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Foods of the Forest....School!


Hello Village People. Karen here, eager to share an experience I had last week with my fellow Bury College students as I know many of you will be interested. Back in March I started the course 'Forest School Programme Support Level 2' and that's where I've been for the last 10 term time weeks on a Wednesday evening. It has been a fantastic experience, one that is sadly nearly over now, and to celebrate its near completion last week we spent a session sharing food that we had each brought and cooked over the fire.


I sought out all of the recipes so next time you have the firepit on the go or the BBQ out, why not try making some of these delights.


Campfire Stick Bread


This was absolutely amazing. I make bread at home and it is such a long process that I was surprised when we managed to cook bread in around 15 minutes. We were given a small ball of dough which we stretched out and wrapped around a skewer. Then we held them over the hot coals, rotating them regularly and watched as they swelled and baked. There was that unmistakable comforting bread smell as it baked and then after 15 minutes we tore pieces of fluffy freshly baked bread off the skewer and ate it as it was.



Coconut Chickpea Curry and Jacket Potatoes



We were treated to a fabulous rich and spicy chickpea curry. This was first cooked at home but was heated up in a pan placed straight onto the hot coals. This took no time before it was bubbling away and made the perfect topping to the jacket potatoes that were also baking away on the hot coals. These had been part baked before the gathering, wrapped in foil and then finished off on the hot coals, being rotated every now and then.


Instructions and recipes follow:


Indian Paneer Skewers


These were vegetarian and made using various veggies and cubes of paneer. For those looking for a vegan version I would recommend replacing the paneer with Violife Mediterranean block as it will not melt and drip off the skewer. You simply mount your favourite vegetables on skewers and then place on a grill over the fire. We had a grill that could be raised or lowered over the flames. Everything looked nicely flame grilled and they were very well received.



Baked Apples


The baked apples were my offering and so, of course, I photographed the process so I can share this one with you in full detail.


1. Find the tastiest apples you can, I used small organic gala apples.

2. Cut out the core.

3. In a bowl mix brown sugar (I used soft brown), raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg. I'm afraid I don't have amounts, I just did it to taste...lots of cinnamon!

4. Stuff the centre of the apples full of the sugar mixture.

5. Wrap the apples in foil.

6. When the fire has died down to become hot coals place the foil wrapped apples on the edge of the fire. After 10 minutes turn the apples to bake the other side.

7. And they're ready to eat! Open up the foil and dig in. It had a delicious spiced pudding flavour, great any time of the year but it definitely evoked Christmassy feelings!


Here's a link to the recipe video I used: How To Make Baked Apples (Campfire Cooking) - YouTube


And that's all, we were also treated to vegan and gluten free muffins, and washed it all down with some homemade ginger ale! We were well and truly satisfied by the end and I can't wait to try out all of these recipes with my friends and family.


If you have campfire recipes to share we'd love to hear them and if you want to know more about the Forest School Level 2 course then you can follow the link (Course | Bury College Website) or ask me in the shop and I'll tell you all about my experience! It's been a very positive one and I'd like to thank our excellent teacher Kirsty and all of my lovely classmates who have all taught me so much!


Thank you all for reading, I hope you have enjoyed this post.

Karen :-)


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