Posts Tagged With: food

Pear, Swede & Tahini Salad

Posted on June 6, 2012 by leroy watson

Image from ‘How stuff works’ via the brilliant ‘Affairs of Living’ blog

A quick and easy salad using the humble swede and giving it quite a special dress.

Now I call a swede, a turnip, turns out I’m confused (and wrong). Some people call it rutabaga (which is the best name by a mile) or Swedish turnip, apparently it goes by many names. In the North East of England, a swede was a turnip. At least in the 80’s it was!

Swede is one of my favourite roasted vegetables, so sweet. I always remember it being mashed with potato for Sunday dinner and this is still my favourite mash.

This is a very different recipe from that of my childhood mash up days, but I have changed quite a bit in the last 25 years!

This salad is crunchy and the addition of pumpkin seeds means extra crunch. This crunch says to me that the food is fresh and alive. I just felt like giving the humble swede a little light for a while. It’s so often overlooked.

ELEPHANT GARLIC

Now I understand Elephant garlic flowers are hard to come by. I did not know they existed. Hooton’s (our local farm shop) have a selection for the time being and it is a fascinating thing. The stems (or trunks) have a hot, intensely garlic flavour. Like wild garlic, but elephant-like. (They may actually be called Elephant Ear Garlic.)

We sliced all of the veg/pear in a food processor, something I don’t normally use, I was surprised how easy it was.

The Bits

1 medium swede (peeled)

2 ripe pears (cored)

2 celery sticks (chopped)

Handful mangetout (hand chopped into chunks)

1 handful of elephant garlic flowers and stems (chopped – our ingredient of the moment) or wild garlic

1 handful raisins

1 handful pumpkin seeds

1 handful sprouted mung beans

Black pepper

Dressing

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

2 tbs light tahini

1 tbs light molasses

Pinch nutmeg

Pinch sea salt

Splash of water (to thin)

Do It

Put the swede, pear and celery into the food processor, roughly chop up your mangetout and garlic flowers. Arrange in your finest salad bowl, stir in pumpkin seeds, raisins and sprouts.

For the dressing add all bits to a deep bowl and blend together with a hand blender. The molasses will take a while to get involved, you may need blend for a while. If the sauce is too thick, water down a little.

Serve

When you’re ready to serve, pour over the dressing and sprinkle a few more sprouts and seeds. Remember that with salads, height is good. A stacked up salad looks very cool indeed.

We Love It!

I love combining fruit and veg in salads and this salad pays homage to the humble swede. It is a delicious veg raw and I am surprised that people don’t use it more often.

Foodie Fact

Swede is full of vitamin C and dietary fibre.and dietary fibre. One cup of swede gives you 50% of your vitamin C requirements.

Because we like to share at the Beach House, here is ‘Youth Lagoon – 17’. We listen to this when making salads:

Categories: Healthy Eating, Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Vegan | Tags: elephant garlic, food, mung beans, music, raw, recipe, salad, swede, vegetarian | 4 Comments

The Big Four Raw No-no’s

Posted on June 5, 2012 by leroy watson

On a rope bridge in Panama

For me an introduction to raw food came quite unexpectedly while I was working and staying with a friend out in Panama; home of some fantastic and enormous fruit and veg. Kami prepared delicious salad after salad; we ate little and often, with the right combinations of foods and two weeks later I was veritably zinging.

We thought it would be a good idea to share Kami’s words of wisdom; after all one of the biggest reasons for going raw is to help the body with its mineral and vitamin absorption and efficient digestion. After some extra research I realised it is easy to get bogged down in this subject. So I squeezed it down into a few main points.

The Big Four Raw no-no’s

1. Fat and carbohydrate: Avoid having sweet fruit like bananas, nuts, seeds, avocados etc together in the same meal. If you do eat them together the fats and proteins (which are slower-digesting foods) will cause the sugary fruit to ferment in your stomach. This cannot be good. You can eat the fats or proteins four hours before, or a couple of hours after the sweet fruit instead – because the sweet nutrients will have had time to dance through your digestive system by then.

2. Carbohydrate food and acid food: Like with fats, acid foods need longer to digest. If they are eaten with sweet fruits they can also cause fermentation in the stomach.

3. Acid food and proteins/fats: Citrus fruit, pineapple, strawberries and other acid fruits should not be eaten with nuts or avocados; otherwise the protein will not digest properly. Acid fruits inhibit the flow of gastric juice whereas digestion of protein requires an unhampered flow of juice.

4. Keep the amount of fat to a minimum: Fat has an inhibiting influence on digestive secretion and also slows down digestion of other foods. It is generally a good idea to reduce fat intake; it is surprising how little of it we need. Delicious but notoriously fatty avocados are best eaten with a green salad but never with nuts sweet fruit, especially melons.

We feel the trick to this diet is to keep it simple. After all we just want to help our bodies digest this lovely fresh food. Tips like sticking to one type of protein in meals (some raw foodies even stick to just one type of nut or seed). By not eating a huge variety of food types in one meal will help to stop our bodies having to work too hard and will avoid most of the no-no’s too.

We’re just looking forward to getting sensitive with our own bodies; listening to how it feels after eating different combinations of food, and how we feel after these small easy to digest portions.

We want to live in the best possible way for our whole lives so that we can be the healthiest and best we can be for ourselves and for other people! Apart from the eating (which has a huge impact) we also want to focus more on sleeping, exercising, relaxing, being creative, being in nature, having fun so we can shine together brighter from the inside out – yay!!

Have fun trying out our recipes and join us in Raw June!

Love Jane xxxxx

Categories: Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Nutrition, Raw Food | Tags: acid, article, carbohydrate, citrus, digestion, digestive system, enzymes, fat, fermentation, food, food combinations, good life, health, healthy living, healthy-living, love, nutrition, panama, photo, protein, raw food, raw vegan, salad, sensitive, travel | 11 Comments

Raw Emerald Soup

Posted on June 5, 2012 by leroy watson

Raw Emerald Soup

A creamy raw soup that is deep green and delicious. This is raw food at its finest, a lovely texture and flavour and also packed full of nutrients. It is thick and filling. This is the perfect soup for a nice lunch in the summer garden. No emeralds are used in this recipe! This soup is so vividly green it must be good for you.

Savannah and Jane made this one last night and they both commented on how easy it is to prepare. It’s funny in raw food that the ingredients list normally outweighs the preparation list. It’s quick. There is also less washing up to do!

Raw food is dense in nutrients and I am eating less for meals. One bowl of this and I was well sated.

The inspiration for this soup came from the brilliant raw food book ‘Eat Smart, Eat Raw’ by Kate Wood. It is written specifically for raw fooders in the UK. It is fast becoming our raw food recipe bible.

All vegetables here are grated beforehand to make it easier to blend.

The Bits

These bits are per person:
4/5 carrots, two large handful of spinach, 1/2 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 apple, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 tbs miso paste, 1 tbs flax seed oil (we used rapeseed oil), 1 teas dried seaweed, 300ml water.

Do It

All goes into the blender and puree until smooth.

Serve

Mix mung bean sprouts in and scatter on top with some freshly chopped parsley and I added a scattering of sunflower seeds.

Foodie Fact

Spinach is full of iron: two out of every three women in the UK are iron deficient.

Categories: Healthy Eating, Lunch, Raw Food, Recipes, Soups, Vegan | Tags: avocado, bean sprouts, book, carrot, chopped parsley, delicious, eat raw, eat smart, emerald, flax seed oil, food, garlic, iron, Low carbs, low fat, miso, miso paste, nutrients, rape seed oil, rapeseed oil, raw, raw food, raw food recipe, raw vegan, recipes, soup, spinach, vegan, vegetarian | Leave a comment

Raw Honey and Almond Porridge

Posted on June 4, 2012 by leroy watson

Jane making porridge (with pink dressing gown)

Sweet and comforting and slightly warm (and still technically raw). Jane whipped this porridge up and it proved a real treat.

Raw foods are normally vegan organic wholefoods that haven’t been heated above 46oC. This porridge is heated with warm water or milk, just enough to give the groats a nice creamy texture. I love this, as I quite like cold porridge anyway, it sits in the fridge until you need it and comes back to life with a little glug of liquid and a stir. I’d eat this even if I wasn’t a raw-er.

Just because we are raw doesn’t mean we’ve got rid of our need for sweetness. Jane has been craving oats cakes and chocolate (always), I have been eyeing the crispy golden chips at work. But we are both dedicated to this months rawness, we love the idea of this experiment and challenge.

We will be eating this porridge for breakfast and for dessert and, as I mentioned, it will sit happily in the fridge until you have the need for a bowl of goodness. In fact this is sweet two times, with the raisins and honey. Jane has that wicked sweet tooth!

Oat groats are the raw version of rolled oats, which are heated during the process and have had some of the goodness removed. Oat groats are simply the hulled grain.

Next time we makes this we will be using agave syrup as a sweetener and then raw molasses, maybe add some coconut (Jane and her friend shiny Sava have scoffed it all today!) or other nuts. Its a method that demands experimentation.

I realise that some of this raw food has alot in it! Its quite specialised stuff and you cannot avoid a trip to the health store if you would like to go raw. It would be very limiting and as we all know, health stores equal tasty prices. It’s well worth the investment in quality though, we have an apple cider vinegar which is almost my new favourite thing (its contains the mother!) coming just behind the dried seaweed. This diet is opening us up to so many new and interesting food stuffs and already completely changing the way we eat and approach food.

Cinnamon is not necessarily raw, but…c’est la vie!

Raw Honey and Almond Porridge

The Bits
2 cups soaked oat groats, 1 tbsp brown linseeds, 2 cups raw almond milk (or water), 2 teas flaxseed oil (we used local Welsh rape seed oil Blodyn Au, which is delicious), handful of raisins, handful of chopped almonds (soaked overnight, they will swell to twice there size), 1 tbsp really good honey, 1 tsp cinnamon,

Do It
Soak your groats for around 12 hours, they wont sprout. Put into a blender and blitz until smooth, like a thick mash. Add the raisins, honey, oil, seeds and cinnamon and blend again. Then add the heated almond milk (heat just until steam begins to rise) and blend to a smooth puree. Stir in the raisins and nuts and serve as soon as you can. Slightly warm.

Serve

Topped with a couple of nuts and another sprinkle of cinnamon. If you have some soya yoghurt, you may like to spoon a little on top (if its a special occasion).

We Love It!

Soaked nuts are brilliant! We recommend it highly, the have great flavlour, double in size and are healthier.

Foodie Fact

Oat groats are one of the least processed grains, they are rough and take a long time to digest, keeping you nice and full. They are also full of protein.

Categories: Breakfast, Raw Food, Vegan | Tags: almond, breakfast, food, honey, oat groats, organic wholefoods, porridge, raw, recipes, vegan, vegetarian | 6 Comments

Ang’s Avocado and Mango Salad

Posted on June 3, 2012 by leroy watson

Lovely Ang with cake and coffee

This one has floated all the way over from New Zealand. That’s a long way for a recipe to float.

Big hugs and thanks to my ace mate Ang for this one. Ang was a resident of Barcelona, but has recently left Catalonia for her native island, New Zealand. In our topsy-turvy world of hopping around the place, I haven’t seen Ang in way to long, this salad reminds me of the amazing healthy food (and warm cookies) that she used to whip up in Spain when I visited.

This is exactly what we are looking forward to eating this month of raw-ness.

Ang is one of the most thoughtful and loving people I’ve met (not to mention rather amusing). So here is ‘Ang’s Avocado and Mango Salad’ in all its glory, just like Ang, it’s fruity and sweet:

Try this one on for size –

2 avocados
1 mango
1/2 cup corn kernels
1 small onion
1/2 red capsicum/pepper

Dice all of the above into tiny cubes and mix with a dressing made of the following:

1/4 cup oil
2 tbsp lime juice
Clove of garlic, crushed
Fresh red chilli, finely chopped
S&P

Enjoy!
I make this to take to parties or picnics but always leave a portion at home because it’s even better the next day.

This is adapted from a recipe in my beloved ‘The Essential

Vegetarian Cookbook’ by Murdoch books ISBN 0-86411-510-5 in which you also use chopped roma tomatoes, black beans, corriander and rocket.

Do you have a raw recipe we could try?

Ang’s Avocado and Mango Salad

Categories: Friends of B.H.K, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Lunch, Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Vegan | Tags: ang, avocado, capsicum pepper, clove of garlic, cookies, food, healthy eating, healthy food, healthy-living, mango, raw, raw salad, raw vegan, recipe, recipes, red chilli, salad, spain, tiny cubes, vegan, vegetarian | Leave a comment

Raw Hazelnut, Rosemary and Lentil Hummus

Posted on June 2, 2012 by leroy watson

Day two of raw June and I’m feeling good. We have been eating quite a bit of raw food recently, so I wasn’t expecting wonders. Later in the month, who knows, maybe I’ll be sprouting!

I am working in a kitchen at the minute and its the middle of ‘silly season’, so its hard graft. I am finding no problems with the energy and when I eat healthy I find I need less sleep (which is a real help in the catering industry). It does have its advantages, I wont be missing cooking this month that’s for sure! I am also surrounded by temptation, nice looking chips and slabs of cheesecake. It’s a good test. Most of my colleagues think I’m mad, but I’m used to this (for one reason or another). I am definitely eating less and not feeling hungry, I don’t even fancy a coffee anymore, which is rare behavior.

Many people comment that raw food sounds ‘boring’. This recipe is anything but and I find most raw food to be fascinating in its complexity and creativity alone; never mind the health benefits.

This is a real gourmet raw hummus. I thought I’d start as we mean to go on. It contains a lot of ingredients, but it is much more than a dip. This will be the main part of dinner tonight, with an orange, sweet potato and red cabbage salad.

It is rich with the nuts and oil, but does not have the smooth texture of a normal hummus. The flavour is a knockout though and like with alot of health foods, you have the piece of mind that it is doing your body good and providing you with some super nutrients.

We used sprouts here due to the fact that our sprout corner is going mad. At the minute we have a variety of receptacles holding all sorts of seeds and beans. We’ve mung bean, sunflower seed, buckwheat, wheat grains, quinoa and green lentil all in various states of soak and sprout. The mung beans are a staple here, but most of the other ones we’ve either tried and failed with or are completely new to. It’s a great little experiment and the right weather for sprouts. We found it difficult in the winter to get them going and our airing cupboard seemed too warm. Now we have the happy medium of summer (ish) temperatures in Wales.

Sprout Central

We have been soaking our nuts overnight, this helps to release the enzymes and nutrients. They are also softer, better for blending. Hazelnuts are one of the good nuts, peanuts, pistachios and brazil nuts are not goodies. We will still be eating them though, just a little less than before.

It’s worth spending a little more on a good almond milk, the cheaper varieties are thinner and not as creamy.

So here’s our first attempt at a raw hummus:

The Bits
1 cup of hazelnuts, 1 cup sprouting green lentils, 1 cup sprouting chickpeas, 1 handful of dried rosemary, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil (evoo), juice and zest of 1 lemon, 1 tbs raw tahini, 1 tbs flax seeds, 2 cloves of garlic chopped, salt and pepper if you like (I used a dash of Braggs Liquid Aminos instead, it contains naturally occurring sodium and loads of good amino acids).

Do It

This is the easy part, put it all into a blender and blitz until smooth, roughly five minutes should do. If it is sticking or dry, add water as you are blending. This should loosen things up.

Serve

Great as a dip of course, or with a salad. We will be mixing it into chunky chopped vegetables tomorrow.

We Love It!

We Love sprouts! So anything they are in, we are happy about. This recipe is bursting with flavour, the hazelnuts and rosemary work together so well. It has a nice creamy, richness to it, but is low if fat. Hoorah!

Foodie Fact

Sprouting Chickpeas (Garbanzos/ Giggle beans to some) are packed full of protein. They contain more protein than milk! Many vegans and raw food types are asked about how they add protein to their diets, the truth is protein is available in many plant based foods. Nuts and seeds mainly, but sprouts are also a good source.

Chickpeas are full of carbs, but low in fat. A small serving of chickpeas contains around 50% of your daily Vitamin C requirement.

Raw Hazelnut, Rosemary and Lentil Hummus

Categories: Dinner, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Low G.I. (glycemic index), Nutrition, Raw Food, Recipes, Snacks and Inbetweens, Vegan | Tags: buckwheat, catering, chickpeas, dips, food, garbanzos, hazelnuts, healthy eating, healthy living, hummus, mung beans, nuts, raw, raw food, raw hummus, recipes, rosemary, sprouting, sprouts, vegetarian | 2 Comments

Beach Birthday Photographs

Posted on June 1, 2012 by leroy watson

Biker Jane

It was my birthday recently so we thought we’d share some pics:

Before a day out on the Blaenau Ffestiniog Railway (last years present from Jane)

My Dad outside the Beach House

Jane and a bottle of bubbly – Whistling Sands Beach, Llyn Peninsula

My birthday bash, with Jane and my Mum – Whistling Sands, Llyn Peninsula

Lift off! Being launched from the sea (we saw seals here later!)

Jane and I looking concerned about the lack of champagne

Jane has a sunset splodge

Categories: 'The Good Life', photography, Special Occasion, Wales | Tags: beach, birthday, blaenau ffestiniog railway, blogging, celebration, champagne, Dad, food, llyn peninsula, motorbikes, mum, nature, north wales area, photograph, photography, photos, railway, sea, seals, special occasion, sunset, train, vacation, wales | 2 Comments

Why are we raw this June!

Posted on May 31, 2012 by leroy watson

Raw June is here for the Beach House. Jane and I are going cold veggie (and fruit) for the entire month and we both cannot wait to get going.

It really has come around quickly this 100% raw/vegan June adventure. We have both been working quite a bit lately and have had less time to plan for the big plunge than we would have liked, hence the lack of any ‘build-up’ posts. As with most things, we’re going straight in there!

I have a strange excitement in the pit of my stomach and I don’t know why. I know that I will feel alot better and have bags more energy, focus and vitality, but there is the feeling that this could be something very big in my life. It could be a huge lifestyle change for the better, no matter how unconventional it is and no matter how many people call me a ‘weirdo’ (there have been quite a few already) I going for this new diet and looking forward to experimenting with my body and mind in a good way. We are what we eat, well, we shall see.

The main reason for eating raw is that cooking kills nutrients in food. Vitamin C and B are heat sensitive, enzymes are also destroyed when food is cooked, which are essential to the function of the body. If enzymes are not replenished in the body, we can age quickly and loss health. Raw foods have been used for years to treat ailments and illness, most famously by Dr Ann Wigmore,who set up the Hippocrates Health Institute. The truth is that we are exposed to more pollutants than previous generations and our food has less nutrients, even organic food is grown on soil that is less rich than is was in previous times (normally due to bad farming techniques).

Ecologically, if we all ate more raw foods there would be a relief on the planets resources. No cooking conserves energy, there is less packaging (hopefully non) with raw foods, there are no emissions created no processing, the waste is compostable and biodegradable, meaning no rubbish.

Below is the Raw Food Pyramid (thanks to the Almost Raw Vegan for this), this replaces the average diet with meat, dairy etc and will give you an idea of what we will be munching on in June. We are eating no dairy, refined foods, wheat etc and no alcohol or caffeine. Our diet will consist of many different types of salads, smoothies and juices and another host of interesting raw foods that you will seldom find, especially in the UK where raw food is still a relatively new thing. In the States and Australia for example, raw food seems to be very popular. Many people say that raw food will become the new vegetarianism for this generation, I have already seen restaurants with raw options on the menu.

We have always eaten alot of raw food, we just didn’t necessarily call it ‘raw’, just a salad or a smoothie. We will try and be as close to 100% raw as possible, but aren’t really too fussy about things. We’ll still be drinking herbal teas and if our new lovely looking olive oil is not certified raw, we’ll still use it. The same goes for nuts, seeds, dried fruits, pastes etc which are all borderline raw foods. We love these items too much and deem their nutritional values to be too important to eliminate from our diet.

We hope to open a few people’s eyes, minds and palates to the joys of raw food. Raw food is nutrient rich, meaning you don’t need to eat or digest as much. When you are eating a bag of crisps, or packet of biscuits, the reason you are not getting full is because they are devoid of nutrients. Your body needs the right fuel! A raw diet puts that fuel in and makes it readily available. We have had a few days almost raw already and the we have been buzzing! I went for my normal jog and needed to extend it a little, up the mountain. I couldn’t stop! With raw food, your body needs less energy for digestion, which can be utilised in other beneficial ways.

The body has clearly define cycles or natural rhythms:

12pm-8pm Digestion cycle

8pm-4am Absorption cycle

4am – 12pm Elimination cycle

The raw diet will help to cleanse our system of toxins and bring us into balance. After gradually eating healthier for a number of years (we are not just diving in here, we have been eating well for a while now) my body is quite sensitive to toxins and rich foods. I sometimes get what is called a food ‘hangover’ after a cheese or chocolate binge, I will be glad to be free of them. Raw food is devoid of toxins and packed with nutrients. There is a popular raw slogan, ‘stop counting calories and start counting nutrients’. It makes perfect sense to me that what we eat has a profound effect on our bodies and minds. What we consume affects us on ways that we cannot see or know. Raw food seems like a stepping stone for me to a greater understanding of my body and what makes me tick, what makes me truly happy.

Raw food will also free up so much time, as I mentioned we are both busy this summer with work, so not cooking will allow us to do other things. The garden is definitely looking like it needs some TLC.

We will be taking alot of inspiration from our fellow bloggers of the cyber world and also have some good books. ‘Eat Smart, Eat Raw’ by Kate Wood being one of the main ones. Written by a Brit for British folk, mainly important because we don’t have the plethora of fruits and veggies that many countries enjoy. We also have the long cold, dark winters, where soup is our best friend and a chilled smoothie seems like a difficult proposition.

We will be supplementing our diets with a few superfood-type bits. Jane picked up some Barley Grass at the health food shop and that is supposed to be super charged stuff. We will also be drinking propolis daily, which is a bee resin with amazing properties. We’ll be writing about it soon. We will also be sure to drink plenty of water, as this seems to be important no matter what foods you are eating. Become more fluid! It is worth noting that many mineral waters are not organic and the best water you can drink is water that has been treated by reverse osmosis, this is pure H2O. You should also not drink water, or any liquid with meals, as it affects digestion and absorption (diluting stomach acids).

So we are going out in a blaze of intoxication tonight. We said we wouldn’t, but we are. It is a relatively decadent evening with some smoked stilton with sparkling wine planned, followed by some of the finest chocolate I have ever tasted (post coming soon..).

Raw June, a time when we in the Beach House gain a greater awareness and respect for the foods we eat and the bodies we inhabit; a time when we gain a new insight into the world of nutrition and the impact it has on us.

Jane and I are both very positive about all of this, which we feel is crucial, as our mental state has a more profound effect on our health than anything else.

Happy Days!

Categories: Blogs, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Organic, Raw Food, Vegan | Tags: alcohol, ann wigmore, body, caffiene, chocolate, cycles, diet, digestive system, dr ann wigmore, ecology, fluid, food, health, healthy eating, healthy living, healthy-living, herbal Tea, hippocrates health institute, lifestyle, mineral water, natural rhythms, nutrients, nutrients in food, nutrition, nuts, raw, raw food, raw vegan, seeds, superfood, tea, vegan, vegetarian, worlds healthiest diet | 8 Comments

Quick Green Lentil Stew

Posted on May 30, 2012 by leroy watson

This is one for the ‘Beach House Basics’ page; the place to go for simple food, prepared with love (of course!). Good food does not necessarily mean complex with loads of ingredients and this is one that we make regularly.

Sometimes, when writing this blog, I forget that people just want something easy. I normally put the more elaborate or special occasion dishes that we make, but really, the everyday food is just as good, just not quite as fancy.

This stew can be made with puy lentils, which many would class as the best, I feel that green lentils make a good substitute (and are cheaper). The lemon, chilli and coriander give the stew a lift, making it great for this time of year (its springtime in Britain).

Like so many recipes, this could be used as a side dish, but for me, it deserves to be center stage. Adding the potatoes means this is a definite main course filler.

The coriander is something we had in the kitchen, but you could use any fresh green leaf herb really and the lemon could always be a lime instead.

This recipe needs dried lentils that need soaking (overnight). Otherwise this is minimal fuss and maximum munch!

This recipe will be a good dinner for two people, though we normally cook in bulk and dip into it over a few days.

Green Lentil Stew

The Bits

1 cup of green lentils (soaked overnight) or one tin, 1 clove garlic (finely chopped), 1 great carrot (chopped) , 2 large tomato (chopped), a few new potatoes (sliced), 1/2 teas of chilli flakes, 1 big handful of coriander, juice of half a lemon, a glug of olive oil, 1 pint of good veg stock (as needed).

Do It

Drain soaked lentils (a quick wash for them) and cover with your veg stock (approx 1 inch above lentils) in a saucepan. Add a little sea salt and bring gently to the boil, then cover and simmer. Cook as per packet guidelines (30 minutes should do), try one for ‘bite’.

Once lentils are 10 minutes from being cooked, stir them and add your potatoes (it should be looking quite stew-like by now) and cook for 5 minutes, then add your garlic, chilli, carrots and tomatoes, cook for a further 5 minutes. Then stir in the olive oil, lemon juice and coriander and place a lid on the stew, turning the heat off. Let the flavours marinade for a few minutes and then serve.

Serve

We normally have it topped with a little olive oil and toasted sunflower seeds, with brown rice and yoghurt. Just by itself with a fresh green salad is also great.

We Love It!

This is perfect for when you only have a small window of time to work your kitchen magic!

Foodie Fact

These wonder legumes are filled with cholesterol lowering fibre, they also help to maintain your blood sugar levels. They contain high levels of six important minerals, two vitamin B’s and protein, with hardly any calories.

Categories: Budget, Dinner, Healthy Eating, Low G.I. (glycemic index), Recipes, Side Dish, Vegan | Tags: clove garlic, cooking, dinner, food, green lentil, puy lentil, quick, recipes, simple, stews, vegan, vegetarian | 9 Comments

The Worlds Smallest Potato

Posted on May 29, 2012 by leroy watson

Found in a bag of Hooton’s new potatoes.

This may be a record!

The Worlds Smallest Potato

How best to cook this?

Categories: photography, Welsh produce | Tags: food, hootons homegrown farm shop, new potatoes, photography, vegetables, vegetarian, welsh producers, worlds smallest potato | 2 Comments

Apricot, Avocado and Kiwi Smoothie

Posted on May 26, 2012 by leroy watson

Apricots

Today’s smooth one came out rather nice. The richness of avocado and the zing of kiwi, with the touch of sweetness from the apricot. A well-balanced cup of goodness.

Jane and I had just taken a long walk down to Trigonos Organic Farm in the nearby Nantlle valley. It has been an absolutely stunning day in the hills. We popped down to see Pete and the gang and also managed to pick up some delicious little onions, carrots and potatoes. Pete grows some really interesting, rare varieties.

Down on the farm, Trigonos (taken in April with snow on the hills)

It is all go down there at this time of year, as it is in our own garden and we are picking up many tips from the wise bunch at Trigonos. Today we learnt to always water your seedlings at night, especially when sunny. There seems so many do’s and dont’s when it comes to gardening, I have just been sticking seeds in pots and the earth and hope for a bloom. We shall see…

Nantlle Valley and a black pony

So smoothies. We needed something filling, I was shooting off to work , so this is a nice thick one, reminiscent of a milkshake with its creaminess, but without all that fat. Avocados are excellent for this, creaminess without the cow. I’m sure all vegans will agree!

Happy blending!

The Bits

Makes enough for two cups:

1 avocado (seeded and scooped out), 4 apricots (de-stoned), 2 kiwis (peeled and quartered), 1 cup of soya milk (or milk of your choice)

Do It

In the blender, blitz for a short time until smooth.

Serve

In the nicest glasses available, will also make a delicious smooth topping for a fruit salad or dessert (ie CAKE!), you may need to add a little something sweet to the mix, maybe honey or dates would be nice.

Foodie Fact

Avocados are technically berries and are sometimes called alligator pears. They contain a wide range of vitamins and fat (good fats, they’re full of fibre), which is actually a good thing for raw foodist. We will be needing alot of avocados in a few days (see raw June)! Avocados actually help your nutrition absorption by up to 300-400%.

Apricot, Avocado and Kiwi Smoothie

Categories: Desserts, Garden, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Local food, Raw Food, Recipes, Smoothies | Tags: apricot, avocado, black pony, blender, energy, fat, food, garden, gardening, good fats, hiking, kiwi, nantlle valley, nature, north wales area, photography, photos, pony, rare varieties, smooth one, smoothie, soya milk, sweet, trigonos nantlle, wales, walking, work | Leave a comment

Wild Garlic (Ramson) and Walnut Pesto

Posted on May 25, 2012 by leroy watson

Ruth’s hand mid forage

Another hedgerow classic via our Beach House brother, Dan. This recipe was originally taken from the great book, ‘Wild Garlic, Gooseberries and Me’ by the brilliant Dennis Cotter. I haven’t read it, but will hopefully be acquiring it soon.

This is a cracking little recipe, nice and quick to get together and you gain the infinite pleasure of cropping your own bunches of wild garlic (or ‘Ramson’ in some parts of the world), that are free and absolutely delicious.

The amazing thing about pesto, like most good things, it gets better with age (to a point!). An overnight stay in the fridge and POW, the flavours leap out at you.

We will be trying it tonight with almonds (we have a walnut shortage) and mixing it into some wholewheat penne. Yum!

Thanks and hugs to Dan and Ruth for their constant inspiration.

The Bits

100g wild garlic leaves, 50g shelled walnuts, 200ml olive oil, 40g Parmesan, salt, pepper

Do It

Add all ingredients to a blender and give it a good blitz. A small food processor is best here, like the ones you would use to grind coffee.

Wild garlic and walnut pesto

Serve

We have pesto spread thinly on toasted oatbread, or mixed in with wholewheat pasta.

Foodie Fact

Interestingly China in the largest producer of garlic in the world, at 13 million tonnes of the stuff, followed closely by India (800,000 tonnes), then comes Egypt and South Korea. France is not even in the top ten!

Dennis Cotter is an Irish veggie chef who owns the ‘Cafe Paradiso’ in Cork. His cookbooks and approach to all things veggie cooking are always fresh and very delicious.

Heres a link to a great little garlic producer in Scotland, the really garlicky company.

Categories: Dressings, Foraging, Friends of B.H.K, Local food, Recipes, Sauces, Snacks and Inbetweens, Wales, Wild food | Tags: amazon, blender, cafe paradiso, china, cookbooks, cooking, dennis cotter, food, foraging, garlic, hedgerow, india, local food, parmesan, pesto, picking, ramson, recipes, the real garlicky company, vegan, vegetarian, veggie, walnut, wild food, wild garlic | 2 Comments

Pineapple and Blueberry Juice

Posted on May 25, 2012 by leroy watson

Pineapple and Blueberries make happy

This mornings juice worked out a treat. The sun is out again, which is a rarity and always cherished. All the windows and doors are open as the Beach House breathes in the warm air. It has been a long cold winter, we need all the sun we can get!

There has been a pineapple ripening on the window ledge for weeks now, getting nice and sweet, waiting for just such a day; when we can close our eyes and outside, drift off with the birdsong. Maybe imagine that there are palm trees swaying above us and pineapples grow freely in the next field. Instead its a fuchsia bush and potatoes that grow, but I wouldn’t change it.

I had the good fortune to stumbled across some luscious looking organic blueberries (unfortunately not from this island) which will complement our lovely tropical friend, adding their vivid dark colour and nutrients to proceedings.

I started the Magimix up and here the rest is here:

The Bits

Half a pineapple chopped into chunks, two good handfuls of blueberries.

Do It

Stick it in the Magimix, blueberries first, followed by the pineapple. We always juice like this, always dense and concentrated first, followed by something juicy/ watery. You will get better extraction of juices.

Pineapple and Blueberry Juice

Serve

Your favourite wine glasses!

Foodie Fact

To grow pineapples all you need to do is chop off the top and plant it! It does take years to grow (which heightens my respect for the fruit) and very tropical conditions. Our pineapple tops add a tropical flavour to our compost bin!

Buster takes in some sun

Categories: Breakfast, Garden, Healthy Eating, Juices, Organic, Raw Food, Recipes, Relax, Vegan, Wales | Tags: blueberry, breakfast, britain, cats, compost bin, food, fruit, garden, grow, health, healthy living, juice, juicing, long cold winter, magimix, organic, pineapple, recipes, summer, sun, tropical flavour, vegan, vegetarian, wales, weather | 2 Comments

Homemade Nettle Tea

Posted on May 24, 2012 by leroy watson

Nettles

Nettles are here and we are loving them. They are like a cross between mint and spinach and one of the first green leaves of the summer. Some call them weeds, we call them feed!

Nettle leaves can be dried and enjoyed later in the year, or just thrown straight in a pan of boiling water. They can also be stir fried to great effect as a spinach substitute.

Nettle tea can also be made for your garden, it makes great plant feed. You just need a load of nettles in a large container covered with water. Every day, stir them. This will stink after a while, keep going for 4 weeks and you have some seriously good feed that can be used on tomatoes. Great natural fertiliser.

You can even throw some nettles leaves in a bath of hot water, it apparently helps to relieve aches and pains. We haven’t tried this one out, please check that the sting is long gone before diving in!

Brewing the nettles

For the drinking variety:

The Bits

Nettle leaves (1 cup of leaves makes 2 cups of tea), Water

Do It

Boil water in a pan, add leaves.

Homemade Nettle Tea

Serve

In your finest mug.

We Love It!

It literally grows on trees (well bushes).

Foodie Fact

Nettle is a natural elixir, invigorating the body in preparation for the busy summer time. It is a strong blood purifier and helps to dissolve kidney stones. It is ant-inflammatory and can help with arthritis, high blood pressure and helps to clean out the digestive system.

Learn more about nettles and sustainable living on this great site, earth easy.

Categories: 'The Good Life', Budget, Detox, Foraging, Garden, Healthy Living, Infusions, Local food, Recipes, Tea, Vegan, Wild food | Tags: detox, food, foraging, gardening, health, healthy living, herbs, nature, nettle leaves, nettles, recipes, sustainable living, tea, wild food | 7 Comments

Ruth’s Nettle Soup

Posted on May 24, 2012 by leroy watson

More foraging antics here from good friends of the Beach House Kitchen, Dan and Ruth. They have kindly sent across this recipe for their tasty nettle soup.

Eating nettles may sound strange, but they lose their sting when cooked and have been eaten in Britain throughout history. Even Samuel Pepys sampled nettle porridge on February 25th, 1661. The trend died out recently, I have no idea why. Nettles contain significant amounts of iron and calcium, also giving you a big hit of vitamin A.

Dan and Ruth have been raiding the hedgerows of South London, looking for stinging nettles and wild garlic. ‘Tis that time of year! It is so good to be outside in the green. I love the seasons, how they heighten our expectation and enjoyment of spring, when life returns and nature wakes up.

Ruth mid-forage

This is a recipe we will be trying very soon. We are surrounded by bushes of nettles. I love their flavour, like hedgerow spinach. I wonder if there is a recipe that uses dock leaves. That would be quite a thing! I remember as a child being fascinated by nature, the fact that dock leaves always grew with nettles. When I stung myself, the remedy was always at hand.

The Bits

2 glugs of olive oil

1 onion (chopped)

1 carrot (diced)

1 leek (sliced)

1 large potato (chopped)

725ml vegetable stock (good quality)

250g stinging nettles leaves [note: weight does not include stems] (washed)

75ml soya single cream

Do It

Heat the oil in a large saucepan (preferably one that fits one of those countless lids in your cupboard) over a medium heat and add onion, carrot, leek and potato. Fry for 10 minutes until soft and the onion starts to colour. Add the stock and cook for a further 15 minutes until the potato is soft.

Add the nettle leaves and simmer for 2 minutes until they have wilted. Once done, pour all into a blender and blitz away until nice and green. Return to the pan over a low heat and stir in a glug of olive oil and the cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Nettle Soup

Serve

With thick crusty bread and smiles.

Foodie Fact

Stinging nettles are best eaten before they flower (less bitter) in late May. Wear some gardening gloves and take a pair of scissors. The top part of the nettle often has the best leaves.

Categories: Budget, Foraging, Recipes, Soups | Tags: cooking, food, foraging, nettle, nettle leaves, nettles, nutrition, recipes, soup | 1 Comment

Beach House Egg Benedict with Asparagus

Posted on May 23, 2012 by leroy watson

Morning bluebell

This is our version of the famous Waldorf Hotel breakfast dish. It was originally created by a man named Benedict (surprisingly!) who wanted something to cure his hangover. I have almost completely changed the dish, made it a healthier delight, and served it for supper.

That seems to be the BHK style, take a classic and meddle with it until it is almost unrecognisable!

Asparagus is a very beautiful thing, so fleeting, which makes you appreciate it more. I have recently looked into growing them and it really is a labour of love. They are quite tricky and only give you good spears after a few years. Hootons Homegrown have been selling some delicious packs of asparagus, so we’ve been using it in many recipes. Simply pan-fried is my favourite and topped with a local egg makes it something rather special.

This is a gorgeous light dinner or lunch and quick to prepare. The layered effect and combination of creamy dressing, runny egg and crispy vegetables give it a ‘complete’ restaurant dish feel. We added a little toasted oat bread for some ‘packing’. We’ve been in the garden for most of the day, doing loads of seeding and planting; transplanting and spreading of horse manure. We needed a good feed.

We loved to use the last of our wild garlic here, picked from the roadsides of Anglesey. The extent of our foraging consisted of opening the car door and leaning out. Not exactly Ray Mears, but just as satisfying. Who doesn’t appreciate a little free food?

Broccoli Florets

The Bits
Glug of olive oil, half a handful of pumpkin seeds, 1 big handful chopped wild garlic, 1 big handful chopped mint, half a large head of broccoli, 5 handfuls of spinach leaves, 1 large handful cherry tomatoes, splash of water.
Bunch of whole asparagus spears (take of the tough tails, normally one inch from base)
Mixed salad leaves
2 free range, organic eggs (with vivid yolks)
For the Dressing
(these measurements are slightly larger than a teaspoon)
1 teas honey, 1 teas dijon mustard, 4 teas olive oil, 1 teas white wine vinegar, salt + pepper (s+p), 4 teas creamy natural yoghurt.

Do It
Make dressing, add all ingredients to a small bowl and mix together thoroughly. Taste and adjust to how you like it (sweeter, saltier, not quite mustardy enough, more bite, smoother etc).
In a large saucepan, on a medium heat warm the olive oil then add your pumpkin seeds, roast for a few minutes until slightly golden, then add the cherry tomatoes and scorch a little, then add the wild garlic then broccoli. Add a splash of water (roughly 2 tbs). Season with s+p. Cook for a couple of minutes then add spinach and mint. Put to the side with the lid on, keeping warm. This will steam the broccoli.
In a separate small saucepan, bring some salted water to the boil with a splash of white wine vinegar and poach your eggs (crack them into a tea cup and pour low and gentle into boiling water for a neater shape).
As that is happening, heat a glug of olive oil in a small frying pan and flash fry the asparagus spears for three minutes. Do not overcook, they should be nice and crunchy. You may add a splash of truffle oil here, if you are feeding people you love very dearly. It’s a decadent touch.
Give your salad leaves a quick wash and drain.

Beach House Benedict

Serve
Place a flat pile of green salad on your serving plate, add the broccoli and wild garlic fricassee (posh word for something fried), then spoon over the dressing, top with a neat pile of asparagus spears and place the egg on top and season with a little s+p. We had it with a piece of toasted oat bread.

We Love It!
Jane loved it so much she actually licked the plate clean! It wasn’t pretty!

Foodie Fact

Asparagus has been enjoyed by folk for thousands of years and has also been used for its medicinal properties.

Asaparagus is brilliant for digestion and helps to regulate our blood sugar levels. It also contains very high levels of Vitamin K.

Categories: Dinner, Dressings, Garden, Healthy Eating, Local food, Lunch, Organic, Recipes, Welsh produce, Wild food | Tags: asparagus, asparagus spears, breakfast, breakfast dish, cooking, dijon, dinner, eggs benedict, food, foraging, free range egg, fricasse, gardening, horse manure, lunch, mint, mustard, organic, pots, pumpkin seeds, ray mears, recipes, restaurant, seeding, vegetarian, waldorf hotel, wild garlic | Leave a comment

Pear and Peanut Smoothie

Posted on May 22, 2012 by leroy watson

Rampant Azaleas

This one was made to top the Sunbeam Fruit Salad but is delicious served straight up.

We needed something creamy, so I was dragged away from the juicer for a day. It was time for a smoothie.

The peanut butter adds a lovely creaminess and bags of energy and the kiwi has a nice sharpness to it. Pears are always buttery and bitty.

It is vegan and supercharged to get you buzzing come the morn.

This is enough for 2 glasses (and one left for later). Just peel the kiwi, the rest is best with skins and seeds in we think.

The Bits

2 pears (chopped), 1 large apple (chopped), 1 handful of spinach leaves, 2 kiwi fruits, 1 large tbs of chunky peanut butter (organic, with not too much salt), 2 cups of soya milk (or the milk of something that you prefer).

Do It

Pop all in a blender and blitz up until smooth.

Pear and Peanut Smoothie

Serve

Over a fruit salad or in your finest wine glass.

We Love It!

I love peanuts, so the more the merrier! Spinach adds a great deep green. We have missed the chunks (far too much juicing recently).

Foodie Fact

Pears are actually a member of the rose family and are full of good fibre.

Patterns in the sand near the Beach House

Categories: Breakfast, photography, Raw Food, Recipes, Smoothies, Vegan | Tags: azalea, beach, beach house, blender, breakfast, chunky peanut butter, cooking, flowers, food, juices, kiwi, kiwi fruits, nature, ocean, peanut, peanut butter, pear, photography, photos, raw, raw food, raw smoothies, recipe, recipes, rose family, smoothie, spinach, summer, vegan, vegetarian, wine glass | 2 Comments

Sunbeam Fruit Salad

Posted on May 22, 2012 by leroy watson

Blooming great rhododendrons. It’s finally May!

The perfect fruit salad!?

Impossible to tell really, but it certainly hit our spots.

This is not what you would call a seasonal wonder, more a bargain basement bonanza!!! This is a salad for when you have a glut of fruit that needs eating soon. Its totally OTT and befitting of my birthday weekend, when excess is embraced.

This fruity number is very delicious and perfect for this morning in wonderful Wales. It’s a glorious day, full of sunbeams, the birds are singing and Buster (a cat) is lounging in the herb garden. Everybody is out in their gardens, wondering what on earth to do. You realise the importance of our sun when it is hidden behind grey clouds for many months. When it returns, it has an incredible effect on people; they go outside, they begin to re-connect with the light (sun). We all start shining!

We have this type of salad most mornings, a mixture of fruit and vegetables topped by a thick smoothie. It keeps us going for most of the day, brimmed full of goodness. Jane and Mum went shopping this weekend (Mum was visiting for my birthday, which was an amazing time, the best birthday I’ve had since I was 9 years old and organised a mass football match on the local park and had a cake shaped like the FA cup) and chanced upon some amazing bargains in the fruit section. Organic blueberries, apricots etc for 20p a pack! Its capitalism gone mad! We have not seen fruit like this for many, many months and their return has a similar effect to the return of our beautiful sunshine.

Top tip – I have been making these beauty salads for a while now and if there is one tip that I would offer to you lovely people it is this, use a clean board. Sounds obvious, but the slightest hint of garlic or onion on a board can spell disaster for the subtle flavours of your fruits. We have a separate board for all things fruit.

If you think that mixing fruit and vegetables in salad is a little weird, perhaps it is, but it is delicious. Carrots are very sweet and celery has a lovely mild flavour. They both add real bite to proceedings.

The Pear and Peanut smoothie topping recipe will follow on the next post. This makes enough for two massive bowls.

Bumble bees get busy with bluebells

The Bits

We used our selection of fruit and veg here, but you can of course have a play and use what is in season or any good stuff that you can get your hands onto. Mix in seeds/ nuts for added crunch and texture, a citrus fruit to add a little tang, the addition of flax seeds really helps your digestion:

2 apricots (de-pipped and diced), 1 big handful of blueberries, 1 apple (diced), 1 pear (diced), 1 orange (peeled and diced), 2 kiwis (peeled and diced), 3 carrots (chopped), 2 sticks of celery (chopped), 1/2 handful of roasted sunflower seeds, 2 tbs flax seeds, 1/2 handful of roasted hazelnuts, 1 handful of chopped mint (chopped)

Do It

Grab your favourite salad bowl, chop all bits up into your favourite shapes, mix then all in gently and top with your smoothie (see next post). Serve liberally with smiles.

Serve

In bowls of the size that befit the mouths to feed. In the Beach House, this means big bowls!

The Sunbeam Fruit Salad

We Love It!

Really, what’s not to like here! The perfect way to start the day.

Foodie Fact

Blueberries are a sign from nature that snacking has always been OK. They are one of the original grab and go foods!!!! Served straight from the bush. I am so glad to have these back in my life, they are real burst of incredible nutrition. I love their dark colour, it adds brilliant contrast to any dish it touches.

They contribute amazingly to our health, that dark purple colour is thanks to some wonder pigments that are full of antioxidants. They contain some of the highest levels of antioxidants in the plant world. They limit free radical activity and actually regulate our blood sugar levels.

Categories: 'The Good Life', Breakfast, Garden, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, Organic, photography, Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Snacks and Inbetweens | Tags: amazing bargains, apricot, bees, BHK Favourite, blueberry, breakfast, cat, flax, flowers, food, football match, fruit, fruit and vegetables, fruit salad, garden, nature, organic, photograph, photography, raw, raw food, recipes, rhododendrum, salad, salads, seasonal, seeds, smoothie, summer, sun, sunshine, vegetables | 15 Comments

Homemade Ricotta with Wild Garlic and Mint

Posted on May 19, 2012 by leroy watson

Wild garlic and mint

I realise that I write regularly about making my own cheese. It is something that I am quite fascinated by. I have tried yoghurt and using live cultures etc, but it is difficult, especially due to the fluctuating temperature of our cottage (we only have a wood burning stove for heat) and the temperamental weather (British weather is utterly mental). Live cultures etc don’t seem to like this, they are sensitive sorts.

Making ricotta requires non of this effort. It is a fail safe method of making your own gorgeous cheese. Not complex or pungent, but super smooth and creamy. Every time.

This is a simple technique. I would advise you seek out good quality, organic milk for best results. Once you try it, you will not want to go back to the shop bought variety. This is a real homemade treat that takes no time at all and actually saves you money.

I have mixed a few fresh herbs in here. We had just picked some wild garlic, we took a wrong turn on Anglesey and ended up driving through a field of the stuff! The mint is beautiful looking, grown by the good people at Hooton’s Homegrown. I walked into the kitchen this morning and was greeted by the wonderful aroma of these two and could not resist combining them with the cheese.

Ricotta means ‘recooked’ in Italian and is a so versatile. It goes well in savoury and sweet dishes. I love it with some warm oat bread and honey and it makes a delicious base for pasta sauces, we have also used it with dark chocolate for dessert (see here). This ricotta recipe is excellent as it can be stirred directly into warm pasta. It is basically a great thing to have in the fridge.

I am sure that this is one of those cooking techniques that you will use again and again. You can even make paneer, just use the same method but use a semi skimmed milk (the ricotta uses whole milk). See a recipe here on the brilliant Kolpona cuisine blog.

There is no waste here. After the curds have formed, drink the whey. This is packed full of good protein. It’s the same stuff those muscle bound freaks buy for inflated prices (and biceps!). The whey can also be used in cooking, its great in stews, soups and even breads.

Cheesecloth had always eluded me. I had heard of this mythical fabric but never owned any. I have resorted to all sorts of strange methods to compensate for it. I mentioned this to Jane and in her ever thoughtful fashion, she bought some in a little shop somewhere in Yorkshire. I am now the proud owner of a metre square. Thank you honey!

The Bits

1 litre of good whole fat milk (makes enough for a decent sized ball), juice of 1 lemon or 2 tbs cider vinegar (or any distilled vinegar), 1 teas sea salt, 1 handful of wild garlic, 1 handful of fresh mint, 1 piece of muslin/ cheese cloth.

Homemade ricotta with wild garlic and mint

Do It

Heat the milk in a pan gently until it is steaming and small bubbles are forming around the edges, do not boil. Add the lemon juice of vinegar, then stir a couple of times to mix. Take off the heat and leave for 5 minutes, allowing the curds to form. Line a medium sieve with your cheese cloth and place over a bowl. Gently pour the milk/ cheese through the sieve and allow to drain.

Making the cheese

The longer you leave it to drain, the drier the cheese. Think about what you would like to us it for. I recommend leaving it for around 10 minutes. Cool and cover, place in the fridge, it be good for around a week.

When the cheese is fully dried, chop your herbs finely and mix in with the cheese. If it is proving to be too dry, mix in a little olive oil to get things lubricated. Taste the cheese, add more salt if you like.

Using vinegar will give a cleaner flavour, lemon will make it slightly lemony. Again, it depends on how you would like to use the cheese.

Serve

We had ours mixed into roasted root veggies, with our Sprouting Spring Salad.

Roasted root vegetable

Foodie Fact

You can use goats milk for the ricotta, it will be more tangy. In Italy they use alot of sheeps milk, which is very smooth and creamy and of course the famous buffalo milk, which is equally as good. It is fun to experiment with different milks. I have to say, I like the ricotta we get from local Welsh milk.

Calon Wen Milk

Pickled Part

You can’t beat a crisp dry white wine with a fresh cheese like ricotta, something to cut through that awesome creaminess and get your palate sparkling. We had a lovely Chilean Sauvignon Blanc which worked a treat.

Categories: Local food, Organic, Recipes, Snacks and Inbetweens, Wales, Welsh produce, Wild food | Tags: british weather, calon wen milk, cooking, DIY, food, foraging, fresh mint, homemade, local food, local producer, paneer, recipe, recipes, ricotta, ricotta recipe, roast, vegetarian, warm pasta, wild food, wild garlic, wine | 7 Comments

Dear Spatula……My Favourite Cooking Utensil

Posted on May 18, 2012 by leroy watson

I must stress, this is a post for cooks only. Non-cooks will find this kind of adoration for a utensil a little odd (if not worrying).

What a beauty!

If you cook, you will have your favourite kitchen tools. Like a good chisel to a joiner or a trusty trowel to a bricklayer, without them, our work would be tough; our craft difficult to form.

My all time favourite cooking tool is my trusty red spatula, without it, cooking would just not be the same. Of course, you need a decent set of pans and a sharp knife (maybe a little heat), but after that, this red spatula is king.

It is an unglamorous and underrated member of the utensil stand, but it is essential in so many ways. My red spatula is a silicon-like thing, bendy and yet resistant. Good for stirring, spreading and an amazing scraper (scrapping being one of the most important part of the cooking process), getting all those little bits from the sides and corners of your dishes and leaving them almost clean for the washing up.

It is also seemingly indestructible, an essential quality in any tool. I’ve left it near an open flame and stood on to no ill-effect. That is my kind of durability. I can see this love affair continuing for many years…..

What is your favourite cooking tool (you can’t say knife or pans)?