Search Results for

This thyme feels like more than *just* thyme to me.
.
I bought it, along with some cabbages and brussels, from a lady who grows and sells her veg at the tiny local market here in Pontassieve.
.
We’ve been in this town almost a year and in that time we’ve come to know (and love) the farmers from whom we buy our meat, eggs and dairy.
.
Vegetables have been the last part of our food shopping without a face. By that I mean, up until now, I’ve mostly not known the person who grew them. Finally, this month, I had the head space to make an attempt to change that.
.
Thursday evenings will host our ‘walk together to the market and get veg’ routine. I hope that we’ll get to know (and love) the small producers there, including the lady who picked and dried this wild thyme.
.
If so, it’d feel to me like we’d settled. We’d be part of the precious fabric of this land. We’d sustain and be sustained by the beauty, knowledge and effort of this community.
.
And I’d be able to breathe out.

… Read More

We’re not the only family to eat spare water kefir grains on sourdough pancakes right?!

… Read More

Chocolate Water Kefir. Totally 6-year-old son approved!
.
I had a brain wave whilst making cacao husk tea: man, this’d be goood fermented. So I cooled it, added sugar and let my kefir grains at it! After a second ferment with orange and cardamon it’s delicious.

… Read More

A new batch of Sowans, the traditional Scottish fermented drink, ready for a 7-day ferment.
.
I make a batch of this every other week. It’s whole oats, flaked at home, then put through a sieve. The bits I use here are the crumbs that fall through the holes in the sieve. I put them into jars, add water, stir and then leave to ferment for a week.
.
Every morning during that week, I give them a quick stir. Towards the end of the week, I taste the liquid. When it’s funky enough for me (I like it funky), I stir it and strain it through a sieve to remove to bran particles. I leave the remaining liquid to settle. Over time it separates into liquid and oat starter.
.
I use the liquid, Sowans, as a drink, a starter and to bake bread. I cook up the oat sediment, called Swats, as a porridge, use it as a thickener and bake it into sourdoughs too.
.
Phew. Trying to explain that clearly took some thought. I’m hoping that, later in the year, I can put together some videos demonstrating how I make this and more of my kitchen alchemy projects. I’m also hoping to create a newsletter and have an exciting project with Andrea @farmandhearth on the burner. Lots of things fermenting – both literally and figuratively over here.
.
Happy weekend to you all. x

… Read More

Do you want to improve your English? Vuoi migliorare il tuo inglese? Do you love being in the kitchen? Ti piace stare in cucina? I’m Alison, a mother-tongue, qualified, experienced English teacher and passionate cook. I offer one-to-one conversational English … Read More

This time last year me and my two boys were living out of 2 suitcases. We did it – being forced to move 8 times over a period of 6 weeks, because the flat we were supposed to move turned out to be uninhabitable.
.
During those 6 weeks, in various unfamiliar and ill-equipped kitchens, I continued to make sourdough. We were never without a loaf.
.
Looking back (thankfully from the comfort of a new flat we found 10 days before the first lockdown), it astounds me that I kept this going. It was testament to 2 things:

1 – The simplicity of my ‘go to’ sourdoughs, and
.
2 – The amount of times I’d baked them before.
.
If we practise, we can do anything. We can repeat nourishing staple foods with our eyes virtually shut.
.
I have written up the recipe for my Everyday Rye Sourdough. You can find it via the link in my profile. It’s super-simple. No kneading, no constant watching. So easy you could even make it if you ever find yourself ‘between homes’, I promise 😉

… Read More

Soup with a difference! (in fact, with at least three differences)
.
1 – It’s got sourdough in it! Yes, I used some discard. What a revelation…talk about hearty. I mixed my rye starter with home-made stock, veg and sausages. It thickened the soup up and gave us a tangy carb hit too.
.
2 – It came from the lovely @dreamtemplearts family. This is the first time I’ve been passed a recipe I was looking for (it’s based on Zurek, a Polish sour soup) via a one to one IG connection. That warms my heart 🙂
.
3 – It traditionally includes All Spice berries. I have not been able to find these in Italy, so instead used a similar flavour profile – cinnamon bark, nutmeg and cloves. I would never have thought of putting these flavours in a savoury soup. It added to the roundness and warmth.
.
This one isn’t going anywhere. I already have plans to make it again and when I’ve got my favourite version, to write it up. If you’re looking for discard uses, keep watching.
.
And that’s Russian Black Salt on the top in case you’re wondering…there’s a highlight on my profile for process pics of it.
.
I’ll go back to my Polish soup induced warm haze now 🙂

… Read More

My first go at a #lectinfree (and hence #glutenfree) sourdough pizza. It’s different to my usual spelt, in that the crust was not as crispy and the crumb more cakey…that’s what you get with millet and sorghum as flours. But it was very much enjoyed here.
.
And I gotta talk toppings…home-cured bacon from @lavalledelsasso, local red onion and tiny brussels sprouts picked up at the local farmer’s market here in #Pontassieve. I fried it all first, hence the dark colour. Lard-fried brussels on pizza are *good*…seriously, give them a go!

… Read More

Finding creative ways to use everything that comes into and is part of my kitchen feels like part of the reason I am here.
.
It is satisfying, helps me feel as if I am living with integrity, and brings me such creative joy.
.
Here we have a Spelt sourdough. It’s dough had a special addition – I cooked up the oat solids from the bottom of my fermenting jar of Sowans (a traditional Scottish ferment) into a smooth porridge and included them in the mix.
.
They bring softness to the crumb and their super-fermented tang adds to the flavour of the nutty spelt. Having said that, even if it’d been a taste disaster, the sound of my knife cutting the crusty crumb would have been enough to win me over.

… Read More

Lunch for my hubby, pulled together in 20 mins, but with many more moments than that in its offering:
.
Millet and sorghum #lectinfree sourdough that I made yesterday. This one’s flavoured with tumeric, onion and nigella seeds… I’m experimenting!
.
Chicken (along with a blob of reserved juice/smaltz in the middle of the plate). I roasted this Monday, I love the ease of leaving it in the fridge and serving simply during the days that follow.
.
Salad, made this morning in quantity big enough to last us 4 or so days.
.
Topped with sauerkraut and fermented garlic (made at least 6 weeks ago) and sided (is that a verb?!) with a fermented cabbage leaf (made in November) topped with fermented sliced jerusalem artichoke (made last week).
.
He was happy (as always…his gratitude fuels my creation) and I was pleased enough to want a photo.
.
What are you eating for lunch today?

… Read More