Thank you fairy godmother!

Having begun the year attempting to eat more healthily - date and nut snacks to replace chocolate and cake, and experiments with fermented food - I seem to be continuing the 'healthy' theme to other aspects of my life.

I already try to buy household and beauty products that are kinder to the environment but these always seem to still contain an alarmingly long list of ingredients, many of which have rather chemical-sounding names. I was therefore interested to read about Castile soap, which is one of the most pure soaps you can buy. It is made from olive oil and the only chemical used in its making appears to be skimmed off before the product is finalised. I was delighted to find a liquid version that is unscented, meaning that I can either use it in this form or add essential oils of my choosing. I swiftly bought myself a large bottle and already have it lined up for use in the shower, as a hand soap and will also try it in place of washing-up-liquid.

The ability to scent my own shower gel and soap got me thinking that it would be nice to be able to make my own hand and body lotion, similarly scented. But how?

It almost felt as if my fairy godmother was watching over me. Having come across an interesting magazine abandoned at work, I decided to scour the magazine rack in my local shopping centre for the latest issue. I did find it but I also found another magazine full of recipes to make your own bath, body and household cleaning products. I couldn't believe my luck.

The magazine is American and so I was a bit worried that the ingredients may not be available in the UK or that the measures would be a bit different. However, I soon found a website selling lots of the products specified and decided, when it came to quantities, that half the fun would be in the experimentation.

I have started small but I guess that is sensible if experimenting and also considering the fact that these products have absolutely no added preservatives and so I have no idea if they are likely to go off. I opted to make an intensive hand and foot moisturiser. The sort that I can slather on at bedtime and let it work its magic while I sleep.

It's not very photogenic but here goes. I melted 1/8th of a cup of cocoa butter with 7 teaspoons of beeswax pellets in a Pyrex bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.

I then added 1/2 a cup of coconut oil and mixed until melted.

To this I added 1/8th of a cup of almond oil, 1/4 teaspoon of caster oil, and a few drops of essential oil. The magazine suggested just 6 drops but I could barely smell anything so I added another 4 for good measure. Since I'm going to be using this at night I chose calming scents - lavender and vanilla. I poured this into a clean container that I had saved which used to contain body butter.

It only took about 10 minutes to cool and completely set.

I still think it could have had more scent added but I can experiment with that another time. For now I'm just chuffed that I've made my own hand and foot balm and it took less than half an hour, including the washing up!

I wonder what I'll attempt next? No doubt I'll let you know...

Mother's Day treats

Although traditionally a day of celebrating the 'mother church' in much of the European Christian religions and their derivatives across the globe, I have to say I fall into the more modern practice of marking Mother's Day by celebrating motherhood and, more specifically, treating my Mum in some way.

This year, in an attempt to make the most of the good weather anticipated at the start of the day, we had a morning outing to one of our local National Trust properties. We got there soon after the grounds opened and swiftly headed away from the more commonly trod paths to areas we don't normally explore. Here we encountered very few others and enjoyed views through the leafless trees. The sun peered through the clouds far more than the weather forecast had led us to expect and was beautifully warm. It was great to get out and, in a more pagan fashion, enjoy Mother Nature.

After a couple of miles, we headed back to more familiar territory and a bench which my parents have claimed as their own. Here we broke out the flask of coffee and, as a special treat, some chocolate, beetroot and prune brownies. To the uninitiated, beetroot and prune may not sound very appealing but these additions just ensure that you have the gooiest and stickiest chocolate brownie you could wish for. Pretty simple to make, I can really recommend them.

Fresh from the oven

We eventually left at about 1pm, passing queues of cars streaming in, feeling a little smug that we had enjoyed much of the grounds in private before many others had arrived (they were clearly all too busy enjoying breakfast in bed). Back at my parents' place I pulled lunch out of a bag which consisted of a roasted tomato and cheese tart with a polenta crust, and a salad of watercress, lettuce, beetroot and walnuts.

If you follow a gluten-free diet, the polenta crust is a really easy alternative to pastry. In a food processor blitz together 170g instant polenta, 75g gluten-free flour, and 120g soft butter with 80ml water. Line a 24cm loose bottomed round tin with baking paper and then press the polenta dough evenly around the bottom and sides of the tin. Bake this in an oven (180C, 160C fan, gas 4) for around 25 minutes. Keep an eye on it so that the sides don't collapse inwards or slump down. You can just push them back into shape if it's not too late in the cooking process. Of course, you could line the base with baking paper and fill it with baking beans but I have mixed success with this (often with the paper sticking to the dough) so tend not to bother.

Anyway, you can fill this base with any filling of your choosing. I chose cheese and tomato. Firstly, I cut a load of baby plum tomatoes in half lengthwise, placed them skin side down on a baking tray lined with baking paper, sprinkled them with thyme and freshly ground black pepper and roasted them in the oven alongside the polenta crust until they were soft. This took about 20 minutes.

I then mixed 300g of lower fat cream cheese with 2 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk, 25g of finely grated Parmesan and a handful of basil using a food processor. I tipped this into the polenta crust and then dotted the roasted tomatoes over the top. The whole lot was baked in the oven for 25 minutes until set. Cool it in the tin and serve it slightly warm or at room temperature.

Another one fresh from the oven

Having sown tomato seeds last weekend, I'm already looking forward to having some to pick to make this tart again, although I think I probably have about 4-5 months to wait until I'm lucky enough to have any homegrown fruit! However, the warmth of today's sun has got me feeling very positive about the year to come.

However you have spent Mother's Day, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

More fermenting

If you have heard enough about sauerkraut from me this year I suggest you skip this post and wait for the next, which I promise will be about something different. However, if you are still even remotely interested in hearing more about fermented food, do read on!

It was a complete coincidence that the February talk at the West of England Herb Group that I attend was about fermented foods. The speaker was Matthew Pennington, chef at The Ethicurean restaurant in Wrington, just outside Bristol. The restaurant is set in a walled garden where they aim to cook all they grow. They began experimenting with fermenting food in part to preserve things they had a glut of and in part to see them through the UK 'hungry gap' of March to May when there is traditionally nothing to harvest that is home grown.

Matthew demonstrated the very simple method of making sauerkraut (and I was very reassured that I had done it right) before going on to talk about all the other things he has fermented. Essentially, anything goes. If a vegetable can be chopped, chop it up: grated beetroot; shredded leeks; diced squash; a mix of shredded carrot, onion and celery. If you'd rather not chop it, leave it whole and soak it in a brine - cucumbers, peppers.

The golden formula just seems to be to add 2% salt. So, that's 2% salt to the weight of the chopped vegetables - 20g of salt to 1kg of shredded vegetables - or 2% salt to the combined weight of the whole vegetables and the water you are soaking them in. So if you have stuffed your jar with baby cucumbers and topped up with mineral water so they are completely covered, weigh this and then then add 2% salt (remembering to subtract the weight of the jar first). And yes, I did just say 'mineral' water, because tap water contains chlorine which will kill the bacteria you are attempting to grow. You must also keep all the vegetable matter under 'water'. The fermenting process is anaerobic but anything poking out of the liquid that the fermenting process produces has the opportunity to grow something you really don't want to eat, such as mould. If need be, weigh down your vegetables with a zip lock bag filled with water, a 'pickle pebble' or even a sterilised beach pebble (boil it in water to kill off anything untoward). Or just top up with mineral water if your vegetable and salt mix is very dry.

Of course, you can also add whatever spices or flavourings you like, but do bear in mind that anything you add will have its flavour enhanced enormously. I think I added half a teaspoon of whole black peppercorns to my litre/kilo of cabbage and it is very peppery. Matthew said that juniper berries go really well with cabbage but that you only need to add 2-3 per kilo of vegetables. In Wells Market this week I came across a stall with different flavoured sauerkraut, including a 'kimchi' flavoured one. Kimchi is a Korean fermented dish where a whole cabbage is fermented in a spicy brine. This version just added the finely chopped chillies, ginger and garlic to the shredded cabbage and salt mix and made it as if it were sauerkraut. Great if you like something fairly spicy (not forgetting that the spice flavours are greatly enhanced as they ferment).

As for how long to leave it, temperature plays a big part. However, 1 week seems to be the minimum but it can take up to 1 month if the temperature is a lot below 20C. Since the fermentation process releases gas, your jar should not be completely sealed. Matthew had an array of special fermenting jars from Lakeland but for his kefir he had used a clip-top jar (like a Kilner jar) but had removed the rubber seal. Before being so knowledgeable about fermenting food (hey, I've made a batch of sauerkraut and been to a talk!) I had used a clip-top jar with the rubber seal still on. The air still managed to bubble out so I don't think there are any hard and fast rules.

After this introduction to fermented vegetables to eat, Matthew moved onto drinks.  The first was a fermented beetroot drink which was made from large chunks of beetroot, mineral water, live yoghurt whey (the liquid that would drain off if you were to put some yoghurt in a muslin lined sieve and leave it for about 24 hours) and 1% salt. Next was fermented milks or kefir (use any milk you like including nut 'milks') and add a starter 'kefir grain' which you can apparently buy on Ebay. Next we moved onto Meads. I really did not know that honey will spontaneously ferment in water with no need to add salt or any sort of yeast or starter grain. We tried a lovely honey mead which had been flavoured with Winter Savoury. I think the measures were 500ml mineral water, 100ml honey (raw is best as it is more likely to contain the good bacteria you want to grow), a handful of the flavouring herb and perhaps a handful of dried fruit to keep the fermenting process going (dried apricots had been used in this case, but dried cranberries, cherries will all work too giving slightly different flavours). The result was a beautiful pale gold liquid which was about 8% alcohol after 6 months of fermenting. This is the only fermented product that is properly alcoholic and takes longer to ferment than the vegetables. A month is the minimum recommended time at room temperature but the longer you leave it the more the flavour will develop - and presumably the alcohol content will rise too.

Finally, Matthew moved onto fermented herbs and spices. He had brought along chillies, ginger and turmeric for us to try. I have to say the fermented ginger smelt disgusting but a mixture of all three on cooked potatoes was delicious. He has also tried garlic, lemongrass, and galangal. He tends to blitz the chosen raw spice with 2% salt so that he has a paste as that is how he likes to use it in the restaurant - adding a spoonful at the end of cooking - but if you wanted to have larger chunks or to leave it whole, go for it. We also tried a fermented 'blitz' of rosemary and parsley, and some amazing wild garlic, which had been left whole.

Since it is almost wild garlic season I can already picture Herb Group members foraging out in force and experimenting with fermentation. Just imagine a generous dollop of fermented wild garlic and a knob of butter gently melting over just-cooked potatoes.... mmm-mmm! Meanwhile, I picked up some scrummy looking venison and pork sausages at Wells Market this week so it'll be more sausage, mash and sauerkraut for me.