Recipes from River Cottage Autumn

Click here for recipes from Programme 1;  Programme 2 ; Programme 3 ; Programme 4

 

Programme 1

 

“Haw-Sin” Sauce

This is fantastic with our roast duck, but you’ll also find it great for perking up marinades, stirring into beef or pork casseroles - you could even try adding a spoonful or two to shepherd’s pie*.

 

 

Ingredients:

• 500g haw berries
• 250ml organic cider vinegar
• 250ml water
• 250g organic, unrefined caster sugar
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Clean and de-stalk the haw berries then rinse in cold water.
2. Place in large pan with the vinegar and water and bring to boil. Simmer for approximately 30 to 45 minutes until the skins start to split.
3. Remove from the heat and rub the mixture through a sieve, leaving largish stones and the skins behind.
4. Return the mixture to a clean pan, add the sugar and heat gently, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves.
5. Bring to the boil and cook for a further 5 to10 minutes, until the sauce reduces and becomes slightly syrupy.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste then pour into warm, sterilised bottles.

 

*Talking of shepherd's pie, watch how Hugh pits his mother's recipe against Delia's cheats version on our new Spring DVD.

 

Spelt tortillas
Don’t just make these tortillas to go with duck. Use them to scoop up dips or roll them around all kinds of fillings, from roasted vegetables to bacon and scrambled eggs.

Makes 8 tortillas.

Ingredients:

• 250g white spelt flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1tsp fine sea salt
• 150ml water
• 1tsp sunflower or other oil

Method:

1. Mix together all of the ingredients except the oil to form a rough dough. Knead this for a few minutes, until it is smooth and has lost its stickiness. Leave, covered, for about half an hour – this relaxes the gluten and makes it easier to roll out. Divide the dough into eight, and form each into a round. Using some extra flour, roll them out nice and thin – a couple of millimetres is ideal.

2. Put a large frying pan on medium heat and have ready a clean tea towel. When the pan is hot, drop in a tortilla and cook it for 30 seconds or so until the underside is patched with dark brown. Flip over and cook for another half minute, then wrap it in the tea towel while you cook the next one. Keep adding the tortillas to the tea towel as you cook them – this keeps the steam in as they cool, and keeps them soft. If you are not planning on eating them straight away, wrap in cling film or foil to stop them drying out. Re-heat in a low (100-150c) oven, wrapped in foil, until just warm. 

 

Daniel Stevens, our bread maestro here at River Cottage HQ is partial to spelt and you can find more spelt recipes below.  He is the author of the forthcoming third in the River Cottage handbook series "Bread" and runs our Breadmaking courses here at HQ.

Recipe from Todmordon 28 Sept 2008

Potato and Leek Champ

You could make this Irish favourite as we do here, or add any other root vegetables such as parsnips, carrots or turnips, depending on your mood and what’s available to you.

 

Ingredients:

• A knob of butter
• 1tbsp rapeseed oil
• 4 leeks, finely sliced
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 2 -3 kg potatoes, peeled and cut in half if large
• 1 tsp fresh loveage (if you can’t find loveage, you can use the finely chopped leaves from a couple of stalks of celery)
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• Butter
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Heat the rapeseed oil and butter in a frying pan over a medium-low heat and sweat the finely sliced leeks and onions for 5-10 minutes until they are soft but not coloured.
2. Boil the potatoes (and any other root veg) until soft and drain well. Mash well then stir in the cooked leeks and onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

You can also char-grill any other seasonal vegetables as a side dish with a little lemon and garlic flavoured oil. Runner beans (blanched first), squash, red onions, sweet red peppers, leeks and marrows work well.

Borlotti Beans (on toast) - serves 2

 

Making a big batch of passata ensures you have the foundation of many great recipes easily at hand, including these tasty borlotti beans on toast.

 

Ingredients:

250g borlotti beans (shelled)
Roasted Tomato Passata, to cover cooked beans (see recipe below)
1 tsp soft brown sugar
1 pinch of paprika
1 pinch of mace
1 tbsp cider vinegar

Method: How to make Borlotti beans on toast

1. Simmer the beans in boiling water for about 10 minutes until tender.
2. Drain and return to pan, adding enough passata sauce (see below) to cover.
3. Stir in the sugar, paprika, mace and cider vinegar. Simmer all of the ingredients together for 3-5 minutes and serve on crusty, brown toast.  

 

Rich, roast tomato passata

Ingredients

• 3 - 4 kg ripe Tomatoes (as many different varieties and sizes as possible)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp fresh oregano
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• Small handful of torn basil
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• Good trickle of olive oil and rapeseed oil

Method: How to make rich, roast tomato sauce (Passata)

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Depending on the size of the tomatoes, cut them either into halves or quarters. With very small or cherry tomatoes, pop them in whole but slash the skins first to release the juices. Place all of the tomatoes into a large roasting tin.
3. Crush and roughly chop the garlic and sprinkle it over the tomatoes with the salt and pepper.
4. Roughly tear the oregano, thyme and basil and scatter over tomatoes.
5. Drizzle over a little rapeseed and olive oil then roast in the oven for 45 minutes until slightly blistered and soft.
6. Cool after cooking, push through a sieve and place into containers for freezing.

Roast Duck
This recipe will give you a duck with crisp, well seasoned skin and tender, flavoursome meat. Served with the tortillas and haw-sin sauce, it's a feast!

1 large, fresh duck, free range and preferably organic, with neck and giblets
About 1kg beetroot, peeled and cut into chunks (or left whole if small)
1kg potatoes, peeled, cut into roasting chunks and parboiled (page 00)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the giblet stock/gravy:

The neck and giblets, and wing tips
1 small onion
1 celery stick
1 carrot
A little oil
1 bay leaf
1 small glass of red wine
1/2 teaspoon redcurrant jelly (optional)

If the duck is tied up, untruss it – i. e. cut the strings and gently pull the legs apart, away from the body. This will help the heat to get at them. Cut off the wing tips (the last bony segment) – there’s no meat on them and they will boost the flavour of the giblet stock. Make this first: roughly chop up the neck, heart, gizzard and wing tips, plus the onion, carrot and celery. Fry these over a fair heat in a little oil until the meat is nicely browned and the vegetables slightly caramelised. Transfer to a saucepan with the bay leaf, cover with water (about 600ml) and bring to a simmer. Leave at a gentle simmer for about 13/4 hours – i. e. the time it takes to cook the duck.
Now tackle the duck. Remove any obvious spare fat from inside the cavity. You can, if you like, turn the duck breast-side down on a board and press hard on the middle of the backbone until you hear a crack. Now, using a needle, prick the skin all over the fatty parts – i. e. the breast and where the breast joins the leg. Don’t prick deeper than is necessary just to pierce the skin. You want the fat to run, but not the juices from the meat. Season the skin lightly with salt and pepper.
Put the bird in a roasting tin. Place in a hot oven (220°C/Gas Mark 7) for about 20 minutes, so the fat starts to run. Then turn the oven down to 180°C/Gas Mark 4, baste the bird and return to the oven.
Baste the duck every 20 minutes or so. Check the bird for doneness after about 11/2 hours’ total cooking time. Poke a skewer into the thickest part of the leg, close to the breast. When the juices runs clear, the bird is done. Transfer the potatoes and beetroot to a warmed dish and return them to the oven to keep warm. Tip the bird to pour any fat or juices out of the cavity into the roasting tin and transfer it to a warmed plate or carving tray.
Now fix the gravy. Carefully pour off the fat from the roasting tin into a heatproof bowl or dish (you should save and use it), leaving the brown juices in the tin. Deglaze the tin with the red wine, scraping to release any tasty browned morsels. Strain the giblet stock and the deglazed pan juices, into a clean pan and boil hard to reduce them to a rich, syrupy gravy. Taste for seasoning, and add a little redcurrant jelly for sweetness, if you like.
To carve the bird for 4 people, slice between the legs and breast, then prise off the whole legs, carefully pulling the thighbone away from the body of the bird. Cut each leg in half at the joint between the thigh and the drumstick. Slice each whole breast from the carcass, with the crispy skin attached, then cut each breast into 5 or 6 thick slices. Offer each guest a few slices of breast, with either a thigh or a drumstick. Serve on warmed plates, with the gravy and some roast vegetables.

Faggots (serves 6)
Well made faggots are a wonderful thing. Ask a good butcher about getting hold of caul fat - if you have difficulty in getting hold of some, wrapping them in bacon is an appropriate and flavoursome alternative.

Ingredients:

• 250g fresh pig’s liver
• 250g fatty pork scraps
• 1 fresh pig’s heart, split in half and rinsed
• 100g ham or bacon scraps
• 100g fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Salt
• Freshly ground white pepper
• ½ tsp Mace
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp all spice
• a handful of chopped fresh parsley
• a few sage leaves, finely chopped
• small sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
• small chopped red chilli (or dried chilli)

• Caul fat or streaky bacon for wrapping (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Roughly chop then coarsely mince all the meats and combine in a bowl.
3. Add the breadcrumbs, onion, herbs, spices and some salt and pepper and mix together thoroughly
4. Shape mixture into six balls.
5. Wrap each in a square of caul fat. Cut it large enough to overlap - it will bind on itself to hold the faggots together.
6. If you’re using streaky bacon, stretch each rasher with the back of a heavy knife, making them as long and as wide as possible (approximately two per faggot).
7. Flatten the balls slightly and place on a baking sheet or in an ovenproof dish into which they fit snugly and roast for 50 to 60 minutes, basting once or twice.

 

Beetroot and apple crumble

Sweet, earthy beetroot combine beautifully with tart Bramley apples in this fantastic crumble. Roasting the topping before sprinkling over the filling gives it a wonderful crunchiness, too.

 

Ingredients:

• 200g plain flour
• 200g caster sugar
• 150g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small chunks
• 100g ground almonds

• 200g fresh beetroot, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks (peeled weight)
• 4 Bramley apples, peeled and finely diced (about 900g)
• 2-3 tablespoons of runny honey
• Grated nutmeg to taste

Method: How to make beetroot and apple crumble

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Pulse the flour, sugar, butter and almonds in a food processor until the mixture has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Spread on a baking tray and bake until just golden and crumbly, about 15-17 minutes.
3. To make the filling, put the beetroot into a pan of boiling water and cook until softened, about 15 minutes. Drain and pulse in a food processor until smooth.
4. Tip the beetroot puree into a bowl and add the diced apples, honey and nutmeg. Stir until well combined.
5. Pour the filling into an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the top, breaking up any larger chunks a little bit, and place in the oven until the filling is cooked through and piping hot, about 30-35 minutes.

 

Beetroot ice cream recipe

 

It may seem like an unusual idea, but the dramatic colour and rich, delicious flavour of our beetroot ice cream makes it a winner in my book.

 

Ingredients

• 12 x organic egg yolks
• 150g unrefined caster sugar
• 500ml whole milk
• 500ml double cream
• 5-6 medium beetroots, cooked until al dente, peeled and pureed

Method: How to make beetroot ice cream

1. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until smooth. Put the milk in a pan and bring to just below boiling, then remove from the heat. Leave to cool slightly, then pour the milk on to the egg and sugar mixture, whisking all the time.

2. Pour the mixture in to a clean pan and heat gently, stirring all the time, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Don’t let it get too hot or it will split. Remove from the heat. Strain through a sieve and leave to cool, then chill, covered with a circle of greaseproof paper to prevent a skin forming.

3. When cold, stir in the cream and beetroot puree. Pass through a fine sieve. Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker until frozen.

4. Depending on the capacity of your ice cream maker, you may need to churn the mixture in batches, or you could simply halve the quantities.

 

Pork Sausages

 

Making your own sausages is great fun, especially if you rope in a volunteer or two to help. Many butchers who make their own sausages will be happy to sell you a few metres of sausage casing, especially if you buy the meat from them too.

 

Ingredients:

Sausage casing, 2–3 metres
Free-range or organic pork shoulder, 500g, minced
Free-range or organic pork belly, 250g, minced
Fine dried breadcrumbs, 25g (optional)
Salt (start with 1 heaped teaspoon)
Sage leaves, 16
Black pepper
White pepper if you have some
Nutmeg or mace, a good grinding or 1/4 teaspoon
A little oil for frying

Method:

2 large bowls, wooden spoon, sharp knife, chopping board, teaspoon, frying pan, a wide-necked funnel (hardware shops sell cheap ones), something to act as a plunger to push the meat down the neck of the funnel (the handle of a rolling pin, perhaps), clean string, scissors, an assistant (sausage making is much easier and far more fun when there are two of you)

1. Put one of the large bowls in the sink and fill it with cold water. Drop the length of casing into it. Find one of the ends and hold it close under the cold tap. Turn the tap on a little. You’ll see the water run in and the skin will gradually swell as the water travels down, so it looks like a long, curly snake – an amazing sight! Keep running the water through the casing for a minute or two and then leave the casing to soak in the bowl of water while you make the sausage meat.
2. Put all the minced pork in the other large bowl. Add the breadcrumbs if you are using them (a small amount is good for the texture of the sausage), then add the salt and stir well with the wooden spoon.
3. Chop the sage leaves and add them to the mixture with some pepper and nutmeg or mace.
4. Before you start going into sausage production, make a little ‘cake’ of a couple of teaspoons of the sausage meat and fry it for a couple of minutes on each side until cooked through. Taste it for seasoning – do you need more herbs, more salt, more pepper?
5. Now to fill the sausages. Take the casing out of the water and slide your fingers down it to push out any water trapped inside. Find one end of the casing and draw it over the spout of the funnel. Gather up all the casing over the spout (rather like putting a legwarmer on over your foot), leaving a little bit of the casing overlapping the tip of the funnel.
6. Take a spoonful of the sausage meat and push it down through the neck of the funnel. When the meat appears in the tip of the casing, tie a piece of string around the bottom to pinch it closed (if you tie the casing closed before you put the meat in, you’ll get a big bubble of trapped air).
7. Take it in turns with your assistant to keep pushing the sausage meat through the funnel and into the casing, which will slide off the spout of the funnel as it fills up with meat. Try not to make the sausages too thick and fat or they’ll burst when you twist them into lengths. It’s difficult to make them really even at first and you’ll probably find that the end of your string of sausages is a bit more professional looking than the start.
8. When you’ve used up all the sausage meat, you’ll need to twist the filled casing into individual sausages – unless you’re going to cook the sausage in one big coil like a Cumberland sausage. Starting at the tied-up end, gently pinch the casing and twirl the sausage clockwise every so often, so that you get a classic ‘string of sausages’, like something out of a cartoon. Then find the middle of the string (roughly) and start twisting ‘opposite’ sausages into pairs (see the picture). There is a clever butcher’s way of twisting them into bunches of 3, but it’s too hard to explain!
9. When you get to the end, tie it up with string and snip off any remaining casing. Hang up the sausages somewhere cool and airy for a few hours and then either cook them straight away or, better still but you’ll need unbelievable patience, put them on the bottom shelf of the fridge overnight to let the flavour settle.
10. When you want to cook your sausages, heat a little oil in a frying pan over a low heat. Fry the sausages fairly gently, turning them every few minutes so that they brown all over without burning. They should cook gently for at least 15 minutes, depending on their thickness; cut one open to make sure they are cooked all the way through.

Once you've tried making your own sausages and seeing how easy it is, you'll probably never want to buy them again.  You can learn the process and principles of butchering and processing a pig, and be given a thorough practical demonstration of how to make your own air-dried hams, brine-cured hams, brawn, bacon, sausages, chorizos and salamis on our Pig in a Day course.  For more details click here.  Or from the comfort of your own home exclusively from River Cottage, is the Pig in a Day DVD with Hugh and Ray.  For more details click here. 

 

Chocolate and beetroot brownies
I’m convinced this recipe is going to sweep the nation! The beetroot and chocolate go together brilliantly and the beetroot gives the brownie a deliciously moist texture.

Ingredients:

• 250g/10oz good, dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
• 250g/ 10oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus more for greasing
• 250g/10oz caster sugar
• 3 free-range eggs
• 150g self-raising flour (we used wholemeal self-raising)
• 250g of beetroot, boiled until tender, peeled and grated


Method: How to make chocolate and beetroot brownies

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease a baking tin of approximately 20x30x3cm and line the bottom with baking parchment.
2. Break up the chocolate into pieces, cut the butter into cubes then mix them up a bit in a heatproof bowl. As the oven begins to warm up, put the bowl onto one of the shelves for a few minutes until the chocolate and butter starts to melt. Stir, and put back into the oven for a few more minutes to melt completely.
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until combined, then beat in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth. Gently fold in the flour then the beetroot – be careful not to overmix or it will make the brownies tough.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth over the top with a spatula. Bake for about 20 minutes. A knife or skewer pushed into the middle should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Don't be tempted to overcook them! Remove the tin from the oven and leave on wire rack to cool before cutting into squares. 

 

For help and advice on gardens and gardening why not try one of our gardening courses run by Mark Diacono.   Mark will also be bringing out a new River Cottage handbook in the New Year.

Programme 2

 

Spelt rolls
Spelt is an ancient form of modern wheat and gives a subtly nutty flavour to these bread rolls. Makes 12.

Ingredients:

• 1kg wholemeal spelt flour, plus extra for dusting
• 10g powdered dried yeast
• 20g fine salt
• 600ml warm water
• A little sunflower oil

Method:

1. Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and, with one hand, mix to a rough dough. Adjust the consistency if you need to, with a little more flour or water, to make a soft, easily kneadable, sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and clean your hands.
2. Knead until the dough is smooth, stretchy and no longer sticky – about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a tight round. Oil the surface of the dough, put it in the wiped-out mixing bowl, cover the bowl with cling film and leave to ferment and rise until doubled in size, which should take about an hour.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 250C/500F/Gas Mark 9, or as high as it will go. Deflate the dough by tipping it onto the work surface and pressing all over with your hands.
4. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape into tight rounds, coat with flour and press flat with the palm of your hand to about 5cm high. Lay them on a lightly-oiled baking tray, so they are just touching each other. Leave to prove for about 30 minutes, or until nearly doubled in size.
5. Put the tray in the oven, and close the door as quick as you can. Bake for about 15 minutes, until well browned, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

If you are interested in learning how to make your own bread (with spelt or otherwise), Dan, our bread expert runs day courses on Bread Making at Park Farm HQ in association with Aidan Chapman at Town Mill Bakery in Lyme Regis.  Click here to find out more.  Dan is also bringing out his eagerly awaited River Cottage Handbook 3 - Bread.  To pre-order yours, click here.

 

Half the garden soup

This simple, tasty soup is a great way of using up produce from the veg patch or veg box. The key to getting everything cooked at the same time is to make sure the carrots and squash are chopped into an even, smallish dice. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

500g onions, finely sliced
Olive oil
Knob of butter
1 litre vegetable stock
3-4 carrots, peeled and diced
2 handfuls young runner beans, roughly chopped
1 large or 2 small squash, peeled, deseeded and diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Warm a saucepan over a medium-low heat and add the butter and olive oil. Sweat the onions in the pan until soft but not coloured, about 10-15 minutes.
2. Add the stock, carrots, squash and runner beans. Bring to boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until all the vegetables are tender, but only just.
3. Adjust the seasoning with a little salt and pepper and serve with a trickle of olive oil over each bowl. 

For help and advice on gardens and gardening why not try one of our gardening courses run by Mark Diacono.   Mark will also be bringing out a new River Cottage handbook in the New Year.
 

Pearled spelt risotto recipe
Spelt contains more protein and fibre than rice and is more filling, so in order to make this a lighter dish, it’s important to use a greater ratio of vegetables to spelt than you would in a normal risotto.

Ingredients:

• 1 litre hot vegetable stock (see recipe below)
• 200g pearled spelt
• 2 leeks
• Approx 1kg Kale ( a mixture of Russian, English and Tuscan works well)
• 1 clove garlic
• 50g butter, unsalted
• Rapeseed oil
• 4 shallots, finely chopped
• 100g of hard goat’s cheese

Ingredients for Vegetable stock:

• Rapeseed oil
• 1 onion, grated
• 4 carrots, grated
• 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• About 1.2 litres boiling water

Method for stock:

1. Heat the rapeseed oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat and add the onion, garlic and carrot (grating them maximises the flavours), together with the celery.
2. Sweat the vegetables for 2 minutes, then add bay leaves and 1.2 litres boiling water.
3. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain to create your ‘light vegetable tea’, which is now ready to be used for the risotto.

Method for pearled spelt risotto:

1. Place the spelt in a sieve, rinse under the cold tap then soak it in a bowl of cold water for 15 minutes before cooking.
2. Halve the leeks lengthways then chop them finely.
3. Strip the leaves from the stalks of the kale and roughly chop the leaves (the stalks can be chopped and braised in a little butter as a side dish).
4. Place about half of the butter and a slug of rapeseed oil into a large pan and warm over a medium-low heat. Add the shallots and sweat gently. After a couple of minutes, add the leeks and cook for a further 2–3 minutes
5. Drain the spelt well and add to the pan with the leeks and shallots. Stir for a couple of minutes, making sure all of the grains are well coated and not sticking together.
6. Gradually add the hot stock in batches, stirring frequently, until the stock is absorbed and the spelt is almost cooked through (you may not need all of the stock). At this point, add the greens and cook for a further 2–3 minutes.
7. Stir in the rest of the butter and half the grated goat’s cheese.
8. Serve with shavings of hard goats cheese and salad of baby leaves – kale, chard and beetroot leaves work well with this dish.


Roast, stuffed pork belly
This has to be one of the easiest and most delicious ways of roasting inexpensive and flavoursome pork belly. The slow cooking makes it really tender.

Ingredients:

• 500-750g pork belly (de-boned and trimmed)
• 150g fresh breadcrumbs
• Handful of freshly chopped sage
• Freshly ground black (or white) pepper
• Worcester sauce

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark7.
2. Score the outer skin of the pork belly (for crackling) with a sharp knife.
3. Mix the breadcrumbs, sage, pepper and a little Worcester sauce together for the stuffing and spread the mixture on the inside of the belly
4. Roll up the belly and tie the securely with kitchen string. Place in a roasting tin.
5. Roast for 15-20 minutes, then reduce the oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark3 and cook for a further 1 ½ hours. 

 

Rillons of pork belly
Pork belly is a deep flavoured, dark meat, which is excellent for roasting due to the layer of thick fat and benefits from long, slow cooking. Rillons are a delicious combination of chewy fat and meltingly tender meat – they’ll keep sealed in a jar in the fridge for several weeks, if you have that much self control.

Ingredients:

• 500-750g pork belly, ideally from the thick end, ribs removed
• 3 -4 tbsp of pork fat (lard)
• 3 – 4 cloves of garlic
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• Flaky sea salt
• 1 glass of water
• 1 glass of red wine

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
2. Cut the pork belly into strips and then into thick chunks. Heat some lightly seasoned lard in a heavy-bottomed frying pan, then add the pork, browning thoroughly on all sides so it’s quite dark and wonderfully caramelised.
3. Transfer the pork to a roasting dish. Add crushed garlic cloves (in their skins), add the thyme and a good sprinkling of flaky sea salt. Pour the fat from the frying pan over the top and add the water and red wine to create a cooking liquid.
4. Bring to a gentle simmer on the hob before placing in the oven for 30 minutes, and turn them every 8 minutes or so. Lower the oven temperature to 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2 and cook for a further 1 ½ hours or so, until the flesh is very tender. 
5. Serve hot, with creamy mashed potato and cabbage, or cold as a tasty lunch with bread and butter and dill pickled cucumbers.

 

This recipe was taken from our ever popular River Cottage Cookbook.  Click here to read more.

 

Cheese Cauliflower
I love experimenting with standard recipes, tweaking them and reinventing them until you have an entirely new dish. Here, instead of coating cauliflower in a cheese sauce, we deep fry the bites of cheese and serve them with a cauliflower sauce. I hope you’ll agree it’s a winning combination.

Ingredients for cauliflower puree:

• 1 small cauliflower
• Semi-skimmed milk (enough to cover cauliflower while cooking)
• 1 clove
• 1 fresh (or dried) bay leaf
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for cheese:

• 150g soft smoked cheese (or a Brie or Camembert for example) cut into bite-sized pieces
• Dried white bread crumbs made from a few stale slices of good bread
• Plain flour for coating
• 3 organic eggs, lightly whisked

• About 1 – 1.5 ltr sunflower oil for deep frying

Method: How to make cheese cauliflower

1. To make the cauliflower purée, divide the cauliflower into florets. Cut any green bits from the stem, but chop up the stalk and stems to use in the dish too as they will give a stronger flavour.
2. Put the pieces of caulilflower into a saucepan and add enough milk just to cover. Add the bay leaf and clove and bring to a gentle simmer.
3. When the pieces of cauliflower are tender, remove the clove and bay leaf, then blitz the cauliflower and milk in a food processor until you have a smooth purée. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour the oil into a deep, heavy bottomed saucepan to a depth of at least 15cm. It’s hot enough when a cooking thermometer reads 180C or a cube of white bread dropped into the oil turns golden brown in a minute. Coat each piece of cheese in flour, knock off the excess then roll in the egg until covered, repeating the process for a double coating so that the cheese is completely sealed.
5. Dip in the egg again then roll the cheese pieces in bread crumbs and fry until lightly golden all over – you hear the frying noise change when they’re done. Serve with the warm cauliflower purée.

Finding an unusual cheese is sometimes a challenge particularly if you can only shop at your local supermarket.  Not for us!  Our Local Produce Store and Canteen in Axminster sells around 75 different types of West Country cheeses from artisan producers across our region.  In order for you to enjoy some of these cheeses, we have set up a club purely for the cheese enthusiast where we can send you four, carefully selected different cheeses each month.  To read more click here.

Curried butternut squash

The sweet flesh of butternut squash is great with all kinds of strong and spicy flavours. This makes a simple and delicious side dish.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 medium (or 2 small) butternut squash
• About 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• Pinch of good curry powder

Method: How to make Curried butternut squash

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark5.
2. There is no need to peel the squash, just cut them into rough chunks or thick slices and scrape away the seeds and surrounding soft fibres with a teaspoon or small, sharp knife.
3. Put the pieces in a large roasting tin, generously trickle over up to 2 tbsp of rapeseed oil and dust with a good pinch of curry powder.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes, turning once or twice, until the pieces are tender and nicely browned.

 

Fried sea bream

This is one of the simplest and tastiest ways of cooking a fillet of bream, ensuring perfectly crispy skin and moist, white flesh. Serves 2.

 

 

Ingredients:

• 2 sea bream fillets
• 2 - 4 bay leaves
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Rapeseed oil (for frying)

Method:

1. Gut, de-scale and fillet the sea bream, or have the fishmonger do it for you.
2. Heat a little rapeseed oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the bay leaves.
3. Place the bream fillets skin-side down in the frying pan and cook for no more than 5 minutes before sprinkling the garlic, salt and pepper over the top of the fish.
4. Carefully turn the fish over and cook for a further 2 minutes. Serve straight away.

If preparing and cooking fish leaves you feeling cold (and clammy) you might be interested in our fish skills course, where we will equip you with all the know how to confidently prepare and cook a range of delicious fish and shellfish.  Click here to find out more. 

For all things fishy click here.

Cauliflower pakora
Using beer in the batter makes it extremely light and crisp – it’s delicious with cauliflower, but you can use it with other vegetables too. Onions and cubes of sweet potato and squash work well.

Ingredients:

1 ltr Sunflower or groundnut oil for frying

150g gram flour
2 pinches of black mustard seeds
2 pinches of ground coriander
2 pinches of ground cumin
A pinch of cumin seeds
A pinch of cayenne pepper
A pinch of turmeric
½ small cup of beer (the batter should be the consistency of double cream so add a drop more beer if necessary)

Cauliflower chunks and florets

Method:

In a deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan heat the oil until a thermometer reads 180oC or a cube of white bread dropped into the oil turns golden in a minute.

Whisk together all of the dry ingredients and then pour in the beer, stirring until you have a smooth, creamy batter. Roll the cauliflower florets in the batter until they are well coated and deep fry until crisp and golden brown. Don’t overcrowd the pan, aim to cook about 5 or 6 at a time. 

Programme 3

 

Parsnip Crisps

 

These are almost addictively delicious. Serve them with roast pheasant, sprinkle them over parsnip soup, or just enjoy them on their own.

Ingredients

• Whole baby parsnips
• 250ml groundnut oil for frying
• Fine sea salt

Method:

1. Peel the parsnips and then cut them into matchstick-sized pieces.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed, deep frying pan until a thermometer reads 180C or a cube of white bread dropped into the oil turns golden in a minute.
3. Carefully drop the parsnips into the fat and deep fry for 30 seconds.
4. Drain on absorbent paper, lightly season with salt and serve immediately.

 

Nettle beer

 

We love nettles at River Cottage, turning them into everything from soup to gnocchi and tagliatelle (see recipe) and, yes, beer.

 

Ingredients

• 6 ltr water
• A small carrier bag of nettle tops, washed
• Juice of 1 lemon, strained
• Juice of 1 orange, strained
• 750g caster sugar
• 30g cream of tartar
• 5g yeast

Method:

1. Bring the water to the boil in a large pan.
2. Add nettles, stir, then remove the pan from the heat and leave to infuse for at least an hour until it is at blood temperature.
3. Carefully – you might want to enlist a helper at this point - strain the nettle liquid through a colander lined with a large piece of unbleached muslin into a large brewing bucket or pan. Once the liquid has filtered through, squeeze the muslin to get the maximum amount of liquid into the bucket.
4. Gradually add the sugar, stirring constantly to ensure it is thoroughly dissolved, then add the cream of tartar, and lemon and orange juice.
5. Finally, once the mixture is tepid, stir in the yeast. Cover and leave for 2-3 days in a warm place, until it’s obviously fermenting.
6. Remove any scum which has risen to the top in fermentation and siphon the beer into sterilised bottles and seal with corks.
7. Leave for at least a couple more days or up to a month before drinking.

If you can't wait for your beer, why not try our own much loved Stinger.  Click here to find out more.

 

 

 

Sea-buckthorn and crab apple jelly with hedge berry syrup
If you can’t find sea-buckthorn berries, you can substitute rosehips or haws, or simply use 1.5kg crab apples.

Makes 6-8.

Ingredients

• Up to 500g sea-buckthorn berries
• 1kg crab apples
• About 200g unrefined caster sugar
• 8 leaves gelatine
• up to 1 ltr water

Method: 

1. Very carefully remove the berries from sea-buckthorn - they have vicious thorns - and discard any leaves.
2. Roughly chop the crab apples toss them into a non-reactive pan with the sea-buckthorn berries. Add roughly enough water to cover the fruit by 2cm, up to 1 l, and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the crab apples are soft and pulpy. Strain through a sieve lined with muslin, into a clean pan.
3. Add the sugar and taste, adding more if needed for desired sweetness.
4. Soak the leaf gelatine in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes to soften (use approximately 8 leaves for every litre of liquid), then squeeze out any excess liquid.
5. Put the gelatine leaves into the warm, fruity mixture and stir until completely dissolved. Pour into wine glasses and when cool, cover and leave to set in the fridge for several hours.

 

For other jelly recipes and a host of other preserving tips and ideas, Pam (the Jam) Corbin has written tthe second of  our River Cottage Handbooks "Preserves".  For more information click here.  Pam also runs our Preserving day courses.

Hedge berry syrup

Ingredients

• 150g rosehips
• 150g rowan Berries
• 150g haw Berries
• unrefined caster sugar to taste

Method:

1. Wash the berries and place them in a pan. Add enough water just to cover, bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes.
2. Strain through a muslin-lined sieve into a clean pan, add sugar to taste, stirring until it has dissolved. Bring to boil and simmer to thicken.
3. Leave to cool before serving poured over the jellies.

 

Squirrel ragout
You can substitute rabbit for squirrel in this tasty ragout. The long cooking time ensures maximum flavour and perfectly tender meat.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

• 1-2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 large or 2 small onions, finely chopped
• 2 large carrots, finely chopped
• 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
• 2 squirrels, each skinned and gutted then jointed into 3 pieces
• 200g bacon lardons
• 250ml roasted tomato purée (see recipe)
• 1 l chicken, game or vegetable stock
• 1 glass red wine
• 1 bay leaf, sprig of thyme and sprig rosemary
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

To serve: Nettle tagliatelle (see recipe)


Method:


1. Heat a slug of rapeseed oil in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and sauté until softened but not coloured, about 10 minutes, then transfer the sautéed vegetables to a large casserole dish.
2. In the same frying pan, sauté the lardons until golden, then add to the veg.
3. Next, brown the squirrel in the same frying pan, before transferring to the casserole dish. Mix well with the veg and lardons.
4. Deglaze the pan in which you fried the meat with the red wine, making sure you scrape up all of the tasty brown bits, then pour the liquid into the casserole.
5. Stir in the roasted tomato purée, stock, salt and pepper, and the fresh herbs tied into a bundle with kitchen string.
6. Bring to the boil then cook, covered, on a very gentle simmer for 1 ½ -2 hours, stirring from time to time.
7. When the meat is very tender, remove it from the bones and set aside.
8. Discard the bundle of herbs then pass the cooking liquid through a sieve into a large bowl, pushing through as much of the vegetables as you can to help thicken the sauce.
9. Return the sauce to the pan, bring to a simmer and reduce by one third.
10. Season sauce to taste and return the squirrel meat to the pan and warm through before serving with the Nettle tagliatelle.

Other squirrel recipes can be found in our Cook on the Wildside book which also comes with an accompanying DVD.

Hot smoked grayling with sorrel sauce

The lemony piquancy of the sorrel sauce provides a delicious counterpoint to the rich, smoky flavour of the hot smoked grayling. If you don't have easy access to sorrel, you can always serve the fish with a little beurre blanc and if you can't find grayling, do use trout instead.  If you want to make your own hot smoker, all you need is a large-ish lidded tin - at River Cottage we use a metal bread bin - and a couple of racks to fit inside it.  Drill four holes in each side through which you can thread four metal rods to support two wire racks onto which you can put the fish.  Scatter 5 mm of sawdust into the bottom, put the first rack onto their supports, layered with larger fillets, and then the second rack above it layered with the smaller fish.  Then put the lid on.  Next put your tin over a heat source - gas burner, barbecue or fire.  the base of the tin heats up and then the sawdust starts to smoulder,  creating the smoke which will 'cook' your fish.

 
If you don't have time to make your own click here to visit our on-line shop where we sell the very popular portable smoker.  We've even thrown in some sawdust to get you started.

 

Ingredients

• Grayling fillets

Method:

1. De-scale and fillet the grayling then place the fillets, skin-side down, in the hot smoker and cook, or smoke, for 5 minutes.


Sorrel sauce

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 50g unsalted butter
• 1 large bunch (about 200g) washed sorrel
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp double cream (optional)
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. When it’s frothing, add the sorrel - it will wilt quickly.
2. Stir and remove the pan from the heat, let it cool for 30 seconds, then beat in the egg yolk to thicken the sauce.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add the cream. Warm it through, very gently, over a low heat and serve it with the grayling.

Beurre Blanc

Ingredients

80ml white wine
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
110g cold butter, cubed
55ml double cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. To make beurre blanc, pour the wine and vinegar into a small saucepan and simmer until reduced by half.
2. Whisk in the butter, a few cubes at a time until it thickens slightly.
3. Pour in the cream and whisk. Season to your taste and serve immediately with the hot smoked fish.

 

Squirrel offal skewers
If you can’t lay your hands on a squirrel, you can certainly use rabbit offal for these tasty skewers, but it’s essential that the offal is very fresh.


Ingredients

• The heart, liver and kidneys of a squirrel

Method:

1. Carefully peel membrane from squirrel’s kidneys then cut the liver into three pieces, if large. Cut the heart in half, rinsing any blood from inside.
2. Thread the offal pieces onto cocktail sticks then season lightly with salt and pepper.
3. Heat a little ground nut oil in a medium-sized frying pan then place kebabs into pan and fry for 1-2 minutes, turning occasionally. Serve immediately.

 

Other squirrel recipes can be found in our Cook on the Wildside book which also comes with an accompanying DVD.
 

 

Nettle tagliatelle

 

This goes wonderfully with our squirrel ragout, but it’s also delicious simply tossed in some warmed roast tomato passata (see recipe) and sprinkled with a little grated Parmesan.

Ingredients

• A small carrier bag of young nettle tops
• 750g ‘00’ pasta flour
• 250g semolina
• A pinch salt
• 3-5 eggs

Method:

1. Blanch nettle tops in boiling water for 20-30 seconds, then plunge them into iced water to retain their colour. Drain thoroughly and purée until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the pasta flour and semolina, then add the nettle purée in stages to the flour – it is important the dough remains as dry as possible.
3. Add the eggs gradually, ensuring the dough remains dry – you may not need all of the eggs, depending on how large your eggs are.
4. Dust your work surface with flour and knead the dough thoroughly for 10 minutes until all of the nettle puree and eggs are combined evenly and the dough feels silky. It should not feel at all sticky – if it does, sprinkle a little more flour over the dough and knead again.
5. Wrap the dough and let it rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before rolling out. If you don’t have a pasta machine, flour the work surface and rolling pin and roll it out until it is very thin. Fold over the dough into loose, flat rolls and cut into 5mm strips.
6. If you’re using a pasta machine to roll out the dough, assemble the machine and turn the rollers to the widest setting. Break off about a sixth of the dough (keep the rest wrapped in a damp towel so it doesn’t dry out) and feed it through the rollers. Fold in half, turn and repeat. Do this 2 or 3 times until the dough feels very silky.
7. Turn the machine to the next setting so that the rollers close up a little and pass the unfolded strip of dough through. If the dough starts to stick to the rollers, smooth a little flour over the pasta strip. Keep closing the rollers and passing the dough through until you have a very thin strip – cut in half at any stage if it gets too long to handle. Lay the finished sheets out on a damp tea towel while you roll out the rest of the dough. When you’re ready to make the tagliatelle, pass the strips through the wider ribbon cutter on your machine.
8. If you are not going to use all of your pasta immediately, hang the tagliatelle over a clean stick or broom handle suspended between two chairs to dry out then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. A light dusting of semolina will help to keep it dry.

 

Bramble Farm Goat’s Cheese
It’s enormously satisfying to make your own cheese - and not as complicated as you might think. The quantities of ingredients are easily scalable, so you can halve the quantities if you like.

Ingredients

• 4 l goat’s milk
• 1 tsp culture starter ( to make, see below)
• 1/4 tsp animal rennet
• 1/2 tsp salt.

Equipment

Accurate cooking thermometer

Step 1: Making the culture starter

Ingredients

• 1 l goat’s milk
• 1 sachet of freeze-dried cheese starter*

Method:

1. Heat the milk in a saucepan to 90C and hold at that temperature for 10 minutes.
2. Remove from heat after 10 minutes and cool rapidly by standing the saucepan in cold, running water, until the temperature drops to 20C.
3. Sprinkle a sachet of cheese starter over the milk and whisk vigorously.
4. Pour into a sterilised container and leave for 22-24 hours.
5. Store at 20-22C if using straight away, or freeze in ice cube trays for future use.

Step 2: Making the goat’s cheese

1. Pour milk into a saucepan and attach the thermometer to the side of the pan. Heat the milk to 24C then stir in the cheese culture. Cover and leave in a warm place for 2 hours.
2. Add the rennet, cover again and leave for 24 hours in a warm place.
3. After 24 hours, check the curds are set by piercing them with a spoon. If the spoon comes out clean, it has set. Drain off the liquid whey, leaving just the curds behind.
4. Wrap the curds in a piece of cheesecloth and suspend over a container for a couple of hours.
5. Unwrap the cloth and place the curds in a mixing bowl. Stir in the salt and then wrap again in the cheesecloth, or place in a mould, for a further 24 hours.
6. Remove cloth or mould, cover and refrigerate.
* You can buy freeze-dried starter from here

 

Oyster and comfrey fritters

 

If you can’t find comfrey, you can wrap oysters in a spinach leaf or even in a tender strip from the inside of a leek before dipping them in the tempura batter.

Makes 12.

 

Ingredients

(See John Wright’s Safety in Shellfish guidelines below - crucial facts are highlighted in red)

• 12 large oysters, wild or cultivated
• 6 large comfrey leaves

• 200g plain flour
• ½ tsp salt
• about 300ml ice cold sparkling water
• 500ml – 1 litre groundnut or sunflower oil for deep frying, depending on the size of your pan


Method:

1. Pour 300ml of water into a large, lidded saucepan over a high heat. Place oysters in pan, put the lid on and bring to the boil. Cook for 2 -3 minutes, until the oysters just start to open.
2. Remove the oysters from their shells and wrap each one in a 2cmx12 cm ribbon of comfrey leaf and secure with a cocktail stick.
3. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed pan until the thermometer reads 180C.
4. While the oil is heating up, make the batter. In a bowl, whisk together the flour and salt, then whisk the water into the flour until you have a batter that has the consistency of single cream.
5. Dip the oysters into the batter and deep fry for 45-60 seconds, until golden. Drain on kitchen paper and serve immediately.

For a more comprehensive guide to fishy facts and information on sustainable fishing as well as a wealth of recipes click here. 

Safety in Shellfish by John Wright

John is currently putting the finishing touches to his latest River Cottage Handbook "Edible Seashore".  For other handbooks in the series click here.  John also runs our Edible Seashore day courses, Mushroom Foraging day courses and a talented photographer.

The Molluscs

There are three types of marine mollusc – the bivalves, the gastropods and the cephalopods. My “no fishing” rule means that we will not be trying to catch squid so it is only the first two that will interest us. The bivalves – Cockles, Mussels, Oysters and Clams are the gourmet stars of the show with the lowly Winkle and Dog Whelk, both gastropods, very much in the chorus line.

The thing everyone worries about when it comes to collecting shellfish from the wild is the risk of food poisoning. This is a real risk and my plan here is first to frighten you all to death by relating the terrible things that could happen to you, then explain how to avoid them.

Almost all poisonings caused by the bivalves are because of the way they feed. They are filter feeders, passing litres of seawater through their bodies every hour, extracting the tiny particles of food suspended therein. Unfortunately, if the food contains anything unpleasant, the bivalve will consume those too.

This unpleasantness comes in four general forms: bacteria, viruses, algae and chemicals of a regrettable nature.

1. Bacterial contaminants such as E. coli come from sewage or agricultural run-off. Although you will be host to billions of these tiny organisms which live harmlessly in your lower intestine, certain strains exist which can cause gastro-intestinal upset; this is generally all over quite quickly (in a good way) but the effects can be more serious in those with a weak constitution. Over 300 areas around the UK are regularly tested for E. coli which is used as an indicator of the general level of all bacteria and the waters accorded a category status (A, B, C and unclassified), dependant on the number of E. coli found in the flesh of the bivalves examined. Shellfish from category “A” waters have less than 230 E. coli/100gms flesh and may go immediately for human consumption. Category “B” shellfish have less than 4,600 E. coli/100gms of flesh and must be depurated, or heat treated or re-laid in category “A” waters before sale. Category “C” shellfish (less than 46,000 E. coli/100gms of flesh) must be re-laid in cleaner waters and given time to rethink their lives. The reprobates, the “unclassified”, contain even more E. coli and are considered beyond all hope of redemption. An “unclassified” area will be closed as fishery until matters have improved considerably.

With the exception of “A” category shellfish, commercially farmed or gathered bivalves will, at some time, be made safe by a process called “depuration”. The shellfish are stacked in crates inside a tank full of seawater which is continually pumped through an ultraviolet irradiated chamber destroying all the bacterial contaminants. The process usually takes 42 hours and the purified shellfish are safe enough to be eaten raw.

2. Viruses, such as the Norovirus, can be a more intractable problem both in their detection and elimination. These are the main cause of gastro-enteritis from shellfish and cause problems somewhere every year. They can be removed by depuration but it may take a long time. Commercially, it comes down to monitoring viral levels, re-laying in cleaner waters, heat treatment, optimistic depuration and a certain amount of hoping for the best.

3. Algal contamination comes from micro-organisms, such as the dino-flagellates and diatoms, and which are famous for sometimes turning the sea red – the so called red tides. These can cause serious illnesses, but most victims suffer no more than an uncomfortable couple of hours. The commonest of them, DSP, or diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, results in gastro-intestinal problems. The most serious, PSP or paralytic shellfish poisoning, is mercifully rare. You do not have to wait long before the symptoms arrive – usually within 30 minutes of your moules mariniere. They include tingling in the mouth, shortness of breath, muscular weakness and sometimes gastrointestinal problems. Fatalities are rare where modern medical intervention is available. There are two more syndromes – NSP, neurological shellfish poisoning, is relatively mild, causing a burning sensation in various, and sometimes unfortunate, parts of the body. The last of this unhappy crew, ASP, or amnesic shellfish poisoning is very rare and, though it is known to exist in UK waters, no cases have been reported here. Its effects can be very serious but I cannot remember what they are.

4. Finally there is always the possibility of contamination from heavy metals such as mercury and zinc or scary sounding chemicals such as the organohalogens.

If you have ploughed your way through the above you may well have decided to never eat another oyster except under medical supervision. Please do not despair. Problems with polluted bivalves are not as bad as they once were. EU directives (shellfish waters and shellfish hygiene) and improved technologies have cleaned up our coast enormously. Furthermore there is much that you can do to eliminate the risk.

Here are my six top tips for safe wild bivalve consumption:

1. Talk to local fishermen and the local authorities about water quality.
2. Collect only from obviously clean areas. Do not collect from narrow estuaries, from harbours or marinas.
3. Use the very sensible old adage of avoiding months that lack an “r”.
4. Give the shellfish time to clean themselves for a few hours in well aerated salted water, but remember this is no substitute for professional depuration.
5. Unless you are sure they are from category “A” waters, always thoroughly cook any shellfish you gather.
6. Check for signs of life before you cook them.

Of the first importance is local knowledge. There are several people worth consulting such as local fishermen and bait diggers. The ultimate source of wisdom in this matter, however, is your local Port Health Authority. This may have been subsumed into the local Environmental Health Authority or the town or county council, in which case you may need to dig deep to get to the right person. Wherever shellfish are caught or farmed commercially there is a strict testing regime to ensure public safety. This means that the water quality in an area may be known with some precision. This information is in the public domain; ask and it shall be given you. Not all areas are good for shellfish and these waters will not have been tested. The Food Standards Agency also takes a keen interest in shellfish safety and publishes the test results on the internet.

A certain amount of common sense is useful when deciding whether to pick or not to pick. Murky estuaries and marinas, litter strewn beaches, nearby disused tin mines and worrisome outflow pipes do not reassure the casual shellfish gatherer and rightly so.

While it does not fit every situation the idea that it is safer to eat shellfish if there is an “r” in the month is a sound one. The late spring and summer are the times when bivalves are at their most active, filtering through vast quantities of seawater. It is also when bacterial and, more importantly, algal contamination is at its peak. Algal blooms do occur at other times of the year but they are quite rare. Remember that there may be legal restrictions on when shellfish may be collected and that beds can be closed if a health issue is identified.

I am afraid that purging shellfish in saline (35gms salt per litre of fresh water) has minimal effect on their safety and is no substitute for professional depuration. Nevertheless it is something I always do to remove as much of their intestinal contents as possible. Sorry - I can’t think of a more delicate way to put it. Cockles certainly need this chance to clean themselves to remove the sand. Shellfish open up in water and will quickly drown if the dissolved oxygen is used up. I use big, shallow trays for the purpose so that oxygen can be easily absorbed and I lay the shellfish no more than one deep. I splash the water about a lot for the same reason and change it at least once. Ten hours is the maximum time that should be allowed for the process and they should be cooked immediately after.

Some people, for reasons best known to themselves, consider raw shellfish to be tasty. Unfortunately they will have to forgo this odd preference when it comes to wild caught animals. Unless you are absolutely sure that your shellfish come from category “A” waters they must be cooked. Cooking kills all bacteria and viruses, so, unless there has been an unseasonal algal bloom that has escaped the attention of your local authority (algal toxins are not destroyed by heat) or a mysterious, unreported heavy metal pollution incident, such shellfish will be safe.
Finally, do tap your bivalves on the side of the pot so that they might prove their vitality by snapping shut. After cooking make doubly sure by only eating those which have opened.

Programme 4

 

Five-root soup

 

This is a simple, tasty soup which I’d encourage you to make entirely you’re own. Don’t feel as though you have to stick rigidly to the quantities listed here - feel free to experiment a bit, using more or less of everything, including the curry powder, depending on your personal preferences and what you have to hand.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 20g butter
• 1 large or 2 small onions, finely chopped
• 2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 250g celeriac, peeled weight, chopped into 2cm chunks
• 250g Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed and sliced (drop the prepped artichokes into a bowl of water into which you’ve squeezed a little lemon juice to stop them discolouring)
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 2cm chunks
• 3 medium parsnips, peeled and chopped into 2cm chunks
• 1 medium-sized potato, peeled and chopped into 2cm chunks
• 1 tsp curry powder
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Method:

1. Warm the rapeseed oil and butter over a medium-low heat in a large-ish saucepan. Add the onion, celery and garlic and sweat gently for 5 minutes.
2. Add the celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, parsnips and potato and cook for a further 3-5 minutes.
3. Pour in enough water to cover by a couple of centimetres and a teaspoon of curry powder and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, for 20-30 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
4. Ladle the cooked vegetables and liquid into a blender or food processor and purée until very smooth.
5. Pour back into the pan, thinning with a little stock or water if it seems too thick. Adjust the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste, and warm through. Ladle into warmed bowls and serve immediately with crusty bread.

 

Spicy lamb curry

Slow simmering makes the lamb meltingly tender, and adding the jar of chutney is a great short cut for adding real depth of flavour. Of course, I hope you’ll use our chutney recipe, but any good, fruity chutney will do.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 1tsp cumin seeds
• 1tsp coriander seeds
• 2tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 kg shoulder of lamb, trimmed of excess fat and cut roughly into 4cm cubes
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 6cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tsp curry powder (medium hot)
• 500g jar of Spicy apple and medlar chutney (see recipe)
• Water
• 250g butternut squash, peeled and cut roughly into 3cm cubes
• 250g Crown Prince squash, peeled and cut roughly into 3cm cubes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:


1. Grind the cumin and coriander together in a pestle and mortar.
2. Heat a little rapeseed oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying-pan over a medium-high heat and brown the meat evenly all over. Don’t overcrowd the pan – you may need to do this in batches. Transfer the browned meat to a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or casserole.
3. Add a little more oil to the frying pan and add the onion, garlic, ginger, crushed cumin and coriander seeds and curry powder, and sauté for 4-5 minutes to release the aromas.
4. Tip the spiced onion mixture into the pan with the meat, along with the chutney and enough water or stock just to cover. Bring to the boil, lower the temperature and simmer very gently, uncovered, for an hour.
5. Add the chopped squash and cook for a further hour until the lamb is very tender. Adjust seasoning if required and serve with Spelt tortillas (See recipe).



Spelt tortillas
These are perfect for scooping up curry – and are great rolled around all kinds of fillings, from scrambled eggs to leftover roast chicken to make a quick and tasty lunchtime wrap.

Makes 8.

Ingredients:

• 250g white spelt flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1tsp salt
• 150ml water
• 1tsp sunflower or other oil

Method:

1. Mix together the flour, salt, water and oil until you have a rough dough. Knead this on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes until it is smooth and has lost its stickiness. Leave, covered, for about half an hour – this relaxes the gluten and makes it easier to roll out.
2. Divide the dough into eight, and form each into a round. Dust the work surface with a little extra flour, roll the tortillas out nice and thin – a couple of millimetres is perfect.
3. Warm a large frying pan over medium heat and have a clean tea towel ready. When the pan is hot, drop in a tortilla, and cook it for half a minute or so, until the underside is patched with dark brown. Flip over and cook for another half minute, then wrap it in the tea towel while you cook the next one. Keep adding the tortillas to the tea towel as you cook them – this keeps the steam in as they cool and keeps them soft.
4. If you are not planning on eating the tortillas straight away, wrap in cling film or foil to stop them drying out. Re-heat in a low (about 130C/250F/Gas Mark 1) oven, wrapped in foil, until just warm. 

 

If you are interested in learning how to make your own bread (with spelt or otherwise), Dan, our bread expert runs day courses on Bread Making at Park Farm HQ in association with Aidan Chapman at Town Mill Bakery in Lyme Regis.  Click here to find out more.  Dan is also bringing out his eagerly awaited River Cottage Handbook 3 - Bread.  To pre-order yours, click here.

 

Chinese-style pigs’ trotters

These piquant pigs’ trotters are wonderfully succulent, a pleasingly oriental combination of sweet and sour, hot and aromatic.

Serves about 8.


Ingredients:

• 2-3 tbsp sunflower or ground nut oil
• 6 pig’s trotters
• Knuckle of pork
• About 4 or 5 ‘thumbs’ of fresh ginger
• 3 - 4 large cloves of garlic
• 400ml organic apple juice
• 75ml organic soy sauce
• 40ml organic cider vinegar
• 20g unrefined caster sugar
• 2 large, whole, fresh red chillies
• Freshly ground black pepper

To serve: Fine noodles and wilted greens; chard is particularly good with this dish

Method:

1. Heat the oil over a medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Brown the trotters and knuckle of pork, turning to ensure they are evenly browned all over. Don’t overcrowd the pan, as you’ll steam the meat instead of browning it – you may need to brown the meat in batches.
2. Break off one ‘thumb’ of ginger; peel it and slice it thinly. Peel the rest and grate it. Peel the garlic and crush 2-3 of the cloves; finely slice the remaining one.
3. Add the ginger and garlic to the meat and stir everything together. Next, add the apple juice, soy sauce, cider vinegar, sugar and enough water just to cover.
4. Finally, add the whole red chillies and a few grinds of black pepper, bring to the boil and then lower the heat and cook on a low simmer for 1-1.5 hrs. The trotters should be really tender and the sweet-and-sour sauce nicely reduced. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with fine noodles and wilted greens.

 

You can find other ideas for using trotters and other less popular cuts of pork (including using "everything but the oink") in the award winning River Cottage Meat Book now out in a softback version.  For more information click here.  If learning how to butcher your own pig appeals you might be interested in our Pig in a Day course run by our meat guru Ray Smith, at River Cottage HQ.  Alternatively Hugh and Ray's Pig in a Day DVD would make a great present for you or a friend.

 

Brine recipe
You don’t have to use a whole leg (which may weigh over 10kg) and an important consideration is whether you have a stockpot big enough to accommodate such a huge piece of meat. The quantities here are for a small, boned-out leg or half a large leg. For a large leg of pork from a mature baconer, on the bone, you may need to double the quantities.

1 whole or half leg of fresh, free-range pork, on or off the bone


Ingredients:

• 4 litres water
• 1.2kg salt
• 2 teaspoon dried red chilli
• 1 tablespoons cloves
• 2 tablespoons white peppercorns
• 6 juniper berries


Combine ingredients, mixing well to dissolve the salt.

Boil all the brine ingredients together in a large pan and leave to cool. Transfer to a non-metallic brine tub and chill to 3–4°C. Place your piece of pork – also chilled, ideally to almost freezing – in the tub and submerge completely, using a non-metallic weight. Leave the pork in the brine, in the coolest place you can find, for 3 days (minimum) to 4 days (maximum) for every kilo. The maximum time is for a ham you intend to keep a long while; the minimum will suffice if you plan to cook and eat it soon after it is finished.

After its allotted time, remove the ham from the cure, wipe it dry with a cotton cloth and hang it to dry in a muslin bag in a cool, well-ventilated place for 24 hours.

You can then smoke it if you like: hang it high above a hardwood fire or place it in your smoker and either smoke it continuously for 24 hours or intermittently (6–12 hours a day) for 5–7 days. Ideally the air temperature where the ham is smoking should not exceed 40°C (27°C is perfect but a little variation will not hurt).

Smoked or unsmoked, this ham keeps well if you go for the maximum cure time: hang it in a well-ventilated outbuilding, or covered porch where a draught can get to it but the rain can’t, and it should keep right through the winter months. In warmer weather, hams are at risk from flies and other bugs: best get them cooked before too long. A minimum-cure time, unsmoked ham should be kept in the fridge, wrapped in a cloth or muslin, but not plastic, and cooked within a month of curing. Don’t worry if a few specks of mould appear; just wipe them off with a cloth dipped in vinegar.

Hams should be soaked in plenty of fresh water, changed every 12 hours, for 24–48 hours (depending on the length of the cure) before boiling. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 2–5 hours, depending on size. If the water tastes very salty after the first hour of cooking, pour at least half of it away and top up with fresh boiling water from the kettle.

 

If you'd like to learn more about curing your own hams, Ray Smith, our meat guru runs courses at our River Cottage HQ on the Devon/Dorset border. For more information click here.  
 

 

Marshmallows

 

We use beetroot to give our pretty, pillowy marshmallows their distinctive shade of pink. Enjoy them as they are, or toast them on sticks over the campfire.

 

Ingredients:

• 1-2 tbsp icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp cornflour
• A little vegetable oil for oiling the tin and knife
• 1 small, raw, peeled beetroot
• 25g gelatine powder (about 2 sachets, but check the packet)
• 500g granulated sugar
• 2 egg whites

Method:

1. Sift the icing sugar and cornflour together into a small bowl.
2. Rub a shallow cake tin of about 20x20cm with a few drops of vegetable oil and shake a little of the icing sugar mixture around the tin to coat the base and sides.
3. Grate the beetroot into a small bowl and pour over 125ml of nearly boiling water and leave to infuse for 30 seconds. Strain the pink, nearly boiling water into a bowl and sprinkle the gelatine on top. Stir until all of the gelatine has dissolved.
4. Put the sugar into a medium-sized saucepan with 250ml of water. Warm over a low heat, stirring until all of the sugar has dissolved, then place a sugar thermometer in the pan and raise the heat, allowing the mixture to boil fiercely without stirring until the thermometer reads 122C. Remove from the heat and pour the beetroot/gelatine mixture into the hot sugar syrup, stirring until everything is well blended.
5. Pour the egg whites into the large bowl of a mixer and beat until stiff. With the mixer going at a low speed, slowly pour in the sugar mixture in a steady, gentle trickle. After you’ve added all of the syrup, leave the machine to carry on beating until the mixture turns really thick and bulky but is still pourable – when you lift up the beater, it should leave a ribbon trail of the mixture on the surface which takes a few seconds to sink back down into the mix.
6. Pour the marshmallow into the prepared tin. Leave to set in a cool place (do not refrigerate) for an hour or two.
7. Dust a chopping board with the rest of the cornflour and icing sugar mixture. Coat a knife with a little oil. Carefully ease the marshmallow out of the tin onto the board, helping it out where necessary with the knife. Make sure all of the surfaces of the marshmallow are entirely dusted with the icing sugar mixture. Cut the marshmallows into squares, oiling and dusting the knife as needed. Store in an airtight tin lined with baking parchment.

 

Boiled ham
This creates the most delicious ham and easily repays your patience as you wait for the brine to work its magic. Enjoy it as, sliced for salads and sandwiches, or you can glaze and bake it if you like.

2l water
600g salt
6 juniper berries, lightly crushed
1 tsp white peppercorns
A couple of cloves
A couple of whole, dried chillies or 1tsp chilli flakes
A couple of bay leaves
A 4.5kg- 9kg half or whole leg of pork

For boiling:
A couple of bay leaves
A small glass of cider

Pour the water into a large pan and warm up. Tip in the salt and aromatics and stir until the salt has dissolved completely. Pour the brine into a large plastic container and cool then refrigerate until chilled.
Place the ham in the brine and weight it down to ensure it is completely submerged. Cover and leave in the coolest place you can find for 3 days minimum, 4 days maximum per kilo.
Take the ham out of the brine and soak in plenty of fresh, cold water for 24 hours. Drain and weigh the ham.
Place the ham in a pan with more fresh, cold water and bring to the boil. On boiling, empty the water and replace with more fresh, cold water, bay leaves and a glug of cider. Leave to simmer for about 20 minutes per 500g; allow the ham to cool in the cooking liquid.  Remove the ham from the water once cool and refrigerate.

Medlar Jelly
If you can’t get hold of medlars, you can certainly make this jelly using a mixture of apples and pears instead, but if you do manage to hunt some down you’re in for a real treat. This soft, pink, slightly cloudy jelly is a wonderful accompaniment to lamb or venison (try stirring a little into the pan juices when you’re making the gravy, too), but you can also add some to yoghurt or spread a spoonful or two over hot, buttered sourdough toast.


Ingredients

• 1kg medlars (quartered but not peeled)*
• 500g Bramley cooking apples
• About 650g granulated sugar


Method:

1. Quarter the medlars. Peel and chop the apples and tip the fruit into a preserving pan, or any heavy-bottomed, deep, wide pan, with just enough water to cover.
2. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30-45 minutes, until the medlars are soft and pulpy.
3. Strain through a jelly bag on a stand set over a large bowl. Don’t be tempted to poke, squeeze or force the pulp through the bag or you’ll get a cloudy jelly, just leave it to drip over the bowl for several hours or overnight. Don’t discard the pulp though – it’s perfect for adding to our chutney (see recipe).
4. Measure the juice, pour into a clean preserving pan and bring to boiling point before adding the sugar (for every 1l of juice, add 650g of sugar). Stir, in one direction only to reduce foam, until sugar is totally dissolved then boil rapidly for 8 minutes or until the setting point is reached. If you have a preserving thermometer, it should read 104.5C; if you don’t have a thermometer, drop a little jelly onto a saucer which you have chilled in the fridge. Let the jelly cool for a minute then push it gently with your finger. If it crinkles, it has reached its setting point. Remove from the heat and skim off any scum using a slotted spoon.
5. Decant carefully into a warm jug and pour into warm, sterilised jars.


* If you have freshly picked, unbletted medlars, remove any leaves from them and place them in one layer in a shallow bowl and leave them in a cool place until they turn brown and soften slightly.

 

Medlar and apple chutney
This chutney uses a host of spices to give it a really “Eastern tang”. We use the discarded pulp from the medlar jelly in this recipe, but if you can’t find medlars you can certainly use pears instead. It’s perfect with a slab of good, strong Cheddar or a slab of pork pie.

Ingredients

• 2-3tbsp sunflower oil
• 4tbsp mustard seeds
• 2tbsp crushed black peppercorns
• 1tbsp fenugreek seeds
• 1tbsp ground cumin
• 2tsp turmeric
• 1 bulb of garlic, peeled and grated
• 5-7cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 6 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 kg Bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 500g dark Muscovado sugar
• 500ml cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp salt
• The left over pulp from the medlar jelly, or about 700g pears, peeled, cored and chopped


Method:

1. Warm the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat and add the spices, stirring well and frying until the mustard seeds just begin to pop. This will only take a minute or so – be careful not to scorch the spices. Add the garlic, ginger and chillies, stir well, and fry gently for few minutes.
2. Tip the apples into the pan with the spices and mix until well combined.
3. Add the sugar, vinegar and salt, along with the left over pulp from the medlar jelly, or the pears if you are using them instead.
4. Stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for about 2 hours until thickened, stirring occasionally and adding a little water if you think it’s beginning to look too thick.
5. Bottle in warm, sterilised jars, filling the jars really full as the mixture will shrink slightly as it cools. Seal with vinegar-proof lids.