Evening all,
May is almost finished and I've managed to survive a very busy month. Between juggling the shop duties, chutney cooking, jar labelling and car-packing, I've managed to spend 9 days selling Cardiff City Centre and a manic 2 days in the Gower Heritage Centre in Parkmill.
Cardiff was fun; a pretty slow 9 days with regards to sales but it's so much fun having time to spend interacting with customers and actually being able to talk about my business and all that it entails. Usually in these food fest it's a smash-and-grab whirlwind of chaos so having a slow, laid back event was a blessing. Especially as I'd spend the previous 3 weeks cooking like a madman and filling almost 1000 bottles and jars with various chutneys, marmalades, jams and sauces. I was staying up with a friend on mine (Becky) so I didn't have 2 hours of commuting every day which was really nice, which meant I was able to catch up with some friends I hadn't seen in AGES and have some well deserved ciders.
On the 24th and 25th I was down Gower for their food festival: that was a whirlwind smash-and-grab event. I took enough jars and bottles with me and unpacked them all on the first day thinking they would last 2 days... Nope, sold out of almost everything on the first day and needed an emergency restock for the second day. Now, Cardiff market was still going on at this point (my parents were doing the final 2 days for me), and all my surplus marmalade stock was up there; unfortunately Gower has no signal whatsoever but through a miracle I had managed to get one bar and sent a marmalade SOS to my mother before the signal disappeared again. By the time I got home the Cardiff market had long shut down for the night, so I had worked myself in to a right state thinking I'd have no more marmalade for the following day (it's amazing that these are my life problems...!) Anyway, my superhero father and brilliant boyfriend has spoken during the day and arranged to meet halfway between Swansea and Cardiff and hand over a few boxes of marmalade. Phew! Panic over.
The second day at Gower was equally as busy, which is absolutely fantastic!
Going to these markets and food festivals is by far my favourite part of the job (although I do love the gardening side, and cooking is pretty fun too). To watch people's (positive) reactions when they try my preserves is amazing, and it's such a confidence boost! It's hard spending all day, every day in the kitchen and alone just cooking all the time. It's long and lonely and there's only so many times you can listen to the same songs over and over on the radio. But to be able to pack the car with boxes of jars, and go out and meet all the people who love to eat the preserves I spend hours and hours making is well worth all the labour in the kitchen. I love my job more and more every day, and I suppose that's a pretty incredible thing to be able to say.
So, now that my store room is pathetically empty, I need to start cooking again. I've made a few contacts through these food festivals and markets and have some wholesale orders that I need to make, and potentially a new outlet in mid-Wales which is also exciting. Oscar's Kitchen is getting busier and busier, which is amazing.
Hope everyone is well,
Ruth & Oscar
p.s. I'm spending a day this week experimenting; I'm going to try and make some homemade fruit gummy sweets. Will be taking pictures through the whole process and will let you all know how well/bad/disastrous it goes!
Showing posts with label homemade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homemade. Show all posts
Tuesday, 26 May 2015
Thursday, 6 March 2014
How To Make: Homemade Pectin
Good afternoon,
It's a horrible rainy day in Wales (surprise surprise) so I thought a nice little blog might make it all better, especially when the blog is about making homemade pectin for all those delicious jams and jellies that we will all be making in the beautiful, long summer days ahead.
Pectin is VITAL for jellies, jams and marmalades to set. Fruits which are naturally high in pectin, such as cooking apples, currants, gooseberries and cranberries, won't have any difficulty in setting. However, fruits such as pears, elderberries, figs and peaches are low in pectin and so they will need a little bit of help to set.
With the summer coming up and an abundance of berries and soft fruits to be had, it will be quite handy to have a store of pectin available in order to make some jam or jellies.
The following recipe and "pectin test" are, from "The Gentle Art of Preserving" by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi. This book is not only one of my favourite recipe books, but it's full of practical information and guidance on how preserve all sorts of foods. It is a definite asset to any kitchen!
Homemade pectin stock
1kg cooking apples or crabapples
1-1.5L water
"Chop the fruit into bite-sized pieces... put in a saucepan and cover with the water. Put a lid on the pan and bring to the boil, and then simmer until the fruit is really soft and pulpy, up to 1 hour. Transfer the pulp to a jelly bag and set aside for at least 5 hours (preferably overnight)."
The juice which will have come from the straining will be the desired pectin. However, this can be tested by doing the following...
"Remove one teaspoon of the cooked juice and put into a small jar or ramekin. Add 1 tablespoon of methylated spirits and swirl them both together. If the mixture comes together in a jellified lump, the juice is high in pectin; if it forms small clumps, then it has medium levels of pectin; if it forms tiny lumps or no lumps at all, your fruit is low in pectin."
This pectin can be used straight away or can be frozen in small quantities. It can also be poured into sterilized jars and then placed in a water bath for 10 minutes, and this way it will store safely for around 6 months.
This is something I will definitely be doing this year, as I have already faced a few issues with strawberry jam not setting properly and also grape jelly not setting at all! It also ensures that good, homemade pectin is being made from produce from the garden (or someone else's) rather than using mass produced stuff. Win-win!
It's a horrible rainy day in Wales (surprise surprise) so I thought a nice little blog might make it all better, especially when the blog is about making homemade pectin for all those delicious jams and jellies that we will all be making in the beautiful, long summer days ahead.
Pectin is VITAL for jellies, jams and marmalades to set. Fruits which are naturally high in pectin, such as cooking apples, currants, gooseberries and cranberries, won't have any difficulty in setting. However, fruits such as pears, elderberries, figs and peaches are low in pectin and so they will need a little bit of help to set.
With the summer coming up and an abundance of berries and soft fruits to be had, it will be quite handy to have a store of pectin available in order to make some jam or jellies.
The following recipe and "pectin test" are, from "The Gentle Art of Preserving" by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi. This book is not only one of my favourite recipe books, but it's full of practical information and guidance on how preserve all sorts of foods. It is a definite asset to any kitchen!
Homemade pectin stock
1kg cooking apples or crabapples
1-1.5L water
"Chop the fruit into bite-sized pieces... put in a saucepan and cover with the water. Put a lid on the pan and bring to the boil, and then simmer until the fruit is really soft and pulpy, up to 1 hour. Transfer the pulp to a jelly bag and set aside for at least 5 hours (preferably overnight)."
The juice which will have come from the straining will be the desired pectin. However, this can be tested by doing the following...
"Remove one teaspoon of the cooked juice and put into a small jar or ramekin. Add 1 tablespoon of methylated spirits and swirl them both together. If the mixture comes together in a jellified lump, the juice is high in pectin; if it forms small clumps, then it has medium levels of pectin; if it forms tiny lumps or no lumps at all, your fruit is low in pectin."
This pectin can be used straight away or can be frozen in small quantities. It can also be poured into sterilized jars and then placed in a water bath for 10 minutes, and this way it will store safely for around 6 months.
This is something I will definitely be doing this year, as I have already faced a few issues with strawberry jam not setting properly and also grape jelly not setting at all! It also ensures that good, homemade pectin is being made from produce from the garden (or someone else's) rather than using mass produced stuff. Win-win!
Thursday, 27 February 2014
Sowing and Growing: March
Hello everyone,
I've had quite a busy few days cooking in the kitchen, making lots of nice chutneys for you all such as a Mixed Fruit Chutney and a Banana and Date Chutney, which is surprisingly moreish! I've also done some experimenting: I made some chilli pickled garlic which will look really nice once I've worked out how to stop the garlic from turning bright blue... Apparently, this is due to the natural sulphur in the garlic reacting to the acidity in the vinegar. It's still edible though! Anyway, I'm going to try it again making some slight alterations to the garlic used, the vinegar used and I might distill the water in the recipe before adding it to the vinegar, see if any of this makes a difference. I also read online that some garlic would turn pink! Wouldn't mind that...
So, next month is going to be a busy month in the garden. There are lots of seeds to sow and I have a lovely new plastic greenhouse I need to build. Did I mention that my glass greenhouse got pulverised in the recent storms? Absolutely demolished, it's looks like a scrunched up paper ball. So sad, my little heart broke when I saw it.
Here are some of the seeds that I will be sowing next month.
Indoors
Aubergines
The variety I'll be sowing is Black Beauty which will produce large, flavoursome fruits around August-October time. I'll germinate them in a propagator and then transplant them into individual 3" pots until they're big enough to handle and move into bigger pots. I'll be wanting around 12 plants or so, and these will live quite happily in my greenhouse (if I get another glass one before then) or even in a super sunny spot. Last year my aubergine plants got devoured by slugs, so I'll be sure to grow a few "decoy" ones which I'll spare to the slugs.
The aubergines will be used to make Aubergine Relish and Grilled Aubergines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Chillies
I wrote about the chillies I was going to grow in a previous blog entry called "Some Like It Hot" (23rd January, 2014). Have a read if you'd like, but if you can't be bothered to flick back then I will tell you again!
The varieties I'm growing this year are Jalapeno, Serrano and Cayenne, which aren't scaldingly hot chillies but do have a tasty tingle to them. I'll also be growing more daring (and face meltingly hot) chillies such as Padron, Paper Lantern and Bulgarian Carrot. I might even get some Scotch Bonnet seeds because I prefer doing things in odd numbers.
The chillies will be used in chilli jams, chilli sauces, and as fresh chillies in different chutneys and preserves.
Tomatoes
Gardener's Delight and Moneymaker are the two tomato varieties I will be sowing in March. They're heavy croppers and taste delicious, which is exactly the fruits I will be wanting during the summer. I will be needed about 50 tomato plants so will need a fair few seeds to germinate.
My trick with germinating tomato seeds is to scatter the seeds, approx. 25-30, on a damp piece of kitchen paper placed inside an empty plastic food container. I cover the seeds with another damp piece of kitchen paper, put on the lid and place in the airing cupboard. After a few days the seeds will be sprouting little white roots and stems and then I will move them into 3" pots and sit them on a windowsill to continue growing. It's a much quicker way to get lots and lots of seeds to germinate in one go.
Tomatoes will be used for chutneys, relishes and to make Sundried Tomatoes with Garlic and Chilli, or with Lemon and Thyme.
Cucumbers
Cornichon de Paris are the sublime little gherkins found on charcuterie boards. I absolutely love them, completely obsessed. When I go out to France one of the first things I buy (apart from Hoegaarden Rose) is a jar of cornichons and I'll eat them with everything; cured meats, bread, cheeses, salads, eggs and pate. And sometimes on their own. I can't wait to grow these plants and have my own little cornichons to pickle!
Globe Artichokes
Green Globe produce large green heads which are beautiful to look at and divine to eat.
Violetto di Romagna produces purple headed artichokes which are very tender.
Artichoke plants take two years to mature before the flower heads appear and can be eaten. Smaller ones will grow in the first year, but I will remove these as soon as they appear so to ensure a bumper crop next year. I'm a bit artichoke obsessed, love the things, so this will be a test of my patience having to wait two years until I can harvest them and cook them.
These wonderful artichokes will be used to make Grilled Artichokes preserved in Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Outdoors
Beetroot
Detroit is a good cropper and produces good sized beetroots. I used this variety last year and it was such a winner, I'm definitely going to use it again. When I grew it last year, every single seed started growing which meant I really needed to thin the plants out. However, I allowed them to all grow together (truth be told this was laziness, I hate thinning plants as it's the most mundane task in the modern world) and only "thinned" them when the plants had formed baby plants. I then lifted several of the baby beets (probably 2 out of every 5) and ate them, and they were delicious! This year I'm going to use them to make Pickled Baby Beets.
Boltardy is perfect for early sowing which means I can sow these from next month to start my beetroot harvest from May onwards. I'll sow a few lines of beetroot every month to ensure a steady supply throughout the summer and until winter.
Burpees Golden is a stunning, golden (obviously) coloured beetroot which is a really vibrant addition to the kitchen.
Beetroots will used to make Pickled Baby Beets, Beetroot Chutney and the golden beetroot will be made into Golden Beetroot Chutney.
Garlic
I will be planting a dozen garlic plants each month throughout the year (hopefully, if my memory serves me well) to ensure a year round supply to make my Chilli Pickled Garlic and to add flavour to other pickles and preserves in oil.
Peas and Broad Beas
I saw a fabulous trick on a gardening blog that I follow which shows how sowing pea and broad bean seeds in plastic guttering works a treat! And they can continue growing in there until a reasonable size and then be transplanted to their permanent growing place. Ingenious! Am definitely going to give this a go, I'm sure my father has some spare guttering lying around somewhere.
These two beauties or for personal use; I don't think there's anything nicer than fresh peas on a summer's day.
I'm tempted to grow some soya beans too... Will look into this.
I will be posting pictures of all these little plants and their progress as it happens.
Have a great day/evening,
Ruth
I've had quite a busy few days cooking in the kitchen, making lots of nice chutneys for you all such as a Mixed Fruit Chutney and a Banana and Date Chutney, which is surprisingly moreish! I've also done some experimenting: I made some chilli pickled garlic which will look really nice once I've worked out how to stop the garlic from turning bright blue... Apparently, this is due to the natural sulphur in the garlic reacting to the acidity in the vinegar. It's still edible though! Anyway, I'm going to try it again making some slight alterations to the garlic used, the vinegar used and I might distill the water in the recipe before adding it to the vinegar, see if any of this makes a difference. I also read online that some garlic would turn pink! Wouldn't mind that...
So, next month is going to be a busy month in the garden. There are lots of seeds to sow and I have a lovely new plastic greenhouse I need to build. Did I mention that my glass greenhouse got pulverised in the recent storms? Absolutely demolished, it's looks like a scrunched up paper ball. So sad, my little heart broke when I saw it.
Here are some of the seeds that I will be sowing next month.
Indoors
Aubergines
The variety I'll be sowing is Black Beauty which will produce large, flavoursome fruits around August-October time. I'll germinate them in a propagator and then transplant them into individual 3" pots until they're big enough to handle and move into bigger pots. I'll be wanting around 12 plants or so, and these will live quite happily in my greenhouse (if I get another glass one before then) or even in a super sunny spot. Last year my aubergine plants got devoured by slugs, so I'll be sure to grow a few "decoy" ones which I'll spare to the slugs.
The aubergines will be used to make Aubergine Relish and Grilled Aubergines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Chillies
I wrote about the chillies I was going to grow in a previous blog entry called "Some Like It Hot" (23rd January, 2014). Have a read if you'd like, but if you can't be bothered to flick back then I will tell you again!
The varieties I'm growing this year are Jalapeno, Serrano and Cayenne, which aren't scaldingly hot chillies but do have a tasty tingle to them. I'll also be growing more daring (and face meltingly hot) chillies such as Padron, Paper Lantern and Bulgarian Carrot. I might even get some Scotch Bonnet seeds because I prefer doing things in odd numbers.
The chillies will be used in chilli jams, chilli sauces, and as fresh chillies in different chutneys and preserves.
Tomatoes
Gardener's Delight and Moneymaker are the two tomato varieties I will be sowing in March. They're heavy croppers and taste delicious, which is exactly the fruits I will be wanting during the summer. I will be needed about 50 tomato plants so will need a fair few seeds to germinate.
My trick with germinating tomato seeds is to scatter the seeds, approx. 25-30, on a damp piece of kitchen paper placed inside an empty plastic food container. I cover the seeds with another damp piece of kitchen paper, put on the lid and place in the airing cupboard. After a few days the seeds will be sprouting little white roots and stems and then I will move them into 3" pots and sit them on a windowsill to continue growing. It's a much quicker way to get lots and lots of seeds to germinate in one go.
Tomatoes will be used for chutneys, relishes and to make Sundried Tomatoes with Garlic and Chilli, or with Lemon and Thyme.
Cucumbers
Cornichon de Paris are the sublime little gherkins found on charcuterie boards. I absolutely love them, completely obsessed. When I go out to France one of the first things I buy (apart from Hoegaarden Rose) is a jar of cornichons and I'll eat them with everything; cured meats, bread, cheeses, salads, eggs and pate. And sometimes on their own. I can't wait to grow these plants and have my own little cornichons to pickle!
Globe Artichokes
Green Globe produce large green heads which are beautiful to look at and divine to eat.
Violetto di Romagna produces purple headed artichokes which are very tender.
Artichoke plants take two years to mature before the flower heads appear and can be eaten. Smaller ones will grow in the first year, but I will remove these as soon as they appear so to ensure a bumper crop next year. I'm a bit artichoke obsessed, love the things, so this will be a test of my patience having to wait two years until I can harvest them and cook them.
These wonderful artichokes will be used to make Grilled Artichokes preserved in Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Outdoors
Beetroot
Detroit is a good cropper and produces good sized beetroots. I used this variety last year and it was such a winner, I'm definitely going to use it again. When I grew it last year, every single seed started growing which meant I really needed to thin the plants out. However, I allowed them to all grow together (truth be told this was laziness, I hate thinning plants as it's the most mundane task in the modern world) and only "thinned" them when the plants had formed baby plants. I then lifted several of the baby beets (probably 2 out of every 5) and ate them, and they were delicious! This year I'm going to use them to make Pickled Baby Beets.
Boltardy is perfect for early sowing which means I can sow these from next month to start my beetroot harvest from May onwards. I'll sow a few lines of beetroot every month to ensure a steady supply throughout the summer and until winter.
Burpees Golden is a stunning, golden (obviously) coloured beetroot which is a really vibrant addition to the kitchen.
Beetroots will used to make Pickled Baby Beets, Beetroot Chutney and the golden beetroot will be made into Golden Beetroot Chutney.
Garlic
I will be planting a dozen garlic plants each month throughout the year (hopefully, if my memory serves me well) to ensure a year round supply to make my Chilli Pickled Garlic and to add flavour to other pickles and preserves in oil.
Peas and Broad Beas
I saw a fabulous trick on a gardening blog that I follow which shows how sowing pea and broad bean seeds in plastic guttering works a treat! And they can continue growing in there until a reasonable size and then be transplanted to their permanent growing place. Ingenious! Am definitely going to give this a go, I'm sure my father has some spare guttering lying around somewhere.
These two beauties or for personal use; I don't think there's anything nicer than fresh peas on a summer's day.
I'm tempted to grow some soya beans too... Will look into this.
I will be posting pictures of all these little plants and their progress as it happens.
Have a great day/evening,
Ruth
Thursday, 23 January 2014
Some Like It Hot...
This one is all about CHILLIES.
I'm a big fan of spicy food; not that raw heat that brings tears and pain, but a wonderful warm heat that courses through your mouth and makes the tips of your fingers tingle (and may bring a few beads of sweat to your forehead). Whether it's spicy sauce, chilli seasoning, jerk chicken, scotch bonnets sliced and diced into dishes, I love it! Making hot sauce is definitely something I would like to perfect; to create a small range of really delicious hot sauces that can complement any sort of food, ranging from a sweet, sticky chilli sauce to a super hot condiment.
Big surprise... I bought a book on hot sauce! FYI: I probably love books just as much as I love food and gardening. So, this book, aptly entitled Hot Sauce! by Jennifer Trainer, and it contains information about types of chillies, types of chilli sauces, recipes for chilli sauces and also recipes in which to use the chilli sauces you have made. Brilliantly compact with lots of great pictures, it's a great book to set me on my way of Chilli Sauce Experimentation.
Last year I grew chillies for the first time. Some I grew from seeds and some I bought as young plants from the local gardening centre. I grew Serrano, Cayenne and Jalapeno from seed, which were very successful on growth but not so much the flowering, and then I bought some Apache chilli plants which were covered in peppers.
Chillies demand a little bit more effort than I had presumed, and unfortunately, mine weren't half as productive as they could have been had I done a little bit of reading around the matter and really put some effort in. So, with the aid of my countless gardening books, I have read up on what it is that I need to do to ensure that my 2014 chilli babies are more fruitful than last year's.
I will be growing:
Bulgarian Carrot
Cayenne
Jalapeno
Padron
Paper Lantern
Serrano
They range from hot to super hot (not in the order I've listed them, that's alphabetical - I don't like lists that aren't alphabetical). Cayenne, serrano and jalapeno are the hot ones, and bulgarian carrot, padron and paper lantern are the super hot ones. Well, they say super hot on the seed packet and I can only trust what the label says. I bought them from my local family run gardening centre in Pontarddulais and they have one of the best vegetable seed ranges there. Always a happy customer!
With regards to chilli sauces, I think I will use a lot of this year's crop of chillies (providing it all doesn't go horribly wrong!) experimenting on sauces, and what I'd like my signature sauces to taste like. I want them to be unique, to have something different to the supermarket mass-produced stuff. Once I have developed my recipes and worked on my techniques, then I will spend next year making several dozen bottles of Oscar's chilli sauce range.
I have so many ideas that I want to bring to reality, so many products that I have written down and recipes to develop to bring into the Oscar's Kitchen range. But I believe it is of utmost importance to spend the time developing any individual product or range to ensure that it is perfect for the customers. These things take time, and I must be patient. There are just so many delicious things to make for you all to enjoy!
As per usual, I will let you know how it goes, with pictures of my plants.
Wishing you are all well,
Ruth and Oscar
p.s. if anyone who is reading this lives local to Hendy/Pontardulais and would like to be a chilli sauce tester in the summer, please get in touch and come and help me create some magic in the kitchen. I will not accept liability to any face melting though. Obviously.
I'm a big fan of spicy food; not that raw heat that brings tears and pain, but a wonderful warm heat that courses through your mouth and makes the tips of your fingers tingle (and may bring a few beads of sweat to your forehead). Whether it's spicy sauce, chilli seasoning, jerk chicken, scotch bonnets sliced and diced into dishes, I love it! Making hot sauce is definitely something I would like to perfect; to create a small range of really delicious hot sauces that can complement any sort of food, ranging from a sweet, sticky chilli sauce to a super hot condiment.
Big surprise... I bought a book on hot sauce! FYI: I probably love books just as much as I love food and gardening. So, this book, aptly entitled Hot Sauce! by Jennifer Trainer, and it contains information about types of chillies, types of chilli sauces, recipes for chilli sauces and also recipes in which to use the chilli sauces you have made. Brilliantly compact with lots of great pictures, it's a great book to set me on my way of Chilli Sauce Experimentation.
Last year I grew chillies for the first time. Some I grew from seeds and some I bought as young plants from the local gardening centre. I grew Serrano, Cayenne and Jalapeno from seed, which were very successful on growth but not so much the flowering, and then I bought some Apache chilli plants which were covered in peppers.
Chillies demand a little bit more effort than I had presumed, and unfortunately, mine weren't half as productive as they could have been had I done a little bit of reading around the matter and really put some effort in. So, with the aid of my countless gardening books, I have read up on what it is that I need to do to ensure that my 2014 chilli babies are more fruitful than last year's.
I will be growing:
Bulgarian Carrot
Cayenne
Jalapeno
Padron
Paper Lantern
Serrano
They range from hot to super hot (not in the order I've listed them, that's alphabetical - I don't like lists that aren't alphabetical). Cayenne, serrano and jalapeno are the hot ones, and bulgarian carrot, padron and paper lantern are the super hot ones. Well, they say super hot on the seed packet and I can only trust what the label says. I bought them from my local family run gardening centre in Pontarddulais and they have one of the best vegetable seed ranges there. Always a happy customer!
With regards to chilli sauces, I think I will use a lot of this year's crop of chillies (providing it all doesn't go horribly wrong!) experimenting on sauces, and what I'd like my signature sauces to taste like. I want them to be unique, to have something different to the supermarket mass-produced stuff. Once I have developed my recipes and worked on my techniques, then I will spend next year making several dozen bottles of Oscar's chilli sauce range.
I have so many ideas that I want to bring to reality, so many products that I have written down and recipes to develop to bring into the Oscar's Kitchen range. But I believe it is of utmost importance to spend the time developing any individual product or range to ensure that it is perfect for the customers. These things take time, and I must be patient. There are just so many delicious things to make for you all to enjoy!
As per usual, I will let you know how it goes, with pictures of my plants.
Wishing you are all well,
Ruth and Oscar
p.s. if anyone who is reading this lives local to Hendy/Pontardulais and would like to be a chilli sauce tester in the summer, please get in touch and come and help me create some magic in the kitchen. I will not accept liability to any face melting though. Obviously.
Sunday, 19 January 2014
Events in March
Good evening all,
This weekend I was taken to Llansantffraed Court (just outside Abergavenny) for a two day break for my birthday. I'd never spent any time in that part of Wales before, apart from driving through Monmouth to avoid the Severn Bridge and its ridiculous toll price! It was such a beautiful place, everything was so green and scenic and quiet. We arrived on the Friday afternoon, had the full intention of going for a walk around its expansive garden but the rain came in so we were forced to stay in our room, drink Earl Grey and watch Pointless. In the evening we went to the hotel restaurant and had the 7-course taster menu: canapes with a drink at the bar and then an amuse-bouche of quails egg, sweetcorn and bacon; fish course of halibut and a trio of artichokes; pigeon; venison; almond panacotta with plums; and finally, my dessert nemesis, chocolate pudding. When I was younger, and a lot less aware of sensible sized portions, I ate 8 chocolate fondant puddings in a row. Needless to say I was violently ill and hadn't touched one since. Until Saturday that is. Fortunately, it was only a small pudding and the whole things was doused in rum so I was relatively unaware of the decadent horror lurking beneath the cream.
The following day we went into Abergavenny to have a wander; apart from the delicious coffee was had (in a chain coffee bar as well) and a trip to a wonderful little delicatessen, Abergavenny wasn't at all how I had envisaged. Perhaps it was the rain and cold weather that made it seem glum, or January blues. It does have a great food festival in September, so I will make sure that I go up for that.
January has been wonderfully quiet; I've enjoyed catching up with friends and family (and sleep!) but now I'm starting to get back into the roll of working. I have two events in March which will require a lot of stock and so I must start cooking next month.
My first event is in Castle Gardens in Swansea on March 1st - it's called Get Welsh, and its a food produce and craft day in Swansea city centre for St. David's day. Myself and some other ladies from our craft shop will be attending and displaying our various gifts and produce throughout the day. There is also entertainment throughout the day, so I imagine it will be quite lively!
My second event is a very exciting one. Swansea Rural Action, a local action group which focuses on rural development, are holding a Producers' Showcase Event in Parc Le Breos in Gower which will allow all the local food procuers to go and show their produce, crafts and whatnot to B&B's, hotels, local food establishments and tourism boards in order to promote local produce and crafts. Its on March 4th from 10am-4pm and Oscar's Kitchen will be attending. Although it is not a selling event, it will hopefully bring hundreds of people who appreciate and know the importance of local and handmade produce. I will be displaying gift boxes, hampers, wedding favours and hospitality size 1/2oz jars, perfect for breakfast and afternoon tea, along with a few of my most popular individual jars, such as the Caramelised Red Onion chutney and my Roast Garlic, Shallot and Balsamic chutney.
I have lots of cooking, labelling and packing to do, and many many pictures to be taken which will be put on this blog shortly afterwards.
Ruth x
This weekend I was taken to Llansantffraed Court (just outside Abergavenny) for a two day break for my birthday. I'd never spent any time in that part of Wales before, apart from driving through Monmouth to avoid the Severn Bridge and its ridiculous toll price! It was such a beautiful place, everything was so green and scenic and quiet. We arrived on the Friday afternoon, had the full intention of going for a walk around its expansive garden but the rain came in so we were forced to stay in our room, drink Earl Grey and watch Pointless. In the evening we went to the hotel restaurant and had the 7-course taster menu: canapes with a drink at the bar and then an amuse-bouche of quails egg, sweetcorn and bacon; fish course of halibut and a trio of artichokes; pigeon; venison; almond panacotta with plums; and finally, my dessert nemesis, chocolate pudding. When I was younger, and a lot less aware of sensible sized portions, I ate 8 chocolate fondant puddings in a row. Needless to say I was violently ill and hadn't touched one since. Until Saturday that is. Fortunately, it was only a small pudding and the whole things was doused in rum so I was relatively unaware of the decadent horror lurking beneath the cream.
The following day we went into Abergavenny to have a wander; apart from the delicious coffee was had (in a chain coffee bar as well) and a trip to a wonderful little delicatessen, Abergavenny wasn't at all how I had envisaged. Perhaps it was the rain and cold weather that made it seem glum, or January blues. It does have a great food festival in September, so I will make sure that I go up for that.
January has been wonderfully quiet; I've enjoyed catching up with friends and family (and sleep!) but now I'm starting to get back into the roll of working. I have two events in March which will require a lot of stock and so I must start cooking next month.
My first event is in Castle Gardens in Swansea on March 1st - it's called Get Welsh, and its a food produce and craft day in Swansea city centre for St. David's day. Myself and some other ladies from our craft shop will be attending and displaying our various gifts and produce throughout the day. There is also entertainment throughout the day, so I imagine it will be quite lively!
My second event is a very exciting one. Swansea Rural Action, a local action group which focuses on rural development, are holding a Producers' Showcase Event in Parc Le Breos in Gower which will allow all the local food procuers to go and show their produce, crafts and whatnot to B&B's, hotels, local food establishments and tourism boards in order to promote local produce and crafts. Its on March 4th from 10am-4pm and Oscar's Kitchen will be attending. Although it is not a selling event, it will hopefully bring hundreds of people who appreciate and know the importance of local and handmade produce. I will be displaying gift boxes, hampers, wedding favours and hospitality size 1/2oz jars, perfect for breakfast and afternoon tea, along with a few of my most popular individual jars, such as the Caramelised Red Onion chutney and my Roast Garlic, Shallot and Balsamic chutney.
I have lots of cooking, labelling and packing to do, and many many pictures to be taken which will be put on this blog shortly afterwards.
Ruth x
Thursday, 2 January 2014
New Year's Resolution: Start Smoking
Happy New Year everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas-time and a brilliant new year celebration. We had a big family dinner party (myself, Ben, my brother and sister-in-law, Becky and her son, Mum, Dad and the witty grandparents) with canapes and a very nice elderflower gin and champagne cocktail, and lots of delicious food including a rib of beef which must have weighed as much as I do! Then we had dessert, cheese and port and Presecco at midnight. It was a very fun evening. On New Year's Day, we all met my aunt and uncle and their three children for lunch in a lovely restaurant in Llanddarog.
I must say, I'm having a very relaxing few weeks off after the madness that was the run up to Christmas. I'm still catching up on sleep and eating as much as I can. However, I have had some wonderful books and tools which I cannot wait to start using. One of them in particular bring a lot of excitement; a book called The Gentle Art of Preserving. My boyfriend's mother bought me this book (along with the Complete Works of Oscar Wilde) and it's full of recipes on how to cure meats, salt fish, preserve fruits and vegetables in oil, how to make alcohol (oh yes!) and how to make chutneys and jams all year round from produce that has been stored in numerous ways. One of the chapters focuses on smoking meats and fish to prolong its shelf life, but to also alter and enhance its flavour. The book, in all its ingenuity, suggests cheap ways of smoking, curing and preserving foods without spending hundreds of pounds on super-duper equipment.
After reading this book, cover to cover (twice) I have decided that I am going to start smoking. It's a simple, yet brilliant, method of preserving, and I can't wait to get started! I've bought a great big galvanised steel bin, and some wood which will add a subtle flavour to the smoked produce. The book says to smoke small pieces of fish or cheese to begin with, to get used to the smell and texture of how the product should be, so I think this afternoon will be spent experimenting with things. I will take plenty of pictures and post them later.
Another product that I am going to start making is cured meats. I've learnt from the book that some meats can be cured in the fridge, some in a cupboard (obviously a clean and empty one) and some need a curing chamber. I'm going to find an old wine fridge and give it a good clean and then use that as a curing chamber. I'm going to have to read a lot more into curing as it requires certain humidity and temperature control, and I don't want to be getting things wrong when bacteria is involved. Good thing I like reading! And food.
With smoking, different woods produces different flavours and suit different produce. This too will need some experimentation to see which flavours I prefer with which produce.
I am almost too excited about this whole thing!
I'll let you all know how it goes...
Ruth
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas-time and a brilliant new year celebration. We had a big family dinner party (myself, Ben, my brother and sister-in-law, Becky and her son, Mum, Dad and the witty grandparents) with canapes and a very nice elderflower gin and champagne cocktail, and lots of delicious food including a rib of beef which must have weighed as much as I do! Then we had dessert, cheese and port and Presecco at midnight. It was a very fun evening. On New Year's Day, we all met my aunt and uncle and their three children for lunch in a lovely restaurant in Llanddarog.
I must say, I'm having a very relaxing few weeks off after the madness that was the run up to Christmas. I'm still catching up on sleep and eating as much as I can. However, I have had some wonderful books and tools which I cannot wait to start using. One of them in particular bring a lot of excitement; a book called The Gentle Art of Preserving. My boyfriend's mother bought me this book (along with the Complete Works of Oscar Wilde) and it's full of recipes on how to cure meats, salt fish, preserve fruits and vegetables in oil, how to make alcohol (oh yes!) and how to make chutneys and jams all year round from produce that has been stored in numerous ways. One of the chapters focuses on smoking meats and fish to prolong its shelf life, but to also alter and enhance its flavour. The book, in all its ingenuity, suggests cheap ways of smoking, curing and preserving foods without spending hundreds of pounds on super-duper equipment.
After reading this book, cover to cover (twice) I have decided that I am going to start smoking. It's a simple, yet brilliant, method of preserving, and I can't wait to get started! I've bought a great big galvanised steel bin, and some wood which will add a subtle flavour to the smoked produce. The book says to smoke small pieces of fish or cheese to begin with, to get used to the smell and texture of how the product should be, so I think this afternoon will be spent experimenting with things. I will take plenty of pictures and post them later.
Another product that I am going to start making is cured meats. I've learnt from the book that some meats can be cured in the fridge, some in a cupboard (obviously a clean and empty one) and some need a curing chamber. I'm going to find an old wine fridge and give it a good clean and then use that as a curing chamber. I'm going to have to read a lot more into curing as it requires certain humidity and temperature control, and I don't want to be getting things wrong when bacteria is involved. Good thing I like reading! And food.
With smoking, different woods produces different flavours and suit different produce. This too will need some experimentation to see which flavours I prefer with which produce.
I am almost too excited about this whole thing!
I'll let you all know how it goes...
Ruth
Friday, 27 December 2013
Au revoir 2013
First and foremost, a belated merry Christmas to you all. I had the full intention of writing this blog and posting before Christmas, but time did not allow it. I hope that everyone had a wonderful day filled with food, friends and family. And sherry.
With Christmas over, I can sit down and breathe and look back on what a fantastic year 2013 was! As my first year of business, I think it went pretty well. Did I mention that I sold out of Christmas stock? That was quite a welcome surprise! Hampers were delivered, gift boxes galore have been sent far and wide across the country, and hundreds of jars were hopefully opened, shared and enjoyed by all over the Christmas period. We certainly tucked in to our fair share of chutneys on Christmas eve with roast pork and Oscar's Kitchen pickled onions. Delicious!
Over the next couple of weeks, I will be giving the Kitchen a well deserved break (and myself) and a thorough sorting out. There are a few things on my to-do list: clean the stock room from head to toe and give it a new lick of paint; re-shuffle the cupboards to I can get a little more space in there; build work surfaces and new storage boxes etc; sort out all my packaging and labelling. In the new year I am hoping to be able to start welcoming customers into the Kitchen in order to buy products straight from the stock room, which will hopefully be somewhat more of a mini-shop.
Talking of shop, I have started looking into opening Oscar's Deli! This is very exciting news, although it will take a lot of work and planning so hopefully I will have my own premises by summer of 2015. It will sell my own preserves, chutneys and pickles etc, but I will be bringing in other local producers' products, such a meat, eggs, honey, milk, cured meats, breads, olives and anything else I can find which is Welsh and Wonderful. WATCH THIS SPACE.
As I mentioned earlier, it's been a very busy Christmas period and a very busy year. I've watched by business really take off, and I feel as if I've made a name for myself now and a permanent place in the food business. Onwards and upwards as they say! However, none of this could have been possible without the continuous support of my parents, who have homed me, fed me, built things for me, peeled and sliced things for me, and have overall helped me the whole way. Thank you parents.
I also owe a huge thank you to my wonderful boyfriend and best friend, Ben, who has the patience of a saint and has always encouraged me throughout the year, when I'm tired and grumpy, to keep on going, and for his encouragement to go on and do bigger and better things. His faith in me and my business is the best pick me up. Thank you.
But, most importantly, I owe the biggest thank you of all to my customers who have truly made this year a success. Thank you.
I'm sure that 2014 will be even more exciting!
Ruth and Oscar
With Christmas over, I can sit down and breathe and look back on what a fantastic year 2013 was! As my first year of business, I think it went pretty well. Did I mention that I sold out of Christmas stock? That was quite a welcome surprise! Hampers were delivered, gift boxes galore have been sent far and wide across the country, and hundreds of jars were hopefully opened, shared and enjoyed by all over the Christmas period. We certainly tucked in to our fair share of chutneys on Christmas eve with roast pork and Oscar's Kitchen pickled onions. Delicious!
Over the next couple of weeks, I will be giving the Kitchen a well deserved break (and myself) and a thorough sorting out. There are a few things on my to-do list: clean the stock room from head to toe and give it a new lick of paint; re-shuffle the cupboards to I can get a little more space in there; build work surfaces and new storage boxes etc; sort out all my packaging and labelling. In the new year I am hoping to be able to start welcoming customers into the Kitchen in order to buy products straight from the stock room, which will hopefully be somewhat more of a mini-shop.
Talking of shop, I have started looking into opening Oscar's Deli! This is very exciting news, although it will take a lot of work and planning so hopefully I will have my own premises by summer of 2015. It will sell my own preserves, chutneys and pickles etc, but I will be bringing in other local producers' products, such a meat, eggs, honey, milk, cured meats, breads, olives and anything else I can find which is Welsh and Wonderful. WATCH THIS SPACE.
As I mentioned earlier, it's been a very busy Christmas period and a very busy year. I've watched by business really take off, and I feel as if I've made a name for myself now and a permanent place in the food business. Onwards and upwards as they say! However, none of this could have been possible without the continuous support of my parents, who have homed me, fed me, built things for me, peeled and sliced things for me, and have overall helped me the whole way. Thank you parents.
I also owe a huge thank you to my wonderful boyfriend and best friend, Ben, who has the patience of a saint and has always encouraged me throughout the year, when I'm tired and grumpy, to keep on going, and for his encouragement to go on and do bigger and better things. His faith in me and my business is the best pick me up. Thank you.
But, most importantly, I owe the biggest thank you of all to my customers who have truly made this year a success. Thank you.
I'm sure that 2014 will be even more exciting!
Ruth and Oscar
x
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Christmas with Oscar
Good evening all,
I think I'm maybe almost halfway through my Christmas events. Here are some pictures of how some of them have been...
It's been an incredibly busy 3 months; preparation, packing, selling, advertising, selling, cooking and delivering everything has certainly made me aware of the true meaning of exhaustion, but I have completely loved every moment of it. My favourite moment, which made me overwhelmingly proud of my business and the product I make, is watching people's elated reactions when they try my products and tell me how great they are. I shan't try and be modest, because I know that what I make is delicious, but its pretty marvellous when people agree with you!
The most popular jars are the Caramelised Red Onion Chutney, Mulled Plum Jam and the Boxing Day Chutney, which is apricots, pears, apples and sultanas slightly spiced with crushed coriander seeds. Its definitely one of my favourites! So much so, I'm adding it to my permanent food menu, so its available to enjoy all year round. Which I'm sure it will be.
Once all my Christmas dates are done I'll have a wonderful week or so off to enjoy Christmas and New Year's, and then the Seville oranges are in season and its time to make some marmalade! It's also Welsh valentine's in January and normal Valentine's in February, so I've been concocting some beautiful treats for "him and her" for the occasion, one of which is Aphrodisiac Jam!
Wishing you are all well,
Ruth and Oscar
I think I'm maybe almost halfway through my Christmas events. Here are some pictures of how some of them have been...
It's been an incredibly busy 3 months; preparation, packing, selling, advertising, selling, cooking and delivering everything has certainly made me aware of the true meaning of exhaustion, but I have completely loved every moment of it. My favourite moment, which made me overwhelmingly proud of my business and the product I make, is watching people's elated reactions when they try my products and tell me how great they are. I shan't try and be modest, because I know that what I make is delicious, but its pretty marvellous when people agree with you!
The most popular jars are the Caramelised Red Onion Chutney, Mulled Plum Jam and the Boxing Day Chutney, which is apricots, pears, apples and sultanas slightly spiced with crushed coriander seeds. Its definitely one of my favourites! So much so, I'm adding it to my permanent food menu, so its available to enjoy all year round. Which I'm sure it will be.
Once all my Christmas dates are done I'll have a wonderful week or so off to enjoy Christmas and New Year's, and then the Seville oranges are in season and its time to make some marmalade! It's also Welsh valentine's in January and normal Valentine's in February, so I've been concocting some beautiful treats for "him and her" for the occasion, one of which is Aphrodisiac Jam!
Wishing you are all well,
Ruth and Oscar
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
The Shop and the Reservoir
Hello all,
I've had a super duper fun day today, which I will talk about once I have told you a little about our community craft shop.
Myself and twelve other ladies, and more recently a man, run a community craft shop in our local community centre. The crafts include handmade chocolates, quilts, cushions, cards, jewellery, preserves (mine), woodwork, slate-work, silversmith jewellery and glass fusion. It's an amazing shop full of incredibly unique creations. Truly stunning.
During this summer we have been loading a selection of our products into the car and taking it to various craft days and events. Two months ago, and pre-blog, we attended the local Carnival and not only did we socialise and have a great day out watching the parades and floats, but we told hundreds of people about the shop and ignited interest in local artists and crafters. We also made a fair bit of money, which goes straight into the shop piggy bank to spend on more events! Hurrah.
Today, the shop attended Lliw Valley Reservoir. It was a fun day for kids so lots of local organisations came forth and did face-painting, sports, painting etc. One lady from the RSPB, who might possibly have had the coolest job in the world, made "Bug Hotels" from pine cones and recyclable objects. It took all sorts of will power not to abandon the shop and go and play.
Here are some snaps of the day...
Homegrown and homemade chutneys, pickles, relishes etc by Oscar's Kitchen
Handmade chocolates by SJ Chocolates in Horton, Gower
Silversmith jewellery by Linda Hughes, Purple Panda Designs, and cards and hearts by Fiona Stirling, Shabby Sheep
Scented heart pillows by Fiona Stirling, Shabby Sheep
Fused glass by Mel Jones, Melta
A slow worm I found on my front doorstep. This has nothing to do with the blog.
Handcrafted woodwork and homemade paper by Gaynor Fuge, Random Layers
Slate by Nigel. He needs no introduction.
So, that is a selection of what Crefftau Y Bont (welsh for Pontardulais Crafts) has to offer. It really is an amazing shop with these amazingly talented crafters.
Oh, and the Fun Day went well.
Ruth and Oscar (he is currently curled up fast asleep on my lap, feigning interest in his blog.)
Monday, 12 August 2013
5am Pickle
Afternoon,
Oscar woke me up at 5am this morning and made me get out of bed and let him outside just so he could go and sleep on my brother and sister-in-law's car (they have come down from Bury St. Edmund to visit for a few days. They have a nice car). I was wide awake at this point, and so decided to do some morning cooking whilst listening to Frank Sinatra and waiting for Tesco to open so I could get some fenugreek seeds.
I made Spiced Courgette Chutney to begin with, using the delightfully humungous courgettes picked from my garden; then I made a batch of Beetroot Relish, and then 4 batches of Caramelised Red Onion Chutney.
I finished this craze of cooking with some Indian Lime Pickle. I took some pictures to show you, although unfortunately, some clever sod hasn't invented smelling cameras, so I will have to tell you that this pickle smells so good, having to wait a month before I can try some seems like torture.
I started off with some limes. 10 limes made one batch according to the recipe book, but I use 20 at a time and double everything else. That makes about 6/7 12oz jars. Ish.
Once they had cooled a little, I quartered them, and cut each quarter into three or four cubes. I must stress how dangerous this part is; I almost lost an eye to a potent mixture of hot oil/lime juice. Could've been disastrous...
I put some more oil in the pan, and added (from the red blob and going clockwise) chilli powder, ground fenugreek, asafetida powder and turmeric, and fried. Amazing smell. I fried these for about a minute.
I think it looks really pretty, but then I am biased. But even if I wasn't biased, I reckon that could be some of the most beautiful lime pickle.
Hope you're all well,
Ruth
Oscar woke me up at 5am this morning and made me get out of bed and let him outside just so he could go and sleep on my brother and sister-in-law's car (they have come down from Bury St. Edmund to visit for a few days. They have a nice car). I was wide awake at this point, and so decided to do some morning cooking whilst listening to Frank Sinatra and waiting for Tesco to open so I could get some fenugreek seeds.
I made Spiced Courgette Chutney to begin with, using the delightfully humungous courgettes picked from my garden; then I made a batch of Beetroot Relish, and then 4 batches of Caramelised Red Onion Chutney.
I finished this craze of cooking with some Indian Lime Pickle. I took some pictures to show you, although unfortunately, some clever sod hasn't invented smelling cameras, so I will have to tell you that this pickle smells so good, having to wait a month before I can try some seems like torture.
I started off with some limes. 10 limes made one batch according to the recipe book, but I use 20 at a time and double everything else. That makes about 6/7 12oz jars. Ish.
I fried the limes in some oil, on a low heat, until they gave off a strong zesty smell. That took about 2-3 minutes. I removed them from the pan before they started going brown.
Once they had cooled a little, I quartered them, and cut each quarter into three or four cubes. I must stress how dangerous this part is; I almost lost an eye to a potent mixture of hot oil/lime juice. Could've been disastrous...
I put some more oil in the pan, and added (from the red blob and going clockwise) chilli powder, ground fenugreek, asafetida powder and turmeric, and fried. Amazing smell. I fried these for about a minute.
I added the chopped limes, heated it all through until the oil started bubbling, and then I spooned it into hot, sterilised jars. I now have to wait a month before they can be sold/opened, as they need a fair amount of time for the flavours to develop and become irresistible.
I think it looks really pretty, but then I am biased. But even if I wasn't biased, I reckon that could be some of the most beautiful lime pickle.
Hope you're all well,
Ruth
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