Yes itâs chilly and yes its autumn but I'm on a mission to be outside more this winter, cooking with the elements! The change in my behavioural pattern is all to do with this guy - my new outdoor kitchen and the fact since my days living in America Iâve longed to cook outside like our entire neighbourhood used to do. Even in snow!
There is something about cooking without a roof over your head, which makes it so much more fun, even in the cold! The other family members are not so convinced about this new lifestyle plan â but they will be!
This weekend with two trees laden with figs Iâm thinking I might knock up a few preserves (although I seem to have a bit of a fig ripening problem in that they are not ripening) must Google that and find out why.
Back to the outdoors -  the reason this kitchen knocked the wind out of my sails when I first laid eyes upon it is two fold. Firstly it comes in panels so you can add as many or as few as you so desire. Secondly itâs not your normal outdoor looking kitchen in that there are no electronic appliances, no gas. Itâs about cooking with wood and with charcoal and this is it. Just wood, charcoal and a barbecue.
You can of course add things like a pizza oven and sinks but basically the whole deal with this kitchen is cooking with live flame â caveman style.
As well as making preserves Iâm off to Borough on the weekend to maybe get a peasant which Iâll slowly smoke using apple wood on the BGE (thatâs egghead speak for Big Green Egg) If youâre an egghead like Iâm becoming youâll know what I mean! Alongside on the Dutch oven Iâm thinking of chopping up a bunch of cabbage adding a bottle of Riesling and slowly over the flames cooking it down into some sort of choucroute. Served up with a walnut mustard from our new Larder,
My garden and kitchen below as dusk begins to draw in:
Cannot wait
Have a lovely weekend, see you under the stars maybe!
