Welcome

This is an attempt to document my efforts to grow and eat locally around Melbourne, Derbyshire. My family own a nine acre smallholding on which we grow fruit and vegetables and keep bees, and chickens, but that won't feed us alone, so the idea is to get to know our local produce and to see how easy/hard it is to follow a diet that is local to within 30 miles. The fun part is also trying some new (easy) recipes that use home-grown and local produce. Feel free to comment, send in recipes, and share your experiences of buying and eating locally.

Thursday 15 November 2012

Pumpkin and Raisin Tea Loaf

This loaf comes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in Saturday's Guardian.  I though it was worth a go as there is a lot of pumpkin around at the moment.  I didn't have a lemon so substituted orange as pumpkin and orange is a classic combination.

Grated pumpkin or squash works just as well as carrot in a cake, making for a sweet, moist result. This delicious loaf is also made without any oil or butter. Makes 12 generous slices.
200g light muscovado sugar
4 large eggs, separated
200g finely grated raw squash flesh
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
100g raisins
100g ground almonds
200g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Generous grating of fresh nutmeg
Heat the oven to 170C/335F/gas mark 3 and line a 10cm x 20cm loaf tin with baking parchment. Use an electric whisk to beat the sugar and egg yolks for two to three minutes, until pale and creamy. Lightly stir in the pumpkin, lemon zest and juice, raisins and almonds. Combine the flour, salt and spices, sift these in, then fold them in. Beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Beat a heaped tablespoonful of egg white into the batter to loosen it, then fold in the rest as gently as you can.
Tip into the prepared tin and level the top. Bake for about an hour, until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, than transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Bread

Bread using the River Cottage Bread Handbook method. This is 50 per cent wholemeal. It looks quite authentic, I hope it tastes it!