Tag Archives: Radford Mill Farm

Fast fish dish

Posted on April 5, 2009 | 6 comments

ling-and-sprouting-broccoli

This fish dish had to be fast as it was 11pm at night and we were all tired.

I sliced several shallots thinly and fried them gently in olive oil, with the heat turned right down and the lid on. Using a lid is my new habit; it retains heat so ups a dish’s eco-credits, as well as moisture and flavour. Win/win/win…

Still in my macrobiotic-mood, I slivered an inch of peeled raw healthy ginger in with the onions. Then I placed the fresh fish fillets on its bed of onions and back went the lid.

I figure the fish cooks by a combination of steam and heat from the aromatic stewing onions. If you can add some scientific know-how, please do!

I had bought the fillets of ling that morning from David Felce, one of two fab fishmongers at Bristol Farmers’ market. Although from the endangered cod family, the ling is line-caught, a method that does not net a ton of other fish at the same time, (then discarded wastefully).

Ling is not considered glamorous but please ignore this illusionary hierarchy of fish. Seasonal and fresh, its flesh is firm, white and flavoursome.

Meanwhile I steamed my beloved purple sprouting broccoli from Radford Mill organic farm shop, having sliced its woody stems into smaller tubes so they would be soft enough to eat.

Purple sprouting broccoli is in season from January to May when other UK-grown greens are sparse, according to my much-recommended Riverford Farm Cook Book.

I had some miso paste left over (a tablespoon of miso blended with water) and added it to the pan with about 50mls of water, for extra flavour.

We served it with organic spelt bread bought at the Common Loaf stall – who make their bread with love and the best raw ingredients-ever – also from the farmers’ market.

And voila, after 20 minutes, the dish was ready. Fast-enough for you?

P.S. The next day I had the pleasure of meeting and having lunch with a fellow blogger, Helen, from Haddock in the Kitchen. Helen was over from France visiting her lovely daughter Holly.

We ate freshly-cooked food at Zazu’s Kitchen – heartily recommended.

We chose frittatta (omelette and potatoes and herbs) and salads (including my adored lentils). I pictured my lunch with Helen’s kind gift, a pot of honey, or miel, comme on dit en français.

The honey was made by a friend of Helen’s in France. Oooooh I absolutely love real honey.

zazzus-2409

6 Comments

Posted in food, health, organic, producers, recipe idea, restaurant, sustainable

Tagged eco-cooking, line-caught ling, ling, miso, purple sprouting broccoli, Radford Mill Farm, Riverford Farm Cook Book, Steaming, Zazu's Kitchen

Brown rice is nice

Posted on March 17, 2009 | 9 comments

rice-with-mike

I have ten minutes to write this blog starting from now (8.15pm).

Wow, it usually takes me two hours including uploading pics, checking links etc.

My first link goes to Haddock in the Kitchen for a novel use of my ten-minute rule

– why not use it to complete a blog?

Mike and I have been eating brown rice with every meal since March 1st (I have been counting) and it is beautiful, truly a superfood.

Above, brown rice came with organic local greens, from Radford Mill Farm.

(and mushroom) served with a salad of grated organic carrots

with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Below, brown rice with fresh organic veg including steamed beetroot and parsnip.

To my right, a new addition to the blog: my first ad.

What do you think about ads on a blog?

more-brown-rice

9 Comments

Posted in eating well on a budget, food, health, organic, recipe idea, sustainable

Tagged Radford Mill Farm

Starhawk and pot luck

Posted on July 31, 2008 | 5 comments

It’s not every day you meet a witch. The American pagan peace activist and writer Starhawk was giving a workshop on a nearby farm. We all bought a vegetarian offering for the shared lunch (see above).

Food brings people together and if everyone brings a dish, it’s not hard work to feed 30. The tastes may be pot luck but they miraculously get on well.

Starhawk shared with us some magical methods for keeping our spirits up while saving the world. She said, try to be in nature every day for fifteen minutes. Take time to wonder at how that leaf falls or green shoots burst out of a cracked pavement, and use your physical senses to ground you.

Radford Mill Farm was the perfect setting. We closed our eyes and heard the wind in the trees and the birds, calling. We opened them and walked barefoot on the wet grass. We felt the sun on our backs and saw the sky. I felt like a cooped-up chicken allowed to go free range.

Green activists live with the doom-reality of an impending environmental crisis but they are remarkably upbeat, probably because they are doing something to make the world a better place.

Starhawk’s talk was organised by Sarah Pugh, the Transition Bristol maven. Transition Culture is about getting self-sufficient so when supermarket shelves are empty and petrol pumps are dry, we have by this time learnt to grow our own veg (and guard our allotments from the marauding hordes?).

Our vegetables will have to be organic when oil is scarce. Non-organic farming relies on oil to make chemical fertiliser in factories. As oil prices rise, so does the cost of food. Organic farming has no need for gallons of oil. It makes its fertiliser on the farm, courtesy of the sun.

Radford Mill Farm is converting to organic and is set on making it a community affair. The official term is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA for those in the know). Originally from the US, it’s about sharing a farm’s responsibilities – and rewards. You commit in advance, with cash or in kind, and in return get a share of the harvest.

When the going gets tough, we will need our family farms more than ever. Adopt one now!

Below is a picture of Starhawk listening to Siobhan, a co-founder of Tribe of Doris, the UK’s most prestigious cultural festival. Here’s a tip for keeping cheerful: if you want to learn to dance or play music and can live under canvas for a convivial few days over the Bank Holiday weekend, then that’s the festival for you. (And don’t forget Climate Camp next week).