It was the guest book that mentioned it, the firepit. We have stayed at this house for the past three years, but no mention was made of it until now.
We knew we had to find it and we did. It was just next to where the garden borders a neighbouring farmer’s cornfield.
It was also in the spot that captures the setting sun, so we could all pull up a chair and watch both the mesmerising flames of the fire and the ever changing colours of the sun going down.
Having never cooked on a pit of fire before, I was intrigued by it and keen to know how much effort it would take to get it going. Well the only effort came from digging out the soil that had covered the pit, then stacking it with wood & setting it alight. Easy as that.
We kept it very simple. The menu included just meat and marshmallows for pudding. The sweets were stuck on to hand whittled sticks, gathered by all the children. The meat was sizzled by Mr Scott and Mr Hepworth over wood flames that had just lost some of their height and subsided enough so that the you could cook in about the same way as you would do on a bbq . All I would say is do not let the flames die too far down as this slows down the cooking process significantly.
There is definitely a spark of magic that comes from cooking in this very natural, unadulterated way that makes you feel at one with nature. Especially once the sun has set and the stars are out in all their sparkling glory to light up the night sky.
I am now completely hooked on the idea of finding a patch of our garden or allotment that can be turned in to a fire pit. This, I think could be the perfect way to share the beauty of nature and the wonder of the stars with our children.
It’s also a true bonding experience, seeing the family gathered around singing songs and learning a few star names along the way.Thanks to Mr.Hepworth for educating us all with his knowledge of astronomy AND top of the range brand new telescope showing us star clusters, nebulars and Jupiter to name but a few!
I have a meat dish that I have wanted to post up for a while now and this seems like the perfect place to share it with you. It is for a truly delicious marinade, which works well with pork, chicken or lamb.
Children and adults enjoy it in equal measures and the best bit is that it is made up of 2 tablespoons of each ingredient. Very easy to remember, actually impossible to forget.
Two of everything marinade
A delicious and simple marinade to put together that works with lots of meat and vegetable dishes
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 2 tbsp plum sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tsp ginger peeled & grated
Instructions
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Combine all the listed ingredients in a bowl or dish in which you are going to marinade your meat
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Add in your chosen meat
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Leave to marinade for at least 30 minutes
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Cook in a per-heated oven for 35/40 minutes at 180 degrees
I LOVE the idea of fire-pit cooking and that marinade looks great too……such an easy way to make it , 2 of everything!
Karen
Yes, I kind of thought of all my favourite marinade ingredients and concocted this recipe so as it will be easily remembered for cooks of all levels!
Hi Christopher,
Your idea about the duck cooked inside clay tiles is inspired! It sort of reminds me of chicken in a brick that used to be so popular. I cannot wait to give this a go, thanks!