The Garden
Freshness is not merely important here, it is everything.
From cavolo nero and rainbow chard, to butternut squash and the everyday carrot we cultivate every type of seasonal vegetable. We will be adding to our small orchard this winter, providing more apple, pear and plum trees, and a shady canopy for the geese and turkeys to scratch beneath. We grow quirky things too, that no supermarket would have the slightest interest in, just because they look wonderful and very often taste great.
Our friends at the Camphill Community, Thornage Hall, an idyillic spot for adults with learning disabilities, sometimes put us to shame with the quality of biodynamically produced organic vegetables they supply us with. Their farm is even closer to the shop than ours, so their carbon foorprint's better too!
Don't be thinking 'organic? Expensive!'. In many cases we easily match or are able to undercut our supermaket rivals like-for-like. Take a look at our pricelist and see.
 PDF pricelist - 23 September - downloadable pdf (86kb)
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Roast Tomato Sauce
A great way to use up all those tomatoes - freeze for a plentiful supply later on
(Recipe by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall)
You will need:
1kg ripe, full -flavoured tomatoes
2 - 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly milled black pepper
Arrange the tomato halves, tightly packed but not on top of each other, in an ovenproof dish. Mix the garlic with the olive oil and drizzle evenly over the tomatoes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Roast in a medium-hot oven (180C/Gas Mark 4) for 35-45 minutes until the tomatoes are soft, pulpy and slightly charred. Rub through a sieve, discarding the skin and seeds. Use for an instant pasta sauce, or try one of the following:
Cream of roast tomato soup:
Put the sieved tomatoes in a blender with an equal amount of good chicken stock and 3 rice cakes (or 3 tablespoons cooked rice). Blend until smooth, then reheat, check the seasoning and serve with a swirl of double cream or creme fraiche.
Crostini:
Spread the sieved roast tomatoes on slices of stake bread drizzled with olive oil, top each one with a slice of fresh mozarella or goats cheese and bake in a hot oven for ten minutes, until the cheese melts. |
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Beetroot Soup With Feta
Another recipe using ingredients from BTTG
(Recipe by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall)
You will need:
3 - 4 medium (apple-sized) beetroot (about 5-600g in total)
1 tablespoon olive or sunflower oil
1 onion finely chopped 500ml good strong stock (beef is best but chicken or veg will do)
Half quantity Roast Tomato sauce (see above)
125g real (ie. Greek, not Danish) feta cheese
salt and freshly ground pepper
Peel the beetroot and grate them coarsely, or chop them into small dice. Heat the oil in the pan and sweat the onion in it for a few minutes until soft. Add the beetroot and stock and bring to the boil. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then simmer gently for 7 - 10 minutes until the beetroot is tender. Stir in the tomato sauce, transfer the soup to a blender and process until completely smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Reheat the soup until thoroughly hot but not boiling. Divide between warm bowls and crumble over the feta cheese, then serve with crusty bread. |
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Store Wars.....
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For a humerous look at the battle between organic foods and the supermakets take a quick look at this very tongue in cheek video!
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.... or you could grow your own!
Starting an organic garden isn't that difficult. If you already grow vegetables, fruit or herbs, all you need to do is change some of your methods, so that, for example, instead of blasting a pest with chemicals, you protect the crop so the little beastie can't get to it. Or you might introduce a predator to eat the pest.
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Read more...
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