The ultimate Nettle soup recipe

The ultimate nettle soup recipe.
When most people hear about your interest in wildfood what do they say?
“Oooh doyamean like nettles... I wouldn’t want to eat those. How do you stop them stinging you?
Well here’s the ultimate nettle soup recipe that will one, silence those with a dislike of the stinger and two become a regular favourite at the dinner table. After all ...(blah b;lah b;ah)
1 medium onion finely sliced
1 pint of bacon stock
1 large potatoe, diced and boiled
Black pepper
Crème fraise
1 large carrier bag of fresh nettle tops
Butter

Melt the butter slowly then add the onion. Cook over a gentle heat until softened and translucent. Add the bacon stock and heat until it gently simmers. Skim any scum off the surface. Add the nettles and simmer for about 5 minutes add the potatoe and keep cooking for about 5 more minutes. Take off the heat and season. Stir in a bog dolup of crème fraise and serve.
Sometimes if I have a handful of watercress I use that too as it gives a bit of extra pep. For even more pep add a splash of Tabasco.

A word of warning. After June nettles can have a laxative affect. I counteract this by growing my own nettles in my 'wild patch' and very regularly cutting them down to produce new nettle tips.

Food Friday

Food friday.

So this is my new concept. It's very simple. I think that everyone should have a 'Food Friday'. In short this means dedicating some of your time on a Friday to producting your own food for the table. This could be by fishing, rabbiting, gathering wild food,bartering your skills in exchange for food or taking care of the veggie patch. As long as it means that you are actually producting your own food and it costs you nothing (or as near to nothing as you can). You may even be able barter skills for food.

Think of different ways you could achieve Food Friday...Mow next doors lawn in exchange for being able to help yourself to that abandoned rubbard in the corner of their garden.

By having a Food Friday we can drastically cut the amount of food miles our food has to come, eat more healthily, save money, learn about food and actually appriciate the food we do produce more. Too many people don't think about the food they buy and waste tons of it. This is a great way to be more in touch with our food. If everyone had a Food Friday and spent just one day (or even just a hours or two producting their own food) think about how much less food we would have to import and more closer to home. Think how much money you could save....

Please comment if you like my Food Friday idea...and spread the news. Everyone should have a Food Friday.

This Food Friday (today) I'm attending to my cabbages and pickling the green imature elderflower berries to make something very similar to capers.

Happy Food Friday!

Economy warp drive

Recently, along with many other people we've been on a bit of an 'economy drive'. Thrifty is defiantly the word. I've been mining into our freezer and discovering all sorts of delights. Spicy polenta made for when we had guests but never used. Late summer blackberries stored when we had the idea we would accumulate enough of them to make wine....but never did. These forgotten treasures shouldn't be left in the freezer like monuments to a forgotten past. Abandoned in their cold museum. Let them free. Be inventive. My blackberries have become jam, my spicy polenta was transformed into a spicy sausage dish and the 25 sprats I practically dug up are to become tonight's supper. Sprat pate, served on warm soda bread and a salad from the garden. Actually rather than feeling that we are making doing or waste notting. I feel like I have again awakened that gluttonous side of me. The side that indulges itself. Using the leftovers and forgotten unlabeled boxes in the freezer hasn't made me feel downhearted. It's been inspiring.

Soda bread

Prep time:15 minutes

Cook time:30-40 minutes

Serves:8

Description:
Soda bread is quick and easy to make. This one seems to last longer than a 'normal' soda bread and I think this is because it contains oats which hold the moisture for longer. It's little crumbly and has a wonderful texture. It's a meal in itself when spread thickly with butter. It goes wonderfuly with a creamy cheese or home made pate and a green salad from the garden. This is adapted from an Irish Soda Bread recipe by Margaret Hickly

Ingredients:
250g plain white flour
250g plain wholemeal flour (I used some from the excellent townmill.org.uk in Lyme Regis)
100g porridge oats (the rougher the better I say!)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
25g butter , cut in pieces
500ml buttermilk substitute for 'normal' or soya milk if you don't have any.


Directions:Preheat the oven to 200c or use the top oven of your Rayburn/Aga. Dust a oven tray with lots of flour and put to one side. This will stop the bread from sticking. Mix all the dry ingredients together then rub in the butter.Add the buttermilk and use your fingers or a butter knife until it forms a dough. You may not need to use all the buttermilk. Place on the oven tray and cut a cross on the top with a sharp knife to alow the dough to cook all the way through. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the bottom of the bread sounds hollow when you tap it.
Smother in butter and eat!

Homemade, elderflowerade, lemonade, mintade-all using pretty much the same recipe!

This is a really easy peasy recipe that takes next to no time to make. It's elegent enough to serve to your most trying guests (with ice and a slice of course) but so easy peasy you don't mind if your 5 year old drinks litres of it. It's wonderfully refreshing and perfect for the summer

Ingredients:
1 cup lemon juice (about 6 lemons if you use lemons).

Alternatively for Mintade use 1 good handful of fresh mint leaves.

For Elderflowerade use 2-4 sprigs of Elderflowers. Elderflowers are best gathered early in the season and in warm weather. The beginning of the season is early June and they are best gathered in warm weather as this is when they realease their wonderful pungent pollen.

1 cup sugar

1 cup boiling water

4 cups cold water


Directions:
Mix the boiling water and sugar together until the suger is disolved. If it doesn't dissolve you may have to gently heat it on the hob.

Once the suger is dissolved add the lemon juice and the cold water and serve over ice. Yes it's that easy!

If you want to make elderflowerade cover 2-4 sprigs of elderflowers in 1 cup of sugar and leave overnight then use the sugar as above. Also add a squueeze or dash of lemon juice.

For Mintade cover a big handful of fresh mint in 1 cup of sugar and leave overnight then use the sugar as above. Add a sprig of mint to the mintade.

These also work well as make your own ice lollys .

How easy is that? Perfect refeshing summer drinks that cost next to nothing:)

MasterChef Live 2009 article published!

The title says it all really doesn't it. The MasterChef Live 2009 review I posted on here on the 14th has been printed in a London newspaper. I went to the event courtesy of www.theblogpaper.co.uk. They haven't told me which paper it's in yet but...my...how exciting! See it here: www.theblogpaper.co.uk/article/culture/15nov09/masterchef-live-2009-review.

MasterChef Live- the review

MasterChef Live- the review

Black garlic, flowering tea and how Masterchef Live can “change your life”.

Over the weekend of 13^th-15^th November the awe inspiring MasterChef Live took place at the iconic venue of London’s Olympia. With the likes of past MasterChef winners, celebrity chefs, Gregg (the pudding spoon) Wallace and John (change your life) Torode hosting and piles of seriously yummy food how could I not attend when Blogpaper.com invited me?

It was opened by Gregg and John who had a little comic trouble fumbling with the safety catch on the scissors. After overcoming this difficultly the ribbon was cut and Masterchef Live was decreed open. Press cameras flashed and a beaming Greg said:

“Wow, we’re just normal people doing a normal job, doing something we love and we’re lucky to do it. Go and discover amazing food and drink vodka!”

It was a little early for the Vodka, at 9.30 in the morning, but that didn’t stop the animated crowd from pouring into the main hall, eager to be first to bag a culinary discovery from over two hundred stalls.

I followed the crowds to the ‘Cookery experience’ where former MasterChef winners went head to head in a 20 minute cook off. Two kitchen stations were set up on stage and Gregg and Jon were loudly and exuberantly introduced by Olly Smith of Saturday Kitchen. Thomasina Miers and James Nathan bounded on stage and their bags of food where revealed. Prawns, harissa, basmati rice, chocolate, spinach and raspberries. The two MC winners rifled through their bags and got to grips with their ingredients.

James told us he wouldn’t try and make a tableful of dishes like he mistakenly (but astonishingly) did when he was on MC but that he’d stick to just one dish this time. Smiling, he explained he’s currently enjoying working in Padstow for Rick Stein, and loves his new professional chef status - a far cry from his previous job as a Lawyer.

Tomasina (MC winner 2005) seemed to be getting in a bit of a fluster and Jon joked that it probably seemed like he and Gregg were going to be judging her forever. However, she still managed to inform us that since winning MC she’s opened 3 restaurants all called Wahaca and written a book on Mexican street food. Gregg held up her left hand and Tommy sheepishly admitted ‘Oh and I’ve got married to”.

As the 20 minutes drew to an end it was apparent they were going to be given more time. Does this normally happen I wondered?

James hastily binned burnt rice and changed to couscous instead: “I’m changing continents” he exclaimed. Tommy was jokingly told to shut up and stop talking when it was time to plate up and after a frenzy of plate wiping the contestants stood back and let the judges decide. James won with his prawns in chilli and ginger against Tommy’s harissa, prawns and rice. I sneaked a taste of both dishes while the ‘clean team’ were cleaning up and both were mouth wateringly delicious. I had to agree with Jon and Gregg, James dish was the best. The textures were wonderful (crisp slivers of shallot anyone?) and boy did it have a zing from the chillies. Beautiful. I’d order it from a restaurant right now.

Afterwards I wandered around the amazing stalls. It was a cornucopia of colour and smells and not unlike a huge bustling continental market .People called out, exclaiming the virtues of their wares.

The unusual grabbed me. Black fermented garlic, oak smoked rapeseed oil, green tea that you eat, huge walls of cheeses and the most expensive apples I’ve ever seen. I loved it. It was like being plunged into a Willy Wonky world of foodie treats. When I came up for air, I realised that what really struck me about this event was that everyone really did have a genuine passion for good food and wanted to share that passion. Strangers excitedly talked to each other about the goodies in their bags. I overheard one middle aged lady invite another to ‘have a go’ at her corn fed chicken from the Well hung meat company:

“Go on, look at the colour of that, have a feel of it, go on really squish it”

To which the other lady replied:

“Oh you should see the tea bulbs I just bought; they flower when you put them in hot water!”

Now, I’ve had meat from the 'Well hung meat company' before and frankly it was fabulous, but I’d never heard of flowering tea bulbs. So in the spirit of the event I sought out Choi Time Tea’s stand where I discovered they don’t only have flowering tea but also ‘pearls’ of tea. How beautiful but boy, how wonderful it tastes. Their Jasmine scented green tea pearls have been described as the ‘Dom Perignon’ of the tea world by the Sunday Times and with one sip you can tell why. I bought two packs at £6.00 each. I’ll never go back to a plain old ‘builders brew’ again. Melissa Choi who owns the company told me she’s even converted hardened coffee drinkers to it, which is probably a plus as her tea is high in antioxidants.

One of the genius ideas in MasterChef Live is the ‘restaurant experience’. Here you can sample the signature dishes of all those restaurants that you’ve always want to go to but for one reason or another (the credit crunch?) couldn’t. The Ivy, Min Jiang, Launceston Place and the dishes of the MasterChef Winners were all available.

I tried Thomasina Meir’s’ duck liver and hazelnut ravioli, Min Jiangs duck dim sum and Theo Randall’s pan fried scallops. In order of preference I would put the ravioli first for taste and presentation (I could have eaten it forever), the scallops second followed by the duck dim sum. I found it deeply rewarding to be able to sample all the dishes in one place. Where else would I have that opportunity?

If you ever want to have the Masterchef experience without actually competing then this is the way to do it.

In the invention test paying members of the public, aspiring MasterChefs, had a go in a live 30 minute cook off. Complete with cooking stations, a mystery bag of goodies to cook from, your very own sous chef, provided by Southgate college. Andi Peters interrupts you as he commentates on everyone’s progress. You really do get the essence and feel of MasterChef. You can see hands shaking, smell the overly ‘caramelised’ mistakes and be subjected to that Masterchef fervour. Gregg Wallace and Jon Torode judge and they don’t disappoint with their witty banter. I spoke to one of the ‘runners up’-and asked her about it:

“I loved the experience although I was nervous (Gregg said that my chicken was undercooked) but I’d love to do it again, now. It was exhilarating”.

So to (dim) sum up (sorry),. MasterChef Live is a fantastic place to experience your very own culinary voyage of discovery. It’s inspired me so much that I’ve actually applied to be on MasterChef. You can get top tips from the foodie greats and can wallow in every conceivable food dream you’ve ever had with people who probably have the same or similar dreams. I know that I for one will be back next year whether I get accepted for MasterChef or not.

MasterChef Live: “It’ll change your life”

Black Garlic: blackgarlic.co.uk

Oak smoked rapeseed oil:justfoodco.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=235

Green tea-Aiya-europe.com

Choi time tea: www.choitime.com