Wild Garlic in Flower

Given the sunny weekend we headed out to a local woods for a walk (on the way back from taking Mia to her first ever film at the cinema – Puss in Boots). While there the smell of wild garlic was unmistakeable, and it wasn’t long before we were surrounded by it. It is easy to recognise anyway, but unmistakable when in flower and covering the entire forest floor. It’s certainly one of the foraging highlights of spring (being available as it is through the whole season) – you really don’t have to look far and when you find it, it grows in abundance year after year.  Head for damp spots or along river banks for an almost guaranteed find.

Wild Garlic Everywhere

The smell and flavour of wild garlic is sweeter and less harsh than that of farmed garlic. The bulbs are much smaller but the leaves more tender, therefore it is the leaves that are generally picked. They can be either eater raw (e.g. in salads) or cooked (try finely slicing the leaves and using them in a pasta sauce, omelette, etc), and like everything you forage taste all the better because they’re free. Once you find them you’ll not pay for garlic in spring again!

This barmy weather has meant both the gardening and foraging have slowed down. The vegetable plot is looking bare without the April planting seeds in it (I really have to get around to that before it’s too late) and the fields are too muddy for wandering around in. Luckily though, some gems such as horseradish can be found growing in among the weeds on pretty much every grass verge in the country.

At this time of year it’s easily recognisable because – as pictured, the leaves stand proud and look somehow crisper and greener than their surroundings (pinch one off and sniff it if you aren’t sure – the smell is unmistakeable). Later in the year it’s still not too difficult (the leaves grow huge) and then in winter it’s practically impossible as the leaves disappear. Once found, all you have to do is dig – the roots are large and white and take quite a bit of effort to remove from the ground.

All you have to do to prepare the horseradish is cut it into sections discarding the wrinkly, old looking pieces, wash, then peel. If it’s really fresh try not to do it right under your face as the smell of horseradish truly hurts your sinuses (onions are for wimps!). Next step is to put a couple of capfuls of cider vinegar into a bowl, then grate the horseradish into it, stirring it around every now and again. I like to grate it quite coarsely, most people will probably prefer it finer, and it’ll last a good month in a sealed jar in the fridge once prepared in this way.

Recipe: World’s Best Horseradish Sauce Recipe

Summary: Horseradish is one of those hidden gems of foraging, growing in among the weeds on practically every grass verge in the country. This home-made horseradish sauce blows the mild shop bought varieties out of the water!

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp prepared Horseradish (see above)
• 1 tbsp Crème Fraiche or Sour Cream
• 1 tsp English Mustard (optional)
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 tsp Caster Sugar

Method

1. Simply place all ingredients minus the seasoning into a bowl, then mix well.
2. Taste, then add more horseradish if you like it hotter.
3. Add salt, pepper to taste, a pinch of each should be fine.

Quick notes

I like my horseradish sauce thick and hot, hence there’s more horseradish root in this recipe than anything else! You can thin it out with more cream, or purée the finished sauce for a more pourable variation.

Variations

A local farmers’ market sells Horseradish & Habanero Sauce which really does wipe your taste buds clean off your tongue. A tsp or so of minced chilli added to your sauce should do the trick!

Preparation time: 15 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

Soon enough the hawthorn will come into blossom (the leaves and leaf buds can be eaten now – an old English tradition called “bread and cheese”) with its almost identical looking flowers, but at this time of year you can be reasonably confident that what you see is the blackthorn. Scrunching a few of the flowers in your hand gives a deep, fruity but unusual smell; something which captures all the notes of the sloe but doesn’t immediately remind you of it.

This year is certainly turning into a fun foraging one as Mia – still too young to be embarrassed by what other people might think of us raiding the hedgerow – happily wanders around with us spotting whatever she recognises as being potentially edible (and plenty that she doesn’t – “Daddy, what’s this?” is a question I have to answer 50 times a day at the moment). So far this season that’s included hawthorn leaves / buds, dandelions, wild garlic, nettles…I’m sure there’ll be much more coming along soon.

Blackthorn blossom can be made into a diuretic tea by simply steeping the flowers or leaves (dried or otherwise) in boiling water for a couple of minutes. The flowers are edible raw and can be used in salads for visual impact, or you may decide to adventure further and make a blackthorn blossom wine…

We’ve not foraged for dandelions before but decided to give it a go this year and I’m sure I don’t have to explain to anybody what they look like or where to find them. Every child knows how to tell the time using “dandelion clocks”, and most people are familiar with the story that dandelions can make you wee the bed (they are after all known in French as “pis-en-lit” – “*** the bed” for the rest of us). And who hasn’t drank Dandelion and Burdock?

5 Culinary Uses for Dandelions

1. Dandelion Salad.  All parts of the dandelion are edible, so why not make a salad of the young leaves (the older ones are too bitter) mixed with other salad leaves of your choice, and throw in a few flower heads for visual impact.
2. Dandelion Coffee.  The roots of the dandelion look like small parsnips and can be washed, dried, roasted and ground just like coffee beans.  The drink is well known as a diuretic.  For the recipe head over to the fantastic Eat Weeds blog.
3. Dandelion & Burdock.  This is a well known English drink and one I remember from my childhood.  It is black and looks like cola, but has a unique taste all of its own.  There’s a recipe for an alcoholic version by the great Andy Hamilton here.
4. Dandelion Pesto.  A pesto is a great way to use up any greens; rocket, wild garlic, nettles, etc.  Simply whizz up a couple of handfuls of washed leaves with a couple of cloves of garlic, about 50g toasted pine nuts and the same weight of Parmesan.  Drizzle extra virgin rapeseed oil in while blending to get the right consistency (I go for a runnier one if I’m serving it on fish, and might skip the Parmesan).
5. Dandelion Soup.  Starting with a basic vegetable stock made from onion, carrot and celery, add approximately 4 handfuls dandelion leaves and cook for 10 minutes or so.  Finally puree and stir in a little double cream.  This is a delicious way to savour the fresh, bitter taste of dandelions.

Raspberry & White Chocolate Cake

This cake is another one of Gosia’s. She baked it with her usual lack of precision (which I hate. Unless I weigh everything to the gram my cakes refuse to rise), which always leaves me feeling envious. The white chocolate topping came out “crumble style” entirely by accident (melting the white chocolate and adding in double cream = curdled bits = something that passes as crumble mixture) and on any other day would have ended up in the bin, only we decided it actually tasted – and looked – quite nice. I’m sure that what is in essence curdled chocolate isn’t everyone’s cup of tea though, so I suggest a simple drizzling instead to create an equally eye catching look.

Recipe: Raspberry & White Chocolate Cake

Summary: This raspberry and white chocolate cake is so easy to make and yet comes out so light and delicious. Definitely worth a try.

Ingredients

• 125g Plain Flour
• 125g Caster Sugar
• 125g Butter, Unsalted (softened)
• 2 Eggs
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• Vanilla Extract
• 1 punnet Raspberries
• 150g White Chocolate

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180c / 355f. Grease a 23cm / 9″ cake tin and line with baking parchment.
2. Start the cake by placing the flour (sifted), sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla extract into bowl.
3. Next, beat the mixture (a stand mixture or electric hand mixer will work fine) until it is all combined.
4. Empty the mixture into the cake tin and then stud the surface with the raspberries, poking down with your finger so they are just submerged – about 1/2 the punnet should do the trick (the rest you can have as a cook’s treat).
5. Place the tin into the oven for 35 minutes and remove when a cake skewer (cocktail stick) comes out with just a few crumbs when inserted into the centre.
6. Finally, melt your chocolate in a heat proof bowl placed over heating water.
7. Stir well until melted, then drizzle over your now cooling cake to create a visually impressive look.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 35 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 8

Foraging is limited at the moment, so the trip out really wasn’t about that; it was a simple walk in the countryside (along a beautiful local riverbank) with Mia, Gosia and Angel. I was walking along remarking how all the trees are in bud (and geekily identifying the ones which will have edible produce later in the year) when Gosia spotted Violets and started talking about how fragrant they were, and did I know they can be used in cooking, etc….Well yes I do know, but that still didn’t stop her from climbing down the bank to fill up a carrier bag with them.

We then walked back under the pure blue skies and sunshine and I swear you couldn’t tell much difference between this and a normal summer’s day. Conversation fell to the chores awaiting when we got home; planting the gooseberries that arrived on Friday, tying strings for the raspberries, and so on. There’s so much going on in the garden I can see that being a big theme for the blog this year!

5 Culinary Uses For Violets

1. Violets are so fragrant and it’s a shame to waste this.  For a simple Violet Syrup steep a handful of the flowers in boiling water for about 12 hours.  The strained water is then added to double the volume of sugar, and heated gently until the sugar dissolves.  Finally up the temp to a boil for 5 minutes before emptying into a sterilised bottle.
2. Candied Violets.  These are delicious and were apparently a popular sweet / candy in the 19th century.  There’s a great recipe for candied violets here.
3. Violet Tea.  Simply infuse a handful of the violets (you can include the leaves) in hot water and sweeten with a little honey.  This tastes better than you imagine it will!
4. Violet Salad.  You can use both the leaves and the flowers in salads; I’d recommend mixing with other ingredients or serving a small portion alongside a main course as a fragrant spring garnish.
5. Violet Jelly.  This is a jelly in the sense of a clear jam, rather than the wobbly dessert, and is made in the traditional way of steeping the flowers to obtain the “essence”, then adding sugar and boiling to setting point.  There’s a great Violet Jelly Recipe here.
6. Yes, I said 5 but you’re getting one extra for free: Violet Soup.  This one I haven’t tried or even thought of, but did find on Google.  So head over to this Violet Soup Recipe and give it a try!

Playing in the snow with Mia!

So, what could be so amazing about a vegetable box that it changes the whole way you cook? This past week mine contained parsnips, swede, sprouts, potatoes, pak choi, celeriac and cauliflower. None of that is particularly exciting, you might think, but what it does is allow me to do is eat tastier food, all of the time. And next I’ll explain how.

If you head to your supermarket for your food shopping you’ll see how the fruit and vegetables they have remains fairly constant the whole year round. This is because they source them from multiple places so that when something isn’t in season here it can still be sold. Unfortunately for the consumer this means it has been transported sometimes for thousands of miles across the world, losing vitamins and becoming starchy and flavourless as it does so. The types of fruit and vegetables they stock haven’t been selected for flavour, instead for regularity of appearance, long shelf-life, and high resistance to the travelling distance. Anyone who has tried a shop bought tomato against a home grown variety will testify; they taste watery and have a thick, tough skin.

When my box arrives it contains fruit and vegetables grown usually at one particular farm and always grown locally. As such the shelf life is short; the products selected have to be in season here and now. As a result I get forced rhubarb in February, Asparagus in May, Strawberries in July…you get the idea. All of it is full of flavour and healthier for it. We never have to wonder what is for dinner, instead we are led by whatever happens to have arrived in this weeks vegetable box – our dinners are therefore determined entirely by what nature has provided, not what the supermarkets have decided to put on the shelves to make the most profit.