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Undaunted by the weather, a grand smoking course started the season!

February 15th, 2012 . Posted in Food Smoking Courses, Wild Boar Inn | No Comments »
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Wild Boar Inn baked Alaska - just before the fire is put out with a fruit coulis

Wild Boar Inn baked Alaska - just before the fire is put out with a fruit

In spite of a burst pipe in the smokehouse causing charcoal and wood to be damper than would have been ideal, in spite of snow many inches deep – and thanks to the efforts of the staff for clearing pathways we had a cracking day on Saturday!  We were lucky enough to stay the night before, in case the big freeze prevented us from making the journey over Shap summit on Saturday morning.  Not only did that mean we had a VERY short commute, but we also had to eat in the restaurant for TWO nights.  Belly pork with crackling and scallops sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?  And it was… but the gravy (jus?) that it came with was heavenly.   We shared a starter of rabbit pasty which was very tasty, and rounded off with an entirely unnecessary but wholly delicious flaming baked Alaska…. MMhhhMMM!

And so to the smoking… I think it best to tell the story in pictures!

 

Wild Boar Smoking courses for 2012 start tomorrow!

February 10th, 2012 . Posted in Food Smoking Courses, Wild Boar Inn | No Comments »
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In spite of arctic weather we will be heading to Windermere for our first smoky outing of 2012 tomorrow.  Charcoal is drying on the Aga, wood is soaking (or icing!) in the barn and the smokers are having their winter dust wiped away.

I hope all our guests can make it – although it’s cold up here we have been spared the worst of the snow; those travelling from further afield may have more of a problem…  Not that we have ever allowed the weather to interfere with our food!

If you were given a voucher and have been meaning to book your Smoky Jo’s food smoking course, please get in touch soon.  Our April and May courses are already nearly full!

Diana Henry recipes…

January 30th, 2012 . Posted in General food, Recipe | No Comments »
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Diana Henry Cook Simple - effortless cooking every day

Diana Henry Cook Simple - effortless cooking every day

Regular readers of this Smoky Jo’s blog will remember when award-winning food writer Diana Henry came on one of our courses last year.  She kindly presented us with a copy of “Food from Plenty – Good food made from the plentiful, the seasonal and the leftover…” – a wonderful book full of ideas, inspiration and recipes.

Yesterday I was distracted from my toils by a courier who had brought me a copy of Diana’s “Cook Simple – effortless cooking everyday”.  It is so well laid out, so easy to find ideas – and so easy to cook from!  I happened to be defrosting some pork chops that I had bought from Orton Farmers Market for supper and I wondered whether there was a suitable recipe. Yes! Pages of quick, easy and wonderfully tasty chop recipes!  I did ”smothered pork chops with mustard, thyme and butter” (and apple and wine and potatoes… but you can’t put all the ingredients in a recipe name, can you?!)  Delicious.

There’s a section for chicken recipes, another for fish recipes etc etc and most pages have suggestions for slight variations.  Then there’s the pudding section… which like other bits of the book has lots of ideas for “next-to-no-cooking” recipes. But tonight I am doing Johanna’s Swedish Apple Pie.  Well why wouldn’t I?  Smoky Jo is after all a Johanna…  that and the fact that it has a cakey twist, as well as almonds!

UPDATE:  Since drafting this post we have had Normandy roast leg of lamb – with a gravy made from cider and creme fraiche – mouth-wateringly wonderful; and we’ve had Johanna’s Swedish Apple Pie twice… the lemon zest in the not-quite-crumble-not-quite-cake absolutely makes the pudding.  AND I cooked cod on bean puree with anchovy dressing.  The flavour combinations were amazing – and yet the cod was still coddy.  The only change I made was to leave out parsley – I love fish dishes but so many recipes insist on a mountain (or so it seems) of fresh parsley and I have tried – truly I’ve tried! – to like it, but no.  Anyway, I replaced the parsely in the dressing with coriander – and the fresh lift it gave it was I’m sure as good as you would have got from parsley.  And anyway, I liked it!

 

Food smoking news from one of Smoky Jo’s star pupils!

January 27th, 2012 . Posted in Filing Cabinet, Food Smoking Courses, General food, Testimonials | No Comments »
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For so many people these days learning to smoke food is just a step on a journey adventuring with food…  Getting emails like this one from Matt, who came on the first two day smoking course of last season is why Smoky Jo’s run food smoking courses!

“Hi Jo and G,

A tardy note to wish you a Happy New Year and drop you an update smoking activities over Christmas hols!

A marathon 3 day smoking session using the filing cabinet method, fuelled with charcoal and oak, and the cold smoke generator filling in the gaps.

The smoking fare included two rumps of Roe, which required a good few days of brining and 36 hours of smoking.  In the lower draws I smoked some chicken, pork ribs, bree, cheddar, salmon and homemade sausages – using a present inspired by the sausage making on your course!

One of the Roe rumps went back to the chap who shot it, and mine is hanging from the larder hoping to achieve a parma ham consistency….. it still smells OK so I’m hopeful!

Anyway, still getting plenty of pleasure from experimentation, and very inspired by the clay oven smoker!

Cheers,

Matt”

We are looking forward to a new year of smoking courses starting at The Wild Boar in February…

Wild Boar Smoked food, Burns Night and Whisky tasting….

January 20th, 2012 . Posted in Wild Boar Inn | No Comments »
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… it’s a quiet smoking time here at Shap but it doesn’t mean we’re not thinking food!

Smoky Jo outside the Wild Boar Inn near Windermere

Smoky Jo outside the Wild Boar Inn near Windermere

We took our friend to the Wild Boar Inn near Windermere for lunch on Monday.  We run our smoking courses here in the winter months and never fail to get a warm welcome! Monday was no exception and we shared the Fish Board.  Couldn’t have been better!  Their own damson cured smoked salmon,  smoked mussels, (served in a sardine tin!) anchovies, prawns and a wonderful smoked salmon pate… all washed down with a refreshing glass of Sauvignon Blanc.  Thanks for your hospitality, as always… and see you next week for Burns Night!

 

A mixed Christmas of smoked food and sadness

January 2nd, 2012 . Posted in General food smoking | No Comments »
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Nougat RIP

Nougat RIP

We enjoyed our best-ever wardrobe-smoked salmon – as did various friends and relatives, our neighbours enjoyed the turkey we smoked for them.

Today it was good to see John and Elayne - who came on one of our food smoking course back in April - when they popped in to update us on their smoking exploits having been smoking salmon for Christmas presents.  They have also gone in to making, smoking and curing sausages in a big way!  We hope to have some recipes from them soon….

They also took the opportunity to buy a cold smoke generator.

I wouldn’t usually mention anything so sad on this blog but I know many people who have learned to smoke food with us have enjoyed meeting Nougat – the most beautiful cat in the world with more personality than a chat show.  Sadly we lost him a couple of days ago and the world is just not quite the place it was.

This amazing picture was taken by one of our guests.  So many people were enchanted by him, his voice, playfulness and occasional arrogance.  Those with VERY upmarket cars had to make sure he wasn’t relaxing on their leather upholstery… We miss him terribly.

Smoking salmon at home for Christmas…

December 15th, 2011 . Posted in General food smoking, Home Smokers | No Comments »
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Smoking salmon and haggis in a wardrobe

Smoking salmon and haggis for Christmas in a wardrobe

I have just had an e-conversation with Geoff, who was here on a smoking course with Jean in the summer (remember that..?)  He was struggling to create perfect smoked salmon… and it’s not surprising in this weather!  This was the problem….

“Dear Smoky Jo/George

After the course in the summer I successfully smoked about 700 g of salmon/trout using the Cold Smoke Generator bit of kit.  I did this in a Webber type of BBQ.

The weight loss was about 20% and all was fine. I am now trying to smoke about 1.5 kg of salmon and after 3 hours dry salting ( it had previously been frozen so I reduced the time) I have smoked it for about 13 hrs. and as yet it has hardly lost any weight at all!  (less than 10% ) What am I doing wrong? Any Ideas?

Best regards for the Festive Season and hoping you have time to  help me out…

Regards,   Geoff Lloyd

The solution:

“Hi Geoff,  Delighted to hear you are still smoking – It won’t be you, it will be the weather!  Lots of moisture in the atmosphere… If you have a cold dry place to leave it that may work; otherwise you will need to dry it with air movement – a fan oven with no heat will work, or a larder with a dehumidifier, or on a cooling rack with a fan going over it… or converting a cupboard/fridge and rigging up a fan inside… Hope this helps!

We’re just salting our Christmas salmon… Happy smoking!

George

And finally… “Thanks George for getting back to me so quickly… I don’t feel a failure now. I’ll try your ideas. Got lots of ideas for DIY engineering!!

Best regards to you and Jo from Jean and myself – G”

We really were just smoking our Christmas salmon and now it’s on Heath Robinson/Blue Peter shelves in the wardrobe with some oak and beech wood smoke… oh yes, and a haggis is in there too!

Are we lucky enough to eat the best smoked food in the world…?

December 7th, 2011 . Posted in Food Smoking Courses, Recipe, Wild Boar Inn | No Comments »
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Superlative smoked mince pies

Superlative smoked mince pies

Well, it’s hard to say for sure but we think the meals served at The Wild Boar after our food smoking courses take some beating!  Not only are the brines different every time, created as they are by our guests (or students or clients…); not only is the selection fabulous and the means of smoking varied, and different woods are used to smoke the meat, fish, cheese, fruit and vegatables…. but it is all served in the most wonderful grazing-meal imaginable with the addition of The Wild Boar’s own smoked fillet and sirloin steaks AND Wild Boar!  I have only just recovered enough to write this posting, after the excitement of the meal and the engagement!

The Christmas course saw the first experimental use of our “Smoking Gun” and we started the meal with smoked bloody mary’s – some with oysters in – oh yes!  The other “first” on this day was mince pies

Smoking gun adds the wow factor to a bloody mary
Smoking gun adds the wow factor to a bloody mary

made with pastry using smoked flour.  This was one of Smoky Geo’s whackier ideas – she doesn’t usually like mincemeat OR pastry… a gentle smoky aroma reached the tastebuds before the pie (which was top quality anyway – the lightest meltiest pastry) and when the mouthful was gone a tangy smokiness remained to enhance the accompanying coffee!  The gallery I think tells the rest of the story…

A very special smoking engagement…

November 27th, 2011 . Posted in Wild Boar Inn | 1 Comment »
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Stuart and Ruth before they got engaged

Stuart and Ruth before they got engaged - the last picture without THAT ring!

Congratulations to Stuart and Ruth!
At the end of a tempestuous and windy day’s food smoking at The Wild Boar we had a veritable feast created by chef’s Mark and Marc. We two (Smoky Geo & Smoky Jo) really enjoyed our evening in the company of Peter and Barbara and their son Stuart and his girlfriend Ruth.
By the time we saw them again at breakfast Stuart and Ruth were engaged! Ruth was sporting a gorgeous ring and the whole family wore delighted smiles.
Very best wishes to you all – what a great day to end our smoking year!

More food related information to follow in my next post….

Good Food and Good Company with Food & Company in Cumbria…

November 25th, 2011 . Posted in General food | No Comments »
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Joan Gate and Margaret Brough of Food & Company

Joan Gate and Margaret Brough of Food & Company

Last week we were invited to join Margaret and Joan in the grand but welcoming surrounds of Mirehouse historic house by Bassenthwaite Lake just outside Keswick.

They run Food and Company - a venture they developed with a wealth of experience gained as professional caterers for functions around the county.  Food and Company run and host cookery workshops and if you watch this space we hope to be working with them next year…

Last week it was a rare treat to be on the receiving end of a masterclass!  It was their Christmas special and the menu they produced was delicious – from baked cheese parcels and roasted pears to an astonishing Bailey’s and white chocolate cheesecake via Baked red cabbage with chestnuts and Cumberland sausages…. and we got samples throughout the demonstrations!  The morning finished with a festive cup made with with spiced rum, fruit juices, ginger wine etc.  While we – the guests – (I just have to remind myself that we were NOT working!) socialised and imbibed the room was converted to a dining room… and more delicious food was served.  The lunchtime stand out dish for me was a parsnip bread and butter pudding.  The almost soufflee-like texture together with the sweetness of the parsnip and the crisp cheese on the top was for me the ultimate in comfort food…  tasty, homely, warming, oooo I want some more, NOW!

I wonder what smoked parsnip would be like…?

We have our last smoking course of the year at the Wild Boar tomorrow – lots of festive fare on the menu.  When the dust has settled we will be talking to Joan and Margret and planning a completely different style of workshop that will work at Mirehouse in 2012…. We have lots of thoughts and ideas spinning in our heads now – for us, the biggest challenge is trying to
make sure we don’t force EVERYTHING we’ve ever learnt about food smoking into a short space of time!

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