Bangers,
bonfires &
a bowl of soup.
Fireworks without the grand expense, sausages worth coming home for, and a woodpile that refuses to get any smaller.
Pull up a chair ↓November. More sparkle than spending.
You don't need to put on the biggest show to have a good Bonfire Night.
There are usually some magnificent displays going on around us. Here at Oakfield, we tend to stay at home, set off a few quid's worth ourselves, then admire what everyone else has sent into the sky. Call me tight if you like. I prefer thrifty with an excellent view.
It's still surprisingly mild outside, but the jobs are changing. There's firewood to cut, wood burners to feed and a very good case to be made for coming indoors to something hot.
Proper bangers.
Proper comfort.
Tomato soup and a good sausage in a crusty roll. Nothing elaborate, just the sort of thing you actually want to eat after standing outside.
We once made the sausages ourselves.
For events and for our own table, we had the equipment and the know-how to make sausages. We still have both. These days, though, we're happy to let someone else do that particular job.
We use Lew Howard & Son, the butchers in Ringmer. An excellent selection and, more importantly, sausages that actually taste of something. There are some tasks worth keeping in-house. There are others where it's sensible to know when you've been beaten by a good butcher.
And something to dip them in.
A bowl of homemade tomato soup is about as straightforward as a warming November supper gets. Add a little chilli if you fancy some heat, and perhaps a spoon of chutney or one of our jams alongside the sausage.
Fresh tomatoes are really a late-summer crop in Britain, so this is the time for the ones put by earlier — or good tinned tomatoes. Seasonal eating isn't about pretending the greenhouse is still in August.
Food should be enjoyed. Not turned into another job on the list.
Bonfire-night tomato soup.
With a gentle kick.
Nothing fancy.
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 × 400g tins chopped tomatoes, or the equivalent preserved from summer
- 500ml vegetable or chicken stock
- ½ small chilli, finely chopped (optional)
- A pinch of sugar, if needed
- Salt, pepper and a splash of cream to finish (optional)
Into the pot.
- Soften the onion and carrot in the oil over a gentle heat for about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for another minute.
- Tip in the tomatoes and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 20 minutes, until the carrot is tender.
- Blend until smooth, taking care with the hot liquid. Taste, season and add a small pinch of sugar only if the tomatoes need it.
- Serve steaming hot with crusty bread — or better still, with a proper sausage in a roll. A dab of chilli chutney won't go amiss.
Kitchen note: The chilli is entirely optional; nobody's awarding points for bravery.
Some of the best things we make start as somebody else's offcuts.
Keeping the home fires burning.
While we're talking about warmth, there's the less glamorous part: the chopping, splitting and stacking. It's a job that always seems to be waiting for us.
Robinia: a very useful second life.
Much of the wood we use in our burners is Robinia. It comes from recycled material and offcuts produced by Eldon Timbers, who process timber here at the farm.
Using what might otherwise be left over is just common sense to us. Robinia is a dense hardwood; once properly dried, it makes good, long-burning fuel. The splitting is still hard work, mind you. Nobody has invented a way round that.
A little wood-burning fact: However good the timber, it needs to be properly seasoned before going in a stove. Dry logs give a cleaner, more efficient burn than damp ones.
Sometimes there's more than we need.
We do occasionally have a surplus of quality firewood. If you'd be interested in some, get in touch and we'll tell you what's available. No grand firewood empire — just making good use of a resource on the farm.
Ask about firewood ↗Availability, quantities and collection arrangements by enquiry.
Chestnuts. If we can find any.
Roasted chestnuts are a proper Bonfire Night favourite here. The trouble is finding them in the shops at the moment. One minute they're everywhere; the next you're staring at a shelf full of things you didn't go in for.
We'll keep looking. In the meantime, there's soup, good sausages and enough sparks in the sky to remind us what time of year it is.
That's the whole point of these notes really: a look at what's happening here, what we're eating and what the season is giving us. Sometimes the plan works. Sometimes we make vinegar instead of cider. Either way, there's usually a story.
There is always something happening.
And yes, we cater events too.
Hog and lamb roasts, cooked food brought to your event, and roasting equipment hire are part of what we do at Oakfield. These field notes show you a bit of what goes on when we're not feeding everyone else.
Back to the farm & catering ↗