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We are a group of micro farmers who welcome anyone who keeps animals or grows vegetables and fruit, or loves cooking! Who would like to come along to our meetings or events and share their experiences with others. You don't need to have lots of animals to be a "smallholder." Many people who grow vegetables, have some bees or maybe a couple of backyard chickens come along and enjoy the meetings and events as well.
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Ascott - February 2013 Newsletter
Saturday, 2 February 2013
EAST ESSEX SMALLHOLDERS MARMALADE COMPETITION
EAST ESSEX SMALLHOLDERS MARMALADE COMPETITION
TUESDAY 19TH February 2013
The Bell The Street Purleigh
7.30pm for 8.00pm
Tim Came from Thursday Cottage will be attending our February meeting to tell us about Thursday Cottage and what they do in Tiptree. He will then Judge our Marmalade competition.
"It's easy to make jam. It's difficult
to make really good jam”.
The competition is open to all members and visitors to the February East Essex Smallholders meeting.
The Marmalade must have been made since September 1st 2012 by the person entering the competition (family help allowed!)
To be judged on taste, texture, and appearance by our guest speaker
The Marmalade must have been made since September 1st 2012 by the person entering the competition (family help allowed!)
To be judged on taste, texture, and appearance by our guest speaker
Classes are as follows:-
- Seville Orange
- Other citrus fruit (including a mix of citrus fruits)
- Made from kit and/or concentrate
- Any other marmalade
For more details please contact donna@furzedown398.freeserve.co.uk
We would like to thank Lathcoates Farm Shop In Galleywood for providing a voucher for the winner.
http://www.eapples.co.uk/
Please ensure you have a spare Jar of Marmalade because the winner will be entered into the National Competition.
http://www.dalemainmarmaladeawards.co.uk/
They have agreed to extend the entry date of the 17th February 2013 until the 21st for East Essex Smallholders Group only so we can post our winning entry to be entered.
http://www.eapples.co.uk/
Please ensure you have a spare Jar of Marmalade because the winner will be entered into the National Competition.
http://www.dalemainmarmaladeawards.co.uk/
They have agreed to extend the entry date of the 17th February 2013 until the 21st for East Essex Smallholders Group only so we can post our winning entry to be entered.
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
How to make pancetta
How to make pancetta
I hope that you enjoy looking at pictures and captions. Because I have got an absolute ton of them for you here.
Making pancetta (basically Italian salt-cured bacon) at home is simple. It only takes a little bit of prep time; the rest of the time you are waiting for the meat to cure and then dry. I'm going to run through every one of the steps, if you don't mind.
In case you didn't know, pancetta (just as any bacon) is made from pork belly. You can certainly start out by using just a small slab of belly, but here we are making a big old mess of pancetta. What we have here is a whole belly, with the ribs still attached. It weighed in at about 14 pounds total. (Hey, I have people who have come to expect their allotment of every batch that I make.)
Here is the belly after the ribs have been cut away. You can see by the fold on the left that the skin is on (normally the case when you buy a whole belly), but it needs to be removed.
Once the skin is removed it's time to apply the cure. (Because I am always fiddling with the actual cure, I've decided to reprint the complete recipe and instructions for making pancetta from a reliable source, the book "Charcuterie," by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn; they are at the very end of this post.) This pic shows the cure already spread onto the fat side of one piece of the belly, but the other piece needs it too, as does the meat side of the belly. The reason I've cut the belly in half is because a whole one is too large to roll. If you were not going to roll it, then leaving the belly in one piece would be fine.
After applying the cure all around, place each piece in its own big plastic bag and put into the fridge. They stay in the fridge for at least a week, often longer. And I flip the pieces over once a day. This batch was in the fridge for 11 days.
The next step is to run the belly under cool water and clean off all the cure mixture, then dry it well using paper towels. Once it's clean and dry you put down a good dose of coarse black pepper on the meat side of the belly. Then you roll it nice and tight, the tighter the better actually, to prepare it for tying.
Once it's rolled and tied it's time to hang it in a cool place for at least two weeks.
So that we could also see an example of the slab type of pancetta I didn't roll the other half of the belly. When you do it this way, though, it's good to wrap the belly in cheesecloth before hanging it. The flat, slab-like pancetta hangs in a cool place, just like the rolled, but it's ready quicker.
This one was ready in about 10 days.
Nice, huh? I like this batch a lot. The flavors are both rich and mild at the same time.
Here is the rolled pancetta, ready to be cut down and used. It hung in the garage for about 23 days.
I usually slice rolled pancetta into pieces around an inch thick.
Then I vacuum pack each piece individually. The ones that I don't give away to my demanding family and friends go into the freezer, as the pancetta lasts longer that way.
The only trouble is that I do not get to keep that many of the pieces for myself.
Maybe I should just shut my big mouth the next time a new batch of the stuff is ready.
Pancetta
Recipe
From “Charcuterie”
by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn
For the dry cure
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons pink salt (see Note below)
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons juniper berries, crushed with the bottom of a small saute pan
4 bay leaves, crumbled
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme
Directions
1. Trim the belly so that its edges are neat and square.
2. Combine the garlic, pink salt, kosher salt, dark brown sugar, juniper berries, bay leaves, nutmeg, thyme, and half the black pepper in a bowl and mix thoroughly so that the pink salt is evenly distributed. Rub the mixture all over the belly to give it a uniform coating over the entire surface.
3. Place the belly in a 2-gallon Ziploc bag or in a covered nonreactive container just large enough to hold it. Refrigerate for 7 days. Without removing the belly from the bag, rub the belly to redistribute the seasonings and flip it over every other day (a process called overhauling).
4. After 7 days, check the belly for firmness. If it feels firm at its thickest point, it's cured. If it still feels squishy, refrigerate it on the cure for 1 to 2 more days.
5. Remove the belly from the bag or container, rinse it thoroughly under cold water, and pat it dry. Sprinkle the meat side with the remaining black pepper. Starting from a long side, roll up the pork belly tightly, as you would a thick towel, and tie it very tightly with butcher's string at 1- to 2-inch intervals. It's important that there are no air pockets inside the roll. In other words, it can't be too tightly rolled. Alternately, the pancetta can be left flat, wrapped in cheesecloth, and hung to dry for 5 to 7 days.
6. Using the string to suspend it, hang the rolled pancetta in a cool, humid place to dry for 2 weeks. The ideal conditions are 50°F to 60°F (8°C to 15°C) with 60 percent humidity, but a cool, humid basement works fine, as will most any place that's out of the sun. Humidity is important: If your pancetta begins to get hard, it's drying out and should be wrapped and refrigerated. The pancetta should be firm but pliable, not hard. Because pancetta isn't meant to be eaten raw, the drying isn't as critical a stage as it is for items such as prosciutto or dry-cured sausages. But drying pancetta enhances its texture, intensifies its flavor, and helps it to last longer.
7. After drying, the pancetta can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for 3 weeks or more, or frozen for up to 4 months. Freezing makes it easier to slice thin.
Note: Pink salt, a curing salt with nitrite, is called by different names and sold under various brand names, such as tinted cure mix or T.C.M., DQ Curing Salt, and Insta Cure #1. The nitrite in curing salts does a few special things to meat: It changes the flavor, preserves the meat's red color, prevents fats from developing rancid flavors, and prevents many bacteria from growing.
Monday, 28 January 2013
Homemade Orange Peel White Vinegar Coop Cleaner
What a lovely blog we have found.
Homemade Orange Peel White Vinegar Coop Cleaner
Lately I have been looking for recipes to make my own natural homemade cleaning products. I'm sure you all have seen the orange peel vinegar cleaning spray all over pinterest. In fact, if you google 'homemade orange peel cleaner' 4.4 million hits appear. 4.4 million. So this idea certainly isn't original. But it seems effective and won't harm the environment, our lungs or our pets. I whipped up a batch using the instructions from one of the 4.4 million links and set it aside to 'age'.
Then thought I would kick it up a notch and make some for cleaning the chicken coop. I already clean the coop with white vinegar and water but thought the orange peel would make a nice addition since citrus oil is a natural insect deterrent and proven solvent.
I also decided to add some cinnamon sticks. Cinnamon oil kills mosquito larvae. Vanilla beans went in next because vanilla repels flies, mosquitoes and other insects.
Here's my 'recipe':
Ingredients
Four oranges (or six limes, four lemons or two grapefruit or a mix)
Two cinnamon sticks
Two vanilla beans
Bottle of white vinegar
Two canning jars
Spray bottle
Peel the oranges and divide the peels between the two canning jars.
Break the cinnamon sticks in half and add two halves to each jar.
Slit the vanilla beans, cut in half and add two halves to each jar.
Pour in enough vinegar to completely cover.
White vinegar is a natural disinfectant. It has antibacterial properties, kills mold and is also an ant repellent. Apple cider vinegar, while great for adding to your chickens water and drinking yourself for all its health benefits, shouldn't be used here - only white vinegar. Apple cider vinegar will attract fruit flies.
Then set the jars in your pantry, in the cupboard or on the kitchen counter to 'age' for about a month. Shake the jars every few days to reinvigorate the contents. The mixture should start to turn orangish-tan and smell fragrant.
When ready to use, strain the contents into a spray bottle to use full strength or pour into a bucket and dilute with water. I will use the spray bottle to spray my roosts and then use the mixture diluted in a pail with a mop to scrub the coop walls and floors.
I hope you'll whip up a batch of this safe and natural cleaner for next time you clean your chicken coop. Right now I'm off to add some cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean to the batch I made for our kitchen ! I like the idea of insect repelling qualities as well as the fragrant scent for us as well as the chickens.
Quick Update: It's now about a month later and I just sprayed the whole inside of the coop. It smells wonderful ! I also used it in our kitchen and this stuff WORKS! Wow. It degunked the top of the stove that even that icky-smelling chemical cleaner couldn't handle. I'm sold. Good for us and our pets, good for the environment AND it works!
Note: I reused the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean for a second batch but used fresh citrus peels.
I also make a Lavender Mint Refresher Spray for in between cleanings.
Source: fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.co.uk
In the Vegetable Garden - Things to do this Month - January
In the Vegetable Garden - Things to do this Month - January
You’d think all would be quiet on the veggie plot at this time of year … far from it! Despite the cold weather, January marks the start of the New Year’s growing season, and there’s plenty to do to get ready for the year ahead.- Follow the first principle of PERMACULTURE: add as much well-rotted organic matter to unplanted areas of your vegetable plot as possible – it will provide both nutrients and condition – to light and heavy soils, and feed the worms so you’ll have less soil cultivation to do next spring!
- Continue to harvest leeks, root vegetables, and kale.
- If the ground isn’t frozen solid, this is the ideal time to lift PARSNIPS and store in a cool place close to the house.
- Check stored vegetables, any sign of rot in one will spread quickly to others.
- If you have somewhere you can guarantee won’t frost, you can start ‘chitting’ early potatoes this month – north light is ideal.
- If you have a nice warm windowsill, sow a few chilli seeds – they need a long growing season, so the sooner you get started the better
- TIDY THE PLOT: remove all yellow and dead leaves from over-wintered brassicas; empty the greenhouse and scrub with Jeyes fluid.
- PLANNING: draw a plan of your plot and sketch in your planting layout for this year – then, when you come to plan next year’s planting you will be able to rotate the plant groups. Leave it to next year and you will have forgotten!
- DIG A NEW VEGETABLE BED: a great way to keep warm and fit during the winter months and expand your vegetable area (who needs an unproductive lawn)! Try to avoid treading wet soil too much as it will lead to compaction, and add plenty of manure (or lime, depending on soil type, but not both together) as you dig.
Sausage Making at Furzedown
Sausage Making at Furzedown
We made Pheasant and Pork Sausages this weekend.
We made all of our own seasoning.
Pheasant, Pork, Wild Rice instead of Rusk, Cider, Rasins and various Spices
Pheasant, Pork, Rusk, Red Wine and various Spices
Pork with Lemon and Fennel
Pork Breakfast Sausage with Salt and Pepper
Delicious!
Followed by 15 Jars of Marmalade!
What a busy weekend.
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