Recently Free Rangers hosted Sean Williams AKA @seaninthewoods a Michelin trained chef with a passion for delicious outdoor cooking and creating a relaxed, sociable vibe around a fire.
Sean shared his story, explaining how his experience in world renowned restaurants provided him with incredible skill but at the same time lacked the qualities around sharing food that motivated him the most; intimacy, chat, sharing ideas and thoughts and making the process of cooking and eating much bigger than the product itself.
As the morning unravelled and the mist lifted, we all stretched and cooked our own flatbreads, understanding the look of the embers and the temperature necessary to cook straight on hot coals.
We all spoke and chatted more freely as this hands-on approach to a meal facilitated interacting with more people, not those just sat next to you. Children tried and tested this unusual way of cooking and these sometimes harsh critics even gave the spelt flat breads their seal of approval.
Sean has bought his own woodland and is soon to embark on establishing a retreat style cooking experience for guests, in Surrey, who are looking to reconnect with cooking and the great outdoors.
Many of you who attended were asking after the recipes and Sean has kindly sent them though, please do give them a go over the spring and summer and show us how you get on.
Fundraising to Build a School at Free Rangers
Finally, Free Rangers would like to thank Sean for venturing down to the West Country and offering his time and expertise for free. We explained our vision to extend our setting to offer Forest School to older children as a form of mainstream education and it turns out we shared many of the same thoughts and feelings about how education should be for younger children that Sean very kindly supported the day, despite a very hectic schedule.
We have raised over £200 pounds, and although this won’t build a school tomorrow, it will fan the flames and continue to make our desire to create a learning environment that our younger Free Rangers can move on to. Furthermore it is so heartening to know that industry experts from all walks of life are motivated to join the discussion surrounding education and make an impact for the good of future generations.
If you would like to chat all things outdoor and early years education and stay up to date with future events at Free Rangers, then please do follow us on Instagram and Facebook; @freerangersnursery.
All these recipes are better cooked directly on to beech wood fire embers, but all can be cooked on a hot frying pan or on a pizza stone in an oven.
Flatbreads
Ingredients:
350g Organic white Spelt flour
350g Organic bakers blend spelt
200g sourdough starter – if you haven’t got sourdough you can use 1 instant sachet yeast
Pinch of salt
25ml olive oil
50ml milk
360ml water
Method:
Warm the water, milk and olive oil to about 37 degrees.
Add the sourdough or yeast and leave for about 30 minutes.
Then mix all ingredients together and kneed into a smooth ball this may take about 5 minutes.
Leave to prove in a warm place and cover with a tea towel or cling film.
Once the bread has doubled in size you can then make into balls and leave again for about 30 minutes.
You can use these breads and flatbreads like we did together or you can even add toppings and use as a pizza base.
You can also substitute the Sharpham park flour for a ‘00’ pizza flour.
Garlic Butter
Ingredients:
Handful of wild garlic
One block of butter
Pinch of salt
Method:
Melt the butter to about 75 degrees then put in a blender with the garlic.
The liquid will then go very green after about 3 mins it should all be once consistency.
Pour over into a bowl with another bowl underneath full of ice.
Keep stirring until the butter is cold.
Baba Ganoush
Ingredients:
6 aubergines
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 white onion
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp tahini
1 lemon juice
300ml olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method:
Cook the aubergine until they are complete soft.
While the aubergine are cooking in a sauce pan fry the onion until soft and golden
When the onion is cooked add the cumin and continue cooking until you can smell the sweet aroma from the spice.
Add the tomato puree and cook for a further 3 minutes then add half the olive oil.
When the aubergine are done blend everything together and then season.
To find out more about Sean visit his website:
and follow him on Instagram:
