My First steps to a River Cottage lifestyle (pics galore)

this is soooo sad... dunno why i'm sharing it but i feel a great deal of accomplishment today.

I am currently baking my first ever (from scratch) pie!!!!!! :party: made the pastry myself.. it's just a shame the chicken was frozen and from tescos



the chicken was boiled for an hour on low heat in oxo stock until the flesh fell off the bone... the flesh was removed and bones sent back into the stock and allowed to reduce for an hour.

swmbo and i chopped a carrot, a quarter onion and a few button mushrooms and added all this complete with precooked chicken to the pie dish... the reduced stock was thicken up with some bisto chicken stock as i thought it was too runny and then poured into the pie... the lid was then glued on using beaten egg... two holes pricked and it's now sitting in the oven on a low heat (120'c) and will stay there till i reckon it's done.


meanwhile i baked my third ever run of home made bread... two loafs and some cobs as i dont have enough bread tins





swmbo enjoyed giving it some punishment at the kneading process (no food mixers in this house!!)... at one point i was very glad i've never ****** her off!!!

just had a round each while the bread was still warm.... mmmmmmmm.

BrewStew said:

this is soooo sad... dunno why i'm sharing it but i feel a great deal of accomplishment today.

I am currently baking my first ever (from scratch) pie!!!!!! :party: made the pastry myself.. it's just a shame the chicken was frozen and from tescos

the chicken was boiled for an hour on low heat in oxo stock until the flesh fell off the bone... the flesh was removed and bones sent back into the stock and allowed to reduce for an hour.

swmbo and i chopped a carrot, a quarter onion and a few button mushrooms and added all this complete with precooked chicken to the pie dish... the reduced stock was thicken up with some bisto chicken stock as i thought it was too runny and then poured into the pie... the lid was then glued on using beaten egg... two holes pricked and it's now sitting in the oven on a low heat (120'c) and will stay there till i reckon it's done.


meanwhile i baked my third ever run of home made bread... two loafs and some cobs as i dont have enough bread tins

swmbo enjoyed giving it some punishment at the kneading process (no food mixers in this house!!)... at one point i was very glad i've never ****** her off!!!

just had a round each while the bread was still warm.... mmmmmmmm.

Click to expand...

looks great bs but my turn to give you some advice buy a breadmaker a lot easier and just as good

bread maker :wha: that's just way too easy!

my mum's gotten through three bread makers in less than 18 months and that was only using it once a fortnight.. i also cant justify the cost :?

i think the furthest i'll stretch is a really good and long lasting food mixer as i'll be using it for more than just bread... the oven can do the rest

nice one BS. Proper cooking is a real joy and something you'll never regret getting into. We have a breadmaker, seems to be pretty robust, but i think you could be right about getting a good mixer and using the oven. The mixer will be well useful for plenty of other stuff and you'll have one less bulky gadget in the kitchen. We love our breadmaker by the way, but i can't fault your thinking.

something i heard some time ago that continues to ring true to me is that a good cook cooks a few things often,not a lot of things occassionally. If you absolutely nail a dish then what you learn from this can be transferred to many other dishes, and your dinner guests will not tire of getting your speciality signature dish.

love the shot of your bread (looks great) by the sandwich toaster :grin: but tbh sandwich toasters are a neat gadget so i'm not being a food snob, its just funny seeing them side by side.

thanks P :thumb:

i definitely have a couple i frequently cook... my most favourite is a chicken stir fry with noodles... some day i'd like to one by one replace the bought ingredients for home made noodles and home grown veg :)

for those of you that haven't yet eaten your dinner... cast your eyes on this little beauty








with a drizzle of chicken gravy... this is right up there in "the most filling dinners" i've ever had... i'm absolutely stuffed and only had a quarter piece! tasted awesome too :thumb:

edit- it's not often i managed to get a piece of pie out of the tin/dish without busting it... but this one stayed rigid to the end

you hungry yet? :lol:

Nice one BS :thumb:

Thats one tasty looking pie :thumb:

great pics and pie brew, byt the way, don't get a breadmaker,got one last week, pile of **** in my opinion, hae gone back to traditional like you have, with a preadmaker, you get a hole in one side wher the dough mixer is!!

Well done brew, i love making pies

A T said:

Well done brew, i love making pies

Click to expand...

I love eating pies me

Monster pie BS

Good on ya BS :clap:

Breadmakers are, IMO, fecking useless. Unless you want tiny little loaves that haven't been kneaded enough. It's not like bread is difficult to make

You'll have to knock up one of those pies when your here. With some beautiful organic free range chooks from my garden and some yummy organic veg

I'm going to make a Marlin and crab pie today i think... Pie's are great

I'm starving now, feckers :rofl:

:rofl: MEB that sounds like a deal :thumb:

MMMmmmm nothing like homemade pie :thumb:

I've been speaking to a local free range pig farmer... in mid-march they begin slaughtering, and i'll be buying a whole pig... they're that awesome, they're going teach me how to butcher it myself!!!! :party:

anyone wanna see piccies of this when i do it? :twisted:

BrewStew said:

anyone wanna see piccies of this when i do it? :twisted:

Click to expand...

No thank you :sick:
But i'm sure if you google around you'll find people who like those sort of pics :lol:

i'm not talking about the slaughter mate, i'm talking about the butchering process.

tell me you're not one of those people that is so numb as to where food comes from that you get squeemish at the thought of how it got on your plate?

Not at all Brewstew, i worked boning beef for a couple of years, just the thoughts of you getting excited and posting pics of yourself with a Rambo style headband, blood stained white coat and a clever held high in the air (like an Iron Maiden cd cover) was enough to send a shiver down my spine :lol:

good stuff on the beef boning

as for the shivers..... :rofl: