Miss Foodwise

Celebrating British food and Culture

Best of British

Fool

by 22 Comments

fool-raspberry-regula-ysewijn-6679

I started my second year in Culinary school this week. It’s going to be tough again combining this with my day job as a graphic designer. It always seems that the one day I can’t seem to get away from the office in time is the evening I have Culinary school to rush over to. I love the experience, the knowledge passed on to us by the chefs. I’m the student with the questions, the never ending enthusiasm, with the jokes and the loud giggles. Lessons always end with dinner, bottles of wine are opened and if we’re lucky a fellow student Jean, otherwise known as ‘the butcher’ has brought some of his home made port. We have a good time, have a laugh, a taste and a discussion about food. Our class is always the last to remain in the building and we leave the school grounds with rosy cheeks and a little bit pie-eyed.

 The weekend has started and it’s time to enjoy the last of the summer weather. I found some fleshy raspberries and strawberries at a carboot sale in Kent and I decided to prepare a ‘Fool’. When researching this dish I wanted to find out about the origin of the term ‘Fool’. A fool, is a dessert made by blending pureed tarty fruits – most commonly Gooseberries – with sweetened cream but it seems the exact origin of the name of this dish is lost in time.

A lot of modern recipes for Fruit Fools state the dish dates back as far as the 16th century. There is a recipe for Trifle in ‘The Good Huswifes Jewel’ by Thomas Dawson written in 1596. The recipe goes as follows:

Take a pint of thick cream, and season it with sugar and ginger, and
rose water. So stir it as you would then have it make it luke warm in a
dish on a chafing dish and coals. And after put it into a silver piece
or a bowl, and so serve it to the board.
Many historians including me have the theory that this early trifle recipe might have been where the Fool was born. However, this recipe does not contain any kind of fruit so maybe the first fool, wasn’t with fruit at all.

I have found a recipe for a ‘Gooseberry foole’ in ‘The Compleat Cook‘ by WM from 1658

Take your Gooseberries, and put them in a Silver or Earthen Pot, and set it in a Skillet of boyling Water, and when they are coddled enough strain them, then make them hot again, when they are scalding hot, beat them very well with a good piece of fresh butter, Rose-water and Sugar, and put in the yolke of two or three Eggs; you may put Rose-water into them, and so stir it altogether, and serve it to the Table when it is cold.

In this later recipe where indeed is spoken of a Fool there is no mention of cream, in fact many early Fool recipes use an egg mixture rather than just cream.
Gervase Markham as well as Robert May, have recipes for Norfolk Fools, they all have an egg mixture rather than cream. Does this mean Thomas Dawson’s recipe was actually an early Trifle after all?

Then I came across a recipe for a Strawberry or Raspberry Fool in ‘The Compleat Housewife: or Accomplished Gentlewoman’s Companion’ by Eliza Smith written in 1739. This appears to be one of the first recipes of a fool like we know it today. The fruit is squeezed and orange flower water is added, then cream.

Why the word ‘Fool’ is used is not entirely clear, some claim it’s derived from the French verb fouler which is used in the context of pressing grapes for wine with one’s feet.

For this Raspberry and Strawberry Fool I started out from a recipe dated 1823, I found in ‘Good things in England’ by Florence White. This is one of the recipes sent to White when she had called upon the people to send in their British family recipes.
The original recipes states you should pass the fruit trough a hair sieve but I didn’t as I think the interplay of textures is quite lovely.

You can use any fruit for this dessert but it works best with tart fruit, the most popular being gooseberries, however these should be stewed until they are soft enough.

gooseberry-fool-regula-ysewijn-7228
What’s you favourite Fool?

What do you need (for 2)

a punnet of raspberries
a punnet of strawberries

(or another tart fruit like gooseberries which you stew first and then let cool)
500 ml double cream
1 teaspoon orange flower water (optional, used in traditional recipe)
1 teaspoon sugar (optional, used in traditional recipe)

Method
Divide your cream into two equal parts
Bruise 2/3 of the raspberries and all the strawberries with a fork, leave some bits in for texture, you can even add some whole raspberries at the end
Mix them with the orange flower water and sugar (optional, used in traditional recipe)
Stir one part of the cream in the fruit so you get a nice pink color
Now layer the plain cream with the fruit cream you created into the jars or glasses of your choice)
Decorate with some leftover fruits.
Enjoy!

* Why not substitute half of the cream with thick yoghurt for a lighter version of this dish!

Join me next time for some home made Raspberry Vinegar!

Blaeberry pie – Going back in time

by 24 Comments

 

The first time I baked this pie it felt like magic when I took it out of the oven.
Not only has this dish been around for centuries, I got to taste a bit of Britain’s beautiful food heritage. There are quite a few cookery books around that were written more than hundreds of years ago and are still influencing cooks today.
Like in politics, we are supposed to learn from our history. So whenever I am cooking a dish I research it to find out how it was prepared by the Elizabethans, Victorians, Edwardians and learn about how tastes changed and some things just stayed the same.

I am eternally grateful to Florence White who wrote the book ‘Good things in England’. Born in 1863 she was the first ever freelance journalist specializing in food and English cooking in particular.
For the creation of the book she went out looking for traditional British recipes that were handed down in families for generations. Some of the regional recipes that she found or had been sent by her readers, dated back as far as the 14th century.
In 1931 she founded the ‘English Folk Cookery Association’ and later she set up a cookery and domestic training school in Fareham.

Another interesting read about English traditional cooking are the books from Jane Grigson, some of the recipes in her books are from or inspired by Isabella Beeton, the author of the book ‘Mrs Beetons’s Book of Household Management‘ in 1861.
Both White and Beeton’s books influenced the work of Elizabeth David and so do we go on to keep British food heritage alive.

This pie is inspired by Jane Grigson‘s Blaeberry pie from the 70s.
These days puff pastry is more popular for fruit pies but in the old days Shortcrust pastry would have been used.
I am not a big fan of puff pastry and when I read about Flaky Shortcrust pastry in Beeton’s book I thought I would give it a try. The recipe was very similar to my recipe for savoury pie pastry.
The pie worked best with the Flaky Shortcrust pastry, I added a pinch of sugar to the dough and used sparkling water instead of still water.

Blaeberries are known in England by various of local names, these include Bilberries, Wimberries and myrtle blueberries. In Ireland they are known as Fraughan and are traditionally picked on Fraughan sunday on the last sunday of july.
Bilberries were gathered by the Gaelic on the feast of Lughnasadh which is celebrated on the first of August. The Bilberries were gathered to bake pies and make wine.
Lughnasadh is a harvest celebration, a time when food is plenty and has to be preserved for the more lean days ahead in the year.
I am fascinated by these feasts which all celebrate food, fertility and life. Things were so simple and so straight forward. People were looking forward to the first berries and now we can buy them all year long. We are losing our connection with the seasons…

By chance while I write this, it’s the last sunday of July. So this pie is for the harvest and the start of a whole new chapter in my life… but more on that at a later date.

What do you need
a 22 cm pie dish, I used enamelware

For the pastry 
this recipe is for a pie in a 22 cm pie dish, including the bottom part, I only use the top for this pie so you will have some leftover dough to freeze or make little pies with

• 250 g plain white flour
• 150 g cold butter
• 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 100ml ice cold sparklingwater
• pinch of sugar
• 1 egg white for egg washing the pastry

You can do this with a food processor, but I like to do it by hand.

Mix flour and sugar.
Finely slice half of the butter finely into the flour, shake the bowl so the butter is covered in flour.
Use a round knife to cut the butter into smaller pieces until the mixture resembles crumbs. You can also use a fork to do this.
Put in the fridge for 30 minutes
Now add the other half of the butter and do the same thing, cutting the butter into smaller pieces.
Add the lemon juice to the water
Start adding the water to the flour and butter, bring the dough together.
Make sure you don’t over handle the dough, when it gets sticky, refrigerate again.
The dough needs to stay cool.
When you’ve managed to bring the dough together into a large lump, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Now prepare your pie filling

For the filling

• 500 g blueberries
• 85 g cane sugar (you can add 100g if you like things very sweet)
• 1 level tablespoon of cornflour (cornstarch)

Mix the sugar with the cornflour
Add a layer of berries to the pie dish
Add a layer of sugar and cornflour mixture and keep on doing this until the pie dish is slightly heaped with fruit.

When the dough has rested enough.
Preheat your oven to 220°

Roll out your dough on a flowered surface.
It should be half a cm thick.
Line the pastry over the pie dish filled with fruit and trim the edges.
Give the pastry a generous egg wash
score the middle of the pastry with a sharp knife so the steam can get out.

Put the pie in the bottom part of the oven for 15 min at 220°
After 15 min reduce the heat to 180° and bake for 20-30 minutes

When ready, leave it to rest for 20 minutes so the fruit can set a bit.

Enjoy with a dollop of clotted cream, double cream or ice cream.

The magic that is opening the lid of a pie and discovering color…

Please leave a comment, I enjoy reading them

You might also like:
Chicken and tarragon pie
Victoria sandwich cake for Queenie

Strawberry and Pimm's granita – summer has arrived

by 12 Comments

Has summer finally found its way to my garden?
It surely looked that way the last two days. This might have been the wettest and most gloomy june in years. I started my two weeks at home sitting by the window, watching the rain pour down and reading my new cook book.
At times it almost felt like christmas break, when temperatures dropped and I tucked myself in a blanket to keep warm, drinking my Earl grey… warming my hands on the teacup.

In the kitchen, I craved for succulent roast beef, rich chocolate cake and full bodied red wine.

Then summer came on wednesday…
The menu in the kitchen changed again, the blanket became the cats territory and my Oxford Uni jumper gave way to summer dresses.

All I needed was a drink to enjoy in my garden… which looks a lot more like a meadow as I haven’t mowed the lawn in months.
As Pimm’s is my favourite cocktail as a true Britain lover, my choice was made!

As I write this, I am on my way to sunny Tuscany. I will be enjoying beautiful food and views with foodie friends. I can not wait. But what I most enjoy is having time… to live, create and grow.

Time is precious.
Enjoy every minute…
why not enjoy it with this Stawberry and Pimm’s Granita in your hand!

Happy summer darlings!

*This is not a sponsored post, I just love Pimm’s

what do you need (for 4 servings)
1 kg strawberries
4 shot glasses Pimm’s (or more if you want it stronger!)
2 teaspoons of Pimm’s
2 teaspoons of sugar
a few sprigs of mint

method
– slice the strawberries and cover with the sugar and the 2 teaspoons of Pimm’s
– crush the strawberries, cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes
– liquidize the fruit 
– pour the strawberry juice in a wide shallow container
– put into the freezer and leave for 60 minutes
– scrape the now almost frozen juice loose and mix with the unfrozen parts
– put back into the freezer for 30 minutes and repeat until the granita is frozen and fluffy.

When ready
– serve in a wide glass
– scoop granita into the glasses
– add the Pimm’s
– decorate with fresh mint

It’s Pimm’s O’ clock! 
Happy summer 
x

You might also like:
Union Jack sandwich cake for queenie >


Please leave a comment, they make me smile x

Britannia sandwich cake – Best of British

by 25 Comments

As the reign of Elizabeth I is referred to as ‘The Golden age’, I wonder what they will call the reign of her namesake Elizabeth II.
Elisabeth, born in 1533 was known as the ‘Virgin queen‘. She never married as she never wanted to be ruled by a man. She might be the first feminist in history. As the previous two queens in English history both failed and her reign was of such epic importance, the role of women changed quite a bit. It started with noble men who started to educate their daughters so they wouldn’t look ignorant in the presence of the highly educated queen. But in general, independent women were still being called spinsters, witches or prostitutes.
When her sister ‘Bloody Mary’ died, she inherited a bankrupt nation scattered into pieces due to religious conflict. She had to breathe new life into Britain.
With her came the flourishing of British drama, she was a great supporter of Shakespeare and Marlowe. How would the world have looked like without Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear?
We wouldn’t suddenly shout “Romeo oh Romeo” when we found ourselves on a balcony, we would just look at the view. The English language wouldn’t be what it is today without Shakespeare as he invented nearly 1700 words for his plays, sonnets and poems. Words you wouldn’t expect like ‘frugal’, ‘gloomy’ and ‘monumental’ were all invented by the man himself.
It is fair to say Elizabeth I reshaped Britain, made it “British”, gave her name to an era and reigned supreme.

This weekend we are celebrating the current queen Elizabeth.
The Diamond jubilee is inspiring people to celebrate Brit style with street parties, cake contests and an explosion of Union Jack bunting everywhere.
If only Britain could look like this every day.
Shop windows competing for celebrating Britishness the best, biggest and most typical.
As an Anglophile, these are good times for me. I can buy Union Jack pajamas, purses and… shoes!
I finally have an excuse to decorate my cake with it, get out the bunting and watch the boats on the Thames while reading a British classic.
I celebrate, not my love for a monarch but for a land, its culture and its pride.

So this cake is for you, Britannia.
May the tea flow plenty in flowery teacups, the cakes be decorated with joy and the discussion scone-cream-jam versus scone-jam-cream go on until eternity.


‘Union Jack’ Britannia Sandwich cake.
I’ve tried a few Victoria sandwich recipes before I came to this one after testing.
This cake is slightly more solid than your average sponge cake.

What do you need

for the cake:
200g softened unsalted butter (I made butter recently, it’s so easy. Go to the tutorial >)
200 g golden caster sugar
200 g self raising flour
4 medium eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of milk.

for the filling:
500 g double cream
if you can’t get hold of double cream, you can use mascarpone
0,5 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Strawberry or raspberry jam
strawberries

decoration:
strawberries, tips for the top and slices for the filling
blueberries
or
go traditional with a icing sugar finish

Method
Preheat your oven to 180°
Line the bottom of two 20 cm cake tins with baking paper.

Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and whisk until creamy.
Add the eggs one by one, whisk well so the egg is completely mixed in before you add the next one.
Add the milk and vanilla.
Add the flour and fold it in gently.

Divide the dough over the two prepared tins and spread out well with a spatula.
If you only have 1 tin, bake one first and then the other.

*If you have smaller tins, you can make some little cakes too!

Put in the oven for 25 minutes, whatever you do do open the oven or the cake will collapse.

For the cream
Whisk the double cream with a hand mixer until you get a stiff mixture.
Add the vanilla

Decorating the cake
Put the cakes with their good side down on a tray.
Spread the jam on the cake for the bottom side, then add the strawberry slices
Spread half of the cream on the other side and then sandwich this side on top of the other, the cream side down.
Press down so they stick together.
Spread the rest of the cream on top of the cake.
Use the tips of the strawberries to create the St George’s cross and then next the other red cross for Northern Ireland.
Now fill up the gaps with the blueberries to create Scotland.

All done!

Now make a cup of tea!

 

 

Please feel free to leave a comment, I love reading them!

You might also like:
Parsnip and apple breakfast cake
Glutenfree Chestnut cake
Vegan chocolate beetroot and walnut cake

Chicken tarragon pie, bringing back memories

by 3 Comments

Chicken and tarragon pie will always make me think of my wedding dress.

Last year in april I had my first dress fitting in London, it was a terribly hot day and everyone was out enjoying walks along the Thames. The queues in front of the ice cream vans were long and the dresses short.
I arrived in London at 11 and had to be back on a plane by 5.
Obviously I didn’t have a lot of time but for some reason I was very relaxed and enjoyed my short visit to ‘the big smoke’. I took the underground to Neil’s Yard dairy and bought cheese and artisan bread, did some shopping, dropped of 3 jars of apple syrup I brought with me for one of my readers and set sail to the bridal shop.
By then my dress was soaked, the sun was burning and my bag of cheese was so heavy it started to be a burden to drag along. 
I was so glad to get out of my clothes and I just stood there behind the red velvet curtain enjoying the cooling feeling before I had to get into my huge petticoat. It’s an emotional moment, the first time you are wearing your actual wedding dress. When I left the bridal shop, I headed over to a bench in the shadow looking over the Thames and just let it all sink in. I was in London and just tried on my -terribly over budget- wedding dress. When I was sitting there I looked up at a clock to see its was actually just before 3. I had to get my flight in Stansted at 5, I did the math and realised there was a good chance I would miss my flight. I started to run to the underground but passed a pie shop, knowing I was out of time I went in anyway and ordered two chicken and tarragon pies to go. Now I really had to rush and I did almost miss my flight.
The entire journey home, I smelled the chicken and tarragon pies in my purse.
I almost missed my flight for them, but they made a fantastic dinner in the garden when I got home that evening. No regrets! Oh well, perhaps I do regret not having the time to stop for a pint of stout!

What do you need (serves 2)

2 free range chicken breasts (350g)
1 cube of chicken or vegetable stock or real chicken stock (you need 250 ml liquid)
2 small carrots chopped into fine cubes
3 finely chopped sjalots
3 spring onions (only the light part)
3 tsp of fresh tarragon leaves
2 tsp of double cream
1 bay leaf
100 ml white wine (dry)
1 clove of garlic
3 tsp of dry roux -> see method for roux below
olive oil
for the pastry
2 eggs (1 for egg wash)
300 g plain good quality white flour
150 g unsalted butter or 75 g lard/ 75 butter
0,5 tsp of seasalt
2 tsp of ice cold water
cling film

Method
Sift flour and salt to a large bowl, add the lard and/or butter.
Use your hands to rub the butter/lard into the flour until the batter looks like bread crumbs.
Whisk one egg and add iced water to bring the dough together.
Knead for a minute to form a smooth pastry, shape into a flat rectangle and wrap with cling film.
Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.
You can do this the day before.

for the roux
140g flour
125 g butter
 
If you are making a roux which is the base of a white sauce you need to know one thing: flour and butter is 1 to 1 ratio.
I always make a large quantity and store in an airtight container in the fridge for when I need it. If you want to do this you just make the dry base which is the flour and butter together, let it cool before you put it into a container.
When you want to use it you need to warm the milk, when you are using the roux straight away you need your milk to be cold.
So the rule is: warm dry paste = cold milk – cold paste =  warm milk.
When you’ve added the milk to the dry paste, you need to cook it until the taste of flour is completely gone.Method
Melt the butter in a small pan, add flour and stir constantly until you get a crumbly paste that smells a bit like pancakes. Use your nose, if you think it smells like flour you’re not done yet and keep stirring.

The pie filling

Method
Bring your stock or you water with stock cube to the boil, add a bay leaf.
Gently poach the chicken breasts in the stock, the water should be simmering, not boiling.
Leave until the meat is cooked and the juices run clear. Drain the meat, let it cool a bit and cut into small pieces (+-1cm)
Keep the stock, we need it for the sauce.
Add olive oil to a heavy based pan, add the onion, then the carrot, the garlic and spring onion last.
Cook it until the vegetables are almost done (+-7min)
Add the chicken to the veggies and stir for about 3 minutes, add half of the tarragon.
Pour in the wine and let it evaporate so the alcohol is gone.
Now bring the stock back to the boil, add the roux and stir until you get a silky sauce.
Add the sauce to the chicken and vegetables, add the last of the tarragon and simmer for 5 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 180°C

Get your pie dishes out!
Pour the chicken tarragon into your pie dishes (I used 16 cm good old fashioned Falconware)
Take your last egg and whisk it so we can use it to egg wash the pie.
Use a brush to egg wash the border of the pie dish.

Take your pastry out of the fridge and roll it out (on a floured surface) so it has the thickness of a pound coin.
Gently place a ice of pastry that is slightly bigger than the dish over the pie.
Cut the edges so the pastry covers the entire dish.
From the leftover dough you can make decorations if you like.
Brush the egg generously onto the pastry, add the decorations and give them an egg wash too.

Put in the oven for 30 minutes, until golden brown and simmering underneath it’s pastry blanket.

Serve with silky mashed potatoes and a side of vegetables to your liking.

Enjoy

The Cotswolds, good morning sun

by 11 Comments

We went to stay with friends in the Cotswolds for a few days.
Leaving the busy and stressful life behind and being embraced by the silence and tranquility a country village offers.
We arrived late in the evening, as we turned into the single track road leading to our friends house it started to snow. For a few moments the cottages we drove passed started to look like someone had dusted icing sugar on them. It was cold, terribly cold but the warming fire roaring in our friends cottage warmed our frozen fingers and toes.

 

The next morning we went on a walk trough the fields wearing wellies and big warm coats.
We visited the church where my friends got married and went home to a cup of warming tea.

 

I adore this little Cotswold village and the way the yellow stones of the cottages catch the morning sun.

The last day of our stay I got up just after dawn and watched the sky turn from a greyish pink to bright blue from the cottage window. I jumped out of bed and dressed warm to go explore leaving everyone still asleep behind.

As I walked around the village, the sun giving her warmth and melting the dew and the ice on the flower buds I watched the community waking up. Dogs were walked, curious neighbours asked me where I came from and cats ran out of the houses to go exploring.

 

But there is a down side to this comforting story, in lots of these Cotswolds houses people didn’t start their days. Shutters were closed and padlocks guarded the gates. It’s the same story in all rural villages in the UK, people from the city buying houses in small villages to escape to when they can. And who can blame them, I too feel the soothing feeling of the slower pace of life a country villages seems to give.
But communities are broken and youngsters are forced to leave their home, because life in these sweet little villages has gotten too expensive for them to stay. Moving down the road from mum and dad is no option because even the smallest of cottages are sold as a luxury retreat in the country.
Pubs are forced to call last orders for good every day, because there are no people to pour pints for during the week. Village shops are disappearing, rural schools closing.
Rural Britain is beautiful, but it is changing.

Parsnip and apple breakfast cake

by 6 Comments

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, we all know it.
There is a saying: eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar
In Britain and Ireland the day is started as a king with their traditional cooked breakfast “the iconic fry-up”. Cooked well, the “English breakfast” truly is a wonderful dish.
If you want to do it right you should start with a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit, fresh juice and finish the meal with a slice of toast topped with marmelade. Last but not least, all this must be washed down with a nice cup of tea.
If this isn’t a hearty breakfast, I don’t know what is.
Naturally you can’t eat like this every day, most people only treat themselves on a traditional “Full monty” when on holiday or on special occasions.
So alternatives are beans on toast or perhaps this breakfast cake.
Also perfect with your ‘four O’ clock’ cup of tea and much better than a candybar.
Go on, treat yourself.

“And then to breakfast, with what appetite you have.” Shakespeare
This breakfast cake is very moist and more a cross between a bread and a cake.
Someone from Ireland told me it also resembles an “Irish tea brack” though this is not made with tea.
I left out the “normal” sugar in this cake and substituted with honey and apple sirup. This makes this cake a healthier treat.

What do you need
180 g unsalted butter
1 cup of honey
0,5 cup of apple sirup, plum sirup or golden sirup
3 organic eggs
330 g selfraising flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 apple, grated
0,5 tsp mixed spice (see here to learn what goes into mixed spice)
2 parsnips (250 g), grated
80 g walnuts, chopped
2 tsp of fresh orange juice
a little bit of orange zest

Method
Grate the parsnips and apple.
Preheat your oven to 180°C.
Grease a loose bottom baking tin or line with baking paper
Melt the sirup, honey and butter, allow to cool
Mix the flour, mixed spice and baking powder.
Add the egg and sirup mixture to the flour followed by the grated apple and parsnips.
Finally add the orange zest an juice.
Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 1 hour.
Let the cake cool in the tin and dust with Icing sugar when cooled.

My cake tin was a bit smaller so I made some smaller cakes from the leftover dough, ideal to stick into boyfriends’, husbands’ or childrens’ luchboxes.

Apple glazed ham – Best of British

by 9 Comments

I went to London 3 days before christmas for a ridiculously short visit. We arrived with the Eurostar at 10:30 and left again at 5.
My bestie Vanessa and I wanted to shop for food and bras, that was our mission.
After the bras were sorted we started the food shopping and ended up with a full backpack each and more to carry in our hands. I was actually relieved to be on the train again as the 
2 kg Gammon and the quarter wheel of Stilton were doing my back in. To be fair, I did buy some dinner plates and bowls too and those might have been the heaviest of all.
I wanted to cook a glazed ham for ages, we don’t get that cut of meat here so I had to buy it in London that day. Because there were strikes going on in Public transport the cancellation of our trip was pending for a week. To much of my regret I couldn’t risk ordering a gammon from the butcher I wanted it from. I was looking forward to a ham from a rare breed pig rather than a pig that was kept indoors as I don’t approve treatment like that. Luckily I found a nice piece of gammon that came from a farm where animals are raised naturally and outdoors, but no rare breed sadly.

If you are in London and wonder where to get that wonderful rare breed meat, these are a few places you can buy from:

The Ginger pig: shops in Sheperds Bush, Marylebone, Hackney, Waterloo and Borough market
www.thegingerpig.co.uk

Daylesford farm shop: shops in Pimlico, Notting Hill and Selfridges. 
Main farmshop in the Cotwolds
http://www.daylesfordorganic.com

Preparing this glazed ham is actually very easy, I was surprised how easy it was. Imagine how much you can save by cooking your own ham if you have a large family to feed.
If I could get my hands on this cut of meat easier I would cook this a lot!

What do you need
2 kg gammon
a lot of cloves

for the cooking tray
1 teaspoon of cinamon (or 1 stick)
10 peppercorns
half an apple cut into small wedges
2 bay leaves
a small sprig of thyme
1 small onion

for the glaze
4 teaspoons of apple syrup
2 teaspoons of mustard
2 teaspoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cider vinegar

Method
preheat your oven to 160° Gas
Cook the gammon by filling half a roasting tray with apple juice or water, add the mix of spices and finally the ham.
Cover with tinfoil and leave to cook for about 45-60 minutes.

Prepare the glaze by adding all the ingredients to a small pan and warm it through.
 
When ready, take the ham out of the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes, covered.
After the ham has rested and cooled, take of the skin but leaving a generous amount of fat on the meat.
Score the meat with a sharp knife and stick a clove in each crossing.

Now you can start brushing the glaze onto the meat.
Brush on one generous coating and put the ham in the oven for 30 minutes. Add another coating of glaze after 15 minutes. 

Ones removed from the oven, leave to rest in the baking tin for 10 minutes while you set the table.

We ate this ham with roasted potatoes and a fresh salad.

The leftover ham is great in pasta dishes or in a sandwich, the options are endless.

Other recipes in the Best of British category:
Pork stew, braised with cider and apples

This recipe was inspired by one of Jamie Magazine #december

Please leave a comment. I appreciate every single one.

Cornwall – a taste of Kernow and wedding balloons

by 12 Comments

Cornwall, land of moors and mining, of dramatic cliffs and sandy beaches.
A place where the weather can not be predicted and where nature does it’s own thing.
Described as an area of outstanding natural beauty it is also the poorest county in the UK.
Tourism is the county’s biggest industry but towns struggle in the low season…
For me Cornwall is a foodie destination, a place where you can eat a crab sandwich in a small village cafe that is ten hundred times better then in a highstreet establishment in ‘The big smoke’.
But Cornwall is also an environmental friendly place being nearly entirely self sufficient with the most beautiful produce you can think of. They have red, white, rose, sparkling and fruit wines. Real Cider, Cider Brandy and ale. Cheeses big and tiny, blue and yellow. Fish straight out of the Cornish waters, giving the word Fresh fish a whole other dimension.
So I can’t call Cornwall the poorest county in the UK, they are in financial therms, sadly, but culture- and foodwise they are rich.
That’s why I can’t get enough of Cornwall, and by going there on holiday you help them with the ‘being poor’ side of the story but you can enjoy the wealth trough food and heritage.
Cornwall, land of turquoise waters, tiny pittoresque villages and great produce.
I can not praise it enough, I just adore every rock and pebble of it.

On the last day of our time in Cornwall last summer, my sweetheart Bruno proposed to me on a dramatic cliff at Lands End. The engagement ring was a simple silver band, forged on the rocks of the Cornish cliffs by a pirate and his pirate cat, meters from where he had just asked me.
The pirate also forged our wedding rings, bashing them on the rocks leaving them with an imprint of a very special place to cherish.
This had to be our honeymoon destination without hesitation.
After our little wedding in a Sussex town steeped in history, we drove off to Kernow.
We visited the pirate and his cat and had a truly wonderful time.

On our wedding day in East-Sussex, UK. Pictures by Assassynation
I love my Stout and I’m proud of it!
Union Jack love
heart

I hope you’ll enjoy these views, they left me breathless and hungry for more…

 

Best view ever, Bottalac Engine houses
Boat trip, great views over Polperro an Fowey harbour
ruines in the Moors
I see food
The tearoom in the Moors that was closed… sadly

 

Tintagel castle

 

A very special place…

 

Bottalac Engine houses

 

 
St-Ives, the 9 o-clock pink light

 

Polperro fishing harbour, the best place to eat fish

 

 

 

The netting house, Polperro

 

Please leave a comment. I appreciate every single one.

Pork stew braised with Cider and apples

by 3 Comments

The comfort of food
Although it was the last week of August the weather became quite chilly, not to speak about the storms we’ve been faced with.
There’s been thunder and lightning every evening for about a week now. At times the weather got so bad a tent collapsed at a music festival leaving utter destruction and fatalities.
I had some friends there who kept themselves safe, thank god for that. But others did lose friends and are now left to cope with the loss. It leaves you with a strange feeling when tragedy strikes a place where thousands of young people are gathered to enjoy themselves and be merry.
Some of the young people’s lives will never be the same and others will be strengthened by it but nevertheless the experience will be a part of their lives for a very long time, if not forever.

At times like this I’m beginning to think about warming stews and the comfort they can give you.
I love making stews, you can make it in the morning and leave it to simmer for a few hours so it fills the house with a mouthwatering aroma. There’s something about a big pot of delicious food on the stove that always gives me a feeling of warmth towards my family.
I wanted to cook something with the last of my discovery apples and I knew I had some Cider tucked away from our wedding. Apples and pork are one of my all time favorite combo’s, classic.
This is a truly British dish, I hope you’ll like it !

Ingredients: (serves 4)

Cider half a pint
Water half a cup
500 g of free range/Organic stewing pork
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
2 medium potatoes
1 carrot
2 medium onions
1 teaspoon of cider vinegar
1 or two small (I used my discovery) apples
Salt and pepper
Flower to dust the meat

Method
Preheat your oven to 160° (gas)

Take 1 tablespoon of salt (I always use coarse seasalt), a bit of freshly ground pepper and the leaves of a few sprigs of fresh Thyme and rub meat in with it, dust with a bit of flour.
Cut the onion into medium sized wedges, quarter the carrot (half if it’s a small one) and slice the potatoes in cubes like seen in the picture above.
Peel and slice the apple in small cubes (about the size of a dice).
Put on the heat under a heave base pan (I always use cast iron) and pour in some olive oil.
Add the onion and carrot to the pan and stir for about two minutes, now add the potato and the apple.
Stir a few times and add the meat, let it color a bit and than add the Cider and the water.
Bring to the boil and than put it in the over for about 2,5 hours.
You can take it out sooner but I like it when the meat falls apart.
Drink this with a Cider, just delicious!

My sweetheart enjoying his meal and his Cider, bless him X