Kitchen Magic // Hollandaise

Firstly, if you're tired or not in the best of moods, I wouldn't recommend trying this! It takes patience, as I found earlier this week!

I'd never made a hollandaise sauce before but, in a moment of whimsy, and upon realising I had far more eggs than I would normally eat on my own this week and some of the season's asparagus, I thought it would be a good idea. Don't get me wrong - it was a beautiful dinner and I felt a real sense of achievement, but it wasn't the easiest of tasks. 

If you want to give it a go you will need:

* 3 eggs yolks

* 150 grams of butter

* 2 tbsp cold water

* The juice of half a lemon

* Salt and pepper to taste

* A heavy-bottomed pan, a whisk and a strong arm.

There were countless recipes and methods online, but I found this one to be the most simple, without the use of a food processor. 

1. Place the egg yolks, butter and water into a heavy-bottomed pan and heat gently, whisking constantly. Do not allow the pan to overheat (the sides should be lukewarm). 

2. When the butter has melted, whisk harder and turn the heat up slightly. Do not allow the mixture to steam. If it does, take it off the heat and continue whisking furiously. 

(AT THIS POINT MY MIXTURE SPLIT - YOU CAN READ THE REMEDY FOR THIS AT THE BOTTOM**)

3. Once you are happy with the thickness of your sauce, remove from the heat, squeeze in the lemon juice, taste and season to your preference. 

4. Enjoy poured over poached eggs / asparagus / salmon. 

** If you find your mixture has split or separated, you can fix this by putting a broken egg yolk into the bottom of a new pan, without heat and slowly, slowly, very slowly whisking the split mixture into it. It will combine into a thicker, glossy sauce. 

Note: If your mixture turns into scrambled eggs, it cannot be saved. This means you have had your pan too hot and you will have to enjoy scrambled eggs on toast instead!

A Harry Potter Extravaganza

Over a month ago now, I mentioned here, about a Harry Potter themed murder mystery party I was preparing for my aunty's 50th birthday party. 

My aunty's kitchen was transformed into the Hogwarts Great Hall with candles and goblets. 

Albus Dumbledore headed up the table, with the Gryffindors at one end; the Slytherins at the other.

Neville Longbottom, Professor Trelawney, Hermione Granger and Professor McGonagall puzzle over the murder mystery clues. 

Professor Umbridge decides some order and discipline are needed!

Much fun was had by all, with the exception of Molly Weasley who, not only had to cook dinner for 15 people, but was also found to be guilty of 'murdering' Harry Potter. What larks!

The lovely Jo over at the delightfully creative Tanglefrost wanted to know the recipe for Butterbeer. There were a couple that we found, although sadly didn't get to try the traditional one. It sounds absolutely delicious though, so I may be making it for a cosy night in in the near future!

The first is a kiddie-friendly non-alcoholic version but oh-so-very sweet that only a teeny tiny amount will probably make your fillings hurt!

* For every 4 glasses of cream soda (or club soda) you will need 1/4 glass

 of butterscotch syrup and 1/2 tbsp butter.

* Heat butter and butterscotch syrup over a low heat (or in the microwave) until the butter is melted and the mixture is bubbling slightly.

* Stir the warm mixture into the cream or club soda.

A more traditional recipe for Tudor 'Buttererd Beere' can be found here and sounds absolutely delicious.

Maybe I will brew a batch before watching the new film next Friday...11 days to go!

Thai Pumpkin and Prawn Curry

I love, love, love Thai food - and I particularly love a rich, creamy, coconutty, red Thai prawn curry.

This recipe brings a seasonal twist to my favourite aromatic indulgence: the inclusion of a pumpkin.

You could, of course, use squash in place of pumpkin. I had this giant beast for Halloween - and I was feeding five people, including B, who counts as two - so it was necessary. However, a humble butternut squash will suffice for most!

Image courtesy of www.taste.com

You will need:

* 400ml tin of coconut milk

* 1-2 tbsp red Thai curry paste (there is an excellent recipe for making your own here, although I like to add a teeny tiny bit of tomato puree to mine as well)

* 350ml fish stock (a stock cube dissolved in hot water will do)

* 2 tbsp fish sauce

* 2 tbsp palm sugar (caster sugar will do)
* 1/2 tsp Tamarind paste

* 3 lemongrass stalks, outer layer removed and bruised with a knife

* 1 kg pumpkin or squash, peeled and chopped into chunks

* 500g raw king prawns

* 3 or 4 pak choi, washed and separated

* Juice and zest of 1 lime

What to do...

1. Heat a large saucepan or casserole dish over a medium heat and mix together the red thai paste and the thick cream, skimmed off the top of the coconut milk. Mix these together rapidly.

2. Still stirring, add the rest of the coconut milk, fish stock, fish sauce, palm sugar, lime and lemongrass.

3. Add the pumpkin and bring to the boil, then simmer over a low heat until the pumpkin has softened.

4. About five minutes before you are ready to serve the curry, add the prawns and the pak choi. When the prawns are all pink, they are ready. 

5. Serve as a bowl of warming, spicy soup; over fragrant jasmine or coconut rice, or with Thai ribbon noodles. 

6. Enjoy. 

7. Go back for seconds. Enjoy some more. 

Apple and Elderberry Jam

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I shall begin...

What follows is the incredible tale of how the Hearthwitch Cottage kitchen came to look like a jam-bomb had exploded.

This story begins with around 1lb of elderberries; freshly picked from hedgerow-lined lanes, in the last days of summer. Our little hearth witch protagonist had taken extra special care not to pick more than necessary for she knew the needs of other creatures were far greater than her own. 

Some of the berries had their journey suspended in the enchanted land of frost and ice (they would later be put to good use, adding a sprinkle of sweetness to a sharp apple crumble or two) but the rest were destined for greatness. But what, thought the little hearth witch, would be a fitting finale for these wild berries? 

'Ah ha!' she cried, spying the mound of wind-fall Bramleys on her kitchen table. And thus, a plan was concocted...

Now...the hearth witch had never made jam before and, if she was entirely honest, she would admit that she was a little bit nervous and rather overwhelmed by all the information she read to try and help her brew a batch of deliciously sticky, fruity goodness. How were jars sterilised? What was a 'setting point' and how exactly was a witch to know when the elusive temperature had been reached without a thermometer in the house? Did she really need special jam-making sugar or would ordinary granulated do the job?

With a fretful sigh, the apples were carefully weighed - 1lb was needed to equal the amount of elderberry fruit - chopped and placed in a pan with water to heat and soften.

Next would come the bit about making sure the jars were sterilised...

The hearth witch set about washing the jars in hot soapy water and placed the lids into a pan with water to keep at a boil while she worked. Having read countless instructions (from places like this), our novice jam-maker decided to go for the 'oven-baked' approach and placed her jars, upside down on baking paper, in an oven that had been heated to 170 degrees C. (She was reliably informed that she should ensure her jam was ladled into jars while they were still hot so she left them in the oven until she was finished.)

Meanwhile, the appley-sharpness had bubbled away for ten minutes and the elderberry sweetness added until all fruit was soft and mushy. 2lb of sugar (after resigning herself to the fact that the chances of finding jam-makers' sugar on a Sunday afternoon in rural Wiltshire were slim-to-none, she plumped for ordinary granulated) and 2 tbsp of lemon juice were added and the mixture stirred with care over a low heat until all the sugar had dissolved. At this point, the heat was fired up and the jam was boiled furiously for several minutes until that mysterious, magickal 'setting point' was reached. (For tips on how to do this, see here). 

The hearth witch found that the 'splodge-of-jam-on-cold-plate-in-fridge' method worked far better than the 'waving-spoon-around-outside-kitchen-door' method. Her jam never succeeded in staying on the spoon and her neighbours now think she is a bit strange.

It was within the space of these 10-15 minutes that the hearth witch momentarily awoke from her jam-making reverie and glanced around: her kitchen looked like a jam-bomb had exploded.

She did, however, manage to achieve five jars of sticky (satisfactorily set!) sweetness - as well as a taster pot for herself - all out of an apple windfall and a meander down the lane. 'Quite an extraordinary achievement,' the hearth witch said to herself, as she brushed back her unkempt hair and put her feet up with a cup of tea and a crumpet spread with jam.

Practical Magic Party 2010

A day late - and I sincerely apologise for my unpunctuality - but here is my tardy contribution to the Practical Magic Blog Party.

As I'm sure is the case for scores of the film's fans out there, this is one of my favourite scenes...

Eye of newt, toe of frog, wing of bat, tongue of dog.
Adder’s fork and blind worm’s sting…
Barbados lime is just the thing.
Fragias salt, like a sailors stubble…
Flip the switch, and let the cauldron bubble

Many a nights have been spent with my friends, squeezing countless limes to make batches of 'Midnight Margaritas' and dancing around to Harry Nilsson's 'Coconut' in fits of giggles. I think it is this scene from the film which best succeeds in capturing the wonder of 'family', whether that be the one you're born into, or the one you choose for yourself: the quirks, the in-jokes and traditions and the silliness that can only be truly shared when you just know each other that well. 

With this in mind, I give you a wonderful recipe, which captures that joyful naughtiness in an indulgent, creamy ice-cream, courtesy of Nigella Lawson...

Margarita Ice Cream

Ingredients

* 125ml lime juice

*2 tbsp Tequila

*3 tbsp orange liqueur (Cointreau or Gran Marnier)

* 150g icing sugar

*500ml double cream

Method

1. Pour the lime juice, Tequila and orange liqueur into a bowl and stir in the icing sugar until it dissolves.

2. Add the cream and whisk until the mixture is thick and smooth but not stiff - soft peaks should form.

3. Spoon the mixture into an airtight container and put into the freezer overnight.

You do not need to remove the ice cream from the freezer in advance of serving as it won't freeze too hard and melts pretty quickly. It really is a lovely, tangy treat and one which looks and tastes impressive without actually requiring much work. 

I hope you have fun trying this one out - perfect for a girl's night in with the Practical Magic DVD. 

Blessings.

Summer is drawing to a close..

...and I am making the most of the late harvests in the garden.

I have sweet tomatoes...

...a veritable jungle of runner beans climbing my wall...

...an abundance of peppery rocket in my tub...

...and lots of spinach and beetroot too.

I'm so thankful for these rewards for my first efforts with my little garden.

I have now watched the seasons turn full circle in this place where I came to rest. It is lovely to see the difference from this time last year, when the soil looked barren and empty as we moved into autumn.

Now, as the days draw in and the mornings are spiked with an autumnal chill, I am warmed by the knowledge that I have made things work in this past year. My garden, my job, my relationship have all been fruitful and these thoughts are the store which will keep me going through winter. 

Amaretti

Anything almond flavoured is a bit of an obsession of mine. My favourite drink is an amaretto sours and I absolutely adore soft, squidgy almond macaroons - just like these 'amaretti morbidi'.

In the past I have had to learn to curb my enthusiasm for treats such as these, for two reasons. Firstly, I have found it rare for shops to stock the truly 'soft' amaretti that I prefer. Secondly, when I have chanced to happen upon them, my delight has usually been dampened by the expensive price. 

So, when a friend made  some of these for me as a Christmas gift last year, I begged her to give me the recipe, in order to put an end to my amaretti embargo. You will need the following:

* 180g ground almonds

*120g caster sugar

* Grated zest of one lemon

*1/2 tsp natural almond extract

* 1 pinch of salt

* 2 egg whites

* 1 tbsp honey

* Flaked almonds for rolling

* Icing sugar for rolling

Firstly, preheat the oven to 160 degrees C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Grate the zest of one lemon and mix this together with the ground almonds, caster sugar, salt and almond extract. Rub the mixture together with your finger tips.

In a separate bowl, mix the egg whites and honey and whisk until soft peaks form, like so...

You will now need to combine both your wet and dry mixtures. Fold the wet into the dry with a large metal spoon until you get a paste.

Roll the paste into small round balls of about 20grams in weight. Roll each ball on a plate of flaked almonds and then a plate of icing sugar.

Place the amaretti on the tray lined with greaseproof paper and bake for 12-16 minutes in the oven.

When you remove the amaretti from the oven they should be a light golden colour and still be chewy on the inside. This may take a bit of experimentation to perfect - my first attempt were browned on the base, although still tasted delicious.

Enjoy!

In praise of the Sun God

The vibrant sun is at its most powerful at this point in the year: our days are lengthy of light and warmth. At this time the earth is bounteous and crops are growing all around, whether in vast fields or more humble gardens.

The nasturtium seeds that I planted a mere month ago, here, are now well established and I hope to have a host of golden, orange and red hues adorning my little front wall and bowls of salads come late summer.

A mixture of salad leaf seeds that I planted in a giant tub about two weeks ago are sprouting healthily. I'm looking forward to some rocket adding a peppery taste to the mix as well.

Along one tiny little bed I can also see my spinach leaves and beetroot poking up out of the soil. I love the rich red of their stems.

And last but certainly not least, the beans have come to join the party! This is my first sprout on show today - hopefully, with a bit of guidance and support, the runner beans will climb straight up my wall.

As I have such a small plot of land at the front of my house, with nowhere to grow under cover, I have had to wait until so late in the season for the ground to be warm enough to plant straight out. But here they come, to accompany my miniature strawberry harvest, as the fruits of this year's labours.

Thank you to the great Sun God for encouraging these little wonders to grow. 

A little piece of heaven

A small harvest

My hanging-basket of strawberries is beginning to offer up its fruits...

 I am so excited to taste these!

In a couple of weeks, B and I are making a journey on a steam train. 

It would be just perfect to have home-grown strawbs in our picnic.

Fingers crossed!

The simple life

One of the most joyful aspects of living on a farm is seeing these little guys popping across the yard for their morning walk...

Everything is an adventure and filled with intrigue.

However, not all eggs can become little balls of chickadee cuteness.

So the bonus is that I get to have fresh ones for my tea. 

Yum yum yum.

May day musings

As mentioned in yesterday's Beltane post, May day marks the start of summer. This morning, as I watched the swallows whip in and out of the barns, swooping down to mere inches above my head and soaring back up against the sky, it did indeed feel like summer is upon us.

Sadly the swallows were too quick for me to get a good photo, so this 

illustration from the RSPB will have to do. 

It was Aristotle who famously said...

'One swallow does not make a summer'

...and by three o'clock, as the dark clouds set in and the rain came tumbling down, I felt a renewed understanding of those wise words. Here in the UK, our weather can be so temperamental that sometimes it does not feel like we have a proper summer at all. 

And then I thought, if we can't always have the sun, what does make summer here?

Oh yes...

...these play a pretty big part!

And so I spent the rest of my afternoon cheerfully potting up a hanging basket of strawberry plants for outside my window. 

As I filled my humble basket with the nutritious soil and watered in my little summer-fruit bearing plants, I smiled thinking that this is exactly what May day is a celebration of: the start of things to come. It marks the beginning of the season which will provide us with food to harvest, in a month or two. 

Or perhaps even sooner, in the case of this little one...

Strawberry plants are pretty versatile and can be grown in all sorts of pots and containers, as long as they have drainage. I was really pleased with my basket which, when I look out of my window, will remind me of the harvests yet to come, both in my garden and in my life.

I can't wait to taste the fruits of my labour soon - hopefully to be enjoyed with a little bit of that elusive sunshine.

Nettle Soup

Using some of the nettles I gathered during yesterday's foraging expedition, I made this mineral-rich soup.

You only need a handful of simple ingredients, as follows:

1/2 a carrier bag of collected nettles (tops and young leaves only)
2 tbsp olive oil (alternatively use 50g butter or margerine)
1 large onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped or crushed)
1 medium potato (chopped into small cubes)
1 1/2 pints vegetable stock
2 tbsp cream or creme fraiche (alternatively use a cupful of milk)
Salt and black pepper.

*  Wash the nettles thoroughly and discard any thick stems.
*  Heat the oil (or butter) in a large pan and sweat the onions and garlic until soft, but do not allow to brown.
*  Pile in the nettles and stir thoroughly. Leave to sweat for 2 minutes.
*  Add the potatoes and cover with stock.
*  Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes until tender.
*  Season with salt and black pepper.
*  Blend the soup thoroughly and stir through cream, creme fraiche or milk.
*  Return to the heat but do not allow to boil.
*  Check seasoning and serve with a swirl of cream.

Enjoy - safe in the knowledge that those stinging hairs have miraculously disappeared!

Foraging

The village wise-woman of yesteryear would not have had access to online pagan shops, sending her sage bundles and juniper berries via express delivery; nor would folk have a Waitrose or Sainsbury's round the corner to buy pre-packaged bananas which have been flown thousands of miles and had their ripening process artificially sped up with chemicals.

Granted, these are extreme examples, but the principle behind them is simple: today we literally have our food put on our plates. Comparatively few people 'hunt' or 'gather' any more. While many still tend a garden to grow some herbs, vegetables and fruit and some may rear animals for their produce, this is a decreasing number in the UK. I would put money on fewer still going out into the countryside and 'foraging' for their food. 

At this time of year the hedgerows are springing back to life. We see nettles, dandelions and yarrow sprouting up; in a month or so the wild garlic will be out; come summer there will be elderflower to collect and by autumn the rosehips, blackberries and sloes will be ready for harvesting. According to researchers at Emory University, Atlanta, our ancestors ate 200 more plant species than us, gaining five times more micro-nutrients and three times more vitamins as a result.

Today I will focus on the humble nettle, more well known for its infamous sting than its culinary and medicinal properties. In the UK the nettle is ubiquitous, making it a perfect food for wild foraging. You can find them in fields, hedgerows, along pathways and - with all probability - in your own back garden. 

At this time of year, the leaves are tender and fresh, so you can pick the whole stem. You should avoid larger leaves as the plants get bigger, instead choosing only the shoots, and don't pick them once the plant has flowered. Remember to take care whilst picking them as they can give a nasty sting. I recommend wearing tough gloves - the kind of thing you would usually adorn for gardening. 

Once you have gathered enough, there is a variety of culinary uses for these mineral-rich leaves: soups, teas and juices are the most well-known, although our favourite seasonal chef - Hugh Fearnley-Wurnley - has a slightly more ambitious recipe for nettle tagliatelle if you fancy having a go! I'll be posting up a recipe for nettle soup tomorrow.

Nettles are rich in vitamins and minerals: they are an important source of beta-carotene, vitamins A, C and E as well as iron, calcium and phosphates. Medically, it is renowned for its astringent, anti-inflammatory and diuretic properties all of which combine to recommend it for use as a remedy against hepatic, arthritic and rheumatic conditions, as well as in the treatment of allergies, anaemia and kidney diseases. 

Nettle tea, for example, is useful in the treatment of diseases and inflammations of the urinary tract; it is also said to be helpful in the elimination of viruses and bacterial infections. A nettle infusion or tincture used to wash the scalp is said to help with the regeneration and growth of hair, as well as reducing dandruff. Nettle juice, drunk before meals has the effect of reducing high blood pressure and improving anaemia; it is also of benefit in the case of renal insufficiency to drink one glass per day in the morning. 

Some words of warning!

With any wild foods, it is important that you take due care and consideration when foraging. Firstly, do not gather and eat plants, mushrooms or seeds unless you are 100% certain that you know what they are. Although there is a rich abundance of food sources in our countryside, there are also many highly toxic species to be found. 

Secondly, please be considerate of the environment and tread lightly upon it. There are many creatures who make their homes in hedgerows and fields so take care not to disturb them. Please also be aware that although some plants - like the nettle - are considered ubiquitous weeds, others are rarer and should not be gathered. 

Happy foraging!