River Cottage Winters On The Way

Winters On The Way as we return to River Cottage to join Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall growing rearing fishing and foraging for an array of winter treats. With his produce he hopes to turn this traditionally chilly season into the warmest of the year. Hugh lives in cider country which presents a problem when it comes to one of his favourite fruits the pear. As well as eating and cooking with pears he would like to enjoy them brewed as an alcohol or Perry. Hugh travels to Gloucestershire where David Kaspar is still making this traditional tipple. Catching fish is one of Hughs great passions. Be it line or fly fishing potting or scuba diving hes tried a whole range of intriguing ways to sustainably gather the fruits of the sea. However there is one technique he has not tried out and that is professional free diving. After a crash course in holding huge breaths underwater he takes to the open sea to try and bag the ultimate of shellfish scallops. Hugh prepares some comforting wintery dishes including a mixed mushroom tart with fungi picked fresh from the forest scallops from the sea with mushy squash and bacon hot ham hock and split pea soup and pot au feu.

Hugh loves his garden and all that grows in it but hes not the only one. Rabbits have surrounded River Cottage and Hugh has concrete evidence that they are decimating his winter veg. After coming to terms with the extent of the problem he brings in rabbit warreners Ted and Derek to help him manage the problem. As the colder months roll in wild mussels are ready for picking so Hugh and his children raid Devons rocky coves with French teacher Nathalie Arnold. Nathalie uses her French roots to prepare a fiery mussel feast known as a mussel eclade. Later Hugh explores hemp and together with River Cottage baker Dan Stevens and farm manager Steve Lamb Hugh goes nuts about this carbon hungry omega 3 rich tough and tasty little plant. As Hugh works to get rabbit back on the British menu he lays on a rabbit feast for 30 locals.

With winter just around the corner, Hugh turns to his garden for inspiration and decides to turn the heat up with a 200 person chilli-and-pumpkin party. Fast food and Hugh do not traditionally go hand in hand, but there is one exception: the Findus Crispy Pancake that he so adored as a youngster. Hugh and River Cottage chefs, Gill Mellow and Tim Maddams, take a nostalgic trip down memory lane to resurrect and refashion a childhood favourite, but with fantastic fresh ingredients including smoked pollack, bacon, cheese and sweetcorn. Hugh travels to Cornwall to join a group of fisherman who have found a sustainable and lucrative market in line caught squid fishing. After an early morning at sea Hugh cooks some deep fried salt and pepper squid, with a sweet chilli dipping sauce, before the rest of their catch travels to London's sushi restaurants.

With Christmas around the corner, Hugh has a plan. Instead of giving shop-bought boxes of chocolate goodies this Christmas, he decides to make his own, conjuring up a tray of lip-smacking chocolate brownies that take ten minutes to prepare and two minutes to wrap. Hugh's slaughtered steer has now been hanging for a month. Butcher Ray Smith and Hugh set to work extracting cuts for a party Hugh is throwing: the pair can't resist making beefy canapés of biltong and pastrami. Hugh's valiant attempts to get wild rabbits back on to the British menu continues as he targets the notoriously awkward teenage demographic. Armed with deep fried rabbit legs, a mayonnaise dip and hot rabbit buns he heads to an Exeter nightclub. Hugh also hunts for the blewitt mushroom and tries to catch herring for the first time. Meanwhile, out of the River Cottage garden Hugh harvests a winter salad, to which he adds roasted Jerusalem artichoke, goat's cheese and hazelnuts for a light but mouth-watering lunch.