Celeriac and Lentils

 We are past celeriac season here in the southern hemisphere but, if you happen to have one that has not gone to seed yet, this looks like a lovely way of eating it.

I might use lovage and kohlrabi because I have all the other ingredients. I love Yottam.

"Celeriac is probably my favourite root. It is delicate, yet very nutty, and has an elegant oily smoothness. Like all good vegetables, it is marvellous simply with a bit of olive oil. Here it works with the lentils and nuts to create a hearty autumn main course. Serve it warm, with a radish, cucumber and dill salad dressed with soured cream and olive oil. Or, allow it to cool down, then take it to work for lunch or on a picnic."

INGREDIENTS

SERVES FOUR

• 60g whole hazelnuts (skin on)
• 200g Puy lentils
• 700ml water
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 1 small celeriac (650g), peeled and cut into 1cm chips
• 4 tbsp olive oil 
• 3 tbsp hazelnut oil
• 3 tbsp good-quality red wine vinegar 
• 4 tbsp chopped mint
• salt and black pepper

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 140°C/Gas Mark 1. Scatter the hazelnuts on a small baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Let them cool down, then chop roughly.
2. Combine the lentils, water, bay leaves and thyme in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15–20 minutes, or until al dente. Drain in a sieve. Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, cook the celeriac in plenty of boiling salted water for 8–12 minutes, or until just tender. Drain.
3. In a large bowl mix the hot lentils (if they have cooled down they won’t soak up all the flavours) with the olive oil, 2 tablespoons of the hazelnut oil, the vinegar, some black pepper and plenty of salt. Add the celeriac and stir well. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
4. To serve straight away, stir in half the mint and half the hazelnuts. Pile onto a serving dish or in a bowl and drizzle the remaining hazelnut oil on top. Garnish with the rest of the mint and hazelnuts.
5. To serve cold, wait for the lentils and celeriac to cool down before finally adjusting the seasoning and possibly adding some more vinegar, if you like. Add hazelnut oil, mint and nuts in the same way as when serving hot.

Cumquat Marmalade

 No wonder my mother's cumquat marmalade was so good; it takes 3 days to make.

Poh's Steamed Fish

Fish Soup

 I was so lucky to get some chicken stock at Crop Swap last Saturday. I used it tonight, in a fish soup. It was so gelatinous that it didn't move from the jar until it was well tilted towards the pan. This soup is seriously fabulous; made with my favourite flavours of saffron, turmeric, fennel seeds etc combined with local fish, split mung, a dash of white wine, bottle tomatoes, veg freshly picked from my garden..... including leeks, nettles....

7 Days and 7 Minutes, 100% Rye, Sourdough Bread

From my Sourdough Workshops 

This beautiful, tasty bread is one of my favourites. It needs to be made in a tin as rye has very little gluten. Start 7 days before you want to eat it!!

Day 1: weigh out 300g of organic rye grains. Put into a bowl, cover well with water and leave overnight.

Day 2: Strain off water. Place the rye grains into a damp calico bag and tie that to a wooden spoon over a deep enough bowl that it hangs without touching the bottom.

Day 3: Fill the bowl with water and let the bag of rye grains soak for 30 minutes. Put the timer on because you don’t want to kill the rye grains by drowning them! Tip the water out and let them hang again.

Day 4: Open the bag. The rye grains will probably be just sprouting. If not then repeat day 3. Once they are just sprouting, remove from the bag, put into a sieve and wash well. Put them back into the bowl and pour over 250ml white wine. Stir and leave all day.

Meanwhile you need to feed the rye sourdough starter twice during this day so you are ready to make the loaf in the evening.

To make the loaf (evening of day 4):

Strain the wine from the rye grains and save both! Beat together 200g starter +the strained wine + water to make up to 150g. Mix in 400g of the rye grains (save the rest, about 1/2 cup, to put in a soup / stew / another loaf of bread).

In another bowl mix 250g organic, wholemeal rye flour + 1 tsp salt. Stir in the contents of the first bowl. It will be a sticky dough. Rye has very little gluten so there is no need to do 2 risings. Simply grease a small loaf tin and dust it with rye flour. (I use a loaf tin that will fit inside my cast iron pot for easy baking.) Press the dough gently into the tin and make an even top. Cover lightly and leave at room temperature for 15 hours….

Day 5: Heat the cast iron pot for 30 minutes at 240C. Bake the loaf as normal…. 35 minutes with the lid on at 240C then 15 minutes with the lid off at 180C. Remove from the oven but put the lid back on and allow it to cool all day in the pot.

Evening of day 5: Remove it from the pot and the tin. At this point it will be sticky and damp underneath. Don’t worry! I wrap it in a beeswax cloth, but Dan says put the loaf in a lightly oiled, brown paper bag.

Day 6: Do nothing! Do not eat it yet!

Day 7: Ok, now you may have a slice for lunch. If it is still a little damp, wait until day 8. It will be fabulous and you will be starting on the next 7 days and 7 minutes rye bread process.

Hemp Butter

 This is delicious! I spread a thin layer of honey on toast then spread on the hemp butter. Enjoy!

From the book: Amber and Rye by Zuza Zak