River Cottage: My Dream Vacation

It's no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

His River Cottage TV show really knocked my real food socks off on PBS. I have his books, I follow him on Twitter and Facebook. The only thing I still need to do is go there. And stay there. For at least a week..... sigh......that is my dream.

This is what I would love to do while there.. take a four day cookery course. Here is a video on what they offer:


River Cottage Cookery School from PopupMedia on Vimeo.



The four day course offers the following:

Our four-day practical cookery course is the perfect River Cottage experience, each day is based on the River Cottage Cookery Schools; Meat, Bread, Fish and Veg. This is very much a hands-on course approach to cookery.

You will leave this intensive course with the confidence, skills and enthusiasm to cook a range of delicious dishes at home for friends and family. Who knows, it might inspire you to become a chef yourself . . .
'The pace is just right, balancing heads-down cooking with downtime to savour your efforts and the magic of Britain's most filmed farmhouse' says Claire Hargreaves in the BBC Good Food magazine.
You can also expect Hugh to drop by at some stage during your four days with us.

Each day is divided across the four disciplines of bread, meat, veg and fish, each beginning with a demonstration by our tutors and chefs, after which you pick up the knife or whisk and have a go yourself.  
Bread & Pastry
A chance to master the basic loaf, learn about flour varieties, pastry work and cake making, puds and sweets.

Meat
Covering meat preparation and cookery, we’ll look at a wide range of techniques and recipes, including learning about the forgotten cuts, offal, slow cooking and five minute suppers.

Fish and shellfish
Get to grips with basic fish preparation, gutting, scaling and filleting. Gain an insight in to the ethics and sustainability of fish cookery, arriving at some classic River Cottage fish dishes.

From the Garden
Mark Diacono, our Head Gardener and author of Veg Patch will take you on a pick and nibble session in the River Cottage garden, before our chefs show you how to turn your bountiful produce into a range of gratins, pestos, salads, soups and sauces.

The skills you'll leave with include . . .
• Stock making.
• Filleting and gutting fish.
• Meat preparation & essential knife skills.
• Working with shellfish.
• Home smoking, terrines and pates.
• Slow roasting and pan frying.
• Curing and marinating.
• Introducing offal
• Sauces, gravy,dressings and pesto.
• Soups, broths and stews.
• Sour dough and yeasted bread.
• Pastry, sponge and batters.
• Salads and cruditees.
• Gratins and roast vegetables.
• Sourcing and provenance of ingredients.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
Location: This course is run from River Cottage HQ on the Dorset/Devon borders. Full address details of HQ will be provided once you have booked.
Wine/drink: We are a licensed venue. We have a wide selection of the finest organic wines.
Accommodation: If you need local accommodation click here. Or call the Lyme Regis Tourist Information Office on 01297 442 138, they will be very happy to help.
Age: We would advise that this course is only really suitable for 12yrs of age and upwards. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult. We put these guidelines in place for the safety, comfort and enjoyment of all our guests.
Time: 10am - 4.00pm
Special offers: You’ll receive a 10% discount at our Local Produce Store in Axminster as well as our Canteens in Axminster & Bath. You’ll be able to pick up the makings of a sumptuous Every Day recipe there, so you can put your new-found know-how to great use.
Keep me informed

If you are interested in joining us at River Cottage for a course or event, please let us know. We will send you new dates when they become available, special offers on last minute tickets and let you know about the new courses we are developing. Just hit the button below and let us know what you're interested in.

 

After a long day cooking and learning I would eat all my meals at the Axminster Canteen, run by River Cottage folks of course!

Or how about renting the 17th Century farmhouse to have a nice sit down dinner?

 

Fireside....

The River Cottage Team is very concerned with local, organic, sustainable food. 

Meet the River Cottage team from PopupMedia on Vimeo.

One day.. one day.. I will get there. 

thing is, I might just want to stay.......

xo Deb

The Ancestral Health Symposium: Part one.. too much to jam in one post..or maybe five

The buzz on this HISTORICAL  event was a long time coming. To my chagrin, when I finally got my ass in gear to buy a ticket it was sold out! Due to the magic of Facebook and one Mr. Danny Roddy, I was able to get a spot on the prestigious volunteer squad, run by Gavin Impett. I practically did a jig right there in front of my computer screen I was so thrilled!!!!!

I packed my little grass fed burger with arugula and tomato lunch, added some snacks and headed for UCLA. After a bit of a climb (Mov Nat!) I found a packed room, and I heard a voice that I know oh so well. Mr. Robb Wolf of The Paleo Solution was holding court and it was standing room only. WOW! So cool to finally see him in the flesh, being his smart and funny self! Here is one slide he shared, yes, Virginia, Cows Do Eat Grass!

I did miss some very important speakers in the am, such as Aaron Blaisdell and Boyd Eaton, two of the genius minds that created the AHS. I did have a Loren Cordain sighting, as he was being interviewed...

 I also missed Mark Cohen. BUT THEN, I spotted this guy and just had to nab a pic with the king of all Kitavan studiers, Staffan Lindeberg! 

 I missed a few others, including Don Matesz of Primal Wisdom who recently wrote a post entitled 'Farewell to Paleo'. I have to say that his style of diet is where mine has landed these days and I am loving it. Less meat and less fat, more fruit, seafood, starches and veggies make this momma very happy indeed. :-)

I had a very hard time focusing as the many paleo/real food/bloggers/ researchers/doctors/scientists/hot guys and gals that filled the place were super distracting!!
I ran into a few very cool folks that I know from the podcast/blog world. You may recognize them..

                                              Danny Roddy,  Jimmy and Christine Moore xo

Jimmy of course is the voice and the amazingly prolific guy behind Livin' La Vida Low Carb podcast and blog! He and  his wife, the lovely and sweet Christine were my twitter pals at the table by the tech guys. Jimmy has the fastest fingers in the world, and his tweets are the stuff of legend, just one after another. Loved meeting them and talking to them! Thanks you two for hanging out with me. It was wonderful.
Look for many of the AHS speakers on Jimmy's Low Carb Cruise in May 20112. You may even see me join in the fun!

As for Danny, he and  his pal Bill were able to stand being around me while I geeked out hard each time I had a sighting of someone I admired and wanted to meet. We did attend the Vitamin D talk by Richard Jacobson. Don't mean to dis, the info was STELLAR, the reading off the laptop? not so much :-(

I caught some Vitamin D during my lunch, then rushed in to see Stephan Guyenet, one of my favorite health bloggers and researchers. Here are some clips from his talk on the causes and possible cures for obesity.

Look what happened in Mom's Kitchen around 1960... hmmmm.....

food for thought!
Some more thoughts on Engineered foods and Kids.. who do they recognize? Hint, it's not Robb Wolf!

Scary stuff.
So what is a Human to do?
Here are some ideas Stephan G. laid out...parents take heed... Mom's Kitchen NEEDS to reopen asap!

And now, for the certainly most talked about moment of Day One, Gary Taubes tries to take Stephan to the mat.. watch this and PLEASE< share your thoughts on how this went down... >

Wowee, the gasps went through the crowd. What a graceful response from Dr. G. I have to say I felt that Taubes came off a bit rude. No need for that in this gathering.
We were all there to learn, to share, to understand this crazy place we try to inhabit. I will say that everyone I met was grounded, down to earth, nice and very very smart. So why the seeming attack? Or is it a good thing to point out holes you find (or seem to find) in another speakers theories?

I must break there, leaving you with this little bit of fun that I had with Mr. Roddy. We made this to incite envy in the quite infamous Matt Stone of 180 Degree Health. As he was unable to attend, I created this video tease to send to him. Please enjoy and tune in tomorrow for part two of the Ancestral Health Symposium down low!

 I mean who wouldn't be jealous when Staffan and Stephan are having a pow wow and Nora G. is strolling by?


TA TA for now, more fun tomorrow in Part two of the most epic conference I have EVER attended. No lie.
love
deb xoxox

MY CANCER STORY UPDATE Interview with Anthony Anderson aka The Raw Model !!

GREETINGs Friends !
It has been sssooooooooooooooooooooooo long since I updated that I need to share this interview so you can figure out what the heck I have been up to!
Many exciting things are happening for me and my quest for the best food on earth to share with you all!
Thanks so much to my bro Anthony Anderson who is an amazing man and a super good friend of mine.
Find out how Anthony is replanting Paradise at his blog The Raw Model
I love you all!!!!!!!!

A Very Special Annoucement! SweetPeas Interview ME! WOWWWEE!

ttention Love Bugs!

I know I have not posted here in many moons but TODAY is a very special day!

The amazing team of James, Lisa Marie and Morgan Lindenschmidt, the very same Mead Crafters and Rite Chocolate creators are interveiwing ME!

The Lindenschmidts have a super fun and informative podcast called The SweetPeas Podcast. And I am a huge fan! Amazing people like Daniel Vitalis, Anthony Anderson, Heather Pace, Frank Giglio and his lovely Goji, Arthur Haines and so many more have graced the airwaves at The SweetPeas headqaarters in the beautiful state of Maine.

Please look on itunes and find the SweetPeas. My interview should show up this week sometime.

I am thrilled and honored to talk about my food journey and how I did it with my family etc etc.

LOVE YOU ALL

peas out

deb

We Interrupt The Chicken Raising post for MEAD!

Have you ever tried Mead?  Think it's too hard to make?

                                  James, Lisa Marie and Mo aka The Sweet Peas Crew!

Poppycock I say! 

Let James Lindenschmidt of the Sweet Peas Podcast show you how!

Weighed down with information overload? 

This 16-page mead-making guide gives you the concise information you need right now to make your first batch a success, as well as a powerful 6-step method framework that will grow with you for years to come! 

This guide also includes a historical look at the lore of mead and a breakdown of the nutrition of fermentation. Advanced MeadCrafting techniques are also introduced every step of the way as signposts for when you take your meadmaking to the next level. Available as a PDF download.

I can't wait to make my first batch! Stay tuned for more info on that project.

LOVE and SWEET PEAS!

deb

Grass Fed Momma: A Tasty Beef Stock Recipe that I Stole From Gordon...

Grass Fed Momma: A Tasty Beef Stock Recipe that I Stole From Gordon...: "Yes, it's true. I have no permission to write this post and share this recipe. However, since I was able to get it off Amazon with t..."

A Tasty Beef Stock Recipe that I Stole From Gordon Ramsay

Yes, it's true. I have no permission to write this post and share this recipe.

 However, since I was able to get it off Amazon with the greatest of ease, I feel much less guilty.  


So let's begin. 


First off, get yourself some incredible grass fed beef marrow bones like the ones from Novy Ranch that Darla sent me. Yes, I still have some left!

You need about 3 lbs total.   I also used a few lbs of Dey Dey Ranch grass fed beef neck bones.

 Not good for doggies but darn good for stock!


I took the bones, added a bit of beef tallow, also from Dey Dey Farms and roasted them in a 425 degree oven for one hour, turning them at thirty minutes.

                                       Dem Bones, Dem Bones dem grass fed bones!


after roasting they look like so:

Meanwhile, back at the cutting board, you need to chop up your veggies. You will need two stalks of celery, two carrots, a fennel bulb, two onions ( I used some amazing onions with the green shoots on top from the farmers market but any old onion will do). Cut them all into 2 inch chunks, be sure to get rid of the fennel tops!  

They should look somewhat like this when you are done:

 Now get out the Olive oil, tomato paste, thyme (mine is from my herb garden) and the always popular bay leaf!  I threw in some crimini mushrooms too, he says 3 1/2 oz's I say, who's measuring?

But if you must measure, you need 2 Tbls olive oil, one bay leaf, a sprig or two of fresh thyme, 3 1/2 oz of mushrooms, 1 tsp of pepper and 1 Tbls of tomato paste.

Now take the oil and  start browning the veggies in the stock pot, just the first veg (carrots, onions, celery and fennel) on  high heat till it starts to brown. Then add the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.

You get the idea...now all the bones and enough water to cover the lot.. about 2 liters. 

Please, in the name of all things Holy and good, use SPRING WATER!!!  

This stock used up the last of the Sedona Spring water we brought back from Arizona. Water quality is KEY to a good stock!

Ok, rant over.

Bring to a simmer and skim off any odd looking scrum on the top. I never have much but still, it's what Gordon would do.

Now add your shrooms, your thyme and bay leaf along with the pepper. Let it simmer, covered.

Now here is where Mr. Ramsay and I part ways. 

No offense but he only asks for 6-8 hours of simmer time.

Oh no, really?

This bad boy sat on the simmer burner for 36 hours and some of my finest go for three days.

To each his own. Sorry Old Chap, but the longer the stronger in my opinion.

Here is the gorgeous patina of a good rich stock.

When you have simmered it as long as you are able to stand waiting, let it cool a bit.

Then get your fine larger size strainer out and strain out all the lumpy bits and bones.

After carefully removing all the bones, esp the neck bones which had to go in the trash as they were splintery, save the rest for your best friend.

Malcolm eats the strained out meat and veg like it is Manna from heaven.

The strained and then cooled in the fridge stock will develop a nice fatty layer. I leave  mine on although some say to take it off and cook with it. I use bone broth to cook eggs and sausage etc in and I love the fat in there it melts right down into nectar. 

Give humble thanks to our friends the cows as you pour your precious stock into glass jars. 

I like to keep a few cups in the fridge and freeze the rest. It will keep for many months frozen and about a week after thawing out.  Some use ice cube trays to freeze it in small portions, or you can use smaller jars. 

  DO NOT fill  your jar to the top or you will have a nice shattered jar with frozen gold in it to get out without cutting yourself. Yeah, I did that.

Warmed up stock, just aching for you to sip it, add it to soup, put some veggies, eggs or meat in there or whatever floats your boat.  


So there you have it. I hope you don't feel differently about me now that you know I am a recipe thief.
It's for a good cause, I swear.

Enjoy! 
 The Youngs: Malcolm, Warner, Sam and Deb


Next Post: How to Raise Chickens in your own darn yard!