There are rosehips in the hedgerows.
And maybe in your garden.
You could use them to make syrup. Or jelly.
But I’m on a bit of a mission to try out lots of fruit vodkas.
Why?
Because they are so simple to do.
They look pretty.
They taste great.
And they make great presents/barter goods.
So I made this rosehip vodka last year…..
You can find my basic method here.
Oh and the pretty glass was a barter with someone I let have some of my damson vodka 
When I was out walking at the weekend I saw this acorn…
In fact lots of the acorns were similarly afflicted by the curious knobbly growth.
I wonder if mighty oaks can still grow from it?
I like cauliflower.
Especially with cheese.
Or in curry.
Or even steamed and dressed with oil and vinegar.
What is it with girls and their hair?
They always want it to be something its not.
A different colour. A different style.
Blonde. Red. Chestnut. Black.
Straight if its curly. Curly if its straight.
There’s a whole industry built on this desire to get our hair to do things other than be its normal natural self.
My hair is neither straight nor curly, left alone it has a slight wave.
Of course I want it to be straight. Or curly.
And with a bit of coaxing it will do either.
Right now I’m all for curly.
So I’m loving these two products.
I can highly recommend them.
Now I wonder what they have for when I want straight hair again…..
At the weekend I saw Dan of @FoodUrchin was disputing the kneading technique that I favour and that I learnt from @dan_lepard (yes two Dan’s already).
He didn’t belive that you could get a great loaf with such minimal kneading (3 lots of 10 seconds).
Those in the know on Twitter told him to try it and see.
He later came back with impressive results.
And it reminded me I hadn’t baked in a while so yesterday I decided to make the same recipe.
Well sort of.
I adapted it a bit with guidance from @dan_lepard to 50:50 wholewheat and white flour.
Brilliant stuff.
For a 50:50 loaf you only need 3/4 tsp fast action yeast and rising takes less time, just let it increase by 50% rather than doubling.
And really tasty.
“Ahhhhh…” came the voice from beyond the fence, “it isn’t a proper British summer without crab sandwiches, it really isn’t….I do declare that crab sandwiches are the epitome of the British seaside”. We sniggered quietly, picturing the lady next door lying on her sun lounger eating crab sandwiches and extolling their virtues loudly to no one in particular.
And although amusing she had a point, proper sandwiches made with good brown bread, some lemony mayonnaise and fresh fresh crab really are rather lovely, and very British. Of course there is nothing to beat the British coastline in August for variety and fun and food. From wide open huge sky sandy beaches, pebbly beaches, vertiginous cliffs, coves, rock pools, salt marshes to faded Victorian promenades, piers, arcades, fish and chips, greasy spoon cafes, beach chalets, fresh fish, and cockles; there is something for everyone whether its a day trip or a proper holiday. Best of all though, lots of the smaller seaside towns seem to have wonderful food on offer, you don’t have to go to Padstow these days, all along the coast you can find great food.
Regardless of whether you are at the seaside you can bring something of the salty freshness of British seaside air to you table with two of the best coastal produce that are in season right now…yes those brown crabs and samphire. As ever the fresher the better, if you are happy to cook crab yourself then buy live and follow the RSPCA advice on humanely dealing with the crab before cooking in salted water for 12 mins for the first 500g and 5 mins for every extra 500g. Pick out the meat and use in a simple salad or sandwich, with good brown bread of course, I use this recipe from my blog but with 50-70% wholemeal flour, the rest white flour and all water for the liquid (though part milk will work well too).
There are lots of fancy recipes for crab but I find because the meat is very rich simpler is better and preferably with something to counterpoint the richness. Things that work well are green vegetables such as broad beans or peas and curiously eggs and perhaps a little chilli. And of course samphire, the saltiness cutting through the richness perfectly.
Samphire has been having quite a renaissance in British cooking and is now rather sought after. It can be hard to find as it usually sells out quickly but persevere and you will be rewarded with something that can be eaten simply steamed and dressed with butter a bit like asparagus, on salads, or as a side vegetable particularly with fish or lamb. You can try foraging for some if you are near an estuary (flat wide muddy ones are best, but be certain you know what you are collecting, don’t pull up the roots, don’t over collect and be sure you have permission to collect it). It keeps reasonably well with the ends wrapped in damp newspaper. When you are ready to eat it trim off the thicker ends, depending on how you are going to use it you may want only the top few inches of the tips as the thicker parts have an inner stem. Its easy to suck the juicy flesh off the stem when you are eating it as a side dish but in a tart or omelette or other dishes its better to have only the tender tips. I usually steam it for around 5 minutes (don’t add any salt), any longer and its less flavoursome. If you happen upon an abundance then you can freeze it (blanch for 2 minutes first) or pickle it, though in my kitchen it doesn’t last long enough for either of those two things to happen.
But what of combining crab and samphire into a perfect seaside influenced dish. Two wonderful possibilities spring to mind: a tart and a pasta dish. I found this tart recipe blogged recently by Ailbhe of Simply Splendiferous so rather than create my own version take a look at hers. And for those of you who fancy a pasta dish try this:
Crab and samphire pasta (4 people)
75g dried linguine or spaghetti per person
1 medium brown crab
75-100g samphire (if you can’t get samphire then spinach or green beans would work well)
1 fresh chilli chopped finely or a pinch of chilli flakes
Method:
This article was first posted in Francoise Murat’s newsletter.
When the Beyond Baked Beans team asked if I’d do a recipe that would appeal to students for their blog I was pleased but stumped. It’s a long time since I was a student and I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to get through Uni without having to cook much more than the odd slice of cheese on toast and the very occasional chilli. This isn’t because I lived at home rather its because I lived in college all three years and the college catering seemed to be modelling itself on a pretty reasonable hotel. And then each time I came up with an idea another faster more organised blogger had pipped me to the post. And so it is that I thought of burgers, something so easy to make I’d almost missed it….here’s the post I did for Beyond Baked Beans so that you too, as well as all those lucky students, can create your own delicious burgers.
Everyone loves burgers (well everyone who loves meat). Homemade ones are brilliant, once you’ve tried them you’ll never want to buy ready made again, because there is no point. They are really simple to make and they taste so much better.
You can mince the meat yourself but I’m guessing if you have a mincer you probably don’t need me to tell you about making your own burgers….
You should allow between 150g-250g of meat per person depending on whether you like small, medium or really quite large burgers. I find that 3 burgers from 500g is about right if you’ve got toppings and side dishes. Its also important that you go for the 20% fat mince, less fat and your burger just won’t be as juicy and tasty, burgers are not the place to be exercising fat content control. Get the best mince you can find it does make a real difference to the taste.
This is a kind of design your own burger recipe…..
Ingredients (for 3 people):
500g of mince (beef, lamb or pork)
1tsp to 1tbsp of herbs or spices to complement your chosen meat (see below for my favourite combinations)
salt and pepper
3 white buns or rolls, again the nicest you can find
cooking oil
condiments: mayo/ketchup/tomato/mushrooms/sliced cheese/bacon/lettuce/onion as suits you and the burger
sides: chips, coleslaw, salad etc
Method:
Break the mince up in a bowl, add salt and pepper and mix in. You can leave your burgers plain but I like to add some spices or herbs: add your herb/spice of choice, mix in and leave for 30mins to 1 hour for the flavours to mingle and then form the meat into three equal patties with your hands. You just need to squash and shape it and it will hold together fine. Aim for about 2cm thick and don’t worry if its not perfectly flat.
Pour some cooking oil onto a plate and coat each burger with oil by putting it on the plate and moving it about a bit on each side (don’t worry about the edges, just the flat surfaces).
Heat your chosen pan, a griddle plan will give you nice seared lines but a frying pan is fine. You don’t need any oil in the pan as you’ve already oiled the burger. When the pan is nice and hot put the burgers in. Turn the heat down about ¼ – ½ way. Leave the burgers alone to cook. After about 2-3 minutes they will be ready to flip and they will come away from the pan easily. Turn them over and leave again. This will give you medium-rare/medium burgers; cook for longer if you wish.
Serve on the buns with the condiments and side dishes of your choice.
Good spice/herb combinations are (picking just one usually works best). Use 1 tsp of spices (ready or freshly ground) or dried herbs and up to 1 tbsp of fresh chopped herbs:
Beef: chilli flakes or fresh chilli, coriander seeds or leaves, English mustard powder
Lamb: cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mint, oregano, rosemary
Pork: sage, smoky paprika
Think about how different cuisines spice their food and you’ll find plenty more options.
