Cabbage soup is the new Rock and Roll!

My family are obsessed with cabbage soup at the moment! Two of the apprentices are studying the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings at school and seem convinced that this formed the bulk of the diet for your average  Dark Ages dweller. The third is struggling with a chesty cold.

We cook with cabbage and kale a lot at this time of year – although cabbage soup features but rarely. However last night I did dabble in a bit of an upmarket variety – Kale and cannelini bean soup. It’s a great immune system booster and also fab for jetlag, incidentally. (Members of the jetset, take note!) Here’s how…..

• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 4 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 can cannelini beans, drained
• 1/2 bag of kale, chopped
• boiling water
• salt and pepper
• red chilli flakes

Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan and cook up the onions, carrot, and celery. Once the onion is transparent, add the garlic and chilli. Cook for a few minutes, then add the beans and kale.

Add as much boiling water as you think you will need – less is more! 

Season with salt and pepper, and add a dash of red chilli flakes if not spicy enough.

Fortunately for me my boy loves kale. Not all children do. But you can’t go wrong with bubble and squeak, a hot juice and a big hug for more fussy poorly lambs.

Twelfth Night – Tudor Style

Twelfth Night has come late for us this year as we’ve decided to celebrate it Tudor style as an aid to one of the apprentice’s homework. How convenient then that the National Trust should be holding just such an event at nearby Lacock Abbey last Sunday.

Unsurprisingly the celebrations were not that far removed from the ones we’d just enjoyed at home. Holly, ivy, mistletoe, rosemary , candles and orange pomanders festooned the nooks and crannies of the medieval cloisters. I always use rosemary in our decorations and I discovered that it has its roots in the belief that Mary placed the infant Jesus’s clothes over rosemary bushes to fragrance them whilst they dried.

The entertainment came in the form of traditional music and a Mummers play. Not at all raucous as the audience were very well-behaved but my children are more than capable of providing that unaided!

We came home to a  tea which included a special Twelfth Night cake  or King cake. Any cake recipe will do – I chose a basic  madeira as we’ve had enough rich chocolate and fruit cake to last until Easter. When you mix up the batter drop  a bean, coin or other small object into the batter. The man or boy who finds this object in his slice of cake is declared “King of the Bean.”  and ruled over proceedings. If a woman or girl receives the bean, she is queen and appoints a man as her king. Everyone else becomes a member of the royal court. We saved gold paper hats from Christmas for the king and queen to wear. I imagine this is where the tradition of lucky charms or coins in Christmas puddings and wearing paper crowns originates.

It’s a great way to extend the Christmas season and the assault on the senses – the colourful Mummers rag costumes, the sound of the bagpipes and lute, the smell of the rosemary, beeswax candles ,oranges and cloves, the feel of the holly leaves and the taste of the cake locks the whole experience into the memory ….and, as it happened resulted in a gold star for the homework!!

This week I’m off to wassail with the Anglo Saxons at a local school in their orchard. I’m just off to find my thickest thermals!.

Teatime treats…..where I take on Mary Berry and win!

My love of  buns is legendary but in January, like many a would-be ‘domestic goddess’ I have a pantry full of oranges and cranberries leftover from Christmas. What’s a girl to do? Cranberry and orange buns for tea – of course.

There is a recipe for sticky buns in the latest Great British Bake Off book, courtesy of Mary Berry. Now, as far as my children are concerned, she really is a domestic goddess. They see their mother as one with a slightly grubby apron and floury hair. This recipe has a pecan and maple syrup topping – which is not for me so I thought I’d do a bit of tinkering to see if I could improve on dear Mary’s original. Nothing new there!

The dough is straightforward enough 500g bread flour, a tsp crushed sea salt flakes, a pkt dried yeast  and 2 tbsp caster sugar mixed with 75g melted butter and 200ml warm milk and a beaten egg. (I used 150ml milk and 50ml orange juice instead.) Mix it all together and give it a knead for about 10 mins. Then leave to prove for about an hour until doubled in size.

Knock it back down and roll out to a 24cm x 48cm rectangle. Brush 75g melted butter over the dough. Then sprinkle on 75g light brown muscovado sugar mixed with a tsp cinnamon. At this point I also added a few handfuls of dried cranberries and the zest of two oranges.. Roll it up like a swiss roll. Then use a sharp knife to cut the roll into a dozen slices. Slightly flatten each one and place on a greased baking sheet. Leave to rise for about 45 mins and bake in the oven at 180 /350/gas 4 for 25 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Whilst the buns are cooling, whisk together 4 tbsp soft  unsalted butter, 2 cups icing sugar, 2 tbsp milk, 1 1/2 tbsp orange zest and 2 tbsp  orange juice. Drizzle over the buns when cool et voila!

Mary, Mary….this is far better than sticky pecans., I assure you.

Blazing into 2012 – part 2

As a postscript to my fire post yesterday and to help you make use of some of the festive debris, here’s a great way to while away a January afternoon. If you are like us, your house is full of oranges, cinnamon sticks, apples, candle butts and pine cones at present. Here’s how to use hem up and keep that delicious smell of Christmas going by spicing up your fireplace?

• If you slice up oranges and apples and dry them  in the oven, you can burn them in the fireplace. They make great fire starters and leave the air smelling fabulous. Orange and lemon peelings will burn well too and give your room a clean citrus scent.
• Mature pine cones  are  good for getting a fire going and smell wonderful. It’s a good way to use up any you’ve included in the  festive decorating scheme but . don’t use young cones as they are too sappy and could pop.
• Cinammon sticks also burn well and smell divine. If you can get hold of some apple wood it gives a lovely scent and a cinnamon stick dropped in with it is even better.
• If you like the smell of sage, throw a few twigs with leaves onto the fire. Be sparing as it burns hot and might smoke.

And for the classy option - make your own scented fire starters. You’ll need:-

Dried pinecones and maybe some sawdust 
ends of used candles
Double Boiler
Tongs
paper muffin liners
muffin tins
essential oil of your choice.

Break up the candle ends and place them in the top of your double boiler. Fill the bottom of the double boiler with several inches of water and place the top pan back on. Melt the wax.

Line the muffin tins with liners. Place a spoonful of sawdust in each if you wish – although this is not essential..

Fill each case about ¾ full of melted wax.

Add a couple of drops of essential oil to each case,.

Place a pine cone on top and push down into the wax.

Allow wax to cool and harden completely. Remove from muffin tins.

Use one or two with your kindling and enjoy the wonderful aroma!

Made in December rather than January they make great presents for children to give teachers or grandparents.  Made anytime they make great gifts for anyone with an open fire or a firepit in the garden.

Blazing into 2012 – part 1

I’m not big on New Year’s Resolutions. If something needs to get done I like to get on with it rather than waiting for a special day.  However the downtime between Christmas and New Year, the dark nights and the extravagant weather is a good opportunity for a bit of  reflection by the fire about one’s hopes and aspirations for the year ahead..

I don’t think we are alone in gathering round the hearth to play games or listen to stories at Christmas, to string up fairylights or to light lots of candles at this time of year. But we tend to do this during the rest of the year as well. I like to keep that special relaxed holiday mood going in part throughout the rest of the year – which can be frantic for any family with young children.

I have come to realise that fire and light have always played a large part in my life.  I’m sure it’s something to do with being a Celt – they were big on fire!  And it  definitely runs in the family. When clearing out the loft at my late parents’ house in Wales over Christmas we discovered nine sets of working fairylights all carefully packed away and enough candles to keep us going for the rest of the year.

 If you live in a rural area where power cuts are frequent and in a cottage with no central heating you soon find that you’re pretty expert in getting a fire going and working by candlelight. My children are all expert firemakers, scrunching up newspaper, criss crossing the dry kindling and making a pyramid with a couple of yesterday’s part-burned logs. They know about  which wood burns best and how to split and season logs. 

None of this is essential these days, of course. We just like the feeling you get whilst watching a candle flickering in the kitchen or on the terrace, seeing fairylights twinkling on a tree,  hearing the logs crackling  in the hearth or smelling the woodsmoke as it curls up from a bonfire. All our parties and special gatherings tend to involve candles and fires too. We cook over a firepit on summer evenings and our winter family suppers are candlelit ones.

So if you resolve to do nothing else this year – spend a little time as a family sitting round the fire or at a candlelit table. Collect kindling and learn to build a fire. Build a firepit in the garden. Make your own beeswax candles or decorate your own glass jars and make some lanterns to string up in the trees. It’s a moment of calm in a crowded world.

Three cheers for fennel!

It’s that time of year when a bit of over-indulgence may tip you over the edge. Listen up people! Forget New Year’s resolutions of abstemious diets. What fun is that? Think of me as your post-Christmas fairy godmother and let me introduce you to the wonders of fennel tea.Not uber-exciting at first glance, I grant you but

1. it’s good for you
2.  it works
3. it’s very pretty growing in the garden AND
4. it avoids the angst of having failed by January 7th.in your calorie- counting resolutions………………… What’s not to love?

To make fennel tea take a teaspoon of seeds (gathered and dried earlier in the year or shop-bought) and pour on boiling water. Let it brew for 5 minutes, strain and drink. It aids digestion, prevents heartburn and constipation and will help with that post- festive  ‘no more food and drink ever’ feeling. It’s an acquired taste. (I never drink it but not everyone is blessed with female Celtic ancestry and consequently the constitution of an ox.) 

But that’s not all. Fennel tea is also good for tired eyes, and skin that needs a bit of a boost. Use it as a facial steam bath (seeds and leaves), mix with honey to make a facepack or make a cold compress and bathe the eyes.  Apparently the facemask is great for wrinkles too – if you worry about such things.

I’m a big fan of common fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and of her more attractive bronze sister (Purpureum)  but less enomoured of Florence. To be frank we never grow it as none of us really like the taste. It’s easy to grow in sunny, well-drained, fertile soil. If you garden on clay – like me  -then it will be happier if you mix in some sharp sand. Pick the flower heads in Summer to maintain a steady supply of leaves and cut back old growth in the Winter, when it will die back. It only needs protection in really cold conditions and can be sown in Autumn in a heated greenhouse for use in Winter salads.

I grow it at home mainly for flower arranging and as a companion plant as it attracts hoverflies and therefore is great at keeping aphids at bay. But it’s also a must in the  gardens I design for schools and nurseries – particularly snacking and sipping gardens or Roman herb gardens. Children can munch on the seeds and try to identify the taste. Some love it – others don’t but they’ll all want to try.The Romans were very keen on fennel and used it in salads, bread or cakes. Roman  gladiators took it for good health and strong constitutions. They even wore wreaths made from fennel and Roman ladies chewed the seeds to prevent becoming fat as it staves off pangs of hunger. Presumably this is why it was also eaten by American puritans during over-long sermons in church. 

So if you are in the habit of making New Year’s resolutions plan to grow some fennel in your garden this year – even if you won’t be drinking fennel tea.

Boxing Day – soup and sandwich rambles, whatever the weather

The traditional Boxing Day holiday probably dates from the Middle Ages  when Lords and Ladies  gave Christmas boxes/gifts to their servants on December 26, or maybe by priests, who opened the church’s alms (charity boxes), and distributed the contents to the poor and needy. Essentially though on the plot it’s a day to avoid boxes of any kind, get outside and blow the cobwebs away.

We are spoilt for choice when it comes to lovely walks. This year it’s a ramble along the canal towpath to friends in Avoncliff for coffee and a slice of Christmas cake before ambling back across country for soup and sandwiches (turkey and cranberry inevitably for the carnivores; brie and cranberry for the rest of us). Last year we did this in the snow (witness pic).

Noone wants to eat much today. But for anyone who wants to use up a glut of brussels sprouts may I recommend this soup, tolerated happily even by sproutphobics.

Brussels Sprout and Chestnut Soup (enough for six)

2 large onions
2 tbsp oil
2 1/2 lb / 1.2 kg brussels sprouts
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 oz / 110g vacuum packed chestnuts (or peeled weight)
4 pts / 2.3 Lt vegetable stock                                                          

salt and pepper
2 – 4 tbsp double cream

• Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onions and sweat until transparent but not browned. Add the brussels sprouts and sauté for 2 minutes and then add the garlic and sauté for another minute.

• Stir in the stock, season and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 – 40 minutes, until very soft.

• Add the chestnuts and simmer for a further 5 minutes, then liquidize r until smooth.  Adjust seasoning if necessary.

• Return to the pan and stir in the cream tasting as you go to see how rich you like it.

• Warm through when you are ready to serve. It’s delicious.

And having got plenty of exercise we settle down in front of the fire to play games.

Yule – logs, mistletoe, wine and stories

Happy Yule to one and all! We’re quite ‘big’ on Yuletide in Wiltshire – witness the massive jams round Stonehenge at this time of year and as a Celt I feel honour-bound to celebrate the Winter Solstice in some small but significant way – but you won’t find me shivering in long flowing robes at dawn on any day.

Ancient people spent most of their time outdoors. The seasons and weather played a very important part in their lives. With this I can identify. Consequently they held a great reverence for, and even worshipped the sun. At mid-winter they lit bonfires, told stories and drank sweet ale to welcome the sun back, as the days started to lengthen again. This is good!

The ancient Romans also held a festival around about this time to celebrate the rebirth of the year –  Saturnalia. They decorated their houses with greenery, lit candles  and gave presents. In the words of the song ‘it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’

On the shortest day of the year the Druids would cut the mistletoe that grew on the sacred oak tree and give it as a blessing and a symbol of life in the dark winter months. The Druids also began the tradition of the yule log. The Celts thought that the sun stood still for twelve days in the middle of winter and during this time a log was lit to conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits and bring luck for the coming year.

So, with this in mind, we try to walk in the woods for a bit of reflection,rest and relaxation, collect our yule logs (one gurt big ‘un is never going to fit in our modest fireplace), gather the holly and mistletoe and decorate the house,. We light some candles, mull some wine or cider and read stories to our children round the fire. This year’s choice is ‘The Box of Delights’ by John Masefield. Get a copy if you have children who like a bit of old-fashioned mystery and adventure.

Sometimes we even have a party – but this year we’re battening down the hatches as a family – also good!

Advent 2011 : Spice it up

I love the smells of Christmas – those traditional aromatic festive spices used time and again in the dishes that scream Christmas – cinammon, star anise, cardamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg and, of course my all-time favourite cloves.

So, in the last few days of Advent before the day itself is upon us I thought I’d share one or two spicy Country Gate  traditions. Today Stem Ginger Shortbread – a perfect partner to your festive morning coffee when friends drop in with cards and gifts or in the tuckbox when, like us, you’re travelling the length and breadth of the country to see family in far-flung corners. I’d recommend it particularly as a snack for children suffering from travel sickness – (or adults suffering from post-Office party sickness) . Ginger really seems to hit the spot. It’s also good for colds. Grate two tablespoons of fresh ginger into boiling water to make a tea or add a few drops of ginger oil to boiling water and inhale.

But for those who just want a delicious hit of gingery biscuit here’s how to achieve it.

Take 200g softened unsalted butter and cream together with 100g caster sugar until pale. Sift in 260 g plain flour, 40g rice flour, 1/2 – 1 teaspoon ginger, and a pinch of salt. Add 50g glace ginger and bring together to form a dough.

Roll into a sausage shape, about 20cm long, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Slice into about 20 rounds using a large sharp knife and place on two greased baking sheets.

Bake at 170 degrees for about 20 mins until firm but still pale. Sprinkle with caster sugar and allow to cool for 10 minutes before lifting onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Store in an airtight tin and consume within a week – if you can make them last that long.

Advent 2011: Frangipane Mince Pies

We may not put our Christmas tree up much before Christmas Eve on the plot but we do know how to prep for Christmas in other ways – usually culinary. Once we’re into December it’s time for a few batches of mince pies for consumption at coffee time.

To be frank the apprentices are not altogether keen on mince pies. I’ve tried making them with star-shaped lids and sprinkling liberally with edible gold glitter but to no avail. So this year I have attempted to pull in the big guns. Mary Berry is a goddess here since The Great British Bake Off (and yes, the book is on their Christmas wishlists!) so I’m attempting a conversion worthy of St Paul with some of her Frangipane Mince Pies

Here’s the recipe.  Deep  mince-pie tins  are best  and a 6.5cm cutter. This will make about 18 pies.

PASTRY

• 175g plain flour
• 75g butter, cut into cubes
• 25g icing sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten

FRANGIPANE

• 100g butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 100g ground almonds
• 1 level tbsp plain flour
• 1⁄2 tsp almond extract, or to taste

FILLING AND TOPPING

• just under 1 x 410g jar home made or good brandy infused shop-bought mincemeat
•  a few flaked almonds
• apricot jam to glaze
• lemon juice

 Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.

1. To make the pastry, measure the flour, butter and icing sugar into a food-processor bowl, then process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Pour in the beaten egg and pulse the blade until the dough starts to form a ball. Knead lightly, wrap and chill for about 30 minutes if the pastry is not quite firm enough to roll out.
2. To make the frangipane, put the butter and sugar into the unwashed processor and blend until soft and creamy. Scrape down the sides, add the eggs and continue to process. Don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled at this stage. Add the ground almonds, flour and almond extract, and mix briefly.
3. Roll the pastry out thinly on a lightly floured work surface and cut into 18 x 6.5cm circles. Use to line the tins. Spoon a teaspoon of mincemeat into each tartlet and top with the frangipane mixture. There is no need to spread the mixture flat as it will level out in the oven (but do not overfill the tins). Sprinkle a few flaked almonds on top.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, watching carefully. Remove from the tins and allow to cool a little on a wire rack.
5. Dilute the apricot jam with a little lemon juice or water and bring to the boil. Brush each warm tartlet with glaze. Like traditional mince pies, these are best served warm.

Delicious. I’m giving them a whirl as the after school snack with hot chocolate. Mary Berry. I hope you’re good.