Henney's Vintage & Heston Blumenthal

Every so often Mike casually mentions something about Henney's that I can't believe he hasn't told me before.

For example - the other day I found out he supplies his Vintage cider for use in a recipe at one of Heston Blumenthal's restaurants - The Crown at Bray.

 

The Crown at Bray

Apparently Heston's 'development team' worked up a recipe using bottles of Vintage bought from Waitrose, then the head chef, Nick Galer, contacted Mike to buy in quantity. He now sends it over every so often by the pallet load, so evidently people eat a lot of mussles in cider at The Crown in Bray.

I did try to persuade Mike that we really need a trip over to eat said mussels - as research for this blog post you understand - but apparently this isn't necessary. Ah well.

So if you are in the area do call in and order Cornish Deep Sea Mussels, Cider and Granny Smith Apple (£14.50) - and let us know what you think.

New cider apple orchard planted at Tree Farm

I mentioned last month that plans were afoot to establish a new cider apple orchard here at Tree Farm, and over the last couple of weeks a lot has happened.

Planning the orchard actually began a couple of years ago when Mike first acquired the land. We  decided then to commit about four acres to cider apple trees and to go for a traditional standard orchard over a commercial bush orchard.

Obviously a bush orchard - smaller trees, closer together, intensively managed - would be the more economic choice, but there were other factors in our decision. We wanted to create something that would enhance the landscape and help preserve a tradition in Herefordshire. Standard orchards - bigger trees, more space around them, less need for pest control - are a huge part of Herefordshire's heritage and their survival depends on active planting and management.

Plus traditional orchards are visually beautiful and a haven for wildlife, and given we are planting the orchard right on our doorstep, we wanted to create something we could enjoy.

So, having decided on the type of orchard, the next job was to choose the trees. Cider apples fall into four broad taste classes - sweet, bitter sweet, sharp and bitter sharp - which reflect the sugar, acid and tanin levels in the fruit - and the trick in creating a great cider is to balance these properly. So this was the main factor behind the apple tree varieties we chose. Other factors were disease resistance, the 'juicability' of the fruit, and - crucially for us - the season of fruit maturity. We hope to be harvesting across the season (which runs from late September to December) rather than all at once so we were looking for a mix of early, mid and late croppers.

We settled on 10 different varieties and ordered 120 trees from John Worle Ltd, a cider apple and perry pear grower in Herefordshire:

Foxwhelp, Dabinett, Harry Masters Jersey, Kingston Black, Morgan Sweet, Knoted Kernal, Somerset Redstreak, Stoke Red, Tom Putt, Yarlington Mill.

As I said, this was all a couple of years ago, and with the trees now two years old and in a dormant phase they were ready to be lifted from the nursery and planted here at Tree Farm.

At eight foot tall they are already sizable trees, and given the scale - 120 trees across four acres - Mike decided to use John Worle and his team to do the planting, which took about three days in total - a day for marking out and drilling holes for the stakes, a day for putting the stakes in, and a day for the actual planting.

There's loads of great information on John Worle's website about how to do all this, including guides to planting plans and a great little film about the actual planting technique. Even on an eight foot tree, the roots are surprisingly shallow and don't need to be planted deeply - but there are certain crucial techniques.

And that's it! Two years on and we now have an infant orchard planted at Tree Farm. It's been hard to take decent photos given the gloomy weather (and all the wet days have of course delayed the planting itself - it has to be dry when this is done) but I have tried to track the progress as best I can, and over the next few weeks and months - and years - I am sure there will be lots more beautiful photos to come.

 

Measuring and marking

 

 Measuring and marking

Holes are drilled ready for tree stakes

Rain stops play

 

A sunnier day, and the stakes arrive...

 

Stakes go in

 

Holes are dug, ready for trees

First tree is planted....

...and then 119 more!

 Trees are protected

 And our field has become an orchard!

Do visit the John Worle website for more information on all this - John is an absolute expert in his field and there's loads to read about on his site.

http://www.johnworle.co.uk/

And for more about orchards in Herefordshire and the value they add to landscape, wildlife and countryside life, there are a couple of interesting articles here:

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/about_us/news/2012/040512.aspx

http://www.hlf.org.uk/news/Pages/ThreeCountiesTraditionalOrchardprojectwinssupport.aspx#.UURLSIX24b0

February: bottling, sales and planting an orchard

Time for the monthly round up and a look at what has been happening at Henney's during February.

Despite the prediction of racking and blending this month (some proper cider making stuff) I still don't have much to report on that front. March now, apparently.

But bottling has stepped up a gear this month. With Spring just around the corner and Easter at the end of the month sales are expected to pick up so Mike has increased his bottled stock-holding, ready to fulfill orders.

Quite a few more sales meeting this month so Mike was away a fair amount - overalls off, suit on, bottles clanking in his briefcase. And while he was busy drumming up trade, I tried out a couple of new cider recipes: a chicken casserole cooked in cider, and quirky version of pancakes for Shrove Tuesday - made with cider instead of milk, and served with caramelised apples. Highly recommended.

But the big news this month is here at Tree Farm, where work has begun on establishing the new cider apple orchard. I will cover this in depth in another post, but in summary, 120 traditional cider apple trees have now been planted, thus transforming our empty fields into an infant orchard. Exciting times...

All staked out and ready for planting

 First tree planted. Only 119 to go.

PGI - What is it? And what does it mean for Henney's cider?

Have you ever noticed this little symbol on the back of a bottle of Henney's cider?

It means that Henney's Cider has Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status. This is a very good thing, but I wonder how many people actually know what it means? So I thought I would write a post about PGI - and what it means for Henney's - and for Herefordshire cider in general.

Under EU legislation, there are certain geographical food and drink descriptions that can only be used by accredited manufacturers. Such descriptions are called Protected Geographical Indications and the term "Herefordshire cider" is one of them. Basically it means that cider can only be labelled "Herefordshire" if it is produced in Herefordshire using local cider apples and certain traditional techniques. It is an assurance of provenance and authentic cider making and you can read the exact requirements here.

It seems rather obvious doesn't it, that Herefordshire Cider should have to be made in Herefordshire? But so many terms and descriptions are meaningless these days - for example 'farmhouse cider' or 'country cider' are not protected in anyway, as such anyone can use them, even to describe the mass produced 'ciders' that are really imported concentrated apple juice supplemented with cheap forms of sugar. So it's comforting to know that anything terming itself Herefordshire Cider really is the genuine thing.

Henney's was accredited PGI status several years ago, when Mike first applied for it. He has to be able to show when and where he buys his fruit, where it is milled and pressed, and how his cider is fermented, matured and stored prior to sale. As a genuine Herefordshire craft cider, Henney's sails through the process - after all, it's never a chore for a true cider maker to talk at length about his product and how it is made!

So, for anyone wondering, that's what the little symbol on the back of every bottle of Henney's is all about.

Cider Pancakes with Caramel Apples

A quirky, cidery alternative to a plain pancake. The batter is made using cider instead of milk, and the pancakes are served with delicious caramelised apples  - a great winter pud. Or just a tasty treat on Pancake Day!

Cider Pancakes with Caramel Apples

For the pancake batter:
75g plain flour

pinch of salt

2 large eggs

100ml Henney's Dry Cider

couple of pinches of ground cinnamon

a little oil, for frying

For the Caramel Apple filling:
350g eating apples, cored and chunked

50g golden caster sugar

40g butter

icing sugar, to dust

1. First make the filling. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the sugar and cook over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves and begins to caramelise.

2. Add the apple and cook for five minutes, stirring to ensure apples are cooking through and covered in the caramel. Keep warm.

3. Make the pancake batter. Place flour, cinnamon, salt and eggs in a large bowl, whisk well until lump free. Gradually add cider, whisking until smooth. Pour into a jug. 

  

4. Heat a frying pan until hot, drizzle a little oil into the pan, then pour in a little batter from the jug, immediately tilting pan to spread the batter as thinly as possible. Cook until top is set and base is golden, then toss your pancake and cook the other side. Transfer to a warm plate and keep warm while you cook the remaining pancakes...

5. Serve each pancake folded over a spoonful of the apple caramel mixture and dusted with icing sugar.

6. Enjoy your pancakes with a glass of Henney's cider!

Tree Farm - Henney's HQ and our home

Back in the Autumn we moved house. (Dreadful timing - cider makers should never, ever move home during the busy pressing period!)

We are still in Bishops Frome, the village where Henney's Cider has been based since day one, but we are now living at Tree Farm, a smallholding on the outskirts of the village.

At the moment there is precious little farming going on at Tree Farm - a bit of haymaking, a few tenant sheep over the winter, one bee hive and three pet goats - but the plan is to establish a traditional standard cider apple orchard over about four acres.

We committed to buy the farm ages ago - have had a lot of work done on the house before moving in - so Mike was able to start planning the orchard and ordering trees back in 2011. He chose 10 different varieties of standard apple trees, which have been growing in the nursery at John Worle Ltd for the past 18 months.

Now in their dormant winter state, it is safe for them to be uprooted and moved, so in just a few weeks time a vast number of trees will be arriving ready for planting.

It's going to be an exciting time - to finally see Tree Farm start to live up to its name - and I'll make sure to capture the journey step by step on this blog.

 

Tree Farm - before the arrival of any trees

 Rufus the goat can't wait for the tasty snacks apple trees to arrive 

and practices his tree nibbling on an elder.

A Hearty Chicken Casserole with Henney's Cider

I'm looking forward to this part of 'the job' - writing a series of posts on cooking with cider. It certainly won't be a hardship to test out some tasty recipes (and it gives me something to do and write about when Mike's busy doing cider making things...)

Our first recipe, a hearty chicken casserole, is one we've adapted as it originally called for dry white wine, but I contacted Lucy Cash, the recipe writer, beforehand to ask if she thought it would work and she said yes, give it a go. So we used Henney's Dry Cider - and it was very nice.

 

A Hearty Chicken Casserole with Henney's Cider

2 large chicken breasts, skin on

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil & a knob of butter

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

150g chestnut mushrooms, quartered

500g potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

100g fresh or frozen peas

1.5 tablespoons mushroom ketchup

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

2 bay leaves

200 ml Henneys Dry Cider

500 ml chicken stock

1. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper

2. In a large pan or casserole heat the oil and butter and fry the chicken breasts for a few minutes on a high heat until they are nicely browned. Remove from the pan and place to one side.

3. Turn down the heat, then add onion and garlic and fry for a few minutes until softened. Add the mushrooms, potatoes, peas, carrots and mushroom ketchup, give everything a good stir and season with a decent dosing of salt and pepper. Add rosemary and bay leaves and cook for a few minutes

4. Return the chicken to the pan, add the Henney's cider and chicken stock. Turn the heat up and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down, pop on a lid and leave the casserole to simmer for a couple of hours, until the chicken and vegetables have cooked through and the sauce has reduced. 

5. Serve in large bowls, with hunk of bread and glass of Henney's cider! 
 

A perfect 'one pot' mid week meal, with all your veggies in there too. The recipe suggests serving with crusty bread but, honestly, it's pretty substantial on it's own. The glass of cider on the side is essential though!