Girolle out the pasta: Chanterelle Tagliatelle

My favourite foraging season is finally here - it's time for Chanterelles! There is nothing more exciting (for me), than walking through woods and spotting the orangey-yellow glint of a Chanterelle in the undergrowth.

I have found a few Chanterelles in woods near Kincardine, but I still like to make my annual pilgrimage to the East Neuk, to pick Chanterelles in Tentsmuir Forest.

As ever, before you pick and eat any wild food, please make sure that you have identified it correctly. I wasted many hours last year in a debate with a 'forager' on twitter, who was celebrating a giant haul of Chanterelles. What he had actually picked were False Chanterelles.

Falsies - or False Friends, as my mum calls them - aren't poisonous, but they neither smell nor taste like the true Chanterelle. Chanterelles smell like apricots and I have previously found them just by sniffing the air and following the scent.

There are many poisonous (often fatally) mushrooms in the UK, so please take care, check and double-check identifying features. If you are in any doubt, then do not eat what you find.

A fact that makes many of my friends laugh, is that I'm not particularly fond of eating mushrooms, despite my joy of foraging them. I do like the flavour of mushrooms, but I'm not keen on the texture. To remedy this, I decided to employ a technique from my last blog post and to use powdered Chanterelles in my recipe:

Chanterelle Tagliatelle

Ingredients

350g fresh Chanterelle - dried and powdered (I use a dehydrator and a coffee grinder) - this produced 30g of powder.
170g '00' Flour
2 eggs

Method

Mix together Chanterelle powder and flour in a bowl
Tip mixture onto a clean surface, make into a mound and make a well in the centre
Crack the eggs into the well and mix with a fork
Gradually mix in the flour until you have a sticky dough
Knead thoroughly for 10mins
Wrap dough in cling film and refridgerate for 1hr+
Work dough through pasta machine or roll out by hand until it is paper-thin
Fold and cut into strips or feed through tagliatelle attachment on pasta machine
Boil in salted water for 3-4mins (al dente)
Serve

I served this with a simple cheese sauce (parmesan and mozzarella mixed with a roux base and milk).

I loved the colour of this pasta and it tasted superb! I will definitely use this technique again, come Porcini season.

Until I write again, Happy Foraging! Xx

WimblEton Tidy: Wild Strawberry and Elderflower Pavlova

I had hoped to make something with gooseberries this weekend, but after finding a grand total of 1 gooseberry yesterday, I was forced to look elsewhere for my ingredients.

Wild Strawberries are now coming into season, so I decided to play around with the Wimbledon classic "strawberries and cream" and make a tennis-inspired, reconstructed Eton Mess. This seemed all the more appropriate, as I picked the strawberries in Andy Murray's hometown of Dunblane.

Wild Strawberries have a surprising depth of taste, despite their diminutive size and I wanted to make the most of that flavour. I thought that this might work best if I dried and powdered the strawberries and used them as a flavouring for the meringue.

I use a dehydrator when I dry my foraged foods, though you can do this in your oven at its lowest setting. Once the strawberries (about 2 good handfuls) were dried, I used my coffee grinder (I only use this for spices - not for coffee) to blitz them into a powder.

Wild Strawberry Meringue - adapted from my mum's pavlova recipe, hence the imperial measurements.

3 egg whites
1oz Powdered wild strawberries
5oz caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 level tsps cornflour
1 tsp vinegar

Whisk egg whites, vinegar and vanilla to a very stiff consistency - so you can tip bowl and they'll not move.

Whisk in most of sugar, 1/3 at a time (leaving a small amount for next step), whisking to a stiff consistency after each addition.

Fold in remaining sugar and cornflour ingredients.

Thw result should be very firm, but soft enough to work. Too much whisking and it will lose bulk.

Pile up in a circle on an oiled piece of greaseproof paper on a baking tray.

Shape to form a hollow in the middle.

Bake at 140C for 1 hour.

Switch off oven and leave in oven for half hour. The meringue should be crisp, very pale brown in colour and soft inside.

Peel off paper very carefully, the meringue is fragile and may break apart at this point.

Elderflower Cream Topping

300ml Double Cream
2 heaped Tablespoons Icing Sugar
3 Tablespoons Elderflower Cordial

Whisk all together into soft peaks.

Spread cream topping on top of meringue.

Enjoy the sugar rush and until next time, Happy Foraging x

Bloomin' Cheesecake: Elderflower and Rose

I planned to make an elderflower and wild strawberry cheesecake, but the wild strawberries were not quite ripe, so I decided to try a rose petal topping, instead. The elderflower cordial and rose petal syrup (before you add the gelatine) can be made in advance, and can also be bought pre-prepared.

Elderflower

Rosa Rugosa

Wild/Dog Rose

Yesterday I posted on facebook that I would deliver said cheesecake to my friends. This was a rookie mistake, as I hadn't made the cheesecake at that point. The result was more of a soup than a cheesecake, so I tried again. This is the second result:

Elderflower & Wild Rose Cheesecake

Elderflower & Wild Rose Cheesecake

Base

225g oat biscuits - I used Hobnobs
100g butter
1 1/2 Tablespoons of sugar

Method:

Melt butter
Crush or blend biscuits
Mix together thoroughly
Spread firmly into base of a loose-bottomed cake tin
Place in fridge for 30mins-1hr, until set

Filling

400g cream cheese
4 Tablespoons of Elderflower Cordial

Method:

Beat or whisk together until you have a firm cream consistency.
Spread over the chilled base and smooth out with a spatula or knife.
Place in freezer for 2 hours then apply topping.

Topping

Rose syrup recipe adapted from Nithas Kitchen

1 1/2 cups of rose petals (I used mainly Wild Dog Rose, but added 4 Rosa Rugosa blooms to add a deeper flavour and colour)
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice
Pinch of salt
3 sheets of Gelatine (I use 1 sheet per 100ml of liquid, but added extra here to ensure a firm topping)

Method:

Boil water and add petals, sugar, lemon juice and salt.
Continue to boil until liquid reduces to a light syrup consistency (about 1 cup)
Cut gelatine into small pieces and add 4 tablespoons of the syrup
Leave for 10mins
Heat gelatine/syrup mixture over a pan of hot water for 5mins
Mix gelatine with rest of syrup and allow to cool a little
Spoon topping over set cheesecake
Allow to set in fridge (approx 2 hours)
Eat.

Next week I'm heading up North for a bit of camping, so hope to be able to post a blog with some foraged, Highland ingredients. Until then, Happy Foraging! X

Rustic Wild Garlic Pesto

It's another beautiful day here in Perthshire, so the pup and I went for a walk around the Birks of Aberfeldy. We were greeted on the walk by the pungent aroma of Wild Garlic. Cue a new recipe - Wild Garlic Pesto.

As with many wild foods, there are some poisonous lookalikes - Lily of the Valley, for example. Wild garlic can be identified by its starburst-esque white flowers and the aroma of garlic. Please make sure you identify it correctly, before you eat it.

As I'm camping, I'm using my gran's system of measurement of "just enough so it looks right" - I never will know how she made pancakes. Also, I don't have a battery-operated food processor, so I used my peg mallet and a plastic bag to crush my nuts.

Wild Garlic Pesto and Chicken sandwiches

Ingredients:
A handful of Wild Garlic leaves
2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan
A squeeze of lemon juice
A handful of Cashew Nuts
Approx 50ml Toasted Sesame Oil
Salt
Pepper
Bread

Method:
Chop the garlic leaves
Crush the nuts
Mix together with parmesan
Add oil a little at a time and blend together
Add lemon juice
Season to taste

I wanted a chunky, spreadable pesto, but you could add more oil and use a food processor to get a finer paste.

I'm presuming you know how to cook chicken, so do that.

Eat chicken and pesto in a sandwich.

Yum! And until next time, Happy Foraging! X

Sweet Cicely Chicken

Last night I went to bed feeling sad that the weather was thwarting my weekend camping plans. Then I woke up this morning to a completely new forecast - it would appear that the sun is shining on me, after all. So I packed the tent and the pup and headed North.

I found a beautiful wee spot on the banks of the River Tay, just South of Pitlochry. The best bit about this spot? It is surrounded by Sweet Cicely!

Sweet Cicely does look very similar to a few other plants, and significantly similar to deadly Hemlock, so please ensure you know what you are picking before you eat it. Sweet Cicely smells like aniseed, so one way of identifying it is to rub the leaves between your fingers and then smell them. If it doesn't smell like aniseed, then it isn't Sweet Cicely.

Today I cooked with the leaves, but later in the season you can also eat the green seeds - they add a sweetness, so are often used as a sugar subsitute. The roots are also edible and can be prepared in dishes as a substitute for Fennel.

Campfire Sweet Cicely and Chicken

Ingredients:
Oil
2 chicken breasts - diced
150ml creme fraiche
1 red onion - finely chopped
Small handful of Sweet Cicely leaves
Salt
Pepper

Method:
Cook onion in oil until softened
Brown chicken with onions
Add Sweet Cicely and allow to wilt
Add creme fraiche and stir well to combine all ingredients
Cook until chicken is cooked through (about 5mins)
Season and serve

I have to say that this meal was absolutely delicious and will be added to my go-to recipes for camping. I'm off to enjoy the sun, now. Until next time - Happy Foraging! X

St. George's Stroganoff

Today, as I parked my car at work, a few twinkles of white caught my eye, so I went to explore...

There, snuggled and huddled together in the undergrowth, were a family of St. George's mushrooms. The first mushrooms of my 2015 season and what an excellent start to the day!

St George's Mushrooms are so-named because they arrive around St George's Day (23rd April), although I've only ever seen them towards the end of May.

I am still wary about picking gilled mushrooms, because there are many poisonous wild varieties. Gilled mushrooms are the most similar to cultivated mushrooms and are very different (aesthetically) from Chanterelle (vein-like gills), Boletes (pored) and Hedgehogs (toothed).

I had hoped to get out camping this weekend, but the wind is picking up and thunderstorms are forecast. Instead, I got out my campstove and made Mushroom Stroganoff on my patio. At least it was outdoors!

I've enjoyed watching Spring growing around me, and am delighted to see Sweet Cicely appearing, now. I can sense a Sweet Cicely Chicken (perhaps even Chicken-of-the-Woods) concoction on the horizon. Until we meet again, Happy Foraging x

Gorse Blossom & Blackthorn Blossom Liqueurs

Today started out with the sun shining, so I grabbed the dog and headed up to the local country park for a little Spring foraging. I wasn't disappointed. As we turned a corner, a breeze brought with it the coconut-scent of Gorse. The smell set my mind off on an adventure...

Gorse in bloom

On a previous forage, I picked Blackthorn blossom and mixed it with coconut rum, in an experimental attempt to make a Digestif for a curry. I was worried that the low alcohol content of the rum (20%) would restrict the blackthorn from imparting its flavour. Now I was thinking *what if I used Gorse flowers with a neutral-alcohol base and make a coconut-flavour spirit? That would mean I could use a higher abv and perhaps use this as my coconut base for future experimentation with Blackthorn.*

Experience has taught me that when my mind does this kind of thinking, it's best just to follow and to ask questions later, so I followed.

I picked a few handfuls of Gorse blossom, Gorse is notoriously protective of its blossom and has a tendency to grow spines just underneath the flowers you want to pick. I think that it is in collusion with Sea Buckthorn in this regard. I find that the easiest way to pick Gorse flowers, if you aren't wearing thick gloves, is to pinch out the blossoms at the very tip of the branch - there tend to be less spines here. Please note that I say less, this is still a dangerous mission.

Gorse Blossom Liqueur Recipe:

Ingredients/equipment:

• A few handfuls of Gorse blossom
• Enough vodka to cover the blossoms
• Mason or other airtight jar

Method:

• Put blossom in jar
• Cover with vodka
• Seal jar.
• Shake the jar every day for 3-4 weeks

Gorse blossom getting cosy with some vodka

It's now been around 4 weeks since I started my Blackthorn blossom liqueur experiment, so today I bottled the liqueur-to-be. With all liqueurs, I strain the pulp through a sieve and then use filter paper in a funnel to strain the liquid. I run the filter paper under the tap, first, as this prevents the liqueur from being absorbed by the paper - this makes the process more efficient and faster.

Blackthorn Blossom Liqueur: the filtration process

Of course, I had a little sample of this while I was bottling it, and I have to say that it is tasting surprisingly good! I hate coconut rum, it reminds me of my misspent youth, but I have to say that I found this concoction quite palatable. The Blackthorn has provided a sweetness in both aroma and taste. I usually sweeten my liqueurs after a month or two in the bottle, but I don't think that this will need any further sweetening. I look forward to having a future sampling session. With curry.

Until we meet again, happy foraging (or whatever else you do). xx