Sprucing the Goose

The Warré beehive

Beekeepers who use Thorne or Paynes for their beekeeping supplies may have spotted a new addition to the types of hive they offer over the last couple of years: the Warré hive. So what is it, exactly, and why all the interest? Émile Warré was a French local priest and beekeeper who, responding to a…

Universal Cobblers

No, this is not my comment on the state of world politics, but a great recipe for a cobbler that can be used to top, well, pretty much any stew or casserole. Thanks once again to the minimalist Mark Bittman for the inspiration. Ingredients – for 8 hungry persons plain white flour – strong white…

Speedy Seedy Bread

This loaf can be made – start to finish – in under 2 hours and so is a god-sent recipe for impromptu meals. I always use wholemeal flour from Lurgashall Mill, just a few miles away. It is good to search out local flour mills whenever you can: generally the quality – -and the prices…

About Sourdough: Hydration

Truly, I am not going to get deep into sourdough bread on this blog. There are dozens of really excellent sites devoted to it and my efforts are very amateur in comparison. If you are a first-timer then the excellent SOURDOUGH LOAF FOR BEGINNERS by Jack Sturgess is a good place to start. What I…

New Zealand Pie

I have no idea why it is called New Zealand Pie. Every autumn it was a firm family favorite when we were kids and my sister found the recipe in my mother’s cookery folder. My version is only slightly modified and runs as follows: Ingredients 60g unsalted butter, soft 120g sugar 1 large egg 2…

“After Four Centuries”

Helen Allingham, who lived very near by, painted cottage gardens, overflowing with flowers and poulated by local subjects. She did two such paintings of this house, both architecturally accurate but with different foregrounds and backgrounds (which she was known to paint in afterwards). However, her third watercolour – “After Four Centuries” – is…

Pear and Blackberry Cobbler

The pears are going to be really good this year and I am itching for them to be ripe enough for salads and eating whole. In the meantime they are a litle hard but ideal for this pudding. Blackberries in abundance too after the hot summer: what better way to end the afternnon than brambling!…

Spiced Courgette Loaf

This time of year brings an abundance of over-size courgettes and this loaf is a truly delicious way to use them up. My recipe uses a good amount of shredded courgette – at least 250g per loaf – because the whole point is to use them up. It is also low in sugar and made…