FLOWER POT KITCHEN: HOW DOES SHE DO IT THE SECRET'S IN THE GARDEN AND PANTRY!

22 Jun 2017

HOW DOES SHE DO IT THE SECRET'S IN THE GARDEN AND PANTRY!

PREP LIKE A HERO...

Just a super hint of organsiation for a when ever day can produce a easy impromptu feast with no effort...

When friends or family rock up unexpectedly then its time for a impromptu feast, suddenly I have been able to serve hot fresh scones coming from the oven, goregous flatbreads to stuff with garden egg salad and beetroot relish, divine crispy onion pakoras with a curry spiced mayo dip, elderflower cordial or champange and a batch of buttery short bread biscuits baking for later...A beautiful lunch that appears from nowhere with out any drama and no planning ahead and no one noticed I made it all while we chatted and caught up!

The secrets in the pantry!

I always keep some mason jars loaded with dry pre weighed ingredients ready to go in a moments notice just by adding the wet ingredients that are written on the mason jar label, this ensures gorgeous food with no need to think drama!

This can be with any recipe you like, muffins, your favourite dinner bread rolls, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, you get the idea...I always re fill the jars once used ensuring that they are all primmed ready to go so that I can enjoy my family and friends time and still give gorgeous food at a moments notice.

The wonderful bonus for my family is that we have a abundance of food straight from the garden all year round so there is always fresh eggs from our hens, garden salad a mix of salad leaves, spinach, rhubarb chard and various kales, vegetables to saute, zoodle or stuff and my pride and joy our canning pantry of preserved roasted beetroot chutney, Asian pickled cauliflower florets and juilened

carrots along with sweet and sour chutneys amoung a abundance of other pickles, salsas and passattas from the years harvest.

FABULOUS SPICY INDIAN PAKORAS

STUFF YOUR JAR WITH...

250g chickpea flour (gram flour)

50g self raising flour

1.5 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tspcorinader

1/2 tsp cumin

ON THE LABEL

250ml water

300g grated potato

300g sliced onions

100g fresh spinach

1 fresh chilli diced

1 ltr nut oil for frying

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS ON THE LABEL

Add all the wet to the dry and mix well, heat the oil to 180 C and spoon in generous dollops of your pakora mix, fry for around one and a half minutes each side, drain and enjoy fresh and hot.

GORGEOUS BUTTERY SHORT BREAD BISCUITS

STUFF YOUR JARS WITH

8oz plain flour

5oz sugar golden light

ON THE LABEL

175g chilled diced butter

2 tbsp water if needed

2 tbsp sugar for dusting

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS ON THE LABEL

Combine, bring together, roll, cut out biscuits, sprinkle with sugar, bake 160 C around 8 mins, no colour.

FABULOUS BUTTERY LAYERED PUFFED PARATHAS

FILL YOUR JAR WITH

125g wholemeal flour

125 g plain white flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

ON THE LABEL

2 tbsp melted ghee or butter

140 ml water

4 tbsp melted ghee for painting

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS ON THE LABEL

Mix the wet with the dry and form in to a soft dough, knead for a couple of minutes and leave to rest for 20 minutes. Divide the dough in to 6 balls. Roll each ball out to a thin disk, paint the disk with some of the melted ghee and dust with a little wholewheat flour, only a dusting, fold in half, paint with the ghee again and fold in half again, now paint one more time, fold in half and then roll out until half as thick, I don't worry about the shape as the flavour and flakey melt in your mouth texture is all you can focus on when you tear, dip and eat...To cook heat a skillet medium hot and cook each side for around 1.5 minutes on each side, you want a little charring and you want to see a lovely puffed up flakey layers on the side of the parathas to finish paint each paratha with more melted ghee, the decadence of sumptuous.

Fill your jars with what ever you want and have fun knowing you can just be a super hero in the kitchen, your family will be amazed at how you whip up pancakes, waffles, muffins etc with out any effort, this prep like a hero also moves on to the fridge, see my prep like a hero for the fridge post all it takes is an hour once a week to set your fridge up for super speedy fresh cooking all at a moments notice.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.