Filed under: 1,Gardening Tips,Keep up with the Gardens,Martin Ashley (Lewtrenchard Manor)
Well, winter is nearly upon us and in the Lewtrenchard vegetable garden it’s busy harvesting time with new autumnal/winter menus being prepared for guests…at the moment we’re harvesting the following:
Cauliflower – Nautilus, Leeks- Edison, Fennel- Rondo, Cabbage- Savoy, Jerusalem Artichoke -Fuseau, Brussel Sprouts(everyones favourite!!) Maximus variety, 2 types of Parsnip- Gladiator and Javelin and Celeriac- Prinz and Giant Prague – all the root vegetables are great for soup making and Jason’s Jerusalem Artichoke is a real favourite of our regular guests.
I’m sowing broad beans and peas at the moment for an early spring crop and planting out cauliflower and spring cabbage….
Exciting news from the garden is the fact that we are going to be rebuilding the greenhouse – back to it’s original glory which will be perfect to use and give me even more space for my tomatos!!! More varieties to grow next year!
Filed under: Chris Dyson (Congham Hall),Gardening Tips,Keep up with the Gardens
Due to the time of year and the recent very dry spell of weather the gardens and lawns are looking rather tired. We have already begun to cut down and prune back the herbs in the herb garden and tidy the herb beds ready for winter. We have also dug up some of the Lavender plants on the potager, they suffered from the very wet summer of 2007 and several of them finally gave up altogether leaving gaps in the formal planting. We have grown new plants from seed of two varieties, Hidcote and Provence Blue and these will be used to replant the lavender borders around the potager beds.
The formal beds in front of the hotel have also suffered from the dry spell of weather. We are planning to remove the summer bedding plants and dig the beds over. They will then be ready to be planted up with Wallflowers to, hopefully, produce some colour next spring. Many of the roses have got their second flush of flowers but will soon all need pruning. The hedges have been cut for the second time this year except for the Box hedges which are still to be done.
The cut flower beds have provided lots of flowers for the hotel throughout the summer and are continuing to produce some although many are finished for this year. The also provided a spectacle of colour of a different kind during high summer as they were covered with dozens of butterflies. They were mainly Painted Lady and Peacock but altogether nine different species were observed feeding on the herbs and flowers.
The greenhouse produced some nice Impatiens in a variety of colours which were used in and around the hotel. Also the Coleus did very well and still make a colourful display. We have grown Cineraria’s and Primroses from seed and these have been potted into 9cm pots and are growing well. These have to be kept watered and observed for any signs of insect pests or diseases. Freesia corms have been planted and are growing and will, hopefully, provide some blooms for the hotel early next year.
The vegetable plots provided Onions, Runner Beans, French Beans, Courgettes and some very nice Pumpkins. The Pumpkins have been cut and stored outside ready to be used next month at Halloween. There are still Carrots, Parsnips, Chicory and Leeks to be harvested. The Tomatoes have also done very well, both the Alicante and the cherry tomatoes, Sweet Million, they have produced and are still producing many Kilogram’s for use in the hotel kitchens.
The orchard has provided some very nice apples for use by the Chef and for sale in the hotel. The Laxton’s have been very good but are just about finished. However the Cox’s are just about ready and look to be very good also. We have also picked some of the Bramley’s off our single tree and also Conference pears.
The work in the garden over the next month will consist mainly of cutting down, pruning and generally tidying up ready for winter whilst the Wallflowers will need to be planted into the beds in front of the hotel. The regular watering, re-potting and general garden duties will need to be continued also. Finally cuttings of lots of the plants will need to be taken when time permits.
Filed under: Gardening Tips,Keep up with the Gardens,Martin Ashley (Lewtrenchard Manor)
Really busy in the garden at the moment harvesting – I’ve got 4 varieties of chilli pepper which I’m picking – the kitchen are loving the Diablo variety – with a bit of a kick to it! We’re also pulling in the Ringo, Ace and Hot Mexican variety too. Jason likes to use the chillis in many of his dishes and also uses them in his oils.
Also, coming from the veg garden at the moment – leeks are in abundance…my favourite variety is Edison – easy to grow and delicious. The Fennel is coming through and being picked and added to the menu. The Savoy Cabbage is also appearing on the lunch menu too and with British Food Fortnight starting on Sunday 19th it’ll be a winner on the menu I’m sure!
I’ve been really pleased with our tomato crop this year – the last of the season is being harvested now…..the golden cherry, shirley and tropical ruby – all delicious and ripening off lovely with the last bit of sunshine we’ve had this weekend.
I’ve been busy sowing spring cabbages- Jason likes the different varieties so I’ve planted Durham Elf, Excel and Spring Herd. Winter lettuces have gone in – radicchio trevi and escarole alaska and one of my favourites the spring cauliflower has been sown – I’ve used the may flower variety this year.
Looking forward to my garden, walk and talk tomorrow – I’m showing round over 25 people tomorrow – our topic for discussion is “putting the garden to bed for the winter” – always lots of interesting questions come up….I shall report back next time……Happy Sowing!
As yet another Congham Hall Club passes by, the members are eagerly awaiting their 200th lunch which will take place in November! It only seems a short a time ago that we held the 100th lunch, where we buried a time capsule in the front walled garden with many of the same members that we have today.
So while I’m thinking about what delights we will have in November and also the meetings in between time, here are the recipes from last week:
Pea and Pancetta Risotto – serves 4
200g Risotto rice
400g Water
2 Banana shallots – Chopped
80g Frozen peas – Blanched
50g Pancetta – Diced and cooked
20g Parmesan
50g Mascarpone
20g Butter
50g Salad leaves
Salt and pepper
Method
Sweat the shallots in butter without colouring over a medium heat, then add the risotto rice and continue to sweat for two minutes. Next add the water until it just covers the rice. Continue to cook, stirring the risotto rice, adding more water as the rice absorbs it. Continue this process until the rice is cooked. When the rice is cooked add the peas, pancetta, mascarpone and parmesan cheese and make hot, if the rice is too stodgy add a little hot water to loosen it.
To Serve
Place in a warm bowl and top with the salad leaves and truffle oil.
Grilled fillet of mackerel with herb crushed potato, glazed pink grapefruit and coriander pesto dressing
Serves 4
4 Boneless mackerel fillets
16 New potatoes
2 Pink grapefruit
1 Bunch of fresh coriander
30g Pine nuts, toasted
1 Clove of garlic
20g Parmesan, grated
40ml Olive oil
Sugar for glaze
For the potatoes
Bring the new potatoes to the boil and simmer until cooked, then strain the potatoes and peel. In a pan, crush the potatoes down with a fork. Mix with freshly chopped herbs, olive oil and seasoning.
For the mackerel
Ask your fishmonger to fillet and scale the mackerel for you (they will also remove the head and tail for you) Place the mackerel on a baking tray with butter, salt and pepper and place under the grill or in the oven using the bottom of the grill/oven until cooked (roughly 8-10 minutes)
For the grapefruit
Cut the pink grapefruit into segments, cover in sugar and glaze with a blow torch.
For the coriander pesto dressing
Blend together the coriander, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan and olive oil and season to taste.
To Serve
Place the crushed potato in the centre of the plate with the mackerel on top. Put the grapefruit segments around the main part of the dish and drizzle with the coriander pesto dressing.
Crème caramel with mixed fruit compote Serves 4
10g Sugar
50ml Water
875ml Milk
125ml Double cream
4 Eggs
115g Sugar
1 Vanilla pod
Compote
4 Pieces of fruit of your choice
1 Handful of mint (chopped finely)
1 Raspberry coulis
For the caramel sauce
Mix the 10g sugar with the 50ml water and boil to a caramel colour. Add 70ml cold water and leave to cool.
For the crème caramel
Boil the milk and double cream together with the vanilla pod. Whisk the eggs and sugar together. When the milk and cream reach boiling point add to the egg and sugar mixture. Mix well and cool.
Take four metal moulds and pour the caramel sauce into the base of each one. Set in the fridge. Put the crème caramel mixture on the top. Bake in a bain marie in the oven 120⁰C for 20 minutes.
For the mixed fruit compote
Dice the fruit into tiny pieces, add the mint and mix with the raspberry coulis. Sweeten with sugar to taste.
To serve
Turn out the crème caramel on to a plate and quenelle your fruit compote and serve garnished with a sprig of mint.
If you interested in joining the Congham Hall Lunch Club, then please go to our website www.conghamhallhotel.co.uk and I hope to see you here very soon.
Filed under: 1
We are very nearly into Game season. I wanted to take this opportunity before I pick my wife up from work to share with everyone the developments of the season into autumn and how it is influencing the menu at Ston Easton Park.
Dorian, our Head Gardner, has left on the blog a post about how the season is changing and the produce from our kitchen garden is becoming more autumnal. We have recently put on our a la carte menu wild venison shot from the Salisbury plains. We buy all of our game from Everleigh Farm shop near Marlborough, Wiltshire. In my opinion David Hammerson is the best game supplier in the uk, well worth a visit.
The new season venison was available from the 1st August, although needing a good hang to mature flavour and evaporate off some of the moisture. The outside of the saddle should be almost green for the best flavour. All the mature pieces are trimmed off and the loin is used for the plate. All of the excess pieces are diced and roasted off to be used for the sauce. We still have some redcurrants available in the garden to refresh the sauce with some fresh acidity, this rounds it off nicely.
With reference to Dorians post about our fruit bounty this season, I can confirm that we have had a huge crop of redcurrants this year. Taking into account that we made last month a 12 litre batch of redcurrant jelly, which if you are interested is Mr Davis’ sauce of choice with a blue cheese souffle, it is unbelievable that we could probably make that again with what is still hanging.
With the venison we are serving some sweetcorn and butternut squash also to add a twist, some lychees. Obviously you may guess the lychees are not from the kitchen garden but delicious none the less. To keep maximum amount of flavour in the corn we make a stock from the core of the corns once the kernels have been removed. When the corn is freshly picked you will find the core is softer and easier to chop through.
Although we are only knocking on the door of game season another excellent product is available, that being the Grouse. The first birds were shot on the 12th August with the first delivery to us on the 14th. With the birds fetching a whopping £15 each they are a luxury item. David Hammerson collects the birds from cousin Richard at the family estate in Yorkshire. The birds arrive long legged with the guts in. Keeping the guts inside the bird helps mature the flavour as well as aids the shelf life of the product. I am planning to put a dish together with kohlrabi and cepes, using wild blackberries (brambles) to go through the sauce. If our cepes manage to arrive from our supplier tomorrow, with fingers crossed the Grouse will be on the menu from tomorrow night.
Gotta run,
Matt.
Here comes the winter at Ston Easton Park. Well, inside our large unheated greenhouse anyway! The whole length of one bed has been dedicated to crops for the Autumn and Winter. We’re talking about produce such as salad onions, tatsoi, beetroot, turnip, chard, spinach winter lettuce, other leaves and carrots. Sown at the end of last month and the beginning of this, they have been gradually emerging. They will be trimmed, tended and if necessary cloched to enable us to harvest throughout the Winter.
Outside in the veg garden its mainly a question of waiting to harvest from beds of sweet corn, roots, squash, jerusalem artichokes, brassicas, and leeks. Here again we should have crops to keep us going until the new season.
One other crop we’re waiting on is the Loofah. For some reason, over the last few years it has become a tradition to grow this particular member of the cucumber family. Currently they are crawling up netting and walls in various greenhouses and every day I seem to be counting the emerging fruit. The idea of growing your very own Loofah has caught the imagination of the public – so much so that we are giving talks on the subject on the 6th and 14th October of this year. Participants, hopefully, will go away with a bit more knowledge, their own Loofah and a pack of seeds to try their luck.
Talking of visitors, I want to report what an uplifting experience our first National Garden Scheme open day recently proved to be. Nearly 200 people came and fielding questions and comments certainly upped my enthusiasm. The second and last NGS day at Ston Easton Park takes place on Wednesday, 2nd September 2009 from 10.30 until 4.00pm.
Finally I’m looking for more comments, specifically ways to deter badgers that, yet again have started to grub up the grass in our Orchard. Bucket loads of male urine or human hair – I’ve heard these already, but if you’ve other tips to keep them out of the garden I’d love to hear them!
It’s a busy time in the Lewtrenchard vegetable garden – everything is coming up lovely especially with the brief spell of sunshine this last weekend which has helped ripen the tomato’s! Jason and his team of chef’s generally ask me to plant out as many different varieties of tomato to add depth and variation of flavour to dishes……our favourites this year has been: Shirley, Golden Cherry and Super Sweet 100….all fabulous varieties and relatively easy to grow.
The chilli’s I’ve grown this year have been really successful and so easy to grow – Elephants trunk, Friars Hat and Ring of Fire (the hottest, believe it or not!) Jason uses many of these chillis in his dishes as well as using them to infuse in cooking oils and dressings.
Also, ripening nicely at the moment are cucumber – carmen variety, Pak Choi – which is fabulous and appearing on the lunch menu this week. Also our Leeks, the Ederson variety are coming on nicely and almost ready to pick.
As well as the vegetables – our cutting garden is full of colour with sweet peas, asters and gladioli – a real picture! The Housekeeping team are being kept busy cutting the flowers for use around the hotel -sweet peas have such a lovely smell to greet each guest.
Jason is busy putting together recipes for the blog – for tomato chutney….watch this space!
Filed under: Dorian Poole (Ston Easton Park)
So, now it’s official! We can forget the sizzling barbecue summer we’ve been promised and look forward to another month of ’sunshine and showers’.
Recently it’s felt more showers than sunshine and it has hampered us from being able to work on the grounds at Ston Easton Park. That said,I have to remember that already the garden has been very productive. In terms of veg, we are able to produce early crops grown in our large unheated greenhouse before moving outside to our vegetable beds. That way we were picking broadbeans before the end of April and our Pentland Javelin new potatoes were also a few weeks in advance.
Currently, most of the beds are filled with bulk crops – brassicas, squashes, roots and jerusalem artichokes. This week we’ve replaced our garlic and shallot crops with somleeks that were started in the greenhouse.I have some misgivings of following one crop from a family with another from the same family, but even in our large garden it comes down to a matter of available space. However, I will ensure the rest of the leeks will go into the former broad bean bed next week.
Fruitwise, it’s been a good year, particulary the currants, although in the orchard it looks a bit patchy. This coming week we’ll turn our attention to prunning the pears.
Turning to the flowers, our hundred meter long herbaceous boarder which has taken the last three years to restore, has come into its own this year and as it fades it gives way to our stunning agapanthus and annual flower boarders.
I’m now just hoping that the weather will relent for a few days to enable us to tidy up the garden for our first open garden under the National Garden Scheme on Wednesday 5th August. I look forward to seeing you then!
I was honoured to be asked if we would provide the lettuce for the winning snail in this years World Snail Racing Championships, which take place on the cricket pitch next door to the hotel and attract visitors and press from all over the world! So, with lettuce freshly pulled from the garden that morning, I headed off!
Over 200 snails raced between 2pm and 4.30pm and the final took place at 4.45pm. I was also pleased to see the hotel General Manager’s daughter had a snail in the final, which she had found in the Congham Hall Herb Garden earlier that day!
Unfortunately, her snail didn’t win, but winning snail ‘Terri’ who completed the course in 2 minutes and 49 seconds certainly seemed to be enjoying his ‘prize lettuce’ as I headed home for the day.
Filed under: 1
FRENCH STYLED BREAD COURSE
Milling is one of the oldest forms of food processing. Over the centuries there have been many different methods of milling the grain into flour. A more traditional form is to stone grind the wheat using huge stones and with the power of water flow they grind the dried wheat into flour. The flour needed for bread making needs to have a high protein and gluten percentage in order to make the flour suitable for working the dough.
Wheat is usually harvested once to twice a year. The farmers can sow the wheat at the end of the summer and over-winter the crop, with this method the plant must be in full into its growth cycle before the first frosts else the quality and nutrients in the wheat will not be of good enough quality to be used in bread and would be more suitable for plain flour or self raising. The other time of the year to sow is early spring, to be harvested in late summer. The spring sowing is the more desirable wheat for bread making as the sun helps enrich the protein and gluten percentages. Each time the wheat is harvested a sample is sent to a laboratory to be tested for quality, from these tests the wheat can be categorised for which purpose the flour will be used.
Making the dough
When bread is being made by hand in the French style, maximum amount of water is added to aid the crust to form thin and hard. When bread is made with less water the bread will be far denser and the crust will go soft very soon after baking. When adding more water to a dough there becomes a problem with it being too wet. To overcome this, a technique is used to work the dough to aid the gluten to activate, thus making the dough feel firm to touch and less ‘sticky’. The dough is worked and allowed to rest.
Resting
Resting the dough, or some people call it the first prove is the next process. I prefer to refer to this process as resting. When the dough is first formed the gluten tightens, during the resting the gluten relaxes and the bread starts to grow in volume. This growth has a few vital stages for the production of the bread. Firstly air builds in the dough from the gases being released from the yeast. This is a reaction between the living enzymes in the yeast with the proteins and nutrients in the flour. Salt is also essential in this process to aid the reactions taking place. This air being built in the dough makes the bread lighter in texture which gives the appearance of holes through the bread when cut. Whilst the bread is resting the reaction of all these compounds is ageing and adding flavour to the bread.
To make a normal Baguette in France, bakers make what is called a poolish. A poolish is a small amount of dough made the day before and left to ferment over night or for a minimum of 8 hours. This first dough, or starter, is then added to the dough that is made the next morning. This ageing process builds a minor sour flavour over the resting period as the yeast and nutrients are together for longer than normal. Commonly this process is used for a sourdough or pain de campagne, (campagne bread is considered to be half as sour as a sourdough). A starter for this process would be kept in the fridge and refreshed with fresh ingredients before each use. Master bakers would keep a sour dough starter in use for many years and it is passed down from father to son. No poolish or starter is the same as it takes on bacteria from the atmosphere where it has been created and stored, making each master bakers bread subtly different from town to town.
Shaping
Once the dough has rested for about 40 minutes the dough is removed from its resting bowl and turned out on to a lightly floured surface. The next process for most styles of bread now is the shaping. There are lots and lots of different styles that dough can be shaped into. It is however essential at this stage to work the dough in order to strengthen the gluten once more, or else the bread will be flat like a biscuit once baked. Shaping the dough is best achieved without tearing the tight dough; this will result in slightly ugly bread once baked.
Once the dough is shaped it is then placed on to a proving cloth which has been floured in order to stop the dough sticking. The cloth helps the bread keep its shape once proving.
Proving
Proving is the next stage to describe the dough doubling in volume once more. Whilst the dough is on the cloth the shapes will spread out as well as up. The cloth is shaped around each piece to aid the dough to grow without being allowed to go to wild. (The photo on the first page has an example of this process) A cloth is placed on top of the shapes whilst proving to prevent the shapes from drying out. The proving time will be dependent on a few factors, time, temperature and humidity. The optimum time to then bake the dough is when the gluten is just about to be at it most relaxed state. (Starting to turn spongy once more)
Baking
When baking bread in France, the baker will turn the bread on to a peel, or piece of wood, which is then used to slide the shapes on to a stone based oven. For a domestic oven a piece of granite or stone can be used much the same as a professional bakers oven. The stone does need to be very hot for this process to have its maximum benefit to the bread. By placing the dough on to a hot stone the bread starts to bake very quickly and rises before a crust forms. Water spray is added at this point to help this process. The steam allows the crust to expand before setting and going hard. With the stone and the water, a thin yet hard crust is achieved, giving the desirable crunch that a baguette has.
The oven would then be turned down in temperature after the initial cooking period. It is during this time that the crust hardens and moisture is evaporated off. If the oven stays too hot then colour will be obtained but the loaf will be too heavy and full of moisture. Baking for the right amount of time and at the right temperatures is where the master bakers excel at their jobs. If the bread is removed too early then the bread will be ‘doughy’. If they are over baked at too high a temperature the loaf can be too dark giving a bitter flavour.
All bread should be allowed to cool before cutting or tearing open. Perfectly baked bread should tear nicely and have holes through it with a firm yet thin crust.
Basic bread dough
Gross Net Ingredients
250g strong white bread flour
5g salt
5g yeast fresh
150g water
- Weigh the flour and yeast into a bowl. Rub the yeast with your finger tips until incorporated.
- Add the salt followed by ¾ of the water.
- Using a plastic scrape card work the water into the dry ingredients. Add the rest of the water.
- Turn out onto a bench and work the dough using a folding technique.
- Leave to rest in a bowl covered with a cloth.
- Turn out on to a bench, lightly floured. Develop the gluten and shape into any loaf. Place onto a proving cloth which has been floured. Cover with a cloth.
- Prove until the gluten has relaxed and doubled in volume.
- Bake directly onto stone at max temp for 5 mins, lots of water spray.
- Turn down the oven and bake until a thin yet firm crust is formed.
10. Take out the oven onto a cooling rack.
11. Reheat to order before serving until the crust hardens once more.
During the shaping stage other ingredients can be added such as sun blushed tomatoes, rosemary, crisp bacon, onion, herbs etc.
