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.

@MonkeysPunk

Dear Hugh, do you plan in advance what you are eating each day - or do you just decide and make whatever you feel like eating when you get hungry?

A bit of both to be honest at this time in the year I tend to wonder out in the garden an hour or so before supper and grab handfuls of what looks best. But when we've got people coming over there may be a bit more planning. Until recently I would be thinking about getting a nice piece of our own home reared meat out of the freezer, but in my current veg loving phase, I like putting three or four big veg dishes on the table to pass around and share. Its' a really nice mezze style of eating. For example, the spelt salads, and big trays of roast veg in the book are brilliant hearty dishes and with a simple tomato salad and a few hunks of bread you've got a feast.

Hi Hugh

Where can I find out more about sustainable living and the benefits of Land Value Tax in Wales as I would like to build a sustainable home and small holding

Thanks

@AuntieMonica

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?

I'm not suggesting for a minute that anyone else should give up meat. I wanted to do it because I felt it would make me a better vegetable cook, and it has. But the fact is, most of us are eating too much meat, and I've been saying that for a very long time. Too much for our health, too much for the health and welfare of our farm animals, and frankly, too much for the future of food production on the planet to be sustainable. As well as cooking good meat thriftily and wisely, we also need to give meat a rest from time to time. Of course the way I think about cooking has evolved over time and I make no apology for that. I'm looking forward to going back to cooking the cheapest cuts of the best meat; they'll always be a big part of my diet. But they will be accompanied and interspersed with many more vegetables in future.

@ouryve

Hi Hugh!

Due to the vagaries of the weather up here in the North East coast, we always end up with a heap of green tomatoes at the end of the season, and yes I do inevitably end up making a load of River Cottage Chutney with them. :o

The thing is, I'm the only person in this house who likes chutney, so while chutney making time is fast approaching, and despite giving loads of the stuff away, I've barely made any inroads into last year's batch (I only finished the batch from the year before in March!)

So, do you have any other suggestions for what I can do with my annual glut of green tomatoes?!

If you've never tried the classic American dish of fried green tomatoes it really is worth a go- I've actually got a recipe for them on the Guardian website at the moment!

hi

can you suggest what I can grow successfully live in west of scotland and it has rained heavy 4 out of 5 days this summer have greenhouse east facing and managed tomatoes and salad, planted peas and broad beans loads of them have had enough to just about feed 2 people twice , surrounded by big oak / birch trees etc so light is a problem the kitchen garden has south facing wall but trees stop light it is also on slope down to the sea.

I am afrraid though love growing stuff am a bit disillusioned as 8 out of 10 raspberry canes died too, personally i think we are doomed unless cut big trees down so we can catch what sun there is but also feel bad about cutting trees down too but you cant grow stuff in woodland

any advice please !!!!!!!

ouryve - I'll happily take some chutney off you!

ouryve ditto. swap for some plum jam?

@Blatherskite

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?

The campaign is still going strong as is the website which I began running in conjunction with Compassion in World Farming. The campaign has been a great influence on the market as higher welfare chicken has moved from about 5% to 15% of the market. Of course I don't think that's enough and I continue to talk to the industry behind the scenes to see how we can make it even better.

@HumphreyCobbler

Any tips about making black pudding that slices rather than crumbles? Ours tends to disintegrate into the pan, although it tastes delicious.

You can add oatmeal to the mix for a more traditional Scottish black pudding, and that should firm it up a bit. Good luck with the next batch.

Hi Hugh,

My 6 year old loves fish, he would eat it every day if I let him.

He wants me to cook him a whole fish, head and everything. Any simple recipes that I could cook for him? He doesn't really do strong tastes, but don't want to serve a plain fish either.

@Jerseyellie

Hi You have had a massive influence on my husband and we now keep chickens and grow potato's, beets, tom's, carrots, onions, beans & strawberries!! We also grew a tremendous amount of radish, didn't realise they would be so easy to grow!! What would you do with excessive radish? PS are you really vegetarian now?

I never get bored of munching a few raw radishes especially with a little butter and salt but thinly sliced and stirred into yogurt they make an excellent pepper raita. And its true I haven't eaten any meat and fish whilst I've been making the TV series to go with the new book but I will be returning to meat and fish in a few weeks. Although I think I'll be eating less of them than I used to now that I've discovered the true joys of veg!

@Thingumy

Hi.

In lieu of your new found vegetarianism,can I have a refund on your overly priced 'Meat' book?

Certainly not. I assume you've had a while and hope you've got great use out of it. The way I see it the 2 go hand in hand. the first line of the meat books says that we've all been eating too much meat for too long and we've got to change. the flip side of eating meat thriftily and using every part of the animal is cooking less meat altogether and using more vegetables. I see no contradiction there at all.

@MrsBuntysStrangeCuldeSac

A nosy question I have always intrigued to ask people who cook and write about food as their profession - please could you tell me what is your favourite everyday meal is and favourite 'special' meal?

My favourite everyday meal is a poached egg on toast, with creamed spinach. My favourite 'special' meal is anything made with lovely fresh fish that we've caught ourselves, for example a ceviche of fresh bream, followed by barbecued mackerel - the kind of thing I'm looking forward to getting back to after my period of self-imposed veggiedom!

Some french schools, from personal experience, aren't above deep frying vegetables to get children to eat them, since, 1, the children eat the vegetables, and 2, they're french, do you think our schools should take the same approach?

Hi Hugh,

I am a forager! I love to take the chilldren out in all seasons to see what we can find to eat. The one thing I am not sure about is mushrooms - especially with the children. Where is the best place to start as it seems a shame, when there are so many edible varietys out there not to use them. Any help greatfully received!

@ColdSancerre

"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?

Just fry up a sliced onion, throw in half a kilo or so of cubed squash, sizzle for a while with a teaspoon of sweet paprika, a sprig of thyme and a pinch of chilli, then cover with veg stock and simmer. When the pumpkin is almost tender, add in the kernels sliced off two corn cobs, a handful of sliced green beans and a tin of cooked beans such as pinto or cannellini. Give it a few more minutes, check the seasoning and dish it up with flatbreads or a good crusty loaf. You can dot a bit of sour cream on it and scatter a bit of grated cheese over it too if you like.

Hugh, I think Thingumy was being tongue in cheek...

I'm a little bit insulted by all the publicity stating you've 'gorn veggie', but in real terms it's looking a bit like a publicity stunt, tbh.

Do you think this might taint your 'wholesome' image at all?

Do you hae an exciting idea for runner beans? There always seems to be a glut of them? thanks x

@gazzalw

Hi Hugh Knowing that many of your fellow ex-Etonian peers went down the directly political career trajectory, just wondered what inspired you to go down the garden path instead?

Well frankly I find the garden a much more stimulating and enjoyable place to be than the palace of Westminster. Actually though, the politics of food is always lively and so important for us for how we live and has consequences ultimately for the whole planet so i don't feel that making a living in the world of food is entirely indulgent.

@saffronenvy

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. 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.

My current favourite egg recipe is chachouka; it's a lovely North African stew of tomatoes and peppers and spices simmered down to a rich pulpy sauce. You then crack eggs over the top and pop it in the oven for ten minutes. Absolutely lovely - give it a whirl! (It's in the book!)

Thank you Hugh! Sounds lovely.

@5inthebed

Hi Hugh,

My 6 year old loves fish, he would eat it every day if I let him.

He wants me to cook him a whole fish, head and everything. Any simple recipes that I could cook for him? He doesn't really do strong tastes, but don't want to serve a plain fish either.

Baking a whole fish in foil is one of the most easy and rewarding ways to cook a fish, and you just need a few herbs and a squeeze of lemon, maybe a smear of butter, to get a lovely hot juice to spoon over the finished fish. It works brilliantly with plate-sized fish of a pound or two such as bream, gurnard, mackerel, mullet or bass.

@JustineMumsnet

Anything interesting I can do with Walnuts, Hugh?

One of my favourite dishes is a walnut and beetroot houmous-sy type paste. blitz the cooked beetroot with walnut breadcrumbs and a little garlic and loosen with some olive oil and most importantly add some toasted cumin seeds roughly bashed and mix it altogether. Yes, there's a version of it in the new book

Thanks Hugh, sounds delicious! I actually have some tomatoes and peppers growing in pots in the garden, so should be ideal.