River Cottage forager and keen homebrewer John Wright explains how to make a quick, simple nettle beer. Nettle beer and homemade cider can help to keep costs down for the rural drinker. This article titled “Homebrew from the hedgerow” was written by John Wright, for guardian.co.uk on Wednesday 18th May 2011 13.15 UTCAs an enthusiastic forager who enjoys a tipple it was perhaps inevitable that I would become a homebrewer. Not that my path to alcoholic excellence has been a straight one. Back in the early 1980s, while living in a remote farmhouse surrounded by hedgerow delights of every kind, I became rather obsessive and brewed everything that would stand still for long enough. After a few disasters and the uncomfortable observation that friends (who had over the years been plied with various concoctions of questionable virtue) were finding imaginative reasons for not visiting me, I hung up my demijohns and retired hurt for many years. Then a huge haul of cherry plums one July tempted me to resume my chequered career and now the house is again filled with bottles and tubes and buckets and potions.There is a deep satisfaction to be gained from taking a plant from the garden or the hedgerow, exploring new tastes and making a palatable drink. The colourful demijohns, bubbling gently away on the shelf look lovely and, of course, homebrewing costs little.Well, it can be cheap but I’m a sucker for “kit” and now own every bit of equipment the home-brewing shop is prepared to sell me. From sugar refractometer to cider apple press, pH titration kit to thermostatically controlled brewing cabinet, I have the lot. I guess it’s a boy thing. But (despite what I have told my wife) you really don’t need all this stuff – just some buckets, demijohns, bubble-traps, plastic tubing and bottles. Below is a recipe which requires little more than can be found in the kitchen.Homebrewing was once, back in the 1970s and 80s, if not exactly fashionable then certainly popular. Then, I suspect, many people hit the roadblocks I encountered and it became a minority sport. Homebrewing kits, however, are still used by many and are generally very good, but there is little sense of “ownership” in brewing this way.I like the interesting recipes and novel tastes that can be enjoyed using the totally DIY approach. And do not be cowed by the notion that homemade wines, for example, are inferior to “proper” wine – they are just different. Over the next few weeks I will be relating my experiences, both good and bad, as a homebrewer. I hope you will join me in this little enterprise; perhaps suggesting plants and recipes I may not have tried, perhaps relating your triumphs and disasters. I trust you will enjoy the journey. Nettle beerI use nettles a lot. I have made nettle pasta, nettle pakoras and, best of all, nettle soup. But it will also make a good beer. Nettle hunting can be a painful experience unless you go equipped. Thick clothing, rubber gloves and good footwear are essential, but the blasted things will always get you somewhere. Last week, despite extensive precautions, one managed to go straight up my trouser-leg. I am thinking of buying some bee-keeper’s clothing for next time.It’s getting towards the end of the main nettle season but a shady area should still provide a good supply of young nettles tops (those that have not shown their dangling flower spikes) and a cut-down nettle patch will provide a second crop later in the year. The older leaves are rather bitter so just collect the half-dozen or so at the top.This simple brew is easy to make but rather treacherous. The flavour is pleasant, if unsophisticated, and a pint of the stuff has the same effect on one’s equilibrium as downing a pint of champagne would have.IngredientsA couple of the ingredients are worthy of note: “Copper finings” are not a scary as they sound. The name is a reference to a brewing vessel, not what they contain. The seaweed “caragheen”, also known as “Irish moss”, is the most commonly used – its purpose is to prevent the “haze” of protein that will otherwise spoil the beer’s appearance.1kg nettle tops (approximately one carrier bag stuffed to bursting) 5 litres water 450g sugar Juice of two lemons 50g cream of tartar Copper finings (Irish moss) Not absolutely essential. If used, follow the instructions on the packet A sachet of beer yeastBoil the nettles with the finings for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through a colander or sieve into a sterilised (rinse with Campden tablet solution then boiled water) food-grade plastic bucket.Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Leave to cool to room temperature. Add the lemon juice and the yeast. You will probably need to “activate” the yeast first – it will tell you on the sachet. Cover and leave for three days.Siphon into sterilised swing-top bottles making sure not to disturb the sediment that will have accumulated at the bottom of the bucket. The beer will continue to ferment, gradually building up a head of steam, and is ready to drink in a week, though longer will be better.Gently release the pressure on one of the bottles every now and then to check that the “steam” isn’t building up too much. Despite the finings this beer can sometimes be a little cloudy – remember that this is a homebrew, so it is simply considered as character. And do not concern yourself about a little sediment at the bottom of the bottle – just pour carefully! guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogHomebrew from the hedgerowRelated posts:Free BeerNain’s bara brith recipeHow to make a log pile wildlife habitat
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Homebrew from the hedgerow
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/06/30/homebrew-from-the-hedgerow
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June 30 2011, 1:11pm | Comments »
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Can a family of four be fed for £50 a week?
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/04/30/can-a-family-of-four-be-fed-for-50-a-week
Sainsbury’s is launching a deal that promises it can be done. We asked three leading food writers if it’s really possible
This article titled “Can a family of four be fed for £50 a week?” was written by Fiona Beckett, Simon Majumdar and Richard Ehrlich, for The Guardian on Friday 29th April 2011 23.05 UTC Fiona Beckett: Yes you can Sure you can feed your family for £50 a week, just as you can restrict yourself to 1,200 calories a day if you need to. But it takes willpower, and supermarkets aren’t always the best places to exercise that. Everything – well, practically everything – will have to be pre-planned. You can’t afford to be deflected by impulse buys, though it’s worth keeping, say, a £5 float to take advantage of offers on non-perishable foods like pasta and tinned tuna and for stocking up on basics like herbs and spices (which are cheaper in independent shops than supermarkets). You’ll have to stop pandering to your kids. On this kind of budget you can’t afford to let everyone eat what they like whenever they feel like it. Shared mealtimes are easier to control than 24/7 fridge raiding. Set whatever you don’t need aside for another meal rather than leaving it on the side for scavengers to dip into. Insist that kids ask you when they want a snack rather than just helping themselves. (Frugality, I’m afraid, requires a degree of fascism that doesn’t come easily to today’s laid-back parents.) Forget heavily advertised brands (despite moans from the kids) and buy – or at least try – own label. Discover when your nearest supermarket tends to have reductions. I used to find the one at my local petrol station would virtually give away unsold meat and veg on a Sunday night. The main challenge on a low budget is keeping some variety in your diet. If you build a couple of days round mince (say, a spag bol one night and chilli con carne the next), you could then switch to seafood like frozen prawns, veg and rice for the next two to three days. Forget the idea that every meal has to have expensive lumps of protein – do as our parents and grandparents did, and pad out meals with carbs and puddings. Not all the old wisdom applies though, it has to be said. Veg aren’t always – sadly – cheaper in season. (Frozen berries are almost always cheaper than fresh, for instance.) “Cheap” cuts can be anything but. It can, bizarrely, be more economical to buy steak on special offer than mince, if you stretch it by slicing it thinly. Sometimes ready-made foods like cakes or puds are cheaper than baking them yourself (though in general anything pre-sliced, grated or cubed is a rip-off). And remember that no one shop has all the bargains. You can bet your life that if Sainsbury’s – or any other supermarket – is promoting products to make them look as cheap as chips, they’ll be marking up other lines that will cost you less elsewhere. The old adage that does still apply is “shop around”. Fiona Beckett is author of The Frugal Cook, published by Absolute Press. guardian.co.uk/profile/fionabeckett
Simon Majumdar: No you can’t In 1994, Sainsbury’s ran a campaign promising to feed a family of four for less than £50 a week. I had my doubts then, and I have them even more now that the company is offering almost exactly the same deal some 17 years later. The simple fact is, that while it may be feasible to feed a family of four for £50, it is, I believe, almost impossible to do it well for such a lowly sum. One may be able to meet people’s basic nutritional needs, but it will give little variety in the diet and extract all joy from the experience of dining. Some might suggest that, if people are financially stretched, they should be prepared to forgo certain pleasures to make ends meet. However, for me, such a notion is only a short remove from Ebenezer Scrooge’s impassioned cry of “are there no workhouses?” and has no place in this discussion. A £50 a week budget equates to £1.79 per person, per day. This amount is less than is allocated to guests of Her Majesty’s Prisons and only marginally more than is spent on the daily meals of the majority of National Health Service patients. While one doesn’t hear of too many people dying of malnutrition in hospitals and prisons, one also doesn’t hear of too many people clamouring to change places with them when dinner time comes around. It is possible, of course, to wheel out some well-intentioned nutritionist to talk about “wholesome soups” or “hearty bowls of pasta” in defence of the notion that it is possible to eat well, cheaply. However, anyone who has ever spent time subsisting as a student will testify that, while such dishes might do the job of filling a person’s stomach, the regular arrival of bowls of soup or dishes of spaghetti bolognese, night after night, can be enough to drive a person to bloody murder. Such a view also labours under the incorrect assumption that while people may be economically troubled, they can still find the time to seek out cheap, fresh ingredients and labour over a hot stove to make sure that their families receive all they need from their three square meals a day. If there ever was an era when such a thing was true, it is certainly not the case today when both parents are probably holding down jobs to pay the bills. Sainsbury’s latest promotion might seem like one possible solution to the issue. However, to me, it confirms only two things. One, that marketing people are incapable of ever coming up with new ideas. And, more worryingly, if the cost of this basket of food, meant to feed two adults and their offspring, remains the same nearly two decades on, there must be serious concerns about the quality. Whatever one thinks of our supermarkets, few people would ever consider them exemplars of altruism. For food to be sold at this price must mean that corners have been cut, costs have been shaved, and producers have been squeezed. The cynic in me can’t help thinking that all three are probably the case. Accepting this heady combination of uncertain food quality, a lack of variety and little enjoyment, it may well be possible to physically sustain a family of four people on the meagre sum of £50 a week. But, I have to admit, if I was in such a situation, Her Majesty’s Prisons might begin to look pretty appealing. Simon Majumdar is the co-writer of Dos Hermanos, one of the UK’s most widely read food blogs. guardian.co.uk/profile/simon-majumdar
Richard Ehrlich: Well, maybe It would certainly be possible to feed a hypothetical family of four on a budget of £50 a week – the big question is whether it would be any fun. Before going any further, I have to add that all bets are off if the household includes teenage boys. The UK Department of Health’s Estimated Average Requirements call for a daily calorie intake of 1,940 calories per day for women and 2,550 for men. Teenage boys seem to need at least 5,000 or they start eating their own fingers. For the rest of us, £12.50 a week is just about do-able. It means avoiding many processed and pre-prepared foods: ready-meals for four can devour your whole daily budget. Favour porridge over boxed breakfast cereals, cheap seasonal veg over fancy salad leaves or sugar snap peas from Kenya, fresh fruit over fruit juice. It also means relying on cheap sources of protein. But remember that you don’t need much protein, far less than most omnivores eat. Try to use meat as a seasoning instead of the main event of the meal: four rashers of top-notch bacon will flavour a whole pot of beans or a pasta sauce. If you sometimes need an identifiable piece of meat on the plate, forget about steaks and chops. Cook stews from cheaper, tougher cuts such as shin of beef or knuckle of pork. Chicken legs are cheaper (and tastier) than breasts, and whole chickens, which can produce four meals for four people at a stretch, are cheaper still. A major cost-cutting option lies open to those who have a big garden or an allotment: grow your own vegetables. Even if you only have space for a few pots, growing herbs can save you a pound or two a week. And a final cost-cutting strategy: don’t assume supermarkets are cheap. When I compared prices on five items at my local Sainsbury’s with the fruit and veg stall across the road, the stall was cheaper on three items, the same on one, and more expensive on one. But the loose carrots at Sainsbury’s (35p/kg, compared with 77p/kg at the stall) were as flexible as garden hoses. Fresh ginger at the stall was £3.30/kg as opposed to £10.72 chez Sainsbury’s. But back to the F-word: will £50 be fun? It can certainly be made less painful by deploying cheap seasonings that deliver maximum pleasure. Bags of spices bought from an Asian shop cost a pound or so and last for many months. A knob of ginger, a fresh chilli, a head of garlic, a lemon – all cost little and can be used with anything. Ultimately, your fun-quotient will be determined by your enthusiasm for inexpensive starchy foods: potatoes, pasta, rice, pulses. Well used, these deliver great flavour at minimal expense. Macaroni cheese, curried lentils, any of numerous dishes combining a lot of rice and a little chicken or lamb – all can be made for as little as 30-50p a head. I know I spend more than £50 a week when there are four of us in the house, probably more like £80. If I had to cut down to £50, I could probably do it. But I love macaroni cheese. Richard Ehrlich’s latest book is ’80 Recipes for Your Pressure Cooker’, published by Kyle Cathie, £12.99. guardian.co.uk/profile/richardehrlich
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April 30 2011, 6:57am | Comments »
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Angela Hartnett’s roasted pollack with crushed new potatoes and chorizo recipe
This is a wonderful recipe combination of spicy chorizo sausage and meaty sustainable fish. The vinaigrette could be made with apple cider vinegar.
This article titled “Angela Hartnett’s roasted pollack with crushed new potatoes and chorizo recipe” was written by Angela Hartnett, for The Guardian on Wednesday 20th April 2011 16.30 UTC Pollack is a member of the cod family – a greeny-brown carnivore that can grow up to a metre long. It is common off the coast of Britain and Ireland, especially around wrecks, where it is popular with amateur anglers. It has traditionally been less of a hit with cooks, but with the push to eat more sustainable fish, pollack has emerged as a viable alternative to cod and haddock. Most supermarkets stock it, though you may find it labelled, French-style, as colin. Not only is it cheaper than cod; as far as I’m concerned it’s just as tasty. Like all flaky fish, pollack can break up during cooking; a quick solution is to salt it beforehand. Just cover the fish with rock salt and leave it to firm up for 30 minutes, before giving it a quick rinse and patting it dry. If you do this, remember not to salt the fish again before cooking. I love this combination of spicy sausage and meaty fish, but you can leave out the chorizo and finish the dish with extra vinaigrette. Ingredients (Serves 4) 4 100g portions of pollack fillet 12 large new potatoes, washed, with skin on 1tbsp diced black olives ½tbsp chopped basil 50ml vinaigrette 100g chorizo, chopped into lozenges 3tbsp olive oil Rock salt Method Fill a pan with cold water, a little rock salt and the potatoes, and bring to the boil. Cook for about 15 minutes, until just done. Drain the potatoes well, crush with a fork, and mix while still warm with the vinaigrette and olives. This ensures that they take on the full flavour of the vinaigrette. Set aside. Season the pollack with salt (unless you have previously salted it to firm up the flesh). Heat the oil in a non-stick pan (medium heat) and add the pollack, skin side down. Give the pan a quick shake to prevent the fish from sticking. To cook it should take about two minutes each side, depending on the thickness of the fillets. The fish is ready when you can easily push the handle of a spoon through it. Remove the fillets from the pan and place them somewhere warm. Add the chorizo to the now-empty pan and lightly sauté until it starts to release its oil. To serve, dress the potatoes with the chopped basil. Place the fish on top and finish with the chorizo lozenges and the oil from the pan. Any extra potato can be served on the side.
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April 22 2011, 10:23am | Comments »
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The ultimate Cornish pasty recipe
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/03/03/the-ultimate-cornish-pasty-recipe
Cornish pasty recipes have always been controversial, and now there’s an EU Protected Geographical Indication status to content with as well. Better get it right for St Piran’s Day on March 5th. I support the top crimped pasty myself, currently outlawed, but not the Cornish Vegetarian Pasty which is a contradiction in terms.
This article titled “The ultimate Cornish pasty recipe” was written by Felicity Cloake, for The Guardian on Wednesday 23rd February 2011 19.59 UTC Now the Cornish pasty finally has its legal protection from the pretenders across the water (that’s Devon), you’d think there wasn’t much debate as to how to make the things; even the position of the crimping is firmly enshrined in EU law (down the side, never at the top, if you’re wondering). But much is still up for debate. For a start, the ruling is puzzlingly vague on the subject of pastry: it must be golden, savoury, and robust, but as long as it fulfils those criteria, it could be anything from filo to flaky. In practice, a pasty is always made with shortcrust, the simplest sort, and, romantics allege, the only one hardy enough to survive being dropped down a mine shaft – although who’d want to eat it afterwards is questionable, given the high levels of arsenic in many of the county’s tin mines. This shortcrust can be made with butter, but lard will give a crisper, more authentically plain result, and using bread flour, as suggested by the Chough Bakery in Padstow, helps to make it even stronger. Then there’s the filling: forget lamb or cheese or even (St Petroc forbid) tandoori chicken. From now on, a Cornish pasty must be made from beef, and hearty chunks of it too, not the minced stuff favoured upcountry. The Cornish Pasty Association, which submitted the PGI bid, suggests skirt, a flavourful cut that stands up well to relatively slow cooking – Mark Hix recommends rump or rib, but I think they’re too fancy for this historically thrifty dish. Because skirt has very little fat on it, it makes the pasty pleasantly juicy, rather than greasy. Carrots are a definite no-no: instead a hearty mixture of potato, swede and onion forms the backbone of the filling – although a Cornish pasty must be no less than 12.5% beef, it’s important not to overdo the meat at the expense of the more traditional root veg. A waxy variety of potato, such as maris peer, is vital if the chunks are to maintain their shape during cooking, Both meat and vegetables should be raw – any attempt at a fancy gravy is heresy, although seasoning is permitted. You may however, on high days and holidays, add a dollop of clotted cream or knob of butter before crimping together the pastry in the time-honoured fashion. Oh, and of course you must be baking west of the Tamar. Otherwise you may as well not bother.
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March 3 2011, 4:05pm | Comments »
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Nain’s bara brith recipe
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/03/01/bara-brith-recipe-stdavidsday
As it’s St David’s Day today, here’s a bara brith recipe. It’s odd though, because I would have sworn the recipe would contain some tea in itself, as well as being the perfect accompaniment.
This article titled “Nain’s bara brith recipe” was written by Bryn Williams, for guardian.co.uk on Tuesday 1st March 2011 09.00 UTC We could never go to Nain’s house without having a cup of tea and a slice of bara brith. I love to eat it warm, spread generously with salted butter or with a wedge of cheese. Makes 1 loaf 15g fresh yeast 225ml lukewarm water 450g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 60g lard 60g soft light brown sugar 175g currants 30g candied peel, finely sliced You will need a 900g loaf tin lined with greaseproof paper. Dissolve the yeast thoroughly in the lukewarm water. Mix the flour and the lard together in a large bowl, rubbing the lard into the flour with your fingertips until the texture resembles breadcrumbs. Then stir in the sugar, the currants and the candied peel. Now pour in the yeast-infused water and mix well until you have a cohesive dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for a good 5 minutes. Work the bara brith into a long sausage shape to fit the loaf tin. Place it in the lined tin, cover with a tea-towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, about an hour or so. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4. Bake the loaf for 40 minutes, or until golden all over. Turn out onto a wire rack and set aside to cool. • This recipe is taken from Bryn’s Kitchen by Bryn Williams (Kyle Cathie Ltd, £25). Buy a copy from the Guardian bookshop for £20
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March 1 2011, 3:49am | Comments »
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Adding wine to the rabbit in mustard
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