What’s cooking?

Have you ever lived without an oven?
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For several months I had no oven. I had to change how I cooked. That’s nothing on kitchens a few hundred (let alone a few thousand) years ago though; ovens are a really recent thing.
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Before ovens, in England, many dishes were steamed instead of being ovened.
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Here’s my most recent steamed oat pudding. These were common in the UK (where in many parts oats were the staple cereal) and were often as simple as oats, stock and a bit of onion. Here I’ve added pork, walnuts and orange too. I steamed this for two hours in a glass bowl resting raised off the bottom of a large saucepan that had two inches of simmering water at the bottom.
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It’s delicious and the recipe will be going in the book on oats I’m dreaming of writing!
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See my story today for more information (and details of how I messed up the first one of these!)

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Seeing wholegrain rye bread come to life in someone else’s kitchen thanks to the work I do fills my heart with such joy!
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Repost of @jenniferments
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Whole grain rye sourdough plus a bonus rye spice bread made with sourdough discard. I have been baking for a long while but shied away from making a whole grain rye sourdough. First, because I thought it was too difficult to get a good result. And second, because my kiddo and I have been basically gluten free for the past 4 years or so. Last year I discovered that we can tolerate Einkorn sourdough, and recently I’ve been reading that folx with gluten sensitivities might also be able to tolerate rye (and spelt – that’s next on the list to try!) I have been following Alison Kay @ancestral_kitchen for a while and I am so inspired by her food journey, plus the practical and down to earth manner in which she shares and teaches. So when I had the opportunity to take her class called Wholegrain Rye Sourdough Bread: Mastering The Basics at @thefermentationschool I took the plunge! I watched every video and with her experience and knowledge I felt very confident that I would be able to make a great loaf of rye sourdough… and I did! Not only a loaf of WHOLE GRAIN rye sourdough, but I also used my discard to make a rye spice bread! I am so grateful that @ancestral_kitchen and @thefermentationschool have made learning so accessible and easy! The photos show 1) the finished whole grain rye sourdough that I baked in a Pullman loaf pan, 2) rye starter bubbly and ready, 3) rye berries before milling, 4) my old “Whisper Mill” which sounds like anything but a whisper 😂 I’ve had this thing for ~18 years and though it’s loud it still works great! 5) preferment all bubbly, 6) finished rye spice bread- it has golden raisins, pecans, molasses and honey, plus cinnamon, ginger, and freshly grated nutmeg. It smells heavenly! 7) a slice of the spice bread – it was absolutely delicious with butter! 8) bubbly main dough after fermenting and ready for the pan, 9) beautiful crust on the finished whole grain rye sourdough straight out of the Pullman pan, 10) dense yet airy crumb that had a rich, gorgeous flavor!

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When I first read Nourishing Traditions back in 2010 (I’m ever-grateful to you @jennierutzcom for passing the book my way), raw goat milk was one of the first things I brought into my transformed kitchen.
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I had always had congestion problems with supermarket (aka ‘normal’) milk and my hubby, Rob, had found his skin peeled whenever he ate too much dairy.
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These negative issues, which had caused both of us to stop eating dairy, disappeared when we consumed raw milk. We were amazed.
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And then, 12 weeks into our son’s life, when I had to face the fact that I could not produce enough breast milk to feed him, we turned again to raw milk – making the Weston A Price baby formula at home from @elliesdairy goat milk.
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Raw milk played a pivotal role in bringing us to ancestral foods and our son’s early days. It has brought us health (as well as amazing taste!).
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And yet, when I look outside my bubble, I see how raw milk generates so much unfounded fear. Listen into episode 53 of @ancestralkitchenpodcast to hear about *real* milk; how it’s always been, and why industrialisation meant the advent of pasteurisation and the transformation of this amazing food stuff (and the places that produce it) into a shadow of what they could be.

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Milk kefir is my nemesis!
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Fresh, home-made probiotics are *powerful* things. I should know, I’ve spent almost a decade measuring the amount of sauerkraut I have and ever-so-gradually increasing it. I started this because too many fermented foods stop me sleeping. For others, too much might cause tummy upset or skin reactions…
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What I’ve also learnt, along this journey, is that not all fermented foods are the same. Some are more vigourous, some gentler.
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For instance, I remember reading in the GAPS book (@ancestralkitchenpodcast episode on GAPS coming soon) that sauerkraut brine is gentler than the actual fermented cabbage.
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Milk kefir is the undisputed King of fermented foods as far as I’m concerned. Every time I try to have another go at bringing it into my life (and of course, I try a lot because it tastes so darn good!), I’m there wide awake at 2am!!
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And yet, in the tapestry of my own healing, I feel it’s important, so I’ll get organised (just like I did for sauerkraut) and my teaspoon out, starting *really* slowly.
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In the meantime, the beautifully fermented, but less vigourous ‘boza’ (pictured) will deliver its probiotic goodies to my tummy. We all have idiosyncracies, things we’re healing, things that don’t sit right with us and boza – being gluten, dairy and lectin free can offer a delicious (and historic) probiotic.
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Videos of my boza process in my story today and thank you @bigbank2riverbank for this picture of your boza fermenting. It was wonderful to talk boza and much more when we met last week.

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Are crackling bubbles the height of deliciousness on roast pork belly?!
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I had to share this bubble with my 8-year old (at least I managed to get it to the table without him victoriously stabbing it with something!).
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Check my story today to see how I cook pork belly.

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Early morning ale-making!
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The ale (bottom, in the glass container) which contains malted rye and oats, home-cultured yeast and water, is being strained through a colander before bottling for a short second ferment. The bowl on the left is of spent grain – this will be mixed with flour to make a bread.
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There are more pictures (including one of my hubby’s dressing gown – it really was morning!) in my story.
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And I finally got round to writing up my ancestral beer adventures so far. Read all about it via the ‘Medieval Ale in a Modern Kitchen’ link under the articles section of my profile.

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