Homemade in Haddenham

Yesterday the Beautiful Wife and I took a stand at the above event. It is run by an organisation calling itself Haddenham in Transition which aims to move the "village" of Haddenham (supposedly the largest village in England) towards a more sustainable future. They run a apple press (for the use of locals) and are working on various other means of reducing waste and the inevitable footprints which go with the excesses of modern living. They run Homemade in Haddenham for the trading of goods made or grown around the village. The Beautiful Wife uses her incredible talents to produce almost anything that involves stitching (from fine embroidery to leather goods) and I stole 18 inches of her table for some tray bakes.
Much more important to me than making enough money to by a bottle of wine for dinner tonight was the diversity of people who took stalls and provided food and drink of an exceptional quality. Let me tell you, the quality of the pork roast (from Orchard View Farm) was off the scale of good things. XT Brewery were there (see earlier post) and there were lectures on breadmaking, home brewing and bee keeping amoung other things.
The day was a triumph, full marks to Allison and the team - I'll be back next year with more Brownies to sell! 

Thame Food Festival - WOW

On Saturday last I worked with the magnificent team at What's Cooking for the Thame Food Festival. I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling a sense of irony that many of the stallholders, foodies to a man or woman, were unable to get round and talk food with other traders because it was just so wonderfully busy. The weather was kind, and that hasn't been a given this year; the organisation worked well for most people: many (oh so very many) people had a fantastic day: and scores of independent traders did what they became independent to do - trade!
Now I'm not going to pretend that the good people of Thame represent a cross section of the British public and the thousands of visitors who came from largely the Bucks / Oxon borders are clearly not on the breadline but there was a genuine interest in traceability, food ethics, locality and all the other things that really matter in the new food movement.
There will, no doubt, be the armchair critics of such an event - don't listen to them - They either weren't there or they just don't get it. 
I, for one, can't wait for next year.

The traveller's dream

Motorway Service Stations are, to my mind, places without soul or joy. I know they are there to fulfil a purpose but why must this mean that they lack individuality or difference? The majority of these road side stops are made up of a couple of fast food franchises (Maybe a KFC and a Burger King or McDonalds), a WHSmiths, a coffee multinational, and an uninspiring cafeteria serving overpriced and uninteresting meals which are, at best fuel for the motorist. All this is done at mark up from the normal high street prices.
When I started this blog, I set out to be positive and for this reason I don't want to dwell on the problem of motorway services but I'd like to put forward some ideas for solving these issues. There are several really wonderful service stations on our roads but there are simply too few.
"So," I hear you ask, "what would the perfect service station look like then?"
Well, first and foremost I wouldn't ban fast food, but if we have a burger bar, why not one serving real, possibly organic burgers and real chips cut from potatoes (we could even leave the skin on and really blow people's minds). Of course the ingredients would have to be local and made by people who really care about the food they are making and serving. With the growth in high quality street food at the moment this is not some kind of dream, this can be done.
Then comes the coffee shop - There is a very positive reason why there are some mega-brands in this market - they often serve great coffee! What my perfect service station would have, however, would be a small, independent supplier of coffee (yes they do exist) and again I'd like a bit of traceability and, of course we would be talking Fair Trade here.
Now the real problem: The Cafeteria. There simply has to be a full English breakfast available and, being fair, a lot of service stations get this right. However, at the price that is charged on the road, we should be able to guarantee the provenance of all the pork (outdoor bred and raised) and the eggs must be free range (and I mean small flock, encouraged to feed outside, no nasty chemicals used). There simply has to be Black pudding - cooked to order not allowed to turn into cardboard on a hot plate.
As the cafeteria has to be open for 24 hours a day, it has to serve real meals. What on earth is wrong with the British classics here - Bangers and Mash (with some proper veg), Ham, Egg and Chips and a really good Pie (yes the crust is supposed to go the whole way round)
On to salads - I don't need to say much here except "Go to France and look at what they can do on the road" (Grated carrots, dressed with a little lemon juice and garnished with poppy seeds and toasted almonds, roast vegetables with pesto dressing, grated celeriac with a wholegrain mustard mayonnaise, etc, etc)
While we're on the subject of France why are Confit of Duck, Tartiflette, and the like never available at the British roadside. These are quite cheap to produce compared with a Steak and Kidney Pie and are perfect for filling up the weary traveller.
I need to stop now else I shall rant for hours, but I will leave you with this one thought: There will be no need for the owners of these service stations to change unless people demand it. As with so much in the food industry, people can change behaviour by voting with their feet (or tires in this case)!

Remembering to taste

Every now and then I find myself pulled up short when it comes to taste. For example, last week I was putting together a cous cous salad lunch for the beautiful wife and I boiled off a handful of green beans which came in the weekly veg box from Abel and Cole.
I blanched them for a couple of minutes and very quickly refreshed them under cold water. I could not resist "stealing" one to nibble on as I cooked and this is when I was pulled up short. The flavour was outstanding. I had completely forgotten how utterly amazing a simple green bean can taste. A similar thing happened with broccoli a few weeks ago.
I think the message is clear: I have vowed to taste everything as if we're tasting it for the very first time, who knows where this might lead. I will not take an ingredient for granted.
We have the builders in for a few weeks so I have harvested the last of my tomatoes and potatoes both of which were close to the house. On occasion they were neglected throughout the Summer and on occasion the Summer neglected them too. I shall be making green tomato chutney again during the week!

The Idle Lunch

I met up with a couple of dear friends on Saturday and caught up with each others gossip. We met at the Cross Keys pub in Thame and it was a very civilised way to spend a couple of hours. I am not a Thame resident but I can walk there in about an hour and Saturday was such a perfect day for a walk that it would've seemed a sin not to cross the fields in the company of the last of the swallows, the yellowhammers, buzzards and red kites (always, always kites) and take in the newly harvested land on my way.
I was quite early, because that's who I am, and was able to sit with a half pint and read the local CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) literature which was left for all to peruse. There was the usual bad news of pubs closing and big bad breweries buying up the independents. However, in the literature there was much to be joyful about. I drank beer from the XT brewing company based in a village (Long Crendon) a couple of miles North of Thame. XT has been brewing for less than a year but is already building a superb reputation for itself and I certainly enjoyed both their No 1 ( A blond bitter - citrusy and clean,4.2 abv and right up my street) and No 4 (Their flagship beer - a very drinkable amber ale at 3.8 abv. It would be very easy to spend a whole night on this particular brew and it shows that you do not need stupid alcohol levels to produce great flavour).
The pub itself has its own micro brewery, alas none of their beers we on the ten pumps on the bar ( all of them serving small brewery or cider products). I'll just have to go back sometime soon to try their own beer.
We are also within a very small distance of two more wonderful independents of the brewing industry - The Chiltern Brewery near Wendover and the Vale Brewery in Brill.
We should be so proud of our brewing heritage. British Real Ale is unique to these islands and delicious in all its forms. Yet we listen to our demons who tell us that "its too warm" "I want something lighter" " Its not cool or cold enough" Its time to listen to our better angels and embrace this natural gem of our food and drink culture.
There can be no mistake though:  when it comes to small independent producers of British Real Ale, if you live in the beautiful area north of the Chiltern Hills, then you are truly blessed. So blessed, in fact, that your pint glass surely overflows.

Nothing to cry about.

The last few weeks have been the most amazing period of sport and we have all watched, and felt every emotion possible. Watching tough men and women finally bursting into tears on the podium as years of hard work gets its pay off seems to have become a sport in its own right.
To a cook the tears flow when you get into competition with onions. A colleague of mine asked me today for a recipe for French onion soup. I can only remember two recipes for this classic of French cookery.
While we're talking about classic dishes, this has been changed and adapted so often that it is quite difficult to find the definative recipe - when I've finished typing, I'm off the consult my Elizabeth David books!

My Mother's cheat recipe for French onion soup
Onions
Can of double concentrate Beef Consomme Soup

Fry off the onions very slowly so they caramelise (no I don't mean "burn"). Pop these in a pan with the soup and dilute according to the instructions. Warm to the boil and enjoy with a cheesy crouton.

My Recipe for French onion soup
2lb Onions (red, white or a mix)
3 pints of beef stock (see note)
A sprinkle of sugar
A glug of good Olive oil

Place the oil and onions in a pan and pop on a low to medium heat. As soon as they start to sizzle cover the pan and shake over the sugar. Keep the temperature low and slowly caramelise the onions, stirring often. (This can take up to 30 minutes) When the onions are are nice and golden brown pour over the stock, bring to the boil and simmer (I really mean simmer - not boil like crazy!) for about 40 minutes. Serve with a cheesy crouton (See other note)

Note on Beef Stock - If you're feeling flush, buy some beef stock from the meat counter in most supermarkets. If you are in a more penurious position use cubes. If you have time, make your own beef stock. You could, of course, use a combination of any of these stocks.

Note on cheesy croutons - There are more recipe's for this than there are soup bowls! My preference is for an oven dried slice of good bread (make sure it doesn't take to much colour) with Gruyere on top. This should then be placed on top of the soup and popped under the grill for just a couple of minutes, until the cheese melts.

Allez Les Bleus!

A couple of years ago the beautiful wife and I spent a very pleasant week in Paris. On the last day we stopped for lunch in a little brasserie just north of Place de la Concorde. We ate well, as we had done all week but the thing I remember about the meal was the two young women who sat at a table near us. They were sixteen or seventeen and were clearly on a shopping trip as teenagers the world over do. The memorable thing about these two was the way in which they were perfectly comfortable with the restaurant environment. They were at ease chatting with the waiter and they both ordered Pate du jour and Confit of Duck to follow. There was no affectation or showing off, this was all perfectly perfectly natural to them. How many sixth formers (16,17 and 18yr olds for those who don't speak UK education system) would have this level of food maturity? How many would eat a meal that required an knife and fork? How many would eat a two course meal in a restaurant full of adults?
I'm sure the answer to these questions from a lot of people would be "a few" or "my children are like that" but the truth is "not very many."
There is a grave risk that, in the subtle and quiet food revolution that is taking place in the UK, we might miss out on helping the younger members of society to appreciate the joy of civilised dining - yes, I'm talking about turning off the mobile phone and holding a conversation! If we do not move away from the burgers and nuggets, which are the default position of most of us when out and about then we will have nobody to hand the baton of this amazing food revolution on to.
I look forward to the day when two young women, out on a shopping trip to Oxford Street, stop for a lunch and don't head straight for a shinning edifice of a multinational, fast food outlet and instead find themselves a small restaurant with has individuality, soul and cutlery.
On the subject of Confit of duck, my recipe is below. Everyone thinks this is really complex and "chefy" - its really not!

Confit of Duck
Duck legs (1 per person)
Fat (it should be duck or goose fat but few people are that rich, I use lard) enough, when melted, to cover the duck legs.
Salt

Sprinkle the legs with salt all over and place them all in a bowl leave in the fridge for 6 hours. Pre heat the oven to 150 degrees. Heat the fat in an oven proof casserole on the hob. Brush the salt off the legs and slide them into the fat. Cover the casserole and place in the oven for and hour and a half. Take the casserole out of the oven and allow it to cool at room temperature so that the fat all sets.
At this point it is worth reminding ourselves that this is a method of preserving food and this casserole or earthenware pot would, in the past, have been left in the larder and used weeks later. I'm not sure how long it is safe to keep it at cellar temperature so I tend to put mine in the fridge.
About 45 minutes before you want to use your confit heat the casserole over the hob and lift out the duck legs and wioe them clean of residual fat. Place them on a roasting tray place this in a hot oven for 25 - 35 minutes until the skin is dark brown and crispy and the flesh is moist and falling off the bone. For a Parisienne lunch serve with a crisp salad and matchstick chips. For dinner I tend to serve with crushed garlic potatoes and a red wine reduction sauce and seasonal vegetables.


  

Foodie Saturday!

The Beautiful Wife is on a residential course and I have been left to fend for myself! This usually means that I purchase an heroic quantity of mussels and a piece of long aged, rump steak the size of Wales. I should probably point out at this stage that my favourite solitary meal is not a feast of celebration, its simply that the Beautiful Wife doesn't particularly like steak and dislikes mussels so its the one chance I get to enjoy these two treats.
On Saturday I travelled in from the Chiltens to spend a foodie day in London. Borough Market was every bit as good as I remember it though getting there early was very sensible as by noon it was humming with humanity.
I moved up to the West End, found an interesting Japaneese supermarket and then wandered up to Marylebone for a few treats from La Fromagerie, then onto a train home to eat.
The treats in my bag on my return included some mishapes from Artisan du Chocolate (The liquid salted caramels were emotional), three lovely dried sausages from the guys at Cannon and Cannon (purveyors of really good dried and cured meats from the UK) and a small tin of the most fiery Wasabi I have ever encountered.
I made bread yeasterday ('see what I did there). My usual white loaf and a batch of burger buns for tonight's burgers.
My new Sourdough ferment is not yet up to speed though for the first time I'm using Spelt flour to add some interesting character - My first loaf (which, by legend, should be a disaster) will be out of the oven on Thursday.
Tonight the experimentation with burgers begins - more later..       

I'm back and I'm angry...

We are hungry.
How on earth can a nation with a "top ten" economy honestly call itself civilised when we have large numbers of people needing to go to Foodbanks in order to feed themselves and their children? The Foodbank movement headed up by such groups as the Trussell Trust is a lifeline to over 100,000 people in the UK and they are doing an amazing job but there is no joy to be found in the necessity of such organisations. How dare we allow the nation's children to go to bed hungry? There will always be those in society that do not have the ability to feed their children, however, the numbers of people having to face the very difficult decision to ask for help are so high that this cannot be a problem of some "under class."
If this is the "Big Society" then I, for one, am hungry for a different philosophy.

If you place the terrifying statistics about hunger next to the disgraceful numbers associated with food wastage in the UK then you have to wonder whether some kind of collective insanity has taken over the whole population.

We are at once greedy (check the national obesity figures if you doubt this), and reticent to talk about the food issues that face us as a nation. Jamie Oliver goes into school and highlights the problems and years later we are worried about a Primary School Child photographing and writing about her daily lunch in what was, largely, a very positive blog.
As a nation we demand such great "value" for our weekly shop that we have lost all sense of our own values. We pick up milk at a similar price to water and don't register the fact that it costs a farmer more to produce than he is paid.
In short we are hungry for change; genuine, positive, sustainable change in the food industry.

Its safe now, the rant is over - you can come out from behind the sofa.

The beautiful wife gave me Richard Bertinet's book Pastry for our anniversary earlier this month and, as with all his books, its almost impossible to read without reaching for ingredients and beginning to cook. So far I have cooked:

1. Plum tart- Puff pastry, (yes, I made my own!) franzipan mixed with creme patisserie, and plums from our veg box. (Based on a Apricot Tart recipe).
2. Pork Pies - Hot water Crust, a mixture of bacon, pork belly and shoulder, sage, nutmeg, and a jelly with added sherry.

Brewing up a storm.

Those who know me well will know that I gave up alcohol for 10 months last year and since then I have not drunk anywhere near the volume that I was for most of my adult life. The interesting thing is that I now enjoy the drinks I have much more than I did previously. I have also become very choosy when it comes to what I am drinking. I linger at the beer section, umming and aghing at the selection now available and look forward to tasting the beer I buy rather than just drinking it.
It was during one of these decision making exercises that I spotted a couple of beers from a company called BrewDog. 5AM Saint (an amber ale, full flavoured malty and topped off with the most amazing fruity, floral top notes.) and Punk IPA (described as a "post modern classic pale ale") were both superb handcrafted, complex and delicious.
Apart from the superb quality of their products, the thing which appealed to me most about this 5 year old company was the attitude of their marketing. They are unashamedly angry about the quality of mass produced, establishment beers, they describe themselves as "pure punk." In their own words "BrewDog is a modern day rebellion against faceless corporate bureaucracy and the bland, soulless beer they industrially produce"
Their website www.brewdog.com is a testament to this irreverent attitude.
In many ways I am very "establishment" and not a fan of negative promotional campaigns but we need many more companies in the ethical food movement like this. Its no longer good enough just to produce a great ethical, artisan or unique product; we need some serious anger in the marketing of these great products. We also need to get angry as consumers and stop settling for the bland, the over industrial, the globalised and the boring food and drink products that have been sold to us as the norm for the last few decades.
In conclusion, I quote again from the mass of vitriol supplied in all of BrewDog's copy - "BrewDog is about breaking rules, taking risks, upsetting trends, unsettling institutions but first and foremost, great tasting beers"
Amen to that!

Aaaaaagh!

I am incandescent with rage, I sit here stuttering with a combination of disbelief and fury. "So what's the matter, Cook?" I hear you ask. Therein lies a short tale.
We get a half dozen eggs delivered every Wednesday from the wonderful folks at Rent-a-Hen. We have been getting eggs from Anita and John since we moved out here. The concept is that you rent a hen from them. You don't actually get a hen but you are guaranteed 6 beautiful free range eggs every week. We used to collect them, but as their business has grown they now deliver and we rush home on Wednesday to scrambled eggs. I cannot recommend this company enough, they are exactly what the ethical food movements are all about.
"So" I hear you say again "What is the matter?"
Well, It appears that some lunatic has decided that you cannot now re-use egg boxes as it carries a cross infection risk. What are these imbeciles thinking? People have been taking egg boxes back for refilling for decades and I can find no incidence of contamination. Yes, yes I know the shell of an egg is porous but really people, get a grip. This will add cost to food production and will increase the need for re-cycling which is much more expensive than re-using. The only consolation is that most cardboard of this type is compostable.
I sometimes wonder if there hasn't been a release of gas over the offices of these bureaucrats. I shall, however, continue to enjoy amazing eggs this Easter with a clear conscience and only a little bit of anger at the lunacy.

Roast alternative.

When one cooks for many people the idea of a "Sunday Roast" is a simple affair. One buys a flipping huge lump of Beef, Pork or Lamb and applies heat. A short while later everyone at the table starts oohing and aghing as the said lump of flesh is served. When there are only two of you this becomes extremely difficult. Roasting meat is a strange thing - in order to be really delicious a joint of meat has to be be a considerable size, little pieces of meat simply dry up and turn to leather. This leaves the gourmet couple with a dilemma - miss out on the glory that is a full roast dinner or find yourself eating cold cuts for a week after the roast.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the cold cut and, in the interests of food efficiency, if we cook it we should eat it; but eating Roast Lamb followed by Shepherds pie, followed by lamb curry followed by Hot Pot can all get a tad samey.
The following recipe is a antidote to this sad situation and provides a remarkably inexpensive roast dinner for two.

Stuffed Chicken Legs
Two (free range, high animal welfare) chicken legs.
Two sausages (I've used Toulouse, but any high quality ones will do)
Two rashers of free range,dry cure, streaky bacon (smoked if you like)

Take all of the bones out of the legs from the inside of the leg. This will take a short time as it does take practice but its worth the extra few minutes, just keep going with little cuts till the bones come away. Make sure you keep the skin on. Level out any of the flesh. Take the sausage meat out of the skins and put about one third of each sausage on the drumstick end and the rest on the thigh end and wrap up the legs again. Secure the thigh end by wrapping bacon around it and, if necessary secure the drummer with a cocktail stick. Tuck the skin in if there is any overlapping. Roast in a medium hot oven for about 45 minutes. Allow to rest for about 10 minutes, slice into about 5 pieces and serve with all your usual trimmings.

Lamb course

Last Monday I attended a course of Lamb butchery at the Ginger Pig. For those of you who don't know of the Ginger Pig it is the most amazing butchers in the UK. What started as a bit of a hobby for Tim Wilson became a business and now sets the standard in terms of animal welfare and husbandry. They not only provide beautiful meat but taking it from field to plate ensures that they control the process.
The course was great fun with Perry and Borat guiding us through the anatomy, butchery and cooking of lamb. We each boned and rolled a shoulder to take home. The evening finished with a feast of lamb shoulder with mashed potatoes, followed by bread and butter pudding laced with chocolate. It was a great evening and my second of these courses - I've already started saving for the Beef course, or maybe I'll do the sausage making evening.
The message from successful ethical meat businesses such Ginger Pig is clear: Eat less meat, eat better meat and expect to pay a fair price for it.

The kindness of food.

Providing food for a person is an act of the purest kindness. The nurturing effect of food is obvious, but the nurturing effect of feeding a person is often overlooked. We hear about food being cooked with love but, let's be honest, that is usually an excuse for bad food being forced upon a long suffering family. However, recently I have seen two life affirming examples of what joy the kindness of food can bring.
One of the choirs in which I sing is the local Benefice choir -we meet up for four Sung Evensongs a year, one in each of the four churches in the Benefice. A few rehearsals before the chosen Sundays and a great leader enable us to provide a lovely service every 3 month or so. The highlight for me, as a foodie, is the "bring and share Tea". Between final rehearsal on the Sunday and the evensong we retire to the Church Warden's house, each of us carrying our "best dish" (millionaire's shortbread in my case) and we eat, share and laugh. The last time we sang, many of us we worried for our loved ones or sad through recent loss. The handing of food to each other, everybody a little proud of themselves, drove to the very core of human kindness.
The second kindness was from one of my new colleagues (he and his wife both work at the school - The Couple) after a few chats in the staffroom we discovered that we both have a passion for baking bread. I was delighted, ten days ago, to find a small present of a sour dough ferment waiting for me. I nurtured this, adding a little flour and water every day and at the weekend I baked my first ever sour dough loaf - what a feeling of success. This is the gold standard of home bread making and it was only today that I realised that this massive feeling of success grew from a small act of food kindness.

Simple, warming supper.

We have all had far too much rich food, I'm sure. So last night I went for one of my favourite winter meals - Risotto. A simple risotto can be made from store cupboard ingredients (rice, onion, garlic and a few good stock cubes) but it becomes much more fun when you add interesting bits to the mix.
Risotto is one of those dishes for which everybody believes they have the definitive recipe. "Well they didn't make it like that when I was in Milan", "No, no it has to be Carnoroli darrrling", "You can only stir clockwise, it simply doesn't work otherwise", "It has to be served at exactly 69 degrees centigrade"
As with many dishes there is a whole host of myths and rumours surrounding the making of a good risotto. The truth is, making a good risotto is easy and, lets be honest, we're only making a savoury rice pudding here.
So here are my tips for a stress free risotto (the purists and pedants can stop reading here).
Fry finely chopped onion in, what looks like, too much oil and butter (about 50:50) till it becomes transparent. Add a little finely chopped garlic and fry for just a minute. Add "enough" rice (as good as you can afford - make sure it is one of the risotto rices though - Arborio, Carnoroli, etc)and fry till it starts to sound like "frying".
Pour in a couple of ladles of hot (and I mean nearly boiling) stock and stir. Keep adding hot stock and stirring till the risotto is how you like it - oozy, stiff or soupy - the choice is yours but do make sure the rice is cooked. Add enough cheese (Parmesan is apt but a strong cheddar works) to make it smooth and silky.
Now that's the basic risotto, but the fun comes when you start to add interesting stuff. The Beautiful Wife love peas in her risotto and I'm a huge fan of little dice of salami.
Last night I made the risotto with peas and then popped some Chorizo, sliced and fried, on top. A trickle of the wonderful, paprika laden fat poored over the top completed the picture.
I am no purist so I am quite comfortable mixing Italian classics with Spanish ingredients.
Chorizo come in two types those which require cooking and those which do not, This was a "picante" cooking sausage bought from Tony at "What's cooking?" in Thame.