Live webchat with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - Thursday 15th September 1.30 - 2.30 pm

[RachelMumsnet]

To celebrate the publication of his new book Cottage Veg Every Day and accompanying Channel 4 Series which starts on Thursday 20 October 20. Hugh is joining us this Thursday (15 September) between 1.30pm and 2.30pm for a live webchat. As well as being an award-winning cookery writer and broadcaster and founder of River Cottage, Hugh is also involved in a number of campaigns including Hugh's Fish Fight, Chicken Out and Landshare.

Join us on Thursday to quiz him about his campaigning, cooking veggies and tap into his knowledge of rearing livestock, growing produce and, of course, cooking and baking. If you're unable join us on Thursday, send your advance questions to this thread.

All mumsnetters who send in questions to Hugh will be entered into a draw to win one of five copies of River Cottage Veg Every Day. We'll announce the winners post webchat.

Thank you, is just for overnight they will have a farmyard and garden to wonder round in during the day, and there is a big barn of straw.

Hi Hugh

love the hair and the new streamlined you - the veggies are obviously doing you good. We grow lots on a large plot but we're stuck in a runner bean, courgette and beetroot rut - what do you suggest for a more adventerous selection for this time next year?

@ComradeJing

Hi Hugh, I'm a big fan too.

What is your favorite recipe in the new book?

Thanks :)

Right now I've got two favourites- perfect autumn dishes as the weather gets a bit chillier: portos granado- a lovely South American stew of squash, beans, sweetcorn and spice (pg 146) and Chachouta, a delicious North African spicy tomato and pepper stew with eggs baked on top

@soandsosmum

Hi Hugh

Another fan here. Just had a baby and got bought multiple copies of your baby toddler cook book! Bought my Hubby a place on your fish day and Had to accompany him to make sure it was up to scratch. Loved it.

I have 100+ jars of different preserves and plumbeena in my cellar thanks to Pam the jam.

Ok, I'd like to echo the question re wine recipes and my question is re 'beena':

I've had very good response to my plumbeena and this year have done pear as well. Which other fruit have you found make a popular beena? (elderberry?)

(note to other mumsnetters - is there a good place for swapping preserves?

I haven't tried elder but blackberries make a brilliant one. It's almost too late this year but not quite. If you're also growing raspberries in the garden a mixture of raspberries is absolutely brilliant.

Anything interesting I can do with Walnuts, Hugh?

Yikes at my spelling! Sorry Hugh.

@ColdSancerre

Hi Hugh

Can you suggest a vegetarian main course we could all have a go at making in our new MN Recipe Club?

Yes certainly! The Porotos Granados from the new River Cottage Veg book is a lovely, heartwarming, spicy squash, bean and sweetcorn soupy stew from South America. Serve it with homemade garlicky flatbreads and a red cabbage, parsnip, date and orange salad.

...All the wonderful culinary advice I could of gotten and I ask about your hair. If my father ever finds out about this I will be disowned!

We have been fans for years.

were the Loose WOmen a bunch of old raddled tarts?

I've just seen you on Loose Women a daytime programme where you say that you've gone veggie as you think that cooking with meat makes you a lazy cook shock

Since I thought the River Cottage 'thing' was about using the whole animal, not just the prime cuts etc, but how to use the 'cheaper' cuts/offal etc, it seems like a massive sell out to me.
People are cynical, I am cynical, you've made a career out of telling people they can cook with meat within a budget, but with a bit of effort it can be done.

I'm not buying into it right now, convince me otherwise?

yes, i posted this question earlier and am being a PITA

Justine has wrinkly nuts, it seems

What is your next project and what do you do when you're not working on something?

I've only bought free range - or at least Freedom Food - chicken since the chicken out campaign and find that my usual Supermarket, Tesco, are better now than they used to be but still lagging far behind on what they supply in caged meat. It's often slim pickings when I go to chose my chicken and I have only ever seen them supplied in one size (which happens to be too big for us so we end up eating chicken all week) whereas the caged birds come in a variety of sizes and cuts.

Hugh, is the Chicken Out campaign still running and will you be doing anything to ask the Supermarkets to supply more free range chicken options?

@Rhubarb0

Ok Hugh, I agree with your fish fight and I signed the petition (you're welcome) but there is just one snag. I hate fish as does the rest of my family. We can eat tuna bake, just about and salmon's ok. But no matter what recipe I've followed and what fish I've tried, we just hate fish.

The trouble is that it's just so damn boney! Picking out fish bones from a mouthful of food is not good.

Then you have the taste. Fishy. I've tried it with lemon and herbs and tomatoes and goodness knows what else but the taste only varies from mildly fishy to strong fish.

If you can tell me how to cook fish so that my family will not only eat it but convert to actually liking it, then I shall physically go out and buy your books.

Fish doesn't have to be bony - your lovely friendly local fishmonger will happily fillet it for you. Fillet of fresh mackerel are hard to beat and so easy to cook: you can even drop them into a tray of roast potatoes for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Season with a little salt and pepper and herbs and you've got a brilliant home made alternative to fish and chips. The recipe is in River Cottage Every Day - give it a whirl.

Hugh, i dont give a toss about sustainability, organic, vege, anything

persuade me to care...

@Kveta

hi hugh! I love your shows, and really need to start building up a collection of your books now!

We have just bought a house with a totally bare (north east facing) garden - lawn, lawn, and more lawn. it's not very big, and has a wee raised bed at the back made with concrete slabs, so I managed to get a few plants in the week we moved, and have had a couple of potatoes, a handful of peas, and a glut of courgettes (2 plants, 45 courgettes so far, and more on the way - eek!). We've got a plum tree in the middle of the lawn, but it was only planted at the beginning of the season, so no joy this year. oh, and a fig twig, which I have high hopes for next year. I plan to dig a few veg and fruit beds to give us some gluts to look forward to in the future!!

My question is this - if you were starting a veg garden from scratch, what would be your key fruit and veg, and which would you avoid?

As I always say it is entirely depends on what you personally want to get out of it- there's no point in growing fruit and veg that you can't get excited about. For me, the fruits would be apples, raspberries, plums and greengages. If you haven't got much space, I'd avoid onions and potatoes as you can easily buy really good locally grown ones anyway

@MissWing

Hi Hugh, I was raised by veggies, so for us the 'high quality meat once in a while' thing is second nature.

I have a theory that frozen veg are actually very sustainable and environmentally friendly as:

-we'd run the freezer anyway
-no waste with food going off uncooked
-produced intensively therefore less carbon per calorie
-vitamins nicely preserved too

any thoughts?

I'm not sure about the carbon per calorie argument. Intensively farmed vegetables are often shipped long distances, and I would say local is best, but the freezer is a very useful device for keeping good veg in good nick, and actually anyone who grows their own veg knows that you need a freezer to take care of those gluts of peas and beans. We've got a huge tomato glut at the moment and I'm roasting kilos at a time with garlic and herbs, rubbing them through a sieve and freezing this delicious nectar by the litre. I'll be using it in soups, stews and pasta sauces right through the winter and beyond.

Hi Hugh!

Very excited to talk to you. Have been a fan since the early River Cottage days (and have recently been re-watching RC on DVD).

I am a first-time home owner, so a total novice with food. We have some ex-battery hens in our garden, and are currently overrun with eggs (bless them!) Could you suggest any eggy recipes other than omelettes as we are getting rather bored of those! Also, I'm keep to set up a veg patch so wondered what the best veg is to grow for use with eggs.

Thanks! - BTW agree with the poster suggesting a visit to Essex, we're in Braintree if you're ever in the area!

Hi Hugh

My daughter is off to Uni next week. Any ideas for cheap and healthy meals she can cook?

She can actually cook reasonably well, but I fear the lure of a packet meal may be too much once she has left home

Thank you

PS she's not really a red meat fan

Can I also add that my son (now 11) is still thrilled to have received a signed book from you and a note - it was when my husband wrote to you a few years back to say your DVDs don't have subtitles for the deaf.

Hi Hugh

Where can I find out more about sustainable living and the benefite in wales of Land Value Tax as I would like to set up a sustainable small holding.

Thanks

"The Porotos Granados from the new River Cottage Veg book is a lovely, heartwarming, spicy squash, bean and sweetcorn soupy stew from South America. Serve it with homemade garlicky flatbreads and a red cabbage, parsnip, date and orange salad."

Thanks, is there the recipe somewhere we could all share?

@MakemineaGandT

Hi Hugh! We love your books in this house......we cook from them regularly.

My question is: if you could only grow 5 types of veg in your garden what would you choose?

The secret is to grow the veg you most enjoy eating or that are better when you've grown them at home than when you buy them from a shop. For me, that means baby peas and broad beans, tomatoes, asparagus and artichokes but of course its different for everybody

ooh, thank you! apart from the greengages, that's pretty much our fruit plans (I'm putting blueberries in instead of greegages), and I had been contemplating onions, but glad to see they are more faff that they are worth :o

would still love to know what the waxy potato was you were talking about this morning!!