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All blog posts
As you can probably guess, in this category you’ll find every single post from The Nourishing Hearthfire, from the very latest recipes and reflections, to my earliest blog posts, all in one simple category, sorted by date.
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How to Make Ricotta Cheese
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In this post I’ll be sharing how to make ricotta from any amount of milk. I make this whole milk ricotta from raw goats milk, but you can use any kind of raw milk, or even pasteurised milk. Ricotta is one of the few cheeses that will still work with pasteurised (UHT) milk. The quality is much better when it’s made with raw milk, but you can use whatever milk you have on hand to make this cheese. Ricotta can…
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Are ancient grains healthier than modern wheat?
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The answer to this question, as it is a lot of the time, is “it depends”. Ancient grains are not always more nutritious than wheat. It all depends on how they are grown, and what the individual growing season has been like. In this post I’ll be going into detail about all aspects of growing, storing, and milling grain that determine whether a particular grain is more nutritious or not. What are ancient grains? Ancient grains are varieties of grain…
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How to Replace White Flour with Fresh Milled Flour in Recipes
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I started baking whole grain bread in 2009. There wasn’t a whole lot of information out there back then. At first I diligently followed a recipe that was mostly white flour, with around 40% whole wheat flour, and made some OK bread, but after a while I wanted to get rid of the white flour completely. I quickly learned that replacing white flour with whole grain flour 1:1 does not yield great bread! Whole grain flours need more hydration, and…
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How to Preserve Blueberries without Sugar
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Blueberries are one of the healthiest fruits, and I think they are also one of the best tasting ones. In this post I’ll be sharing my favourite ways to preserve blueberries to enjoy all through the year. Why preserve blueberries without sugar? Blueberries have an intense taste of their own, and it’s nice to highlight that taste rather than making things overly sweet. For water bath canning purposes, they also have enough acidity of their own to preserve just as…
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Fresh Milled Flour Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe (easy no knead method)
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What makes this sourdough sandwich bread recipe different? This soft sourdough sandwich bread recipe from Sourdough Without Fail is made from 100% whole wheat, or with some changes which I’ll discuss below, it also works with ancient grains such as emmer, Khorasan, spelt, and einkorn. This recipe has been tested with fresh milled flour from my grain mill and with regular 100% whole grain flours and it works well with either type of flour. Based on a French style of…
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Light and dark
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Last month the sun sank to its lowest point on the horizon, and this month we are aware of the growing light, the growing sunshine, and the coming growing season. We have very short winter days on our hilly east-facing homestead, and when the sun disappears behind the hills at 2:30pm, it can feel like we live much closer to the Antarctic than we really do. In Europe, the further north one goes, the more importance is placed on winter…
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How to Scale Cheesemaking Recipes Up or Down: Rennet, Culture, and More
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How to scale cheesemaking recipes up or down I make a lot of cheese. At the time of writing this, I’ve stopped putting ‘make cheese’ in my planner on the days I’ll be making it, because I’m making it every day! At some point in the season this will slow down (sadly), but for now, my head, heart, and stomach are full of cheese and very happy. One thing that does change from day to day is the amount of…
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Easy Leftover Vegetable or Meat Pasties (Savoury Hand Pies Recipe)
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Why make these versatile pasties (or savoury hand pies)? Pasties are a great way to take whatever vegetables, meat, and cheese that need using and turn it into a tasty meal. (Stir fry is another good way to do this). Flexible recipes like this are great to have on hand if you have a few bits and pieces from the garden to use up, if you’re trying to rely on as much homegrown food as possible and want to work…
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Magic Overnight Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe with Fresh Milled Flour
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The magic of this sourdough pizza dough recipe What makes this sourdough pizza crust magic is its flexibility. You can make this same dough, and depending on your schedule, there are three different timelines you can work with: The flavour of this dough is also what makes it magic… If you rest it overnight in the fridge, it develops the most delicious sourdough flavour that goes so well with many kinds of pizza toppings. The overnight ferment also helps to…
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Cooking year-round on a wood cookstove: the dream, the reality, and the practicalities of relying on our own firewood and being off the gas grid
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The dream and the reality of living with a wood cookstove or slow combustion stove For many years I dreamed of a life with a wood-fired cooking stove slowly humming in the background, ready at all hours to make a cup of tea. Relying on our own firewood has made the reality of wood-fired cooking a bit different, but it is just as lovely, in its own way. Most off-grid people I’ve met here in Tasmania don’t use their combustion…
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100% Whole Grain Fresh Milled Flour Sourdough Bread Recipe for Beginners
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Whole Grain Fresh Milled Flour Sourdough Bread Recipe for Beginners If you’ve never made any whole grain fresh milled flour sourdough bread (or any bread at all) before, this recipe is exactly where you can start. With a simple mix of just four ingredients – fresh milled flour, water, salt, and sourdough starter, this is a basic, frugal, lean bread dough. It’s the kind of everyday bread you can feel good about making and eating day after day. You don’t…
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Easy 100% Whole Grain Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread (honey-sweetened, and works with fresh milled flour & ancient grains)
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The Art of Making Sweet Whole Grain Sourdough Treats that Actually Taste Good When you’re making a sweet whole grain sourdough loaf or other treat, you don’t want there to be overwhelming sourness or an assertive red wheat flavour. For best results, make sure that your starter has not overfermented (it’s even fine to use it slightly underripe), and avoid using red wheat. This recipe uses 25% pre-fermented flour and a minimal fermentation time, which gives the health benefits of…
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