Barley'd Pork Stew - Untested

 https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/pork-shoulder-and-pearl-barley-stew/

1/3 cup (75g) of lard or butter
3 carrots (180gr), quartered lengthways and chopped
3 celery sticks (50gr), finely sliced
2 onions (200gr), finely diced

1/4 tsp black pepper
3 Tbsps finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves, plus extra sprigs, chopped
2 bay leaves
3 oz bacon, cut into lardons
4 cloves, crowns pinched to release flavor
A pinch of nutmeg
1 Tbsp tomato paste, rounded
1 lb 5oz (600g) pork shoulder, diced
1/2 cup (125ml) red wine
3-4oz (100g) pearl barley
Salt

1. In a large oven-ready pot with a lid, heat your fat of choice over medium heat and fry the veg, herbs, bacon, cloves, nutmeg and black pepper. Before any real browning occurs, add the tomato paste. Cook, stirring constantly, for another minute or so, then add the pork shoulder and stir to combine.
2. Stir in the wine and allow to simmer for a minute or so. Add enough water to come up to the level of the mixture – no higher (you'll have to eyeball this). 
3. Cook, covered, in a very gentle simmer for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours or until the pork is tender – add a little water if it’s starts to look too dry). 
4. NOTE: Forty five minutes before the end of the cooking time, stir the pearl barley into the stew.
5. When cooked, the stew should appear moist rather than wet or dry. Season to taste with salt , then stir through the extra thyme sprigs to serve.

Yogurt Cheese - Testing

 I got the idea to do this from traditional Labneh, but not being middle-eastern and stealing the idea, I'm just calling it yogurt cheese. Interestingly, the longer you leave it to drain the more firm it becomes until it reaches the density of cream cheese. I must try this.

1 - I've made it once, leaving it to drain overnight, to replace ricotta in another recipe I was trying for the first time, Winter Squash & Cabbage Galette. It worked wonderfully well. Very cream, more like a dip consistency. That would have been 12 hours.

For every 

1 cup of yogurt

Add 

1/4 tsp salt

1. Mix the yogurt and salt together and place in some cheese cloth. Suspend the package from a wooden spoon over a deep bowl and allow to drain in the refrigerator, from a half day to ?? (how long until it turns into cream cheese?

Pumpkin Pancakes - Test 3

https://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/pumpkin-pancakes-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-24665

1 - One of the many advantages about having the occasional WWOOFer come stay at the farm is that every so often one of them likes to cook and does it well. Natalia made these lovely pancakes and was kind enough to share the recipe with me. If you click on the link, you'll see I've already made changes commensurate with the farm's ethos.

2 - The original recipe is above. I'd going to do a radical transformation of the order in which things are done to reflect how I actually do it.

¼ cup butter, melted 52 g

¼ cup brown sugar 52 g

4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp nutmeg

1 cup pumpkin puree 226 g

2 eggs

2 cups milk 490 g

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour 250 g

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1. Melt the butter and set aside.
2. In a large bowl thoroughly combine the sugar and spices. 
3. Stir in the butter and the pumpkin puree and mix until well combined. 
4. Add the eggs, whisk until smooth. 
5. Stir in the milk and vanilla.
6. Whisk in the baking powder and the baking soda.
7. With a wooden spoon add the flour and fold in just until the batter is smooth and no pockets of flour remain.
8. Ladle in ¼ cup of the batter into the pan at a time. Cook for roughly 2 minutes, or until you see bubbles in the middle of the pancakes and the edges are dry enough to get a spatula under the pancake. Flip and cook for 1 more minute on the other side, or until cooked through. Eat.