Netherton Foundry Shropshire

Netherton Foundry Shropshire
Classic cookware, made in England

Friday 27 December 2013

Broomfield bhajis, what to do with yet another carrot


I arrived home with a massive haul of super fresh, super cheap carrots for my local farm shop, Broomfields - so after the soup, the cake and the salad, a little inspiration was called for.
This is what I came up with;  a variation on one of my son's favourite foods - onion bhajis from our local takeaway.

Carrot bhajis with spiced tomato sauce


First make the tomato sauce


1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic
1" ginger, peeled and roughly shopped
2 tblsp water
2 tsp kalonji
1 tsp turmeric
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar


Blend the onion, garlic, ginger and water to a smooth paste.

Heat 1 tblsp of oil over a medium heat.  Add the onion paste and fry for 2 minutes.
Add the kalonji and turmeric and cook for a further minute.
Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from the heat while you cook the bhajis - serve the sauce warm, not piping hot.


250g gram flour

3 tsp cumin seeds
Chilli to taste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
4 large carrots, coarsely grated

Mix the dry ingredients with enough water to make a thick batter.

Stir in the coriander and the carrots

I use our 13" wok to cook these

Drop dessertspoonfuls of the mixture into hot oil a few at a time and fry until golden brown.
Lift out of the oil, drain on kitchen paper and keep warm while you prepare the rest.




Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2013 ©
www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Monday 23 December 2013

One pot, two dishes

I love lentils, cheap, versatile, tasty and low fat!!  This is a dual recipe, which makes two separate vegetarian starters from a single pot of lentils.

This is an ideal recipe to make in the Kitchen Companion - making the most of one pot cooking.


Lentil pate and lentil and tomato soup


1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped

200g red lentils
10 sun dried tomatoes
1 sprig thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
800ml water
1 fat garlic clove, sliced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
400ml stock
Salt and pepper to taste.

Put the sweet potato, lentils , sun-dried tomatoes, thyme and water in the cast iron bowl. Cover with the cast iron lid. place the bowl on the heater base or on the hob.

Turn the heater base to its highest setting and bring to the boil.
Turn down to a low heat and simmer for about an hour - until the sweet potato is very soft and most of the water has been absorbed.
Add the sliced garlic and season to taste.  Cook, without a lid, for another 10 minutes until all the water is absorbed.

Remove the thyme if you have used fresh herbs.  Blend the mixture until smooth and cool half in the fridge.  

Serve the cold pate with toast.


Use the remaining half to create a tasty and warming soup - ideal on a chilly winter day.

Add the chopped tomatoes and  stock to the other half of the mixture.  Stir well to mix, return to the heat and warm through.
Serve with crusty bread.

Netherton FoundryShropshire 2013 ©
www.netherton-foundry.co.uk




Wednesday 18 December 2013

Wok fried chicken with plum sauce

Our woks are incredibly popular and I use mine several times a week.  Nothing can beat a stir fry for a tasty meal in a hurry - and with busy lives, weekday dinners are more often a hurry than not!

This dish was inspired partly by Jan's last recipe for pork chops and plum sauce and partly as a variation on the classic duck and plum sauce so beloved in Chinese restaurants


300g chicken breast, diced

1 leek, sliced
¼ white cabbage , shredded
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 star anise
300 ml chicken stock
1 tblp plum jam
1 tblsp soy sauce
2 tsp cornflour
2 tblsp oil

Heat the oil in the wok oil over a high heat.

Throw in the garlic and fry for 10 seconds, then add the chicken and star anise.  Fry until the chicken is golden brown on all sides.
Add the leeks, cabbage and star anise and fry for 2 minutes.
Add the jam, soy sauce and stock and cook for 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
Mix the cornflour to a paste with water and then stir into the dish and stir until the sauce is thickened.

Serve with steamed rice or noodles.




PS I also use my wok for frying chips!! But not quite so often as the stir fries!




Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2013 ©
www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Pork chops with plum sauce



It has been somewhat busy at Netherton Workshops over the last few weeks - not least with our latest 2 export orders.
Shropshire made cookware is now making its mark in Germany and the Czech Republic and we have been busy loading the pallets and waving our pans off to foreign homes.

I have been very conscious that it is a bit too long since I posted a new blog, so I was mightily relieved when our fabulous customer Jan dropped me an e-mail.


Jan came to visit our workshops last summer after being disappointed that she couldn't buy a Shropshire made slow cooker in the county town of Shrewsbury - sadly still the case!

But we are always happy to meet customers, so she was, in her words, "treated like royalty" and has been keeping me up to date with her recipes ever since.

Here's the latest, thanks Jan



Here’s a nice simple tasty recipe to add to the blog. I got the recipe from the web. It was for pork ribs, but works very well with chops.  They cooked quite quickly and were incredibly tender.


Slow cooker pork chops with plum sauce
1/3 cup plum jam
1 chicken stock cube
2 teasp cornflour – I omitted this as I don’t like glutinous sauces
¼ cup of water
3 teasp soy sauce
1 clove garlic crushed
Chops of course!

I fried the chops briefly on the hob and then added the sauce ingredients. It cooked  in about 4 hours on HIGH. The meat was so tender and sweet. Delicious! This is nice with some simple vegetables, cauliflower, and jacket potatoes.


It seems years since we came over for our cooker, and I think it was one of the best purchases ever! I am always telling my friends about the virtues of slow cooking.
Happy Christmas to all,
Jan

If anyone else has a recipe that they'd be happy to share, please e-mail it over to me, ideally with a photo and I will post it on to the blog.