Author: Alison Kay

I am really not a winter girl. But I’ve only just discovered the wonders of sourdough soup and I want to have it more…perhaps I’d suffer a few more cold weeks so I could prepare and eat this food, which has been dubbed as, “the soup that makes a man as strong as a wall”!
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I’ve written up my version of it, based on the Polish Żurek. If you’d like to try it, and use up some sourdough discard whilst you are doing it, check the link to the recipe in my profile.
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Thanks @dreamtemplearts for the fabulous Polish handed-down original instructions. Please thank your Mum 😉

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Yeah to Sicilian avocado! Here on my lectin-free sourdough toast, with ground linseed and this year’s beautifully peppery extra virgin olive oil from @aziendaagricolapodereruggeri. A totally Italian, and totally yummy breakfast.

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I made chocolate the ‘old’ way and I’m so chuffed! Two videos here of cacao beans I roasted, winnowed and ground, by hand, with no added cacao butter, into chocolate.
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This is very close to how the Mesoamericans used to do it thousands of years ago. The taste is just amazing.
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I’ve spent the last few weeks reading about the staggering nutritional benefits of cacao. I am *totally* convinced that, judiciously consumed it is a health food.
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And I’m not complaining!

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Now I’ve started home-curing my own bacon, I can’t stop. It’s so good to eat and amazing to witness how the salt, sugar and herbs transform the meat.
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Here’s my pork belly, from Flavio at @lavalledelsasso about to go into the fridge for a 5-day cure. I ground bay leaves, juniper berries and pepper as aromatics and they smelt amazing. It’ll be interesting to see how the taste differs from my last batch that used rosemary.
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If you want to have a go at curing and are new to it, bacon is a good place to start.

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Multi-tasking doesn’t really count as a vice if I’m making the most of an empty house and super enthusiastic about what I’m doing, does it?!
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Here’s a sorghum fermentation experiment. I’m making it into a boza-style drink, so it’s about to go somewhere warm for a few days.
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And the notebook has plans that I’m hoping to bring to fruition as the year goes on.

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Cured heart from the farm up the road @lavalledelsasso, stuffed with sourdough rye breadcrumbs, bacon, onion, sage, garlic and nutmeg and cooked long and slow in an onion, carrot and stout mix.
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I’ve served it on celeriac, mashed with tumeric, garlic and lard.
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A real comfort food. We loved it.
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Rolling the heart was fiddly, but the result satisfying enough for me to want to try it again.
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The recipe was from my @rivercottagehq book on smoking and curing by @lambposts. It could easily be made #lectinfree by using lectin-free breadcrumbs.

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Three high hydration wholegrain sourdough rye loaves. These freeze really well and will do my boys sandwiches for a while!
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Recipe for Everyday Sourdough Wholegrain Rye loaf in my profile.

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More than half of the flesh we eat is organ meat. We’ve taken organs on in such a way that I often kinda forget there’s other meat (apart from sausages, obviously!)
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Here’s why I choose organs:
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For health: They are the most nutrient-dense part of the animal. Why buy supplements when you could spend *so* much less on nutrients in situ?
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For economy: They are far less expensive than other cuts.
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As an act of integrity: I see it is necessary. If I’m going to take an animal’s life, let me do that act rightfully and eat all that it offers.
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Here we have a cow’s heart. Usually, I unfussily fry it or throw it in a slow-cooked stew. This time, however a recipe in @lambposts Smoking and Curing book written for @rivercottagehq caught my eye.
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I brined the heart for a day in salt, sugar, spices and stout. Then I stuffed it with pancetta, sourdough crumbs, onions and garlic. Now it’s in the slow cooker with onions, carrots and stout.
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A few hours yet before we can tuck in.

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If you look carefully at the crumb you can see the little bits of malted barley in this sourdough spelt inspired by the recipe for Lithuanian Keptinis in Naturally Fermented Bread by Paul Barker @cinnamonsquare.
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I made it with pale malt, a light malt. Next time, I’m going to have a go with some more strongly-flavoured malt…chocolate or coffee malt maybe?
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If you’re more of a cruster than a crumber, swipe to see its crust. ‘Twas gooood!

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