BigBarn.co.uk Blog

Turkey

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:22:22 GMT

Christmas is fast approaching and the Goose is getting fat. The high street is already full of decorations and as usual there will be misleading adverts on the TV for intensively reared Turkeys with even more misleading packaging. Read on for the quick and easy way to book the best food for your Christmas celebration. Around 90 percent of UK turkeys are reared in vast, windowless, barren sheds and never see or experience life in a field. These sheds can contain up to 25,000 birds, the floor will be covered in excrement and release ammonia causing many birds to have painful sores on their feet and eye damage. This is without the worry of growth promoters and anti-biotic additives in the feed getting in to the meat. I am sorry to bring this to your attention but this is where the food industry has gone, and will continue to get worse unless we demand change, or shop carefully. This is just part of the reason not to buy an intensively reared Turkey, the bigger reason is that there is a tastier alternative! All over the country there are enthusiast rearing Turkeys, Geese and Chickens in the traditional way either Free Range or in open straw filled barns. They are allowed to grow to maturity on natural feed and are hung and dressed for Christmas. To help you find your local Traditional Turkey click here and type in your post code to buy online. And save on delivery charges by collecting your prize dinner just before Christmas. This will allow you to see the farm and quiz the farmer on feeds, turkey breed and how they have been reared. You may be so impressed you will want to book your turkey for next year. And while you are in our MarketPlace please have a look round for other Christmas goodies like a ham, Christmas cake, chocolate, cheese, goose, or great British beef by clicking on each, or using the search box when you are in the site. If we have not got what you are looking for we should have soon, as more products are being added every day.

Fresh English apples, fantastic food! One a day to keep Swine Flu away!

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:07:18 BST

English apples are now in season but very few are on the supermarket shelves. How long will it be before they are, and how many varieties will we see, will they all be the same size and will they be fresh? Where do we find a really good, fresh, apple? We have over one thousand varieties of apple in the UK but only 15 are grown commercially. Most, like the delicious Cox's Orange Pippin, have been de-listed by supermarkets and as a result most of the trees have been destroyed by growers, also with the help of EEC grant aid! Different varieties of apple are ripening on their trees between now and October. Many are now in season and should be available to us all. Most fruit and veg is most nutritious and tasty when it is fresh and ripe. Far too much of what we eat has been picked early to satisfy the needs of distribution and shelf life. As always to get the best, grow it, or buy direct. To find your nearest fresh apple try your local farm shop by typing in your postcode here or visit our MarketPlace in the autumn to buy a tree to plant.

Roast chicken with extremely few food miles

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:11:48 BST

Last weekend, after many weeks of building myself up to it, I slaughtered one of our chickens. It has always been my intention that our chickens would be for the table as well as for eggs but it has taken me some time to "pluck" up the courage to actually kill one. Last Sunday was the day and after a stiff pint of homebrew, I went and picked the biggest of the hens and took her to a quiet corner of the garden out of sight of the rest of the chickens. After a little chat and a bit of a stroke to calm her down, I took her feet in one hand and her head in the other, and pulled firmly whilst twisting the neck. This broke the vertebrae in the neck and killed the hen. There was no squawking, no flapping, and none from the hen, either - it all seemed to be quite calm, so I am very confident that the deed was done as quickly and cleanly as possible. The next step was to bleed the bird. I cut the neck along it's length and hung the bird over a bucket to collect the blood. After half and hour or so I took the bird down and began to pluck it. This took much longer than I'd imagined - you'd be staggered how many feathers there are - but after about an hour I'd got pretty much all of them off. I then cut off the head and the feet (the French generally leave them on, and roast them with the bird), and then made a cut around the bird's bottom which allowed me to scoop all the innards out. It is recommended that you keep the liver which can be used in other dishes or quickly fried up as a treat, but I was a bit forceful and it came out in a few bits. After a quick run under the tap I was left with a much darker coloured and slightly smaller version of what you find in every supermarket up and down the country. If you are a non-meat eater, then I imagine the previous few paragraphs have appalled you. And that's fine - I see where you're coming from and I won't argue with you about it. However, if you do eat meat and what you've just read troubles you, then I ask you, "Where did you think chicken came from?" The simple fact of the matter is that most meat eaten around the world doesn't have as pleasant a life, or as quick and efficient death as my little hen, and I'm sure that doesn't surprise you. Let's face it, by now we all know the facts. And death is an unavoidable and inevitable part of meat production and the quality of life of the beast and the way in which it is dispatched varies wildly from producer to producer, country to country. If you are in the "I don't care about all of that, I just want cheap meat" camp then I question your morals and you're not invited to dinner. But if you do care - as I do - then please, please take an interest in the provenance of your meat. If you buy from a butcher or a game dealer, please ask about the meat and make your purchases based on what he tells you. If you must buy your meat at a supermarket, look for the labels especially Freedom Food (though this represents the bare minimum in terms of animal welfare). And for the record, my hen tasted delicious, and despite being small I still made it stretch to a roast dinner, two chicken pies and a good few litres of the best chicken stock I've ever tasted.

Sweetcorn - fantastic cheap food now available locally!

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:16:53 BST

Fresh, sweet, corn on the cob, a winner for the whole family. My friend Mr Saunders grows his own sweet corn and has the water boiling on the stove before he picks his ripe corn from the veg patch. He then peels off the outer leaves as he walks back to plunge the cob in the boiling water. This he says is the ultimate way to have corn on the cob. I have not been fortunate enough to experience this taste sensation, but did have some corn from my local farm shop only 3 hours old, for only 30p each. I was amazed that it was so sweet and moist I did not need the usual butter coating. So don't delay, forget the aged supermarket corn and get down to your local farm shop. Maybe phone first to find out when they pick it and get the kids involved in the race to eat the sweetest corn. Or try it baked in the oven with the leaves on, or on the BBQ. To find your local corn type your post code here.

Ant's Wild Food Holiday

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:29:06 BST

With great ambitions to send a daily blog from the campsite about gathering wild food via iPhone, due to lack of signal and lapsing in to 'relax' holiday mode, here it is now with photos. We did have a great week's holiday despite only getting 2 out of 7 days without rain. Our wild food intake was not as hoped although we did eat four types of sea weed, mussels, limpets and cockles collected from the beach, local fish (from the fish shop after trying for hours with our fishing rod), blackberries, local free range eggs, wild sorrel and camp flat bread (made with mature dough and cheese and onion). We will try harder next year and hope for better weather. Below are some photos to give you a feel of the camp. The camp site with parachute rain cover and full team of campers and our brilliant landlords, John and Sally (far right). Others, l-r: Billy 'Firestarter', Rory 'Highrise', Alfie 'Surfdude', Ant 'Flatbread' and Andy 'Woodsman'. High rise bed for a seasoned camper Our freshwater stream through the camp acting as our fridge, bath and dishwasher. Campers round the fire, note Andy the woodsman's adjustable kettle holder. No Mackerel here, but what a great spot to carve a wooden spoon. Alfie and I tucking in to cheese and onion flat bread. Our big thanks again to John and Sally for their exceptional hospitality and allowing us the camp in their fantastic wood.

Economy Gastronomy

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:27:34 BST

A few nights ago I watched the BBC's latest food programme 'Economy Gastronomy' in which the celebrity chef presenters show a family how to cut their food bills and improve their meals at the same time. The featured family on this episode were spending �330 per week on food. Whilst the exact contents of these obscenely expensive shopping baskets were not shown in any great detail, a significant portion seemed to consist of ready made puddings and desserts. The challenge set by the chefs was to get that weekly spend down to �200. My wife and I joked that even the "economy" budget of �200 was closer to what our family of four spends on food in a month! And before you say it, no, we're not living on bread and water, not by any means. I believe a big part of why our food spend is relatively low is because we make almost everything from scratch using fresh ingredients. And recently, I've even been making things like bread and pasta myself, and believe me, once you get the knack of it home made is undoubtedly better. Something else we do a lot of is growing our own. We are fortunate that we have a large garden and have been able to section off a nice vegetable patch at the back, away from the dangers of stick-chasing labradors and poorly aimed rugby balls. I also managed to pick up a cheap and cheerful "polytunnel" from ebay for �70 as we didn't already have a greenhouse. After a lot of hard graft we're now enjoying the fruits (and vegetables) of our labour. We've had an abundance of potatoes, peas, french beans, and in the polytunnel we're just waiting for the tomatoes, peppers, chilis and aubergines to ripen. Even if you don't have much room, one of those rectangular plant pots on a sunny window sill can keep you in salad leaves or fresh herbs for months on end - every little helps, apparently. We also keep chickens, and I urge anyone who has the space to do the same. They are practically zero maintenance, extremely cheap to feed and a pair of hens will pretty much give you a dozen eggs a week most of the year. Even my wife, who is a bit of a bird-o-phobe (I believe the phrase "scaly-legged devil birds" has passed her lips on occasion) raves about the quality of the eggs. And of course, if you want to take things a step further, there's free range, back garden roast chicken to consider. Lastly, meat and fish are not the cornerstone of each and every meal in our house. We're not vegetarians by any stretch of the imagination, but I believe that if you are a meat eater, meat should still be a treat. Buy quality fresh meat or fish, cook it well, and enjoy it, but don't just eat it for the sake of eating it. As the Slow Food organisation says, "Eat less, but eat better". I think the thing that binds all of these ideas together is the fact that my wife and I care about the food we eat and put on the table for our kids. I care about how the meat that I eat was raised, I care about where our fruit and vegetables come from, I care about how much salt, sugar and general crap is in the tin or jar or packet, and I care about how the food is cooked. All of these factors combined ensure that the next episode of "Economy Gastronomy" will not be featuring the MacLeod household!

What is real bread?

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:50:40 BST

Bread, at its best, is a superb food and immensely diverse, reflecting the local culture and being integral to a healthy diet. So what's gone wrong - why is 95% of the bread on offer such insipid stodge? The answer lies in the industrialisation of the production system. "Good bread has one ingredient which nothing can replace - time, lots of it! Industrialisation is all about doing it quickly - perhaps an hour and a half from mixing to packing. Bread is a fermented food; it needs time for the enzymes and good bacteria to work on the dough, transforming it from the inside. Industrial bakers try to fool the dough by high speed mixing, using large amounts of powerful yeasts, and adding a cocktail of chemical agents which do not appear in the list of ingredients. The result is appalling, and really not a good food," suggests Simon of Wild Yeast Bakery. To make good bread, here's all you need: flour, water and salt... and time. Artisan bakers like Simon don't even add new yeast - they use saved dough or wild yeast cultures and bacteria in the flour (and on our hands) to gently leaven the dough, over a minimum of 36 hours. These naturally leavened breads have superb taste, with no need for sun dried tomatoes and the like to make then tasty. They also have greatly superior nutritional qualities, making them more digestible and higher in nutrients, and lower in their glycaemic index (good for kids and diabetics). Increasingly, top restaurants and discerning consumers are seeking out these artisans at farmers' markets or specialist bakeries. And bread making courses are more popular than ever: "My courses get booked up months in advance. It's great to be able to pass on my passion to others. Kids are the most fun to teach; it's just so magical when the bread comes out the oven," says Simon. It really is not that difficult to make great bread with the right knowledge, flour and wild yeast. If you want real bread avoid the supermarket and go and talk to your local baker or Farm Shop on the BigBarn map. Or depending on your preference use the BigBarn MarketPlace, and search for bread, Wild Yeast, bread making courses, or flour.

Wild food on the menu for a happy camper

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:50:40 BST

I am off on holiday next week to Cornwall and a week of camping in a wood by the sea. My son Alfie can't wait but then I suppose when you are 8 you don't think ahead and worry about the English weather and sleeping on rough ground. We are going with my friend Andrew, an accomplished woodsman, so will be making our knives and spoons out of wood as we pitch camp. We are also ambitious to have some kind of wild food with every meal. Shrimps from the sea and Woodlouse from the woods, taste very similar I am told! So armed with some books, including the new Farm Shop Cook Book and an iphone we will catch and harvest what nature has to offer and keep those interested posted on the net. Follow here or at Twitter.

Raw Food

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:52:28 BST

The Raw Food movement is growing as more people take radical steps to improve their health? Whether you are feeling tired after eating, have a weight problem, low energy or simply want to try something new, here is a real life story and, if you want to try Raw Food, a link to one of our shops in MarketPlace where you can buy the essentials. If you have an interesting story/blog please send it in. And please comment on this one. Hi, my name is Louise, I'm 34 mother of 3. I started eating Raw food 100% around February time, I started eating raw after struggling with my weight since I was 16 and after trying every diet known to man and not really getting anywhere. As a family, we had become very Eco aware so we started to think about how we as humans were designed to eat, which was to eat raw food ie fruit, veg, nuts, seeds and sprouts. Before we learnt about fire or how to make tools to hunt this is how we ate. After doing some research on Google we found that there were a lot of people who had already adopted this way of life, mainly in America. They have raw food restaurants and health food shops set up for this and is now spreading in the UK as raw food restaurants are setting up in London. After deciding to go raw, I feel healthier, fitter and most of all I am losing my excess weight. I started my Juice feast after feeling I needed to give my body a good clear out of all the toxins I had ingested over the years and found Angela Stokes who also is a Raw Foodist who like me started out with a weight problem, so I now follow her Juice feasting plan to give me that extra boost that I feel I need. Here is my raw food blog: Week 1 Well day one is complete. Only managed 2.5 litres rather than the recommended minimum of 4 litres. At the start of the day I was excited but nervous too. The Juice looks and smells awful, thank goodness for sport's bottles. I can drink the juice with out having to smell them which makes it so much easier to do, as they don't actually taste too bad. Not felt hungry or deprived, a few miner tummy cramps, most likely as I'm used to having solids to digest rather than only liquids. Its also very strange chewing on Juice (need to encourage the saliva in the mouth to aid digestion and to keep jaw and teeth healthy throughout the feast). Had the odd dizzy spell if I have stood up too quickly, but I'm sure it will pass. If I can stick to this for a week I will be happy, and 92 days I will be over the moon. End of week 1 Well I feel great, I have endless energy and so far I have lost an amazing 9lbs. I'm definitely ready for week 2, and looking forward to it. I've not had any food cravings at all and am not missing solid food one bit. touch wood. So far I have not had any major side affects from doing this, ie, headaches, feeling sick, lack of energy etc. Will post in a weeks time unless anything happens in the meantime, then I will post sooner to let you know what's happening. Week 2 & 3 Feeling healthier (and lighter) by the week. On week 2 I lost 2lb and week 3 I lost 1lb, I think the small loss has been due to not drinking enough juice I was using a blender then squeezing through a nut milk bag which was hard work and very off putting. Very recently found out that I have an under active thyroid gland which will hamper my weight loss, but hey, these things are sent to try us, LOL. But thanks to my lovely husband I have received a Green Power Kempo juicer yesterday (Wednesday 29th)which has made juicing so very easy, I no longer have to make a big batch of juice, I can now spend 10 minutes making fresh juice as and when I need some, therefore ensuring fresh juice every time. I have read about a few other people doing a Juice feast and going through some rough times with it. So far so good, I have not experienced anything untoward, apart from what I am actually consuming (which is all organic) things are really no different than when I was eating solid food.

Cheese Week

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:30:24 BST

Did you know that we have more varieties of cheese than the French? Traditionally cheese was made by mixed farmers unable to get their fresh milk to the populous. This is why there are no famous cheese 'names' from the home counties. It is a shame to see so much imported cheeses when we have so many fantastic cheeses. Especially cream cheeses made in Germany from English powdered milk. So support your local cheese and watch out for entrepreneurial dairy farmers developing a cheese for your county. In Bedfordshire we are helping a new enterprise develop a cheese in consultation with residents and Bedfordshire's heritage. As we are famous for Brussel Sprouts, a Brussel sprout blue cheese, perhaps? To find you local cheese on the BigBarn map click here, or buy on line in our MarketPlace, and to suggest a cheese for Bedfordshire comment here.