Year: 2011

  • Fermenting Revolution 2 – Apple cider vinegar

    It’s apple harvesting time. You may be wondering what else you can do with nature’s bounty after the pies, chutneys, jellies and the like. While going through Sandor Katz’s book I mentioned in Fermenting Revolution 1 I saw home made vinegars. And I’ve found that making vinegar really is very simple and the result is…

  • Blackberry Apple & Chilli Chutney Recipe

    This produces a chutney that has a rich, intense and complex flavour: blackberry plus. And the colour is a deep vermilion that is striking on the plate. I first used it as a condiment with a cheese platter and the sweet-sour-chilli flavours complemented the cheese and sourdough bread spectacularly. I next used it to deglaze…

  • Breakfast muesli bar, oaty, chocolately, fruity, seedy, spicy

    When my son was a third of the size he is now, I wanted to be able to feed him a healthy snack bar. Most of the commercially available ones were stuffed full of sugar and/or additives. So I decided to invent my own. My son is 16 now and much bigger and the recipe…

  • Fermenting Revolution 1 – Bouza experiment

    I’ve been going a bit wild of late. More specifically, wild fermenting. And it’s all Sandor Katz’s fault. Let me explain. I bought a Kindle version of Sandor’s book Wild Fermentation. It explains the science and practice of fermenting just about anything. Not only are fermented products tastier & healthier, they’re also a great way…

  • Blackberry wine recipe

    Our blackberry wine is a delight. It tastes almost like port, rich and smooth with a good depth of ripe fruit flavour. This year everyone seems to be saying that the blackberries are earlier than ever, so I thought it might be useful if I popped up the recipe I will be using. It’s really…

  • Courgette & feta yoghurt pastry boregi with sunflower seeds & coriander

    These courgette & feta boregi are so moreish. The stuffing is really fresh tasting, with the surprising crunch of the sunflower seeds. The pastry is crisp and deliciously rich. It’s a great way of using the courgette glut from this time of the year. It’s also liked by people who profess not to like courgettes!…

  • Oatmeal Soda Bread

    I had a request for a recipe this morning from Craig at WeGrowOurOwn and Alys Fowler for the recipe for my breakfast bread. It’s a really tasty, simple and quick oatmeal soda bread. The principle of soda bread is that the raising agent is bicarbonate of soda (hence the ‘soda’ in the name) which is…

  • Italian rotolo pasta with lemon-thyme butter recipe

    This pasta is a bit of a show stopper. It looks just great on the plate and there are loads of variations you could make to the filling. I’d often looked at the recipe in Jamie’s Italy and decided that it was a bit too much of a faff to do.  Then I saw the…

  • Sourdough breakfast bread with spelt, fruit , nuts and spices

    This is a wonderfully moist, tasty and nutritious start for your day full of fruit, nuts & spices. It’s also a great mid-afternoon snack for when your energy levels are dipping. First thing to say is that the original idea was not mine. This recipe is a sourdough adaptation of Ed & Marieke’s yeasted muesli…