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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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Parsley Chimichurri from the Garden
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Making chimichurri from homegrown parsley It can be hard to figure out the right amount of different fresh herbs to plant – I seem to focus a lot on calorie crops like potatoes and carrots, while ignoring those small things that bring joy to the kitchen. Parsley is one of those herbs that it can be hard to get right. Parsley grows best from seed, and the seedbed needs to be kept moist for two to three weeks until it’s…
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How to Make Cheddar Cheese
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The first thing I have to say about making cheddar cheese is: are you sure you really want to make cheddar cheese? Cheddar cheese is often one of the first cheeses a new cheesemaker will aspire to make. Pretty much everyone is familiar with the mass-produced style of this cheese and can find a place for it in cheese sandwiches, grilled cheese, and many other dishes. But… Cheddar is more complicated to make than other cheeses: it has extra steps…
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How to choose a home grain mill
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How to choose a home grain mill I’ve been asked a few times about my recommendations for grain mills. I’ve owned three different grain mills over the years (1 hand-crank, 2 electric) and in this post I’ll be sharing everything I wish I had known before buying one: features that I think are important in a grain mill, what to look for, and how to understand the difference between different types of mill. I hope that this article will cover…
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Cheesy sauce for pasta (healthy mac & cheese recipe)
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In this post I’ll be sharing one of our favourite ways to serve homemade pasta: in a comforting creamy and cheesy sauce, with dark leafy greens mixed through. The sauce is really quick and easy to make, and you can use either regular egg pasta or sourdough pasta for this, or you can use store-bought pasta. Making this sauce and serving it with pasta is like making a healthy mac & cheese from scratch, it’s so comforting, perfect to eat…
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How to make sourdough pasta from fresh milled flour (simple flexible recipe)
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Homemade sourdough pasta A while ago I figured out I could make pasta without needing a pasta machine, and started going a bit crazy for homemade pasta. It’s such an excellent way to turn an abundance of homegrown eggs into a meal that the whole family enjoys. By choosing to make sourdough pasta instead of regular pasta, whole grain pasta gets the benefits of sourdough fermentation, which includes breaking down the phytic acid, making the wheat easier to digest, and…
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Survive the hungry gap: how to be a locavore when the garden and root cellar aren’t feeding you
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What is the hungry gap? And why does it matter to homesteaders? There comes a time of year, every year, when the kale bolts to seed, the stored root vegetables get woody or mushy, and any root vegetables or potatoes that are left in the ground want to grow like mad, putting their food energy into growing new plants instead of feeding us. At this time of year, we can’t stop eating just because the garden has stopped producing. Being…
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Fresh Milled Flour Sourdough Boule – easy dutch oven recipe
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Here is a simple recipe for a delicious crusty fresh milled flour sourdough boule baked in a dutch oven. I really like this recipe because it’s simple to measure, there are different options for timing, flours, and shapes, and it simply tastes great! This loaf was a favourite for many of the recipe testing team for Sourdough Without Fail too. Why the dutch oven method works so well for baking bread The dutch oven method is the closest thing we…
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How to Make Hard Cheese (flexible homestead hard cheese recipe)
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The cheese I make the most often doesn’t really have a name. It turns out a different cheese at different times of year, but making it is always the same process. When I’m asked what cheese I’m making, I often just reply “hard cheese”. We are on a homestead, this is a basic staple hard cheese that is easy to make and feeds us, so I’ll call it “homestead hard cheese” for now. Most cheese recipes have exact timings written…
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Soft Fresh Milled Flour Sourdough Sandwich Bread (frugal tangzhong method)
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Soft Fresh Milled Flour Sourdough Sandwich Bread In this post I’ll be sharing a lovely soft sandwich bread recipe from Sourdough Without Fail that earned these comments from the recipe testing team: “The crust and crumb are as soft as store-bought white bread. I can’t believe whole wheat could turn out bread like this!” And “Agree! It’s amazing. Hands-down my favorite recipe that I’ve tested. The flavor is good and the texture moist and a bit chewy — very satisfying”…
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Light and fluffy fresh milled flour pancakes from sourdough discard
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What makes these fresh milled flour pancakes so good? These honey-sweetened sourdough pancakes are so light, fluffy, and delicious. You might have trouble believing they are 100% whole grain and very healthy! The best pancakes made from fresh milled flour are ones that have the batter soaked or rested. Soaking (or fermenting, in this case) allows the bran in the grain to soften and the gluten to relax, to make a softer, fluffier pancake. By making these pancakes from sourdough…
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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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