Wild Pear Part 5: Wild Pear and Bramble Leather

I got a message inviting me to relieve the bramble bushes of their fruit on a friend's land, so I dutifully obliged. As I still had a few pears left I decided to make some fruit leather. This isn't really a well-known treat in Scotland but my uncle used to send us dried fruit leathers from South Africa so they always remind me of my childhood. I guess they are similar to Fruit Roll ups or Humzingers, but without the preservatives.

I cooked the brambles and pears separately because I don't have a blender with filter to remove skin, seeds and other bits and pieces which would be detrimental to making a smooth leather. If you do have a blender with this facility then you don't even need to peel the pears - just chop them up and cook everything together then blend it all through the filter and continue with the recipe at the drying stage.

Wild Pear Part 5: Wild Pear and Bramble Leather

Ingredients:

• 1kg brambles, rinsed
• 1 litre of water
• 1kg pears, peeled and chopped
• Sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 star anise

Method:

• Cook brambles and star anise in 500ml of water until very soft
• Cook pears and cinnamon in 500ml of water until very soft
• Blend pears in food processor/blender
• Sieve brambles to remove star anise and seeds
• Add sugar to taste but remember that the leather will sweeten as it dries so don't over-sweeten it!
• Boil mixture until it becomes a thick sauce
• Line dehydrator trays with baking paper and pour mixture on top - if you don't have a dehydrator then line a baking tray, pour the mixture into this and bake at your oven's lowest setting for 8+ hours - checking frequently
• Dry until no longer sticky but still pliable (about 8 hours at 80C)
• Roll leather up and cut into bite-sized pieces

Wild Pear and Bramble Leather

And that's me finally add the end of my 5kg of pears and this ingredient's blog. Until next time xx

Wild Pear Part 4: Wild Pear Brownies

After a facebook recommendation for a chocolate-based recipe, here is what I made (the original recipe used large pears):

Wild Pear Part 4: Wild Pear Brownies

Ingredients:

• 500g wild pears, peeled, cored and chopped into pieces
• 175g unsalted butter, cubed
• 300g soft light brown sugar
• Heaped tablespoon of dark cocoa (I used Bournville)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla paste (yes, I love this stuff!)
• 100g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 175g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
• 3 eggs, beaten

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180C
• Gently heat sugar, butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water 
• Stir until mixture melts and blends together
• Add remaining ingredients and mix
• Pour into a greased and lined baking tray (I used mini loaf tins)
• Bake for 30 mins (do not open the oven door or the brownies will sink!)

Wild Pear Brownies

They didn't last long!!

Wild Pear Part 3: Wild Pears, Poached

While I was cooking Part 1 I noticed that the pears were softening quite quickly so I thought I would try a poached pear recipe to retain some of the texture of the pears. I'm not a fan of red wine (the staple poaching liquid) and am currently on a restricted budget, so I thought I would try poaching the pears in cranberry juice instead.

Wild Pear Part 3: Wild Pears, Poached

Ingredients:

• 11 wild pears (10 for dessert and 1 for testing bite)
• 1 carton of cranberry juice
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 100g sugar

To serve:

• 50g creme fraiche
• 1/2 tsp vanilla paste

Method:

• Peel pears without removing stalks
• Put cranberry juice, lime juice, cinnamon and 1 tsp vanilla paste into pan
• Gently place pears into poaching liquid
• Gently bring to the boil until pears soften but retain shape (about 20-30 mins)

Pears poaching

• Remove pears and set them aside
• Add sugar to liquid and boil to reduce to syrupy consistency
• Mix together vanilla paste and creme fraiche
• Serve pears with syrup and creme fraiche

Poached pears with Vanilla Creme Fraiche

Wild Pear Part 2: Wild Pear Jelly Fruits

I used "Pam the Jam"'s alternative to Pear Cheese to make what she calls fruit pastilles. I was expecting a sort of hard sweet, like cough candies, but these turned out like fruit jellies. I was not disappointed by this outcome - I love fruit jellies - but when I make them again I'll use a deeper baking tray and cut out shapes. I think they would make nice seasonal gifts.

Wild Pear Jelly Fruits

Ingredients:

• Pear Cheese Mixture (see Part 1)
• Caster Sugar

Method:

• Line a shallow baking tray with greaseproof paper
• Pour mixture into tray and smooth out
• Cover with greaseproof paper and leave to set for 3 days

• Cut into small shapes
• Coat shapes in caster sugar

Coating shapes in caster sugar

Finished sweets

Next: Part 3: Wild Pears, Poached

Wild Pear Part 1: Pear Cheese

Despite an awful fruit season (no plums, no apples and no damsons) I was very happy that my annual Wild Pear forage was successful. I foraged 5kg of pears, so I've decided to post each recipe separately. Wild pears are small, hard versions of the Conference pears we are more familiar with, so are best cooked/pureed to release the flavour without releasing your teeth.

5kg Wild Pears

Part 1: Wild Pear Cheese
Part 2: Wild Pear Jelly Fruits
Part 3: Wild Pears, Poached
Part 4: Wild Pear Brownies
Part 5: Wild Pear and Bramble Leather

Wild Pear Part 1: Pear Cheese

Adapted from "Pam the Jam" (of "St. Hugh fame")'s recipe

Ingredients:

• 1kg wild pears
• 825g cooking apples
• Sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 500ml water

Method:

• Peel, core and slice fruit
• Add fruit, water and cinnamon to a pan and boil then simmer for 15 mins
• Blend mixture to a puree in a blender
• Measure puree and add 3/4 sugar to the amount of puree you have (eg 750g sugar per 1000ml puree)
• Bring back to boil and simmer for approx. 1 hour, stirring frequently

Puree turns from yellow . . .

. . . to orange!

• Pour mixture into greased moulds - I used mini loaf tins
• Cover with baking paper and allow to set for 2-3 days to set
• Turn out, slice and serve with your favourite cheese

Wild Pear Cheese

Next: Part 2: Wild Pear Jelly Fruits

Hedgehog Pâté (v)

Just a quick blog today. I recently went for a wee forage in the woods and came back with an interesting ingredient - Hedgehogs! Oh, stop pulling that face - I mean Hedgehog mushrooms (hedgehog mushrooms have spiny teeth rather than gills).

Hedgehog Mushrooms

Hedgehog Mushroom Pâté

Ingredients:

• 500g Hedgehog mushrooms
• 4 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for coating mushrooms)
• 4 tbsp creme fraiche
• 50g chopped walnuts
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 onion
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 75g Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tbsp rice wine
• Seasoning 

Method:

• Preheat oven to 190C
• Chop mushrooms and coat in oil and thyme

• Roast mushrooms in oven for 15 mins
• Roast walnuts in oven for 10 mins

• Fry onions and garlic in oil for 10 mins

• Blend walnuts, onions and mushrooms and all remaining ingredients in food processor

• Season to taste
• Allow to set in fridge
• Serve

Rosehip and Watermint Jelly

Rosehip and Watermint Jelly

So, I'm not feeling well at the moment and the idea for this blog comes from the seasonal choice of ingredients combined with a dire need to boost my flawed Scottish immune system! (Rosehips contain 20-60 times as much vitamin C as an orange!) I took a walk around Townhill Loch in Dunfermline, Fife, and found some Rosa Rugosa Rosehips and some Watermint. I have made herbal tea (tisane, really) with mint and rosehips before, but I like to eat and drink cold foodstuffs when I have a sore throat, so I wanted to make something that tasted of rosehip/mint tea but was cold - and I don't like iced tea. The decision: rosehip and mint jelly.

There are as many different types of rosehips as there are types of roses, but I always think that Rosa Rugosa look good enough to eat raw. I also like to make rosehip jelly (as in runny jam) out of Scotch Burnet rosehips because they give the jelly a beautiful purple hue.

Rosa Rugosa hips

Watermint

Rosehip and Watermint Jelly

Ingredients:

• 400g Rosehips, washed and de-stemmed
• 450g sugar
• 10 sheets of gelatine (1 per 100ml of rosehip syrup)
• 1.1 litres of boiling water
• 5 mint leaves (I added some flowers for good measure and colour!)

Method:

• Chop up rosehips (or do as I did and chuck them in a food processor).

Processed rosehips

• Bring rosehips and 700ml boiling water back to the boil.
• Take off heat and leave to infuse for 15mins.

Rosehips infusing

• Strain through muslin/tea towel and put the juice back in the pan.

Straining juice through a tea towel

• Add 400ml boiling water and the mint leaves/flowers and bring back to the boil.
• Take off heat and leave to infuse for 15mins.

Mint infusing

• Strain through muslin/tea towel and put the juice back in the pan.
• Add sugar and bring back to the boil then turn off heat.
• Cut each gelatine sheet into 6 pieces and place in bain marie/heatproof bowl over boiling water.
• Add enough rosehip syrup to cover the gelatine.
• Gently heat and stir until gelatine dissolves.

Gelatine dissolving

• Mix together gelatine mixture and remaining rosehip syrup.
• Strain to remove any gelatine lumps.
• Pour into moulds.
• Place in fridge to set.

Rosehip and watermint jelly

Porcini Popcorn and Blaeberry Pie

And so here I am again - at the computer, post-foraging/cooking. The recent rainfall and some frantic facebook-inspired mushroom dances have meant that I have been able to forage lots of blaeberries (aka bilberries or whortleberries, depending on where you are from) and some delicious Boletes (the family of mushrooms of which the porcini is part). So here is the outcome of some experimental popcorn-popping and some purple-handed pie-making - enjoy!

Blaeberries

Blaeberry Pie

Ingredients

Filling:

• 4 cups of Blaeberries
• 3/4 cup of sugar (and extra for sprinkling)
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 3 tbsp cornflour
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tsp mixed spice

Pastry (from first documented forage):

• 500g plain flour
• 100g icing sugar
• 250g cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 2 free range eggs - plus extra for egg wash

Method:

1. Make pastry first and let this chill in the fridge - mix flour, sugar and butter to make breadcrumb consistency. Add vanilla and eggs, mix , roll into a ball and flatten.
2. Set oven to 200C.
3. Mix 1 cup of blaeberries with sugar and heat gently until sugar dissolves - stirring as required.
4. Mix cornflour with water and add the heated blaeberries to this, stir and return to heat.
5. Add spice and lemon and heat until sauce thickens (it will look like a purpley-blue version of the sauce on a strawberry tart).
6. Add the rest of the blaeberries and allow to cool.
7. Grease a flan/pie tin.
8. Roll out pastry and use it to line tin - save the offcuts to make a lattice/shaped pattern for the top of the pie.
9. Fill pie base with blaeberry mixture.
10. Top with pastry shapes/lattice and use a pastry brush to egg wash - top with a sprinkling of sugar.
11. Drop oven temperature to 190C and cook pie for 40mins - remove when pastry is golden-brown.
12. Eat and enjoy (don't drop any because it stains!) Now go and look at your tongue in the mirror ;)

Blaeberry Lattice Pie

"Porcini" Popcorn

OK, so I'm slightly cheating at this recipe because I'm using Larch Boletes, Orange Birch Boletes and Bay Boletes, but I haven't found any true porcini yet this season. I will retry this recipe when I find some!

Ingredients:

• 25g dried porcini
• 50g salt
• 25g unsalted butter, melted
• 50g unpopped popcorn
• 2 tbsp oil

Method:

1. Grind porcini in coffee grinder/spice mill - add salt and grind again until powdery.
2. Heat oil in saucepan and add popcorn and get the lid on quick!
3. Heat gently and shoogle the pan every now and again
4. Remove from heat when popping slows
5. Add butter and porcini powder
6. Enjoy?

Porcini Popcorn and Porcini Powder

This recipe turned out quite salty - probably because I didn't use true porcini. I will try it again though!

Until the next forage - happy eating!

Chanterelle Ice Cream

As promised - a blog about what I did with my recently foraged chanterelles . . .

Scotland seems to be the perfect place to find chanterelles - so much so that I'm now finding it difficult to find new recipes to try out. That's why I decided to try something a little bit different. Chanterelles go perfectly with eggs and cream, so what better way to use them than in a Chanterelle Ice Cream? Yes, I do mean I made mushroom ice cream. 

Chanterelle Ice Cream ingredients - that's a lot of eggs!!

Chanterelle Ice Cream

This makes a very large quantity - over 2 litres - so you may want to half it!

Ingredients:

• 1 litre double cream
• 1 litre milk
• 500g sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• 14 egg yolks
• 2 whole eggs
• Salt
• 500g Chanterelle

Method:

1. Boil all but eggs together in a pan
2. Slowly pour the hot cream mix over eggs (whisking continuously, otherwise you'll scramble the eggs)
3. Blend until smooth
4. Freeze in ice cream maker
5. Enjoy

Chanterelle Ice Cream with Salmonberries

I thought that this ice cream was overly sweet, but I'm not much of a sweet fan, so that may just be me. If I were to make it again I would probably only use 350-400g sugar and half the vanilla. As it was I ate it with Salmonberries I foraged on my way home tonight and their acidity helped to cut through the sweetness for me. I still have some Salmonberries leftover, so I might make a liqueur and post the outcome in a future blog.

Over the next few weeks/months we should be getting into Porcini/Bolete season here and I have set myself the challenge of making Porcini Popcorn. I may make something entirely more palatable too. Until then xx

Raspberries, Rowans, Chanterelles and Vanilla Custard ideas

I'm on annual leave for two weeks and have just spent the most relaxing few nights in a luxury log cabin on Loch Tay, with its own hot tub and sauna - absolute bliss! And no visit to Loch Tayside (for me) would be complete without a meal planned around foraged goods - so here is what I found, bought, elicited and made:


What I foraged/elicited for free:
(clockwise from top)

Rowan Berries
Honey (elicited from the local hotel breakfast selection!)
Green Hazelnuts
Chanterelle
Raspberries
Jack Daniels miniature (personal supply (not mine) - not pictured)









What I bought:

Malbec wine (from the local hotel)
2 wood pigeon breasts (shot locally and bought in Aberfeldy butchers)
Butternut squash
Shallot
Bacon (Ayrshire bacon - cue joke: "Is that your Ayrshire bacon?" "Naw, am just heating ma hauns!")
Vanilla Custard (from the reduced section in local shop)
"Donut" peaches

What I made:

Pigeon with Raspberry/Rowan sauce
Butternut and Chanterelle casserole
BBQ peaches with Vanilla Ice Cream
Raspberry Cranachan

Pigeon with Raspberry/Rowan Sauce

Ingredients:

2 pigeon breasts
Raspberries
Rowan Berries
Malbec (or any red wine - the fruitier the better)

Sugar

Method:

1. Fry pigeon for 2mins on each side then left in warm place to rest
2. Using the pan from cooking the pigeon - add 75g raspberries and 25g rowan berries and some sugar
3. Cook until sugar has dissolved and fruit has softened then squash fruit to a pulp
4. Add wine (approx 50ml) and cook gently to combine
5. Sieve and return to pan and boil rapidly to reduce volume and thicken sauce
6. Serve over pigeon breasts

Butternut and Chanterelle Casserole

Ingredients:

1/2 Butternut Squash, cubed
1 slice bacon, roughly diced
1 banana shallot, roughly diced
8 small Chanterelle, roughly chopped
Drizzle of honey

Method:

1. Fry bacon until crispy and set aside
2. Fry shallot in same pan for 5mins
3. Add Butternut Squash and fry for 10 mins - add water as required to stop it sticking
4. Add Chanterelle and fry for 5 mins
5. Add honey, salt and pepper and bacon and heat through
6. Serve

Pigeon with Raspberry/Rowan sauce
served with Butternut and Chanterelle casserole
and boiled potatoes

BBQ peaches with Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:

3 donut peaches, sliced
1/2 carton of vanilla custard
Drizzle of honey

Method:

1. Put custard in freezer and mix every 30mins until ice cream constistency (about 2 hours) 
2. Thread peach slices onto skewers, drizzle with honey and BBQ
3. Serve peaches with Ice Cream

BBQ peaches and Ice Cream

Raspberry Cranachan

Ingredients:

Raspberries
Honey
Hazelnuts - Cranachan is traditionally made with toasted oats but I experimented with green hazelnuts as they are in season right now. However, I do not think their vegetable-y flavour was right for this dish. In the future I would use roasted, dried hazelnuts or walnuts instead.
1/2 carton of vanilla custard
1/2 miniature bottle of Jack Daniels - I'm sure using an American bourbon means that this is no longer authentic Cranachan, but foragers can't be choosers.

Method:

1. Whip custard to soft peaks
2. Add raspberries, pot of honey, toasted nuts, whisky/bourbon/liqueur of choice and mix
3. Chill
4. Enjoy

Raspberry Cranachan

All in a day's forage and evening's cooking :) And since we foraged 1kg of Chanterelle on the way home, I think there will be another post shortly . . .

Too wet to forage - Thai Roast Chicken & Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble

So yesterday we had a glorious day of sunshine, which of course means that today brought torrential rain. I took my bike for a run to the shops and got soaked through, so the only thing for it was to get into the kitchen and cook the blues away!

Today's experiments were:

Thai Roast Chicken

&

Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble

Thai Roast chicken

Ingredients:

Whole chicken

Tin of coconut milk

1 onion, sliced into rings

1 red chilli, cut in half lengthways

Splash of lime juice*

3 cloves of garlic

Glug of chilli and garlic oil

Maldon Salt

Pepper

1. Place chicken in roasting tin and cover with onion rings. Add all remaining ingredients to the pan and cover with foil.
2. Cook at 190C for 1 hour then remove the foil, baste with the sauce and cook uncovered for the remaining time (according to weight of chicken).

*I used bottled lime juice because I didn't have any fresh or frozen limes (I usually buy lemons and limes in bulk and juice them into ice cube trays and keep them in the freezer to use when I need them - it's very handy!).

Verdict - lovely juicy chicken! Next time I will use the juice of a whole fresh lime and add some lemongrass and coriander.

Rhubarb and Ginger crumble

I used James Martin's recipe except I used fresh ginger rather than dried.

I served the crumble with Cream o' Galloway Sticky Toffee Ice Cream - very wicked!

Wild Gooseberries, Wild Strawberries, Sweet Cicely, Elderflowers and Chanterelle

So here is my first ever blog and an attempt to stop clogging up facebook with my foraged goods and recipes! My blog will chart the appearance and uses of various seasonal and local foraged foods (with some occasional, cheeky, non-foraged items). I live in Edinburgh, Scotland, but I forage all over the UK.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I hope to enjoy the experience!

Foraged foods:

• Wild gooseberries (500g)
• Sweet cicely seeds (small handful) - Sweet Cicely seeds, leaves and root taste of aniseed, but the seeds can also be used as a sweetener in cooking. The leaves make a nice wild substitute for Tarragon - try them in Tarragon Chicken!
• Chanterelles (1kg)  
• Elderflowers (30 heads)
• Wild strawberries (300g)

Wild Gooseberries and Sweet Cicely

                

                   
Wild Gooseberry

Sweet Cicely

Gooseberry Bakewell Tarts

Gooseberry and Sweet Cicely Cheesecake

Gooseberry Bakewell Tarts

Recipe adapted from: Gooseberry and Elderflower Bakewell Tarts

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 500g plain flour
• 100g icing sugar
• 250g cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
• 2 free range eggs

For the gooseberry jam:

• 225g wild gooseberries
• 150ml water
• 225g granulated sugar

For the frangipane:

• 3 free range eggs, plus 1 free range egg yolk
• 150g softened butter
• 150g caster sugar
• 150g ground almonds
• 100g untoasted flaked almonds

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C
Grease one 24-hole mini muffin tin

For the Pastry:
(this is delicious and I will definitely use this again - see Wild Strawberry Tart)
Blend the flour, icing sugar and butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add vanilla seeds and mix thoroughly. Add egg and mix to form a paste. Roll into a ball, flatten, cover with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes (the pastry, obviously - you've got more work to do!).

For the Gooseberry Jam:
Place a saucer in the fridge.

Add the gooseberries and water to a large pan and simmer until tender (about 15mins). Reduce the heat, add sugar and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Increase heat and boil for 8-10mins. Test for set by dropping a teaspoon of the jam on the chilled saucer, letting it cool for a minute and then pushing your finger through it. If the jam wrinkles then it is set, if not then keep boiling and check using this method every 5mins.

For the Frangipane:
Beat the eggs and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs slowly until well combine. Stir in the ground almonds.

To make the Tarts:
Roll the pastry out thinly on a floured surface and use to line the muffin tin. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes (again, the pastry).

Place a teaspoon of jam in the bottom of each tart case and top with a teaspoon of frangipane. Decorate with flaked almonds.

Bake in the oven for 15-20mins or until golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack.

I had lots of leftover pastry and frangipane (I made 36 mini tarts) so I foraged some Wild Strawberries to make a big Wild Strawberry Tart! Otherwise I would have just eaten the leftover pastry and maybe made a plum clafoutis with the frangipane.

Goosely Cheesecake

Recipe adapted from: Gooseberry and Sweet Cicely Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 300g ginger biscuit crumbs
• 175g butter, melted
• 400g cream cheese (2 standard tubs of Philadelphia)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 lemon
• 1 1/4 cups caster sugar
• 2 cups gooseberries (about 200g), topped and tailed
• 1 teaspoon Sweet Cicely seeds, finely chopped

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 175C
2. Mix the biscuit crumbs and butter together, press the mixture into a 9-inch springform tin and put this in the fridge.
3. Beat the cheese, lemon juice, eggs and 3/4 cup of sugar until smooth. Pour the filling into the base and bake for 30 minutes.
4. Cook the gooseberries with 1/4 cup of sugar and a wee splash of water for 8-10 minutes (or until soft). Drain well. Blend the gooseberries and Sweet Cicely seeds together.
5. Once the cheesecake has baked for 30 minutes, allow it to cool for 5 minutes and then carefully spread the goosely mixture on top.
6. Beat the creme fraiche with 1/4 cup of sugar and slowly and slowly pour this over the top of the goosely.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until just set (mine took 45 minutes, but my oven has a mind of its own!)
8. Turn off the oven and leave the cake inside for 1-12 hours.
9. Serve the cheesecake at room temperature.

Chanterelle

Chanterelle

Chanterelle and Ricotta Ravioli

Chanterelle and Ricotta Ravioli 

Recipe adapted from: Chanterelle and Ricotta Ravioli

Ingredients:

For the pasta:

•             140g Italian '00' flour

•             1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk

•             Pinch of saffron or paprika

For the filling:

•             Handful lemon thyme, finely chopped

•             2 cloves garlic, crushed

•             150 g chanterelle mushrooms, finely chopped

•             olive oil

•             150 g ricotta cheese

•             1/2 lemon

•             1 egg, whisked

For the sage butter:

•             100g butter

•             small bunch of sage, leaves only

Method:

1. For the pasta: pulse the flour and saffron/paprika in a food processor. Add the whole egg and egg yolk. Mix for 2-3 minutes until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Tip out the dough and knead for a minute or so until smooth. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in a cool place for 1 hour before using.

3. Cut the dough in half, flatten each piece with a rolling pin to about 5mm thickness. Fold over the dough and pass it through a pasta machine at its widest setting, refolding and rolling several times until you have a rectangular shape.

4. To roll the pasta, start with the pasta machine at its widest setting, pass the dough through the rollers. Do not fold but repeat this process, decreasing the roller setting down grade by grade with each pass until it gets to the thinnest setting. Use straight away to make the ravioli.

5. For the filling: mix together the garlic, mushroom and lemon thyme. Lightly fry in olive oil until the mushrooms dry out and season with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

6. Add the mushroom mixture to the ricotta and season to taste.

7. Lay out the pasta and cut it into two equal sized large rectangles. Evenly space tablespoons of ricotta along one pasta sheet, leaving 2-3cm around the edge of each mound. Brush the gaps between the mounds with the beaten egg, then lay the other piece of pasta on top, sandwiching the mounds in the middle. Press the joins firmly with your hands, then cut out the mounds into ravioli with a sharp knife or pastry cutter.

8. Boil the pasta for 4 minutes in salted water.

9. While the pasta is cooking, heat the butter and sage in a frying pan and fry until the butter foams.

10. Drain the pasta and toss in the sage and butter. Serve immediately.

Elderflowers

Elderflowers

Elderflower Cordial

Elderflower Cordial

Recipe adapted from: Elderflower Cordial

Ingredients

• 30 elderflower heads
• 1.7 litres of boiling water
• 900g caster sugar
• 2 clementines, sliced
• 2 unwaxed lemons, sliced
  
  50g citric acid (I got mine online)

Preparation method

1. Gently shake the elderflowers to remove any dirt or little creatures.
2. Strip the elderflowers from the stems.
3. Pour the boiling water over the sugar in a very large mixing bowl. Stir well and leave to cool.
4. Add the clementine and lemon slices, and then the flowers.
5. Leave in a cool place for 24 hours, stirring occasionally.
6. Strain through some muslin, add the citric acid and transfer to sterilised bottles.

Wild Strawberries

Wild Strawberries

Wild Strawberry Tart

Wild Strawberry Tart

Ingredients:

• 1/2 quantity of pastry and frangipane from Gooseberry Bakewell Tart recipe
• 350g Wild Strawberries
• 1/2 lemon
• 200g sugar
• Flaked almonds (to decorate)

Method:

Line loose-bottomed tart (and allow yourself a smile/grimace at the thought) tin with pastry. Put in fridge for 30 minutes.

Gently heat strawberries, sugar and lemon juice until the sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat to a boil and check regularly for set with the "cold saucer and wrinkle test". 

Once set, pour jam into pastry base and top with frangipane.

Decorate with flaked almonds.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

And that is me finally at the end of my July forage/recipe blog - see you in August!! x