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