A medium dry glass of white with our fish

A fruity little number

Great credentials

 Like lots of people, we are trying to be a little healthier in our house this month.  We had fish pie for tea, and found this gorgeous apple juice to go with it.  It is grown and pressed in Cheshire at the award-winning Eddisbury Fruit Farm.  This one is a beautiful pale straw colour.  We also tried their Bramley apple juice with our goose on New Year's Eve.  That variety was dry, so it cut through the fatty goose really well.  If you have never tried apple juice pressed from a single variety of apples, you are missing out - they make some great food and drink pairings.  Too lovely for an everyday juice, but definitely worth buying for a treat. 

Lisa Reid

 

 

Lymm Lovelies

I was at Lymm market this week, dashing about to fit in some quick local shopping before getting more work done.  I found these lovely gems at the back of the fruit and veg stall.  I have no idea why people like apples from other countries.  You can't beat the heady scent of a British apple.  I ate one later with some Cheshire cheese and oatcakes. 
I have fond memories of taking my kids to an apple day at Reaseheath College.  The activity which most caught their attention, was apple and cheese tasting.  As well as the better known horticultural and agricultural courses there, they also make their own cheese.  Since that day, we have always had a couple of British apples sliced whenever we have a cheeseboard.  Its fun to find your favourite apple/cheese combo. 
Lisa Reid

New Year's Resolution to bake your own bread?

How many of us have made a resolution this month to make more bread at home?  Did you receive a bread machine for Christmas to help with that?  I'm all for home baking, because it means we can source local ingredients, use less packaging and lower food miles.  There is a big 'BUT', though isn't there?  It takes time and energy. 

Well, I have a great way to make your own bread rolls in about 3 minutes hands-on preparation time...no joke!  Use the recipe for bread rolls in your bread machine cook book - mine is the 50 percent wholemeal recipe with a little less water.  Put the ingredients in the bucket and turn the machine on to a PIZZA setting.  The machine will then do all the mixing and kneading for you.  Take it out as soon as it has finished and turn the dough out onto a floured surface.  Cut up the dough into the required number of rolls.  (This method has the added bonus of being able to make the right size rolls for each member of your family) and place onto a baking sheet.  Cut slashes across the top of each one and then leave them somewhere for a while until they are doubled in size.  That can be a cold place such as an unheated house overnight, or a warm spot for an hour or two.  Turn on your oven to about 200degrees Celcius and bake for around 10-15 minutes until they are golden and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. 

Seriously, this is all I do to provide my hungry family with bread rolls all week.  I bake a double batch on a Sunday, put them in a drawer in the freezer and take them out the night before I need them.  If we want a smart loaf which looks like it was bought at a deli at the weekends I will sometimes shape the dough into two circular loaves and then leaving to rise in the same way.  That takes a bit longer to cook.

I have a sack of flour from our nearest mill - Walk Mill in my dining room so I know I am benefitting local businesses when I bake.  They stone grind their own wheat to make lovely quality flour.  It is sold in outlets near my home in Lymm, such as Davenports farm shop, who will collect a sack for me when they collect their supplies. http://www.walkmillflour.co.uk/

Lisa Reid

Necessity is the mother of invention

As it was the first Sunday of the month this week, I excitedly set off for Abbey Leys farm to see what the monthly farmer's market had to offer...only to find I had too effectively switched my brain off over the holidays and had forgotten they have a break in January!  I still filled my box with lots of lovely goodies at the farm shop.  When food shopping I love to just fill my basket with all the local or British ingredients and then look up recipes on my return home.  Today I turned a selection of root vegetables into a Moroccan soup with the addition of stock and some ras-el-hanout spice mix.  Swirling some chilli jam and lemon juice into it at the table made it look even prettier.
Lisa Reid

A hiccup with the goose!

OK, I have to admit having consumed a couple more drinks during the meal, so by the time we ate the main event: roast goose with all the trimmings, I forgot to take a picture.  It was a beautiful Cheshire-raised free-range goose, and was quite simply delicious.  My husband works in south Manchester, so bought it at Taylors in Sale.
My youngest son had insisted on raspberry sorbet for pud.  An ingenious idea, since it was really light.  Like the carrot and beetroot, the raspberries were local and frozen after purchase.  Having a strong, young man to put it through a sieve was a bonus.
The best thing about our local feast, was that there was enough to have exactly the same meal on New Year's Day...
Lisa Reid

Dips, chips and a film

Our first course was 3 varieties of houmous from Hugh Fearnley-Whittinghstall's books.  The carrot and beetroot ones used local vegetables bought at Lymm market and Abbey Leys farm shop.  I bought them a couple of weeks ago and roasted them, before putting them in the freezer.  Their sweet flavour is enhanced by both the roasting and warm spices used when making them.  It was tricky not to get the beetroot on the carpet when we ate them while watching a film, but it was worth it. 
Lisa Reid

New Year Spectacular!

My family and I decided to have a spectacular feast on New Year's Eve, including as many local elements as possible.  It took all afternoon to make, so we decided to get some fresh air and have a pint at the Lymm Brewery Tap to start our celebration at about 5pm.  A pint of Lymm Bitter was my choice, and it started the evening off well.
Lisa Reid