Christmas is over

Sorry for not posting sooner, but busy with the family and other things.
Christmas was a good time spent with the family, sleeping a bit longer ,working in the wooden house and going out for some walks. Food preparation did not take long as I did plan the menu' in advance. It was a very good feeling to be able to eat together dishes made at home from our cultivated ingredients, game, rescued products, and wild ones.
On Christmas Eve we had scallops Au gratin for starter and my fish cakes ( Cod ones).They were delicious. I used the small mince pies containers to create small individual mouthful bites. This recipe is worth a try. Cut the scallops in small pieces. In a bowl chop some parsley, garlic, and add grated breadcrumbs and a bit of cheddar cheese or Parmesan cheese.Then, add a bit of olive oil and lemon juice. You have to make a soft paste. Put the scallops in the container and then cover them with the paste. Grill for about 10 minutes.
 The wine  chosen was a white golden one made from rhubarb.
Christmas day  starter was home made grissini ( too hard to be honest.do not know why), the very first home made ham and mushrooms from the queen rock above Drum. For the starter we tried a nettle wine.
The main course was home made lasagna.We drank red cherry wine for this dishes.
 In the evening we had a partridge inside a pheasant, roasted with reduced wild cherry paste and roast potatoes and carrots, plus our first Brussels sprouts from the garden. I boiled them, then fried with garlic,parsley,bit of spices and wild cherry paste. Very good combination. Christopher ate them with no fuss.
 A ciabatta bred with sesame seeds was made for this dinner. The wine we choose was a red Worcesterberries  one.
 To finish we had our first panettone cake with a  rhubarb wine A which is much sweeter than the other batch.
Sunday for lunch was vegetable soup and rescued sandwiches. We were working in the wooden house so I had my lunch in there.
On Sunday evening we tried a scallop recipe from an old book.The scallops were simmered in milk first, then finished to cook in the oven in mini containers ( saved from mince pies ) on top of mash potato, and covered with a mixture of cheddar cheese, bread crumbs, Marsala wine and a drop of oil. The dish was interesting and the scallops had a much milder taste.
On Monday lunch was a different vegetable soup to keep ourselves warm, but in the evening after a two hours walk, we made a bonfire on the top of the garden and we roasted parsnips, potatoes and Tuscan sausages( a gift from our neighbour). We sat outside in front of the fire under our top garden hut, drank a dram of whiskey and had a good conversation about life, nature and related arguments.
There were left over from the roast  pheasant and partridge.Lesley boiled the bones and separated the remain meat. On Tuesday night we then had a curried bird Shepperd pie made from Lesley. It was a real good dish. In fact we ate it all and Christopher had a double portion after he hesitated ....when he tried the first one.
Today a t lunch time I made a soup with potato, carrots, onions. butterscotch, coriander seeds and the stock from the birds. Very tasty indeed.
We did very well with our food recipes and we really enjoyed the all experiment with nothing than natural ingredients. It was a very good Christmas. I will be posting some pictures tomorrow.

Christmas starter with home made grissini and home made prosciutto.

Christmas Eve starter with scallops Au gratin and home made ciabatta garlic bread

Christmas lunch home made lasagna  ready from the oven

The two birds roasted and succulent

my very first panettone cake made with rescued ingredients. Panettone is a typical north Italian cake very popular at Christmas time

One day to go

Last day in school and every one rushed away for the last shopping,  last preparation and decorations before Christmas.
As the school is closed, some food was lest and available for me. Lots of milk both from the kitchen and the nursery.Lots of potatoes that will last for the all winter. I have to think something potatoooo...fry ,mash,roast,potato cakes,potato gnocchi,potato fritters and more.
Milk on the other hand I need to freeze it as I am not using much cheese at all. I might attempt to start making yogurt as it is not a difficult thing.I do not eat yogurt but Christopher and Lesley like it.
Our shopping is done long ago ( not myself ) and we so much food available I will be having no problems for the rest of the experiment.
Josie gave me a wonderful present. I full box of vegetables with many types of them. Picture below. As the food for me is in abundance, I will be using lots of it for the all family, as my entire experiment is done for protesting against the food waste in our countries. So, no food will be wasted in our house.
Christmas time is obviously the time were we buy more, we eat more and we waste more. Figures shown that we waste an extra 20% of food than normal. All because we start buying food and other things for Christmas from November and before. this is what makes me crazy about the all business around Christmas. Is not actually Christmas but just a big feast where we are mad spending hundreds of pounds in food, drinks and other stuff which in a high percentage goes back to charity shops or dumped.
Why retailers start to sell Christmas thing before haloween? And why we start shopping two months early?
I do  think that for many people Christmas has no any christian value or connection. it is just a holiday were for some mysterious reason we have to indulge so much. yes it is still a big moment for a family reunion, having friend around but there is no religion connection for most of us. If you go to Spain or Italy it is more or less the same in big cities, but in small towns and villages the atmosphere is completely different.
every thing is in a small scale, less pompous showing off etc. But nowadays, talking about food waste there is no difference. In Italy and Spain the waste matches more or less the waste of any other west countries.
In small villages this is not the case as people buy less because have less, and waste little. Another reason for buying lots of stuff is the tendency to borrow money. Now this is typical of this country. The pro capite debt here is far more superior than in Italy for example, were people still prefer not to buy if they have no money.
The debt of this country is astronomical and our kids are going to pay the consequences in the future. This is what we are leaving to them, a dark uncertain future. Plus the national debt sums up for about £15.000 per person in the UK.
We should talk about it and not try to hide the problem. This borrowing philosophy is one of the major problems of waste. Because we buy thing that are not absolutely essential, and lots of modern gadgets are design to last little, or are not in fashion the very next year.
The status of well being should now be determined not by how much money we can spend, but on how well is pent and not wasted.
Anyway, this Christmas we should try to finish off all the food. What is left  over should be re used in other dishes. Use one of your cookery book you bought or you have received as a present and be inventive. If we do not waste food. we will be buying less the following week and therefore we will be doing a favour to the land, the water, the animals that provide it to us and more important we will be leaving more food for the people who are starving. This is true as the implication of the food production have lots to do with the starving population around the planet.

The vegetable box from Josie and Fraser

last week before christmas

Here we are, near the end of the school term with more cold spells forecast up and after Christmas. Good thing we decided not to go back to Sardinia. Weather is bad in Italy as well.
I try to update this blog more often, but having too many other thing to do I have to relay on a weekly base visit. last Friday the school was closed due to the bad weather, and last Thursday we had the Christmas dinner offered to the jennies by the Kitchen staff . took a bottle of my rhubarb wine to offer a little taste to all in exchange of the dinner. There was lots of food left so I had a big container of sliced turkey with the gravy offered by the cook Is now in the freezer ready for another time. As the  kitchen closed some more food was left and I took a big pan of tomato soup which will probably last for the all week.All family had soup Friday night Saturday lunch and Sunday lunch and Lesley and me also today at lunch time. With this cold is a good thing to eat anyway. Sunday evening I made the usual pizza and a loaf of ciabatta bread which was very good.
I also made more ravioli pasta to be stored in the freezer for later exchange.
The freezers are still full, as I am making and getting more stuff. After a month and an half I never expected to have still so much food stored, including the food in the jars. Most of the jars are frozen in the shed but that is not a problem as the content is mostly vegetables and wild herbs and mushrooms. Some meat has to be used as soon it will defrost. I might start  to take in a jar at time and use it.
This morning I was also sorting all the bottled wines and puting them in order. I have stored 94 bottles of different wines and to lots of apple wine is still on the go, fermenting.
I have tried all of the wines and a part two of them all the rest are very good.
here is the list and my opinion.
Pea pod wine              mediocre    5 out of ten            sweet and sharp but with a medicinal smell
Gooseberry wine        mediocre     6 out of ten            medium sweet/fizzy  drinkable but not brilliant
Wild cherry wine        good            7 out of ten           medium dry / intense red and fruity as you expect
Wild cheery wine 2    good             7 out of ten           sweet wine / rose' colour less fruity
Worcesterberry wine very good      8 out of ten           medium dry / red intense colour is like a cabernet
Apple wine 1 and 2    very good     8 out of ten           medium sweet / golden  is half way wine and cider
Apple wine 3             mediocre       6 out of ten           medium dry /bit sharp it needed more sugar?
Beetroot wine            good              7 out of ten           sweet rose' and fruity ( too sweet?)
Sweet cecily wine      medium good  6 out of ten         medium sweet anisete taste and smell ( just ok)
Rhubarb wine           very good        9 out of ten         medium sweet golden intense flavour
Nettle wine               very good        9 out of ten         sweet/ golden colour/ good flavour/like desert wine

The surprise was the nettle wine and the red ones from wild cherries and the worcesterbery one. The red ones have nothing less than a good quality red you buy but 40 times cheaper. one gallon of this wine costs only about a pound to produce, this is the kilo of sugar and the teaspoon of winw yeast and other ingredients.
One gallon produces about seven bottles of wine. That is 15 pence per bottle approx.
The nettle wine is a fantastic discover. A wine that has an intense dark golden colour and full of flavour. It is like drinking a good desert wine like sherry. Generally I was happy with the results and I want to produce more of them next year, and actually try to buy very little wines from the shop.
here and there are failures but I know that is part of the all experimentation process. We will be defenitely celebrating  christmas with our wines starting with a desert wine as aperitive ( nettle), then a red one for the main course (wild cherries) and another sweet one for the pudding ( rhubarb). I have the menu nearly ready in my mind but it will be reveal only before christmas.

potato gnocchi.one of my favourite dishes

A variety of wines fermenting

pizzas and pasta

Half way through December already....time is flying away at incredible speed. Next weekend is Christmas.
I have been busy after school as I was involved in the pasta making demonstration yesterday afternoon. i think it was successful with 5 participants taking part in it. We did lasagna sheets, some ravioli with smoked mackerel, potato and parsley, linguine and gnocchi. I was explaining to the ladies and the only man present to the demonstration, that they could make different shapes of pasta according to their imaginative initiative. I made the example of the ravioli I made a while ago with beetroot. I will show the picture below. The ravioli where filled with boiled beetroot and herbs and cheese. The colour is actually pink as I cooked the lasagna sheets in the coloured water were the beetroots were cooked.
Making pasta is easy and cheap. Plus, you will appreciate more what you eat because you have made it, and you will finish off every thing because you have worked to do it. And finally, when you became confident and you create your own pasta special, you can invite friends and impress them with your pasta skills.
my hope is that more people dedicate more time to the food they eat. We spend far too little sitting at the table and even less time preparing our food. If we look at the time we dedicate eating we will be surprise to discovered that between breakfast, lunch and dinner time we spend only about 30 or 40 minutes. Lots of people spend less that that. Lots people eat on the go, or eat sandwiches at lunch and ready made meals in the evening and no breakfast. Food is the most important thing in people lives and health, so I do not understand why we do not reflect on this important aspect of our lives. We live in a society where time seem to be escaping from us, and we seem to be always running to catch it. This only creates stress ands stress creates more frustration and unhappiness.
Convenience is a false excuse. it cost us money and health problems as most of the food manufactured contains chemicals, colorants, unsafe preservatives, parts of body bones from various animals,and a variety of mixed ingredients that have an  unclear provenience. But the list is longer than that.
No mention the packaging that is a major problem for the recycle system.

Christopher went to a boys brigade party and took four pizzas I made for him to take to the party. After that had a drink and then I decided to finish using the pears I cooked few days before. I was worried that they would start to ferment so I made another 2 pears cakes. I am still eating some of the pheasant we cooked last weekend and yesterday I had some soup from the school kitchen ( left over ). I will have soup today as well and I have kept one full tab in the freezer.
here are the pink ravioli from the beetroot.

preparing the beetroot ravioli sheets

filling the ingredients

The pink beetroot ravioli ready.

Happy chickens

The snow is away and the green grass is back for the joy of our chickens. The last two weeks the chicken were not very happy, spending most of the time inside. They do not like the snow or the cold for that matter. Only Betty ( the youngest one) adventured outside walking on on  the  snow, looking for food. The funny thing with them is that you give them  some food and they eat only some of it, then the go away in search of something different. So the crows come down and eat the rest of it.
Anyway, now they are happy and this weekend they spent most of the time outside, as we did working on the wooden house. We finished putting down the wooden floor. Now it looks like a chalet. Please with the job.Now I need to think about the internal walls and the insulation.
What did we eat this weekend?
Saturday lunch was some rescued sandwiches. Christopher went out see the panto in the evening with a packet meal and Lesley and me had scallops au gratin ( recommended), boiled beetroot leaves and stems, cheese and bread.
Lunch on Sunday was gnocchi for all ( made them in the morning) and in the evening a roast pheasant with boiled cabbage and roast potatoes. Cabbage and beetroot were from school garden. I also rescued more parsley as it is incredibly still OK after that snow and cold spell.

Christmas on the streets of Inverness

I went to inverness yesterday, looking for a couple of presents for Lesley and Christopher. It has been long time since I went to the city and all around me Christmas was in its full show. Did not know were to start. Walked into the eastgate centre, stopping at the book shop, then to HMV were I bought something for Chris, then passing the coffee and the pastries shop....tempting me....! Down the stairs another coffee shop, out in the direction of the Victorian market, and every few meters food was on display making my mouth wet....but, I stopped and open my rock sack were I did deliberately put in it some of my bread sticks to resist the temptation overcoming me. I was thinking about Ulysses getting tied up to the mast of the ship in order to hear the sirens and their beautiful voices singing and tempting him to go with them...and die...in their trap. Well I did not want to avoid to see and smell all the nice food on display, but I knew that few bread stick would do the trick.
The abundance of food available to anyone ( most of us) is just a sign of wealth and commodity in our society. On the other hand, is bizarre that food is served every where in addition to restaurants, coffee shops and pizzerias. I still remember my shock when first visited the swimming pool in Inverness about 12 years ago. Going to keep fit or swimming and at the same time selling fatty food and sweets inside the very complex as soon as you had finish yours exercises. Then maybe going to buy a jumper and find that there is a restaurant in there as well. Even if you now go to HIS you can buy food. Food is every where around you.You can not escape the temptation. You are trap every time you enter a shop and do not matter what kind of shop it is. Even in HMV yeaterday morning, as I was approaching the cashier a lady before me bought a DVD a bottle of irn bru and three chocolate bars.Can you see what I mean.One DVD and four other products which had nothing to do with what that shop should be selling. The other problem is the amount of sweeties are sold, even in a grocery shop. There are more sweets and fizzy drinks on display than fresh greens.
I always underline this to people I talk to when the argument about healthy eating arises. The problem is the food ( the bad one especially ) available at every door you enter. Fancy some shoes? Yeah, OK and have a cup of hot chocolate as well. lets go to M&S and see some underwear and have a sandwich with a coca cola...and so on.
We can not spend million in adverts saying what to eat and what not to eat, if at the same time we offer food to people as described above. Is wasted money.Plus, lots of this food is wasted as well.
Food really is not a necessity anymore. We eat to please ourselves, which is not a bad thing if the pleasure of it was not then related to the problems we are talking about: waste and health. The pleasure is not only in the taste, but in the color, the smell, the quantity etc. We indulge too often and this is the real problem.
Anyway, Christmas is nearly there and I hope people will enjoy the food they buy and eat without wasting any.
This morning I defrosted the last meat balls and some wild herbs and made some more ravioli.Then I made  two pear cakes ( Christopher just loves it ) and a loaf of bread.
I am keeping very busy and next week on Tuesday I will be demonstrating how to make some types of pasta to a group of friends in the library. Hopefully this will encourage more people to make their own pastas more often.
this week end I hope to carry on working in the wooden house, starting to put down the floor. Snow is melting, so it should not be too cold outside.

Today's pear cakes and the bread

The prosciutto

Yesterday I decided to open the parma ham still hanging from November 2009. It was suggested by Lesley as to avoid potential bad surprises. I was planning to open it just before Christmas in order to get some nice sliced of cured ham for the Christmas starter. I did not know if the cured leg of the pig ( front one.normally you this cured ham with the back ones, but I like to try unconventional things ) was going to be a success, so in order to avoid surprises I open it yesterday. Surprises? Yes, it was good surprise. The cured ham was a success. First slices were tiny bit salted, but as you progress with the cutting is OK.
So, we have cured ham for Christmas. It was not a easy task as the temperature in here are too low for this type of thing, and not having space in the house, the leg was left in the shed all the last winter, spring and summer, from minus 12 degrees to probably plus 20 or so. I am please with it and the experiment has to happen again, hopefully.  It was along wait, but ....
After the success of the Salamis made last winter, now is time to try some sausages as well. Rabbit burger were good ( I have few in the freezer) and if anyone is prepare to give me some venison meat, I will try sausages, burgers and cured meat with it. Obviously you will get some of the processed meat in exchange.
Today lunch was pasta homemade linguine with last year bacon. Yesterday it was scallops and linguine. In the evening I am having again nettles,dandelions and wild garlic herbs in oil with cheese, grissini bread and focaccia bread.
I have not done any juice from the pears as I was planning. Instead I have made four jars of jam and the rest of the pulp is going to be used for a cake.

Salamis (two on the left )and sopressata from the pig head meat ( on the right )

The prosciuto ready to be sliced

Looking good....

apple wine and a cod fish

The cold temperature has affected my apples and I decided to do something urgently with them before they turned black. All the apple were frozen in the shed and this morning with the help of Lesley we cut them to make some apple wine. About 8 kilos of apples, but I have probably another 15 kilos to sort. Another 6/8 kilos were kept in the house so I can use them for my snacks. The pears were also frozen, and I will be doing some juice with it.
later this morning Calin turned at the door with a big fish (cod). Tomorrow I will process it into fillets and use the rest of the flesh for some fish cakes. I gave to him some ravioli with mushrooms for the exchange.
In the last few days I made focaccia bread sticks, linguine pasta and sort two pheasants and two red leg partridges. (We had one last night and it was really tasty. I did cook it in the oven ,then cut it in pieces and finish it in the pan with a sweet cherry paste and oil. The contrast with the salt and the sweetness of the cherry paste( melted) was really tasty.)
This weekend we were out celebrating Susan Fraser retirement .(Friday night at Brokie lodge near Beauly ).
Some people were asking me what I was going to eat.....Well this was a special occasion, and although I was no easy, I felt I should go for politeness. I did choose from the menu carefully, making sure that the products were at least local or Scottish. It was haggis for starter and venison for main course. Did not choose a cake but a cheese board ( the only cheese that was not Scottish was the french brie). Cheese was too much so I saved for the next day. It was the same for breakfast: bacon,black pudding, egg, sausage. ~All the products are provided by local business  as I discovered talking with the owner of the lodge. The list of the business that provide the food to the lodge ( including some vegetable) are written in the breakfast menu.
I decided not to have lunch on Sunday and made a pizza for everyone in the evening.

This morning I peeled all the pears as they were getting black and boiled them with some water and sugar. With some of them I made 2 cakes and the rest will be processed into juice. It would be a shame to waste them.  From the cod I made 4 fillets and then I boiled the head ,the tail and the rest of the flesh from the spine. later on I made a dozen of fish cakes from it. it is amazing how much meat from those cuts you can get.
For lunch I had linguine with scallops ( thanks Katie) and for dinner mixed wild herb in olive oil, cheese, the rest of my pizza and a piece of cake.
Some pictures below.

The cod fish

Fish cakes from the cod trimmings etc

Cooking the pears

Focaccia sticks