Month: September 2021

Spelt sourdough with left-over oat porridge mixed in before the fermentation. This is such an easy way to give a spelt loaf a softer crumb and to make it last longer…let alone the lovely oat tang you get.
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If you want to try this, there’s a recipe linked in my profile for Spelt Sourdough with a ‘scald’. Just replace the scald bit with the same weight of cold porridge. Works a treat.
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And if you are a porridge fan, do check out my fermented oats video (also linked in my profile) where I talk you through how to make a breaky that’s super tasty and super-healthy!

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Gabriel, my 7 year-old son, loves being in the kitchen…but ideally he wants to be there on *his* terms. That means Mum has no say over what the ingredients are and what is done with them, she’s just there to reach/do the things he can’t.
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Sometimes this produces ‘interesting’ results, but I like to let him do it. Because I want him to feel creatively expressed, because it’s fun and because I actually learn so much from him. (And Dadda can usually be relied on to eat whatever comes of the session!)
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This morning was a winner. He took some local plums, chopped and cooked them on the hob, adding cinnamon. He then stirred in some of my fermented oat drink, swats. It ended up as a tart, sweet and warm fruit jam. Then he cut up some apple slices and served the dish as part of our lunch.
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He ate almost all of it. I think that’s well-deserved!
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Picture of the chef with his creation in my story today.

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Cooking three meals a day from scratch, fermenting and baking bread – they all require kitchen equipment. But how much of it is actually essential? What’s really useful, and how do you manage it in a small space?
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Andrea and I tackle this topic in today’s podcast episode. We talk about the equipment we have, how we use it and what we couldn’t live without.
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I’d love to hear what you use in your home. What are your top 3 kitchen tools?
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You can find @ancestralkitchenpodcast in all the usual places, or download/stream it from the link in my profile.

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Following on the success of my garden basil fermentation, I decided to do the same with my three abundant chive plants. After giving them all a hair cut, I pounded the stems with 3% salt and pushed them into this jar with a little topping of olive oil.
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After almost a week on the counter, it’s got that gorgeous ‘roasted onion’ smell. It’s my hubby’s birthday soon and I’m thinking of saving this till then and letting him have the first go at spreading it on some freshly-baked spelt sourdough focaccia.

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Want to ferment your grains in a simple and easy process? I’ll walk you through it in my series of 3 videos!
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Check my homepage www.ancestralkitchen.com for the first one, which is all about sourdough porridge. That’ll lead you on to another showing you how to make sourdough polenta out of *any* grain and then a third that’ll walk you through my favourite: sourdough polenta bread!
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I’m so happy to get this info out there. And feedback is my lifeblood, so let me know what you think and share the vids with anyone who you think will like them. Thank you!

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The finished carrot root beer! It’s fizzy, thanks to the microbes in the whey I used as a starter and has a really deep flavour (I included molasses and caraway seeds in the mixture).
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@farmandhearth inspired me to make root beer – she demoed it on the Nourishing Traditions cook-up we did for our podcast patrons earlier in the summer. I had never drunk (let alone made) it before then!
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If you have the cookbook Nourishing Traditions, do check out the beverages chapter – it’s a goldmine!

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I grew up with breakfast from a box.
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Now, the breakfasts that I eat at the table with my son look different. This is sourdough millet and sorghum porridge that I made from whole grains. It’s topped with a nice big handful of nuts (soaked and dehydrated) and ground linseed. Then I poured over unpasteurised goat milk kefir.
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The difference food like this has made to my life is incalculable.
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And it tastes amazing.
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We do not have to give up enjoyment to eat for health, community and the planet. Food tastes *better* the more love we put into it.

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The last of our garden beetroot for this year. I am a container-only gardener, so only had space for 8 beetroot. They are precious to us because we have so few! I sautéed them in olive oil (thanks to a nudge from @almostbananas), root first, then later adding onions, the beet greens and caraway seeds.
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Served here with goat from @aziendaagricolapodereruggeri and fat-slathered home-made sourdough spelt bread (recipe on my site in the resources section).
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I had a sitting-in-the-garden dreaming session this morning. I came up with a big plan for next summer, in which I double our beet production to 16! I’m also hoping to get more flowers, because I need their beauty around me and because *bees*! Bokashi – fermented compost – will help me with this plan. I have 2 bucket-fulls fermenting as I type which will hopefully mean I don’t have to buy any new compost come spring.

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One of the things I love about Italy is the aliveness of its food-making traditions.
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This is taleggio. I bought it from a lady at the weekly farmers’ market in my home town. It was the first time I’d tried it. The washed crust is edible and contrasted beautifully with the spongy, light, fragrant middle. This chunk lasted me three suppers – with sliced, room temperature tomatoes and some home-made millet and sorghum sourdough.
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This was made from the milk from animals living close by, by hand, and I bought it from the person whose hands made it, with a real exchange and no plastic wrap in sight.
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This is the way food should be. Are you with me?

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