It's a bit of an animal

I was watching Dara O'Brian's Science Club on television the other night where they covered the topic of lab-grown meat. This is not news to me as it is a subject that had been circulating in the press a few months previously, however it is still a hot topic.

We are now living in age where the consumption of meat has become so huge, to an extent where it is suggested that the demand is putting an immense strain on our planet.



As much as enjoy a good piece of meat, I am not someone who feels the need to eat it everyday but those that do and believe a meal is not complete without it are being encouraged to adopt at least one meat-free day each week.

Back to the subject of the laboratory, it requires just one small biopsy taken from a live cow. The cow remains unharmed and carries on with its life as usual while its cells in the lab are mixed with various growth cultures and with some scientific manipulation, muscle fibres grow.

It is indeed very clever science, something I marvel at, but I can't help but think that this is perhaps not the route to take to solve the world's meat production issues.
For starters, the lab meat is not like meat as we know it. The scientists demonstrating on the TV programme said it would be used to make hamburgers, so it looks like it is a long way off from being used to construct a nice juicy steak.

A small piece was even cooked after it had been seasoned with salt. The scientists sliced into the anaemic little piece of stuff and gave their verdict. What did it taste like? Chicken apparently. So to emulate the flavours of a hamburger I think it would require a fair amount of additional ingredients and additives to even resemble anything like beef. Already this lab meat is on its way to becoming a heavily processed foodstuff, something I'm not keen on.

No doubt this type of science is a spin off from growing human organs in a lab, which I can see has a valid application, but there must be other experiments and studies into solving the world’s food crises that warrant the time and money spent.

At this stage although growing meat in a lab – from the scientists point of view – has been largely successful, it has taken them years to get as far as they have and by their own admission they couldn't even produce enough yet to meet demand. In addition the current process takes so much energy it is hardly sustainable so perhaps we're still better off rearing real animals in the traditional way.

Food is life

It is very true to say that food feeds the soul as well as the body and I can vouch for the positive effects that the involvement with food can have on mental well being.

I began this blog some years ago as I am excited by food, not just eating, but cooking, the history, the culture and how it is so much part of our lives interests me. I wanted to share what I enjoyed, my knowledge and passion for all things edible, whether it be family recipes or those from my favourite cookery books to even venturing into relating my very much intuitive recipes to the page.

My blog's beginnings were a little sporadic at first as I discovered it takes a great deal of time to write a recipe and having a regular day job could be draining leaving me little time to indulge my passion. Then a couple of years ago something happened that left me in a very dark place indeed. I must have been heading into the dark days of depression well before I was put in a very awkward position that meant I could no longer stay in my job. Was it a nervous breakdown? I'm still not sure but I had been in denial of what was happening to me and then boom, I fell down the biggest and blackest metaphorical hole in the universe.

I find it hard, even now to express how I really felt back then, but my thoughts were often suicidal.
One of the things with depression is that you can lose the want to do the things that you once enjoyed. On the advice of my doctor I tried very hard to continue to pursue my hobbies, my blog being one of them.

I can honestly say that it was very good therapy. It gave me focus and purpose and still does although perhaps I'm not as prolific as I was. However there is a very good reason for this. My blog became a springboard for a business I set up with my husband, whose help has been absolutely invaluable and now my passion for all things food is directed into The Artisan Food Trail.

Could I say that food saved my life? It would have to be a resounding yes. Also without my husband's encouragement, support and steadfast faith in me and what I was capable of I wouldn't be sharing my story today.

The Value of Pie

"Good apple pies 

are a considerable part

of our domestic happiness."

Jane Austen

Happiness is indeed pie-shaped, something enticing enclosed inside a crisp rich pastry shell never fails to please. My model and pie ambassador for this post is a bramley apple and blackberry pie, which I made in honour of the latest English seasonal fruits.
Of course, fruit is not the only filling for a pie, meat, fish and vegetables all make welcome inclusions for delectable dough enrobement.

A hot pie is the ultimate comfort food during winter, fresh from the oven, the contents bubbling within and when the crust is broken a sudden gush of steam delivers its appetising aromas to eager hungry diners.
A pie can be as simple or as complicated as you wish. You don't even need a recipe – just pastry and your imagination.
Never be afraid of the pie – if you make it yourself, you know exactly what's inside and never need fear anonymous lurkings beneath the lid.

Photos: ©childsdesign 2010

A Frenzy of Foliage

The plants are closing in, but in a good way, a way that envelops you in a safe verdant blanket.

I can't quite believe how much everything has grown. Periods of rain have given way to some long warm sunny days, lately, and that has bestowed every leaf and shoot with a healthy boost.

It's all very good, but I've had to cut back some of the shrubs and overhanging branches, just so that I can get around the garden without having to duck or being snagged by wayward twigs.

Our garden is quite large, so we have tried to make it as low maintenance as possible, as there's not always enough time to be constantly tending to plants. We removed the lawn a few years ago and hauled barrow loads of gravel in to take its place. After taking the view that a lawn was largely a waste of time and moreover a waste of space, it seemed the best thing to. Before you lambast me for tearing up a green space, i would like to say that, in my defence, that we now have more plants and a small pond. The gravel has now become merely a set of pathways between areas and the garden looks far more attractive.

I have confession to make. I am not a tidy gardener, so things may be a bit straggly and unkempt. There are empty plant pots stacked up here and there and maybe a small heap of last year's tree prunings in a corner somewhere, but I've found that this has attracted an abundance of wildlife, something the garden never had when we first moved here nine years ago. 

It would seem that, inadvertently, we have created a permaculture. There are some mature trees creating a canopy, shrubs beneath and then smaller plants. Much of the edible stuff such as tomatoes, potatoes and the like, we grow in pots right outside the kitchen door and the herbs are never far away either. Our instinctive planting layout has created the perfect microclimate, each plant supporting one another and we try to avoid nasty chemicals wherever possible.

We don't have a designated herb plot as the various plants reside throughout the entire garden, be they in the ground or in containers. I would say that the herbs make up most of the structure and are beautiful to look at, smell wonderful and are essential to my cooking.

The photo above is of a sage bush. It started life as small plant, given to me by my Mum, from a cutting she had taken from hers. The plants is huge now and of all the sages I have, is the only one that flowers. It certainly keeps the bees well fed and as soon as the sun is out, I can hear the buzzing as the bees bob from flower to flower gathering nectar.

Below is a purple sage. It may not flower but the leaves are very attractive.

I love the taste of sage, but you don't need to use very much of it as it has a very strong flavour, which can be quite medicinal in nature.

It dries very well, so is one of the best herbs for winter storage, especially as it adopts a sad droopy look during the colder months. Drying is very easy to do, just clip of large sprigs (I tend to do this when I'm pruning the plant) and then bunch them together and tie with string. Hang them upside down in a warm, dry, well ventilated space for a week or so. When they are completely dry, crumble in to airtight jars.

One of my other favourite herbs is rosemary, the smell is heavenly. Just a few sprigs can perk up roast potatoes and of course it's great with lamb.

Rosemary is fantastic all year round, it is the only one that retains its glory through the winter, so I've never needed to dry it. I've been known to dash down a frosty garden to clip some for dinner!

We're relatively new to fruit growing, we've had a couple of failures, notably mystery blueberry deaths and non-fruiting gooseberries, but so far the raspberry has been a success. This year it is a mass of flowers and they're looking pretty good, with the exception of some greenfly which the ants are farming. I think if we can keep these bugs off with a little organic spray, they should be OK.

Good to see the bees like the raspberry flowers, too – pollination is important.

Yes I know this basil plant looks a little worse for wear but if you saw it a couple of weeks ago, you'd have though it was destined for the dustbin!

It's one of those supermarket ones and usually they don't last that long, so after I gave it the haircut of it's life when making a pesto, I thought it was a goner. Just as I was about to dispose of it, my husband stopped me, saying "it might grow back". I was quite sceptical at this point, but put it back on the windowsill. Lo and behold, it did grow back! I'm continuing to water it and let it outside during good weather to "sunbathe" and seems to be flourishing.

One of our trees is an almond that came with the garden, I would say it is as old as the house, probably 90 years or so. It is festooned with gorgeous pink blossom in the early spring which later develops into fuzzy green fruits. I've never actually eaten the almonds inside, so the local squirrels get those.

The tree has done so well since the old asbestos garage was demolished and without competition, the tree has grown and spread. However, it is not without a few problems. Every year, without fail, it succumbs to the dreaded peach leaf curl. Some leaves mutate into crinkly red freaks and the ones that remain untouched by the fungal infection, present themselves peppered with holes. I believe some kind creepy crawly is responsible. I'd say it is armed with a hole punch as those holes are perfectly spherical.

I grow the lemon balm in a large trough together with the mint as they both have the inclination to spread wherever they please. I've started to use lemon balm mixed with green tea. It makes a lovely relaxing infusion with citrusy notes.

I always look forward to the mint returning in spring. It's always best used fresh.

This year, the oregano has become rather prolific and has made a fantastic green cushion in the trough. I love using it with olive oil and lemon juice as a marinade for chicken before chargrilling.

More lemon flavours in form of lemon thyme. Again, this is great with chicken and also fish. The plant was looking a little forlorn and then it picked up when new green shoots began to appear on the twiggy mess it once was.

Maybe I've planted these somewhat late, but I though it worth a try, as I love french beans. There's nothing better than a fresh picked, young and tender pod.

The bean plants may only be small but they have flower buds, so that's promising.

This is florence fennel that I started growing last year, although it didn't bulb up, I have been using the leaves as a herb. I'm hoping that this year I might get some bulbs at the bottom, failing that, I've discovered that the flowers are supremely delicious. I was reading about fennel pollen the other day, apparently it is very sought after by posh restaurants and valuable too. Is this what I have?

The peas were as late as the beans going in, but they're going great guns. Those tendrils are finding the sticks and winding their way up. Sometimes when I'm sitting outside, I swear I can see those tendrils moving and twisting.

I like to grow potatoes in containers, it makes it so much easier to harvest them. As I only want small new potatoes, this works just fine. After the potatoes have finished flowering, I start removing the soil and perfect little potatoes are revealed.

Baby salad leaves are really easy to grow. To get a succession throughout the summer I sow several containers at eight week intervals and this gives me a plentiful supply of small juicy leaves.

The ones I have growing are a peppery mixture with my favourites, the red mustard.

Providing I can keep aphids, leaf miner, carrot fly, snails, slugs and even the squirrels (they like to excavate the pots) at bay, my kitchen garden should keep us relatively well fed.

The First Gooseberry

It seems, that this year, everything in the garden has been so slow to get started, no doubt due to to the hard winter followed by a reluctant and cold spring.
At last the weather is warming up and the sun is beginning to have some actual beneficial heat, I've even sat outside having my lunch as it's been so nice.
During one of my outdoor sandwiches I noticed that my gooseberry bush has started to bear fruit. Just a tiny little berry hanging off the very end of a spikey branch, but it's a start.
I have three gooseberry bushes in the garden and if they all do the same, I should be lucky enough to have plenty of fruit.

Just need to keep the saw fly larvae at bay, as they have a voracious appetite for goosberry leaves and are capable of de-nuding an entire plant in a matter of days – the little buggers!

National Honey Week – 3rd-10th May and recipe for Persian Honey Cakes

The sun is shining, spring flowers are in full bloom and the warm air is already buzzing with the sound of industrious bees – what a perfect start to celebrate Britain's National Honey Week.

Now in its 12th year, the celebration, originally held in February has a more appropriate date in May, which seems much more fitting, as this is the time when the bees can really get to work, making that delicious sweet sticky stuff.

For thousands of years, man has gathered honey to use in food and medicine, it was also held in such high regard, that the ancient Egyptians offered it as a gift to the gods.

Throughout history it had long been used as a sweetener in cooking, until sugar took over. Because honey has a more complex flavour than sugar, I think it imparts quite a special taste to food and is particularly good in baking as the recipe, later on, demonstrates.

When we eat honey, we should always remember the bees that made it – they are the only insect that produce a food that we consume and they are very important to the survival of our planet and the human race. That sounds like a lot hanging on a seemingly small creature, but without bees, it would be very difficult to grow food, as we rely on them to pollinate our crops. Just think about it for a moment…

Currently, bees are under threat from viruses, parasites and the mysterious colony collapse disorder, which could prove devastating to their species. Sorry if this sounds all doom and gloom, but it's something that I care strongly about. Have a look at The British Beekeeper's website to learn more.

Bad news aside, I have decided to include a recipe from The Josceline Dimbleby Collection cookbook, for Persian Honey Cakes, that really celebrates the beauty of honey at it's best. I used Scottish heather honey, which is extremely fragrant.

It's an adaptation of an old Persian recipe. The nutty orange-flavoured cakes are left to absorb a scented honey syrup. You can serve them either for tea, with coffee, or as an after-dinner sweetmeat. As a dessert they are excellent with natural yoghurt.

Persian Honey Cakes

Makes approximately 16

Ingredients

8 oz fine semolina

2 oz icing sugar, sifted

4 fl oz sunflower oil

grated rind and juice of 1 orange

2 oz self-raising flour

half teaspoon baking powder

half teaspoon ground cinnamon

for the syrup

4 oz sugar

4 tablespoons honey

5 tablespoons triple strength orange flower water

quarter pint water

Method

Put the semolina and icing sugar in a bowl.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and pour it over the semolina. Stir well and mix in the orange rind and juice and then the flour sifted with the baking powder and cinnamon.

Heat the oven to Gas 3 / 325F / 170C.

Take up pieces of the mixture about the size of a ping-pong ball and form short sausage shapes, about 2 inches long. Arrange slightly apart on a large oiled baking sheet.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-50 minutes.

While the cakes are baking, make the syrup.

Put the sugar, honey, flower water and water in a saucepan.

Dissolve the sugar and honey over a low heat and then boil fiercely for 4-5 minutes.

When the cakes are baked, lift them out with a spatula and arrange closely together in a large shallow dish. Pour the syrup over them and leave for several hours, spooning the syrup over them occasionally. Then carefully pile the cakes on a plate, scraping up any remaining syrup and spooning over.
Product image from Rowse website

Mexican Cooking Night with Thomasina Miers

Little did I think I’d be cooking with Thomasina Miers, but found myself landed with the brilliant opportunity, when my husband put in a bid on eBay to win us places on a Mexican cookery course. The charity auction was organised by Blagger’s Banquet to raise money for Action Against Hunger.
Eight lucky people gathered at Thomasina’s home in London, in early March, for a night of informal cooking, drinking, eating, chat and fun.
Fresh from her return from Mexico a week before, Thomasina was enthusiastic and filled with local cuisine tips and interesting anecdotes of her trip.

The night’s menu consisted of typical street food cooking, which focussed on fresh and simple ingredients that were easy to prepare and produced dishes that were healthy and of course delicious:

SPRING TACO WITH SWISS CHARD AND BACON
GRILLED SKIRT STEAK TACOS WITH ROAST TOMATO SALSA
CRISPY FRIED SQUID TOSTADAS WITH CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE
SMOKED MACKEREL TOSTADAS
CLASSIC GUACAMOLE

We all had a chance to chop, slice, mix and marinade and those brave enough to accept the challenge of the hot stove, tortillas were fried to make crunchy tostadas.
I got my chance of preparing the skirt steak which was marinaded in lime and orange juice. Until now I’d never thought that beef and orange would work well together, but this is a very traditional thing in Yucatan. There, the oranges are usually quite zingy, so the lime counteracted the sweetness of the oranges available here.

I’m very interested in learning about the authentic cuisine of a country, and I believe what most British people think of as being Mexican couldn’t be further from the real thing. We’re all familiar with what is known as Tex-Mex which is sold by way of those Old El Paso kits. Tacos are not crunchy, traditionally they are soft and made from white corn meal. Tostadas are crunchy but are more sophisticated than those strange looking things out of the box.

I would love to see more authentic Mexican restaurants in the UK and I hope that Thomasina’s Wahaca will be an inspiration to others to explore it further. With it’s rising popularity, I’d wish to see the supermarkets stocking some of those essential ingredients. For example chipotles, dried, smoked jalapeño chillies. At the moment I’ve only been able to find then online. Thomasina used them to flavour a mayonnaise and it was gorgeous, all smokey, warm and velvety.

After all the food was ready we had fun making up our own tacos with various fillings and sipping on a smokey mezcal, just perfect.

I had a brilliant time cooking while my husband took the photos and as we haven’t yet had the chance to eat at Wahaca, it’s in our plans for our next London visit. But while we wait I’ve been busy in my own kitchen experimenting with this exciting cuisine.

Thanks to Thomasina for allowing us into her home –
not something I was expecting!

To see more pictures from the night, visit my Flickr site here

For more about Mexican food:
wahaca.co.uk
wahaca’s blog













I'd thoroughly recommend getting Thomasina's new book too!

Feasting to Fasting

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything of note, but as a particularly food related event is coming up in the calendar, it seems appropriate that I should at least give it a mention.

Shrove Tuesday, or as a rather clever ad campaign puts it, Jif Lemon Day, is but a couple of days away. It's a time to consume rather a lot and indeed, to use up certain foodstuffs before the fasting of Lent begins.

I'm sure not many of us actually observe the strict practices of Lent, but most of us certainly take advantage of the day preceding it.

Already the shops are stacked to the ceiling with syrups and plastic squeezy lemons and dare I say it, ready-made pancakes – hmm, that sort of defeats the object of using up ingredients, but I suppose when you're hungry as well as time starved, it's the only way to indulge.

As you may have guessed, I have an obsession with Iceland, so I maybe practicing their pre-Lent festivities instead, as it involves cream-filled buns, but a thin pancake sprinkled with sugar and a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice is just as good

I think the Icelanders have a rather clever approach to the proceedings and they can even make the gorging go on for a couple of days!

If you'd like to know more about the Icelandic tradition of Bolludagur, our friends at Reykjavik Outsider have the whole story and a delicious recipe for those indulgent buns.

Click here to find out more.

Photo: everystockphoto.com

Oh Dear, No Skyr!

We’ve just got back from a very pleasant day on the South Bank in London – there’s a collection of photos here, if you want to look – and I have to say that it has ended on rather a low note.

The problem you see, is that we’ve become hooked on skyr, an Icelandic dairy product, and until we can get back to that beautiful country in the North Atlantic, we have to get our fix when we make the occasional visit into ‘Town’.

Only one shop sells it, or rather sold it, and that’s Whole Foods Market in Kensington High Street (see previous post).

We scoured the chiller cabinet in the dairy section for a very long time, but to no avail. Feelings of desperation set in, so we had to ask a member of staff, who apologetically informed us that they no longer stock it.

Well, we feel very miffed and dejected. Come on Whole Foods Market, what’s happened? Please bring back skyr.
I know that there are a fair number of Icelandic people living in London who are missing it too.

The Pearl of Kent: Whitstable

There’s something about the sea that has an instant attraction for me. I’m not sure why, but it has a positive effect on my well-being.

Lately, we’ve both been suffering the strains of modern life, so a long weekend away was in order. Actually my husband likes the sea too so a break by the coast, somewhere, just anywhere was an absolute must.

We decided on Whitstable as it’s not too far to travel but is significantly different to where we live. Neither of us has ever been there before either, although a long time ago, I went on a school field trip to Broadstairs, which is further up the Kent coast.

Whitstable has everything I like about a costal town. It has a working fishing harbour, bringing in some of the finest seafood in the country, oysters in particular, for which it is famed. It isn’t commercialised in the sense that it has those awful amusement arcades and trashy pier attractions. There’s something left of the old days that gives it a true soul and character. I suppose it is so undeniably steeped in history.

Food and Lodging 
It is worth mentioning that we stayed in a bed and breakfast, as we wouldn’t normally choose to do so. Up until recently British B&Bs have had a notorious reputation that has, I confess, put us off in the past. We stayed at The Pearl Fisher, which thankfully blew away all those stereotypical images of old. Our hosts for the weekend, Gary and Jan Hartley-Trigg are a really lovely couple. They were always friendly and attentive but never intrusive.

Our room was tastefully decorated, complete with en-suite, and we were even able to choose a time slot for breakfast. Yes, the breakfast; absolutely fantastic. What a spread; our ‘first course’ consisted of a choice of cereal, fresh fruit and yogurt. Then the ‘second course’, cooked to order. There certainly wasn’t any skimping on the quality here, the bacon was thick and most certainly dry-cured, the sausages were of a high meat content and very tasty and the eggs were expertly scrambled to a beautiful creamy soft texture. Fried mushrooms accompanied this, with fresh grilled tomatoes and some slices of toast. There definitely wasn’t any sign of cutting corners and dashing to the cash and carry, these ingredients had been carefully selected, locally.

Replete with the fabulous Full English, we were then offered toast. We couldn’t refuse as we were itching to try some of the locally made preserves.

Well, that breakfast certainly set us up for the day!

The weather wasn’t particularly kind to us on one day; we were caught in a most torrential downpour of rain. Rivers ran down the streets and trying to shelter in shop doorways did little to keep us dry as the passing traffic sent up great splashes and soaked us even more.

We couldn’t really go anywhere now, as we were too wet! I don’t think sitting in a restaurant would have been good either for us or the proprietor! So it was back to our room via a Chinese takeaway to get changed. By a stroke of luck, our hosts offered to tumble-dry our clothes for us. Like I said, they were very thoughtful and attentive. I would highly recommend the Pearl Fisher to anyone.

Taste of the Sea 
Whitstable has become known as a foodie destination, and justly so, the seafood is first class, but it wasn’t my actual reason for going. Initially, I actually had no idea of its culinary claims, it was only the draw of the coast and it’s quaintness that attracted me. However we did sample some good food, but as I’m not really in the habit of doing restaurant reviews I’ll just say that it was all very good.

Oysters are Whitstable’s famous speciality. Everyday the boats go out to dredge for them, from the beds that are situated about a mile off shore. The catch may also comprise of other shellfish, such as winkles, whelks and cockles, which are sold fresh-caught and cooked at the quayside. It was refreshing to see children eating them, especially these days, when most kids are fussy and won’t touch anything unless it comes with fries from a certain burger chain.

Oysters, or any fish and seafood for that matter, can be rather expensive if bought in any of the restaurants, but if you're not too fussy about enjoying them outside from a plastic plate/cup, then do buy them from the Fish Market or West Whelks on the harbour. This is a sure way of saving some money and sampling top quality sea fare, plus sitting out in the open air with the smell of the sea always seems to improve the taste, I think.

Simple Pleasures
I found Whitstable to be a good place to relax. With no particular agenda to adhere to we spent our time wandering around the harbour and along the shingle beach or browsing the shops and galleries.

The town is an attractive place to artists, and I can see why, as I found it inspiring too. Occasionally, I like to paint and the quality of light and colour and quirkiness of the place has reignited my creative spark. I must get out those paintbrushes.

I get an enormous feeling of satisfaction having walked along the coast. Fresh sea air is so uplifting – you sort of feel exhausted and invigorated at the same time – so that must be a sign of it doing you some good.

Little rest stops here and there allowed us to stare out to sea, watching the windsurfers and fishing boats. Far on the horizon vast container ships, carrying cargo between Dover and Europe, moved slowly past a backdrop of wind turbines sticking out of the Kentish Flats. There’s been much controversy concerning off shore wind farms, but I happen to feel that they are not a blot on the landscape, but rather they’re an interesting feature, besides, this one is sufficiently far away so as not to be intrusive.

Shopping
The High Street has many shops for those looking for something arty or designer orientated. There are a couple of 'junk' shops for the collector, bookshops and clothes boutiques. Whitstable has pretty much everything on a small scale – there are no chain stores that I could see – Canterbury, about seven miles away, is your best option if you want those.

I am fiercely jealous of this town, for such a small place it is well furnished with several decent butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers and bakers. It does have two small supermarkets in the centre, but I could have easily given them a miss.

There’s also the Harbour Village, a kind of market, selling crafts and local produce. I had the impression it was larger from what I’d read, so was a little disappointed. There was, however, a stall selling Kent strawberries and plums, and one of those will be used in a crumble featuring in a future post.

Is it Worth Going Back?
To put it this way, I didn’t want to go home. Three days just didn’t seem long enough.
Now that I’ve seen what Whitstable has to offer, I’d love to return for a longer period of time and maybe stay in self-catering accommodation. I have no qualms about cooking whilst on holiday and would welcome the idea of preparing a meal made from the freshly caught local seafood.

I noticed that there is a “Hands Off Our Harbour” campaign in operation. It would appear that certain developers want to regenerate the harbour into some kind of yuppie haven. Obviously the locals do not want this to happen, and neither do I for that matter, even if I am just a tourist. So just as long as it remains as it did when I last visited, I shall continue to return.

Further Information
Don’t be satisfied with the few pictures in this post, have a look at all of them on my Flickr page here

I highly recommend The Pearl Fisher Bed & Breakfast; it has a list of consistently good reviews on Trip Advisor
You can book online:
www.thepearlfisher.com

For those looking for art and crafts and local produce try:
www.whitstableharbourvillage.co.uk

More information about Whitstable, on what to do, where to eat etc:
www.whitstableonline.com 
www.seewhitstable.com

Seafood Fortnight: 5-21 September 2008

It’s time again for another food awareness day/week/month or whatever. In my experience I’ve found many of these events, are paradoxically under promoted. There seems little point having an awareness week when no one is aware that it’s happening.

As Seafood Fortnight concentrates on the importance of fish, I have decided to give it my full support and attention, just in case it befalls a fate due to lackadaisical PR.
I love fish, you see, and can’t understand why us British don’t eat more of it. There we are, a group of islands, surrounded by the bountiful sea and we shun what those waters offer up.

Okay, fish and chips is supposed to be the nation’s favourite, but to some, I fear, unless the fish is coated in batter and deep fried, they’re not interested in anything else. Don’t get me wrong, good old-fashioned fish and chips are great, but there’s so much more to fish than that.

Which brings me back to the Seafood Fortnight’s approach to getting us to eat more fish. They’ve come up with 2 a week scheme which focuses on the healthy aspect of seafood. To my mind, this isn’t the way to get us all to include more fish in our diets.
Ooh it’s so healthy, packed full of protein and vitamins and omega this and that… Yeah, yeah, we all know that fish is good for us, but if you want people to eat more fish, you’ve got to sell it on merits of flavour and versatility.
I don’t think your average person is going to suddenly start eating more fish because of the health benefits.

Many people are put off fish, as they perceive it to be smelly, bony, slimy, and funny tasting and difficult to prepare.
We need to allay these piscine fears, and this is where the fishmonger comes in. It doesn’t take much to ask the person behind the counter to wield his or her knife over a fish, removing the task of scaling, filleting and any other jobs that we may find repulsive or too tricky to tackle. They can even offer cooking advice too.

I wish all the average shoppers were a little less average and more adventurous, then at least there would be more choice at the fish counter.
That said, I’ve found Morrison’s to have more variety on offer than most supermarkets. Yes, I do agree we should support our small local fishmonger – I would if we had one – but unfortunately, I’m enslaved by the supermarkets, just like everyone else.

Just please eat more fish!… and do try something other than cod or haddock.
Photo: everystockphoto.com

For more information follow the links below:

Seafood Fortnight 

2 a Week

Sea Fish Industry Authority

The Trouble with Food Blogging

When I started this blog back in January, I had no idea just how much it would become part of my life. Food for me has always been a source of inspiration – I’m always thinking up ideas for dinner, reading cookbooks and magazines, not to mention watching culinary television programmes. Although thoughts of food are seldom far from my mind, I hasten to add, I’m not constantly stuffing my face!

There are however certain drawbacks in maintaining a food blog. I had every intention of just doing it for myself as a hobby, but the public nature of it, leaves me feeling compelled to write about everything I create in the kitchen. I concede that I haven’t actually documented everything, and so, occasionally I have pangs of guilt when I fail to write a post. I shouldn’t feel guilty, it’s not as if I have an agent or publisher breathing down my neck because he or she is eager for me to deliver, in order for them to receive their commission. Blogging has given me a sense of duty, especially when I know there are people out there, reading it and leaving nice comments. A big ‘thank you’ to you all, by the way.

 One thing I’ve learnt, it’s actually very difficult to write recipes. I have been cooking for quite a long time now and the act of putting a meal together has become instinctive. I rarely consult cookery books unless I’m about to embark upon something new, or if I’m baking cakes etc, which is more of a science. There are probably many dishes in my repertoire that will never make their way here. It would take much analytical dissection to translate them into a workable recipe, and whilst I’m confident with the results from my kitchen, I worry that my written recipe may not work in someone else’s kitchen.

 Some things that are eaten in the Cheeky Spouse household are regular day-to-day fare. For example, one evening we had beans on toast with eggs – not quite a dish to be given a full report. This probably explains why my blog makes it appear that we eat like kings all the time! This simply is not the case. I confess that I don’t always cook every night and something pre-prepared may slip on to the week’s menu. I must stress that I do not condone the regular consumption of ‘pierce and ping’ dinners, but a certain supermarket does do very fine curries.

 I’m a firm believer in the art of visual communication – it is in fact my profession – and so, a recipe without pictures is next to useless. Chefs will always tell us how we eat with our eyes first, so a decent photograph is essential. Now, I’m not a food stylist, but I do like to take photos. Food photography is not easy when you are merely trying to grab a snapshot before the plate is transferred to the dining table.
In an ideal world, I’d like to have plenty of natural light to produce a stunning photograph, something we’re all familiar with from those beautiful cookbooks. This however is never going to happen. I don’t and I’m not about to start making dishes purely to be photographed. We eat our main meals in the evening, by which time all that wonderful light has passed. Trying to hastily photograph something under an energy-saving bulb is not going to produce the best results. I can’t be fussing around with different exposure settings either – we’re hungry and want to eat it while it’s still hot.
All this may explain why my cakes and bread etc always look better on the page – at least I can be a little choosier about when and where I shoot them. I suppose that’s where the wonders of Photoshop come in, but it all takes a lot of tweaking and time.

 I’m not sure why I did it, but this blog is listed on various social blogging websites. I should have kept it simple and stayed away, because now, there’s a certain amount of maintenance that has to be carried out. Maybe it’s not all that important, but although I wanted this to be a personal adventure, there’s still that neediness in me that wants to advertise my work. It’s my own fault. I feel that there is a certain lack of the travel element here too. That was my initial intention – to include travelogues with a food related element. The simple fact is I haven’t done much travelling lately. That said, as I write this, I will be going away for the weekend. I shall not divulge as to where just yet, that’s something you’ll have to come back for later. Let’s hope I find the time to relate my experiences!

Brambles and Berries

As I was updating my ‘In Season’ list, it occurred to me that we are indeed entering another season.
It is a sad but very true fact that the disappointing summer is on its way out and autumn is hot on its heels. Autumn though, is not a season to be sniffed at, bringing with it luscious hedgerow fruits, wild mushrooms and fiery colours.
As I write though, the weather has taken a turn for the better, albeit for a short time before the forecasted thunderstorms and rain arrive.

Earlier in the year I plundered our overgrown garden for elderflowers to make some fritters (click to see post).

The remaining blossoms have now developed into fruits and I’m eager to pick them to make elderberry jelly or jam. Dashing into the garden with my camera to take some photos for blog documentation, I’m suddenly disappointed. The birds have got there before me! There’s hardly a berry left and all that remains are the spikey magenta stalks.

My despondency soon fades as I realise that the thorny entanglement I’ve had to fight through is a mass of brambles now covered in fruit, ripe and ready for picking.
Back into the house to fetch a bowl from the kitchen.

This is going to be a prickly challenge, but being scratched isn’t going to prevent me from gathering nature’s prize.
The blackberries are bloated and juicy and I pick them one by one, staining my fingers a dark purple.
The task takes me quite some time. There are a lot of berries on offer and it frustrates me that so many are out of reach. Not wanting to risk falling into the spiny nest of barbed stems, I decide to leave those ones for the birds.

Satisfied that I’ve gathered enough, I weigh them. A pound and a half! That’s pretty good; and I didn’t have to go very far to get them.

Wild blackberries invariably act as homes for some invertebrate wildlife, so I drop the blackberries into some salted cold water and leave them to soak overnight. This has the desired effect of evicting the unwanted beasties which can be rinsed off later.

I’m not sure what I’d like to do with the berries yet, but they freeze well, so until I decide whether to make an apple and blackberry pie or jam, they’ll keep in the meantime.

Wakes Cakes

Following my visit to Bakewell in Derbyshire, I decided to put a recipe to test from my Favourite Peak District Recipes book. I chose Wakes Cakes, as they sounded intriguing with their combination of ingredients. They happened to turn out very well – nice and crisp with chewy currants and interesting little flavour hits from the caraway seeds.

This traditional recipe may originate from the time of the English cotton mill industry during the 18th and 19th centuries. During the industrial revolution, many cotton mills were built in the midlands and the north, using the rivers to turn the great water wheels, which in turn powered the machinery to weave the cloth. This part of England was chosen, as it’s known for it’s damp and rainy weather, which are perfect conditions to produce high quality textiles. A dry atmosphere made the thread prone to breakage.

The life of a mill worker was not an easy one, very long hours for low pay and poor conditions and precious little time allowed to take holidays.
Wakes were originally religious festivals that commemorated church dedications, a time when people normally would want to take time off work and be with their families. Mill owners, not being overly generous with rights for their employees, found that their workers would often be absent at this time, so eventually seeing sense, they agreed that all the mills should close for a week anyway to allow for this.
Eventually, the wakes were adapted into a regular summer break when the week would be the focus for fairs where these cakes were sold and eagerly eaten.

Ingredients

12 oz flour
8 oz butter
6 oz white sugar
1 egg, beaten
3 oz currants
½ oz caraway seeds
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Sugar to sprinkle

Method
Set the oven to 375F or Mark 5.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl, add the beaten egg and mix in all the other ingredients to make a firm dough.
Roll out thinly on a floured surface, cut into rounds with a 2½ inch cutter, sprinkle with sugar and place on a greased baking tray.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly browed.
They should be crisp and sweet like biscuits.

Buy the Book

Better Bread

I’m not convinced that my bread machine makes a very good job of making a decent loaf. I agree that by automating the process it might make the job a little bit easier. All you have to do is fill the machine with ingredients, close the lid, press a button and “bleep, bleep” it’s finished in an hour or so. The only problem is that you end up with small square loaves with a hole in the bottom left buy the mixing paddle. I also find that the texture is not as open as I’d like it to be. The mixing paddles are by no means equipped to really pull and stretch the dough enough to allow decent size air pockets. The result can often be quite spongy for white bread and too dense for brown.

It is possible to just use the machine for the kneading process and then remove the dough to be shaped by hand for more rustic style loaves, but there’s still that problem with the texture.

The machine is largely redundant now, as I’ve rediscovered the joys of making bread completely by hand. Don’t ever look at it as a chore as the whole process is very therapeutic and doesn’t take up all of your time. For the most part, the dough happily sits unattended, for long periods while it is rising, leaving you to other things.

Make kneading the dough a pleasure, all that pummelling can certainly help you take out any frustrations and gives your arms a good work out, plus it’s also good fun getting messy and covered in flour!

I made a nice big batch of dough using a combination of wholesome spelt and brown flours, mixed together with some white for lightness. My loaves weren’t strictly traditional or rustic as I used fast acting dried yeast rather than fresh, but the end result certainly looked and tasted the part.

I’ll try to work out the recipe properly at a later date, as I had to improvise from one I found that used fresh yeast. Also, as I used a mixture of different flours, that affected the quantity of liquid that I needed.

Solving a Radish Problem

I’m not very pleased. It may have been my fault and maybe I should have thinned them out, but my radishes are not making radishes.

They’re all leaves, very lush and juicy, but there’s no round, bright pinkish-red root at the bottom. There should be by now. The seed packet says you can harvest them in 4-6 weeks from the time of sowing!
It’s a little upsetting as I was looking forward to some crunchy, hot, little scarlet orbs in my salad – but that is not to be.

Sorry radishes for cramping your style and confining you all too close together, but you haven’t won, because I can still eat you!

Yes, the leaves are quite edible and you treat them just like spinach – they’re a bit on the hairy side to be enjoyed raw, so it’s best to cook them.

Mine made their way into a simple pasta sauce. I heated a little olive oil in a pan and add two grated cloves of garlic. Then dried porcini mushrooms which I had first soaked in warm water and then drained, followed by two heaped tablespoons of Philadelphia Light cream cheese. If it seems too thick, just add some milk. Then I added some chopped fresh oregano (from the garden) and shredded radish leaves. 

I stirred them altogether seasoned with salt and pepper and a good grating of nutmeg. To finish I mixed in some fresh grated parmesan cheese. Yum.