A Festive update!

This time of year is always quite hectic but I thought I would just drop a quick blog around to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I will update the blog again in the next couple of days letting you know how my family got in with the whole mke your christmas presents idea my brother came upo with as my last blog post detailed, but I can honestly say I am very surprised at the quality of the presents that came out of the whole experiment. But we will not be repeating the event! ;)

We've been enjoying great food, great drink (including some lemoncelo at the in laws - deffiantly making some of that at some point!) but more importantly we have spent some great time with family and friends, which lets face it, is what Christmas should be about!

So from both Melanie and I, we wish you a very merry christmas and hope that 2012 is a very successful year for you, and we hope you continue to follow us both and our journey's via out blog and facebook page etc.

All the best!

Claire
xxx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

Foraging Mushrooms

A couple of weekends ago I went to see my brother and his girlfriend who have just moved into a new house on a farm estate. Whilst out on a Woodland walk in the estate I saw lots of mushrooms! Now I love mushrooms, but in the wild I’m really not too sure which ones are edible and which ones aren’t so I tend to leave well alone! I watched an episode of River Cottage a while ago and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall got mistaken which were edible mushrooms and which weren’t so I’ve got no chance!

At any rate here are a few of the mushrooms we found, the theory is I learn a bit more about mushrooms before going to see my brother again so I can forage to my hearts content!

For those people who are interested in learning more about mushrooms etc I’ve just ordered the following books to help me on my quest for mushroom knowledge, I’ll let you know if they are any good (only in my opinion of course!)

Mushrooms: River Cottage Handbook No.1
By John Wright

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mushrooms-River-Cottage-Handbook-No-1/dp/0747589321/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1318516108&sr=8-13

Field Guide to Edible Mushrooms of Britain and Europe (Field Guides)
By Peter Jordan

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edible-Mushrooms-Britain-Europe-Guides/dp/1847737463/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1318516065&sr=8-10

And whilst browsing for these books I also came across a new one from ‘the legend’ Alys Fowler which was published by Kyle Books (8 Sep 2011), not sure how I missed that one! But I’ve added it to my end of month buying!

The Thrifty Forager: Living Off Your Local Landscape

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrifty-Forager-Living-Local-Landscape/dp/1856269124/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1318516108&sr=8-14

All the best

Claire
Xx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

Alex James’ Harvest Festival & Pulled Pork

www.alexjamespresentsharvest.com

We went to Alex James’ Harvest Festival last Sunday, it was a bit windy but fortunately the weather stayed dry, which helped us digest copious amounts of Aspell Cider, eat food fit for the gods and see Michelin star and celebrity chefs cook amazing food! What more could a girl ask for!! We were very fortunate to have seats at the Chef’s table as well. Where i devoured a dish of pulled pork which was to die for!

And in homage to the dish I have tried to re-create the dish here at home. I roughly followed the recipe from the BBC food website by Simon Rimmer from Something for the weekend;

oil, for greasing
2kg/4lb 6½oz pork shoulder
1 tbsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp mustard seeds
salt and freshly ground black pepper
200ml/7¼fl oz white wine vinegar
250ml/9fl oz cider
3 onions, finely sliced
6 cloves garlic, sliced
Preparation method
Preheat the oven to 170C/340F/Gas 3.
For the pulled pork, oil a baking tray and place the pork shoulder on top. Mix together the chilli, mustard seeds and salt and freshly ground black pepper, then rub the mixture into the pork shoulder.
Pour the vinegar and cider over, then scatter over the onion and garlic.
Cover with parchment paper, then wrap in foil and place into the oven to roast for three hours. Remove the parchment and foil, then roast for another hour.
'Pull' the pork by sticking a fork in the shoulder and shredding the meat into small pieces with another fork.

I also added some smoked paprika as well. I cooked mine in a slow cooker, It was cooking on low for nearly 24 hours. For a first effort it turned out really well, I only heard words of praise from Spen so that’s always a good sign. Next time I think I will add a bit more spice, although the meat was tasty and shredded perfectly some of the meat in the centre of the joint lacked a bit of flavour – definitely something to work on!

Claire
Xx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

Red Berry Pavlova

So as promised (better late than never), here is the Recipe for Pavlova, although I didn’t have 6 large eggs because we had sold all of ours so I used 17 Bantam eggs instead! And I did load some extra berries on the top, including blueberries, redcurrents and what not, more the merrier if you ask me! Enjoy!

Claire
Xx

Twitter:
@CropredyChicken
@Honestlyitseasy
@steelsyrockitup

Red Berry Pavlova

Pavlova

6 large egg whites, at room temperature
350g Caster Sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar





Red Berry’s

800g red berries hulled
40g icing sugar
2 Tablespoons of raspberry eau-de-vie or Kirsch (optional)
Squeeze of lemon juice
300ml Whipping Cream

Makes 1 x 20cm cake

Preheat the oven to 200/gas mark 7. Cut a circle of baking paper to fit a 20cm cake tin 9cm deep with a removable base. Rinse the tine with water, put the paper circle on the base and rinse again.

Whisk the egg whites in a bowl until they rise to a froth. Sprinkle over the caster sugar a few tablespoons at a time, whisking well with each addition. Whisk in the cornflour, then the vinegar. You should have a very stiff, glossy meringue.

Spoon the meringue into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Place the pavlova o a baking sheet in the oven, reduce the temperature to its very lowest setting and bake for 1 ½ -2 hours keeping an eye on the surface to make sure it doesn’t colour. Remove the pavlova and run a knife around the edge of the tin.

Put a third of the berries, the icing sugar, the eau-de-vie if using and the lemon juice in a liquidiser and puree. Pass through a sieve into a bowl, taste and add more sugar or lemon juice as necessary. Halve or quarter any large strawberries and mix the remaining fruit in with the sauce.

Remove the collar and transfer the pavlova to a large serving plate. Whip the cream and spread thickly over the top of the pavlova. Spoon the berries and sauce into the centre with extra around the base if like. Serve straight away.

Recipe from the book Gorgeous Cakes by Annie Bell which is available from Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gorgeous-Cakes-Published-Association-Magazine/dp/1856266141/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311838175&sr=8-1