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Home » Instagram » Doing chocolate research is satisfying :-) I’m learning about *so* much more than ‘just’ chocolate. Here’s my tuppence-worth (does anyone non-British say that?) about vanilla.
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Doing chocolate research is satisfying :-) I’m learning about *so* much more than ‘just’ chocolate. Here’s my tuppence-worth (does anyone non-British say that?) about vanilla.

March 17, 2021 by Ali

Previous PostMy second batch of home-cured bacon is delicious. This time, the cure had salt, sugar, bay, peppercorns and juniper berries. When I took the lid off the spice grinder and sniffed, it nearly blew my head off! . I like my bacon crispy, but it’s *really* hard to cut bacon thinly by hand, so chunky and cast iron-panned has to do me. Chef also gets the first dibs on the liquid fat left in the pan! I love to pour it over my bread ;-) . Pigs raised over the hill by Flavio at @lavalledelsasso. Thank you! . How do you like your bacon?
Next PostEvery time I make Sowans, the Scottish oat ferment, I have both a drink and an oat ‘porridge’ ready to use. There’s quite some competition for how it’s used! . Sometimes, we cook up the porridge and eat it for breakfast with crunchy decorations! Other times, I reserve it for this: Spelt and Fermented Oat Porridge bread. . The crust is crackly, nutty spelt and the crumb is soft from the addition of the porridge. It also helps the bread last longer. . There’s a slice shot in my stories. Wish I could feed you some!

Recent Posts

  • The crunchy bits left over from rendering lard are one of the most loved things in our kitchen. . We often eat them straight, warm, with salt, on the top of our meal. But I also love to create with them. Here’s the latest experiment; rolled spelt sourdough buns peppered with the delicious crunchy, fatty ‘niblets’ (as my son named them) and some large salt granules! . There are pictures of the process in my story today.
  • Grain mills are expensive. But grain is so much cheaper than flour, and, if you can buy it in bulk, it’ll last. . When I considered a grain mill a couple of years ago, I talked with my hubby, Rob, and knew we couldn’t justify an expensive mill. I’m not the only one with desires in the family, he’s been a musician without a guitar for most of the last two years! . We ended up buying a manual hand-crank roller mill, the Marcato Marga. It doesn’t grind grain anywhere near as finely as a stone mill, and it requires arm power, not electricity. But we love it. Rob grinds and reads out loud to us in the evenings. And we are used to ‘rustic’ bread… . …like this wholegrain rye sourdough. You can see the flour weaving through the crust in this picture. It’s dense but it’s delicious. . If you want to get started with sourdough and love rye, I’m planning a ‘Make & Maintain a Rye Sourdough Starter’ Zoom on Friday 12th of Feb. More details coming soon.
  • A pancake-stack-for-breakfast kind of morning. Spelt discard pancakes (literally just discard, flour and water) left out to ferment overnight and then cooked in the cast iron pan in lard. . I eat my pancakes savoury, not sweet because I don’t eat sweet things (not even fruit). I often get asked why I don’t and how I manage it. Here’s the short version: . Why – because if I eat sweet things I get vertigo migraines on my cycle. This is debilitating and not worth it. It took me about four years and much experimentation to figure this out! . How I manage it – after some time, it’s not as bad as it sounds! Taste buds adjust; you taste sweet in other things. My ‘treats’ take other forms – 100% chocolate, freshly-made mayonnaise, delicious bread and butter. I want to live, not put up with stuff, and my tried-and-tested ‘experiment until you learn’ mindset means I’m totally up for changing habits to improve things. . Going without sweet is not for everyone. It supports me, I think because I super-overinduged on sugar as a kid. Being twice the weight I am now messed me up somewhat! But still, if you want to lessen your sugar intake, know it’s do-able! . Back to my pancakes: these are layered with linseed, barley miso and local olive oil. It’s misty and cold here this morning and they helped me ease into my day. . If you want to share about sugar stuff or what you had for breaky, please do :-)
  • Yesterday’s lunch had to be quick as I had only a few moments in between sessions of my bean-to-bar chocolate course. This was prepped in 5 mins. It’s all from previously created food: . Einkorn sourdough spread with home-rendered lard, lentils cooked in spices and stock, local greens/carrot salad and coleslaw coated with home-made mayonnaise. . I haven’t made mayo for *ages*. Gosh, it’s good. Thank you @farmandhearth for getting me back into it. This one used olive oil; lard mayo next! . Thank you to the ladies who created chocolate with me yesterday. You made my day :-)
  • I made some chocolate in preparation for the bean-to-bar workshop on Friday. Keeping little hands off it is hard!! . As Gabriel sings, I tried putting a bit of sea salt in. Yet to try the result. . If you can get yourself some raw cacao beans in the next 40 hours, come join me on Zoom and let’s make them into gorgeous chocolate together! The link with all the details is in my profile.

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