2009 Events

Craft Demonstrations

Leather

A demonstration by Su Nickless a leathersmith who makes bespoke bags, briefcases, belts and bookcovers. 

Textile

An exhibition of work by leading local textile designer, Jane Farrington

Jane studied Theatre Design followed by a Masters Degree in Textile Design at Birmingham Collge of Art .Her work is a reflection of her life long fascination in Theatre , Surface , Costume and Performance. This is translated visually through both 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional outcomes. She combines mixed media, collage and surface manipulation in her work. The aesthetics are very much a reflection  of her passion for collecting unusual artifacts .
Her eclectic Archive feeds her imagination and is a constant inspiration for her ongoing work. Jane lives and works  in Shropshire and teaches at Hereford College of Arts
 

 

Book Readings

Hear local author Robert Elliott talk about his new book ‘How to eat like there is no tomorrow’

In a world full of challenges, the industrialisation of our food is the one thing we can change.

In our confused world, we eat foods which are bad for us, avoid foods which are good for us, crave foods forbidden to us and fear traditional foods.  Because our bond with food has been broken, we no longer know whether to love it or loathe it.  This book will help you to dispel confusion, heal your relationship with food and create a clear vision of a brighter future for us and our planet.
 

 

Nicholas Murray read extracts from his new book A Corkscrew is most useful: The Travellers of Empire.

 

 

Music

Visitors to the event will be entertained with music from trio Whalebone.

 

 

Aspen House are keen supporters of the food fare. All the food used at Aspen House is not just fresh and seasonal, but the best we can find, including raw green top milk.  Not only do we not buy from supermarkets, but also nothing we serve is industrially processed.  So, just for instance, you won’t find cornflakes or orange juice in the Aspen House breakfast room, but you will find organic porridge, muesli and local apple and pear juice.

The three recipes below illustrate how we go about things at Aspen House:
1) pigeon breast salad (as seen at the 2008 event!)
2) broad bean hummus
3) gooseberry and almond cake

Pigeon breast and black pudding salad

As a demonstration of how we put the principles of real food into practice at Aspen House, this is something we do for a very quick and easy salad starter, incorporating home-grown food, a locally prepared foodstuff using a meat by-product that so often goes to waste, and some wild food, something else that often never shows up on the average shopper’s radar. So, this is our pigeon breast and black pudding salad.

For 4 people, you will need . . .
1 small head of sweet lettuce
a good selection of individual leaves
skinned broad beans, fresh garden peas (optional)
real bread croutons (optional)
8 pigeon breasts
100gms (approx) black pudding ring, cut into 12 slices

for the dressing:
 walnut oil
 cider vinegar
 a squeeze of lemon juice
 a few drops of pomegranate syrup
 sea salt

for the pigeon breasts:
 olive oil
 lemon juice
 two cloves of garlic
 sea salt and black pepper

Firstly, in a shallow dish, create a marinade with olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper and two cloves of crushed garlic.  Skin the pigeon breasts and check them for shot.  Mix the marinade well and put in the pigeon breasts.  Set aside for about an hour for the flavours to infuse.

Meanwhile, prepare the salad.  Wash and pat dry the leaves, and put them in a bowl.  If you are using any other seasonal ingredients, such as broad beans, peas, tomatoes or croutons, prepare these.  If you are using broad beans, they look stunning popped out of their skins once you have blanched them.  If you are using peas fresh from the garden, it is sacrilege to cook them, but if the peas are older, blanching them for a minute in boiling water will soften them.

When the pigeon breasts are marinated, fry them gently for two minutes each side to leave them pink in the middle, then set aside.  Remove the black casing from the black pudding slices and fry them gently for a minute each side.  The sausage is already cooked, so all you are doing is darkening the colour.  When the pigeon breasts have rested for five minutes, slice them thinly.  They are now ready for the salad.

Dress the salad with a good sprinkling of oil, a lesser sprinkling of vinegar, a squeeze of lemon, a little shake of pomegranate syrup (balances really nicely with the slightly gamey pigeon) and a pinch of quality sea salt.  Mix thoroughly.

Finally, place a good handful of salad on the plate, decorate it with pieces of pigeon breast and the slices of black pudding and then sprinkle a bit more salad over the top.  Serve.
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Broad bean or pea hummus

Broad beans and peas have a very short season, and they are best when they are young, sweet  and tender. However, all vegetables get past their best as they grow towards their goal in life, which is to go to seed. Broad beans and peas develop a different taste and texture at this time of year as they approach maturity, and they make an excellent substitute for chick peas in this traditional Mediterranean dish.

This should make a good quantity to start you off . . .

500gms broad beans or peas, blanched
½ jar (about 150ml) of light tahini
4tbs extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
sea salt

Blanch the beans or peas in billing water for 5 minutes. Remove from water, reserving liquid. If you are using broad beans, take them out of their skins, as this will help to give the humus a nice pale green colour. Peas are fine as they are. Reserve a few peas or beans for garnish.

The quickest way to make this is to put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until you have a smooth puree. Use extra cooking water (or plain water, or even more olive oil) if the mixture is too stiff. Once it is smooth and creamy, turn it out into a serving dish, drizzle some olive oil over the top and add the reserves peas or beans. Serve – preferably with some home made pitta bread!
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Gooseberry and almond cake

This is a lovely moist cake that gives you the impression that you haven’t eaten anything at all.  Every reason then for enjoying a second helping!  If you can get hold of the beautiful red dessert gooseberries and mix then with some green, an appreciative audience is bound to be impressed.

I try to use rapadura sugar wherever I think it appropriate simply because it is better for you.  It also gives cakes a darker, rich look as well as adding a hint of toffee to the taste.

It goes without saying that you should only use organic butter, free range, organic eggs and organic flour.  For added nutrition substitute half the flour with self raising wholemeal.

For the cake . . .

175gm soft unsalted butter
100gm self raising flour sifted with ½ teaspoon baking powder
100gm rapadura sugar
2 large eggs
100gm ground almonds
200gm gooseberries topped and tailed and halved

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease and line a 23cm spring-form tin with baking paper.  Stir the ground almonds into the flour.  Whisk the butter with the sugar until light and creamy and whisk in the eggs one at a time adding a small amount of flour and almonds with each egg.  Then add the remaining flour and almonds.

Spoon the mixture into the tin and gently level the surface.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, after which time open the oven and gently slide out the oven rack.  The cake will still be quite wobbly but don’t worry – it won’t sink on you.  Sprinkle the gooseberries evenly over the surface and bake for another 10 minutes.  While it is back in the oven prepare the topping.

For the topping . . .

30gm butter
25gm rapadura sugar
50gm slivered almonds

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, stir in the rapadura sugar and slivered almonds.  Carefully remove the cake from the oven and scatter the almond mixture over the top.  Bake for a further 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.  Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.  Remove from the tin and when ready to serve just dust with icing sugar. 

Tip:  To give the cake a more fruity zing, try serving it with a mixture of crème fraiche and gooseberry curd and/or some stewed gooseberries on the side.

Gooseberry curd

Top, tail and quarter 500gm of green gooseberries.  Cook them with a dash of elderflower cordial and as much sugar as you feel is enough for your taste.  When soft, press through a sieve into a heatproof bowl and leave to cool.

Whisk two eggs and one egg yolk into the gooseberries and add 50gm of diced unsalted butter.  Rest the bowl over a pan of simmering water and cook, stirring all the time until the mixture has thickened enough for a spoon to leave a visible trail over its surface.  Pour into sterilised jars and cover with waxed discs.  In the fridge, the curd should keep for a couple of months.