Welcome to Foodies Heaven.

My love of food started at an early age, cooking with my Grandmother baking cakes.  My grandparents had a large garden that my uncle grew many kinds of vegetables in along with the green house where I used to go and sit with the salt from the kitchen happily eating the tomatoes.  That is how I remember vegetables tasting fresh from the garden with meat fresh from the local butchers, belly pork slow roasted a breast of lamb with roast potatoes braised liver and onions all now fashionable but were then the cheaper cuts of meat.

When I left school i went on a YTS learning catering while i waited to join the Army as an apprentice chef, I never liked the army but loved cooking so i left and worked in various restaurants.  I left the industry many years ago but have continued to enjoy cooking and food.

In the last few years I have become increasingly interested in free range and organic food, shopping at the local farmers markets and farm shops, the tastes and smells reminding me of how meat and veg was when a child.  We should all support our local producers and buy as much as we can from them rather than the multi national supermarkets whose only concern is profit not quality, for those that say they have to use a supermarket through cost this again is not true, my local butcher does 2 free range chickens for under £7 you will not get these prices and quality in any supermarket.

On this site I will try to bring you information on all things food form book reviews to recipes and guides.  If you have any ideas or are looking for something in particular drop me a mail or message and I will try my best to help.

As regular readers will know I have done a few courses with James Swift and Ruth at Trealy farm from the fantastic Meat Course which is so much more than the title suggests to ham and bacon making with Trealy Farm Charcuterie butcher John Standerwick a true master of butchery.

I have always had a love of pigs so when I was told by James that he had some pigs in sow I asked if I could have one when they were ready.  I have visited the farm as they grew and listened to James stories of them digging up flowers, escaping and creating general havoc at the farm. The pigs are a cross saddleback and mangalitsa, both breeds make fantastic pork and the mangalitsa is renowned for its fantastic fat.

With the recent scandal in the meat industry and the public demanding clearer traceability for the meat what better than to have actually seen your meat in a field foraging for its natural food and to know that it has had a full and happy life.  I honestly think that this is the only way forward with our demand for meat, if communities or groups of friends can find local meat producers and in effect adopt a pig, some sheep to even a cow they cut out the middle man, they move from the factory farmed imports from Europe to a sustainable and far more ethical and economical way to eat meat.

We arrived at the farm on Saturday afternoon in glorious sunshine to start our pork butchery.  After a walk around the farm we or should I say that Ffion chose the pig we were going to butcher.  I think that educating children as to where food really comes from is very important as you can see from the pictures she is more than happy to be around real food not plastic wrapped insipid meat in a supermarket, she is aware that meat comes from animals and is happy with this.  Her method for choosing our pig with James was quite ammusing she simply wanted the one with the most nipples. 

The process of breaking down a side of pork into what we recognise as cuts of meat is not that difficult, t break into what are called the primal cuts takes four basic cuts, seperate the leg, shoulder and split the loin and belly.  From there you start to break it down further into chops, belly slices, bacon, hams all the trims go for sausage the head and tortters making brawn and fantastic stock. 

I shall post recipes using the cuts of pork that we got from our side of pork, from roasts to stews and hopefully as it warms up bbq ribs.

For an hour or so work at a cost far less than supermarket meat we now have pork that will last a few months, we have shoulder roast. leg hams, bacon, chops and all the other fantastic pork goodies that generally the butcher keeps for himself. 

If you would like further information on sourcing your own pork and even details on where you can hire a unit to butcher it just drop me message or leave a comment on here.

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Sausages, Weiners, Boudins, Salcicce

Earlier in the week through the twitterverse I received a message from Katherine Marland who owns and runs Kathers Kitchen.  Katherine is part of the team now running courses at Humble by Nature, the message was an invite to attend a course on sausage making.  As anyone who knows me will tell you if it involves pork or curing or chacuterie then the invite will only need asking once, to find out that the course was being taught by Graham Waddington who is the owner of Native Breeds was fantastic.  

The timing of this invite could not of been better timed, I had just finished one contract and was on a week off before starting a new contract next week.  Add to this that it was a day before my birthday and it was a fantastic present.

As readers of the blog will know I had met Kather before when Ffion made bread with her, bread being my nemesis and the fact that since that day mine and Ffions bread making has gone from strength to strength we decided to make a loaf of bread for me to take on the day as a small gift.

I got to the farm a little early and was met by Graham who runs all the courses at Humble Farm and was taken to the barn where the course was to be run, tea and coffee was already on the go for the attendees of the course along with some delicious honey biscuits made by Kather who does all the cooking for the courses.  Over the next half hour or so the other course students arrived and over coffee and tea we were all introduced to each other and talked about what we were expecting from the course.

On the introduction notes to the course listed on the sausages that we would make was the Austrian smoked sausage also known as a Frankfurter and the ubiquitous “hot dog” this sausage is often vilified as cheap and often nasty fast food but a good Austrian sausage or weiner is something to enjoy.  Having lived in Germany for several years when in the Army I had some great Frankfurters not the cheap tinned or bottled supermarket hot dogs we are used to here.  The method for making these kind of sausages is an emulsion, 60% lean meat, 20% back fat, 20% frozen water and seasoning’s, the secret is having the meat as cold as possible Graham had the meat part frozen having placed it in the freezer for an hour or two prior to us making the sausages, the meat and ice are blended and then the fat added bit by bit to create a silky smooth paste.  I could go into far more detail on the whys and hows of the process but will keep it for another post.  The sausages we made were to be part of our lunch so we all hoped that we had done ok in the making of the Austrian sausage, after we had made the emulsion and then cased them they were placed in a smoker ready to be done in time for lunch.

The second sausage we were introduced to was an Italian fennel salcicce, these kind of sausages are made right across Europe and are predominantly a cooking sausage, the richness of flavours means a little goes a long way, just like a Toulouse sausage in the famous cassoulet a little goes a long way the flavours imparting themselves onto what ever they are cooked with butter beans in the case of cassoulet.

That was the morning done and we were all ready for lunch, well on a sausage making course what else for lunch but a selection of sausages along with a salad some amazing sauerkraut, mayonnaise, frittata and a fantastic bread role for the Austrian smoked sausages we had made earlier in the day.  Lunch seemed to last an age with everyone enjonying the food and talking, to top of lunch a dessert of bread and butter pudding with fruits and syrup was presented to us along with more coffee and tea, I think people would of happily sat talking over what we had done that morning.  

The afternoon session started with my all time favourite sausage chorizo, there are so many types of this amazing Spanish sausage from  hot spicy to sweet smoked every region and town having there own versions, dry salami type to cooking sausages each having its own merits, you can not beat a snacking chorizo salami and for a rich and unctuous risotto a cooking chorizo crumbled into the dish is an amazing addition.

The final part of the day was making a boudin blanc as we were told every French butcher will have a different version some say you must add chicken others that it must be veal, again it is an emulsified sausage this time the frozen water replaced with milk we used an unpasturised milk along with the lean meat and back fat adding white pepper and other spices an some breadcrumbs to help with the binding process.  I can now say I have a new addition to my favourite sausages or pudding if you like to add to my boudin noir addiction.

The day was rounded off with more of Kathers fantastic cooking with millionaires shortbread a coffee and everyone enthusing on what a great day it had been, all learning new things and taking away knowledge that to make a fantastic sausage is not some dark art but a skill that our grandparents used all the time, communities used to grow a few pigs among them and it really is amazing how much sausage can be made from just 2kg of meat, many of the sausages we made today used veal, this meat must be used more if you drink or eat dairy then you should make a conscious effort to source and eat good veal, this is not the meat that was shown in such a bad lite in the 80′s but a fantastic meat that we should all be enjoying.

I was invited to attend this course but would happily attend more of Humble by Nature courses.  I consider myself extremely lucky that through my food blog and love for good food I have now learnt various aspects of charcuterie and sausage making by two of the UK’s leading experts on the subject, if you are in anyway interested in making your own sausages attend the course you will not be disappointed.

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Children and Food Festivals

The month of September is always a favorite in my home, not just because it is my birthday or the fact that for the last few years the weather has been some of the best of the year, last weekend was spent swimming in the sea off Llangrannog this weekend The Abergavenny Food Festival probably my favorite weekend of the year.

Tickets were bought online the day the site went live, a firm favorite of Ffions is the food academy there was an added bonus this year in the fact that one of the guest chefs was Richard Bertinet, the classes are a first come first served basis so at around 1.15 on Saturday afternoon we placed ourselves in some chairs near the tent. 

Ffion the cook

The classes are coordinated by Catherine Fookes who does a fantastic job.  This was Ffion’s third time having previously made Welsh sausage ragu and last year canapes.  On this occasion the children were making smoked fish chowder.

Big cook little cook

A simple recipe but a classic, potato, mushroom, onion, smoked haddock, bacon and milk.  As you can see the little cook needed a sous chef to help with prep, this is a common trend with her, I think one day she will make a good head chef as she is very good at giving the orders.

Richard was fantastic with the children and helped out with the prep as well.

Two big cooks one little cook

It is going to take a bit more practice on knife skills for the filleting.

Filleting Fish

If you get the chance for your children to attend one of the kitchen academy classes I would highly recommend it for the grown ups Richard runs classes in Bath one of which will be my next course. 

Ffion enjoyed it so much that tonight she is making it for me again using bacon from Trealy Farm and smoked haddock from Black Mountain Smokery I will do separate post of this shortly.   Of course with a good chowder a good bread is needed and Ffion mad a lot of people jealous when after watching Richard do his rant at the Rude Health rants that she was the very proud recipient of one very large sourdough.  One of the best loaves of bread I have ever tasted.

Ffion and her sourdough

This years food festival was as usual fantastic and the organisers should give themselves a big pat on the back.

Seedy Penpals

The title is not what it seems, a while ago I went foraging and met Mel from www.ediblethings.net I followed her on twitter and when a few weeks later her and Carl Legge who runs www.carllegge.com came up with an idea for people to become seedy pen pals I joined the list, the idea is that people are matched from the pen pal list and send each other seeds to grow.  My garden knowledge is limited to say the least last years veg were decimated by slugs, snails and little furry hoppy creatures that visit my garden on a daily basis, the dog just looks at them and pays them no attention at all.  The idea of getting seeds plus also joining a group where people may be able to help me was a win win situation.

I have a very large garden with various fruit trees at the top apple, pear, plum and a mulberry tree.  The crop this year is looking very poor at the moment one of the apple and a pear tree have very few fruits on.  The veg patch is not looking healthy either with all the rain we have had this year, maybe I should take up growing aquatic plants.

I am looking forward to getting my seeds and maybe learning more about growing things.  I will update this post as my journey with seeds and plants moves forward.

My seedy penpal was Peter McCarthy from Luxembourg.  Peter runs a gardening service and you can find out more about him here

My package arrived and I had been told that it didn’t contain just seeds but a root cutting as well, there was some advice regarding the root cutting being vigorous and having a tendency to take over areas, the root cutting in question was chocolate mint.

With the advice of it taking over a suitable home needed to be found where it could happily grow and not cause issue with anything else.

The mints new home on the corner of the house, plenty of growing space plus will add some nice scent along with the rosemary that lives around the corner.

The other seeds I received were rocket, spring onions, parsley, gala field salad and alfalfa.

I have grown all before apart from the alfalfa and use them in abundance so the choice was great another bonus is that they can all still be sown.

 The alfalfa pack from Peter is in Luxembourgish but with the help of google I have translated the growing instructions.

As the seeds grow and the mint takes hold in its new home I shall add new pictures to this post.

Myself and Ffion are looking forward to growing the seeds and the mint growing.  I shall get Ffion to do some more of her drawings to to make it even more interesting.

More can be found out about the seedy penpals scheme over at Carl’s site linked here

French Holiday

I have for as long as I remember wanted to visit Carcassonne in the South West of France.  Around two months ago on the spur of the moment I booked a week in a gite starting on the 14th of July as most will be aware the day is Bastille day and the medieval cite holds what is possibly the largest firework displays in Europe with a reported attendance of over 700,000 visiting the cite and surrounding areas to watch the display.  Having now saw this I can only say it is one of the most amazing spectacles I have seen in my life getting on for 40 minutes of a display that at times takes your breath away.

The rest of the holiday was spent exploring the South West corner of France from beaches to mountains there is something for everyone, amazing markets such as the one at Mirepoix, stunning coast line from Narbonne along to Perpignan that then goes into the stunning Pyrenees mountains.  The are is known for its wine and I must confess to sampling one or two local wines.  Overall my food experience was a disappointment, poor charcuterie, average cassoulet.  Great bread and croissants and the best chicken I have had in many years from what  basically a barn on a farm selling local nectarines so juicy and fresh, apricot tarts all from a shed.

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The gallery is a work in progress I have more images to edit and upload having taking over 600 pictures, thankfully the days of digital is far easier than film.

If you enjoy the pictures leave a comment let me know what you think.

BBQ Hake and Seared Vegetables

Back from a week sunning myself in the south-west of France and it seems that I brought the sun we had back with me so it was a natural thing to fire up the BBQ after a visit to the farmers market the usual purchase of various pork products from James of Trealy Farm charcuterie, croissants from Bev of Creative Food, veg from Ty Mawr organics and a fantastic piece of Hake from Lee the flying fish monger.

One of the most abundant vegetables at this time of year is the courgette and it lends itself to so many dishes from soups to adding to your roast veg selection one of my favourite ways to cook it is to marinade in olive oil, lemon zest, chilli flakes and fennel seeds.  Slice the courgettes finely use a mandolin if you have one.

marinade for courgettes

Courgettes

The hake was placed in a foil bag with lemon and butter and lightly seasoned.

Hake

I tend to cook the fish with indirect heat from the BBQ by placing it to the back while  other stuff is cooking over the higher heat, to go with the courgettes I had a romano pepper which tastes great after blacking the skin and peeling.  With the char grilled courgettes some sliced tomatoes and the butter from the hake parcel you have a simple meal in under ten minutes.

Char Grilled Courgettes

Hake with char grilled vegetables

Summer on a plate in under ten minutes.

A day as a trader!

As a general rule of thumb I tend to a customer at Usk Farmers Market, this week has turned out somewhat different.  Friday night I sent a tweet ask James of Trealy Farm if he would be at Usk, as he was attending the food festival in Cardiff he would be there but only for a short time as he had nobody to run his stall at Usk, when he said this I had drank one or two small beers a few hours later after a few more I sent James a tweet saying that I would run the stall if he had found nobody else.  Rule number 1 whilst in the Army was never volunteer, rule number 2 was see rule number 1.

So Saturday morning saw me set off to a market trader not a customer, I already know a lot of the traders at the market and after a brief of what was what and being called the apprentice I was all set.  The sample of the day was the new lamb merguez sausages, James had already fried some off and they were going down well with the customers, during the morning I cooked off some more and now have a new favourite.  The difference from being a customer to a trader was an eye opener for me, in the past I have cooked my own sausages and taken them around the traders but this was different, it helped that I have a great respect for the product that I was selling and thoroughly enjoyed my day as a trader, all the other traders were great as usual and the weather was slightly better than we have experienced of late.

The best part of the day was my payment, the last time I worked on a market stall of any kind was over 30 years ago and I used to get five pound for the day today’s pay was the best days pay I have had in a very long time, I came home with a goodie bag packed by James before he left for Cardiff.

A days pay lots of meat goodies

Will I do it again in all honesty yes without a shadow of doubt, I enjoyed every minute, not often you say that about working.