What’s cooking?

Have you wet-rendered fat?
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I finally got some local grass-fed beef fat and since Ximena over at @thefunctionalforce opened my eyes to using water and salt in rendering I’ve been excited to give the wet method a go!
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I watched Marisa’s @bumblebeeapothecary video on You Tube twice then dove in! It was more fiddly and took more time than my usual dry rendering *but* I’ve ended up with a tallow that is really clean and virtually odourless.
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It’ll keep longer like this and I’ll be able to use it for face cream, something I’ve been wanting to make for ages.
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This pic is from the first render, I’m straining the ‘cooked’ fat through muslin and catching the liquid (a mixture of tallow and water/salt) underneath. After this I did a second render of the tallow, with more salt and water, to help eliminate impurities.
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Check my story today for more pictures and some video of the final product!
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Happy July 4th to my USA friends 🙂

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Here’s the beautiful broth from the beef bones in my story today.
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I’ve 6 jars like this. They’ll set like jelly, the fat layer available to take off or break up and mix back in.
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I’ll drink the stock on it’s own, sprinkled with salt. I’ll use it to cook grains in. I’ll let it loosen up leftovers when I pull them from the fridge to heat up for a quick supper. I’ll add it to one pan meat and veg dishes for extra richness.
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Do you have any unusual uses for stock you want to share?!
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If you haven’t yet, check out the @ancestralkitchenpodcast on stock (it’s number 26), our most downloaded episode – there’s obviously a whole lot of goodness there!
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Happy weekend from my kitchen to yours.

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Creativity in the kitchen – how do you express it?
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With me, it’s often in my bread and it often comes to life based on what needs using.
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I wanted a basically spelt loaf and I also wanted to make it up as I went along. There was a packet of rye flour in the cupboard that needed finishing so I added the remains of that. Whilst in my cupboard-clearing-out mode, I noticed the end of a tub of dehydrated orange slices. I whizzed them up in the spice grinder with a generous handful of caraway seeds and added that to the dough.
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There was some four-day-old rye sourdough starter in the fridge. I put a big blob of that in, added some honey, salt and water and got stuck in with my hands.
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The resulting loaf is delicious and makes me want to play some more with orange and caraway.
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Thank you to @ellys.everyday for making me feel OK about using ‘old’ sourdough starter and to @elliemarkovitch for being a wonderful intuitive baking ambassador! If you don’t already, go follow what they are up to in their exploratory kitchens 🙂
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I’d love to hear where you most like to ‘play’ in the kitchen.

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What’s your favourite grain?
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I think mine are oats. It’s that creaminess they create. I guess it comes from their higher-than-normal fat content.
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And I love to ferment oats. This picture is of a fermented oat bake – I fermented the freshly-rolled oats overnight and then mixed with eggs and cheese before baking. I want to try this again and add some bacon and onions, as well as herb-it-up!
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Check my story today for more fermented oats goodness.

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Is crunch important to you?
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The crust of a sourdough, pork crackling, toast…all things I love largely because of the crunch. I miss the satisfaction of that noise and sensation if I don’t have it!
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Crunchy pork skin hits that spot 110% *and* it’s made at home, local and a ‘waste’ food. So good that I wanted to glorify the treats in some arty pictures!
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Check my story today for videos of the process (and the crunch!) and click on my profile to find the youtube video recipe

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How can something so simple brighten my day so much? Purple of borage flowers against the orange of carrots and the green of chives and rocket.
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In the background sourdough spelt topped with bone marrow, some red cabbage sauerkraut and two types of local unpasteurised cheese – one with sheep’s milk, the other cow’s.
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Everything here is Italian, most of it from less than 5 miles away. The borage and chives are from the garden.
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It’s hard to put into words how eating locally and using traditional wisdom in my kitchen makes me feel. It’s something like peaceful, but with hints of deep belonging and gratitude.
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Happy weekend all.

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I finally got serious beef marrow bones locally and I’m using the marrow fat in everything…on toast, to fry, in bakes and to add a beautiful touch to warm grain salads.
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Turns out in the past, in England, bone marrow was used to make a forerunner of rice pudding – with sugar and spices. See my story today for the details.
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What’s your favourite way to eat marrow?
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Thank you @fontedeiserri for the amazing bones (and fat and meat!)

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Do you have this book? Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the shear number of recipes in it?
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I remember when I got my copy of Nourishing Traditions. I wanted to make *everything* in it!! A decade later, I haven’t managed that feat, but I do have favourite, go-to recipes that I make over and over again. And so does my podcast co-host @farmandhearth.
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Listen in to today’s @ancestralkitchenpodcast episode to hear us share the six recipes we love the most in this amazing ancestral food bible.
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We’ll tell you why we love them and share our tips on making them. Once you’ve listened you’ll be enthused and inspired to bring them to life in your own world!

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Fermented food waste grew this chard!
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I have a tiny, container-only patio garden with no space for making compost. Last year, I started making bokashi – that is fermenting my food waste. Come winter, I dug the fermented scraps (including bones, cooked food, cheese as well as veg scraps) into my containers and left them to ‘sleep’ until Spring.
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Having no idea whether it had worked, I planted beets, carrots, borage, calendula, parsnips, buckwheat and more into the containers a few months back. They’ve dug their roots into the ferment and are doing really well!
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This is my second chard harvest (I thought I was growing beets, but seems the greens are doing amazingly too). Going to steam and eat with some sausages and bread for lunch.
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If you’ve thought about making bokashi, I’d give it the thumbs up.

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