Elderflower Cordial

Lovely warm sunshine today despite the threat of rain. I at home this weekend so managed to clean my flat from top to bottom, the sunshine was beautfilly illuminating all the dusty corners when I woke up the morning . The I went our for some brief walking and foraging . Well it was meant to be brief ended up being about 4 hours.

While I was picking elderflowers, I had a lovely chat with a Polish couple who were doing the same , we even discussed fungi gathering which is apparently big there were no fungi today its just been too wet in the South West but I said the woods they were in would have plenty.

Elderflower goes from perfect white flowers to brown dust very quickly so you have to gather it when you see it , thankfully it is plentiful growing even in cities especially along riverbanks and railways .

Once gathered it is incredibly easy to make Elderflower cordial delicous mixed with water especially sparkling water or for the particularly decandant champagne.

The cordial I find keeps well in the fridge for a month or so any more than that and it seems to go rather fizzy.

Its worth noting that its tricky getting hold of citric acid ,living in the city centre both major chemists have stopped stocking it apparently it is used by heroin users to as it helps breakdown the heroin for injection – Learn something new every day . You can however get citric acid on ebay or from wine brewing shops. If you really struggle you could use concentrated lemon juice .

Elderflower Cordial

30 heads of elderflower
3 pints of boiling water
200g of caster sugar
3 tbsp of citric acid
2 lemons , cut into quarters

1. Mix the sugarwith boiling water into a pan , leave to cool for 30 minutes you should be able to dip your finger in easily
2. Mix in the lemons , citric acid and elderflowers
3. Leave to cool and strain through a muslin bag ( I use a clean cotton shopping bag)
4. Place into clean bottles
5. To serve dilute by half

Other recipes

Elderflower Tart

Red and Green Lentil Pasta Sauce

I have not been my usual prolific posting self recently getting my head around some exciting work projects involving some London commuting well as my regional work.

It all come at a bit of a rush and has been evenings meals based on cereal and milk . The result was a total body rebellion in the form of a viscious cold striking at the beggining of the Bank Holiday weekend . My promise to myself therefore to become more organised and make sure the freezer is stocked for late returns home .

This pasta sauce is one of those maximum taste recipes that freezes really well and has been part of my repertoire since my vegetarian student days . It combines both two types of lentils to give maximum texture contrasts , the green lentils keep a nutty bite while the red lentils pretty much dissolve giving a velvet thickness to the sauce. This sauce really exceeds its basic and cheap ingredients .

If you are eating immediately , mix the sauce with cooked pasta and
warm through it really benefits from being allowed to
thoroughly coat the pasta .

The sauce will keep well for a
couple of days in the fridge or can be frozen which I have to do
quickly as I am prone to eating it straight from the bowl

This makes 6 one -person portions

Red and Green Lentil Pasta Sauce

100g of green lentils , contienental or puy
100g of red lentils
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
400g ( 1 can ) of tinned tomatoes
1 pint of warm water
2 tbsp of dried mixed herbs
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup of red wine

1. Fry the onion and garlic in a little oil in a lidded saucepan
2. Add the lentils , tomatoes , water herbs and wine
3. Bring to the boil and simmer for 40 minutes
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper

Camping Kebabs

The end of May Bank Holiday weekend ,and time for another camping trip . This time to Malham in Yorkshire , we had a lovely time up in Settle last year . Nick located a fantastic campsite at Malham Cove with freindly cows and ducks .

We got lucky choosing the North since the South of the UK has been battered by rain instead we got windy sunny weather , thanks heavens since I was eager to try out our new baby , the Kettle BBQ This is not to say that the Le Cruset has in any way been replaced in the camping kit but the last few trips I have been tortured by the smell of BBQ drifting across the campsite.

Since my vegebox was packed with summery vegetables , courgettes , peppers & aubergines since these are best eaten fresh it had to be kebabs . All I needed to do was pick up some shoulder of lamb that I cut into chunks mixed with chopped garlic thyme rosemary and slosh of red wine and pop them into a freezer bag in the cool box.

On the campsite , I sat threading the chunks of lamb and vegetables onto skewers every inch the domestic goddess, sipping red wine while Nick made fire ( Grrr man make fire) , the kettle BBQ worked like a dream , even grilling some asparagus for starters so it will make it into regular camping rotation

The Le Cruset got some use to whipping up a one pot dish of smoked sausage , tinned tomatoes, onions , wild garlic ,black olives , pasta curls .

Managed plenty of quality hiking & even a little climbing fueled by a little Yorkshire Curd Tart , loving my new picnic plates with their lovely vector inspired leaves .

From here

To here

Green Pot Barley Salad

Rose Princes new book The New English Table: features over 200 Recipes That Will Not Cost The Earth is an inspring guide to rediscrovering long lost British ingredients. That is what the reviews say and I would concur following a breif flick through in the bookshop, however . Though I am on a promise to not to buy any more cookbooks I did see Rose Prince demonstrate one recipe on television Kasha salad – a buckwheat groat salad , I am proud of my local seasonal credentials but my jars of staples rather put me to shame

• Bulgur Wheat , Turkish in origin is a cereal food made from several different wheat species grain is parboiled, dried (usually by spreading in the sun) and then de-branned
• Cous Cous , a staple of Algeria ,Morroco and Tunisia is a is a pasta consisting of spherical granules made by rolling and shaping moistened semolina wheat and then coating them with finely ground wheat flour.
• Quinoa, originating in South America a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium) grown as a crop for its edible seeds.

In terms of ancient british grains the only one I think I have ever used is Pearl barley traditionally used in winter English soups used as both a puffy grain and a thickener , in it is prepared by removing the the thick outer hull and polishing process removes the bran layer as well, leaving just the “pearl” inside.

However if we are going for ancient unprocessed grains , research suggested Pot Barley , where the outer hull is left intact, along with the inner pearl of the kernel. Perhaps the older grains have because these take longer took cook a gentle simmer for an hour versus the pour the water on a leave for quarter of an hour .

I used some leftover poached chicken and seasonal vegetables to make a tasty grain salad The grains remain slightly chewy with a slightly nutty taste and I think look very attractive will definitely be something I make again and new feature for summer salads ,

Poaching a Chicken

1 medium Chicken
2 glasses of white wine
2 pints of warm water
Fresh Herbs e.g in this case some fennel , parsley and thyme

1. Simply cover the chicken in boiling water the white wine and fresh herbs ,
2. Bring to the boil and simmer for approx 1.5 hours for a medium chicken

The excellent thing about poaching a chicken it you end up with almost instant chicken stock by strain the herbs from the cooking liquid and skim off any fat

Green Chicken Barley Salad

200g of pot barley
2 pints of chicken stock
100g of Leftover chicken roast or poached
Handful of fresh herbs ( thyme , fennel and parsley – finely choped
100g Green vegetables broccoli & asparsus – steamed
1 Lemon – juiced

1. Simmer the pot barley for 45 minutes in the stock
2. Mix in the chicken , vegetables lemon juice and herbs
3. This is delicious hot or cold and you could easily miss out the chicken

Grain recipes

Winter tabbouleh

Cous Cous with fresh chilli tomato and coriander

Wild Mushroom Pasta Primavera with Dryads Saddle and Chicken of the Woods

Singing the theme tune to Indiana Jones while watching the Last Crusade , I am very excited that the new film is coming out and only hope its is not the stab in the heart of my childhood that the Star Wars prequels came to be . Deep breaths deep breathes

I was doing my own wild adventuring this weekend foraging on what was supposed to be a simple and quick sunday stroll , the lovely boyfreind was abandoned as I scrabbled up and down banks. I am loving how green the woods have suddenly become and cannot believe it but some fungi is already making itself visible

Chicken of the Woods – Laetiporus sulphureus

Gathering Chicken of the Woods a hard to miss luminious yellow / orange edible fungi growing on trees and stumps. Much sought after in the USA where it is used as an addition to casseroles. It does become tough sawdusty & bitter with age so fresh, young specimens are best collected. You can tell if it is too old by the colours, which tend to fade from striking bright yellows and oranges to dull yellow and, finally, pure white.

I have used slightly older specimens in a tasty Chicken of the Woods Risotto, this recipe would work with any wild mushrooms , in another wild mushroom risotto recipe – Hedgehog Mushroom and Squash Risotto

Chicken of the Woods Mushroom Risotto

Serves 4

100g of Chicken of the Woods Fungus – thickly sliced
200g of risotto rice
2 cloves of garlic
2tbsp of butter
Salt and Pepper
2 pints of hot vegetable or chicken stock
1 lemon juiced
Handful of fresh thyme

1. Fry the chicken of the woods mushroom with the butter and garlic til softened
2. Add the ristotto rice til coated in butter
3. Add a ladle full of stock, stir until absorbed
4. Continue to add the stock a ladle full at a time stirring well
5. Continue adding the stock in this way, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is plump and tender.
6. Add the thyme , lemon juice season with salt and pepper

Dryads Saddle -Polyporus squamosus

I also managed to gather some of these young specimens of Dryads Saddle ( Polyporus squamosus ) . Annually these are found on deciduous trees elm, beech and
sycamore in spring to summer, annual.
Though better camaflaged than the Chicken of the Woods , these are certainly not out of place in a science fiction illustration . like the Chicken of the Woods . these become musty and inedible as they get older , although a sneaky and delcious method is to batter and deep fry thick strips of older brackets making Dryads Calimari

Harvest of Baby Dryads Saddle and Chicken of the Woods Mushroom

With young a tasty sample of both the Dryads Saddle and Chicken of the Woods , I wanted a light dinner, I have that great sense of full summer on its way , this dish packs a fungal punch , the wild garlic and thyme adding some gentle herb notes , you could use oil rather than the soft cheese or make a proper roux sauce but I think the soft cheese adds a nice sour note which works well

Wild Mushroom Pasta Primavera

50g of Dryads Saddle Mushroom
50g of Chicken of the Woods Mushroom
50g of dried pasta
1 tbsp of soft cheese
1/2 cup of white wine
1 tbsp of chopped wild garlic
1 tsp of thyme
Salt & Pepper

1. Boil the pasta for 10 minutes drain
2. Simmer the mushrooms in the white wine add the thyme and wild garlic, season with salt and pepper
3. Add the cooked pasta to the mushrooms
4. Stir in the soft cheese
5. Serve

Dim Sum

We have been catching up recently with bands , last week Howlin Rain at the Croft and yesterday Black Mountain at the Trinity Centre.

Before heading off for some psychadelic rock , I wanted to fill us up with some light spicy food , I really like dim sum even the words dim sum taste lovely in your mouth. Having bought dim sum ready made from the local Chinese supermarket for years , I have often had them as a quick treat before going out , however read made they tend to have a a high pork content which while tasty is not recommended for the lovely boyfriend who is trying to cut down on saturated fat and salt .

Luckily I have recently discovered that like that other impressively delicate looking dish , sushi , dim sum are easy and economical to make yourself , even the perfectionist in me can allow other people to help fill the ready made wrappers that are available from Chinese supermarkets with tasty healthy vegetarians options.

The supermarket had some shitake mushrooms reduced combined these will some leeks from the vegebox for a leek and shitake mushroom filling . Since I am still trying to bring the boyfreind around to the love of tofu the second set had to contain some well flavoured tofu and spring onion.

Shitake Mushroom and Leek

5 shitake mushrooms finely slices
1 small leek chopped into thin matchstick lenghts
2 tbsp of dark soy sauce.

Simmer together the ingredients in a pan until the leeks have softened .
allow to cool slightly before filling

Tofu Chilli Spring Onion Coriander and Garlic

75g of firm white tofu , cut into 1/2cm cubmes
2 tbsp Chill Garlic Paste
2 tbsp fresh coriander chopped
1 spring onion finely chopped

Mix together all the ingredients and use to fill wrappers

Making dumplings…

Each of these fillings makes enough for 8 dumpings, made simply by placing the filling into the centre of a wonton/dumping wrapper , rubbing a wet finger around the edge of the wrapper and bringing up the edges to form a sack shape

The dumping can them be steamed using a bamboo steamer , place the dumpings over a pan of fast boiling water place on a simmer and allow to steam for 3 minutes. Place the dumpings from the steamer on a plate a serve with a dish containing soy sauce and finely chopped chilli and fresh coriander

Smoked Mackerel and Beetroot with Creamy Fennel & Lemon Dressing

At the end of the day and a strangely inspiring team meeting , I walked back to the train station along the river in Taunton talking to the wild bunny rabbits and buttercups, clip clopping along in in my new Mary-Janes. I was

Close to the train station I happened upon a whole tonne of fennel growing wild stuffing it into my backpack and determined to use it this evening lest it suffer the wild garlic fate. I have used fennel before with smoked mackerel its a delicious combination , from experience smoked fish goes well with beetroot so this salad was a bit of a throw together great colour combinations and a taste to match.

Smoked Mackerel and Beetroot with Creamy Fennel & Lemon Dressing

2 small Fresh Beetroot
50g of Smoked Mackerel divide into rough chunks

Creamy Fennel Dressing

3 tbsp fresh fennel finely chopped
1 tbsp of low fat soft cheese
1 lemon squeezed
Ground Black Pepper

1. Simmer the beetroot in boiling water for 40 minutes
2. Immerse the beetroot in a bowl of cold water , the skin should easily slough off if you squeeze them
3. Roughly chop the beetroot and toss in half the lemon juice
4. Mix together the soft cheese and fennel with the remaining half of the lemon juice
5. Serve equal amounts of beetroot and mackerel in a bowl drizzle over the creamy fennel & lemon dressing

Courgette , Asparagus and Wild Garlic Pasta Salad

This morning at the train station a more than slight embarassment when a tonne of smelly wild garlic unleashed a viscious smell at the ticket counter . The garlic was leftover from the weekend forays, though I had managed to put some the delicious salad above , the rest I am afraid is now mouldering in a Network Rail dustbin . The garlic was picked around Ubley over the weekend while the
asparagus and courgette the first signs of summer in the vegebox.

This salad is a lovely accompaniment for chicken of fish or crumble over some goats cheese to add something extra special .

Courgette , Asparagus and Wild Garlic Pasta Salad

100g of dried pasta – any shape you fancy
1 courgette – made into fine ribbons with a vegetable peeler
6 sticks of asparagus
Handful of wild garlic

Dressing

2 tbsp of white wine vinegar
Half a lemon – juice and zest
1tbsp of dion mustard
2 tbsp of honey

Method

Cooked the pasta until al dente , drain
Steam the asparagus for a few minutes and cut into matchstick lengths
mix together the pasta and aspargus with the ribbons of courgette and garlic leaves
Whisk together the dressing ingredients and dress
Leave for at least 2 hours refridgerated to allow the flavours to mix

Other Wild Garlic Recipes
Wild Garlic Butter on Asparagus
Wild Garlic and Wild Watercress

Winter tabbouleh

The weather has just gone very hot and up for more assembly that cooking , The vegebox was awash with summer vegetables asparagus , courgettes even tomatoes but cannot really eat them until have finished up some of the winter vegetables, including a massive cauliflower.

I have been meaning to try this winter tabbouleh recipe this winter tabbouleh recipe from Casa Moro , I adapted it slightly the original included more ingredients chicory and walnuts . The dressing I cunningly derived from a Marks and Spencers salad a colleague was eating in the week which used a combination of pomegranate and orange. It really very lovely with some toasted bread maybe fish or chicken

Winter Tabbouleh

100g of bulgar wheat
40g of cauliflower seperated into tiny florets
Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley finely chopped
1 pomegranate

3 tbsp of pomegranate molasses
10ml of orange juice
1tsp of mustard

1. Soak the bulgar wheat in warm water for 10-15 minutes to swell before putting it into a sieve to drain.
2. For the dressing, whisk together the ingredients
3. Mix together the bulgar, cauliflower, parsley and pomegranate seeds together. Dress

Seven Bean Chilli

Looks like I haven’t eaten for a while doesn’t it , promise I have but the last week was a bit hectic with two days in London and then straight up to the Peak District for some very wet camping and walking .Somehow I managed to get sunburn walking for 7 hours on the first day and then the second day was five solid hours of walking in the pouring rain. Similar to last years holiday at the same time

We managed to eat pretty well though sticky stews to keep out the cold and best of all the chance to evolve my Three Bean Camping Chilli to a whole new level … I present to you …. Seven Bean Chilli. Simplicity itself thanks to my rediscovery of Exotic Bean Mixes.

available from wholefood shops these packets contain mixtures of dried beans in this case Dried Black Eyed Beans, Alubia Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Dutch Brown Beans, Baby Lima Beans, Butter Beans and Haricot Beans. The beans need to be soaked overnight before cooking and you should ensure at least 40 minutes of simmering during cooking .

Its lovely heating up dinner surrounded by hills we will climb over the next few days.

This recipe makes enough for two very hungry people , I tend to make it before we leave for camping to be heated through served with a little toasted pitta bread or tortilla

Seven Bean Chilli

250g of dried bean mix ( soaked overnight )
400g tin of plum tomatoes
1 pint of vegetable stock
1 large onion onion finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tsp coriander seeds crushed
1 large red chilli finely chopped
1 tsp of cayenne pepper

To dress
1 handful of fresh coriander leaves finely chopped
1 lime

1. Gently fry the onion , garlic, cayenne pepper and coriander seed in a little sunflower oil
2. Add the all the beans , tomatoes and stock
3. Simmer gently for 45 minutes on a low heat
4. For the last 5 minutes add half the coriander leaf
5. Finally to serve scatter over the remaining coriander leaf and squeeze over the lime