I visited the Vale Harvest market in Haddenham on Saturday morning - what a revelation!
This is a quote from their website -
Vale Harvest is a group of local food producers within a 10 mile radius of Haddenham and the immediate area. They say "Our aim is to make it easier for local people to connect with local produce. The markets will host a range of stalls selling hot and cold food and drink to have there and to take home." Stalls selling some of the following will be there (rain or shine): free-range lamb and pork; cupcakes and ice cream; fresh bread and eggs; sausages and charcuterie; jam and chutney; fresh herbs and vegetables; cider and apple juice; hand-made chocolates; Oriental sauces and food; Chiltern rapeseed oil; Italian sauces and lasagne.
It was a wonderful market with meats from local suppliers. I purchased some black pudding from Orchard view farm and some Bacon and Sausages from the Egghouse Butchery and Charcuterie who also supplied me with a cheeky bag of little sausage rolls (they did not last very long at all). I also bought an equally cheeky couple of bottles of beer from the XT Brewery.
I plan to buy a "lump" of Dexter beef next month.
The real joy, however, comes from the fact that I can comfortably walk from my front door to this market in about half an hour. Bring on the first Saturday of every month!
Monday, 6 May 2013
Friday, 3 May 2013
So about this bread making thing...
This should really carry a warning. Making your own bread can become addictive. I have been asked to give my standard bread recipe out on this blog so here goes.
500 gms strong bread flour (the better the flour, the better the bread)
350 gms of water (yes I do mean gms)
10 gms salt (the better the salt....)
10 gms fresh yeast (ask at your local independent baker)
Crumble the yeast into the flour, pour in the water and get your hands in there. Mix with a hand (held like a claw) for a few seconds and then add the salt. Bring the whole together to form a dough (the bowl should come cleanish).
Now for the kneading. Everyone develops their own style; mine is based on a method used by Richard Bertinet (who is a bit of a bread god). I push the dough down on the surface (no extra flour needed) and pull the dough towards me. I then fold this back over the dough, pick it up from the bottom and do the same process again with an occasional turn. It is very obvious when the dough is ready - I know it sounds mad, but it just starts to feel alive.
Her come's the trick. I use a heavy earthenware bown bowl which I now fill with clean hot water. After a few minutes I empty this water (I use it for washing up) and dry the bown completely. A little flour is sprinkled into the bowl and the dough placed on top of this. I cover the bowl with cling film, "Spaghetti Western tight."*
This is then placed in a warm area to rise for and hour or longer - it needs to be twice the size that it started.
After the rise, I tip the dough out and shape it as I require. I then sprinkle it with flour and gently lay the clingfilm over the top. I leave this for another hour.
The oven is popped on hot (220 ish) and a roasting dish of water is placed in the bottom. A couple of slashes with a scalpel are made in the top of the bread and it is placed in the oven.
This is where the judgement is required - Take the bread out when it is ready (slightly darker than you think) and allow to cool on a rack.
* Whenever, in Spaghetti Westerns, the director wished to give a sense that native Americans ("INJUNS") were about there was a sound of drums. This is what the cling film should sound like when you tap it.
I have been asked about which books on bread making I like and here they are -
Dough, by Richard Bertinet, ISBN 978 1 85626 762 5
The Fabulous Baker Brothers, by Henry and Tom Herbert, ISBN 978 0 7553 6365 0
Bread, by Paul Hollywood, ISBN 978 1 4088 4069 6
All of these books will teach you how to make a basic loaf (and more besides) and once you have that sorted the world is your bakery.
500 gms strong bread flour (the better the flour, the better the bread)
350 gms of water (yes I do mean gms)
10 gms salt (the better the salt....)
10 gms fresh yeast (ask at your local independent baker)
Crumble the yeast into the flour, pour in the water and get your hands in there. Mix with a hand (held like a claw) for a few seconds and then add the salt. Bring the whole together to form a dough (the bowl should come cleanish).
Now for the kneading. Everyone develops their own style; mine is based on a method used by Richard Bertinet (who is a bit of a bread god). I push the dough down on the surface (no extra flour needed) and pull the dough towards me. I then fold this back over the dough, pick it up from the bottom and do the same process again with an occasional turn. It is very obvious when the dough is ready - I know it sounds mad, but it just starts to feel alive.
Her come's the trick. I use a heavy earthenware bown bowl which I now fill with clean hot water. After a few minutes I empty this water (I use it for washing up) and dry the bown completely. A little flour is sprinkled into the bowl and the dough placed on top of this. I cover the bowl with cling film, "Spaghetti Western tight."*
This is then placed in a warm area to rise for and hour or longer - it needs to be twice the size that it started.
After the rise, I tip the dough out and shape it as I require. I then sprinkle it with flour and gently lay the clingfilm over the top. I leave this for another hour.
The oven is popped on hot (220 ish) and a roasting dish of water is placed in the bottom. A couple of slashes with a scalpel are made in the top of the bread and it is placed in the oven.
This is where the judgement is required - Take the bread out when it is ready (slightly darker than you think) and allow to cool on a rack.
* Whenever, in Spaghetti Westerns, the director wished to give a sense that native Americans ("INJUNS") were about there was a sound of drums. This is what the cling film should sound like when you tap it.
I have been asked about which books on bread making I like and here they are -
Dough, by Richard Bertinet, ISBN 978 1 85626 762 5
The Fabulous Baker Brothers, by Henry and Tom Herbert, ISBN 978 0 7553 6365 0
Bread, by Paul Hollywood, ISBN 978 1 4088 4069 6
All of these books will teach you how to make a basic loaf (and more besides) and once you have that sorted the world is your bakery.
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Bread
Baking bread is one of my greatest pleasures. I came to it quite recently and many of my first attempts were quite disastrous but with perseverance and lots of background reading things have improved. It is perfectly possible to produce an artisan bloomer, organic and ethical, delicious and wholesome for under £1.
Bread plays such an important part in our culture - "we break bread" when we eat together why would you trust something like that to a plastic bag?
Here are a couple of picks from the weekend -
Bread plays such an important part in our culture - "we break bread" when we eat together why would you trust something like that to a plastic bag?
Here are a couple of picks from the weekend -
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Boston Beans 2
Pictures as promised. The beans were served today on English muffins with a fried egg on top!
Saturday, 20 April 2013
How dare they?
To run a marathon is one of the great feats of human endeavour. It requires courage, determination, commitment, dedication and an enormous amount of old fashioned graft. For some people it is a triumph over problems of disability or illness, for many its an opportunity to raise money for a charity which deals with problems that have affected them or their loved ones. Finishing a marathon is a personal triumph for anybody who has done it, from the elite athletes to the fun rummer who wants to push their boundaries. In short, it represents the best of humanity, the ability to reach that bit further than our boundaries and in doing so, destroy the idea that there are any boundaries at all.
To attack the Boston Marathon is not just to attack the US (though it is, without doubt that too). It is an attack on the very things which make us human, the things which show the comforting fact that the human race always seems to be able to rise to its challenges. The fact that the goodness that is there within humanity so often falls short of the mark and fails is only testament to how often people are prepared to try and achieve what seems to be impossible.
This Sunday is the day of the London marathon, all the runners will be wearing black ribbons; a message from the largest mass marathon to the oldest that to achieve this incredible feat is to show your humanity written large and to go beyond the boundaries.
The attack will, of course, achieve none of its stated aims, there is far too much revulsion for that but in a salute to that most American of Cities please find below my recipe for Smokey Boston beans.
Smokey Boston Beans
150 gms Smoked Streaky (of fatty back) bacon. (I used Long Crendon Black from Newitts of Thame)
1 Onion
2 Fat cloves of garlic
400 gms Tin of plum tomatoes
Good slug of Worcestershire Sauce*
1 tsp Smoked paprika
1 tsp Powdered mustard*
1 tsp Dark sugar
1 tsp Golden Syrup (though you could use maple syrup for a real New England touch)
400 gms Tin of Haricot beans (Also known as Boston Navy Beans)
2 tsp Tomato puree
Chop the bacon into small pieces and pop it in a saucepan over a medium heat to begin to cook. When the bacon is starting to take colour, add the onions and continue to cook. After a few minutes, when the onions are softening, add the finely chopped garlic. This needs (and I mean "needs") to be cooked until everything is soft and sweet (about 5 minutes). Add the tomatoes, paprika, mustard, sugar, syrup,and Worcestershire sauce. bring to the boil and gently simmer, stirring often, until all the tomatoes are all broken down and you have a glossy sauce.
Add the beans and warm through. thicken with the tomato puree. Serve over real toast, perhaps with a fried egg on top. See photo from tomorrow's breakfast.
*now I'm aware that I appear to have some American readers and I'm also aware that this is probably not an authentic rendering of a Boston Beans recipe for that you have have my apologies. There are, however, two things which need to be sorted.
1. English mustard is well worth seeking out if you can. It will take you head off with its heat but its so amazing as a flavour.
2. Wocestershire is pronounced "wus-ter-shur" I know this is mad but I promise you its true!
To attack the Boston Marathon is not just to attack the US (though it is, without doubt that too). It is an attack on the very things which make us human, the things which show the comforting fact that the human race always seems to be able to rise to its challenges. The fact that the goodness that is there within humanity so often falls short of the mark and fails is only testament to how often people are prepared to try and achieve what seems to be impossible.
This Sunday is the day of the London marathon, all the runners will be wearing black ribbons; a message from the largest mass marathon to the oldest that to achieve this incredible feat is to show your humanity written large and to go beyond the boundaries.
The attack will, of course, achieve none of its stated aims, there is far too much revulsion for that but in a salute to that most American of Cities please find below my recipe for Smokey Boston beans.
Smokey Boston Beans
150 gms Smoked Streaky (of fatty back) bacon. (I used Long Crendon Black from Newitts of Thame)
1 Onion
2 Fat cloves of garlic
400 gms Tin of plum tomatoes
Good slug of Worcestershire Sauce*
1 tsp Smoked paprika
1 tsp Powdered mustard*
1 tsp Dark sugar
1 tsp Golden Syrup (though you could use maple syrup for a real New England touch)
400 gms Tin of Haricot beans (Also known as Boston Navy Beans)
2 tsp Tomato puree
Chop the bacon into small pieces and pop it in a saucepan over a medium heat to begin to cook. When the bacon is starting to take colour, add the onions and continue to cook. After a few minutes, when the onions are softening, add the finely chopped garlic. This needs (and I mean "needs") to be cooked until everything is soft and sweet (about 5 minutes). Add the tomatoes, paprika, mustard, sugar, syrup,and Worcestershire sauce. bring to the boil and gently simmer, stirring often, until all the tomatoes are all broken down and you have a glossy sauce.
Add the beans and warm through. thicken with the tomato puree. Serve over real toast, perhaps with a fried egg on top. See photo from tomorrow's breakfast.
*now I'm aware that I appear to have some American readers and I'm also aware that this is probably not an authentic rendering of a Boston Beans recipe for that you have have my apologies. There are, however, two things which need to be sorted.
1. English mustard is well worth seeking out if you can. It will take you head off with its heat but its so amazing as a flavour.
2. Wocestershire is pronounced "wus-ter-shur" I know this is mad but I promise you its true!
Friday, 29 March 2013
One a penny, two a penny......
.... Hot Cross Buns!
As I sit here typing on the first day of the Easter School Holidays (yipee!), my little house is filled with the smell of mixed spice, yeast, citrus and baking. I am making my own Hot Cross Buns. Now I'm afraid its time for a bit of a rant here:
Historically Good Friday was the most sombre of all the days in the Christian calender. A true Sabbath. Shops did not open and people had a quiet calm day.
Before I go on I must state I consider myself only culturally Christian - I sing in a church choir, I love the poetry of many Bible readings and I try to live my life by a pretty Christian ethos but as for faith and such I'm still not sure.
The only shop that would open on Good Friday was the bakers and they would only open for a few hours and only to sell Hot Cross Buns. (For those who do not speak fluent English Culinary delights, Hot Cross Buns are a spiced bread tea cake with a white pastry cross across the middle traditionally eaten from Good Friday through the Easter season) Many bakers would have a queue around the block for these treats after the abstinence of Lent.
Now here's the ranty bit! Why must these treats be on sale, not only for 5 weeks before Easter, but all year round? Take the cross off and serve tea cakes instead. We need as human beings to mark the passing of time in ways other than our pay packets.
The "Me, mine, my, NOW!" culture is destroying our appreciation of time passing. For those who have forgotten, the asparagus season (yes it does have a season) is traditionally from St Georges day until midsummer day, and no, we don't need them on our Christmas table.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could build up with increasing excitement to the first English Strawberry of the season and be sure in the knowledge that there would still be some Scottish raspberries available as the nights started to close in.
Its not just about eating seasonal produce its about marking the year with wonderful treats and food moments to savour. Who knows, we could introduce a whole generation of young people to the joy of a runner bean picked five minutes before it hits the hot water, or the tart sweetness of the first bramble of the late summer. I may just be dreaming but I hope that with the new food movements around the country and the desire for real, sustainable, tasty food that doesn't destroy the planet, blows our taste buds into new dimensions and reconnects us with the passing of time. Now that's something I can put some faith into.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecclesiastes 3:1
As I sit here typing on the first day of the Easter School Holidays (yipee!), my little house is filled with the smell of mixed spice, yeast, citrus and baking. I am making my own Hot Cross Buns. Now I'm afraid its time for a bit of a rant here:
Historically Good Friday was the most sombre of all the days in the Christian calender. A true Sabbath. Shops did not open and people had a quiet calm day.
Before I go on I must state I consider myself only culturally Christian - I sing in a church choir, I love the poetry of many Bible readings and I try to live my life by a pretty Christian ethos but as for faith and such I'm still not sure.
The only shop that would open on Good Friday was the bakers and they would only open for a few hours and only to sell Hot Cross Buns. (For those who do not speak fluent English Culinary delights, Hot Cross Buns are a spiced bread tea cake with a white pastry cross across the middle traditionally eaten from Good Friday through the Easter season) Many bakers would have a queue around the block for these treats after the abstinence of Lent.
Now here's the ranty bit! Why must these treats be on sale, not only for 5 weeks before Easter, but all year round? Take the cross off and serve tea cakes instead. We need as human beings to mark the passing of time in ways other than our pay packets.
The "Me, mine, my, NOW!" culture is destroying our appreciation of time passing. For those who have forgotten, the asparagus season (yes it does have a season) is traditionally from St Georges day until midsummer day, and no, we don't need them on our Christmas table.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could build up with increasing excitement to the first English Strawberry of the season and be sure in the knowledge that there would still be some Scottish raspberries available as the nights started to close in.
Its not just about eating seasonal produce its about marking the year with wonderful treats and food moments to savour. Who knows, we could introduce a whole generation of young people to the joy of a runner bean picked five minutes before it hits the hot water, or the tart sweetness of the first bramble of the late summer. I may just be dreaming but I hope that with the new food movements around the country and the desire for real, sustainable, tasty food that doesn't destroy the planet, blows our taste buds into new dimensions and reconnects us with the passing of time. Now that's something I can put some faith into.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecclesiastes 3:1
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