Episode 26 Landward

Hello and a very warm welcome to Landward. I will be trying a new

sport which is like water skiing, but with a horse!

Also on the programme, I will be finding out why certain plants such

as hol ci and identify -- holly and ivy are synonymous with Christmas.

We will attend a carol concert in a cave.

And I will be making my very own cheese. Many of us would like to

spend the holidays on the ski slopes, but what if you are bored

with traditional skiing or snowboarding? You might want to try

an alternative winter sport - joring.

You have mastered skiing and you like a cheeky spot of sledging. But

that's so last year! There must be another way of utilising this white

This is ski jorring and you can try it at Newtonmore Riding Centre.

Conditions aren't ideal today, but good enough to have a go.

It is something that the Scandinavians have done for

Scandinavians have done for hundreds of years. They They get

towed behind reindeer, it was a means of transport.

Tell me how skilled you must be as a skier to do it? It is easier than

it looks and if you can ski downhill, skiing behind a horse is

no problem at all and I suppose it is a cross between downhill skiing

and water skiing. In Switzerland, they have ski

jorring races every winter on a frozen race. The skiers steer the

horses at the same time as being towed along at break neck speed.

Thankfully in Scotland the rider controls the horse.

Before we have a go, what are the things I should be thinking about

as I I have my firs shot at it? Although the horses are good, it

does spook them. You have got to be careful.

So it is my turn to go. Hopefully he will be gentle because this is

my my first time. Any advice? If you fall over, let

go. Don't worry if you you get hurt, we have the First Aid kit in the

Land Rover. He is off!

Well, it is gentle which is nice. I spent most of my time stepping over

rock. This time I would like to go faster. That's probably not a bad

It is great fun, but you didn't tell me about the mud that kicks up

by the horse. Look at me, I'm a mess. Like me, it is Ian's first

try of it too. It is completely different. I have

done a fair bit of skiing up on the done a fair bit of skiing up on the

mountains. It is the most adrenalin I have had

on the flat before. We were doing jumps last year when

we had good snow. The better the snow, the faster you can go. They

do international competition and racing and jumping and I can take

it as far as you like. It is the North America that they

have perhaps taken it to the highest level. In Colorado, they

have competitions where they blast down the main high street, clearing

huge jumps and picking up rings along the way, maybe that's

something to work up to! In the meantime, I will stick with

the more sedate pace. You can imagine on a day going with

your pal, taking a picnic and backpack, it would be amazing.

We can take three or four horses and two skiers behind each horse

and there is great trails at Newtonmore Riding Centre. There are

fantastic places to go and do the ski touring.

I think I'm on to something with that touring idea and I guess if

the reindeer ever need a rest, ski jorring could come in handy for a

That really was brilliant fun. Skiing without the need of a hill,

wonderful idea. How over the past few weeks Nick has been deacon

strughting a turkey so that -- deconstructing a turkey so that

nothing is wasted. This week he is cooking one of my favourite dishes,

With household budgets under more pressure than before, it has never

been more important to minimise food waste and over the last three

weeks I have been showing you how to get the most out of the

to get the most out of the Christmas turkey.

This week I'm going use the last of the turkey leftovers to make that

Boxing Day favourite turkey curry with flat bread.

We are going to make this curry from scratch. We are going to make

our own spice mix. There is a lot of ingredients. You can get the

full recipe on the Landward web page. The first thing to go into a

warm frying pan are coriander seeds, fennel seeds, black pepper corns,

cloves, cinnamon stick and ground nutmeg.

Tumeric and you toast these until you can smell that aromatic flavour

and we're going to take these off the heat and grind them down in a

spice grinder. Now the base for a really great

curry is a paste and I'm going to make this in a blender using onions,

chilli, garlic, fresh ginger, lemongrass, ground almonds and

paprika. I need to add liquid and I have got turkey stock so I will add

two or three ladlefuls of that. And then whiz in the blender.

So into a large wok I am going to add a generous amount of vegetable

oil and very quickly fry my spice mix in here and straightaway I'm

going to add the paste from the blender.

And I'm going to cook this out for about five minutes until we get the

rawness out of the onion and the garlic and the chillies and the

lemongrass and this is the base for the curry. Now the spice paste is

cooked out and it is time to add the veg. I will start with the

carrots, the aubergine and finally, the butternut squash.

And then I'm going to to adjust enough stock to cover and bring

that up to the boil again, turn it down to a simmer and leave it to

cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Whilst the curry is bubbling away,

I'm going to make the flat breads and they are simple to make using

store cupboard ingredients. I have ordinary plain flour and I'm going

to add, salt, pepper, oil and water and bring it together to form a

dough. I am I am looking for a dough that comes cleanly away from

the bowl and I can get my hands in there and give it a knead and then

we will roll these out into little flatbreads. We will take this and

chuck it into a hot frying pan and then a blow lamp on top to re-

create the heat from the top and bottom. I almost like mine to be

almost burnt on the outside. OK, so that's the flatbreads out of the

way. You can see how much this curry paste has reduced down and

darkened. It has cooked all the raw spices out of it so at this stage

I'm going to add chopped tomatoes, the cock co nut milk -- coconut

milk and we will cook for another 15 minutes. A nice big dollop of

curry with the beautiful sauce m we will take the -- we will take the

flatbreads and tear them up. A wedge of lime. A sprig of coriander

and there it is, the perfect spicy anti-dote to those post-Christmas

turkey blues and all remains for me to do is wish you all a very merry

Christmas and this year let's make sure none of the turkey goes in the

Still to come Euan gets to work on his Christmas cheese.

And the caves echoing to the sounds of Christmas carols.

At this time of year, Christmas decoration are everywhere. Have you

ever taken time to wonder why we decorate our houses with ivory and

mistletoe. I have been finding out about the legends behind some of

our most popular Christmas plants. The religious and symbolic meanings

of the plants we use to decorate our homes has been passed down

through the ages. The symbolism associated with these

plants goes back for many hundreds, probably thousands of years, at

least the time of the druids. Mistletoe is very important. In

Gaelic, its name translates as all heal and it was used to help

domestic animals if they were having problems with fertility and

with people as well and I guess that that led eventually to the

Victorian custom of kissing beneath the mistletoe.

The roots of this plant penetrate right into the plumbing system of

the tree that's its host. It is easy for anybody to grow. If you

can buy a peace of mistletoe and when you are finished with it, you

can take a seed and crush it and get the seeds out and just find a

crack on the surface of the tree. Best to choose soft barked trees.

It is common on populars and it is growing on a horse chestnut.

The Royal boa botanic garden was founded over 300 years and has

collected plants from all over the world. The glasshouses contain many

exotic plants from the Middle East and among them are two precious

Christmas trees. These are to me, two of the most wonderful trees.

This is Boswellia sacra and this is Commiphora myrrha. This is known as

the frankincense tree. This is myrrh. Frankincense, this one will

grow to a tree, probably the height of this room so maybe five or six

meters long, has beautiful yellow flowers, the wonderful aroma of

frankincense. The myrrh trees tend to be associated with these.

What are they associated with Christmas? It goes back to the

Three Kings. They brought gifts to the baby Jesus and at the time they

were probably the most precious gifts they could have given. This

is frankincense. The droplets cop out of the tree -- come out of the

tree. This is good quality, it is a white colour. This one is, this is

myrrh. Again that doesn't smell so much and where frankincense was

used because of its smell, myrrh was mainly a me disnational plant

and tends to be a reddish colour. Growing exotic trees is best left

to the experts, but for you and me, the plants that we're going to use

in our Christmas decorations can be found much closer to home.

Holly is always thought of as the male plan and in the carol it is

the holly that wears the crown. It is the female plant that has the

berries. Ewe, it is always associated with the winter solstice

and so that's appropriate plant to bring into the house for wreath-

Yew is an ancient plant. It is poisonous, but believed to be very

spiritual, to fend-off evil spirits. I know whaur' know -- what you're

thinking, it is not going to win any prizes. It is lovely to make

your own wreath and it is green and This you have a comment about

anything you see on the programme or have a wonderful story to share

with us, please drop us an e-mail The weather here in Aberdeenshire

is crisp, fresh and beautiful. But what about the prospects for the

festive season? To find out here is Christopher Blanchett with the

As we head towards the festive week, the weather is looking unsettled,

very wet and windy. It is thanks to these two weather systems pushing

in on Christmas Eve. So for Christmas Eve, as we go

through the day, the rain will be making its way across Scotland,

down the East Coast, staying dry and brightness towards the north-

east corner. Mild conditions so come 3pm, taking a closer look,

temperatures, 7, 8 or 9 Celsius, but the winds strong to gale force.

A lot of heavy rain. But the further east you are, some places

staying bright. If you are thinking about going

into the hills, hill walking or climbing tomorrow, well it will

abwet day -- be a wet day. Temperatures mild, 4 or 5 Celsius

at the summits. One or two areas of brightness

across the northern Cairngorms and the Angus Hills if we're lucky. If

you are thinking about going skiing, we have seen a lot of mild weather

so a lot of snow melt. This weekend will see more heavy rain and gales

so not the best weather to be going skiing. Into Christmas Eve night

and that rain stays with us for a time. It eases and comes back again

as we head towards the early hours on Christmas Day. Again with the

mild air, so staying mild with the overnight lose, temperatures 7 or 8

Celsius. For Christmas Day, we have an early

early warning from the Met Office for rain. It is yell yellow which

means to be aware. That is because of this weather front. The heaviest

of the rain will be focused through the north-west. That's where the

yellow warning is in force. Further south, there will be some some

drier conditions, cloudy and drizzle and light rain. Highs of 13

or 14 Celsius, but song to gale force winds. For Boxing Day, more

of the same. More winds. The cold front will sink across the country.

So if you start out dry, you will get the rain later on. If you start

out with the rain, it will turn milder later on.

For Tuesday, a brief res respite. Drier and brighter conditions

around, but cast your eye out to the Atlantic, this area of low

pressure heading our way. Tuesday a lot of sunshine on the cards. A lot

of sunshine on the map. Some drizzle in the south, Wednesday we

think the low pressure will be with us, strong winds and and heavy rain.

Temperatures 8 or 9 Celsius. That's the weather forecast. Happy

Over the past couple of weeks I visited caves. This week I'm in

Fife, home to a cave that is alive # O little town of Bethlehem #

With modern day commercialism everywhere, the meaning of

Christmas often gets overlooked. Well, I am in in Pittenweem to

visit this cave where the Christmas message is not forgotten.

Pittenweem is actually the place of the cave. We would love to know

more of the history of it because I'm sure lots went on and it was

important enough for this place to be called Pittenweem.

The cave is associated with St Fillan who is believed to have used

it to convert the local pictish community.

St Fillan was an Irish monk who came across to Scotland and

travelled around a lot of Scotland. He came to Pittenweem and he was

very much somebody who served the community. He was very keen to

support those who were struggling and had a particular help for

people with mental health problems. So he is the patron saint of mental

health. Presumably, St Fillan lived in the

cave. It was very dark, but he had this power that somehow his left

arm gave him light to continue writing and doing all his studying.

The cave was used by Christians for centuries, but after the remember

formation, it fell into disrepair. But in the 1930s, the cave was

reconsecrated. This passage way was reopened and St Fillan's cave

became a place of worship once again.

From the 1930s, services were held. It tend to have fallen away, but

this year, we're very happy to revive the crib service.

Placing the figures in the stable is very exciting for the children.

It is very tactile. They just love to handle the donkey and the sheep

and the little baby. It is magic and I hope that it will sparkle

especially as it is in a special place. The children love to be

involved in a little bit of mystery and to bring the wonderful message

of Christmas and the mystery of There is no better to round off a

Christmas lunch than a glass of fine port and cheese, but this year

I have decided to go one better and make my own Christmas cheese and

for that I headed up to Shetland to get expert tuition.

I'm heading to Skeld. Jay Hawkins gave up his career as an accountant,

hed north from London and set-up Shetland Cheese.

This is our Sooth Mooth. It is like a Caerphilly. It takes a day to

make. We got the name because there is a joke locally, they use the

phrase Sooth Mooth somebody who has come from outside Shetland.

It is very, very strongment you would grate it on pasta.

This is our number one cheese. We have named it after where we are

located in Skeld. Can I make that for Christmas? If we make a small

one, it will be just right come Christmas time.

So this is a vat. This is strictly for professionals.

We will be using the baby one over there!

Right, here we are Euan, let's get the lids off. The first thing you

need to do is get your sleeves rolled up. We need to test the curd.

Put your finger in at an angle, nice and deep and lift it straight

up and you see the curd is breaking. That means it is ready to be cut.

We have been making the cheese for about two-and-a-half hours to get

to this stage. We would have heated the milk up to 30 degrees. We added

in the bacteria. We let it stand for about an hour and we added in

the rennet which is a product that's been used for 100 years, we

use a vegetarian rennet and that helps the cheese split into the

solids and the liquids. It is like a soft blancmange.

Put your hand in nice and gently and start caressing the Kurds. It

feels like you're stirring blancmange.

It is a strange sensation. It is very tactile.

It is very calming. It gives you time to reflect on the world.

In caressing the Kurds, you are taking the whey out of the solids

which is going to make them firmer and firmer and that will be the

basis of the cheese that we will be pressing later. You got it easy

today because this is just a 20 minute stir. Some cheese are a two-

and-a-half hour stir and that gives you lots of time to reflect on life.

It is a strange experience. What's happening? At the moment we

are draining off the whey. You can begin to see the Kurds that we were

making earlier, poking through and I will begin Cheddaring. What is is

Cheddaring? The Cheddaring process is when we cut the curds into block

and each time we turn them over the curd is getting more and more

acidic. That's the flavour that you are used to when you eat a Cheddar.

Now you need to mix it like you're making a cake.

So the final stage. Now it is time to pack the mould. I was going to

say bung it in. Real care and attention. Is that enough? Some

more. Just tease the cloth, pull it

gently upwards, get rid of any wrinkles.

Over the top?, push it down? Yes, that's fine. As far as I'm

concerned, that's all the hard work done and I'm going to give that to

you to look after for four weeks. And here it is, a lot of love went

into this. It looks sensational. I was worried it was going to be too

young and not mature, but look at that.

Thank you very much. Are we supposed to sniff and just

go for it? Savour. Very good.

Surprisingly so. So am I surprised.

The end of the series, we have travelled thousands of miles. What

would you say has been your highlight? Well, my highlight has

to be when I was at a damsel in distress and I was rescued from a

cave. Euan, what about you? Mine wasn't a

highlight, but something I won't forget, hitting a rock that wasn't

there on the the West Coast. We are take ago break for Christmas

and we are going to be back on the road in the New Year.

If you have got a great story, get in touch.