So I live in Cumbria. I'm surrounded by fells full of sheep and cows that are mostly organic, and if not they're pretty much organic, aka Fell Bred (the fells are far too big to cover in pesticides).

There's also lots of organic veg produced around here. Tourism is Cumbria's main industry now but food production hasa got to be a close second.

I'll be dedicating a section of this site to various sources of local Cumbrian food some time in the future as there are many sites with list of some but nothing I'd personally call comprehensive, and I've looked.

But this section is about what I make.

2 Entries: Showing 1 - 2 Order by: Title ↑ Title ↓ Date ↑ Date ↓

Not Minestrone

I can't call this recipe Minestrone because it will offend some italians and I wouldn't want to do that.

it's inspired by it though and makes use of whatever veg you have available.

Finely chop a big onion.

Take a load of veg such as courgette, carrots, potatoes, cabbage or greens, leeks, whatever. As a general rule I always use some root veg and some greens, and almost always a courgette and some garlic. but if you've got fussy children you can use whatever you can force them to eat (or chop it so small that they can't spot it, works for me).

How much soup you get depends on how much veg you put in but I like to make sure it's got nearly 1 quarter onions family, ie Onion, leeks, garlic etc.

Do all this over a medium heat, not low and certainly not high.

Fry the onion until softened.

add the firmer vegs and fry for another 5 mins until it's sticking to the bottom of the pan, only add the stock about 3 mins AFTER you've got a good dark colour on the bottom of the pan, This nearly burnt stuff that's stuck to the bottom is caramelized onions and all the colour is the flavour, without this it's just veg soup and the warming amazing this this recipe is.

created on 2007-07-25 by vertang.

Soda Bread (with a Kenwood Chef)

My first attempt at soda bread.

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I was recently given a Kenwood chef (an old 70s one, still going strong) and I slightly overcooked it and put in sage which doesn't taste the same unless it's been cooked first. Next time I'll fry in butter first, the sage made the bread taste a little antiseptic for my taste.

Here's the recipe:

  • 220gm plain (unbleached flour)
  • 110gm coarse wholemeal flour
  • 1 tbl sp bicarbonate of soda (bread soda)
  • 1 tea sp baking powder.
  • 240 ml - 480ml buttermilk (or half and half yogurt and water). (start with 240ml)

Preheat oven to 220c

Kenwood Chef method:

Mix all dry ingredient with the dough hook, add liquid a little at time, if it gets too sticky add a little more flour. it's right what it all forms a ball around the hook and you can pull it of the hook without it just sticking to your fingers like glue. No need to knead.

By Hand:

Mix in a bowl again adding liquid a little at time.

Form into a ball and flatten slightly onto a floured baking sheet.

It is traditional to cut a cross on the top of the bread.

place on baking tray and cook for 10 mins at 220c then turn down to 190 and cook for 20 to 40 mins longer.

To test whether it's ready tap the bottom, when it sounds hollow it's ready.

You can add all sorts of flavourings. I'll add my faves as I find them.

It only keeps a day so eat while nice and warm. Great if you're on a yeast free diet for any reason.

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created on 2007-05-13 by vertang.

 

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