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admin |
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Sunday, June 07, 2009 9:57 AM |
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News and views from around Cumbria, posted by Martin |
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Baking your own bread |
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By admin on
Friday, June 19, 2009 6:02 PM
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When Luke was really little, I used to bake bread a lot as it fitted well with the early mornings. Luke now sleeps well at night and doesn't wake up too early, so my bread baking sort of stopped. Now that he is a little older, I have started baking with him instead, normally on a weekend morning whilst we are slowly getting up. I have to confess as a photographer, I find newly baked bread worth photographing each time it comes out of the oven, then I drop the camera, cut it open and put some butter on it whilst it's still warm.
This recipe is really very simple when your in a hurry and just want a nice loaf of bread that tastes good. It's based on a recipe I found in a book called Food of England, by Dorothy Hartley, with one addition, some caraway seeds. I use half a ...
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Why does naturally produced pork cost more |
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By admin on
Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:42 AM
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I have watched the progress of Peter Gott with a mixture of admiration and enjoyment. Peter works tirelessly promoting Cumbrian produce and in particular free range pigs and pork. The ones below are from Peters own Sillfield Farm.
I have noticed that when he get the chance to demonstrate some aspect of butchery and talk to the public, he always tries to explain the difference economically between a free range pig, and one reared intensively. I was watching him at the recent Fell Gather at Cockermouth, which was really worth going to and I noticed him holding up a chalk blackboard, with a simple parallel drawn between the two methods. Typically a rare breed sow, reared outdoors, will produce 20 piglets in one year, whereas an intensively bred one will produce 55. And may ...
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Pips in the post... |
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By admin on
Monday, June 15, 2009 11:21 PM
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Rather surprisingly, the Citrus seedlings that I planted, after receiving the pips in the post from Ivan Day, are still surviving and doing well. The seeds I got were from a Japanese fruit called Yuzu, sent to Ivan by the husband of the Japanese lady who makes Yuzu marmalade. Ivan shared them with me, I'll have to call him to see if his are still surviving.
As well as planting these seeds, I also planted some lemon pips and some Sevillle orange pips. The bad news is however that Yuzu's take about 15 years before they bear any fruit. The other piece of bad news is that the labels I put in the trays disintegrated and now it's impossible to say what is what. So I guess this citrus secret will unveil itself in time. Figuring out which one is the lemon should be pretty stra ...
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Sillfield farm shop |
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By admin on
Monday, June 08, 2009 1:47 AM
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If you are looking for a truly authentic butchers shop, then head on down to Sillfield farm. Peter Gott has opened his new farm shop and it's really brilliant. There is lots to choose from, including his fantastic wild boar.
As you would expect from Peter Gott who runs the very sucessful stall at Borough Market, his products have great taste and are good value for money. - Enjoy - martin
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Belted Galloway |
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By admin on
Sunday, June 07, 2009 5:00 AM
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You can get hold of some fantastic meat in Cumbria, not least from breeds such as the Belted Galloway. Yew Tree Farm near Coniston breeds these beasts as does several other farms around the county.
It tastes so much better than a lot of other breeds and looks distinctive on the fells. It's a pretty hardy animal being able to survive the Cumbrian winter outside. If you can manage to get hold of some you won't be dissapointed. - Martin
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