Deal Herrings - fresh from the sea daily

The hard working fishing boats of Deal brave all weathers to bring herrings to our shore. Selling every day direct from Deal beach at 3 for £1.00 these are simply delicious seasoned and fried in butter.

 But, for a change we decided to cure a batch and make Cider Vinegar and Orange rollmops using Hugh Fearnley Whitingstall's recipe from his Fish book, as a reference. The only fiddly bit was  filleting which we admittedly need to practice more. We found that a sharp knife, a firm hold and confident cutting produced the cleanest of fillets.

The herrings were then soaked in salted water for a couple of hours whilst the pickling mixture of All spice berries, peppercorns, orange peel, bay leaves, sugar and sliced onion was brought to a boil and left to cool. Bringing it all together was simple with the help of wooden cocktail sticks and a large kilner jar.  They needed to cure for around 3 days, and can keep for up to a month. Ours won't last this long as we have used them ever since as a lunchtime snack, perfect with Finn Original Rye crackers from Peppers Health Food store.

We will be experimenting with the curing mixture, and fancy sweetening it up, trying a little more brown sugar and replacing the Cider vinegar with Sherry vinegar, which again can be found at Peppers. 

Bonfire night by the beach

 

Kingsdown is a small, seaside Miss Marple-style village, with its own post office, an excellent butcher and a well stocked licensed newsagent. It is also lucky to have three warm and welcoming pubs, The Rising Sun which always has a roaring fire on a wintry day, The Zetland Arms which sits pertly on the beach and has enviable views of the Channel and the White Cliffs, and the King's Head which is housed in the heart of the village.

All three pubs have hearty food, and give a warm welcome to all those crossing the threshold. One of the busiest nights of the year is now upon us, as Kingsdown puts on a great show for Bonfire night with an enormous beachside fire and cracking fireworks. This year's event takes place on Saturday 3 November with tickets costing £5 per person or £15 for families. They can be bought on the night and include a smashing hot dog and a cup of wholesome soup. The fun starts at 6.30pm with the gates opening, the bonfire is ignited at 7.00pm, followed by fireworks at 7.30pm.

What better way to end the evening than with a hot toddy, at one of the nearby pubs. It's worth a visit to see Kingsdown in all its fiery glory, and if it's a clear night, it is truly magical to see the light of the fire dancing and reflecting on the icy cold sea.

Lynda's - for everyday wares at affordable prices

Lynda's, on Queen Street, Deal is one of those treasure troves of a shop. It has everything from kitchen equipment, hardware, art materials, storage through to a host of seasonal items from beach shoes and boogie boards in the summer, through to Halloween masks and Christmas lights in the Autumn and Winter. I often forget it is there, and end up paying through the nose for what appears to be a cheap online alternative, but once postage is factored in, Lynda's wins hands down. I've bought everything from kilna jars, cartoon character boogie boards, hard wire brushes, sunglasses and twinkling red Christmas lights and will be popping in over the next few weeks for some more festive fare. This is another of my favourite local shops.

Peppers - an essential foodie outpost

As combined owners of over 200 cookbooks, ranging from the vintage Paupers Cookbook to the latest Yottam Ottolenghi, we are comfortable with ingredients and comfortable with experimenting. But moving permanently to Deal, having lived in London for many years, has proved to be an adventure in finding that elusive, yet essential, spice, sauce, flour or flavour. The supermarkets, particularly our local Co-op is great for staples but doesn't always extend to the full recipe list we need. So we were excited to realise that Peppers, the healthfood shop at the Northern end of Deal, is a haven for foodies, or any lovers of good food. 

Our latest foray into Middle Eastern cuisine has led us to Pomegranate Mollasses - a sweet and sour sauce that goes perfectly with lamb, whilst Prawn Balichao is a much loved pickle that brings back childhood memories for my partner. Even simple, but delicious rye Finnish crackers which have been referenced by the Hairy Bikers in their latest Hairy Dieters cookbook, can be found nestled at the back of this shop. It has a full range of herbal medicines too, but I can't claim to know much about these. I can however, say that whatever the latest foodie fashion, or indeed in most cases specialising in good old fashioned classics, Peppers is likely to have what you are looking for. If not, the owner is happy to discuss and order it in for you. What more can a lover of food want? And what better way for a small independent shop to succeed - great products and a great service. Long may it live.

 

Foraging Fury

I love the foraging season. There is something quite primitive and satisfying about this nod to our hunter/gatherer heritage. Having eyed up the growth of nearby blackberry bushes along Wellington Parade, Walmer and around the Kingsdown beach in general, I decided that last weekend was the time to tackle these thorny brambles. Armed with long sleeves and large containers, I gathered around 500g of succulent wild logan-like berries alongside some juicy blackberries. The varieties are quite surprising with some tightly packed, and others more louche in their habit.

My aim is to make blackberry liqueur to sup at Christmas, having found a recipe by Martin Pain on www.allrecipes.co.uk. The ingredients are: 450g blackberries, 600g sugar, 250ml water, 700ml vodka. The method is simple: melting the sugar with the water, adding to washed blackberries and then soaking in vodka (I've used the cheapest). This ferments, covered in clingfilm for two weeks and is then strained and bottled. 

I am hoping that it tastes as good as my sloe gin, which with its almond like flavour was fantastic on its own, or added to chilled Proseco. Now that we are down to the last few sips, I will be making this again, as September and October is the time to go hunting for these bruised, dusty, heavily fortressed fruits.   And I know just the place where these berries can be found in abundance.

The Olympic Spirit of Summer 2012

Summer has been spent being amazed, awed and humbled by the sheer skill, strength and stamina of the Olympians and the Para Olympians. We were lucky enough to go to Wembley to see the final of the women's football, USA versus Japan (2-1) and to see the athletics at the Para Olympics. Wow! David Weir in the 1500m heats, David Devine in the men's 800m heats, Oscar Pistorius and Alan Oliveira receiving their Silver and Gold medals in that controversial 200m race.

The stadium was spectacular, as I am sure are all the other venues. The wild flower planting was a sea of intense gold and bronze, with areas that provided a restful, quiet place away from the crowds. And what crowds! the roars in the stadium were such as I've never heard, and people spilling and swilling outside the venues, were happy, proud and excited to be there.

I think that Team GB were fantastic, as were the organisers, and everyone involved in this sporting summer.

I am glad that I was able to enjoy it fully, and back at home in Kingsdown, I was able to nurture some of the Olympic spirit with a couple of window boxes filled with Dr Nigel Dunnett of Pictorial Meadow, candy mix wildflower seed, which I am happy to say is still blooming its little heart out.

Olympic spirit in coastal Kent

The anticipation of the Olympic torch travelling through Kent built and built until w/c 15 July when it finally arrived. The dull and dreary weather on its arrival in the coastal town of Hythe on Wednesday 18th July, didn't dampen the spirits of the hundreds of onlookers, who had macks to match their tiny union jacks.

The sponsors loud and lively trucks cheered the crowd - Coca Cola, Samsung and Lloyds TSB -rattled through this coastal town. The police escort accompanying the torch was very impressive - massive BMW motorbikes with friendly police gave a real carnival atmosphere to this historic event. When the torch was glimpsed in the distance the crowd collectively cheered and shouted as a veteran torch bearer held the flame on high. It was over pretty quickly but the planning was excellent. The torch arrived precisely at 1.23pm at Hythe Roundabout, and then travelled onto Seabrook. Pubs like the local Bell, made the most of a roaring lunchtime trade, with many happily ensconced for the duration.

After a night's stop at Dover where thousands gathered to see the lighting of the cauldron at one of the 66 countrywide evening events, the torch started it's next day arriving by lifeboat at the end of Deal pier at 8.27am. The day was just beautiful, with bright blue sky, warm sun and many hundreds of spectators. The accompanying police on this stretch were event more impressive, with bikes gathered to start the day's procession. After the sponsors trucks and the athelete's coach, the torch travelled down the pier, took a turn round the precinct, before travelling alongside the promenade. The crowd was excited, children cheered, music blared and another veteran torch bearer held the torch on high. Again it was over very quickly, but the morning was stunning and local businesses were all geared up for some energetic trade - rising to the occasion was Dunkerley's Hotel - a family run business which put on a fabulous champagne breakfast, with full English, toast, tea, orange juice for £10 per head. It was perfectly cooked, perfectly served and fitted a perfect morning in Deal.

Deal Fish Direct, Saturday's local shop

This feature will run occasionally and will focus on a local shop in my corner of East Kent. It's likely that this will be in Deal,  but in all cases, it will be an independent store which is keeping the high street alive, by offering great products, great customer service at great prices.

First up is Deal Fish Direct. Deal is lucky enough to have two fishmongers which offer a huge array of salty, seaside-fresh daily catches. My favourite, is run by two brothers, whose boat brings them the best that the sea can offer on any given day. They also run the seafood stall, to be found on the seafront near to the Royal Hotel. It has been a bit of a struggle of late, with the high winds and rough seas meaning that the boat hasn't been able to take to the sea. Even when out, shellfish such as lobsters, have stayed hidden and well away from the lobster pots, as the water hasn't been warm enough to spur them onto feed.

But, the brothers will do their best to satisfy any order and can take orders in advance. In asking for a lobster for a special surf and turf supper, I was presented the following day with two succulent and sweet lobsters, costing £7 each.

And, the size of the scallops which have been delivered via the Folkestone fishing boats, have to be seen to be believed. At £1.20 each these were so silky and rich, you didn't need more than one or two. It's a pleasure to visit this great fishmonger, the fish is so fresh, and it is always priced more competitively than the tightly packaged, cellophane wrapped offering that the supermarkets have.

In addition to the fish, there is often other delicacies to be found on the counter, including black and white truffles. And, nestling at the back of the counter, I found a customised tide timetable which  helpfully includes the local variations in the tide times.

In my opinion, and in the many people who are often seen queuing outside, this is a real gem of a shop.

Poppies by the sea

These sumptuous silky blooms have struggled somewhat against ferocious winds and torrential rain. But when there is a break in this unseemly and unseasonal June weather, these gorgeous flowers unfurl and relax, luxuriating in the warmth of the sun.

My favourite is Patty's Plum with its grey/mauve blooms, and then it has to be the reddy-black poppy whose name I forget, coming closely third is the reddy-orange Papaver Orientale and following up at the rear is the mislabelled candyfloss pink poppy which I'm slowly getting used too.

Despite these flowers doing well in my seaside garden, it's when you see their wild cousin that you really admire these tough little blooms. Wheat-laden fields are fringed with red poppies at this time of year, and it is worth snatching a walk when the weather breaks to enjoy this fleeting sight.

Samphire Hoe, the early spider orchid and this tasty seaside vegetable

This is an exceptional, diminuitive rare orchid, which when found is often kept secret, so that it is safe from botanical bounty hunters. But, when kept safe, and in the conditions that it likes (where the sea meets the land, where sand becomes mixed with soil, and where moss may have begun to take hold, but grass is still grappling to find its feet), it is at its happiest. It has an acid green/yellow colour, with a firm stalk, and a dark chocolate brown velvety body from where it takes its name. 

 This is so at Samphire Hoe where plants numbers have multipled from 67 found in 1998 up to the 11,500 counted earlier in 2012.  Samphire Hoe was created by Eurotunnel reusing the chalk marl taken during the the building of the Channel Tunnel. It is a beautiful strip of land, running alongside the Dover Cliffs, and located between Folkestone and Dover. It is home to wildlife, migrating and native birds, and loads of wildflowers. You reach it by turning off from the M20, travelling through a dark, chalk tunnel to emerge into a white seabright landscape beyond. It's worth a visit just to do this.

Why is it called Samphire Hoe? It was named through a public competition, and refers to Rock Samphire which used to be collected from the neighboring cliffs, and Hoe which refers to the spit of land that sticks out into the sea. Of course, it is illegal to transplant any wildflower or plant, so collecting from the cliffs would be taboo. But, you can still see Samphire at the Hoe, adjacent to the cafe and successfully planted at the top edge of the seawall.

If, like us you fancy trying to cultivate Samphire, we have found Victoriana Nursery which supplies small plants replete with full instructions on how to care for this maritime vegetable. The fun thing is that you have to water it with salt laden water (30g to l litre) and can try sea water, which I am keen to do. Most of the fishmongers around the coast sell this maritime delicacy, although the main type sold tends to be marsh samphire that grows in the salt marshes. If you can't get to the Hoe, and don't fancy giving growing it a go, do try and taste, it's crunchy taste  won't disappoint.

Snails and the seaside garden

This is the last time that I am going to plant delphiniums and lupins. For the third time in as many years, these have been decimated by these slimy creatures; this is despite the judicious use of pet friendly slug pellets, copper rings, grit and nematodes.

From now on I will concentrate on the plants that have their own inbuilt defence system. The papaver orientale laughs in the face of these slippy customers, brushing them off with its coarse bristly leaves, and the alliums with their distinctive oniony scent are not plat du jour in the snail world.

My roses escape unscathed too, with their dagger like, thorny stems which quite happily catch and climb towards the skies. These are performing brilliantly this year. Souvenir Docteur du Jardin and the William Lobb deep pink/lilac rose, both in their third year have many buds and my Seagull rambler has really found its feet in its new spot, and i hope that the recently planted Vichenbleu will do the same in a few years.

I have planted around 200 alliums in this small sized plot, ranging from the dazzling firework Schuberti, elegant Mount Everest, Purple Sensation and my favourite Chistophii with hundreds of starry flowers per bloom. I always get a bulk order from Devines Nursery who display these magnificent blooms at the Chelsea Flower Show every year.

My shady corner, with Japanese ferns, wild garlic and our own native hellebore happily grows without any critters nibbling its leaves.

Whilst the hostas, planted deep in a gravel strewn pot, and perched up high at the base of a tree fern seems free from snail damage at the moment. I will keep up my regular snail raids to keep these fighting fit, but I'm pretty sure I know who will win this battle, and it won't be me.

Any good recipes for snails anyone?

Old fashioned cottage loaf

This week's Friday loaf is a beauty. Just look at it!

I've used Linda Collister again and this recipe is contained in her fabulous Bread from ciabatta to rye book. I am coming to the conclusion, albeit rather sadly, that the best way to make bread is really by hand, as everytime I've tried I haven't been disappointed.

For this recipe I had to combine 700g of strong white flour with one 7g sachet of yeast, 450ml of tepid water, 1 tsp of honey. It had to be kneaded for 10 mins which was pretty hard going, but I could tell when it was ready by how elastic it became. It had to rise for 1 1/2 hours, then be punched back and shaped into two separate rounds, using one third for the smaller round. It had to rise again on two separate baking sheets for 45 mins.

The larger soft bouncy roll is then placed onto a large baking sheet and the smaller roll tenderly placed on top. With two fingers and a thumb you press down on the top of the loaf to pinch both together, baste all with an egg, and score both top and bottom roll as seen above. It baked at 230 degrees centigrade for 15 mins and then 20 mins at 200 degrees centigrade.

The instructions in Bread are much clearer than mine and I do urge anyone interested in bread to pick up a copy of this excellent book.

Friday's Easy White Loaf (again)

This week's Friday loaf worked out rather well. I used 400g of strong white flour, 1tsp of salt, 200ml of warm water and diluted 1 tsp of yeast granules with 100ml of warm water. I then used my food mixer, combining the dry and wet ingredients gradually until I had a wet dough. This was left for 10 mins, and then my mixer did all the kneading work for me using the dough hook, for around 4 mins, until I had a smooth elastic dough. This was left in the bowl for around 2 hours until the dough had doubled in size. Placed onto an oiled baking tray for a further 45 mins, it was then baked at 230 degrees centigrade for 25mins. The resulting dough had great texture, a good crust, with lots of air holes, and a lovely chewy taste. I plan to use some of this with a French Onion Soup, topped with some gruyere cheese. 

Seaside Garden for National Gardening Week

A very windy, blustery day in April

As part of National Gardening Week, the RHS is encouraging everyone to email photograph of their garden, in order to build up a national picture of gardens around the country. Mine is a rather long and thin seaside garden, which I have cultivated for around 10 years. A combination of lack of willpower and a passion for plants means that I have often been tempted to buy plants which simply don't suit a small garden, such as the 14 trees that I have, many of which are growing in pots. 

The latest additions being an unnamed variety of Pear tree (just hoping that it is self fertile),

and a Juniper tree. They join a Magnolia Soulangeana, several Pine trees, a Hazel tree, a Gingko Biloba, a baby Oak tree grown from an acorn from Drumnadrochit forest, Olive trees, a very handsome Dicksonia tree fern and my favourite which is seen in the main picture off to the right, a Katsura which perfumes the air with its candyfloss scent when the leaves fall in August/September.

I know that I am going to have to find good homes for many of these trees, once they outgrow their pots and my plot, but for now I take care of them and enjoy the height, scent and magic that trees give to my narrow strip of land. 



Friday's Vetebrod Easter Loaf

Vetebrod sweet loaf

Another success! Rather than make some hot cross buns I wanted to make a loaf that felt a bit special to have on Good Friday. A book that I've used loads over the years is Bread from ciabatta to rye, by Linda Collister. It is an overview of baking from around the world and contains some delicious, really easy to follow recipes. 

So, for Easter I've made a sweet loaf from Sweden called Vetebrod which is flavoured with cinnamon and cardomom. This is typically served with coffee, but  I think that it will be just as good for breakfast with a selection of cheeses and salami. Although this recipe is a bit fiddly with a filling to make, I must say that it didn't give me the usual angst over proving and rising, even though I did adjust the times to make it with my food mixer.

The initial dough is made by combining 300g strong white flour with 1/2 tsp of salt, 50g light muscova sugar, 10 green deseeded and ground cardomom pods, a 7g sachet of active dried yeast, with 50g of unsalted butter that have been melted in 150ml of hot milk. I mixed a third of the wet/dry ingredients at a time in my Everhot Artisan food mixer on speed 1/2 for 5 mins, to make sure that all were combined. Then it was left to rise for an hour in a warm place to double in size.

The filling was very easy, simply combining 50g unsalted butter with 50g light muscova sugar and 1tsp of cinnamon and mixing in the food mixer on speed 3/4 for around 2 mins until light and creamy.

The risen dough is then rolled to 30cm square and the filling pasted on. This is then rolled length ways and pinched tight at either end. With scissors you cut quite deeply at 1cm spaces, and then alterately pull the dough from left to right. This is then left on a baking sheet under a plastic bag to double in size, taking around an hour. I was so impressed with the size of this when I peeped after an hour. It was then popped in the oven for 200 degrees centigrade for 20 mins.

I do urge anyone interested in giving bread a go, to get this Bread book from Linda Collister, there are some really good bargains on Amazon, and they may save a bit of the heartache that I've gone through with my regular Friday loaf.

A perfectly crispy crisp with a great cheddar taste

Appealing packaging

Light doesn't shine through

Some things were meant to be: fish and chips, strawberries and cream, eggs and bacon, and another in my opinion is a bag or crisps with a pint of beer. One of my favourite combinations has to be cheese and onion crisps accompanied by a bottle of Spitfire. And top of the list for crisps has to be Kent Crisps, which I only learnt about a couple of months ago. What great packaging - bright and fresh, conjuring up a picture of the Kentish countryside.

Perfect match

These are crisps as they are meant to be: a good strong cheesy aroma, deeply golden and thickly layered in appearance, an exceptional cheesy flavour which literally explodes onto the taste buds, and above all a very satisfying hard crunch. Just listen!

Using the local Kent Ashmore cheese helps to make this an authentic Kent Crisp, and one that perfectly matches the malty notes and hoppy freshness of the Spitfire beer.  Not many things get better than this. (Love the new Spitfire livery to celebrate the Jubilee).

Friday's thyme loaf

I've combined some of the instructions from The Moro's Cookbook and Dan Lepard's Short and Sweet, together with some of the useful tips that I've gained from looking at You Tube.

I have used Moro's usual combination of 500g strong white flour, half teaspoon of dried yeast, 350ml tepid water and one teaspoon of salt, and a handful of thyme leaves and mixed the wet and dry ingredients in batches in my food mixer. I've left the dough to rest a few times and kneaded in the bowl by hand, and then left it to rise overnight. In the morning, I punched the mixture back and left for another couple of hours to rise before baking for 30 minutes. The overall loaf has the correct oven spring, and was easy to remove from the tin. The texture is good and chewy and the thyme taste works really well with a strong Kent Ashmore cheese available from JC Rooks and Sons the local South East Kent butcher chain.

Oriental beauty - a unique green tea

A magical garden in a glass

It starts as little bigger than a two-pence piece and is ever so tightly wrapped. But by placing in a heat resistant glass it transforms.

I prepared a thick stemmed wine glass by placing it under hot water and inserting a metal spoon inside, before pouring on the just boiled water.

The green leaved bundle floats to the top of the glass but then sinks to the base where it slowly unravels.

At the centre of the bundle is a golden-glowing calendula (marigold) wrapped around a twisting and twirling stem of jasmine which floats to the top of the glass.

This spectacle takes around 5 minutes and it is worth sitting back and enjoying.

The taste doesn't disappoint. The delicate green tea flavour is complemented by the jasmine and the saffron like taste of the calendula.

This is one of a range of teas available from Flora Teas - they have to be seen to be believed.