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March 2019
Introduction to Bread Making Course
This all day session will give you practical experience in baking a range of British and Continental breads from scratch. You will be shown, and then practise, how to mix and knead soft Continental dough and also tighter British doughs. We mix and knead by hand in order for participants to get the ‘feel’ of the dough as it develops. This can be tiring but very worthwhile and our course members always go home tired but smiling and with an…
Venison Butchery and Cookery Day
The premise for the design of the venison cookery day is that although the countryside is full of this fine, healthy meat, it’s often missing from the menu. This one day course will take you on a journey from field to fork. You’ll start with a talk and demonstration on how to skin and butcher a venison carcass and then have the chance to get involved hands-on, with a cookery session designed to show you how to get the most…
Smoking and Curing Masterclass with Steve Lamb
Taught by smoking and preserving expert, Steven Lamb of River Cottage, this course will enable you to access the delicious sweet, salty and savoury world of cured & smoked artisan goods. Food preservation is such an important tool for anyone looking to grow as a cook. It allows you to take good ingredients and turn them into elevated versions of themselves. The person who turns pork belly into their own home cured bacon engages further than the one who just…
Pig Butchery Day
Our Pig butchery day covers everything you need to know about keeping and butchering pigs. We start by talking about pig husbandry, the types of pigs that are kept and can show you our pigs here at Vale House Kitchen (we usually have some Oxford Sandy and Blacks in our orchard.) We then cover the breaking down of the pig into primary cuts and move onto roasting joints and chops. Its then onto the art of sausage and salami making, followed…
April 2019
Introduction to Foraging
Explore the bounty of the countryside with this fun and informative Introduction to Foraging Course. Come with us on a wild food foray in the woods, fields and hedgerows around Vale House Kitchen. On this one-day course you’ll find and prepare wild foods gaining knowledge, skills and experience from expert forager and landscape ecologist, Adrian Boots. You’ll not only learn to identify common wild foods, but also landscape features, habitats, associated trees and plants species, their relationships and seasonality with…
Lamb Butchery and Cookery Course
With the popularity of smallholdings growing and more people opting to DIY when it comes to butchery and buying locally reared top notch high welfare meat the time for a course on Lamb / Mutton butchery is upon us. Tackling any whole animal is a challenge, but lamb needn’t cause any major problems. The lamb butchery course is designed to teach you the basics of dealing with the whole carcass, from offal to stock, stopping off at chops, joints, cutlets,…