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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 bake with rye flour in sourdough bread and more
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If you love the taste of rye, learning how to bake with rye flour in sourdough bread will reward you with beautiful loaves that are full of flavour. Rye behaves very differently to wheat, and in this article I’m going to share all the things that make rye unique, and the best ways to bake with it. Understanding rye Rye is probably the most misunderstood grain. To begin with, much of the rye bread found for sale contains only a…
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Simple Fresh Milled Flour Sourdough Rye Bread
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This fresh milled flour sourdough rye bread is made from a mix of whole fresh milled rye and wheat (or ancient grains). It makes a beautiful loaf served on its own, for sandwiches and smørrebrød, and pretty much anywhere. A perfect balance of sweet, sour, and full-bodied flavour. This is a beautiful loaf to savour and make again and again. Still with some of the benefits of wheat, but with enough rye to really call it a rye bread. The…
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How to use honey instead of sugar in canning and baking recipes
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If you’re avoiding refined sugar for health reasons, or if you want to bake and preserve using homegrown or local ingredients, honey is the best natural alternative. You can use honey instead of sugar in both canning and baking once you know a few simple conversion rules, and how to choose the right type for your needs. Choosing the right type of honey to use instead of sugar for canning and baking If you want to use honey instead of…
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How to grow parsley for self sufficiency
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Why grow parsley? Parsley is highly nutritious, with high amounts of iron, potassium, and other nutrients, and it tastes great. Use it in chimichurri, German one pot stew, in salads, and chopped and sprinkled on potato dishes, eggs, burgers, and all kinds of meals. Like any fresh herb, parsley is best used as fresh as possible, so by growing your own, even if you only have a small garden, you can grow the most delicious and nutritious parsley. The difference…
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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 (natural cheesemaking recipe)
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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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