Our very shiny new Hot Smoker

This weekend was our very first venture into the world of smoking…the food type!

We have been given a Ronnie Sunshine hot smoker for Christmas. It is described as a compact  type (40 x 25 x 11cm ) that can smoke 4 trout, it has two trays and can also be used for thin cuts of meat, poultry, cheese and vegetables cooking and smoking in one go.  I like the fact that its neat and packs away into itself. It  also came supplied with Alder wood chips.

We read all the instructions, first thing before any cooking was to bring the smoker up to 100C , It helps to stop the metal warping or so I am informed.  We had to do this by putting it on the hot plate on top of the stove, it wouldn’t fit in the oven. -Next  we filled the burners with methylated spirits. So far so good.

The instructions don’t say how much of the Alder chips to put in, so we filled the indent and hoped for the best.

Lighting the burners was an experience, the flames are quite alarming but were calmed with the adjusters, methylated spirit burns at a lower temperature so not quite so dramatic really.

Our whole trout we estimated would need about 12 minutes to cook.

I must say I was elated to see it looked exactly like a smoked trout, why it would look like anything else I have no idea but if I’m honest, tasted a little too smoky for us, so next time we will have to adjust the amount of Alder chips in the smoker. It’s a learning curve, so you try and learn as you go.

On the whole I would class it as a great success and hope to try out more in the next few weeks.

Will keep you posted.

Well that said, I have a list as long as my arm of ideas to try. I want it to be an experimental time. Exploring possibilities.

Firstly, I have a plan to build a smoker, hopefully in the Spring. There are so many ideas of what could be smoked, it exciting.

Last year both our ancient old pear trees died. We have bought replacements, so it’s out with the old and in with the new. (The old will be use to fuel the wood-burner.)

A greenhouse to bring a greater variety of fruit and vegetables. When? as soon as we can. It means redesigning the garden a fair bit but that will be fun too.

OK, I know it’s not the finest piece of writing ever but it’s a start and I hope to fill you with enthusiasm to have a go too.

Happy New Year, one full of fun and happiness.

We have added to the content in the fruit cage we bought last year,  just in case  anyone is looking for suggestions you could check out this site  http://www.wmjames.co.uk/fruit-cages.htm We bought our cage from them  So far  it has stood for a year without any problems. Having gone through a winter which was so cold and a lot of snow. The netting is still in place and it still feels secure.  It’s probably one of our better investments seriously increasing the amount of fruit harvested from the blueberries, currents and strawberries.

The fruits we have added are

Honey berries  Lonicera-Haskap.

from the honeysuckle family (but be careful as not all honeysuckle fruits  are okay to eat). These are originally from Siberia and can withstand temperatures to -40C so should easily cope with the British winter. Their taste is suppose to be very sweet, not unlike blueberries and can be used in much the same way. The plant can have a life time of up to 75 years and the fruit ripens in June after the second year. The berries are almost seedless (a bit like kiwi fruit seeds) and are great to freeze. Wow! I can’t wait to try.

Goji berries, Lycium barbarum,

the super fruit that contains more vitamin C than oranges and more iron than etc…and will increase your life span according to Li Quing Yuen (he lived to be at least 197 years and maybe even more , well that’s what I read and I’m not suggesting everything we read is true!  These berries have not  always been know as the Goji berry it has been know as the Chinese Wolf berry or the Chinese Boxthorn amongst others, it is also hardy down to -15C and can take heat up to +40C . They are self fertile and a plant can produce up to a 1kg of fruit in the second year. They can also tolerate drought although they prefer a moist soil. The fruit is good for most uses but a bit of care when harvesting,  using cotton gloves or a fork or shake and catch, touching them can course them to oxidise and go black.

Black currents,

everyone’s favourite! No problems growing this plant and the currents  are so expensive in the supermarket making the small effort really worthwhile.

This is a great way of making the most of a little. I like to make these on a Friday when we are going to be out in the garden on Saturday. It takes the hassle out of finding something for lunch. I made some with egg and bacon and some with leeks but you can use an alternative such as smoked salmon or broccoli.I would normally use a mix of milk and cream but had some Ricotta left so the perfect way to use it up. Surprisingly for me the Ricotta is amazing to to cook with, everything ends up ‘souffled’. I just love it! Shame is that I took the picture once the quiches had cooled down and so the ‘souffle’ action was gone too. Never mind you there’s always the next time.
For the pastry, this can be made from scratch by hand, or in a food processor or ready made using something like ‘Jus-Rol’.

To put this dish together you will need the following.

Short Crust Pastry
4oz Plain Flour Sieved
2oz Fat (could be butter or mix of butter/lard or something like Trex) at room temperature
A pinch of salt
2 tbsp Ice cold water (Add one at a time)

Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl
Cut the fat into small pieces and add to the flour
Rub the fat into the flour very softly and lifting it to a height which lets the air into it as it drops back into the bowl from your fingers, continue to do this until the fat has been blended into the flour. A few little bits of fat left doesn’t matter and wont affect the end result.
Sprinkle the cold water in (one tablespoon at a time) and using a knife cut through until a dough is formed then using your fingers bring it together to a ball.
Alternatively you could put it all into a food processor and whizz to bread crumb stage then add the water one tablespoon at a time and whizz again until a ball of dough is formed.

Or you could just buy a pack of ready made Jus-Rol or similar.

Wrap in cling film or grease proof paper and leave in the fridge for around 20 to 30 minutes.
While the pastry is ‘resting’ prepare the filling.

1 small onion chopped
3 rashers Bacon chopped into small pieces (I used back rashers but you could use ham, boiled bacon or leave it out and use 2/3 medium sized leeks instead)
Oil/Butter just enough to saute the onion and bacon/leeks  if used
3 Eggs
3 rounded tbsp Ricotta cheese
2oz Mature Cheddar Cheese or similar strong hard cheese
salt and pepper to taste (a pinch of salt and a couple of turns on the pepper mill)
A dash of milk

Preheat the oven to 220C or 425F or Gas mark 7
Prepare the quiche dishes by add a smear of oil/butter and then dust with flour to stop them sticking
Roll the pastry out to fit the quiche dish/es

Add the oil or butter to a pan and heat
Add the onion and bacon or leeks and saute until the onion is soft
Take off the heat and let them cool
Add the eggs to a bowl and whisk
Add the ricotta
Add the salt and pepper
Whisk together and add a dash of milk
Add the onion and bacon to the quiche dish/es evenly
Add the egg and ricotta mix
Add the grated cheese evenly over the top
Cook small quiches for less time so say 10 to 15 minutes  and for one large quiches cook for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown if needed add a few minutes more.

This is lovely served with a mixed leaf green salad

This pot of Lemon Grass is the result of a piece bought in the supermarket and rooted at home last year. (If you are interested look in the archives at Lemongrass and other Seedlings and Seedlings Progress from 19th February and 7th April 2009).  I admit it doesn’t look much but it has survived.  I kept it outside all through the summer and autumn taking it in to over winter in the shed. It had no other protection and considering the winter we have had it is a wonder it is still alive and kicking.  The temperatures plummeted below freezing in December,January and February and the mean temperature for the winter period was 2.3C for our region (South Lincolnshire) according to the Met Office.

The lemongrass has now started to shot again and now I need to find out if I should re-pot it or leave well alone.

For all you who want to try it really was not difficult, just left it in water to root, then potted it up and kept it in a warm sunny window until the start of summer and this is the result. Hopefully it will grow enough stems to harvest this year.

There are a lot of recipes I would love to try with my own home grown lemongrass.

We  spent most of last Saturday setting seeds for what we hope will be a bumper harvest, so fingers crossed they all pop up and grow big and strong.  Even the beautiful Pobble cat likes to get involved!

I have upload an on going list of  ‘Seed sowing and Veggies Planted for 2010′ which I hope will be helpful to any budding gardeners out there.

This year I want to run a trial on how seeds from the cupboard will do if sown and planted in the garden. I have mostly used beans but there will be others and I will update you on the progress.

Yesterday I found some Carob seeds or also called St. John’s bread (Ceratonia silqua) in the cupboard so I am going to try them out too. The seeds will grow to a tree eventually and I haven’t got high hopes for this on but it will be interesting to see what happens. Carob tastes very like chocolate and is  used as a substitute. While we were in Turkey we were told that the dried pods ground down were helpful for those with chesty colds, I’m not sure about that claim but they believe it helps and drink it as an infusion.

It all cleans up…

This is a quick and easy to do, you can have all the ingredients bought in from the supermarket or if you have time can have a bash at making the Ricotta and using chard from your garden.

I bought the filo pastry which is so easy to use, on each layer brush with olive oil or melted butter.

For the Ricotta I used a Sicilian recipe find it here at  http://isicilian.boonrepublic.com/2010/03/24/how-to-make-ricotta-cheese/ I did cut the quantity down to a quarter as there is only the two of most of the time.  It couldn’t be more simple to make and the result is lovely. I used a recycled 750g ice cream tub and it was filled to the top.

I have used Swiss chard in mine as that’s what is growing in the garden at the moment, but I am sure this could be varied and still be really tasty. You could try dandelion leaves, spinach maybe even nettle leaves.

The prawns just happened to be on special offer at the supermarket but I have to say they really made them delicious.  If you are vegetarian then you could leave them out and add something to spike them up a bit like hot chilli or some spicy hot olives to go with the greens and ricotta.

To make 6 :

4 sheets of Filo pastry
25g Melted Butter or 2 tbsp of Olive Oil
1 small Onion chopped quite finely
1 knob of butter to saute the onion
Swiss chard or other greens cooked and chopped
2 tbsp of Ricotta ( To make your own see link above)
Salt and pepper to taste
A pinch of chilli (If you are not a fan of chilli try using some grated nutmeg instead.)
6 Prawns

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6
Lay the first sheet of filo pastry on the worktop
Use a pastry brush to spread the melted butter or oil thinly over the sheet and repeat this on the remainder of the sheets layering them one on top of the other.
Divide the layered sheets in to six pieces equal pieces and line a deep muffin or bun tin with the pastry
Saute the onion until soft, add the cooked Swiss chard or other greens
Mix in the ricotta
Season with salt and pepper to taste
Add the chilli (you may like more of less so taste and add if necessary)
Add a heaped teaspoon to the filo cases
Add a prawn to sit on top of the mix
Gather the four corners together and scrunch to hold
Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Swiss chard is the first of the new greens from the garden.  I wanted to make a soup that will show it off to its best and  one that could be eaten hot or cold.

In this soup you have the bitterness of greens, sweetness of coconut milk, sourness of the lime and heat from the chilli. It gives an Asian tang to our humble but well loved  Swiss chard.

Packing a punch in flavour but aiming to be able to use alternative ingredients where possible giving the most flexibility.  Swiss chard could be change with kale, spinach or any other beet or bitter greens, chick peas can changed with cooked or canned beans maybe lentils or prehaps rice and lemon instead of lime.

Soup is such a fantastic meal, easy to prepare, can be eaten hot or cold, heavy or light, as part of a course or as a meal on its own so give it a try.

Hope you will all give this  one a try and let me have your thoughts.

To make you will need the following

1 tbsp Cumin Seeds
1tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 medium Onion chopped1/2 tsp of salt
500ml Vegetable Stock
400ml Coconut Milk
400g Swiss Chard
400g Chick Peas
1 Lime, zested, half juiced and half sliced
Dried chilli flakes

Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds and fry till they are slightly toasted and flavouring the oil
Add the chopped onion and saute until it is soft and transparent
Add the vegetable stock, coconut milk and bring to rolling boil
Add the Swiss chard and cook until tender
Add the chick peas and bring back to rolling boil
Whizz with a blender till its smooth
Add a little lime juice tasting as you go
Serve with a slice of lime and a pinch of chilli flakes

I love this alcoholic drink, it’s fresh and has full on flavour, it is also so easy to make. I picked up the recipe thanks this blog  http://2friends4cooking.com many thanks to you both for your kind permission to share.

You will need the following

8 Organic unwaxed Lemoms
1 ltr Vodka
350g White Sugar
1 ltr Water (I use tap water but you might prefer to use bottled)

Peel the lemons making sure that as little of the pith is left on
Add the vodka and lemon peel to a plastic container and leave to infuse for 7 days
Make a sugar syrup with the water and sugar
Add the cooled syrup to the vodka and lemon peel
Bottle in sterilised bottles

This drink can be make less alcoholic by using 1 1/2ltr water.

And a little bonus…I dipped the lemon peel that had been infusing in the vodka in chocolate, thought it could be served with the Limoncello after a meal.