jackal10

Yes, there will be apple Pizzas... For the onion gravy, for two of us, I sliced a couple of onions and fried them over medium heat with a bit of butter until golden. Then I added a cup of chicken stock, some Maderia wine and some soy, checked seasoning and cooked them slowly in the open frying pan until the liquid had nearly evaporated, but still enough for a jus, which I poured them over the mashed potato and sausages.

Thanks for the kind words. Pan, Reseek, if you are in striking distance of Cambridge, come and say Hallo. If you can make it this Sunday come and join in the apple pressing! Soba, I'm not sure there are many regional specialities left in these days of Supermarkets. There are traditional English dishes, like Spotted Dick (I refuse to call it Richard), or steak and Kidney Pie, but those are fairly universal. Dorothy Hartley "Food in England" is one source. My dear friend Henrietta Green does good work among the small producers and farmers markets. Her guide book is essential for any long journey. She has a good website Food Lovers Britain Food Lovers Britain" bloviatrix. We have about five acres here, about half of which is wild: wood, pond and rough meadow. Teasels and seed heads I'm a lazy gardener, and don't get enough time or energy, so we grow a lot of weeds. Outside the study, in the angle between the study and the kitchen is the herb garden, which is in the foreground in the view in the first entry in this blog. At the top of the garden is are two vegetable patches mostly fenced against rabbits, and a fruit cage. I try and grow things that are either much better straight from the garden, or are hard to buy. I also try and practice a four break rotation. Its mostly organic, but sometimes I break down and use glyphosate (roundup) weedkiller on very persistant weeds like bindweed (columbine). This year in the frst patch are potatoes (Purple(now finished), Arran Pilot, Pink Fir Apple), the beans, and some other things: Garlic, Shallots, leeks, golden beetroot, rainbow chard, cardoons, rocket, horseradish, miserable sweetcorn. In the second patch are sweet peas for cutting, tomatos mostly Gardeners Delight and Sungold, plus some heritage varieties. This year has not been a good one for tomatoes, and a lot have rotted or been eaten by pigeons or squirrels. Then come jerusalem artichokes. then come what were meant to be differnt sweetcorn, but turn out to be strawberry popping corn, then courgettes, gherkins, pumpjins and other squashes. then the compost bins. In the fruit cage are strawberries ('Mara des Bois' - cultivated wood strawberries; Raspberries (Fall Gold, which are yellow, and three red varieites); red currants, gooseberries, loganberries, cultivated blackberries and also various things sheltering from the pigeons and other wildlife: purple sprouting broccoli for next year, chrysanths, and I grew purple peas, and fava beans (now over), sa well as some more bulk herbs: parsley, sorrell, dill. There are two greenhouses. The one at the top of the garden has tomatoes and some experimental Molokia. Soon I will take out the tomatoes, and overwinter some of the pot plants like geraniums there. The one nearest the house has hot peppers, old fashioned Malmaison florists pinks, early strawberries, cucumbers, a melon, and an orange tree.

Tonight's subject, and supper is Sausages. Not just any sausage, but the British Banger. No other sausage in the world is quite like it, or quite as good. Not your hot dog, or weisswurst, or touluse, or chorizo, but a BANGER. Firstly it must be pork, with a resonable fat content. Beef sausages are known, but are an abonimation. Secondly it must not be all meat, but about 20% rusk to adsorb that fat and give texture. Seasoning is delicate, predominantly ginger, mace and white pepper; some like sage Thirdly it must be shallow fried, not grilled, boiled or deepfried or roast. They get a wonderful brown stripe. They were originally called bangers because if the skins wer not pricked, the stem inside would cause them to explode. However technology has fixed that, and now the advise is not to prick them so as to keep the juices inside. Food for the Gods, and a weekday standby. Small craft butchers make sausages of very good quality if the butcher is good; the major manufacturers, such as Walls make them bland and inoffensive. However the supermarket's premium range are often very acceptable. That is what we have tonight - basic food. These are from Tesco. On the left are skinless - formed then part cooked to hold their shape, but good for snacking. On the right are Pork and Leek, with fresh leek added. Mash is mashed potato which offsets the banger perfectly. The definitive mash recipe is given in the http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=31701]eGCI Potato Primer Also shown is onion gravy/confit, and the green runner beans, sliced lenghtways and briefly boiled. We drank Ch. Morgues du Gres 2000 Terre d'Argence, Costieres de Nimes

Picked some runner beans and dug some potatoes for supper. The beans are Painted Lady, and old variety that has very decorative pink and red bi-colour flowers. The spuds are Arran Pilot, another heritage variety that are really a first early new pototo with an exceptional flavour, but mature nicely into larger potatoes if the sligs let them. The rabbits enjoying the windfalls for supper. Some are now so tame they come when called.

Snowangel: Thanks for your marvellous blog last week, and you wonderful descriptions of the cabin... All theapples are all old varieties. Let me paraphrase Joan Morgan's description pf Allington Pippin: UK; raised before 1884 by Thomas Laxton, Lincs King of the Pippins x Cox's Orange Pippin Originally named South Lincoln Pippin, renamed 1894 by George Bunyard after his nursery at Maidstone, Kent. Introduced in 1896, RHS FCC 1893 as Brown's South Lincoln Beauty Mellows to an intense fruit drop or pineapple taste, although still fairly sharp by Christmas, but needs a good year. Sharp and bittersweet in Nov, but cooks well and keeps shape with good flavour, sweet, not bland. Widely planted commercially and in gardens in the early 1900s, but proved "cold and sour" in the Midlands; suffered storage problems and in decline by the 1930s, but sill found in gardens. Pick early October, Store Nov-Dec. It does well here, on our heavy alkaline clay soil, and its position in the garden means it tends to be the apple used for scrumping. Not quite as perfumed as the Laxtons, keeps and cooks better. When cooked, the slices will hold their shape, say in a tart, or if cooked long will go to apple sauce.

The rabbits are off-limits, and Jill doesn't like cooked rabbit anyway. At the moment they are hiding since the weather has turned rough. The Orleans Reinette have slightly yellow flesh, but not really yeelow enough to notice. Here is one with an Allington Pippin to compare, and a hunk of aged farmhouse chedder (Butlers) for lunch. The added complication this week is that we have the builders in, adding a new double height entrance, that will eventually hold a staircase to a new upper storey. We are also adding another toilet this end of the house, doing some rationalisation, and adding some more ventilation for the kitchen. One thing leads to another, and this meant that we had to renew the drains and the septic tank (we are in the middle of the country). Fortunately most of this is on the other side of the house to where the apple pressing will happen.

14 Sept 2004 8am Cambridge UK I've been tipped again to do the foodblog. Last time was Christmas and New Year. This time is Rosh Hashonah, which seems fair, so you will have to suffer my awful typos for this week. "L’Shona Tova Tikosaiv v’Saichosaim". "May you be written down for a sweet and good year in the Book of Life! " to all First of all coffee, mail and eG's overnight messages. The coffee is dark roast Java Sumatra, made in a press pot, and is breakfast unless otherwise noted. The mug is a Microsoft give-away. My desk, unusally tidy, and the view from the window in front of me. Sunny but windy. While I am not religious myself, I did have an othodox Jewish upbringing, and still like the food, so I guess some will figure this week. This week is fairly busy, and today is the calm before the storm. Main highlight is our annual apple pressing party on Sunday, weather permitting. We have open house, and expect about 100 people to come and pick apples and help press them into apple juice. We fire up the wood burning bread oven and bake pizza and things. . What we eat and talk about on the rest of the week is to some extent up to you, an I hope for a lot of interaction. If I get time I'll try and rig a webcam, as an experiment. Current fixed points: Today is fairly quite. Probably Bangers and Mash for supper Wednesday we are going to friends for supper to celebrate another friends birthday. Thursday a freind of Jill's (my partner) is coming to stay. Being Rosh Hashonah I plan a Brisket Tzimmes, with a pototo kugel. Friday start prep for the party, and start the bread doughs Saturday Fire the oven and bake breads etc Sunday Apple pressing Monday I'm hosting dinner in College The house is built in an old orchard, with about 20 of the original trees still standing. There is a newer orchard, maybe 30 years old, with 30 trees. Here are some pictures taken this morning of apples. The identification is noit certain, but were done by The Brogdale Trust. . Joan Morgan's The New Book of Apples (ISBN0-091-88398-9 is definitive. Regular eGulleteers may remember that many of apple trees were severely ringed by the rabbits last winter, and I feared for their survival. I'm happy to report that they seem to have pulled through. Some, like the NewtonWonder, are biennial bearing and are off this year with only a few apples, but most have a large crop. However since we have not pruned or reduced the fruit numbers the apples are mostly small. They are mostly cookers or eating apples, rather than cider. I've tried making cider from the juice, but it is thin and weedy stuff, but more of that anon. The apple juice is lovely, an we freeze it in plastic bottles, straight from the press. Allington Pippin (my favourite, good general purpose apple) and Newton Wonder (cooker, said to be derived from the apple tree that dropped and apple on Newton's head) Lord Derby (cooker) and Tydman's Early Worcester Orelans Reinette (russet); Queen Cox and Ellison's Orange Other apples are Charles Ross, Laxton's Fortune, Cox (poor trees), Grandier (cooking) and John Standish (late red, not yet ripe), Also pears and Quinces, again a bit early. Late purple plums (Marjorie's seedling?) and Damsons Dog rose hip and Brambles (wild blackberries) in the hedges

My baguettes aren't that good either, so I'd be interested in the replies. rgural makes most of my points, as do the other contributors Some observations: French Baguette flour is comparatively soft - more like pastry flour. The dough is quite slack - more like 70% hydration - 1400g water. The dough is so wet it needs support during proof from the curved baguette pans or from floured linen folds. I use silpat baguette forms, but purists insist on floured linen so as not to get the the little bumps in the lower crust. How much old dough are you adding? Bear in mind that it will not contribute much to the rise, and should not be more than say 10% or 200g. Autolyze before adding the salt; no need to mix too much, it is time that hydrates the gluten, not mechanical work. Less yeast and ferment for longer. The folding technique (sides to side and top ro bottom, like a turn when making puff pastry) really works. Bulk ferment and prove for longer times as noted by rgural. I like to retard overnight in the fridge before baking, but you get small blisters in the crust. Bake hotter for shorter: more like 250C

Char su steamed buns

Family tradition is to start with Anchovy Toast, befoe the main meal. How or why this tradion arose I have no idea. I like something simple but nutritous like scrambled eggs Not that I fast since I left my parents house long ago, but scrambled eggs on anchovy toast is a good supper

Hot or cold sauce? Cold start with a mayonnaise (bought jar will do), and whizz the watercress/herbs/lemon/seasoning into it. Hot start with a hollandaise and do the same. You might be thinking of a Sauce Gribiche style - basically a vinagrette with lots of herbs chopped into it. Some shallot or spring onion as well. Easy on the chilli. If the evening is going well you might feel moved to lick the sauce off each other and too much chilli burns the wrong places...

You can use many things for the base of creme brulee (or burnt cream) is you use a propane torch/ Don't make the sugar layer too thick. Plain flavoured whipped cream works well. Syllabub, or even cheesecake work. White chocolate mousse for a really rich version. Apparently it was an old Scottish dish. An undergraduate asked the kitchens at Trinity College Cambridge to make it and was sent away. WHen he became a fellow of the college he asked again, and it rapidly became a favourite, so it is also known (at least locally) as Trinity Cream.

Mnay restaurants in France have a "tronc" system operated by the head waiter. The notion is to compensate the runners, and the kitchen staff involved in service, but without firect or only incidental customer contact. How else can you tip the sous-chefs, who actually prepared your meal?

Personally I dislike babies and children, and would rather they were kept out of the serious business of food, except incidentally, or as Dean Swift's modest proposal.. I realise that its hard for parents to keep the little monsters fed, but it is an unskilled process, universally solved. My palate is not juvenile. Bring on the foie gras, and leave out the Mickey D's, or whatever they eat, I say.

Put up some jars in alcohol (Rum, brandy or Vodka). Put the raspberries in canning jars, cover with the spirit, add sugar if you like, and that is it. You get the both the fruit and the drink... Raspberry vinegar, same but with vinegar Freeze: spead out on baking paper on a tray and freeze individually, then bag.

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They do sound good! The rubber ring and lid act as a one way valve, letting air out, but not in. Indeed, the jars should expel some air during processing, as this then forms the tight vacuum seal, and if you undo the clip the jar is still sealed. In fact to open the jar (when you want to use the contents) you may need to push the point of a knife (care) under the rubber ring to break the seal. I've just made some elderberry jelly. Since I did not have quite enough elderberries, or trust it to set and did not want to use pectin I made up the weight with windfall apples. Ended up with roughly 1 elderberries: 1 apple : 1 sugar, plus juice of a lemon. Boiled to 221F, and set well.

If the seal is Ok it should be fine, but may dry a little.

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You need things that combine embarrassment and idiocy with a small amount of education. Fortunately the public and minor celebs love to be embarrsed on TV, for free, and restaurants love to be on TV for the publicity... Newbie minor celeb (doing it for free) trying to make it as a line chef in a restaurant kitchen. Restaurant doing it for free for the publicity... GR did this here very sucessfully The real Naked Chef...as above, but nude Worst home meals Worst restaurant kitchens

I go to my brothers, but since I'm not religious, but cook traditional foods for nostalgia... Honey cake recipes please... Strudel and teiglach too I guess... As ashkenazi, we don't have the custom of some communities of cooking a sheeps head...

The cucumber recipe was a different source...5 mins is moire than adequate Fennel is different - sort of stronger and more aniseed flavoured than dill. I'm sure they will be delicouse, just different

HMSO Bulletin 21 Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables gives three methods: US and more modern government advise may differ a) Slow water bath Cold filling. Raise from cold to simmer in 90 min, maintain for 15min b) Quick water bath Hot fill (140F), raise from warm (100F) to simmering in 30 min, maintain for 2 min c) Pressure pan Hot fill; Raise from hot to 5lb pressure in 5-10 min; maintain 1 min; cool 10 min before opening. I do like the idea of a pickle jar. Essentially it is a lactic acid ferment, and the acidity keeps the bad bugs at bay. Hoever I've never had that much success with mine - the pickles come out too sour, and after a couple of months the top molds and the pickles turn slimy... In a recent food blog (Helenjp I think) there were wonderful illustrations of making Japanese pickles.

How can you have grilled cheese without WORCESTER SAUCE? Also much better than a sandwich is a Welsh Rarebit, or even just cheese grilled on one side of bread, under the grill. That way you get the crusty bits. A real Welsh rarebit is with cheese sauce, preferably made with ale. Add a poached egg on top and its a Buck Rarebit, and very good too. I suppose you could put an egg inside your sandwich, but don't forget the Lea and Perrins...

I think peanut butter needs something to with it to cut the clagginess (if there is such a word) - and provide lubricaton. Mayo, or something sharp like pickle. Sweet doesn't do it for me. Also something to bring out the meaty notes - marmite, or worcester or soy..