Pumpernickel sourdough

Joan Ransley August 6, 2020

This is a classic, aromatic, malty pumpernickel. It is easy to make and the malty grains make it smell wonderful as it cooks. This bread goes really well with smoked salmon, shavings of Comté cheese, and toppings such as hard-boiled eggs, capers, gherkins and dill.

Rye and seed sourdough

Joan Ransley June 4, 2020

Making sourdough bread

First steps……

Good bread is made from three ingredients: flour, salt and water. What distinguished good bread from bad is the method used to make it.

Making sourdough is all about perfecting the method. In most sourdough recipes the ingredients list is short – flour, salt and water - but the method is long and nuanced.

Kombucha

Joan Ransley April 24, 2020

Kombucha is a deliciously cool, slightly fizzy, ginger flavoured, hardly sweet drink. It is my ‘go to’ non alcoholic drink. This is the low down on how to make kombucha at home.

Stage one

You need to buy something called a SCOBY (or symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts). A SCOBY looks like a pale rubber disc and is home to the bacteria and yeasts that ferment the cold black teas which forms the basis of kombucha. The SCOBY arrives in a sealed plastic bag immersed in liquid.

Wild garlic soup

Joan Ransley April 4, 2020

It is now the end of March and a profusion of young, wild garlic leaves cover shaded river banks and woodland floors.

We are approaching the third week of COVID 19 ‘Lockdown’. I set off for my daily walk along the banks of the River Wharfe at Ilkley, to Addingham.

I spotted Sarah Walker, picking wild garlic leaves and stuffing them into a tote bag. It was a beautiful scene as she sat quietly among the garlic with trees to one side, warm sunlight shining gently on her face and beautiful Yorkshire landscape beyond.

Red pepper and walnut dip on a cannellini bean mash

Joan Ransley March 12, 2020

This is the third in a series of sharing dishes to be eaten with flat brad flavoured with za’atar. Sweet, roasted peppers are pounded and spiked with the flavours of fresh garlic, thyme, sweet smoked paprika and chilli. Walnuts give the paste texture and a dash of vinegar balances the flavours.