The annual review

As 2017 draws inextricably to a close, we take a look back.

And we are also looking ahead to the New Year.

Settle back, pour yourself a drink - it's allowed, whatever time of day it is it's still technically Christmas - and get out the dustpan and brush; there's going to be a lot of name dropping to sweep up!

Two personal highlights stand out for me.

The first was attending Diana Henry's writing course at Otter Farm.  Mark Diacono was the perfect host; Claire Thompson a sublime caterer; Diana Henry the most generous of teachers; patient, encouraging and happy to share her knowledge and experience, whilst we soaked up every carefully nuanced and carefully chosen word and phrase and, last but not least, an inspiring cohort of classmates; fun and funny, cheerful and cheering and, in some case, an in real life meeting of social media acquaintances.  Much is made of the negative impact of all kinds of social media, but we have found that if you apply the sames rules in the virtual world as you do in the real world, principally "do as you would be done by", then it is a happy, friendly and supportive environment. I wouldn't be able to write this blog without the introductions made on our social media platforms.

The second was another social media experience, an Instagram workshop run by the talented and delightful Matt Inwood. This took place at the Kensington Arms in Bristol, not, it must be said, promising from the outside, but glorious within, with a strong team in the kitchen dishing up the added bonus of a fine dinner at the end of the session.  Once again it was the open handed sharing of skill and knowhow that shone out.  Matt's photographs are startlingly in their composition and execution, they wake us to the depth of artistic potential in day to day objects, draw the eye to the most seemingly mundane details and elevate them to become features in their own right.  Backgrounds come to the fore, shadows are suddenly highlights and edges are something you fall off into another dimension.  He is not a miracle worker, he cannot divine you his own artistic talent and artist's eye (although his daughter, Tilly, does appear to have inherited it - check out her Instagram account @tilly_inwood; he cannot turn your sow's ear into a silk purse, but he can show you how to serve the ear more appetisingly.

The following list of acknowledgements is not a bragger's charter; it is offered with both thanks to everyone contained therein and pride in what we have achieved, what we do and what we stand for.  It is also a reminder of how hard we have worked to get this far; none of these plaudits came easily, we did not sit back and wait for well known faces and respected voices to fall over us, nor did we (could we afford) to employ the services of a PR agency.  

This is us.

January 2015 was the first blog entry when I could, with honesty and pride, parade our achievements.  It marked the start of our claim to be a "brand".  We were not, are still not, a household name; but people whom we admire had begun to admire and laud our cookware and our ethos.

And it felt good!!

Two books, published in 2017 and which featured, wholly deservedly, in so many of the year end best books line up, contained Netherton products.

The front cover of Claire Thompson's Art of the Larder has been seen all over the place, but snuggled cosily between the pages and sitting proudly on the back cover, you will find one of our prospector pans.  

This book is such a straightforwardly good idea and puts me in mind of a modern day equivalent of my 1930s household management books.  There is a lot of (generally ignorant) criticism about current food writing, frequently centred on the use of esoteric, hard to find ingredients, used once and then pushed to the back of the cupboard like that jumper you bought in the sales, only to get it home and realise that mustard was very definitely not your colour!  Then there is the concern, borne of a lack of culinary foundation within our education system - don't get me started or allow me onto my soapbox, I'll be here til next December - that the techniques and method will be beyond the ability of the reader.

This book sets about both of these with a practical, achievable approach. Creating a larder stocked with  a realisable range of basic and using simple cooking techniques, this book enables us all to become confident in the shops as well as in the kitchen.

Another original idea is Ed Smith's On the Side, giving centre stage attention to all the extras that make a meal; the side dishes that complement and enhance the main attraction and which, in our house at least, are often the main event in themselves. 

One of our frying pans can be found, full of radishes, within. 

Less widely publicised, but no less a work of art, is Rachel McCormack's Chasing the Dram, a hymn to the praise of cooking with whiskey, with stunning photographs by the eternally modest Del Sneddon and if you haven't heard of Del, head over to his Twitter and Instagram pages (@weerascal) for a real visual treat. 

In other words: we also appeared in a number of newspaper articles...........

We were delighted, if somewhat daunted by a visit from Telegraph writer Xanthe Clay.  It seemed only polite to offer sustenance to anyone who takes the time and trouble to travel to Highley, but what to give someone who has trained at Leith's?  Thank fully lunch passed off without mishap and Xanthe's copy was submitted to and published by the Telegraph.  This prompted one of the most  memorable telephone conversations of the year when an American gentleman, who had read the article on-line, called to place his order whilst sitting in a traffic jam in Jakarta.

It was, we felt , a sad day when the Independent published its final print copy in 2016. But it was a proud day when Julia Pal Leonard published this article in their on line edition.

What's more, we popped up again and again in assorted broadsheet papers courtesy of Ed Smith and Lisa Markwell (The Times) and Mark Diacono and Stevie Parle (The Guardian), as well as two listings in the Observer Christmas gift guide.

We thank you all; your support means a great deal to us both personally and as a business.

And it was not just the printed word.

At the Good Life Experience, which we attended for the 3rd consecutive year (it gets better and better), Neil, the driving force and creative genius behind Netherton Foundry, was interviewed by Mark Shayler for the inaugural podcast of his series, Making Stuff Better, Making Better Stuff; we couldn't have put it better ourselves. You can listen to the podcast here Selling woks to China.

Larger than life character Christian Stephenson, aka DJBBQ had his work cut out performing along side Rylan Clark Neal and Alison Hammond on This Morning, 2 huge personalities in their own right, but his winning ways did the trick and Rylan lost his avocado virginity on air, whilst our prospector pan sat happily front of stage.

Rounding off the year with 3, yes 3, consecutive appearances of our prospector pans on Nigella's BBC2 series, At My Table, really did out the sparkle into our Christmas.

Innovation and development.

During the year we have collaborated with two very different bakers; Vanessa Kimbell is the undisputed doyenne of sourdough baking and Val Stones, the cake whisperer and undoubted star from GBBO's BBC days, who has recently made a guest appearance on the ITV'S GBBO Christmas specials.

Working closely with Vanessa, after she came to visit us in Highley (another nervewracking lunch prep) we have developed and launched the baking bell and tray for producing envy inducing and potentially addictive, loaves at home.  These are currently available here, with the bell also available on our website.  

A surreal highlight of the Ludlow Food Festival was seeing Val Stones and DJBBQ deep in conversation on our stand, discussing Appalachian cooking - you couldn't make it up!

We had our own in depth discussion with Val, and in accordance with her bakling criteria founded on years of experience, we produced the new heavy duty baking tray, seen here being tested out with Andrew Dargue's gypsy cream recipe (buy the book, it's a joy).

Inspired by conversations with chef and expedition leader Kieran Creevy, we also designed a set of removeable legs, both beautiful and functional, to turn our baking and griddle plates into outdoor cooking chapas.  

We have had great fun with these, especially at the Good Life Experience, where we kept the security crew fuelled with bacon butties, and have also combined the chapa with a baking bell for superb outdoor roast chicken.

No round up would be complete without a mention for our great friend, Chris Burt, whose own culinary journey has taken him on new adventures this year, with yet more to come in 2018.  Thanks, Chris, your contancy and love have meant much. 

The economic forecasts may be mixed and Brexit will continue to worry us.  However, we are determined to stick to our principles and continue to make sustainable products, firmly based in the buy well, buy once philosophy.  We are optimistic that Blue Planet 2, the superlative BBC show, fronted by Sir David Attenborough has raised public awareness of the dangers of the use and discarding of plastics and we are encouraged by the messages of support that we receive from private individuals, culinary world stars and our retailers.

It was a hard year for many of our independent retailers, but new ones joined us, some as late as mid December and we anticipate even more additions to our eclectic stockists list in the coming months. 

Please do your bit to support the independent retailers, whatever their core product category; we do not want to see our High Streets homogenised and the Amegazon juggernaut flattening all before it.

Keep an eye open for announcements about the festivals we will be attending and come and say "Hello" to us.

Our pans will be appearing in at least another 2 books, scheduled for publication in 2018, of which more anon, for now our lips are sealed.

And, at the very heart of Netherton Foundry HQ, our creative genius will continue as our inspiration, reinforcing our fundamental philosophy and coming up with exciting ideas and new products.

A massive "THANK YOU" to everyone who has supported, collaborated with, inspired, encouraged and endorsed us during the past year.

We wish you all a very Happy, Healthy, and Hopeful New Year.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2017 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Chicken in gin and lemon

Inspiration for recipes can come from many places; travel, eating out, family recipes passed down and given a modern makeover.
Necessity can truly become the mother of invention and many a recipe is the happy result of a fridge forage or larder raid.
And of course, other people's recipes.  I am not talk plagiarism, just a mental nudge in a new direction.  
What stuck in my mind, when I went on a writing course with Diana Henry at Otter Farm earlier this year, was her telling us that to write well, you must read well.
And so I choose my recipe books with care. I do not simply want a compendium of recipes, I want to share the author's love of food, immerse myself in their writing, catch a glimpse of what makes them tick, savour their words as much as their food.
To me, food is about sharing.  It is, as Nigella Lawson says, more than just fuel and the best food writers want to share their passion as well as their recipes.
And it is back to Nigella that I come for the inspiration for this recipe.  To the astonishment of most of us and believed only through a leap of faith and trying it ourselves, her ham in cola is a wondrous thing.  My second inspiration is Valentine Warner and his friends at Hepple gin, a most glorious elixir from Northumberland.  If you get any opportunity to try this, seize it with both hands and savour it.
This recipe was created with Hepple in mind, although sadly I didn't have any to hand, so in this instance I have substituted Bols genever instead.  Believe me, any gin will do.

2 chicken breasts
200ml good quality, cloudy lemonade or bitter lemon
1tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp juniper berries, lightly crushed
1 tsp salt
1 large sprig hyssop or thyme
1 tot of gin
100g butter


Place everything except the butter in a prospector casserole or a frying pan with a lid.

Place on the hob and bring to the boil over a medium heat.  Turn down the heat and simmer for 40 minutes.
Carefully lift out the chicken and set aside.
Remove the twiggy herb stalks from the pan and add the butter. Bring it up to the boil and cook until glossy and sticky.

Slice the chicken and lay it on a bed of steamed shredded cabbage.
Pour over the sauce and serve.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2017 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Ambrosia; def. food of the gods

It was an act of supreme self confidence, sheer arrogance or complete ignorance to brand a range of milk based canned goods as Ambrosia.
Ambrosia was reputedly the food of the gods in the ancient world and I doubt very much that they dined on custard.
My brother used to eat cold rice pudding straight out of the tin, he probably still does, although not when his wife is watching.  I am sure that a great many of you have done the same.  Go on, admit it.
At school we were served rice pudding made with powdered milk and too much water, an insipid, generally tepid slop, topped with industrial red jam.
My mother baked rice pudding in the oven, but more often than not, until it was solid.

I grew up hating rice pudding.  Semolina I could cope with, sago I adored, but no-one could persuade me that rice pudding was fit for human consumption, let alone celestial beings.

But now I am grown up, allegedly, and I have changed my mind.  I still cannot be induced to eat the tinned stuff, glorious as many think it to be, but a well made rice pudding, especially with a dollop of good, preferably home made jam is the culinary equivalent of wrapping yourself in a cashmere blanket.

This is a gentle soothing bowl of comfort, most welcome on a cold, grey, winter's day when the light is gone too soon and damp mist pervades each crevice and crack however tightly you try to shut out the world.

600ml full fat milk
60g pudding rice
5 green cardamom pods
5 cloves
1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
4 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon coconut Greek yogurt (optional)
Jam to serve.

Put the milk, rice, spices, sugar and desiccated coconut in a saucepan and place over a very low heat.
Cook slowly for around 40 minutes, stirring frequently.
If it starts getting to thick, just add a little more milk.
Remove the spices and stir in the yogurt (if using)

Pour out into individual serving dishes and offer good quality jam as an accompaniment.  We had homemade peach and rose petal jam.

Serves 2.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire  2017 ©

Street food

If, like me, you are old enough to remember when street food only existed in the form of  six pen'orth of chips wrapped in newspaper or a less than average hotdog when the fair came to town, you cannot fail to be overwhelmed by the choice of takeaway food available now.

I can still recall my mother's horror at the idea of eating in the street and if she were alive today she would still maintain that it is undignified and vulgar.  Living, as she did, at the seaside, she allowed the consumption of ice cream cones as a concession, but there the line in the sand was well and truly drawn.

I have to agree with her as far as drinking coffee is concerned - when did we get to the stage that we cannot make it from home to work or back again without an over priced, oversized and oddly flavoured coffee to sustain us?  Walking around with a cardboard cup of coffee or a plastic bottle of water in your hand bestows no more status and charm to your appearance than cigarettes ever did.  You are buying a myth and frankly, being robbed blind in the process.

As a child in rural Yorkshire, I found the opening of a Chinese restaurant in our small market town as exotic as it got and going away to university, I was excited and amazed to discover the thrills of Ali's kebab house - not something you found on every street corner back in the day and believe me, the quality then was far superior to the High St kebab houses these days.  His fresh lamb shish kebabs with home made chilli and mint sauces were a real hit - without the buckets of lager needed to face one these days.

But now that every High Street bakery is offering takeaways - of varying levels of quality and interest, we have to accept that street food is here to stay.

Of course, the High Street has its fair share of franchised frightfulness, but everywhere you look new and appetising alternatives are arising and whilst I can feel the chill of my mother's disapproving stare, with every drop of sauce that dribbles down my chin, it cannot diminish my enjoyment.

Every gathering from rock festival to food festival now has the added attraction of great food............. and what a choice, from rare breed burgers to vegan falafel, taking in every continent and every course, quite literally from soup to nuts.  The Good Life Experience, that we attended in September, was a prime example; toasties, vegan Indian, Persian, chips, bacon butties, pizza, and, best of all hot doughnuts with soft ice cream. 

The guys from the Cheese Truck company were dishing up the best toasties EVER!!

 There was something for everyone and, of course, some wonderful beverages to wash it all down, our favourite by far being the Hepple gin.

And we are delighted by the successes of the guys at Breddos Tacos and the gals at Hang Fire SmokeHouse, whose street food was so successful that they have moved into bricks and mortar homes.  Start small, grow tall.

There is a wealth of culinary talent out there exploiting ready access to great ingredients and a growing enthusiasm from the consumer for good food, well cooked - as well as an appetite to try new things.  Get out there and enjoy it, life's too short for bad food.

We've been lucky  enough to supply some of our kit to street food vendors and caterers looking for the same qualities in their cookware as they demand in their  food.

Our Kitchen Companion and a selection of pans are great for crepes, flat breads, steaks, sausages, burgers........

The slow cooker will happily keep food warm for hours without overcooking it  - which has made it popular for buffets and barbeques too.

And if you haven't got access to electricity what about 7 hours cooking on charcoal on the outdoor hob or over a fire using the fabulous chapas.  We used one of these at the Good Life to rustle up bacon sandwiches for the fabulous security crew.

If you are in the catering business, run a street food stand or simply want to cater for your friends in the back garden, check out our range of cookware and if you are interested in our trade catalogue, just give us a shout.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2017 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Honey hearts by Heidi

From time to time, I get the opportunity for a bit of down time on the blog, when our friends and followers send us their own recipes to share,.

Heidi has been following us on social media for forever and has her own small selection of Netherton products.  You can find her on Twitter as @Themaddane79, which should tell you a little bit about her - she describes herself as a slightly craze Dane who loves living in the UK.

We know her as witty, kind and clever.

She has shared a seasonal, Danish treat with us giving me the day off to write Christmas cards and sweep the snow off the front steps.

'Honey Hearts' 500g honey 3 egg yolks 200 ml buttermilk 500g plain flour 100 rye flour 2tsp baking powder 1/2tsp bicarb 2tsp ground cinnamon 1tsp ground cloves 1tsp ground allspice 500g dark chocolate  Melt the honey and leave it to cool. Add the egg yolks and buttermilk and mix well. In a separate bowl sift together the flours, baking powder, bicarb and spices, and then fold them into the honey mix. On a floured surface, knead the dough until smooth. Wrap it in clingfilm and chill for at least 24 hours. Preheat the oven to 170°c.  Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and place it between 2 sheets of baking parchment. Roll out the dough until it is 1 cm thick.  Peel off the top layer of parchment and cut out hearts with a cutter.  Place hearts on a lined baking tray and bake for 12 minutes and then cool on a wire rack.  They are at their best flavour wise if you leave them in a airtight tin for a week before you cover them in melted chocolate.  They will last about 2 weeks after that if you don't eat them first.  Traditionally we decorate them with a small glossy Christmas picture.

Sharing ethics, ideas and soup

In another life, a world away, our resident creative genius designed beautiful electrical appliances.  These were then offered to brand name companies, the like of whom you would recognise, though not all of them have survived these turbulent economic times.
But ultimately, despite form and function coming together in harmony, it was never the radius of a curve, the angle of a handle, the RAL colour reference or even, dare we say,  the performance that sealed the deal.  Increasingly it became the last $0.05, the final five cents on the bottom line that won the contract. 
It was a world where, as Gordon Gekko put it, "greed is good; lunch is for wimps"; combative, competitive, cut throat and allegedly consumer driven.

But, as the recently departed David Cassidy once sang, to the hysterical delight of a myriad of teenage girls (if you are under 50, look him up, if you are over 50 and female you are probably grieving), the world is constantly changing.
As designers and manufacturers we became increasingly disillusioned with built in obsolescence, dispirited by purely cost driven quality standards, disheartened  by the impact of a throw away culture, disturbed by the environmental consequences and determined that there could be another way.


We subscribe wholeheartedly to E.F. Schumacher's principle that "infinite growth of material consumption in a finite world is an impossibility.
Schumacher died in 1977, but George Monbiot is arguing the same cause today.

Which brings us to where we are today; our creative genius's designs are not diluted, filtered by focus groups and analysed by algorithm. 
He makes them, we test them, if we like them, they work to our satisfaction and we think that some of you will like them too, then we make more and sell them.

This has been a huge change for us, and along the way we meet like-minded people; people passionate about what they produce, proud of their ethics, persevering with their attempts to make the world a better place and connecting with their suppliers and customers on a more personal basis.  All of this means that we have ditched the conflict and can now work cooperatively, collaboratively, with care and consideration.  we are not a faceless corporation, we are part of a community.

One such strand of synergy stretches 7 miles from our workshops to the premises of Bennett and Dunn, where they press pure gold; rapeseeds transformed by cold pressing into beautiful, golden oil.
What better match for Shropshire cookware than Shropshire ingredients?

Tracey and Rupert have recently launched a range of infused oils and, encouraged by the fulsome praise heaped on them by Chris Burt, Executive chef at Shropshire's famous Mytton and Mermaid hotel, we have eagerly taken up the challenge of incorporating them into our cooking.

This recipe for leek and potato soup uses two of their oils and is a warming embrace on these chilly Autumn days.

Try it with some of our squash rolls and why not add a big chunk of one of Martin Moyden's amazing Shropshire cheeses too?


2 large leeks, sliced - reserve 5cm from the green end and shred finely.
3 medium sized floury potatoes
2 tblsp Bennett and Dunn rapeseed oil
1 litre stock or water
1 tblsp Mascarpone
Oak smoked rapeseed oil.

Place a large pan or casserole over a medium heat and add the rapeseed oil.
Gently saute the sliced leeks until soft and translucent.
Add the peeled,  chopped potatoes and the stock.
Simmer until the potatoes start to collapse.
Remove from the heat, add the Mascarpone and process until smooth - either with a stick blender or in a liquidiser.   If you don't have either of these, use a potato masher to break down the larger lumps and if you really want a smooth soup, force it through a sieve or just enjoy a chunkier soup.
Return the pan to a low heat

Heat a splash of rapeseed oil in a frying pan and flash fry the shredded green leek tops over a high heat to give them a little colour and crispness.
Scatter these over the soup and for an extra layer of flavour, drizzle with about a tablespoon of Bennett and Dunn oak smoked rapeseed oil.


Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2017 ©

Peanut and tahini biscuits

This is unashamedly little more than an excuse to show off my recent charity shop bargain - this beautiful 1936 PLANT TUSCAN CHINA teacup and saucer, which cost me the princely sum of £1.00

But then who doesn't enjoy tea and biscuits and at this frantic time of year, it's always a good idea to take five, breathe and then get stuck back in to all the Christmas jobs.

100g soft butter
100g soft brown sugar
40g tahini
1 egg
200g plain flour
70g salted peanuts, and/or chocolate chips and/or raisins 

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC
Cream the butter sugar and tahini until soft and then beat in the egg.
Stir in the flour and the peanuts and bring the mixture together with your hands to make a stiff dough.

Divide into 16 pieces and roll each into a ball.  Place on a baking tray (if it's not one of ours, you may need to grease it first) and flatten slightly.

Pop the tray into the oven and cook for 15 minutes.
Carefully remove from the baking tray and transfer to a cooling rack.

While they cool, put the kettle on and make a nice pot of tea.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2017 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk