grown-up food: October 2020

Monday 12 October 2020

On-line preserving and cooking class dates

My popular on-line "Zooming the Seasons" preserving courses, courtesy of Denman at home, have been on the go since early September. To date we have covered jelly, cheese, ferment, chutney, syrup, pickling, liqueur-making and jam-making and there are plenty more classes to come, this year and next.

Photos:top left: apple jelly with rosemary, apple and chilli jelly, apple, sage and mustard seed jelly and apple "cheese."

Centre: crab apples.Top right: La giardiniera, Italian vegetable antipasto and chilli jam.

Our next date is October 20th when the pumpkin will be under the knife. We will be adding orange to make marmalade and then moving away from the preserving pan. to make my first soup of the season; roasting the beast and then blitzing it to make some spicey autumnal soup.

The format of the sessions is simple, you book via the www.Denman.org.uk website, pay £5 and then you are sent the recipes. On the day you will log into Zoom (it is simple) and sit and watch me cook. I will answer your questions at the end. And by the way you don't have to be a WI member to join in.

This week, as Kelly (who provides the technical knowhow and a lot more) is on holiday, I am doing a bespoke "Zooming the Seasons" session for Wadsworth WI to celebrate a milestone anniversary. Due to Covid 19 restrictions they cannot plan a get togethe and it was decided to hold a virtual celebration with a class at the centre of it. I shall be making Tart Tatin (see below) and crab apple jelly. Please let me know if you would like to do something similar to celebrate a special event.

You can email me at lindy@lindywildsmith.co.uk or visit my website www.lindywildsmith.co.uk

Up coming classes

October 27^th 2020, 4pm Pumpkin

Pumpkin and orange jam:

A creamy yet tangy breakfast preserve, to ring the changes with your favourite marmalade

Triple ginger and pumpkin soup:

With the return of chilly mornings and evening, soup makes a welcome return on the menu

November 3^rd 2020, 4pm – Long life Fruit

English apple chutney:

to serve with cheese, cold cuts, English breakfast, or a bacon sarnie

Pickled pears

for the cheeseboard and to add to stews, curries and tagines.

November 11^th 2020, 4 pm – Onions

Balsamic pickled onions

To serve with an Italian antipasto of cured meats, with a cheese board or served into a sweet and sour casserole.

Red onion marmalade

For pates and terrines, goat’s cheese crostini or a toasted cheese sandwich

November 17th 2020, 4pm - Cooking ahead – Advanced Party

Confits of Duck

The simplest winter warming supper party main ever to have tucked up your sleeve this Christmas

Rillettes of Duck

Pot the confit and create an ever-ready starter or canape to keep in the fridge and serve to friends and family at the drop of a hat.

Tues 24^th Nov 2020 @ 4pm – Edible gifts

Cantucini

Traditional Italian biscuits to serve with pudding wine, perfect to give as gifts

Hazelnutti

Hazelnut biscuits to serve with ice cream, mousses, fruit and other light desserts

Tues 1^st Dec 2020 @ 4pm – Festive

Mincemeat – apple, pear, or japonica?

There is no finer mince pie than one filled with homemade mincemeat.

Mince pies and alternative fillings

Not everyone loves mincemeat (especially children) but it is easy to fill them with things they do like.

Mulled cider and an alcohol-free mulled apple

The perfect drinks for festive fun at a distance this Christmas

Friday 11^th Dec 2020 @ 4pm – Christmas extras to make ahead

Cranberry and orange relish

A quick-to-make and delicious alternative to Cranberry jelly…makes just 1 pot! Double up if you need more.

Red cabbage

A super standby that works, served hot or cold

Remoulard The perfect salad accompaniment to cold turkey and ham, cured meats, smoked salmon, pies and pates.

Monday 5 October 2020

ZOOMING THE SEASONS

It has been an unusual year to date. It started as normal with Marmalade-making and other cookery classes, but my last hands-on session was on March 6th for the Welbeck WI, when sixty plus members made marmalade. It is always a fun evening as there is so much enthusiasm and good humour in the room.

Big tables are set up with portable induction hobs and all the necessary equipment. Members spread themselves out. All hands on deck; chopping, juicing, stirring, setting and potting until everyone has a jar of marmalade ready to take home.

This was just at the outset of the virus. The country was still functioning, but we were all washing hands to two renditions of Happy Birthday and hearing warnings about sneezing and coughing and not touching our faces.

The chair, Anuska Parente, warned WI members that this may well be their final meeting for some time, which being the eternal optimist, I found very surpising...it turned out of course that she was dead right.

I had the worst train journey both there and back. Travelling North from Cheltenham to Worksop; there had been a fatality on the line and a journey that normally involves one change at Sheffield ended in four changes and to add insult to injury my journey home involved five. In spite of being sneezed over and the constant change from one crowded train to another, I came away unscathed.

This was my last hands on course to date. Like everyone else, I cooked myself through lockdown, I made pates and terrines until I filled the freezer. Such good lunch time treats (since devoured). I distanced myself from the bread-making and cake baking that was gripping the country.

I also did lots of walking and collected specimen wild flowers to paint, to while-away the hours that would normally be occupied by friends and family. The glorious weather and the bourgeoning spring helped sweeten confinement.

Zoom started to come into play, we celebrated Easter around the table with the family. Each one of our households in seclusion, cooking the same roast lamb and all the trimmings, clinking glasses from afar which gave us a warm feeling of closeness at the time. Virtual quizes, birthday and cocktail parties followed even a surprisingly comforting wake, uniting, Scotland, Denmark, Cornwall, the New Forest, Herefordshire and Oxfordshire.

When the news struck that Denman and the WI cookery school were amongst the economic fatalities of the Pandemic, I, along with all the other tutors shook our heads in dismay. How could this be? Sadly Denman closed but long live Denman! Denman at home was born. I was not among the first to jump on the band wagon but as I warmed to the wonders of Zoom I could see its potential as a means to teaching.

I have already Zoomed four seasonal preserving classes. Damsons and sloes, blackberries, runner beans and summer veg. This week's class sees apples in the picture. We will be making apple and rosemary jelly with the juice and apple cheese with the apple pulp and I have a programme ahead to take us up to Christmas. Here are my cooking sessions up to the end of October. Contact me for dates up to mid December.

October 6^th, 4pm Apples

Apple and rosemary jelly

made with the juice extracted from the apples, delicious with roast lamb and pork dishes.

Apple and rosemary cheese

made with the apple pulp that is left over, after the juice has been used for jelly-making. serve like Spanish membrillo on the cheese board or cut into pieces and eat like sweets.