Month: October 2020

There’s a lot of millet action going on in my kitchen at the moment.
.
The DIY proofing box is out (it’s colder now and I want warmth for my experiments!) and in it I’m growing two things:
.
A millet sourdough starter, and
.
A millet starter for a Turkish fermented drink called Boza.
.
The sourdough starter is easy, I just need time and persistence. The Boza starter more difficult…documentation is nowhere near as available, so I’m kinda using my nous and seeing what happens!

… Read More

This is what happens when you *really* ferment a pancake dough. Crumpet pancake!!
.
Recipe for sourdough pancakes is in my profile. It’s this month’s #ancestralcookup and is super easy and delicious.
.
If you’re feeling brave (or curious) let it super-ferment and cook up a crumpet pancake like this. And then have fun choosing what you want to melt into the holes before you devour it!

… Read More

I have just finished “Honey from a Weed” the amazing cookbook by Patience Gray. I refuse to put it on my shelf. I want to start it again. I want to dip into it over tea. I want to cook everything in it (OK, well maybe not the recipe for garden snails).
.
These are Borlotti beans cooked ‘alla Toscana’ as per page 62. Check out my story today to see how they came to life – there’s even some bean art in there 🙂

… Read More

The stardust in my cells did a little jiggle when I read this comment on my wholegrain sourdough spelt pizza.
.
It wasn’t from my hubby this time, but from @lvtrevino who cooked it up using the recipe in my profile. And this lady has eaten in both NYC and Italy.
.
Eating a good sourdough wholegrain pizza base with nutty spelt flour is a joy…so much so that you don’t want many toppings, the dough itself is the star.
.
Check out the recipe in my profile 🙂

… Read More

I bought some celeriac which still had the abundant green tops on. What better excuse to try out a new ferment?
.
I added some garlic, black pepper and coriander seeds. Just have to wait a few days now – the most difficult part!

… Read More

The slow cooker is out!
.
This is #ossobuco, from Flavio @lavalledelsasso cooked with lots of local veg.
.
I’m totally enamoured by stirring sauerkraut into my stew at the moment, rather than eating it separately. The sour flavour goes so well threaded through the meaty broth.
.
In gut-healing diets, this is shunned, as potentially the probiotics in the kraut are killed off by the heat of the stew. But I figure, I get so much else alive (with my kefir, kvass, fermented garlic etc) that savouring the flavour like this is worth it.
.
Adding probiotically created sour to stews is an ancestral tradition in Eastern Europe (at least). The more I learn about traditional wisdom, the more I trust it *deeply*. And I remember Natasha Campbell McBride saying in her GAPS book that even dead probiotics do great work.
.
So I let flavour be my guide.

… Read More

My absolute favourite sourdough creation is what I’m sharing as this month’s #ancestralcookup: Pancakes.
.
These are so simple. If you’ve got flour, water and some fat for frying, you can make them.
.
The link to the step-by-step recipe is in my profile. It includes super-clear instructions, loads of flour/ingredient options and videos showing how the batter should look, and how to get them fried up in a cast iron pan without sticking.
.
If I go through a week without a sourdough pancake, my life has far less sparkle. Give them a go and see if you agree!

… Read More