Ashburton Cookery School - More Intermediate Cookery: Day Three

So, Day Three commenced, as usual in the briefing room. We had a change of Chef on this day, Rob Dawe was off doing other things at the School and we had Alan Stannard, who was to be with us for the rest of the week. Today the menu was as follows:

I was really excited by this menu, as for many years I have been quite intrigued by Seafood Bisque, as they look so luxury and complex too.
It was beautiful dish, served with the delicate Spring Rolls and a Crab Mayonnaise dip, served in an Oyster Shell. I placed an Oyster in the bowl first and then poured the hot bisque on top, which gently poaches the Oyster. This made the dish so luxurious, it was divine!

The main was of particular interest too, similar to a Beef Wellington really, though this time done with lamb. Quite a complex dish to prepare. You begin with a rack of lamb, but are only interested in the Cannon, so after some intricate butchery in removing the bones, fat and sinew - this leaves you with only with the lamb flesh.

You may think, like I did, that the lamb may have been greasy in this dish, but as you remove every trace of fat, this eliminates this potential problem. A delicious dish!





Finally, finishing the menu with a Lemon Dessert, which was really lovely and fresh.










I had never made sorbet before, so really enjoyed experimenting with this. A real palate cleanser! I have since made a Strawberry version at home, which was lovely and had a real intense depth of flavour. I will be doing an Ice Cream and Sorbets blog post sometime in the future, so look out for that one...

Ashburton Cookery School - More Intermediate Cookery: Day Two

After a very tiring first day at Ashburton Cookery School, I felt that by the second day we had all settled into the routine a bit more and were beginning to get to know each other better as a kitchen team.

On the first day we were asked to work with the person sitting opposite us at the table in the briefing room, for me this was Daniel on day one, Daniel and I worked well together. On the second day we were asked to team up with someone new in the group, I worked with James who lived in America and was over on holiday, we quickly got into a working rhythm and I enjoy working with James too.

The menu of the day consisted of the following:

Crabbed Stuffed Lemon Sole with a Red Pepper and Hollandaise Sauces

One of the things I was keen to do during my week at Ashburton this year, was to improve my presentation skills, so each day I carefully listened to the Chef - which was still Rob Dawe on day two. In order to help me, I also photographed their finished dishes too, so that I could compare mine with theirs at home.

Here is Rob's version of the above:

As you can see Rob chose to add more vegetables on his finished plate, whereas I served them seperately. Geoff preferred Rob's presentation - let me know which you prefer, by commenting below?

For the main course it was;

Slow Cooked Belly Pork with Fricassee of vegetables

This was a delicious dish, perfect for those who don't usually like the fatty texture of Pork, as the slow cooking makes it much more palatable. This has been slow poached in stock and cider - it took around 3 hours (we'd prepared this on day one). This was then weighted down overnight in the fridge, then cut into squares and popped in the oven with the cracklng to crisp up, for 10 minutes or so, today.

Here is Rob's presentation of the same dish;

Very similar this time around.

Finally to complete this menu for day two we made;

Chocolate Fondants with Amaretto Ice Cream and Praline Crunch

The top tip here was using the praline crunch as a bed to sit the ice cream on, to stop it moving around the plate, as it melts.
Of course a good Chocolate Fondant, should have a gooey centre and so just prove that mine did, I took a photo of the inside too;

At the end of day two, Rob created a little belated birthday plate for me, as he'd missed my birthday the day before:

For some reason I hadn't photographed Chef Rob's Chocolate Fondant, probably because I just wanted to get on and eat mine!

So that completes day two and we were all eager to come back for day three tomorrow - watch out for next blog post covering the menu for day three soon!

Ashburton Cookery School - More Intermediate Cookery

This time last year, I was lucky to have been bought a week-long course at Ashburton Cookery School based here in Devon, by my husband Geoff. I had an amazing 5 day course there and really loved it, so you can imagine my delight when Geoff said he would buy me another week long course this year for my birthday. This time the ‘More Intermediate Cookery Course’. My birthday was on the 16th July (last Monday), and my course also commenced on this day too, so it seemed that this was meant just for me!

Although I won't be sharing the recipes via my blog (these are copyrighted to Ashburton Cookery School), I thought it would be fun to write a post for each of the 5 days that I was at the course, commencing here with day one:

Day One

On day one I arrived at the School and was introduced to everyone on the course, there were 8 of us, all doing the course for leisure purposes. Often this course is done by individuals wishing to make cooking a new career for them, for example chefing on yachts or setting up a new business from home for example.

My fellow members had come from a wide range of background, for example the armed forces, banking and publishing. One member lived in New York and was completing the course whilst in the UK on holiday. For me, I was there just for my own pleasure, and ultimately that of my friends and family!

Straight away, we all got along, with cooking our common interest, and commenced the course with an introduction from our Chef for Monday and Tuesday, Rob Dawe. Rob ran through health and safety and some techniques we would be using during the day, and then showed us through to the kitchen where we donned our aprons and got cracking.

I had met Rob earlier this year, at Exeter Festival of South West Food and Drink, where I asked him to sign my Ashburton Cookery School apron, you may remember from an earlier post, that Geoff had won this for me.

Our first dish on day one was a Red Mullet with Nicoise Salad. Gorgeous locally caught Red Mullet, with a salad of leaves and green beans, served with boiled quails eggs, potatoes with capers and anchovies and 'posh' tomatoes.

This dish was every bit as clean and fresh tasting as it looks here.

Next we created Chicken Ballotine with Cabbage Parcels and Potato Rosti. A technical dish, as we boned out the Chicken Leg and stuffed it with a Goats Cheese and walnut stuffing. I have done a fair bit of jointing meats, but this deboning was new for me and a great success.

Finally for dessert, a delicious Berry Mille-feuille - this beautiful dessert made from handmade shortcake biscuits, sandwiched with a vanilla cream and dressed with seasonal berries.

The berries I used were blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, garnished with a sprinkling of icing sugar and a sprig of mint to compliment the beautiful colours of this dish.

Making Jams and Preserves Part 1

In order to stretch my culinary skills further each year, I try to set myself an annual target. Last year was the year of developing my skills making sauces, Geoff called it the Saucy Year, though not sure that he was referring to food! Throughout the year I included savoury sauces such as Beurre Blanc and sweet sauces such as Creme Anglaise. That was a great success, as I am now able to make a wide variety of sauces to compliment homemade dishes and feel confident making stocks to compliment these too.


This year I set out to conquer the art of making Jams and Preserves, the topic of this Blog. I have already made a few chutneys and marmalades. Today I have just made Rhubarb with Vanilla Conserve, so as this particular one is fresh in my mind, this the topic for this blog.


I had been lucky enough to have been given 10 stalks of lovely home grown rhubarb from a friends garden (thanks Maureen!) and so proceeded to chop up each stalk into 1 inch chunks, discarding the leaves of the rhubarb as this is poisonous. I placed all of this into a large pan with a 2lb bag of caster sugar that had been previously warmed, for 15 minutes or so, left in it's bag, in the oven. The oven was off, though quite warm as I was also proving my bread dough in there at the same time (as described in another issue of my Blog here).
Next I added the seeds, scraped out of their vanilla pods and the pods themselves in with the sugar and heated the contents until the sugar dissolved. Because I had heated the sugar, this assisted in this process. At this stage I placed a saucer in the freezer, as I would need this later for testing the setting point of the conserve.


I then added the juice of 1 lemon, because lemons are high in pectin needed to help the jam to set. Jam, jelly and marmalade set because of pectin. Pectin occurs naturally in fruit and, when cooked with sugar and the naturally occurring acid in the fruit, thickens and sets the preserve. Citrus fruit, blackberries, apples and redcurrants have high pectin levels. If fruits are low in pectin then fruits with a higher level need to be added, such as the lemon juice.
Rhubarb is not naturally high in pectin, so the juice here is essential. You can buy special Preserving sugar, which includes the pectin, however juice does the same job.


The mixture now needs to boil rapidly for around 20 minutes. During this time I sterilised the jars and lids in a warm oven, the jars had been dishwashed directly prior to this.


Next I needed to test for the setting point of the conserve by spooning a little of the liquid onto my chilled saucer. I left it  minute or two and then pushed my finger through the conserve, looking for wrinkles on the surface. At this point the conserve was a little too liquid. I returned the saucer to the freezer and came back to try again a few minutes later, this time it was fine. If you have a reliable jam thermometer instead, then you can skip this fiddly process and test for the conserve reaching 105ºC).


I skimmed off the scum that had formed over the top of the conserve during the cooking process, if you do this throughout the cooking you can get a lot of waste, it's best to wait until this stage to do this, it is an important step in order to achieve a clear set.
Then, using a jam funnel, I poured the conserve carefully into the awaiting jars. I left all of the jars of conserve to go completely cold and then placed waxed discs on the top of each conserve and tightly screwed down the lids.


The conserve needs to be stored in a cool dark place, I usually keep my preserves in the integral garage, until opened. When opened, store in the fridge and use within 4-6 weeks.


This conserve can be used in recipes too, I have since made some delicious Rhubarb Crumble Muffins, which tasted really yummy, warm from the oven served with homemade vanilla ice cream.


I plan my next preserve making to include Strawberry Jam, so watch this space for more details on this.

Making Flaky Pastry

It is often stated that professional chefs don’t bother to make their own Flaky pastry, as the quality and convenience of the shop bought is excellent. I have always done the same, until now. Today I have decided to give making it myself a go, starting with an easy recipe.

I started by putting 4oz butter in the freezer for about an hour before I was ready to begin making my pastry. I weighed out 6oz of Plain flour, sieving this high over the bowl to add air to the flour. Next I removed my butter from the freezer and coarsely grated this into the flour. Using a palette knife (avoiding touching the cool pastry with your warm hands as much as possible), I began to combine the butter with the flour, when well combined and resembling chunky breadcrumbs (left), I added 1 tablespoon of chilled water.

Again I went in with my palette knife and began to combine the mix again.  In my case I needed to add a bit more water and then finished off using my fingertips to combine into a soft dough (right).

As with all pastry doughs, I rested this dough in a food bag in the fridge (left), in my case for a couple of hours, until I needed the dough.

Next I used my pastry to make a Field Mushroom Tarte Tatin. I have never made a savoury Tarte Tatin, only apple ones. Not sure if this is a common alternative, but with venison for dinner today, I thought it would go well together. First I placed a few dots of butter, seasoning and some thyme leaves followed by a field mushroom, presentation side down, in the base of an individual tart tin.  Next a teaspoon of homemade Red Onion Chutney, a little more seasoning, a layer of spinach leaves, followed by a sheet of pastry, carefully tucking this around the mushroom, to seal everything in (right).

I baked this in the oven for around 20 minutes, until cooked through and golden. To serve I inverted the tin onto my board, carefully turned the tart upside down and placed on the plate to reveal the field mushroom (below). It looks very attractive and I served it with Venison Loin with Celeriac Puree and a Port Sauce. It was delicious and not too time consuming for those who, unlike me, don’t enjoy spending all afternoon cooking!

Bread Making

Many years ago I attempted to make a loaf of bread from Delia’s ‘How to Cook’. I’ve always loved the idea of making my own bread and so thought I’d have a go! I tried a simple wholemeal loaf in a 1lb bread tin, as this didn’t seem to adventurous.

I followed the instructions carefully, proving the dough in my airing cupboard. I’m not entirely sure what I had done wrong, but the bread turned out heavy, doughy and not very nice. In hindsight probably one of two things went wrong here, I either didn’t kneed it for long enough or I didn’t allow it to double in size at the proving stage. I never tried again for years, in fact the next attempt was at Ashburton Cookery School last year on my Intermediate week long course. This time we made individual white bread rolls and they were a great success – as the photo on the right demonstrates.

I was keen to try these at home to make sure that they were achievable outside the cookery school kitchen, pictured below.

Again I had success, yippee I could make bread and you could enjoy eating it too!

Since this success many friends and family have asked me for a good bread recipe, so I thought I’d blog about it to share with others too.

So here is the recipe that I tend to follow:

450g Strong Bread Flour (I use Shipton Mills, which is local)

1 teaspoon salt (I use Cornish Sea Salt)

2 tablespoon Olive Oil (or I use local Rapeseed Oil instead)

300ml Warm Water (blood temp.)

15g fresh yeast or 7g dried yeast

½ teaspoon sugar

Sieve the flour and salt together into a bowl. Make a well into the centre and pour in the olive oil start to combine this.

Add the tepid water to the yeast and sugar and whisk to combine..

Gradually add the water and yeast mix to the flour, you may not need all of the liquid, so go careful towards the end.

You are looking for a nice sticky (but not wet) dough at this stage. Knead for 10 minutes, until dough feels soft and elastic (don’t skimp on this stage, I usually start my mine off in my Kenwood Chef, and finish by hand, as you can get a better feel for the finished dough that way).

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and place a damp tea towel over the top. Allow to prove for 1 hour – or until double the size. I don’t put mine in the airing cupboard though, I put it into the oven, that I previously preheated to about 80°C and then switched off, before commencing with the bread making. This provides a nice warm, place to prove the dough. The airing cupboard isn’t always warm enough, especially in the summer time.

When the dough is twice the size, sometimes this can take longer than 1 hour, remove from the bowl then knock back the dough for a few minutes.

You can now choose if you want a large loaf, 2 smaller loaves (divide dough into 2 pieces) or make individual rolls. You don’t need any special tins, bread works fine on a flat baking sheet or similar, in loaf tins or shaped into rolls.

If you are making a loaf make the shape you would like the finished loaf to be, or place into a tin if using one, slash the top with a serrated knife if you wish, flour and leave to prove for a further 30 minutes in a warm place.

Preheat your oven to 200°C now.

If you are making rolls, shaped as you wish and then brush with egg wash (1 whole egg beaten with a splash of milk) and again leave to prove for 30 minutes. At this stage you could add nuts, seeds or dried chilli flakes to the top of your rolls, I quite like sea salt, black pepper or both. There are no rules here, just whatever you fancy really.

Bake the rolls in the preheated oven for around 25 minutes, or until golden brown and they make a hollow sound when you tap the base. The loaf takes about 35 minutes.

To get a crispier finish to your bread, spray the oven occasionally during cooking with cold water. The steam helps to crisp the bread.

This afternoon I’ve made baguettes. Following the recipe above, but when shaping the dough, divide into 2 and stretch each half into a rectangle. Next roll the rectangle into a long sausage, twist and sprinkle with flour. Again, allow to prove for the 30 minutes as above, then into the preheated oven and using the water spray technique, back for around 30 minutes.

Store the bread in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in an airtight container in the freezer. Straight from the fridge reheat in the oven for 5 minutes, or straight from the freezer reheat in the oven for 10 minutes (longer for loaves). This is a great success and I always make up a batch or two and use the rolls over the following week, reheated.


Here are the finished baguettes; 

...and served here with Skate Wing, crispy ham, new potatoes, salad and a caper and chilli butter.


I hope you have success in trying this recipe. As always feel free to ask any questions using the comment section below.

Smoked Duck

This weekend I decided to have a go at smoking meat at home. I had previously eaten smoked meats, which was so over powering that it had always put me off.  So I thought I would have a go at smoking some myself, to ensure that I could get the smoked flavour just how I liked it.

When shopping at Riverford Farm Shop a few weeks ago, there was a wood turner there selling arts and crafts items. The wood turner was busy crafting with some wood and all of the shavings were piled high on the floor around his table. Geoff said ‘why don’t you ask them if you can take some shavings for smoking food with?’  So I asked the chap there and he was happy to let me help myself.

So, after spending some time researching smoking food, I was ready to have a go. Firstly I set up my utensils, I used a wok lined in tin foil, where I placed my wood shavings, orange blossom tea and a tablespoon of sugar.. I placed the wok on the hob to heat the shavings until they smoked. Next I placed a grill over the top of this and the placed a half duck on this, finally covering this with foil, as tightly as I could get it to provide a seal, left it all on the hob for a few minutes and then turned it off, leaving it all sealed up for 12 minutes to smoke. I was very concerned that I would over smoke it and it would taste like that duck I had previously tried.

After 12 minutes I removed the duck and put it in a baking tray and in the oven for 30 minutes, until the duck is just pink and still succulent.

I served the duck with basmati and wild rice with petis pois, a honey, soy and chilli glaze (basting the duck with this mixture throughout the cooking too). A pot of plum sauce on the side completed the dish.

The duck finished up nice and pink and moist, however it could have had a more smoky flavor, I was a bit too cautious on my first attempt. Next time I will try 18 minutes smoking instead of 12. Overall a success, but with a few tweaks to be made in search of perfection!

Julie & Julia

Today I have travelled to Birmingham and back in one day, to give a presentation at a Risk Management Conference for Housing Sector. After a very tiring, yet successful day, I am now returning by train back to Plymouth. What bliss to blogging, whilst travelling on the train!

I must let you know, that during my trip home I have just finished watching, my most favourite film ever, again! Julie & Julia.

For those of you haven’t already had the pleasure of watching this amazing film, it is a true story, about an American Secretary, Julie Powell, who set herself the challenge of cooking her way through all of the recipes in Julia Childs ‘Mastering the Art of French Cookery’ in just one year.

Easy I hear you say, no think again, there are 524 recipes in this book of over 700 pages. These are not your quick and easy simple meals either; these are intense recipes consisting of complex dishes, the most famous being Boeuf Bourguignon (beef stewed in red wine with bacon, mushrooms and onions), which takes over 2.5 hours to cook. Julie blogs about her achievements and disasters throughout the year, and gains quite a fan base all of her own as a result. Eventually her blog becomes so popular that she is offered a book publishing deal and then the book is made into this fantastic film.

Meryl Streep plays the amazing Julia Child and Amy Adams, Julie Powell, two great actresses, perfect for their roles.

I have read ‘Mastering the Art of French Cookery’ Vol. 1 from cover to cover, and loved every turn of the page, I still need to buy Vol. 2.

I know I usually have a recipe to share, but today it’s a bit different with a culinary film and book to share instead. Soon I shall be blogging about bread, as I have been asked for a bread recipe 3 times in as many weeks and I have a great one to share with you, so watch this space...

Tenderloin of Goat

As commented earlier today, I bought a tenderloin of Goat yesterday at the Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink 2012. Today I set this marinating in Orange Blossom Honey, Rosemary, Mint, Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar for around 4 hours. Then sealed it in a hot pan, finishing it in a moderate oven for 8 minutes, served with Kohlrabi, carrots and Jersey Royal Potatoes and Oat Bread.

Well, I am not gonna say Goat is something I'd bother to try again - it tastes rather like lamb, but it's quite tough - even though it had had 10 minutes resting time following cooking. It was nice and medium rare, but lamb is better, this was certainly interesting to try though!

Following this, I made Chocolate Brownie, which was all gooey in the middle and served it with my homemade vanilla ice cream - perfect!

Exeter Festival of South Food West Food & Drink 2012

I have been going to the Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink since 2004, the year it started. My first visit was by pure chance, I was in Exeter and happened upon the festival and so decided to take a look.
I didn't have long this first time, as I was working in Exeter that day, however I remember it well and being excited by the variety of things going on.


Each year since I have planned to attend and in more recent years I have been going for two of the three days that the festival takes place on. One day on my own, the other day with Geoff (who can only manage one day!).


The Festival this year has been amazing, my two favourite demonstrations were firstly by Duncan Glendinning and Patrick Ryan from The Thoughful Bread Company. 

The Thoughtful Bread Company Book

These guys were demonstrating some recipes from their book, of which was for sale on the day at an amazing reduction from £17.99 to £10.00. I was keen to buy a book, but the queue was long and the supply of books on the day low.
By the time my turn came, sadly they had all gone. After a quick chat with the PR & Marketing person from The Thoughful Bread Company, she kindly agreed to post me a signed copy for the same cost, so I am really looking forward to that one arriving, so that I can test out some recipes. Obviously I will add these to Culinary Revelations too! This book is available on Amazon too, at a great price.


The second of my favourites was of course the guys from Ashburton Cookery School, who should really be on TV with their own series, as they are fun to watch and such enthusiasm and knowledge to share. As always it was Chef Director Darrin Hosegrove and Chef Manager Rob Dawe, who capitalise on their good friendship and sense of humour. They cooked 3 dishes, all looked and smelt delicious (I was in the front row!).
Each year the Ashburton Cookery School always bring along 2 or 3 goody bags for fun, they ask a question of audience and choose someone to respond, if you get the question right, you win a goody bag. This year one of the questions was, who was Carpaccio named after? So Geoff and I raised our hands, and Rob said 'Right I'm going to choose someone good looking in the audience to answer this one, Geoff piped up - 'well I'm good looking!' and Rob said 'Yes you are!' and asked Geoff to answer the question, 'Vittore Carpaccio' Geoff said correctly and Rob handed him the goody bag and shook his hand. In the bag was a leaflet on the School, an apron, a notebook and an Ashburton Cookery School mug. After the show, Geoff gave me the bag and contents - yippee, thanks Geoff! 


Every year at the Festival the amount of stalls selling food produce, drink and cooking equipment grows, this year was no exception to that! As usual I bought one or two things, including two beautiful chopping boards, a small one and a large one.
This year I also bought a new meat product for me, some Tenderloin of Goat, pictured here on my new chopping boards:

I shall be cooking this for todays dinner, marinated in Orange Blossom Honey with Rosemary and Mint, serving it with New Potatoes and Oat Bread.


I also signed up to the Well Hung Meat Company Foodies Favourite Box, to be delivered monthly too. They were doing an offer where if sign up at the Festival, you were given a free steak to try. We opted for Rump Steak and shared this for dinner last night, pan fried with mushrooms and served with crusty bread. I have to say that it was fantastic steak and I am very excited about receiving my first box in 4 weeks time.


Other highlights of the day definitely included Tim Bouget from Ode's in Shaldon, who did a very tasty Pork Fillet dish, of which I was invited for the first taste of, for correctly answering his question on where he had picked the wild garlic for his dish from earlier that day - Gappah was the answer! I had used my phone to log on to his FaceBook page to find out the answer to this.


So, as with every year, the Festival never disappoints, and this year was no exception to that rule. I enjoyed both days very much. You can just see Geoff and I to right of this photo, in the front row.
Tim was competing in a Masterchef style cook off with Ollie Harry from St Olaves restaurant in Exeter.


So another year at the Festival has passed and I am already looking forward to the Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink 2013!

Brawn Recipe

So, my previous post shared 'why Brawn', so this post is the 'how!'

Recipe
1 Pigs Head (including Ears)
2 Pigs Trotters
3 Large Carrots
1 Large White Onion
Bunch of Fresh Thyme
3 Cloves
4 Bay Leaves
Handful of Black Peppercorns
2 Sticks of Celery
1 kg Table salt

On my return from the Farm Shop in Stokenham, I set to work. First I burnt all the hair and eye lashes off of the Pigs Head, using a cooks blowtorch. Next I cleaned the ears and nose, finally followed by the teeth - using an old toothbrush and soap. Much of the bacteria lives around the mouth, nose and ears, so it's important to clean these thoroughly.

Next I placed him in a large bucket with 3 litres of cold water and around 1kg of salt, just ordinary table salt is fine here. Here he sat in cool place for 24 hours, in my case my utility room. After about 18 hours, I put in the 2 pigs trotters and the ears, to sit in the brine for the final 6 hours.

The following day I brought him back to the kitchen and rinsed him thoroughly to remove the salt.

Next I placed him in a large stockpot and covered with cold water. In with the water I placed 3 large carrot, 1 white onion, a good bunch of thyme, 3 cloves, a handful of black peppercorns, 4 bay leaves and 2 sticks of celery. This was all brought to the boil, covered and simmered for 4.5 hours. I then allowed this to cool overnight, again back in my utility.

Finally, on the Sunday I strained off about a litre of the cooking stock into a jug, removed the head and discarded all the other ingredients and remaining stock. I then set about picking all of the meat from the head and slicing the tongue into similar sized pieces. Using a 2lb loaf tin, first I lined it with cling-film as smoothly as possible. In the base, I decorated with Bay Leaves so that when you turn the terrine out, it looks attractive for serving.

Next I layered the pulled pork and cooking stock until the tin was filled. Covering the top of the Brawn, I added a weight - in this case I used a 1 kg bag of rice, because that was handy. Place the tin and weight in the fridge for around 12 hours to allow the jelly to set. I cut it into thick slices and served with New Potatoes, Red Onion Chutney and a green salad.

Yes, I had achieved it... The sense of satisfaction was great - I really felt that I had defeated quite a large task and was proud!

Now, the most important thing to remember here is Brawn is not everyone's idea of a good meal, there are a lot of people out there who would not consider trying it, put off by its ingredients. No-one I know would consider eating it.

Brawn freezes really well, so I sliced my Brawn, wrapped in Cling-film, labelled and put in the freezer.

Brawn is an old fashioned dish, created in a time where the whole animal needed to be made use of, this nose-to-tail concept that I mentioned in my earlier blog post.

If you would like to have a go at this, but the whole Pigs Head thing is not for you, the same principle could apply to a whole chicken instead, follow the above recipe, but halve everything and use a whole chicken, simmer for around 2.5-3 hours instead of the full 4.5 hours as with the Pigs Head Brawn, depending on the size of the chicken you are using. Cover with 1.5 - 2 litres of water and add 4-500g salt;

Recipe for Chicken Terrine

1 Large, whole Chicken

2 Medium Carrots

1 Medium White Onion

Bunch of Fresh Thyme

2 Cloves

2 Bay Leaves

Around 8-10 Black Peppercorns

1 Sticks of Celery

500g Table Salt

Using another cut of the pig would also be fine, shoulder would work well for example.

My Finished Dish - Served here with Homemade Red Onion Chutney

So, this challenge has now been defeated. I may make some attempts at some other terrines now that I've done this one. Have fun with this, let me know if you have a go - or would like any further advice!

Brawn - Physical Strength in Contrast to Intelligence

Wartime Kitchen and Garden 1993

Ok so, what a place to begin my blog! Many years ago, I came across an amazing TV Series called 'The Wartime Kitchen and Garden'. As the name suggests this series was based around the kitchen and garden during World War II. Perfect for me, combining my passion for food, with my interest in life during the Second World War history too. The head cook was Ruth Mott and Harry Dodson in charge of the garden, were tasked with re-creating the Wartime Kitchen and Garden, as a follow on from the previously successful series The Victorian Kitchen. 

1940 - Poster encouraging the
creation of mini-allotments

One month on from the outbreak of the Second World War the Ministry of Agriculture launched one of the most memorable slogans of the whole conflict - 'Dig for Victory' (see poster right).

Ration Book 1943-44

This campaign was created to encourage households to set up mini-allotments in their gardens, to enable families to grow their own fruit and vegetables to substitute the forthcoming rationing. During the war years, instead of ships bringing in food from around the world, they were used to bring in war materials. So gone were food items like the Banana and Orange, and in came the resourceful housewife, as portrayed so brilliantly by Ruth.


The campaign was a huge success and within months of it beginning, gardens everywhere had taken on a new purpose and across britain everywhere flower beds were turned into these mini allotments.

Raise Pigs Campaign Poster 1918

Almost as quickly as this caught on, so did the idea of keeping chickens for the production of eggs and Pigs for meat rearing. The importance of retaining edible scraps of food for pigs was then evoked. These pigs, some of which were purchased with monies collected from organised neighbourhood schemes, once fattened with the scraps, yielded good food too. Pig schemes were often called Pig Clubs, from earlier campaigns commencing during the First World War (see poster above).

Wartime Kitchen and Garden gave viewers a glimpse into these hard times, showing a range on innovative ways to create good food from home grown produce and making a tasty meal from what would otherwise have been considered as waste.


During one episode, inspired by the 'pig clubs' which emerged from the ruins of a blitzed Britain, Ruth Mott, makes brawn from half a pig's head - not a task for the faint hearted!


Ever since watching Ruth make that Brawn all those years ago, I have been fascinated by the idea and keen to have a go at making it myself. Over the past two years my confidence in the kitchen has grown, so much so, I decided that I should have a go at this rather challenging task. In 2011 Geoff bought me a week long course at the Ashburton Cookery School for my birthday, this further inspired my interest in cooking and in particular with local produce, after completing the Intermediate Course there, this was an amazing  experience!


To begin my task of making Brawn, I needed to source a Pigs Head, as few of us in the suburban back garden raise pigs for the pot these days!


My local Farm Shop has an excellent butchers counter, so my first port of call was to ask there. Although the butcher seemed somewhat surprised by my request, he assured me he could supply one. So I arranged to return the following week to collect it, as agreed.


The following week came and I was excited to arrive at the Farm Shop to collect my Pigs Head, only to be thoroughly disappointed that it was not available. Unfortunately I did this on three different occasions over a period of 6 months with 2 different local butchers.


Finally, after my disappointment I was successful in obtaining one, when I least expected to. Following a family lunch at the Start Bay Inn for a belated Mother's Day treat, we called into a local farm shop there. I had to drive an hour from my home in Plymouth to collect it from a farm shop in Stokenham, the following week. This time I phoned a'head' (if you pardon the pun!) and they confirmed it was indeed ready for collection. So on Good Friday Geoff and I drove to South Devon and I was delighted to find that the head was in, well at least I think I was, the dream was suddenly a stark reality now, I was confronted with my Pigs Head! The butcher was a little bemused as to what I was going to do with it, but prepared it for me to take away, free of charge along with 2 pigs trotters too.

A regular visitor to Fergus Henderson's Restaurant, St John

On waiting at the counter a few stares from other shoppers and staff were certainly apparent! One customer came up and asked what we were going to do with it and I explained that I was making Brawn, 'I thought you might be' she said. She then went on to tell us how years ago whilst an assistant at a Dental College, she remembers lining up many heads for students to practice working on their teeth, as it seems the set up of Pigs teeth is remarkably similar to humans! Food certainly brings people together...


After finishing my weekly shop, I then took my goods to the till to pay, one of the staff said that the checkout girl had been 'dreading us coming over' with the head, so I stashed him at my feet so that she couldn't see him (the butcher had placed him in a see through plastic bag!). Notice here that I am now becoming more familiar with my pigs head already, I think we were bonding!

Our tastes have changed!

Amazing how the times have changed. I am fully aware that my making this Brawn was purely for my benefit, as no-one I knew would eat it, except for me. Where this was once a delicious supplement to a families diet, in a nose to tail diet approach, this was certainly now no longer the case! There are few chef's that are currently working hard to re-invent the 'Nose to Tail' concept, Fergus Henderson (link above) and of course Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage too, however I don't think this is a battle which will be easily won.

My love of all things foods had culminated in this task, of cooking a Pigs Head and making Brawn, just like Mrs Mott. I enjoy a challenge with food preparation and developing my skills whenever I get the chance. 2011 was named this 'The Year of Sauce' or the 'Saucy Year', as Geoff liked to think of it (wishful thinking if you ask me!), after watching the fabulous Julie and Julia (2010) and subsequently reading Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cookery' (2009), I was greatly inspired to cook more things from scratch, this included sauces for savoury and sweet dishes.


2012 has commenced with Preserves, Jams and Chutneys, so watch out for updates to my blog with different methods of preserving fruit and veg. A cook won't improve by cooking the same things time after time, that small repertoire might improve, but the cook will not.


So, the story of 'Why Brawn?' has been told, all I have to do now is prepare my Pig for the pot, cook him and the challenge will be achieved.


Watch out for the next blog update, with recipe and tips. Am I nervous? Yes, but excited too!