracked open the smoked porter from Burton Bridge Brewery this was soon followed by a trip to the local to hear my brother busk. Incidentally anyone one in and around Southport during the week run-up to Christmas would have heard my brother and his brass-instrumentalled-mates belting out Christmas tunes. Us women stuck to the good old Baileys. Once the obligatory cuppa was out of the way Christmas day started with a peach schnapps and champagne cocktail made by little sister who in plaster due to a disagreement with the piste while snowboarding a few days before Christmas. Late afternoon we sat down to a traditional turkey roast dinner with all the trimmings plus the Guinness Christmas Pudding I made back in November. It had a stronger taste of cloves this time, but I imagine this is due to me maturing the pudding for a bit longer this time around. The last of the alcohol to be tried was the Haw Brandy and Apple & Blackberry Gin we made after one of Hubby's foraging adventures back in October. It was filtered on Christmas eve and both produced such beautiful, pure drinks. The gin went down particularly well and we'll certainly be making a batch of it again for next Christmas.

Santa certainly came up trumps this year. Along with the Made in England rolling pin I also was lucky enough to receive lots of wine, a Hotel Chocolat discovery box, a set of Homepride flour tins and from Hubby not one but 2 trips to River Cottage. The first being the famous Valentines Feast, the second - a place on their bread making course. I was truly shocked when he announced where he was taking me. We must think very similar as his early Christmas present was Pig in a Day with Hugh and it just so happened we booked each others pressies within a few minutes of each other and spoke to the same events coordinator. I can't wait to visit.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas.

Pig in a Day with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Hubby is one of those annoying/lucky people (depending on how you look at it) who's birthday is during the Christmas festivities. After him buying me a KitchenAid for my birthday, I knew I had to pull one out of the bag to make his birthday pressie just as special as his present to me.

A few weeks back I received an email from River Cottage making me aware of some dates with Hugh. Dates with Hugh in River Cottage are becoming rarer and rarer so I knew I had to act quick. The Catch & Cook in June course sold out 5 min before I phoned so I went for the Pig in a Day course, meaning Hubby would have to get his Birthday pressie early. He was a tad bit shocked when I announced where he would be going and that he would be meeting his idol Hugh.

So here I pass on to Hubby who has written his own account of the day, also if you are veggie I suggest you don't read or scroll down any further:



The day started when I pulled into River Cottage. You can't park right at River Cottage so took a bumpy ride down into the valley on a trailer pulled by a tractor. When me and my 23 fellow course mates arrived we were shown to a yurt where tea, coffee and delicious brownies were waiting for us. It was a lovely warm welcome. Then all of a sudden my idol of idols Hugh appeared. He shook my hand and introduced himself to me, signed my Meat cookbook then had our photo taken. The photo makes Jules laugh as we look like bosom buddies.

We then headed down to a converted barn for the course which was essentially demonstrating the process and principles of butchering and processing a pig. I don't own any pigs, yet, but would love to in the future and a smallholding mate of Jules has offered us half a pig after Christmas. Along with Hugh there was also the legend that is master butcher - Ray Smith.




It started with half a pig that Ray slowly butchered into different joints while Hugh cooked the various dishes. This was definitely nose-to-tail eating. The first dish to be prepared was brawn as it has to be slow cooked. From behind the demonstration counter Hugh produced a quartered pig's head. I was able to taste the brawn later on in the day.



The first dish I tried was pig's brains. Hugh first poached the diced brain then coated in breadcrumbs and then deep-fried. Curiosity got the better of me and I knew I had to try it. It's creamy and melt in the mouth, not much taste, more texture. This evening Jules & I have debated over whether or not you can legally buy pig's brains. I say yay, she says nay. Either way it's not worth the risk of seeing Jules' reaction if she came home one day to find a pig's brain the fridge.



Next on the menu was devilled kidneys. Again something I have never tried before as I thought I didn't like kidneys, but these were very very tasty. Hugh may have converted me to kidneys. Liver pate was also demonstrated, but I didn't get a chance to try this one.

While the barn was being transformed for lunch we had the opportunity to walk around the grounds. The pigs all looked very happy in the mud and the geese were quite adamant to peck my shoes. I was also inspired by their smokers made out of barrels. Lunch was generous slices of pork served with creamy mash and roasted veg. To follow was pear sponge cake. Very tasty.

The afternoon was hosted by Ray and Steve and was primarily about preserving and processing meat. During the afternoon they demonstrated how to make air dried ham, chorizo and sausages. All of the people attending the course were given some chorizo and sausages to take home. We ate the sausages the following night and they were absolutely delicious. Very different from sausages you usually buy. They were packed with meat, herbs and a bit of sugar which helps the sausages to caramelise when they split.



I found it a really interesting and informative day. On top of the recipe demonstrations they also advised on what knives to use, how to tie a butchers knot, the right questions to ask at the abattoir. It was a lovely chilled environment and you were encouraged to ask questions throughout the day. I will be returning as I enjoyed myself so much.

The Good Food Show Haul

Yesterday, with some foodie friends, we headed to Birmingham for the annual Good Food Show. A good time was had by all, though I did get fed up being barged by those trolleys everyone seemed to be pulling around with them. We tasted some very good...and very bad stuff.



Snowdonia Cheese Company - Their cheese are always a fond favourite in our house, especially Black Bomber. We ended up buying: Green Thunder - Mature Cheddar with garlic & garden herbs in a green wax, Red Devil - Red Leicester with chillies & crushed pepper in a red wax Pickle Power - Mature Cheddar with chunks of pickled onion in a purple wax.


Ritter sport - These are another dirty secret of mine. I fondly remember them from when I lived in Germany and go slightly mad when I see them for sale. Yesterday they were selling mixed boxes of their mini bars and they all contained my favourite flavours so I HAD to buy them!



Tea House Emporium This stall was easy to miss, but I'm glad I found it. Their Kalahari tea was beautiful and refreshing and this is the first place I've found tea flowers for sale. Since seeing them online I've been intrigued by them. They look so pretty and delicate. I may be in the Bath area around New Year and will have to pop in.

Fox's Spices - They had a big stall with a gigantic selection of spices. I picked up some garam masala, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, powdered coconut cream and some pickling spices. They don't seem to have a website, but when I do find it I'll link it here.

White's Toasted oats - I love my cereal. I'm the kind of person who eats a bowl of cereal when they can't decide what to eat or can't be bothered cooking, however I am getting a bit bored of my morning porridge and welcomed a change. I had a bowl of the mixed berries cereal this morning and it was a perfect breakfast.

Pinks meat - Sausage stalls seemed to be in the majority at the show but what made this stall stand out was the lovely staff, yummy sausages. We tasted and bought from Pork & Indian pepper sausages and had them for tea last night with a huge mound of mash...yum, yum, yum!



Belvoir Fruit Farms - Last year I tried some of their Spiced Winter Berries cordial but stupidly never bought any. This year I made sure I did. It's made with elderberry, orange and blackberry juices mixed along with nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves; a fantastic non-alcoholic alternative to mulled wine. This afternoon we went for a brisk walk and a flask of this hot cordial was perfect for warming the cockles.

Focus on Food campaign - On my hunt for companies/resources to help us become a Healthy School I found out about the Focus on Food campaign. In interested in the cooking bus they do and hope to bring it to school.

Rocket Gardens - An amazing company with an innovative idea. I'm hoping to use some of the schools gardening club money to buy a School Spring Garden. I'm also loving their Dig for Their Future campaign.

The Beginners Guide to Country Bumpkin Life

Living in the country always brings its challenges. Last night as we were settling in for the night, Hubby went out front to put the rubbish out only to be confronted with a river where our drive usually is. The rain had been heavy, but we didn't think there had been enough for the pond at the top of the hill to burst. Thankfully the floodwaters have subsided and hopefully our cottage is safe.

Cue mild panic, knocking on neighbors doors and remaining thankful that we were too lazy to put the sandbags away from the front door after they were delivered a month back. We've lived our little country cottage life for 3.5 years now and it has taught me many things.



1. Wellies - essential for country living, even better if they come in a funky pattern. I do wear my wellies quite a lot and last night amongst the sandbags and floodwater they decided to leak leaving me with a very soggy right foot. I now have my eye on some equally funky coloured Hunter wellies.

2. Candles - come to our house and you'll find them everywhere along with random placed boxes of matches. Power cuts are a regular occurrence, though thankfully not as bad as they used to be. During lengthy power cuts it has been known for all of us to huddle around nextdoor's gas BBQ making cups of tea. Who said the British resilience and love of tea was dead?

3. Mice/voles/rats - I have to admit I'll never get used to little furry friends coming to visit. Thankfully Hubby isn't bothered about them at all Although they may be cute tiny field mice looking for somewhere dry and warm I still don't like them. I'm sitting here on the sofa freezing cold waiting for hubby to return from work as I'm too scared to get near the fire just in case Bob the mouse (our most recent furry friend who jumped out from behind to coal bucket) makes a reappearance.

We have humane traps and release our furry friends at a place called Percy's Corner, named after the first furry friend we caught. Percy had quite refined tastes only liking to snack on pistachio & Brazil nuts plus...our sofa. More recently the mice have been under the sink. These however have less refined tastes and like to eat candles and washing powder. They are probably having a little rave under the sink high on various domestic products. Forget cocaine, get yourself to Chez Derbyshire and get high on Persil.

4. 2 wet jackets - If I was a hardcore country bumpkin I would have a Barbour jacket, but I'm yet to reach that status so make do with a Craghopper and Berghaus jacket. My old Craghopper is used for the coal bunker/ firk-out-the-drains-to-stop-the-house-flooding type of jobs. And the Berghaus? for everything else.



5. A dog or 2 - Now to be a true country bumpkin you should own a dog, but considering I have a mild phobia of dogs (plus as much as I love walking I couldn't be doing with walking them everyday), we make do with next doors door who keep us both entertained. One thinks he is human and the other eats anything and everything.

7. Lighting a fire - I'm becoming quite a pro at lighting a fire, okay not to the extent of a Ray Mears stylee rubbing two sticks together job, but Hubby is often impressed with the fires I make...as long as Bob the mouse hasn't popped in to say hello. I have discovered that babybel wax (my foodie shame) make great firelighters.

9. Fleecy blankets & hot water bottles - for the time when Bob makes a reappearance and your too scared to go near the coal bucket or when you can't be bothered going outside to fill the coal bucket and make a fire.

East Midlands Food Festival

Things have been a bit up in the air here recently (explaining why I haven't updated in over a week) and we both decided we needed a trip out. Undeterred by the torrential rain and armed with walking boots and umbrellas we headed to Melton Mowbray for the East Midlands Food Festival. Held in the ground of Brooksby Hall, a local agricultural college, 200 suppliers from around the region were there to sell their foodie wares. I have Phil @ Local Food Heroes to thank for making me aware of this event.

I was pleasantly surprised with the variety and quality of producers with stalls there. My usual favourites Azorieblue and Farrington Oils were there but also some new found companies that I'm sure I'll be returning to.

The Leicestershire Handmade Cheese Co. was there with their Sparkenhoe Leicestershire Cheese. I adore this cheese and have tasted it before today. It is beautifully creamy and slightly nutty plus makes the ultimate cheese on toast!

The garlic we planted this year didn't work so I was glad to see The Garlic Farm there today selling garlic bulbs for planting. Crossed fingers they work this time.

I was first drawn to the stall by the giant ornamental cabbages and Romanesco broccoli,I never thought I would ever get excited about vegetables! Woodlands Farm run a veg box scheme and although we live too far away from them to deliver we were able to buy some of the veg boxes today. The selection in the small box we bought was fantastic and fresh.

Peppercorn Catering had a popular stall adorned in various cakes. We picked up some of their delicious Chocolate Indulgence cupcakes. It's also good to find a local company that delivers cupcakes.

We also picked up some steak sausages from Blackbrook Longhorns that will be dinner tomorrow and Hubby went a bit mad on the Continental Cottage stall and we now could be eating various types of salami for months to come. For lunch we had some duck fat roast potatoes with soured cream, sea salt and parsley, the perfect antidote for a rather late, alcohol fueled Saturday night.

My favourite supplier of the day certainly has to beChocolate Confetti What made them stand out from all the other chocolate stalls there was their range of unusual chocolates. I was truly spoilt for choice and wanted to try them all! I eventually settled on Strawberry & Pimms white chocolate truffle, White Stilton & Port enrobed in dark chocolate and a Guinness chocolate. As soon as I saw the white Stilton & port chocolate I knew it had to be tried. You can certainly taste the saltiness of the Stilton paired the with the sweetness of the port and bitterness of the extremely dark chocolate. Although it may sound like a strange chocolate it was one I would certainly eat again. Thankfully (but unfortunately for my pocket) Chocolate Confetti have a stall at a Farmers Market local to me.

We'll certainly be returning to the East Midlands Food Festival next year.