We are on-line...

No not the trees! Doesn't look like there are 53 trees in those two trenches does it? Popped up to the plot yesterday to paint the concrete floor of the shed and put a lick of preservative on the woodwork. Why? Because for the first time in what seems like ages, it wasn't raining or even cloudy - the sun shone, the sky was blue and it was lovely and pleasant to be out.

Not like today: frosty, cold, foggy first them misty and damp all day. So I've spent most of today trying to put a website together for Torkard Cider. And I did, and I have and we are all-systems go:

Torkard Cider is on-line!

We have lift-off, green for throttle up, etc. etc. etc.

Cooking with Cider

Delia: Look away now...
Gordon: Don't even f****** go there!

Following our annual pilgrimage to Somerset to visit some of the many pukka cider-makers down there, we always return with a goodly selection of ciders in an assortment of containers. And unfortunately we often end up with a drop or two which are past their best; so these are used in cooking.

My cooking is based on the: if-it's-there-bung-it-in approach and frequent tasting.

This week I have mostly been using the slow-cooker: every lazy cook's dream...


Note that our slow-cooker is a 3-litre job, so provides at least four generous servings.

Cider braised vegetables
Gail came home with some venison sausages, so as these cook quickly, we used the slow-cooker to cook the veg ready for the evening meal. Our slow-cooker has the facility to be used on high or low heat, so I turned it to High, put a pat of garlic and herb butter in the crock and added about 1 pint / 500 ml of dry real cider. I suppose any dry or even medium cider would do at a push... I then added a bay leaf and plenty of black pepper, followed by a crumbled chicken stock cube. While the cider was heating through and the garlic butter melting, I sliced up some leeks, mushrooms, and potatoes (leaving the skins on), and diced some sweet-potato, carrots and swede. Any root veg will do really, though I tend to shy away from parsnips as their flavour can be a bit over-powering at times; for my tastes anyway. After stirring the cider and making sure the stock-cube had dissolved (a chopstick is great for this) the veg were tipped in, the lid added, the heat set to Low and left to it's own devices for around 8 hours - apart from the odd gentle swirl with the chopstick, that is. When the goode wyffe had returned from the office, the sausages were popped under the grill and as they cooked, a little blended cornflour and cider was stirred into the veg and cooking liquid to thicken it a little. The veg were lifted onto the plate with a slotted spoon, followed by the cooked sausages and some of the veg cooking liquor spooned over the top.

Spicy Cidery Beef
I can take or leave meat cooked in red wine. So when we picked up some diced beef during a recent shopping trip, I decided to experiment... In a large freezer bag, I placed four tablespoons of plain flour followed by two tablespoons each of mustard powder and ground dried ginger. This was topped off with a good pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. The bag was closed up and given a good shake to mix up the dry ingredients, then opened and the 450 g of diced beef tipped in. The whole lot was then given a very good shake to ensure the beef was well and truly coated with the spicy flour mix. In a large heavy pan I heated a knob of butter and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, lifted the floured beef out of the bag onto a plate and then tipped the beef into the hot pan, tossing and turning until lightly browned. I added a couple of sliced onions, then tossed and turned the lot frequently until the onions were just starting to caramelise. I sprinkled over a little more of the left-over spicy flour mix from the bag, stirred and cooked this for a minute or so, then turned the lot out into the pre-warmed crock of the slow-cooker, which was set to Low. I put the pan back on the heat and in a little more olive oil, sweated a couple of fat peeled and crushed garlic cloves from the garden. I then added about a pint and half of dry cider and used this to de-glaze the pan, scraping any of the beef and onion cooking residue and flour mixture from the base and sides of the pan. After bringing the cider to the boil, the pan contents were added to the beef and onion in the slow-cooker, and thoroughly stirred in. This was followed by sliced leeks, carrots, parsnips and mushrooms, covered and left for 8 hours or so. After a thorough stir and checking the seasoning, we served the spicy cidery beef with mashed potatoes. It goes equally well with rice, or spooned over a jacket potato - we had this two nights on the trot. Comfort food. Yum.

Creamy Cidery Green Beans with Leeks
I love runner beans. I could eat them three-times-a-day between meals... However, the goode wyffe prefers more variety, so another experiment ensued. After preparing and slicing the runner beans as usual, they were tipped into a hot oily wok and tossed to coat them in oil. After a couple of minutes stir frying, a good splash of dry cider was added to the hot wok followed by some finely sliced leeks and more cider. As the cider evaporates, more is added to prevent any of the veg browning, the veg cooking through the steam of the cider rather than actually frying in oil. After a couple of minutes a few finely sliced mushrooms were added and, after a little more cider and stirring, the heat was reduced. When the veg were cooked through but still had a little bite, a small pot of soured cream was stirred in along with freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste. If required more cider can be added. These piquant creamy cidery green beans with leeks were served up with some oven-roasted belly pork slices which had been sprinkled with 5-Spice powder. Mmmmmm.

Heel, boy, heel!

Get 'em in...

The weekend was spent digging a couple of long trenches on our plot so that we could heel-in the apple trees, along with the two Denniston's Superb gage and two Merryweather damson trees. We hoped to get it done in one day, but the twitch and briar roots made it very heavy going, so we had to split the task into two sessions.

I wish now that I had saved some of the briar stumps for seasoning and carving - I well remember my brother in his smoking days having a Peterson pipe with a briar bowl. I bought it him for Christmas when he was about 19 or so and he liked the "Sherlock Holmes" style and image of pipe. Mind you, with the amount of briars still to be dug out, I think I'll have plenty to choose from... I can also remember the fascination of being introduced to such terms as "Whisky Flake", "Ready Rubbed" and "Rough Shag"... Ooo-err! Not Finnbarr Saunders, but of course terms used for types of tinned pipe tobacco. I still have some of Mike's old tobacco tins, full of rusting fishing tackle.

So I wielded the spade and dug the earth out onto a plastic sheet, while Gail forked through the solid blocks of black, root-locked soil and teased out the masses of briar, nettle and dock roots. We then placed the young trees into the trench at an angle of about 45 degrees to the leeward and sifted the soil over the bare roots of the saplings. We didn't have to water the plants in - the teeming rain did that for us. Oh, the joys...

Next-door plot tenant and good-old-boy Charlie came round to see what we were up to and had kindly bought us half-a-dozen fresh eggs from his chickens as a thank-you for the many bags of spent apple pomace or apple-cake we had dropped off for him. His chickens like to root around in it and he is composting some of the rest. Charlie had also spotted something in the hedgerow of our plot and asked if he could help himself...? He came back a few minutes later with a handful of Lepista Nuda - Wood Blewits or Blewies to you and I.

In fact, our plot is covered with fungi of all sorts and I'd not spotted the Blewies. I have often toyed with the idea of joining a mushroom foraging group - I've got a few books about identifying, collecting and cooking with muzzers, but I think you need to be out with an expert or three to know what you are doing. Wouldn't do to inadvertently pick an Amanita such as Death's Cap or Destroying Angel. No no.

So the next task is to attack the remaining areas of the plot now that the briars, nettles, willows, birch and other assorted undergrowth are dying back. The forecast is for a few good frosts, so hopefully this will expedite matters. We spent some time on Sunday deciding which existing trees will need pollarding to open up the canopy and to allow us to set about improving the remaining two hedges and boundaries. We also need to sort out the two large, old apple trees; one definitely needs a hair-cut, whereas the other needs the removal of a large bough which has grown out over the plot. A "Hucknall Chainsaw Massacre" is imminent.

Pressing...

We are still milling and pressing, and with the arrival of our new Vigo press, we are now much more efficient at turning fruit into juice. I am hoping to go and pick up some Vilberie bittersweet cider apples from good friends Mark and Karen at Rockingham Forest Cider which we are going to ferment separately and blend to add some tannin to some of our cider. Vilberies are a French variety that mature very late and are rich in tannin to help give body, and the dry-mouth finish so often found in real ciders.

We have been very surprised by our results so far this season, some of our juice has the potential of producing an ABV of over 9% - and remember this is without the addition of any sugar or anything else, just the product of the natural pure apple juice. Better keep that a secret from the Tory knee-jerk reactionists who are planning to raise the tax on anything over 5.5% ABV to stop "binge-drinking" and alcohol abuse by teenagers, and the under-age. What about the rest of us who don't binge-drink and are not under 18?

Queen's Head, Watnall, Nottingham (-ish)

Just thought I'd better mention the "Beer in the Tent" festival being held at The Queen's Head, Watnall, from the 10th to the 13th December, 2009.

This will see almost the last of our 2008 ciders: "Floppy Tabs" and "Heritage Orchard" available to the general public. We have supplied F.T. as a medium-dry and back-sweetened H.O. to a medium-ish taste. I really like the Heritage Orchard now, it has matured into a crystal-clear tangy and tasty cider with many subtle flavour levels. OK, I'll stop "doing a Jilly" and I know it's not-on to compliment your own stuff, but... well I am reluctant to let it go!

Click here for a link to the Queen's Head website and full details of the festival. You can find the Queen's Head at: 40, Main Road, Watnall, Nottingham NG16 1HT, at the side of the B600.

Tree planting time...

Here we go, here we go, here we go....

Santa has come early this year (though the Tooth-fairy was late for my Birthday), but not in time for us to take part in the "Tree O Clock" planting today. Probably more due to my forgetting when it was... treeoclock

Anyway, pictured above are the parcels that Santa dropped off on his way to the North Pole to finish pressy-wrapping. In those parcels are:

6 x Foxwhelp

6 x Kingston Black

6 x Brown's Apple

6 x Major

6 x Herefordshire Redstreak

6 x Tommy Rodford

3 x Sops in Wine

3 x Hangy Down

3 x Katy

3 x Tom Putt

and 1 x Tremlett's Bitter (to replace a casualty...)

There are also two Dennsiton's Superb Gage trees and two Merryweather Damson trees = pies!!!

So although we have missed the Tree O Clock planting record, we hope to show that we are holding our end up. However it doesn't end there, as we are awaiting to hear if our order for 6 x Sweet Alfords will bear fruit, but we don't expect to hear news from that until later this month or into January 2010. We also have the 6 x Dabinetts that have been happily growing-on in pots to take to their new home.

So if my maths is correct, we have at least 59 - and a maximum of 65 - trees to plant. Phew! First though we are going to heel them all in so that we can lift and position at our leisure, as we still have more than half of the plot to clear of brambles, willows, birch and nettles.

Talking of leisure, it will be something I am likely to have a lot of in the future as I am in the process of leaving the teaching profession after 29-odd years at The Chalk Face, man and boy. Our new shed is up, and the barbecue, table and chairs are already in - I am a great believer in priorities! - so I am likely to be spending a lot of time there from now on while Gail remains at work keeping me in the manner to which I have become accustomed.

All I need now is a puppy, so that man and dog can sit munching sausage sarnies while gazing out over the growing apple trees...

Blimey!

Where did the summer go?



More likely, I didn't realise it was so long since I last posted anything on here! Holidays, working full-time, and building and planting have so occupied our time that writing anything on here has been low on my "list of things to do"...


Anyway, a quick update on the past two months:

France. Cidre. Spain. Sidra. Planting trees. Weedkilling. Mowing. Moorgreen Show. Cider-Shed altering. Cider-Shed adapting. Environmental Health. Local Council. Spending lots of money we don't have... Installing permanent water supply. Installing electricity supply. Stainless steel. Planting more trees. Radio Mansfield 103.2. Interviews. A & GCSE Results. OFSTED. More pressure. More stress. Harvesting. Pressing.


Phew! I'll go into detail later when I have time (Yeah! Right! As if!!!). Mind you, I am enrolled on a Retirement Planning course in a couple of months time, so who knows?


"Floppy Tabs" has been our best seller and is very popular; we finally were presented with our fourth CAMRA "Cider of the Festival" certificate for Mansfield Beer & Cider Festival where FT received almost as many votes as the winning beer! Ha! We were well chuffed. At Moorgreen Show, our ciders were the first to sell out: FT first, followed by our "Heritage Orchard" single-orchard cider.


On a parallel note, due to some difficulties in obtaining what we wanted for the Cider & Perry bar at Moorgreen Show and some slight hiccups with the order, we ended up with mainly Dry and Medium-Dry ciders and perries. We only had 3 out of the total of 20 which came anywhere near Medium-Sweet, and nothing really Sweet at all. Did that stop folks enjoying their ciders and perries? Not at all!!! We managed to find something to suit everyone and had totally sold-out by closing time on Bank Holiday Monday. Don't let anyone tell you that folks young and old will only drink sweet ciders - utter codswallop! And don't forget that this was a mainly Horticultural show, with a very wide mix of folks - not a cider-tickers CAMRA festival.


We pressed our first fruit of the year (season?) last weekend, a mixed bag of our own Tom Putts and windfalls, plus a couple of carrier bags of Conference pears from Mark at work, and a bag of John Downie crabs from our friends Paul and Julia. The juice was absolutely wonderful and fragrant, and had less acidity and a higher Gravity than I expected (Ph 3.1; SG 1052). I have long been tempted to let the fermentation naturally run it's course without adding anything at all - so with just 5 gallons of juice, I thought why not?


The photo above shows the surface of the juice after just four days: a fine mousse of froth showing that something is happening... The smell is still fresh and fruity so I am hoping that the fermentation that I am seeing is due to the desireable strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) that live on apples and produce fruity and cidery-type flavours.


If not, I could be in trouble...


We have also started our 2009 "Damson Vodka" off, with a few litre "Kilner" jars slowly filling with lovely ruby-red juice. It's been a great year for Damsons. I have also just bottled some Damson Vodka, Raspberry Vodka and my special Damson & Clove Vodka that has been maturing in the cool and dark for the last few years - at least 5 years we reckon (forgot to label it...). Whatever, it is super stuff and really smooth. Ready for long cold nights by the log burner...


Our autumn-fruiting raspberries are loaded this year, many going to the wasps or falling to the floor before we can pick them. More Raspberry Vodka perhaps...? Hmmm... My mum came up to see me earlier in the month and we went up to our plot to pick Blackberries - another fruit that has done really well this year. We picked about 10lbs between the two of us (and throwing the ball for the dog - the eponymous "Floppy Tabs" AKA: Shambles.)

The hedges around our plot were groaning with big juicy blackberries; I must plant some damsons, we already have Sloes (Blackthorn) but I've had to hack them back this year to bring the hedges under control. We have two old trees on the plot which we inherited: one is very ancient and at some point has been grafted over to 3 different varieties, while the other is some form of wilding. The 3-in-1 has Bramleys plus some other unknown cooker and an unknown eater, while the wilding may well prove very interesting... more on that later.

Whatever, my mum went home with bags of windfalls from the two trees to make Apple and Blackberry pies and lots of apple-sauce.

The Cider Workshop...

Will the real: The Cider Workshop please stand up?

As you trawl round the internet, you can come across all sorts of domain names and titles for websites, groups, etc. etc. Sometimes the websites are real and as expected, but sometimes they are devious traps set by the calculating to catch out the unwary. Occasionally they are there to trick you into parting with your hard-earned money and are therefore blatantly illegal.

However, there are some folks who go out of their way to trick you into logging-on to their site just for getting hits and to stop you accessing the site you may want to get to. I'm not talking about porn or major crime here - just cider. Maybe it's driven by fear or something to hide. Or from having made a mistake but not being prepared to admit it. Or maybe being totally wrong but being unable to see anyone else's point of view?

Some months ago, a few like-minded and democratic cider-makers got together after being blocked from and effectively kicked-out of the on-line cider group they belonged to. They were ex-communicated by the group and websites owner, Andrew Roberts, because they stood up for one another, dared to speak their minds, believed in open and free-speech - and believed that campaigning and fighting for real cider and real perry was best carried out on a variety of fronts. Well the latter is fine in a democracy or where you think you have a voice and a say, but not in an autocracy where one person thinks their word is the only way: a despot.

So one by one, all the free-thinking and long-standing members of this cider group - which claims to be (quote) "...the main body representing real cider enthusiasts and small producers in the UK..." (unquote) - left because of their own frustrations at seeing free-speech crushed and fellow cider enthusiasts ejected from the group just for mentioning other groups with similar and roughly parallel aims. It soon became clear that Andrew Roberts lives in a virtual world - not a real one - when it comes to talking about, having knowledge of, and campaigning for real cider and real perry. He doesn't make the stuff, just drinks it and pontificates about it.

So the free-thinking cider-makers and enthusiasts got together and set-up their own group. It was democratic from the start, involving a small group of people from across the globe who not only drank real cider and perry but most importantly, made it. This small group quickly flourished and soon encompassed a wide range of very expert and knowledgeable people, often because they had also been blocked from ukcider - for that is what the old, dying group was called - for flirting with or daring to join the new kid on the block: The Cider Workshop.

Now it is quite common for a number of on-line groups to exist side-by-side and share membership and knowledge - car clubs for instance. The Cider Workshop hoped to do just that and collaborate with ukcider - but unfortunately Andrew Roberts was having none of this and so started a "Cider Workshop" war. Someone has joined the Cider Workshop discussion google group under the false and misleading name of "CiderWorkshop" - originally it was "Wokshop" but we won't hold that against him - and is using the false email address of: ciderworkshop@google.com Now who would do that if they didn't have something to hide? This person has been asked to use a username which cannot be confused with the real admin side of the real and genuine The Cider Workshop - but they have refused. Now why is that? Who could want to cause mischief by pretending they are something that they are not? Some have suggested that it must be Mr Andrew Roberts, but that remains to be proved. But their actions are certainly devious and, most suspect, ultimately malicious. The posts which emanate from this character are also bizarre.

It gets worse... If you google "ciderworkshop" you'll will get lots and lots of hits that lead you back to... yes, you've guessed it: ukcider or, surprisingly Mr Andrew Roberts; he even uses a photo of himself alongside the name "Cider Workshop" on sites like the knol and edocr. Now why is that when he has nothing whatsoever to do with The Cider Workshop - unless it is intentional of course.

Andrew Roberts also uses "CiderWorkshop" on twitter - why, when "his" website is ukcider? Unless he is out to deliberately deceive and undermine any attempts to get a truly democratic and friendly cider discussion group and cider resource site, up and running? Some may claim that Mr Roberts is afraid of any competition whatsoever. I'm sure that deep inside he is so concerned with promoting real cider and real perry in the UK, that he is more than happy to let ukcider stand on it's own without trying to prop it up with false domain names and false links to lead all searches to ukcider.

Oh, I mentioned edocr earlier. I hear on the grapevine (not sure whether it is true or not) that my good friend Rose Grant is very unhappy that Andrew Roberts appears to have lifted some of her work from her own blog without permission in order to post it elsewhere in connection with his name and links to ukcider? (Alongside tags falsely leading to "ciderworkshop" of course. By falsely, read "to ukcider"). I do understand though that Rose's argument is over moral and intellectual rights seeing as she wrote the blog herself in her own style. Is nothing sacred? Plagiarism is a very low act indeed.

But plagiarism and cloning are exactly what you will find on ukcider's wiki it seems. Many folks tried to remove their work when leaving the group, deleting it en masse - but it has miraculously reappeared it seems. There has been the odd clumsy attempt to re-write stuff, but unfortunately the names of the recently departed are still to be seen attached to articles which they thought they'd deleted. It is very easy to spot re-written articles when they are re-written by someone who personally seems to know very little about the subject in hand.

Allegedly a number of providers and web owners have removed some of these false links set up by Andrew Roberts to ukcider which purported to be links to The Cider Workshop group and website. Likewise, someone hiding behind the logo of ukcider has been attempting to get permission to use photographs from the flickr website under the false user name of "Cider Workshop". Now who could that be...? Answers on a postcard to....