Blog
Living beautifully and acting effectively - making country life easier for the rural entrepreneur.
Risotto Primavera
I’m not the biggest fan of broad beans but I can cope with fresh young baby broad beans very lightly cooked. So my thoughts turn to a risotto where I can add other fresh spring garden vegetables such as young asparagus spears, peas, or herbs. This is a spring version but you can adapt this recipe to what you have available. Works best when you use proper risotto rice . I use Arborio.
Trouble shooting making Elderflower bubbly or cordial.
I’ve been delighted with the response to my blog on how to make Elderflower bubbly or cordial and many have downloaded the recipe to make their own. There’s also been a few questions -either in person down at the local grocery store or online so today I am going to answer some of those for you.
ELDERFLOWER TIME!
Quite possibly two of the loveliest words in the English language! Like distilled summer. Elderflowers are in full swing in hedgerows and paddocks all over the country – seems to be a great year for them. Some see this plant as a weed but it is fully medicinal and such an asset. Bubbly or cordial from the flowers, cordials from the fruit. Good reason for us to leave the hedgerows alone to provide food for human, animal and insect foraging.
Sourdough and Garlic on a Saturday Morning.
It’s Saturday morning and as I lay away early in the frosty dark I was thinking about what I was going to get up today. For a lot of us, the weekend it when we are mostly likely to get the chance to get into the garden for a couple of hours so keen to get out there myself. First thing will be to get a sourdough loaf started as it likes a good long rising period for all the good fermentation to take place so before too much gets done I’ll start that off. Some of you have kindly given me some good suggestions on how to get the best out of my culture so enjoying the opportunity to try out some different techniques.