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