Saturday Potterings Part One

Sorry its a long post today; it is either feast or famine here!

As was planned: 

the day started early as we needed to go and get potatoes. The chap parks up in a layby and so the road is pretty busy, we therefore like to get there reasonably early to make sure that we can get what we are after. He also sells other bits and bobs, but it is for the present the potatoes we are after. However I will also have a look over to see if there is anything else of interest.

In reality:

I ended up not going to the layby seller for the veg this morning.  B......! G escaped on his own otherwise the whole entourage would have ended up going (apart from the cat) and there would have been muddy footprints everywhere. The rain has been heavy and constant (most of the night) and the forecast predicts that it is set for the rest of the day if not the weekend. It will do the soil good.

G has come back with yellow and green courgettes, tomatoes, carrots, a sack of new season potatoes and a cabbage so not too shabby a selection.  The Carrots have their tops on them and so the tops will be dehydrated and then made into a green powder for cooking during the winter. Every little helps as they say and I want to ensure that there are "greens" going into our food even if they may not seem apparent

I still need to go to the veg shop. I like as wide a selection as possible on the veggie front, especially root vegetables of any kind, pumpkin/squash, parsnips, sweet potato, swede, and then leeks, peppers and lots of greens when we can get them. I do need some Broccoli and some more Carrots though as I have a couple of projects in mind for these and also some Cauliflower if I can get hold of it. I also need to dry some Cabbage, Kale and Spinach for either using whole or powdered and used as an additive to Casseroles, stews, Lasagna, or soups. I also want to see what they have to hand on the veggie front as I usually make Piccalilli, pickled Beetroot, Pickled Onions/Shallots, Pickled Cucumber, Pickled Eggs and Sweetcorn Relish. I want to see what they have and what the prices are as I am these days being led by what is available, price etc. as to what I do first. I tend to cherry pick what I want on the veggie front although I predominantly use the Veg shop for the bulk purchases but sometimes the local shop does have some good buys just not the selection which has been terrible of late.

I do need a tray of eggs, and will be pootling over to the shop soon, if the rain calms down a little so that I can escape.  We shall see what delights we come back with then.  I shall also have a look in the reduced section.

I had started off some chicken stock yesterday to pop up on the Pantry shelf. It is still cooking as I start to type this. We have a chicken pretty much every week and so I will be adding to the "stock" (excuse the pun) wherever I can can (as it is ideal for soup, casseroles and gravy). I am trying to get ahead to ensure a healthy supply during the winter months. I will also be doing vegetable, Beef and Ham stock in a similar fashion. They all play their part in healthy eating and as I tend to be a traditional cook and feed meals that do some good i.e. soups, stews, casseroles, roasts, cottage pie etc. and of course lots of gravies so a good base stock is always required. Stocks cost too much to buy, and taste very salty, so why not make something out of what you have to hand which is potentially going to be chucked away, veg scraps, meat scraps and bones.

I have been learning a lot about stock making just recently and whilst no expert I am finding my way around them. The best type of stock is when it turns to jelly but that does not always happen. Traditionally stocks if you wish to use them for making nice sauces should contain no salt as it detracts on the flavour of the sauce and technically can be used with all dishes. Stocks cooked with salt tend to be best for general cooking i.e. soups, casseroles gravies. I tend not to cook with a lot of salt in any event so no salt has gone into my stock. Some white pepper and a little whole black pepper yes but no salt, onion, carrot, celery, carrot, a Bouquet Garni and a Tablespoon and a half of Cider Vinegar (apparently this helps to extract the gelatine from the chicken bones) and makes a better stock. I shall leave this to rest later on in the fridge for the stock and the fat to cool and separate. The fat can then be scraped off. This fat is loosely known as Schmaltz (more so if it has onions cooked in it from what I understand) and can be used for frying food. Before doing this though you do need to evaporate some of the water first by heating it gently. Remember it has been in the slow cooker for over 24 hours and will have absorbed a lot of moisture.

My Mum always saved and used the cooking fat from various foods when I was younger; bacon fat, pork fat, beef fat. Mum was funny with oil and fats (she never liked oil very much and certainly not Margarine she always reckoned she could taste it and did not like the flavour). She used to have these stone pots which she used to drain cooking fats into (each pot for a different type of fat) and if there was any excess pork fat off a joint she used to render it as well.  Mum was very adept at handling meat and knowing what to do with it.  She worked in a well known Butchers in Lincoln before she had me.  In these times of increased costs it would seem that this tradition is resurging and being pulled back into use out of necessity, and people are finding that it does add a lot of flavour to their food. A lot of the younger generation will probably not have any memory other than using oil for cooking, but if it is kept in a pot in the fridge it can last for a few weeks. It is like everything we eat, everything in moderation.

I save Pork dripping from a roast (with the addition of a pack of lard to the roasting pan) to provide Pork dripping, and the fat is used to roast potatoes in. Adding the lard just makes it go a little further. Tomorrow we have roast pork (a Loin joint) for dinner and I shall do the same then as we are in need for the dripping for roasties.  I am not keen on roasties prepared in oil, you might as well just chuck them in the chip pan and cook them in there than pop them in the oven with the meat if that is what you are doing.  That is not as far fetched as it sounds.  Something that used to happen years ago before we started using oil and when predominantly Beef fat was used for cooking chips.  My Nan was a very good cook and this was a tip she passed on.  A good trick to know if you are in a hurry or the potatoes are not browning as well as they should be.

When I was growing up Pork Dripping was a quick snack to have on plain bread with a sprinkling of salt. I have found that you cannot get proper Pork Dripping like you used to do. We used to go to Peterborough market coming in from Uppingham to Peterborough once a month. The local Butcher used to have a stall on said market and I remember big large cooking vats with Pork Dripping being on the table and you just bought what quantity of Pork Dripping and jelly that you wanted; and there was lots of jelly.  As I cannot buy what I am after why not make it yourself. You do not need extortionate amounts, but it is very much a blast from the past that is very tasty and good for you. A little fat goes on the bread, but it is the jelly that is the tasty bit; and then a sprinkling of salt. I decant into glass jars when I have made a bit, and it keeps on the shelf ready and in waiting for using with roast veggies and potatoes.  The jelly naturally settles at the bottom of the jar.  The dripping gives a better flavour all round and particularly to roast potatoes.  It keeps relatively well in the fridge and I have had jars safely stored for over a month before now.  I usually cook a bit of roast pork in the run up to Christmas and then use the pork dripping for roasting the Christmas roast potatoes.  Goose or Duck fat tends to go up before Christmas.

I will finish processing the stock later on today ready for the Pantry shelf. I am intent on doing some things where I can, which although may not be major will play their part in my kitchen and be a useful resource for my Pantry shelf. Stock is such an item as are dried herbs and veggies and also dried herbs and wildings such as nettles, mint, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. Blackberries, Elderberries and wild apples when we can find them also play their part too. Often a dollop of Crab Apple jelly is added to the gravy, same as Bramble jelly and Redcurrant jelly. I could not locate Rowan berries last year.  I think this was down to the horrendous heat we had at this time last year. So when I get out for a good forage, I will see if I can locate any to go back to. 

The rain has been constant and depressing the good soaking rain that is good for the earth. Hopefully will mean that I can get some of my digging done in the next few days. I am grateful for it irrespective but it is also a very dark day and this is a dark house at the best of times. It is only 11:00am. and yet so much has already been done.

From a grey and very wet Peterborough.

Be back soon.

Pattypan

x