Death by Gin? (Bird Cherry Gin)

This morning I took an amble around Gartmorn Reservoir (my favourite local foraging location).

I saw apples, plums and hazelnuts and picked some Scotch Burnet Rose Hips. I also picked some Bird Cherries and thought I would take a wee gamble on them.

Bird cherries are small and incredibly bitter. Try biting into one and you'll see what I mean; first you get the juicy cherriness and then your entire mouth becomes instantly dry - hardly a thirst-quencher. Nevertheless, I thought I would try to make them palatable.

I thought it might be possible to use them to flavour gin. My only concern is that the seeds are said to be toxic. I'm thinking that this is the same toxicity that applies to all prunus seeds and that the small quantity I have used is unlikely to cause any harm. Any volunteers to taste my recipe?!

Bird Cherry Gin

177g bird cherries, washed and de-stemmed
100g granulated sugar
350ml gin

I'll shake this every day or so, to macerate the fruit. It should be ready for winter.

Until next time, Good (non-toxic) Foraging.

Forager's Chicken

Yesterday I took the dog for a walk in Tulliallan woods and neither of us were disappointed. 2 hours later we returned home with a bag of ceps, a bag of chanterelles and big smiles on both of our faces.

I've dried the ceps for a future recipe and I decided to do my own take on Hunter's Chicken (chicken in bbq sauce and cheese) - Forager's Chicken.

For the BBQ Sauce:

300ml tomato ketchup (or a can of passata/tomatoes)
1 onion, chopped
1/2 tablespoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
Freshly ground pepper

Method:

Fry onion until it softens.

Grind mustard seeds and chilli flakes to a powder (or use mustard and chilli powder).

Add powder to onion and fry for a minute or two.

Add all remaining ingredients and bring to the boil.

Reduce to simmer for 90 minutes.

For the Chanterelle sauce:

200g fresh Chanterelles, chopped
Milk
30g Butter
1 heaped tablespoon plain flour
Seasoning

Method:

Fry chanterelles in butter for 5 minutes.

Add flour, stir and cook for 2 minutes.

Add milk a little at a time and stir to combine.

Aim for a white/cheese sauce consistency.

Season to taste, bearing in mind that the bbq sauce will have a kick.

Forager's Chicken:
I adapted this recipe from Amy Jones

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
5-6 rashers smoked bacon
BBQ Sauce
Chanterelle Sauce
30g cheese - I used mature cheddar as it was what I had, but I think parmesan would work well here.

Method:

Preheat oven to 200°C

Slice a pocket in each chicken breast and place them in an ovenproof dish.

Cover with BBQ sauce and top with bacon.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Top with Chanterelle sauce and grated cheese.

Increase oven temperature to 220°C.

Bake for a further 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Good Foraging.

Wild Gooseberry Crumble

I'm staying up in Falkland for a couple of nights and I found a wild gooseberry patch on my wanders.

It's quite late in the season for gooseberries but that didn't stop me foraging enough to make a crumble.

I'm staying in unfamiliar surroundings, so this recipe was made without scales - crumble is pretty forgiving though.

Wild Gooseberry Crumble

Ingredients:

2 handfuls wild gooseberries
2 handfuls of plain flour
1 handful of caster sugar
1 handful of demerara sugar
1 (estimated) handful of butter
Pinch of salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C

Wash, top & tail gooseberries.

Place gooseberries in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with the caster sugar.

Rub butter, salt and flour together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in demerara sugar.

Top gooseberries with crumble mix.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top and bubbling from beneath.

Until next time, Good Foraging!

Kirkcaldy Cake (Black Forest Gâteau)

We are finally in full-blown fruit season in Scotland and I'm taking advantage of that. I currently have my eye on raspberries, redcurrants, pears and early brambles but today's recipe uses cherries (including homemade cherry jam and homemade cherry liqueur).

I made the cherry liqueur using the fruit and the stones of cherries. This adds a delicious almondy flavour and is the reason I call it 'Bakewell Tart' Liqueur.

I picked the cherries in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and decided to pair them with dark chocolate Toblerone to complement the almondy flavour of the liqueur.

Kirkcaldy Cake

(Nothing like Dundee Cake)

Ingredients:

225g cherries (weighed with stones removed)

500ml double cream

200ml creme fraiche

4 tablespoons Kirsch (cherry liqueur)

2 tablespoons cold water

100ml boiling water

100g cherry jam

25g cocoa

300g plain flour

2 eggs

200g dark Toblerone

375g caster sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

Method:

Heat oven to 180°C

Grease and line two sandwich tins.

Heat butter & 75g Toblerone over a low heat, stirring until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat.

Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

Whisk together eggs and creme fraiche.

Add chocolate and egg mixtures to the flour mixture and add the boiling water. Mix until smooth.

Divide mixture between 2 sandwich tins and bake for 25-50mins (my oven is wonky but just check with a skewer - pierce the cake and if the skewer comes out clean then they're ready).

Mix the water and liqueur together.

Pierce the top of each cake a few times and drizzle the liqueur mixture evenly over each cake.

Allow to cool.

Heat 200ml of double cream until almost simmering. 

Pour hot cream over remaining Toblerone and mix until chocolate is all melted.

Mix together the jam and cherries.

Gently whisk the remaining cream with the icing sugar.

Layer: cake, cream, jam, cake and then cover in the chocolate cream.

Eat in small portions - it's wicked!

Until next time, Good Foraging xx