Our first BBQ of the season - and bloody brilliant it was too if you don't mind me saying so: black bream, haloumi, red pepper, courgettes and salad (all veggies via Growing Communities) all washed down with a bottle of rosé. Lovely job.
David has commented on numerous occasions over the past year or so that we are, in fact, food snobs. I have always re-buffed such claims, suggesting instead that there is nothing wrong with wanting good, honest food. The majority of the time this means I end up undertaking a degree of culinary experimentation, however it also means that from time to time I spend ridiculous amounts of money of things I do not yet have the means to make (such as cheese and wine).
The upshot of this is that the problem with expensive taste is the amount of money you end up spending, particularly when you like drinking half-decent French red wine. So... having just had a little snoop around the St. John site I was overjoyed to discover that not only do they have two fine restaurants - they also have an online wine shop. It looks all too tempting, and better yet, affordable!
Dear readers, I shall investigate very soon!
[the pic used above of course, comes courtesy of their site]
I have a great food swap going on at the moment. A friend of mine loves fishing, and goes regularly to the reservoirs by Walthamstow Marshes. He catches more trout than he knows what to do with.... but luckily also has a penchant for croissants with jam (can you see where this is leading?) Anyway, we've got a trout for jam deal - suits me just fine! This is the second of the season - yum :)
In announcing my boycott following a recent price hike on sourdough bread I was perhaps a little hasty... have just looked at what's required to make one loaf of bread, and it sounds like it needs an awful lot of babysitting and attention. Fine in the school holidays, but perhaps not too practical for your morning toast... darn it. Still, it has also been pointed out that there is a potential gap in the market for some healthy competition ;)
Still, day 2 of the Mother and all appears to be ok - it looks suitably disgusting and I'm guessing by the bubbles that fermentation has begun!
On another homemade enterprise note - elderflower season starts soon - better order some citric acid.
Due to another recent price hike on my local loaf of sourdough bread, I've been prompted to make my own. The exciting thing about this is that rather than using conventional yeast you need to use a 'mother' instead. I suppose it's fair to say that you wouldn't normally associate the word exciting with bread making... but then this is almost more of a home science experiment than anything else (somewhat like my doomed attempts to make ginger beer...)
So, taken from Beyond Nose to Tail by the chaps of St John, here is the recipe I have plumped for. Posting of sourdough recipe shall depend upon my success with the Mother. Wish me luck.
1 stick of rhubarb
210ml water
2 tbsp live yoghurt
50g rye flour
50g wholemeal flour
100g strong white flour
Day 1
Chop the rhubarb into slices 5mm thick and mix with the water and yoghurt. Add the flour and stir until you have a wet, lumpy mixture. Place in a clean container, dust with white flour and leave somewhere warm (around 26-28 C)
Day 2
Just give the mixture a stir and dust with white flour again.
Day 3
Stir it again; you should see signs of fermentation taking place. Add 4 tablespoons of white flour and 4 tablespoons of water, mix well and dust with white flour.
Day 4-5
On Day 4, discard about a third of the Mother and replace with a fresh quantity of all the ingredients except the rhubarb. Repeat on Day 5.
Day 6
The Mother should now be ready to use in your bread making - it should be bubbly and smell strong and sour.
After making a loaf, you will need to replenish the Mother with half and half flour and water, in equal quantities to the amount you took out - so if you make a White Loaf for example, using 100g of Mother, you would have to replace it with 50g flour and 50 ml water. The type of flour you use for replenishment depends on which loaf you plan to make next: for a white loaf use strong white flour; for brown, use 25g strong white flour and 25g wholemeal flour.
After replenishing, leave the Mother to ferment for a day before use. You can leave it in the fridge without feeding for months but it will take a few days to restart it by feeding it - again, discard about a third and feed it equal parts flour and water. Repeat this until there are signs of fermentation.
I forgot to mention where we went on holiday - Hotel Ammos - it was absolutely lovely and perfect for two such worn out people as David and I were when we arrived. The staff went beyond what would normally constitute good service, accommodation was comfortable and luxurious, and of course the restaurant did not disappoint. Highlights included Spinach Pies (pictured above), Zucchini Balls, Fennel Pie and the best Greek sweets I've ever eaten.
I felt so inspired upon return that I instantly ordered this book from Amazon.
