RAINING SIDEWAYS

Snow on the Way!

It’s Beef Stew and Dumpling weather, Lancashire Hot Pot, Chicken Pie weather, comforting food weather. The week has been clear, sugary, crispy, crunchy, cold, cold, cold. As the sun appeared slowly over the hill the grass began to steam and boil. Gradually the land turned green again but now it’s cold and damp and getting worse! Snow forecasts for tomorrow, so unusual here, and freezing fog and dark, dank days. Suddenly it’s just a little warmer and the sky has taken on that certain ominous, pinky yellowy tinge we so rarely see in South Devon.  Time to hunker down, fill the stables with straw, feed the sheep on the hill and prepare for the freeze.

Junior has done his job, ewes with bright pink tup marks on their backs graze contentedly, a sure prophecy of lambing in the spring. Scruffy has blossomed and, despite his early trauma and slightly strange looks, is being quite a Gigolo amongst the older Jacob ladies up the hill.

Friday’s sarcoid has come off at last and the wound is slowly healing, Sweep has been caught eating the new hay so her ordeal at the dentist was worth while. And Dandy’s foot abscess has finally gone. Truffle shows no sign of her recent stroke and Wellie is calming down. Oh, and the ram lamb attacked by crows is out in the field again. What a bad animal month we have had.

Sunday found me walking along the river bank at low tide rejoicing in silence. Just the quack of a duck or the cry of the egret and the splashing of the paddling dogs carried me along amongst the popping seaweed on a deliciously squelchy fore shore.  I needed the silence of the water to flush out the awful character I had been playing in the local village play. I’ve been living with her for weeks and now, to my enormous relief, at last I can let her go. For some extraordinary reason I had allowed my self to be part of the cast for the first time in my life. Gradually the awful “Eleanor” and her dreadful dog took over my whole being and invaded my every move! And it was all a huge, very frightening success!

Childhood memories of am-dram, rehearsals in the basement, a house full of actors, threats of schooling at the Theatre Arts School, all flooded back. Both my parents were on the professional stage in the 1930s, my father was at RADA. They met in Rep. acting their way through the pre war years As life changed after the second world war they moved into the realms of Am-Dram and I felt sure I was put off for life. I have managed to steer well clear of it all till now and  I don’t think I’ll be doing it again though, in the genes or not!

And now the snow has arrived, oh boy has it snowed! And the West Country, not used to these conditions, is in chaos. A trip across the Moor to collect food for our chickens turned into a slippery slidey six hour nightmare. And we’re the lucky ones; many people are still stuck in freezing conditions waiting for the helicopters to rescue then. Climate change and the reality of global warming is unfolding around us right here, right under our noses.

Roast Beef

Let’s start with a traditional Sunday roast to cheer these winter days! A fillet of beef, a piece of sirloin or a rib caramelised on the outside and pink in the middle served with good gravy, Yorkshire pudding, fresh horseradish (grated into clotted cream!) and seasonal vegetables must surely be one of our best national dishes.

Rub the meat all over with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Place in a robust roasting tin and place in a very hot (preheated!) oven 220C/Gas 7 for 20 minutes to seal the meat and give you that dark rich coating to the meat. Reduce the heat to 180C for remaining cooking time. This will depend on how well cooked you like your meat.
Here is a rough guide to cooking times,  but remember all cookers vary and you know yours best:
10 minutes per 500gm   Rare (very pink)
15 minutes per 500gm   Medium (just pink)
20 minutes per 500gm   Well done ( no pink) 

When you are satisfied the beef is cooked to your liking remove it from the oven, take it out of the roasting tin and leave it in a warm place to rest for at least 30 minutes before carving. All roast meat benefits hugely by being rested after cooking. Resting allows the juices  to settle evenly through the meat. It also gives you time to cook the Yorkshire pudding, finish off the vegetables and make the gravy.

To make the gravy first pour off excess fat from the roasting tin then deglaze it with a little stock or vegetable water and , if you like, a dash of red wine. Mix a couple of generous teaspoons of corn flour with a little water and stir into the gravy over the heat. Keep stirring till it thickens and clears, add salt and pepper to taste. If necessary strain it through a sieve into a gravy jug. 

Topside and silverside make very respectable roasting joints too provided that the meat is well hung and the cooking is slower and gentler. Give the meat a quicker hot blast as above then lower the heat to 195C and cook the meat for 20 minutes per 500gm. Slow roasting will  become braising if you add some vegetables and liquid and cover the pot

Old Fashioned Beef Stew and Dumplings

Cut 500gms of  braising beef eg. chuck steak or shin of beef, into large squares and dust with flour. Heat olive oil in a heavy frying pan and soften two large sliced onions, when just beginning to brown transfer to a casserole dish. Fry the meat quickly in batches giving the pan time to heat up between each batch. Place the meat in the casserole, add 500gms carrots cut into sticks, *a bouquet garni and salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle over a spoonful of flour    

Deglaze the frying pan with 750ml of stock or 300ml water and 450ml stout. Bring to the boil and pour over the meat making sure it is covered. Cover and cook for 2 hours in the preheated oven 170C/gas3 or until the meat is tender.

* traditionally bouquet garni  is made up of a bay leaf, and two or three sprigs of parsley and thyme.

To make the dumplings sift 100gms of self raising flour and mix with ½ teaspoon backing powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 50gms shredded suet and 2 tablespoons chopped parsley. Add enough water to make a sticky dough. On a floured board, roll the dough  into small balls. When the meat is nearly cooked put the dumplings on top of the stew and cook a further ½ hour until they are double the size and cooked right through. It helps to baste them a couple of times during cooking. Serve the stew with a crisp green salad.

This is the basic principle for all stews and ragouts. Ring the changes with your choice of vegetables, herbs and liquid. Red wine, garlic, bacon, tomatoes and  orange rind will take you to a French Daube. Kidney, mushrooms and oysters will bring you back to Britain with Steak and Kidney and Oyster Pie or Pudding. Juniper berries, peppercorns, Parma Ham and white wine will give you Italian Stracotto.

Talking of Italy, Tagliatelle Bolognese is another classic often lacking some traditional ingredients. In Italy minced prosciutto fat or panaccetta is added but a little minced streaky bacon will also give a satisfactory depth of flavour. To feed four people heat 50gms of butter in a heavy pan, add the panacetta, bacon or prosciutto fat with  finely chopped carrot, celery and onion and cook gently without browning for about 10 minutes. Next, stir in 200gms lean minced beef or 100gms beef and 100gms minced pork. Cook for a further 15 minutes. Pour in a glass of red wine letting it bubble for a minute or two to evaporate the alcohol. Next add a tin of tomatoes or a little beef stock and tomato puree to loosen the mixture. Stir then simmer for I ½ hours adding more stock if necessary. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve with 500gms tagliatelle boiled al dente, strained, rinsed and, reheated with a little olive oil. Serve with Parmesan cheese and salad.   

Autumn Melancholy 2005

 

Relentless wind and rain have battered October. Even today’s crisp sunlight illuminating a transparent clear blue sky does little to lift my perennial autumn melancholy. It evokes memories of childhood solitariness and isolation, of boarding school at seven, of a strangely emptying world. I hate dark mornings too, shopping by streetlight, grey foggy days. And the knowledge that it will only get colder! Most people struggle with ice cold January and February but for me November is the low spot of the year. Those first snow drops on Boxing day, dear mild Devon, lift my spirits once more and carry me on towards spring.  

And this week it is not helped by sick animals. How strange it is that days, weeks, months go by and everyone is in rude health, then suddenly a wave of misfortune. A recent visit from Richard, my vet, saw an orderly queue forming in the yard. First little Friday whose whole body is working overtime to reject the massive sarcoid on his throat. How fortunate I was that the Donkey Sanctuary agreed to take him together with his mother into the veterinary hospital for two months in the summer. He received the best possible state of the art treatment whilst providing them with a useful research model. He was even lucky enough to be examined by the guru of the equine veterinary world on a visit to the Sanctuary to lecture to overseas vets. Lucky little Friday. Now we wait to see the outcome of all that care and research.

Next old Sweep had her teeth rasped, an undignified procedure for one of such advanced years but it will help her manage her winter forage in lean months ahead. Ten years ago Richard shook his head and advised me to get a companion for Dandy as Sweep was clearly reaching the end of her days. Now he just laughs in amazement as the old donkey wobbles off happily into the field to join the others.

And finally it was dogs turn; we discussed Wellie’s fear of loud noises which is suddenly making her so anxious she’s trying to chew her way out of everything. What is going on in the doggy brain? Then a second look at dear old Truffle, my twelve year old Labrador, who had a stroke on Monday. So maybe it’s not all autumn sadness after all. 

The garden cheers me up. If I’m not careful it begins to look like one huge fruit salad at this time of year. Apples carpet the grass faster than I can gather them into sacks.

Originally there were two orchards here. Many of the old trees in the east facing cider orchard, planted so long ago, need replacing. That orchard was such an important part of the farm economy years ago. It provided farm workers with cider as part of their meagre wage. Opposite, facing south west is the remains of the culinary orchard, now rough woodland with only a few remaining trees, one or two dessert varieties and a cooker or two. It’s so wild and overgrown it is impossible to reach them now.

 

A few years ago, with the help of South Hams Council, we planted a small new orchard with some of the old varieties. This year we have apples for the first time, so exciting. Apple orchards are disappearing at a staggering rate everywhere. Ninety percent of Devon orchards have vanished since 1945. Kent has lost 85% in the last fifty years. In 1883 Herefordshire had 27,000 acres of orchard, now the whole of England has a mere 44,000 altogether.

And thanks to the new Single Payment Scheme even more are being grubbed up even as I write. Although the Scheme purports to be “designed to give extra protection to the environment, soil, wildlife habitats and landscape……”it goes on to say “land used for permanent crops including orchards cannot be used to support claims”

It may just be possible to get round this one if sheep graze beneath the trees but that’s of little consolation to commercial growers. As land is not eligible for a subsidy its value plummets and it is difficult to sell. Out come the orchards.

Nothing changes.  I am reminded of the words of Bernard Palissy 1510-1589, “a natural philosopher and man of a wonderfully quick and acute mind”:

“There is no art in the world to which a grand philosophy is more necessary than to agriculture, and to approach agriculture without philosophy is to degrade the land and its’ produce, and indeed I marvel that the land and its natural products do not cry out for vengeance against those ignorant and ungrateful folk who do nothing but spoil and squander trees and plants without consideration…… the acts of ignorance I see daily in agriculture frequently torment my mind……….”

These sentiments were bluntly reiterated by Swift in the 18^th century “whoever could make two ears of corn or two blades of grass grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind….than the whole race of politicians put together.” Only this morning I heard the Prince of Wales talking in a similar vein, lamenting the loss of family farms and century old traditions, skill and husbandry thrown out for profit and mass production. Toujours le meme chose

 

How few old English apples are available in the shops now too. It seems to be cheaper for supermarkets to import apples from all over the world all year round than source UK crops in September and October. Where have all the old varieties gone? And what has happened to ones we know and love. Where are the Coxes Orange Pippins of 1825, the Worcester Permain of my childhood? The modern versions seem to have lost their character completely and become a bland parody of their former selves. In fact most apples seem to taste exactly the same as each other now, sort of apply-flavoured water. Unless, of course, I pick some of the weird and wonderful old varieties that are still growing in our orchard. Beware the cider apples though. They look ruby red or goldenly enticing, but one big greedy bite is followed by a very dry the mouth! Oh how bitter and sour, maybe Eve bit into a cider apple all those millennia ago in that Garden.

I think maybe, it’s the apples that are making me sad too! Time to take a trip to Thornhayes Nursery to find some wonderful old Devon varieties; time to restock the old orchard. Devonshire Quarrendon maybe, a tiny red Tudor apple, or Pigs Nose or Paignton Marigold , Sour Bay, Spotted Dick or Sops in Wine. The very names cheer me up.

 Normandy Pheasant

This, without doubt, is one of my favourite pheasant recipes and is ideal for oven ready birds which have been commercially prepared. Pheasant like beef is better if it has been properly hung. If it is not it is inclined to be dry and dull when roasted. Apples and Calvados prevent the meat becoming dry and compliment the flavour wonderfully.

Brown a brace of pheasants in melted butter in a heavy frying pan then set aside on a plate. Melt more butter in the pan and fry a kilo of peeled and chopped apples till golden. A sweet apple is best such as Cox or reinette.. Choose a casserole that will snugly take the two birds. Put them breast-side-down on a thick layer of  the apple. Pack the remaining apples all round the pheasants. Pour on 125ml of crème fraiche. Cook gently for about an hour at gas 4 or 180c checking after forty minutes or so. After an hour take them from the oven, raise the heat to 8 or 230c and pour over more crème fraiche with 4 tablespoons of Calvados. Return to the oven for five minutes. Leave to rest before serving. As with all meat resting for a while will make it easier to carve.

Apple, Cabbage and Ginger Soup

Fresh, spicy and delicious this is a great way to use up a few windfalls and a bit of cabbage. But, a big but, it’s essential to have some good chicken stock to back up the flavour.

Shred half a large white cabbage and chop three onions and four green apples. Turn them over in melted butter, then put a lid on the pan and sweat for about ten minutes until soft but not, absolutely not, brown. Add a clove of garlic crushed with salt, a small piece of finely chopped fresh ginger and a litre of chicken stock (…made from that carcass you were going to throw away……) Simmer a few more minutes until the cabbage is tender. Then blend, reheat, taste, season and serve. Very quick, very nice!