Adventures in Food

You may know that we started making our own bread last year when we were on the local diet, as none of our suppliers knew where the flour was grown, that they used in their bread making. So we had little choice. But we just threw some flour, yeast and water into a bowl. slopped it a bout and baked it after rising. It was very delicious but it was on the dense and cakey side and it went hard quite quickly. The other day though, I bought an amazing book (after spending about an hour browsing in Kew bookshop and knocking books over) called Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley (who runs Village Bakery , so admittedly he has a bias but also he knows a hell of a lot about bread), which explains both how most processed or shop bread is made (even the really sexy nice stuff is all made by the same 'Chorleywood bread process') and how yeast and lactic acid bacteria work on wholewheat to extract nutrients and flavour and reduce the presence of common allergens. The book also shows how to mak...

These are SO easy to make, last for ages,are delicious and healthy so I think a great recipe even if you aren't out seeking wild oats. Oat cakes basically involve oats, water, a pinch of salt, and a little fat. You warm up some water and mix in a bit of butter to melt. Then mix that warm liquid into your oats in a bowl until they are of a nice pasty, sticky consistency. Roll them out on a board - you can use a few more oats or some flour to reduce stickiness if you like, and bake in a medium oven for about 15 min on baking parchment paper. Keep an eye on them to see when they are ready. Rolled oats are better because they have been softened up a bit and the starch powder helps to stick them all together. As you can see I got all romantic with them. I hardly ever get to use thes nice pastry cutters from Anna so thats another good reason to make oat cakes. I believe the scots used to leave the oat cakes by the fire overnight to dry out so I guess a low oven is also suitable. They ar...

I've been having fun with elderflowers last week. Making cordial, and making a film. It is of course elderflower season. The elder grows a lot by the Thames. Its a small tree or large shrub depending on how you think about things. The Blossoms are large white foamy circular things scattered all over the tree like white pancakes. I made elderflower cordial which it turns out is incredibly easy and is probably the most delicious thing I have made yet from foraging food. You simply boil some water, about 4 pints or more, Add sugar so it melts in and pour this mix over the elderflowers in a big bowl. The mix looks dark brown in the picture because I used dark brown sugar. I really thought this would overwhelm the elderflower flavour but it doesnt at all, quite the reverse in fact. Leave this in the fridge for four days or so, then strain off the juice. You can add lemon peel, lemon juice, and/or oranges and juice to add flavour and acidity, either at the beginning or after you make th...

This isn't actually about coffee from new zealand, its a message from Eve in New Zealand about making Great coffee. Thanks Eve! ************************************************ Yesterday the guy from Atomic Coffee roasters came for the fair trade coffee event. He told us how to make coffee properly and how we hadbeen doing it so wrong... This is with a plunger as we don't have a machine. The coffee must be ground quite coarse a bit bigger than granulated sugar. Grindjust as much as you need at the time coz it oxidises quite quickly. about a heaped desert spoon for a cup but more or less if you like. Then.....you pour the water on just a bit and let it go frothy but not boiling water, you need water just off the boil about 85. This will make the coffee much sweeter because it burns at about 95 which is what makes it bitter. mmmmm So then poor the rest of the water on and leave for not longer than a minute (its not like tea wher it keeps gettingstronger) and then plunge away....

Comfrey or knitbone is famed for its ability to heal wounds. Rob and I have both tried it and its marvellous. No really. But that is in the form of oil or crushed leaves. Then I discovered you can also eat these very rough-skinned leaves. The comfrey plants are brimming with life these days so its a good time to collect these leaves. Apparently comfrey fritters are the thing, and are particularly enjoyed by Germans I read. Anyway you take some comfrey leaves from your plant in the back yard that seeded itself and grows most vigourously. You make a thin batter using oil, water, flour and fold in a whipped egg white, as you are making a sponge. Dip the leaves into the batter and drop into hot oil, like you would with deep fried mars bars or whatever you normally deep fry. Actually this wasnt very nice, not because of the leaves, which are lovely, but because they are too oily. Maybe the oil was at the wrong temperature but I would welcome any tips on improving this recipe. Comfrey is als...

I was in Stroud in early may and we went for a walk across the tops of the hills. I was nearly out of hawthorn tea from last year so when I saw the may bushes I decided to collect it in my walnut-dyed scarf. I made Rob take pictures with his mobile. The may leaves have been dried since then and I have a full jar of leaves again, to last another year. Apparently the phrase 'Ne'er cast a clout till May is out' doesnt mean 'until the month of May is over' but ' Until the May flowers have blossomed' May (hawthorn) apparently has had a huge significance in English ( and Scottish ) folklore in the past. It smells a bit nasty as Rob so eloquently expressed when we started this lark...this and other factors have been woven into the folklore. Read Richard Mabey 'Flora Britannica' for all the lowdown on May.

I was walking home the other day when I saw a huge orangey-yellow fungus growing in a the nook of a tree in our road (I think its a type of birch but I am not great on tree species. that is my best guess from my new tree book). So I bethought myself to investigating this large orange putrescence. The mushroom books tell me it is Chicken of the Woods ( Laetiporus sulphureus ) This extraordinary fungus is apparently - very occasionally - toxic - with hallucinations and upset stomach. Hallucinations etc So I have approached this particular culinary adventure with some trepidation and tested a small sample first before eating it for a meal. Even though the books say it can't be mistaken for anything else, I still am a bit nervous about having got it right. Nice for lunch No suffering followed the initial test so I have just eaten up the lot for lunch. I fried in in small pieces with olive pesto, mackerel, a squeeze of lemon and some balsamic vinegar. As you can see on the right, I had ...