honey Archives - Travels for Taste

River Cottage – memories of Blog Camp 2015

August 2, 2016 by manjirichitnis 8 Comments

Farm visits are a great way to spend a sunny day outdoors exploring, learning and eating al fresco. In preparation for my press trip to Happy Eggs farm at Tring, which I leave for today, I decided it was time to re-live some happy memories of last year’s blog camp at River Cottage HQ. It was by far the best day out and short break of 2015 – A mini staycation in Axminster with some friends and a packed day full of great sessions at blog camp in a farm in the picturesque countryside.

Summer this year has been good so far with the weather really holding up. I do hope the weather is just as glorious for the next two days at least, like it was last year when I went and spent a whole day at River Cottage. I am ignoring the fact that we have had a really gloomy start today with big scary grey clouds looking over London and a rather wet and chilly evening last night – Gaaaahhh!

Visiting River Cottage HQ for a day out, is an excellent idea, especially for fans of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s famous TV cookery show. My blogger friends Heidi, Nayna and Tina decided to make the most of this opportunity Blog Camp by Foodies 100 and booked ourselves into B&B called Millwater House in Axminster. (Sylvia who blogs at Happiness is homemade was busy and couldn’t join in the fun but we missed her dearly!) With plans to not just experience a day out in the gorgeous River Cottage we also made plans to visit the Lyme Regis and drink in the sights and sounds of Devon.

To kickstart our day packed with a kitchen tour, cooking workshop and photography and blogging workshops all of us made our way to the farm in a large tractor. Yes, the said tractor ferried us in groups from the massive car park area which has sweeping views of the countryside, up the hill to the beautiful grounds. They house a charming 17th-century farmhouse, cookery school and a massive kitchen garden ,a yurt and sprawling few acres of grounds housing all manner of farm animals.

Inside the yurt a log – fire welcomed us while we were divided into groups. Settling onto bales of hay we got a chance to mingle while the day’s plan was explained. But before all the ‘hard work’ began we were treated to some freshly made canape’s, pastries and piping hot cups of tea and coffee- after all what use is a hungry soldier ?

Group Cookery Demo at River Cottage

My group started with the cookery demonstration and demo with Chef, Gill Mellor. We made butter and used fresh herbs to flavour and garnish. I used the butter at home for many weeks and it was always great fun because it brought back memories of my mum making ghee at home and sneakily using the by-product into various dishes later.

The process of making butter from cream was fairly simple and I choose not to use any fancy equipment. It does take some effort but its well worth it. The buttermilk which is produced during this process went into the soda bread dough. I went a bit mad with the soda bread and added all sorts of delicious things like honey and berries and herbs into the dough. We left the butter to set in the fridge and the soda bread to cool by the huge windows.

Doesn’t that vase look lovely? The pretty flowers used in vases come from the grounds and you them in vases of all shapes and size, all over the farm – adds a very homely and welcoming touch.

Photography session with Lucy

After the cooking session, it was off to practise our food photography skills with Lucy. Lucy’s blog Capture by Lucy is a visual treat and she shared a wealth of knowledge with us all the while patiently answering our many queries. We practised styling fresh produce with flowers and cutlery and various light settings.

By then we were famished and I was relieved that as we trooped in the large dining hall, we all needed a rest and those gorgeous aromas wafting around had us salivating. So when the mains were served everything went quiet for a while as we hungrily wolfed down our food. It was a great opportunity to catch up with other bloggers between courses and I was glad to see so many familiar faces. It was nice to be finally able to put faces to names of all the bloggers I ‘meet’ almost daily in cyberspace.

Lunch at River Cottage

The beef ravioli was melt in your mouth delicious and was served with summer vegetables. I think we first ate with our eyes – what a pretty plate and the aromas floating around were thanks to the 36-hour slow cooking treatment given to the beef. Naturally, all the produce used came from the farm. Without a doubt, this is the best ever ravioli I have ever eaten – can’t get a better farm to fork plateful, I guess! For sides, we devoured slices of freshly baked bread and generous portions of chilli-garlic corn on the cob slathered with swirls of golden butter dripping off the sides, as it melted over the warm corn. Ummm utterly delightful.

If that didn’t send me into a food induced coma of absolute happiness then maybe it was the gorgeous dessert that followed. Again brilliant plating, for the coffee flavoured ice cream (my absolute fav flavour – yay!) with crunchy salted caramel, served with meringue infused with delicate fennel, topped with juicy and moreish roasted damsons, crumble and finally slathered with runny honey. Passport to food heaven I say!

River Cottage Kitchen Garden Tour

Tummies full, soul satisfied, we walked out, our batteries’s recharged, ready to take on the kitchen garden and grounds tour.

Head Gardener, Will Livingstone explained how the farm is a self-sustaining eco-system in itself . A living model of sustainability and growing and consuming local produce the variety of vegetables and fruits produced here is mind boggling. During this guided tour he gave great tips on growing organic. The best tip he gave which is ingrained into my brain is to plant other plants next to the vegetables so that the bugs can munch on them for example – garlic.

The produce from the farm feeds a mind boggling number of people every year at the various events and cookery classes that are held regularly. Whatever the farm cannot provide is sourced from neighbouring Trill farm and other local producers. No wonder then that they are organic certified as accredited by the Soil Association and are managed under Countryside and Environmental Stewardship; schemes run by Natural England. And this 1.5-acre farmland and the team managing it are also proud to be ambassadors of the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

After the kitchen garden tour, we met the pigs and the hens who became overnight Instagram celebrities thanks to us trigger happy bloggers.

It was then time to say our goodbyes and head back to our quaint B&B but not before a bumpy but fun ride in the massive tractor – an unforgettable experience.

The team at Foodies 100 and the one at River Cottage cannot be faulted on their organisation skills, their generosity and of course their wealth of knowledge. To find out what’s happening now at the River Cottage check out their events calendar. I cannot think of a better day out especially as a corporate team building exercise than going to River Cottage HQ.

Do have a look at how my blogger friends enjoyed the day by visiting their blogs :

Heidi Roberts Kitchen talk by Heidi
Simply Food by Nayna
Tin and Thyme by Choclette
Foodie Quine by Claire Jessiman
The Hedgecombers by Jane Sarchet
Supper in the suburbs by Emma Walton
Jo’s Kitchen by Jo
Rough Measures by Sus Davy
Annes Kitchen by Anne Szadorska
Munchies and munchkins by Rebecca Ann
Veggie Desserts by Kate Hackworthy
Taming Twins by Sarah
Penelope’s pantry by Penelope

*With thanks to Foodies100 for organising such a fabulous blog camp event and the talented team at River Cottage for an unforgettable experience. As always all opinions expressed are as always my own. No incentive was provided for a positive review.

Vin Chaud – Hot French Mulled Wine with Red Wine

November 25, 2014 by manjirichitnis 14 Comments

Last week Sunday was mostly grey and rainy , but I wasn’t feeling blue about the weather, I spent the day mostly curled up with a good book watching Netflix with the hubster around. We also decided that since it was the day the lights went on at Regent’s street it was the perfect day to get out the ladder and reach for the large brown carton which contains amongst other odds and ends our plastic Christmas tree neatly folded and wrapped, all our precious baubles and ….the neatly wrapped bundle of lights…..

As the crowds gathered around to watch the lights go on at Regents Street around 3pm, as hubster was gently snoring away after a rather delicious (if I may say so myself) meal of fried king fish, red lentil curry and rice, I decided that it was perfect time to take stock of what was in my store cupboard and check on my dried fruits which are now steeping in a rather rich alcohol base – ready for the day I will make the Christmas pudding. It was then that I found a beautiful tin with 2 packets of gorgeous spices to make Mulled wine, which was part of my goody bag given during July at the Christmas Show by waitrose.

There is something absolutely magical and heartwarming about opening a packet of spices , it is like flipping through an old album, happy memories of holidays spent with family , turkey carved, gifts unwrapped on Christmas morning….. all seem to come tumbling out of my blue tin spice jar which has a picture of Santa pulling his sleigh along the snow. The light brown tightly curled cinnamon sticks and hard dried orange sitting amongst deep red dried berries and fragrant cardamom… like a bouquet of aromas…

Waitrose Cellar had sent me a case of carefully picked red wines to let me experiment and come up with a recipe for mulled wine, from a country of my choice and taking inspiration from their Mulled wine page .They have a beautiful collection of recipes for mulled wines from around the world. They also sent as part of the case a bottle of wine that was mulled by their team of wine experts.

I remembered reading a recipe for Vin Chaud or Hot French Mulled Wine on David Lebovitz’s blog long ago and I knew I wanted to pick this French version of mulled wine and create it using the red wine – Marqués de Calatrava Organic Selecci´on Reservada Tempranillo from my wine case sent by Waitrose. Priced at £8.99 it is described as having notes of juicy strawberry with subtle spices and vanilla. This fruity red made from Tempranillo grapes grown in the La Mancha region. It is a medium to full-bodied wine with a rich palate. It sounded apt for making Vin Chaud as it would marry well with the ginger and pepper required in the recipe used by David Lebovitz, which was inspired by a recipe Food52 cookbook. He has very rightly mentioned that adding cinnamon into the Vin Chaud which is actually made with white wine, overpowers the taste of the other warming spices in the hot French mulled wine.

I also found another recipe for Vin Chaud by Rebecca Franklin a French food expert on about.com and it recommends the addition of cinnamon and cognac – now Cognac – I am a huge fan of. Friends who know me well, tire of my boring old way of almost always ordering a large peg of cognac with hot water when we go out during winter season. It’s just something to do with the rich, strong ,smooth and warm drink sipped slowly that warms my blood ,like a mini warm toasty log-fire inside my body, an internal thermostat of sorts… 🙂

So I decided to use combine both the recipes and both hubster and me are really satisfied with the end result. So much so that we ended up greedily pouring ourselves a more than generous portion of the Vin Chaud to perilous after effects which involved both us falling fast asleep while the tv played a few episodes of Breaking Bad to no one in particular – humm

Note to self – do not guzzle wine on an empty stomach especially Vin Chaud made with a large ‘splash’ of Cognac added in….

This warm festive mulled wine infused with hot spices and spiked with Cognac, honey and pepper is a great choice for serving at Christmas Parties and for sipping on co during cold, winter evenings – imagine drinking this fab French mulled wine in the dead of winter when you have just stepped in after braving the wretched winter winds , as the heating and warm socks work their effect on the outside, the hot wine induces a sense of warmth and festivity within – no one will judge you if you do go a bit overboard…

Vin Chaud – Hot French Mulled Wine

Serves:6

Ingredients:

1 bottle of Marqués de Calatrava Organic Selecci´on Reservada Tempranillo
3 cardamom pods
3 cloves
2 slices ginger
1 whole star anise
1/4 cup i.e 60ml Cognac
1 dried orange slice
a generous sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Pour the red wine into a saucepan add in all the ingredients and simmer over the lowest setting on your hob.
Keep stirring and do not allow the wine to boil
Heat until the wine begins to bring up steam
Strain using a sieve or a cheesecloth lined funnel
Pour into glasses and enjoy the warm, spicy mulled wine.

I do hope this festive Hot French mulled wine warms the cockles of your heart this winter. Cheers!

*With thanks to Waitrose Cellar . No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own. Thanks to David Lebovitz for his inspiring post on Vin Chaud.

Christmas Pudding

December 31, 2012 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

Last year we had a supermarket pudding , the intense flavours, the dry fruits steeped in alcohol the soft delicious feeling of putting a spoon through a perfectly set pudding on christmas night ummmm… I decided that the next time I MUST make one at home !After sifting through a few recipes I knew it had to be Nigella’s Ultimate Christmas pudding.

I have now promised myself that I shall plan months ahead and soak the sultanas much in advance but well this year I soaked the sultanas and a nut mix for 2 nights in sherry. The variations in ingredients recommended by Nigella are my use of a regular apple, supermarket sherry and a currant and dry fruit mix off a shelf. But the resultant mixture and the process of slow steaming gave me a deep rich colour, a lovely texture and 2 yes two puddings instead of one and that is what was the MOST satisfying part of this process! Landing up with 2 awesome well set perfect puddings , one to eat at home and one to share with a special close pal made christmas special 🙂

Oh yes and a big thank you to Lakeland for making such an awesome product, my pudding steamer with a lid that fits so well and is really easy to clean. The pudding just slipped out after a gentle tap and sigh…. I couldn’t stop admiring the perfect shape, the dark colour …I almost burst into song !

Well now for the list of Ingredients:

150 grams prunes – mine were soaked in syrup and came from a cam but they served the purpose just the same, I squeezed the syrup out before adding them to the sultanas.If yours are out of a packet they need to be snipped into smaller bits.
150 grams sultanas
150 grams currants or a currants and nut mix for puddings available in all leading supermarkets.
175 ml sherry of your choice
100 grams plain flour
125 grams white breadcrumbs
150 grams suet – I used beef suet, if you are considering a vegetarian option I haven’t used vegetable suet , if anyone has tried it please share your experience.
1/4 ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon – I used a ready-made powder
3 medium eggs
150 grams dark muscovado sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 lemon large zest and juice
1 cooking apple (ideally) peeled and grated , I used 2 small red apples.
2 tablespoons honey
125 ml Vodka

Method:

This mixture gives 2 full-sized puddings , I have a 1 litre pudding steamer with lid from Lakeland and I had enough to make two full-sized puddings.
I must say our pudding is still sitting on a plate as I type this on the last day of 2012 , it’s asking to be microwaved and gobbled with some Remy Martin laced cream lying in fridge left over from Christmas, we had it Champagne cream on Christmas day and I assure you we had a feast and some very sleepy house guests after that …yes made me chuckle with satisfaction too.
Mix the sultanas,prunes and currants into a large bowl and let them steep in sherry overnight or upto a week. I let them soak for 2 nights.
When you are to start making the pudding mix take another large bowl and add all the ingredients in any order and then stir in the soaked sultana mix, scooping all of it off from the bowl.
Fill a large saucepan with enough water such that your pudding basin is soaked in it and use butter to grease the pudding bin and the lid as well.
Add the mixture into the basin and steam for 5 hours, checking ever so often and add some water to the saucepan. I must add that my pudding basin lid fits real well and after 5 hours were done it was quite easy to remove the basin from the saucepan and leave it aside to cool . No tying of strings , no foil and no danger of burning, besides like I mentioned cleaning is a breeze.
Keep aside your wonderful pudding which is done now, I peaked inside and it looked so good I had to really take a deep breath and stop myself from turning it onto a plate and start digging right it, but NO it’s meant for the Big Day!
Ok so now on D-day, steam the pud in its basin for 3 more hours, yes I trust Nigella’s recipes and hence the success for me a first time pudding maker 🙂
Well after it has had its steam and had cooled to an extent when you can open it and turn it on to a serving dish , it needs a gentle tap this basin and Viola! a rich dark well set pudding is there for you to admire and show off.
I did not add any charm before I started to steam it and I did not flambe’ it either but by all means use vodka and flambe’ to impress your guests !

Do leave your comments !