What have you cooked on your wood burner today?

woodburner cooking

homemade soup cooked on my tiny Hobbit stove

Today we are cooking

BEEF IN RED WINE

 

Here is another recipe you can try cooking on your Hobbit stove

Leek and potato soup

Chilly winter comfort food.

Made from smoked lardons, sliced leek, sliced and diced new potatoes, garlic, cumin seeds, butter and olive oil. And the secret ingredient which gives this soup it’s sumptuous depth of cheese flavor which is a blue cheese from the West Country of the UK. Colston Basset blue is a traditionally handmade stilton cheese and only a small’ish knob of cheese will give a strong thread of flavor to blend along side the smoked lardons , and leeks.

The soup is cooked in layers with the lardons being followed swiftly by half a thinly diced onion and some finely crushed garlic. Along with a pinch of cumin seeds. These like even the blue cheese are optional in this recipe. I like to throw in a little sea salt and a good few winds of my fabulous black pepper grinder.

Cook it all down as the fire inside your Hobbit stove begins to drop. This process will take around 45 minutes to an hour. The longer and slower you can cook anything on top of your stove in my opinion develop a deeper flavor. The stove can always be cranked right up for frying eggs and bacon etc. and if it is cold outside then you have every excuse to blast through your fuel supply. You can however also cook things for longer and slower to also help you regulate the use of your fuel so that you optimize the energy efficiency in this area also.

Tiny home owners would surely prefer a regular even level of heat that is distributed around the space and then maintained at a comfortable level with as little work and fuel usage as possible. This requires an element of constant practice and usage of your wood stove. My Hobbit stove is beside me every day in my little office , so it is rare that I am not cooking , reducing, frying, boiling or roasting something on my Hobbit stove.  Even having a kettle just off the boil for tea if there is no stock to make is better than failing to utilize the cooking potential of your wood burning stove.

After you have cooked down all of the ingredients, by stirring them around every 3 minutes or so, you can then add boiling water or chicken/vegetable stock. To the extent of 1/3 mash to 2/3 stock. You can then either allow this to settle and come very slowly just off the boil or you can –refuel your stove’ and carry on with a speedier version by keeping the soup on a rolling boil. A good fitting lid on a Le Crueset blue enameled pot is perfect for sealing in the flavours . Each of the small number of elements fusing together as everything blends deeper and deeper by the heat of the wood stove below. The magic of creating a truly delicious meal whilst sitting by a Hobbit stove is surely a pleasant way to spend your working day, and evening in my case.

When you pour on the stock or boiling water from the kettle you can then use the spoon to release any bits of bacon or leek that have welded them selves to the bottom of the dish, if you are lucky enough, by leaving it alone long enough. Remember woodburner cooking takes more time, the control is there but it is not instantaneous without the clever use of wood, trivets and skill.

This evening is the night before the night before Christmas so it is a good time to be thankful for so much. Just then from the corner of my eye I spot the single flashing blue light  of an ambulance on it’s way  down in to the village. Everything can change in an instant. It brought to mind the great poem of Kipling ‘If..’ and how triumph and disaster are indeed imposters. The comfort of the gurgle of soup stirred by the chuckles of Radio 4 extra are small pleasures to be enjoyed to the maximum. Living out each moment of this brief life without reproach but in pursuit of an inexplicable feeling of happiness.

Top 5 – Leek and potato soup recipes on the web.

My favourite top 5 soup recipes that are best cooked on top of your Hobbit stove.

  1. From foodie blogger Jen Segal with her classic version.
  2. The BBC Good Food website which is like the yellow pages of the online recipe world with a combination using a similar balance of ingredients so if you like mine there is a good chance this one may also be worth giving a go.
  3. Jamie Oliver – a great twist for using with other root vegetables. Another winner from the absolute master of the media cook the awesome oliver!
  4. A traditional and quickfire version from Aunty Beeb.
  5. Delia Smith with another classis from her no nonsense ‘Let’s be avin ya…! range of robust winter soup’s which are perfect for dispensing from the food flask at half time.

Here also for the one’s of us that should be on the wood burner diet!! Should choose! Here is a healthy recipe for LEEK & POTATO SOUP

Lardons can be removed or replaced with a spicy sausage or chorizo to produce a completely different character to the soup. Report back on how you have managed to tweak this all time classic winter soup combination. Reinvent and then reinvent again. There can never be a finite number of manifestations of a classic taste combination, so let yourself and your Hobbit stove loose with some root vegetables and a little bit of chopped meat. Our ancient ancestors would have eaten a version of this recipe for sure. Reconnect with them by enjoying a bowl of this magic juice.

The slices of new potato stay in tact enough as does the finely sliced leek to enough of an extent that I prefer not to blend the soup and add any latte froth but have it in it’s as cooked state. Presentation is everything so you can blend, serve on fine white bone china with a few dark green herbs, a twist of fresh black pepper.a few small micro puddles of chilli oil and green and purple micro herbs and a cumin cracker for maximum dinner party effect or you can pour a large bowl full, grab a cushion and head for the sofa and the remote control.

You should taste the soup after about 2 to 3 hours of cooking to check the seasoning. Remember that the smoked lardons are often quite salty and it is easier to add little by little to reach the correct seasoning. Over salty and it can be difficult to eat it as a meal rather than as a starter.

Fore more recipes visit The Woodburner Kitchen blog.

Small Stove Review 9

Our Hobbit Stove Has Been Fitted!

"We had a Hobbit stove fitted this week by Alex Reay from Flues and Fires, and I just wanted to get in touch to say it is AMAZING and we love it! We have a lovely cast iron tiled fireplace which I was desperate not to lose when we installed a small wood burning stove, but until I found the Hobbit on Google, everyone told me it would be impossible to keep the fire surround. The Hobbit is perfect - not only does it fit very snugly, but it looks fantastic and the blue door complements the tiles very nicely. We are sitting enjoying a fire now and absolutely loving it! Thanks for creating such an amazing product."

Nicola Williams

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The Best Stove Ever!

"It’s the best stove ever! It’s easy to light, very efficient, burns anthracite and stays in overnight (ours has been in for three weeks now). It even keeps a kettle of water at the ready for a cuppa! What more can I say, we love it! Just the thing to make our Yorkshire home cosy, and the cat loves it too!"

Lynn and Andrew, West Yorkshire

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First Small Stove Installation

Was looking for a small stove for my first self-install. Found Mark very helpful. Knowledgeable, friendly service. Stove burns well and generates lots more heat than the previous open fire. What is not to like?

Sam

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A Huge Thank You!

"Dear Mark and Gill, a huge thank you for designing and making the Hobbit stove! We had two different London-based fireplace companies tell us that we simply had to knock out the old cast iron and tile fireplace to fit in a woodburning stove, and that there was no other option! Then we found you online. We are delighted with our little Hobbit, which swallows up logs and kicks out a good amount of heat. Perfect for the winter! I will also be writing to the London-based fireplace companies to put the Hobbit on their radar. Best wishes."

Nat

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Delighted With Our Hobbit Stove!

"Mark, Gill, thank you for your assistance, we are delighted with our Hobbit! I fired it up this evening after taking all afternoon making a register plate to fit the opening."

Alan

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It's Brilliant!

"Hi Mark, here's a photo of the Hobbit installed in my Yorkist grate. It’s brilliant! It also throws out a lot more heat than the grate did."

Roger T

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Just to Say Thank You!

"I just had a chat with Gill saying how delighted we are with our little Hobbit stove, and to also thank you both for your attention to detail and excellent customer service!"

Derrick

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The Little Hobbit Has Stepped Up To The Challenge!

"We just wanted to say how impressed and how much of a life saver our little Hobbit has been! It was fitted a few months ago in our holiday home in Rhu, Scotland, which is a large open plan conversion in a Victorian house. This weekend our boiler decided it was not going to play ball. The little Hobbit has stepped up to the challenge, providing heat to a very large area, about twenty eight foot by twenty four foot with a high ceiling of about eighteen foot, keeping the room reasonably warm, warm enough for us not to use cardigans!”

Alan W

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Very Pleased With Our Hobbit!

"We are very pleased with the stove and think it looks great! We restored our fireplace (it was hidden under plaster!) and the whole look is better than we hoped!"

Neil

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Absolutely Delighted!

"Just had our Hobbit SE installed in our Victorian fireplace and we are absolutely delighted with the end result. We felt passionate about preserving our lovely fireplace!"

Andy

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Our Pride And Joy!

"What a fantastic fireplace with the beautiful Hobbit stove. It fits perfectly into the small space and throws out a lot of heat. Here's a photo of our little stove, now our pride and joy and much admired by all who see and feel the warmth."

Chris and C

Small Stove Review 11

Fantastic!

"Just to bid you all a Happy New Year and to say how much we’re enjoying having our Hobbit stove! It was easy to fit with the help of your excellent ‘how to’ videos and we’re just awaiting our inspection by building control for the certification. The Hobbit has fitted neatly into the hearth vacated by the old gas back boiler (with a little cosmetic rendering) and never ceases to surprise us how much heat it can deliver to the point that the new condenser boiler is having an easy life, thereby saving us on gas bills too! Everyone loves having a ‘real fire’ in the living room."

Philip Baird

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A Brilliant Little Wood Burner!

"The stove we bought from you is really starting to come into its own as the weather cools down. Here is a photo showing how much one of our dogs is enjoying it!"

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Brilliant Product!

"Just wanted to share a picture of our newly installed Hobbit. Absolutely delighted with it, and so pleased we were able to retain our existing fireplace as well. Brilliant product, thank you!"

Marion

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