Category: Food: Cooking and Enjoying
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Our Week in Pictures: 8th September 2014
It’s been another week of harvesting and processing. I’ve been making the most of the summer sun to dry as much as I can, with particular emphasis on things that can add variety to the animals’ winter feed. Left to right, top to bottom. 1. We discovered that the dead stalks of the parsnips we more »
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In the Kitchen: Sorrel ‘Pickle’
We’re fortunate in that we have a great deal of sheep’s sorrel (Rumex acetosella) growing wild all over the garden. It’s got a very strong lemony flavour (to the extent that it’s known as azeda in Portuguese, literally meaning sour), and is a versatile addition to the foragers collection. A few leaves make a great addition to more »
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Our Week in Pictures: 1st September 2014
The start of a new month and we’re wondering how the summer managed to pass so quickly! This week Jeroen has been working on replacing a friend’s roof, and here at the farm we’ve been caught up in a frenzy of harvesting and preserving our bounty. Left to right, top to bottom: 1) Yellow cherry more »
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In the Kitchen: Fruit Scrap Vinegar
Here at Casalinho nothing is wasted, and I really mean nothing. But if I can squeeze in an extra step between kitchen, animal shed and compost, you can bet I will! Fruit scrap vinegar is a fabulous way of doing exactly that. Make a secondary, tasty product from something which many households would simply throw away. more »
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In the Kitchen: Carqueja Cordial
Carqueja (Genista tridentata) is currently colouring all our hillsides a glorious yellow. It’s a relative of the spinier gorse which those from northern Europe are probably more familiar with. As well as making great goat fodder, the flowers can be collected and dried to make a fabulous tea. My neighbours have told me it’s more »
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In the Kitchen: Dolmades
Finally, despite some pretty rotten weather earlier in the year, our vines are looking lush and green. Of course the goats adore them, but I see no reason why they should get all the fun, particularly as they get so many at harvest time. It’s quite possible to harvest a reasonable number of leaves from more »
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Plum Crazy
What could be better than a crate full of delicious, fresh fruit? I think the crates of organic fruit currently sat in our training room would be worth a small fortune if you tried to buy them back ‘home’ in a UK Tescos! This particular batch have been processed into plum, strawberry and blackberry jam, more »
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In the Kitchen: Elderflower Cordial
The edges of fields are now white with elderflowers, and their perfume is positively delicious. There are a host of wonderful things you can do with elderflowers, but our family favourite is elderflower cordial. I’ve no idea now where it originally came from, but the recipe I use uses 40 flower heads per batch. 2.5 more »
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Cabrito Assado: In the Kitchen with Your Goat
Those of you who have been following the blog will know that we recently killed our young goat for the table. If not, check out Goat Butchery for Beginners. So now that you have goat meat, what’s the best way to deal with it? Chop it into chunks. Pop it in a dish with a lid more »
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Cabrito Assado: Goat Butchery for Beginners
The deed has been done and Assado, our young male goat, is no more. Those who would prefer not to learn about how to butcher a goat should probably not read further. From experience though, I know that many of our volunteers are really interested in learning more about the process. I salute them, because more »