Louise Lyons MacLeod

Welcome to Louise Lyons MacLeod at The Farm Kitchen.

Louise is a farmer of native British rare breeds, in 2024 she rose to fame on series 20 of Masterchef UK, winning a coverted place in the final.

The Farm Kitchen is Louise's supper club at home on her farm in Exmoor, Somerset.

Here she creates and cooks exquisite dishes using the best seasonal produce from her farm and from the South West.

Secure your place at The Farm Kitchen Table
The Farm Kitchen Tickets

'That's quality cookery'

'It tastes fantastic'

Gregg Wallace & John Torode about Louise's Pork and Cabbage dish

"Louise's food is a proud beacon of the British countryside. Of course it's seasonal but above all it's just delicious. And it's as delightful to eat as she is to meet!"

William Sitwell

'Much better than (when I made it) 50 years ago. I really enjoyed her (Louise's) dish, it was beautiful'

Pierre Koffman

'Shes incredibly calm'

'Well done'

'A fine effort'

Michel Roux Jr

If a post ever reflected the madness, this would be it!

A very eclectic bunch of photos of the first week of April, perhaps I’ll catch up with this week in May!

🐑 Mucking out in my PJs, there have been a few sleepless nights!
🦪 a happy lunch @porlockbayoysters (always a huge recommend)
🐑 Lambing cuteness, and repeat. Bottle feeding, and repeat.
🐷 A very happy welcome home to George, Anne, Dick and Julian (actually all girls!)
🧀 Delicious cheese from @whitelakecheese for a very exciting project - can reveal soon, I’ve been on countdown for ages!
🍋 Always burn your lemons
🎂 🐼 A red panda themed 9th birthday that has been stretched out for weeks!
🐑 🐑 🐑
☀️ Half term fun in the sun @dunstercastlent
🌼 Gorse picking, gorse preserving and gorse recipe testing

A tiny snippet of the last, crazy week

🐑 lamb cuddles, always
🩷 New mama, watching the ewes birth and bond with their babies never gets old
🧑🏻‍🍳 Filly has been keeping us all well fed, pancakes are her specialty 👌🏻
🐑 💙
This is our 5th year lambing, and we are always learning. If you’d said this would be me 10 years ago I’d have 😂😂
🌭 Lunch, cooking comes second during lambing, when I’m on my own it’s a case of eat what’s available when I can!
🏫 Before and after school Filly just wants to be in the lambing shed
🐐 Happy goats enjoying the sunshine
👟 Had an emergency, wore my good trainers. Instantly regretted it 🩸
👯 We’ve had more twins than ever before, and more girls. Can’t wait to see what the next week brings
🥦 Tray bakes for life - broc and kale pulled up from the garden, thrown in with halloumi, pine nuts and a kefir dressing
🐑 Twins born indoors but soon back out on the grass
🐑 Weekend farmers loving their work and lamb cuddles
🍼 One of the ewes that rejected her lamb - threatened her with milking and she decided to take her lamb 🎉
📸 Catching Ally watching rugby on the lamb cam!!

The Farm Kitchen

In a beautifully renovated 18th century barn overlooking Exmoor, diners can experience the outstanding cooking of Masterchef finalist and Exmoor farmer Louise Lyons MacLeod.
During her time on BBC’s Masterchef she often talked about Exmoor being her inspiration and she has since hosted a number of hugely successful pop ups in stunning venues across the moor.
Louise’s menus are led by the seasons and always feature ingredients produced on her farm. Each guest is treated to a generous 5 course menu which is a celebration of Exmoor and fantastic British produce.

The Farm Kitchen is a ticketed supper club held each month; with April’s supper club selling out in hours, tickets for May and June are now available through Louise’s website or through the links in the bio

Book tickets via: louiselyonsmacleod.com

Lambing 2025, day 1!

A very happy Monday. Despite a stern talking to from my small farmhand about not having any babies while she was at school, Caterpillar and Mummy Fish (named by Filly!) kicked off this lambing season at 10am and 2pm today.
Caterpillar had twins, the first was in a bit of a tangle and was head first so I needed to help her out and find some legs before delivering her. The second came swiftly and easily afterwards (check out the reel for my amazing one handed videoing!)
Next Mummy Fish had another girl, all safe and well, she was quickly up and feeding.

Mamas and babies were moved into smaller ‘mothering-up’ pens and given a good feed. They will stay there overnight until they are properly bonded and feeding well before they go out into the field.

I bloody love my job!

#lambing #farmlife #shepherd #sheep #familyfarm #whitefacedartmoor #countrylife #farming #backbritishfarming #exmoor

Lambing season plates

🦪 A rather lovely launch of @visit_exmoor Eat Exmoor guide for 2025. Hosted at the excellent @porlockbayoysters one of my favourite Exmoor places to eat (yes I ate them all!)
🧑‍🎄 My last packet of Smash - I bought these back from Lapland in December, I’m very sad. If anyone knows where I can get more I’ll be your BFF forever and ever….
🍳 Finally cooking in my new supper club kitchen
🍄 Foraging gone well. Mushrooms + garlic = 👌🏻
🍗 While we haven’t actually had our first lamb yet (hurry up gals) food during lambing tends to be relatively quick and simple as my workload increases 1000 fold!
🥦 Garden is in bloom, PSB and greens - with steaks from @dunkery_dexters
🧑🏻‍🍳 Recipe testing crumpets for April’s sold out supper club - these will be topped with all manner of deliciousness, but today they were scoffed in seconds by my family with lashings of butter.
🍴 There are just a couple of tickets left for May’s supper club so get your seat booked soon! There will be Jersey royals, home grown hogget and a pud inspired by one I made on Masterchef. (Ticket link in bio)

Oyster photo’s courtesy of @daffodil_pr

#plates #foodie #instafood #masterchef #cooking #homegrown #spring #eatyourgreens🌱 #visitexmoor #eatexmoor #farming #farmlife #exmoor

About last night…
The Farm Kitchen officially opened and what a night it was!

Huge thank yous to everyone who came along - travelling many miles across the country to come and eat, drink and chat ❤️

Thank you to Ally and Amy for being utterly brilliant front of house - what a dream team 🥂
The biggest thank you ever to my parents and Ally for grafting all hours to get the old barn renovated in time. My pa can now add a whole host of new skills to his CV!

Enormous thanks to @patwhitco for the video and photos 📸

🍴 Tickets for April sold out in a moment, but you can still book your seat at The Farm Kitchen table for May or June (links in my bio or head to louiselyonsmacleod.com)

#masterchefuk #exmoor #food #masterchef #cooking #foodie #farmtofork #farmlife #thefarmkitchen #visitexmoor #somersetlife

Making hay while the sun shines.

We are definitely not making hay, but while the sun shines (is this a false spring?) we are cracking on with farm work.

🐑 The pregnant ewes getting lots of TLC at this time of year.
🍴 Hard work deserves a proper supper - hogget, spring greens from the garden and the last of the Jerusalem artichokes
🧹 spring cleaning, and not being wise enough to wear waterproofs 💦
🥦 The first PSB, purple sprouting Brocolli, harvest of the year. For me this is so much better than asparagus season. PSB is the king.
🍴 Warm salads are in! PSB, ‘normal’ broc, chicory, kale, tons of garlic, sourdough croutons and lashings of mustardy vinaigrette
🍴 warm salad of loveliness made better with giant Muddle white pork chops (this was Ally’s, mine was rather more modest!)
🍪 Contractor cookies (brown butter, rye and choc chip) with cherry and fennel shortbread - got to keep the workforce fed.
🐑 my lambing kit is ready. 2 (or 3!) week countdown is on!

#spring #springishere #sunshine #foodie #homegrown #fieldtofork #farmlife #lambing #familyfarm #thefarmkitchen #cooking #cookies #shortbread

Birthday plates and cakes

🦒 Birthday roast wearing birthday giraffes
🍺 Splitting the G
🍾 on the train
🎂 Pistachio and raspberry cake for my birthday made by Ally, decorated by my girl ❤️
🎂 Chesecake of dreams made by my clever niece
🍴not cake, home grown Hogget
🍝 Pasta making play date
🍴 Cauliflowers and chickpeas. Always eat the cauliflower leaves, they are best roasted and toasted
🍴 mid-week Yorkshires - always make extra and keep them in the freezer, keeps my 2 happy!
🎂 papa’s birthday cake - there’s smarties on the inside too 👌🏻
🥩 frites Saturday, not quite France, but the other side of the moor!

🔗 Tickets for my supper club on the farm are on sale now! Link in my bio

#plates #whatieat #familytime #birthdaycake #yummy #happytimes #thefarmkitchen

Sheeps

We are in the depths of the hungry gap in the veg garden but also out in the fields. Which means that I’ve started to supplement the pregnant ewes’ feed with some organic meadow hay.
These beauties are predicted to lamb in around 4 weeks so it’s important that I take extra care to ensure they are getting the correct nutrition and lots of love. Lambing is a wonderful, if exhausting, time of year and I can’t wait.

Our flock are pedigree Whiteface Dartmoor ewes, thankfully they are a hardy breed as it’s fairly rough up here in the winter. They have incredible fleeces that are sought after by crafters. They are a fairly slow growing breed, but produce delicious meat. As mine are all grass fed (with the occasional vitamin and mineral block as necessary) they are allowed to mature slowly, we don’t produce lamb, only hogget - which is a sheep over the age of 12 months, I generally keep mine until at least 18months, which gives the meat an incredible flavour, but also make it a super food and very nutritious.

I’m only lambing 20 ewes this year, how many lambs do you think we will get?

#sheep #shepherd #lambing #whitefacedartmoor #farmlife #thefarmkitchen

The Farm Kitchen, Exmoor

Inspired by the food she grows and rears on the farm and the ever changing seasons, The Farm Kitchen by Louise Lyons MacLeod is an intimate dining experience on her farm in the wilds of Exmoor.
Passionate about seasonality and sustainability Louise’s menus will change each month to reflect the best produce available on the farm and locally.

To be in with a chance to win 2 tickets to opening night on 19th April:

🍴 Follow @louise_lyons_macleod
🍴 Like and save this post
🍴 Tag someone you’d love to bring with you (extra entries for each tag)
🍴 Share to your story for an extra chance

Competition closes 5pm on Wednesday 26th February,
Winners will be contacted by DM from @louise_lyons_macleod only.

Best of Luck

#TheFarmKitchen

Happy moving day anniversary to us!

6 years ago today we moved into our patch of Exmoor heaven.

These photos were all taken on our first day here.
First family photo,
First, and much needed wine opened!
First pair of farm overalls
First part of the kitchen destroyed - we may have lived to regret doing that so soon!
Filly’s first explore on her tractor
First meal cooked on the Aga - bacon sandwiches for the movers!

We moved while I was still in active (cancer) treatment which seems like madness now - I would commute back to Cheltenham for meds every couple of weeks. But as soon as we saw this place we knew it was home and so we didn’t want to delay. Ally moved heaven and earth to get us here and I’m grateful every day that he did.

6 years in and we still haven’t finished the renovations, and the new heating boiler blew up last week but it doesn’t seem to matter, and we’d all rather be outside with the animals anyway!

Exmoor is an incredible place, even if we spend much of the year in the clouds and caked in mud. We couldn’t have chosen a better place to bring up our precious girl ❤️

So cheers to Exmoor and cheers to our wee farm 🥂

#exmoor #visitexmoor #homesweethome #countrylife #farmhouse #farmhousekitchen #aga #happyfamily #countryhouse #countryliving #cheers

Osip

Wow, wow and wow.
I’m not often stuck for something to say, but I was a bit emosh at today’s lunch. I’ve admired Merlin and what he’s doing at Osip for ever. Today was the first time I’d eaten at Osip and it was everything I imagined.

The ethos at Osip is exactly my cup of tea - farm to fork and plant heavy. But this was also food prepared with imagination, grace, charm and quiet elegance.
In short all 15 (!) dishes were exquisite.

My personal highlights were the preserved tomato martini, the root veg tea, the parsnip snack, the celeriac, and the fallow deer. Just mega!
(Ps. The pud didn’t look like that when it came, greed got the better of me and I dived straight in!)

Thank you to @merlin_johnson and your team @osiprestaurant for making us so welcome. It was the most enjoyable early birthday treat.

Snowy Saturday (and power cut day) soda bread

We had an unexpected couple of inches of snow on Friday which meant that we couldn’t pop out to our favourite local pannier market for Saturday-lunch-bread.
So my wee girl decided that she would bake the bread instead; once snowmen had been built and snowballs thrown for the dogs and GGs to chase!
One of my favourite things in the world is to cook with my BGF daughter, this is such an easy and quick recipe to make together.

* 160g wholemeal flour ideally (we didn’t have any so I used rye flour which was fine)
* 180g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
* Pinch of sea salt
* 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
* 285ml buttermilk OR
* Make buttermilk using 285ml whole milk plus the juice of half a lemon - squeeze the lemon into the milk and allow it to sit and thicken for 10 mins before using in the recipe

Preheat the oven to 180degC (or use the baking oven of your Aga - as this is what I have)

Stir together the flours, salt and bicarb.
Add the buttermilk and mix until you have a gloriously sticky mess.

Tip the dough onto a generously floured surface and bring together, folding, but not kneading, the dough a few times.
Shape into a ball and place onto baking paper on a baking sheet.

Lightly press on the top of the dough to flatten.
Using a sharp knife score a cross (X) onto the top of the bread.
Bake for 30 minutes until golden and it sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

We had ours with homemade cultured butter and dippy eggs.

Edinburgh plates, some iffy selfies and Dolly the sheep.

I LOVE Edinburgh it’s one of my favourite cities.
Here are a few of our favourite things on this quick trip

🏉 We visit Murrayfield once a year to see @scotlandteam play. We are both proud of our Scottish heritage, but Ally is fanatical about Scotland rugby!

🍴 Supper at @thekitchin was such a treat, the best of local and Scottish produce cooked so beautifully, everything we were served was sensational. Last time I saw @tom_kitchin I was cooking for him on @masterchefuk, so it was a joy for him to welcome us into his kitchen for drinks, canapés and a chat, thank you again for making us feel so welcome. A huge shout out for the service too, which was exceptional.

🥐 Breakfast in bed - that doesn’t happen often. The pastries from @archipelago39 were bonkers, so so good. We went back later to get date bars and tahini slices for afternoon tea. Huge recommendation to visit!

🍻 Guinness at the @sixnationsrugby

🍴 🪩 After the rugby we headed to @edinburgh_streetfood for bao buns, haggis croquettes, 🌶️ margs and Ally, of course, found the ice cream sundaes and cookie dough! We’d had so many people recommend ESF and we had fun, there was a great atmosphere because of the rugby, the food was ok, and the service was relatively quick and friendly. But go for the craic as much as the food.

☕️ We did a lot of walking over the weekend so we stopped often for coffee. This was by far the best flat white I’ve ever had, and because, why not, I topped it with a very yummy canale @cafenspecialitybrewbar

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🐑 We had a quick trot around the National Museum of Scotland, which was super. The geneticist in me was very happy to see Dolly the sheep.

A series of plates

Is this actually becoming something I post regularly (or at least regularly-ish)? Can I call it a series?!!
Do you enjoy seeing what we eat in a week?
It’s fairly chaotic at home much of the time and I never know until the last minute how many I’m feeding so it’s rarely planned and often thrown together food using up what is either in the garden or arrived in the veg box.

This week we have…
🍴 Granny’s mince and tatties - a big moment for Filly as I taught her to make my beloved granny’s mince and tatties. She ate it whilst reading Oor Wullie (IYKYK) 💙
🍴 I made a Sunday pie, finally using the turkey and ham we didn’t eat at Christmas (don’t mention the hospital stay!) I also made a political statement on how I feel about pies.
🍴 Mama made a trifle. Ally and I had thirds 🐷
🍴 This was delicious, let me know in the comments if you’d like the recipe - chickpeas, smoothest of butternut sauces, toppings of dreams including @cornishseaweed . I ate it for 3 meals on the bounce. Super healthy, super scrummy.
🍴 Mushroom bourgignon and cheesy polenta.
🍴 The most phallic main course at Burns Night supper with my besties in Cheltenham - we stayed out until 3am!
🍴 The might after Bloody Mary and bacon sandwich, yes I had red and brown sauce and no I wasn’t sorry at all.
🍴Immunity shots to combat the late nights and winter colds.
🍴 Eat the rainbow, roasted roots, lentils and fabulous kefir and horseradish dressing of dreams.

Cake for days

Get your 30 plants a week is everywhere at the moment, so when I had my pals for lunch last week I thought I’d challenge myself to get a good amount of plants into pudding too. And so we have the chocolate chickpea cake.

Recipe below, it’s so delicious I ate the leftovers for breakfast 2 days on the bounce.

In your blender whizz up 570g chickpeas, 4 eggs, 100g caster sugar and 40ml of the chickpea stock / water.
Melt 180g dark (at least 70%) chocolate.
Add the chocolate to the blender and pulse until combined.
Once combined, stir through 1 tbsp of baking powder.
Pour into a lined cake tin and back at 180 for 35-40 minutes, until the cake feels set and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
We enjoyed ours with Assam tea and calvados soaked prunes (these age so well so do them a wee while ahead), brandy soaked cherries, and vanilla Chantilly.

(For breakfast I had cake, non-boozy prunes and natural yogurt)

For main course we had rosemary, fennel and leek white beans of dreams with cavalo Nero, topped with roasted crown Prince squash, ricotta and my seedy buckwheat crumb.

Total plants for 2 courses is 10, and it’s all gluten free. I haven’t added the grapes from the wine!

Supplier wise, veggies from @riverford, beans and chickpeas from @boldbeanco

#30plantsaweek #30plantschallenge #glutenfree #ladiesthatlunch #chocolatecake #newrecipe #recipes #masterchefuk #healthyfood #healthyeats #30vegpledge

I heart Dolly Parton.

You don’t need to know that, but you do need to know that Pa and me are cracking on with the renovations for my supper club / restaurant venue.
The whole family is involved really, it’s a huge team effort, and I’m extremely grateful to them for getting on board with my wild idea.

I still need help though….. I’m looking for local / British suppliers for all manner of lovely things. (I’m happy to have some fabulous people already on board)
This list isn’t exhaustive so if you have something glorious that isn’t on the list please give me a shout.
I’m looking for
Artwork
Textiles (napkins, towels, cushions, curtains etc)
Tableware (plates etc)
Soft drinks
Candles
Serving dishes
Greenery (plants)

Would be your BFF if you’d give this post a share so that I can reach all your favourite suppliers.
I can’t wait to share all of this with you
L x

#restaurant #supperclub #chef #exmoor #eatexmoor #visitexmoor #buylocal #buybritish #supportsmallbusiness #supportlocal

Let’s play find the sheep!

This is my Groundhog Day - these ram lambs are a nightmare for going missing and getting stuck. I’ve put them in my best fenced, least brambly field and they still find ways to cause mischief!

On days like these though it’s far from a chore to be outside walking and drinking in the sunshine and Exmoor air. It’s good for the soul.

#farmlife #countryliving #countrylife #shepherd #sheep #whitefacedartmoor #exmoor #wintersun #lovemyjob

2024

Yes this is a bit late, yes I did forget all about it in my drafts, I probably shouldn’t share it because of ‘the algorithm’ and myriad other social media reasons.
But one day I shall look back at this and it will make me smile, and for me that’s what social media is all about.

I’m as excited for 2025 as I was for 2024!

I’ve always used my social media as a photo journal to look back on, but now there are a few more followers, what would you like to see more of in 2025? I’ll pop a wee poll below, let me know x

A week of plates

🍴 Salted milk chocolate and brown butter cookies; sour cherry and fennel shortbread for an exciting project.
🍴 @riverford tomatoes, yes I know I bang on about British and seasonal but would you turn these down?! Marmalade and cherry toms on sourdough with crispy black pud.
🍴Orzotto made with turkey bone broth (made post Christmas with the beautiful @pipersfarm turkey) with homemade bacon and black kale from the garden
🍴Hogget, crispy spuds and seasonal salads of dreams
🍴heritage carrot tart, buckwheat, seeds, goats cheese and hot hot 🍯
🍴Ham, 🍳 and chilli crisp lunch on repeat
🍴Sweet treats
🍴lunch for people who can’t be mentioned - Saddleback chop, all the celariac - fondant topped with crispy peelings and the trim made into a purée with a dollop of miso, crispy kale and an epic pan juice, walnut, vinegar, EVOO, rosemary, caper and raisin dressing
🍴 tired after a busy day TV supper with Ally - grilled aubergine with sumac, homemade kefir flatbreads, garlicky kale, goats cheese and nigella seed and the leftover sauce from recipe testing the pork and celariac.

Snow day!

A bonus day off school meant sheep cuddles, playing with ponies, building snowmen, beautiful sunrises, deer stalking (no guns involved, we just love to watch them in our top fields), big sky sunsets.
And I’d also like to introduce you to my new wheelbarrow! Isn’t she a beaut?!

#snow #snowday #daughter #family #farmlife #countrylife #familyfarm

The evolution of leftovers

We had hogget for lunch with friends on Sunday, and, as always I over catered which means we are still enjoying the leftovers.

This is leftover Hogget bone broth with veggies, a leftovers pesto, sprinkles of leftover Dukkah and crispy chilli oil (not leftover but a scrumptious gift from my BIL)
(The hogget can be replaced with lamb, with beef bones or a leftover chicken / turkey carcass).

For the base, use the bones from the roast alongside some veggies (carrots, celery and leek / onion are my staples) a handful of herbs (I tend to use rosemary, thyme and bay because I think they are top tier), several cloves of garlic and a generous sprinkle of peppercorns. Top this up with water, bring to the boil and skim off any impurities. Then transfer to the oven with a lid on for 10-12 hours.
I have an ancient Aga and so I pop it into the simmering oven, but in a conventional oven the temperature should be 120degC.
Once it’s done it’s thing in the oven strain the broth and transfer to a clean bottle, it will keep in the fridge for up to a week, or pop in the freezer and it will keep for a good while.

To make our healing, super healthy broth I added leftover hogget, some carrots, a leek, 60g per person of lovely @hodmedods Pearl barley, some extra garlic and a handful of freshly picked thyme and rosemary. This all simmers together becoming the very best of friends for 45 mins until the barley is completely cooked - this is comfort food, the barley should be soft and relenting.

This is delicious as is, but I made a speedy easy sort of pesto to generously spoon over the top.
For this I used some leftover blanched black kale blitzed with a handful of leftover Christmas mixed nuts, a spoonful of grated leftover cheese board cheese and a glug of the best EVOO, a hefty crack of black pepper will add heat and make you happy!
Finally I also added a sprinkle of leftover Dukkah because it was on the side and a final flourish of crispy chilli oil my BIL sent from South Africa (I’ll be honest, it didn’t need it but I’m a hopeless addict.)

#newrecipe #soup #stoup #broth #comfortfood #happyfood #healthyfood #healing #leftovers #feelgoodfood #masterchef

Lapland 2024

A trip that exceeded all expectations.

In brief, we (the three of us and Ally’s brother and our nephew) travelled with @canterbury_travel to Ruka in Finland / Lapland.

From the moment we arrived it was non stop laughter, fun and wonderment.
We searched for Santa, rode with huskies, with reindeers, on snowmobiles, on ski lifts, we attended and took part in the Elf Olympics, partied hard with the special elves, made snow angels, tobogganed endlessly, lived on hot berry juice and cocoa, got through hundreds of hand warmers and dozens of hats, gloves and socks.
And finally we met the real, actual Father Christmas.

We made memories to last forever. We came home with full hearts (will not remember the flus and pneumonias that followed!)

#lapland #laplandfinland #searchforsanta #christmas #christmasspirit #memoriesforlife #family #familytime

Happy, happy Christmas to you!

I hope you have a very jolly time, eat too much, laugh until your tummies ache and spend time with your loved ones.

I apologise for the singing, thank goodness for Filly who definitely holds Ally and I up!

#Christmas #happychristmas #happyholidays #badsinging

Sunrise murmurations

These extraordinary (starling) murmurations happen here every year and it’s a joy to witness them, especially when the sunrise is as beautiful as this.

I hope you enjoy, take a breath and think of something that makes you smile ❤️

#sunrise #winter #murmuration #slowdown #takeabreath #exmoor

The Empress 👑

I’m meant to be ‘resting’ as I’ve got the bug, so I’m having a quiet 5 minutes now (instead of solo parenting, running the farm, catching sheep, renovating a restaurant, walking the dogs, changing endless horse rugs, doing laundry, packing and writing recipes).
I was cheering myself up in my most foolproof way - by looking at photos of my glorious pal, The Empress.

Fun facts about the greatest pig ever:
🐷 She is 6 years old
🐷 Ally and I tried (and failed) to artificially inseminate her (poor Filly spent her 5th birthday, not only in lockdown, but also helping me to AI pigs during a hailstorm).
🐷 The AI failed and we got Ronald the boar in. He and The Empress fell quickly in lust and had many cocktail sausages.
🐷 She loves a tummy rub.
🐷 Her favourite food is anything. But she’s very gentle and will eat strawberries from your hand.
🐷 She is very smart and will come if you call her name.
🐷 She is named after Lord Emsworth’s pig in Blandings, my favourite PG Woodhouse book.
🐷 I love her a silly amount!

#pig #middlewhite #piggy #theempress #farmlife #farmher #farmhouse #countrylife #exmoor

A very messy merry Christmas! 🎄

We’ve all laughed until our sides hurt and tears poured down our faces. The children have been utterly feral and the recycling looks like we’ve had a month’s worth of parties instead of a weekend.
Our hearts and tummies are full.

I took very few photos, which is most unlike me but I was having too much fun.

Weekend plates 🍴
Hangover clearing Bloody Mary’s and cheese custard canapés
Roast middle white and saddle back pork, chestnut stuffing
Crispiest roasties and a Yorkshire pudding mountain
Rosemary and thyme roasted swede, carrots, parsnips and parsnip crisps
Charred sprouts and hazelnuts with sherry vinegar dressing
Glazed turnips, dates and chives
Pork and mustard sauce
Lashings of Montagny
Chocolate, Armagnac and amaretti torte
Earl Grey and Armagnac prunes
Evaporated milk ice cream

All of which my glorious 4 year old niece described as ‘disgusting’, I love her so much ❤️☺️

Ultimate pig in blanket hot dogs with dipping gravy
Masses of brown butter, chocolate and sour cherry cookies
Pots and pots of strong @yorkshiretea

We shall all be nil by mouth for the next week!

#familytime #christmasfood #gravy #hangover #lovethem #sundayroast #exmoor #foodielife

Christmas condiments are back!

Sorry for the delay, farm work and family life has been full on.

This is the only pickle you will need this Christmas! There has been a lot of BTS work on this one, but this recipe is a banger (my daughter told me to write that!)

The recipe makes around 3 jars.

Cheeseboard, farmhouse not the famous one fruity, sweet and sour pickle.

Gently simmer all of the following together for 20 minutes until thickened.
300g dark brown sugar
1/2 tbsp good sea salt
1 tsp celery salt
300ml malt vinegar (you will need 350ml in total)
3 tomatoes
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp mixed spice
2 full tsp tamarind
4 cloves black garlic
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
85g medjool dates

Meanwhile chop the following into 1cm dice
1 onion
3 carrots
1 Swede
1 small cauliflower
1 Granny Smith apple

Now back to your brown bubbling mixture, let it cool slightly and then blend it until smooth and glossy (I use a stick blender).
I pass mine through a sieve, but it isn’t absolutely necessary, it does give a lovely smooth sauce though.

Once blended add the vegetables and sauce into a pan and gently cook for 5-10 minutes, until the raw edge has been taken off the veg.

Now you’ll need to thicken the sauce a little.
Mix 50ml malt vinegar and 2tbsp cornflour into a slurry and add into your pickle. Simmer gently for 5 minutes to make sure the flour is cooked out.

Now your mixture is ready to pop into sterilised jars.

It really does make a cracking cheese and pickle sandwich. Or alongside cheese and @petersyard sourdough crackers. I recommend @westcombe cheddar always!

A proper old photo dump.

Pigs are back from the butcher - traditionally we always have sausages and pork chops for supper (this time with buttered kale and sherry braised turnips)
Last weekend’s fish and chips in Lynmouth (@the_esplanadefishbar always fabulous) and toad in the hole
Brian Lima (super ram) has finished his work for the year 🤞🏻 for scanning.
Family farming ❤️
She’s always cooking ❤️
On the tools
More brown butter cookies (for my super butcher @shapland_and_searle)
Family Christmas tree is up (this one is full of tat, the second one in the fancy room we only use at Christmas is dreadfully tasteful!)
Weight training for everyone in the feed merchants
Mud everywhere and a cheeky game of whose blood is it anyway?!
Moving pigs
Tractor is almost fixed ❤️
We ❤️ The Empress
Super feral Farmher
Farming Top Trumps in the pub
Sensational sunsets, shoddy photo

Also, I flipping love Christmas, I’m so excited it’s finally December!

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Louise Lyons MacLeod

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