Green Earthy Wood Sorrel Sauce

Green Earthy Wood Sorrel Sauce

Hello world

I know it's been a while since my last blog. I've been really busy setting up my own art course so time has been limited. I still want to share my incredible edibles with you so my posts will be shorter but they will give you some ideas on what to do with some amazing finds.

I have been watching this wood Sorrel grow now as I walk by it on my way to the local shop and finally it is ready for picking...yum.

Fig 1. L . Moore Close up of Wood Sorrel  

Fig 2. L. Moore Wood Sorrel by my local shops

Fig.3.L.Moore A long shot of Wood Sorrel

Fig.4.L.Moore Wood Sorrel in my kitchen

Fig.5. L.Moore. My Wood Sorrel Sauce

Fig.6. L. Moore.  Yum...Wood Sorrel with Salmon

Recipe

About  one jug of Wood Sorrel (stalks as well...washed)

Chicken stock cube (about half a pint)

Creme Fresh

1 small onion

3 cloves garlic

A few chilli flakes 

Black pepper

Wash and chop up the Wood Sorrel. Create about half a pint of chicken stock and let it cool. When the stock is cool add it to the Wood Sorrel in a bowl and whizz it up with a food mixer. This keeps the sauce a lovely green colour. In another pan add a little oil and fry your onion and garlic until nice and soft and then add these ingredients to the Wood Sorrel and chicken stock and whizz again with a food mixer. Once the ingredients have been mixed together pour the sauce back into the frying pan and gently add the creme fresh and stir. Now add your black pepper and taster. I poured my sauce over a lovely grilled salmon steak and green vegetables and it was beautiful. 

To make your sauce thicker you could add some cornflour. I omitted the cornflour and it was a bit thin but totally delicious (I guess it depends how you like your sauce). 

If you cook the Wood Sorrel first in the frying pan with your onion  and garlic you lose the green colour of this lovely sauce. 

I re-used the leftover sauce the next day poured over crispy green vegetables and it was lush.  

Have a go...you won't be disappointed

Wood Sorrel has a very sharp lemon taste when you taste it raw. It tingles on the tongue and is also lovely as an ice cream. The leaves are unmistakable they are in clusters of 3 little hearts. The sharp taste is due to the oxalic acid content it has. It is also packed with Vitamin C and would make a lovely refreshing drink due to its strong sharp taste. Try boiling it with sugar and make lemonade.

Warning

Research states that one should not eat a lot of oxalic acid but the amount in this recipe is very small. I have also read that if you suffer from Kidney problems avoid oxalic acid and if you eat it in excess it can affect the calcium in the bones. 

As ever with all my recipes IF IN DOUBT LEAVE IT OUT...be safe if your not certain about an edible.

A link you might find interesting 

http://bushcraftskills.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/wild-edibles-delicious-lemony-medicinal.html 

Disclaimer

Use this information at your own risk. All information is for educational and recreational purposes. 

  

Rich Black Elderberry Cordial

Rich Black Elderberry Cordial

This post is out of sync with the seasons (just a bit)...life has been busy but please enjoy I want to share this gem of a berry.

It is not cold yet but I have made this cordial thinking ahead to have on a cold winters evening with hot water and a good old fire. Elderberries are packed full of goodness and are believed to be extraordinary in fighting against colds and flu. This is also an amazing cold drink with soda water and ice...slurp...g for it!

© Fig.1. L.Moore Black Elderberry Cordial     

© Fig.2.L.Moore Black Elderberry Cordial

© Fig.3. L.Moore "Cordials together"

©. Fig.4.L.Moore Elderberries 

Ingredients

Elderberries (about a pan)
sugar (the same amount as extracted juice)
water (to cover berries)
2 tsp lemon juice

This is ridiculously easy and well worth the little time it takes. Collect about a pan of elderberries and using a folk comb through them to release the berries from their stalks. Put in a pan and cover with water (about an inch from the berries). Boil for about 10 minutes until soft and then using a masher give them a mash in the pan. Now sieve them into a bowl. Measure the same amount of sugar as your extracted juice. Pour your juice into a clean pan and add the sugar and a little lemon juice. Boil for  no longer than 10 mins (otherwise it gets too thick) and then bottle into sterilised jars...hooray...that's it...gulp it down it's gorgeous.

If you collect a lot of elderberries they freeze brilliantly and then you can make a batch in the winter. Have it warm with cinnamon or cloves. Experiment with adding vanilla flavors to your juice.

Enjoy x

Proud Blackberry and Chilli Jam

Proud Blackberry and Chilli Jam

Oh yes there are lots of them about at the moment. Go and get an old shirt on and go blackberry picking before it's too late. These little unassuming beauties will knock your socks off for taste. The list is endless what you can do with these but I opted for a good old fashioned jam/jelly that I can have with butter and toast and in yogurts, granola, and puddings along with certain cheeses and meats...let your creativity flow. Hooray to the humble blackberry...your gorgeous.

This post is a little out of sync with the seasons...life is great it's just a bit busy at the moment but hey ho better late than never LOL.

© Fig 1.L .Moore Proud to be British...Blackberry and Chilli Jam 

Ingredients

1 large bowl of Blackberries
Sugar (same amount as extracted blackberry juice)
4 tbs lemon Juice
3 apples (any)
3 chillies (depending on stamina)

If you put your berries in the fridge for a while any crawlies tend to appear on the lid of your storage container so it is easier to get rid of any nasties. Put a saucer in your fridge for the plate test later on.

First give them a rinse gently so as not to take too much juice from them. Now add them to your pan with your chopped apples (keep peel on and cores) and cover with water about an inch from the berries and apples. Boil the berries and apples until soft simmering for about 15 minutes. Using a masher give them a mash and and then strain them. Collect the juice in a bowl and discard the pulp. Measure the same amount of sugar as your extracted juice. Now pour the juice into a clean pan and add the sugar. Heat up and dissolve the sugar. Keep stirring until it has dissolved. Then add your lemon juice and chillies.

Boil the juice rapidly for about half an hour and then do a plate test. The plate test is to see if the jam/jelly is ready. On your cold plate add a teaspoon of the boiling juice and pop back in the fridge until it cools down. Then take it out and push your finger through the jelly. If it crinkles up as you push your finger through it the jelly is done. If it is not done keep boiling a little longer and try again.

Now pour into your sterilized jars...Ta Dah. Just like that. Gorgeous...yummy. Great for present for xmas (why not make a hamper).

Enjoy x

Black Luxurious Elderberry Compote

Black Luxurious Elderberry Compote

OMG...so simple...so humble...amazing

Seasonally this post is a bit late...(Well err... about a month actually so apologies for not being seasonal and in real time...life is just taking over at the moment but it's all good).

This is heaven on a plate. The simplicity of this compote astounds me and it's great for you. Have this with a few dollops of natural Greek yogurt and fruit and it is enough to leave you truly satisfied. It's eye candy in a bowl so lush and rewarding. I tried this last year with just a few handfuls of elderberries and loved it. I was sad to see them go but they are back and here for a little while. Be quick if you want some the birds love them.

© Fig.1.L.Moore Black Luxury Elderberry Compote  

Ingredients

I pint of elderberries (more or less it does not matter) 

About a cup of sugar (taste as you go) 

Water to cover berries

Ok So to make your easy compote collect about a pint of elderberries (or a bowl). Using a folk comb through your berries and let them fall into a pan. Now just cover them with water and simmer in a pan for about 10 mins until soft. Use a masher and mash them just a little to get a little more juice out of them. Add sugar (about a cup) and stir until dissolved. Simmer for no more than 5 mins (otherwise you will get a syrup) and Ta dah... it's ready. I would recommend tasting your black luxury before you store it and add more sugar if you want to (or less...taste it as you are making it).

I normally put it in the fridge and use it over a week. I have it dolloped on top of some Greek yogurt and it's delicious...a great start to the day...and packed with lovely anti oxidants...and it's free YAY. You could of course add vanilla etc. to your compote to add a bit more flavor but experiment. 

The benefits of Elderberries is astounding. They have a high Vitamin A content, potassium, iron, B6, beta carotene, lots of flavanoids and they contain 87% of our daily vitamin C. 

Wild Elderberry & Chilli Vinegar

Wild Elderberry& Chilli Vinegar


You would have to be a nutter not to make this black beauty...it's fantastic.

© Fig 1. L.Moore Elderberries

This is a spectacular vinegar that goes well with lots of goodies. Any restaurateur should be gagging for this and willing to swap his/her granny for a bottle...a few splashes of this will enrich the dullest dish.  This is a stunning touch of class. It is rich in colour, deep and earthy and makes any meal blush with delight.

I was not expecting this to taste so good but believe me it's worth the effort and time. Since I have made it I have had it on my salad, my burger, my venison sausages, cold meats and cheeses...slurp! Hurry go and bag yourself some elderberries before it's too late. They are so versatile. So far I have made elderberry compote (yum), elderberry cordial (delicious) and now the vinegar. This is an incredible month for foraging I feel like a child in a sweetie shop full of delights. Next time you take a walk have a look for these incredible edibles.

Ingredients

Elderberries 350 g
white wine vinegar 500 ml
Sugar 250 g (add more if you like it very sweet I like mine tarty)
chillies (optional)


All I did was collect my elderberries and weigh them. Then I used a folk to scrape the berries off their branches. You can give them a rinse while still attached under a tap.  If you wash them in a bowl of water then you lose a lot of the juice. If you are worried about little nasties then leave them laid out on newspaper and let the little crawlies have time to leave. The best elderberries to pick are when the branches look droopy and too heavy for the branch...this means they are really full and ripe and hanging heavy on the tree.

OH yes back to the vinegar. Once you have gone through the time consuming bit of plucking your berries off their branches put them in a jar with your chopped chillies. Make sure your jar has enough room to take on 500ml of white wine or cider vinegar. Pour the vinegar over your berries and leave with a lid on for 4 days. After a day or two give them a mash and leave them until day 4. Now sieve them and pour the liquid into a clean pan. Discard the berries or recycle them. Heat up your vinegar and then pour in your sugar and once it dissolves stir for about 10 minutes. Do a taste test and if you want it sweeter add more sugar. Now bottle into sterilized jars or bottles...Ta Dah...you won't be disappointed.  

© Fig 2.L.Moore Elderberry vinegar..yum

© Fig.3. L.Moore What an incredible edible

...there is plenty of sites on the internet that will identify elderberries for you. Once your really sure HAVE A GO...slurp

enjoy xx

Vibrant Sumac, elderberry & blackberry juice

Vibrant Sumac Juice with Elderberries and Blackberries

Whoa...September already...

This is an amazing month/season for fruits , berries and nuts. This is a season for feasting on the goodies of the summer...yum...slurp. We have sumac berries, rowan berries, guelder rose berries, rose-hips, blackberries, plums, hazelnuts (the list is endless)

Fig 1.© L.Moore Vibrant Sumac Juice with blackberries and elderberries 

Now about the Stag horn Sumac. What a great name!

This is a garden escapee that comes from North America. Traditionally the native peoples of North America made a kind of lemonade with it (sometime known as the lemonade tree). The fruits taste of lemon and they are very tarty. You know when a sumac is ready to pick for such a wonderful drink when you touch it. When you press it with your fingers it feels rather sticky. If you lick your fingers you can taste the lemony bitterness of the fruits (be warned it is tarty).

Traditionally the fruits are soaked in water for several hours and then sieved and drank (my recipe uses a slightly different technique). The fruits have fine red hairs that can be dried and rubbed off as a dried herb called sumac. This is a red powder that comes from the dried fruits and it used a lot in Lebanese and Turkish Cuisine. You usually find Stag Horn's Sumac growing on roadsides, railways, embankments, and poor free-draining soils, and gardens. You need to gather the fruits at the beginning of autumn as the winter rain washes away the flavour.

The branch stems are really fuzzy and furry to touch and feel ever so gorgeous. They are supposed to resemble the antlers of a young stag. I have never felt the antlers of a stag but on first experience these velvety red branches feel really soothing. If I close my eyes I can imagine I am touching the antlers of an incerible stag (it's good to imagine...yay).


My Vibrant Sumac Juice with added blackberries and elderberries

5 - 6  sumac cones
sugar (amount depending on the stewed pulp)
Juice of l lemon (optional)
3 handfuls of blackberries
3 elderberry heads
1 liter of water

I placed my furry friends into a pan of water approximately about 1 liter of water and the juice of a lemon (optional). It is best to break up the cones with your hands before you begin to boil your Sumac. Once you have broken them up bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes adding your elderberries and blackberries for the last 5 minutes. Apparently if you boil the berries a lot the tannin's come out and it tastes quite bitter and strong. Now mash up your fruits and leave to seep in the pan for half an hour (with the heat off). Then strain your pulp through a strainer or cloth and collect the juice into a bowl. Make sure you have the same amount of sugar to juice ratio (i.e the same amount as your extracted juice). Pour your juice back into a clean pan and then add your sugar. Gently heat up until the sugar dissolves and stir for a minute or two. Now it is ready to bottle. I did not sterilize my bottles because I knew I would be drinking it straight away. If you want to store this lovely juice I suggest you sterilize your bottles.

This really is a strange tasting juice (but it is gorgeous). It reminded me a lot of cranberry as it has a little dry after taste. As it is tarty and and dry I recommend tasting it first before you bottle it and decide if it needs more sugar and/or honey.  I had mine with ice and sparkling water added and a sprig of mint...delicious. If this recipe is a little strong for your taste buds try just seeping the berries in boiled water (off the heat) for 15 mins to get a weaker version and add your sugar while it is hot. I added the blackberries and the elderberries to give it a rich vibrant colour and also to reap the benefits of these dark fruits.

© Fig 2.L.Moore Sumac fruit shrub

© Fig.3.L.Moore Sumac juice from the Sumac berries with elderberries & blackberries

© Fig.4.L.Moore Sumac berry with elderberries

© Fig.5. L.Moore Sumac shrub in my neighbors garden

How to recognize the stag horn sumac 

Known as Rhus Typhina.
It is an upright suckering deciduous shrub which stand up to 3 m tall and wide. It has velvety red branches that resemble stags' horns. Large pinnate leaves up to 60 cm long and have 2-31 lance-shaped dark green leaflets that turn bright orange and red in autumn. The yellow/green flowers are produced on upright, conical shoots, up to 20 cm long in mid summer. Followed by female plants of dense clusters which are spherical, hairy and a deep crimson fruit on the tips of the branches (see pics).

Be Careful
Beware of the Rhus Verniciflua which is known as the varnish tree because of it's glossy leaves. It is very toxic and causes painful blisters and aggravates the skin. However this is different because the fruits are YELLOW.  Sumac is crimson red.


'If in doubt leave it out'

What to eat
You can eat the red berries and make a fruit drink. Also you can dry out the fruits and use these as a lemonade substitute (steep in boiled water for an hour or lightly simmer then sieve, pour back into pan adding sugar and simmer for 5 mins until sugar has dissolved). To dry the berries just break them up and keep dark and dry for a few weeks. You can also use the dried berries for jam but make sure you sieve the berries out before bottling the jam.

Once your berries have been dried out rub them through a nylon sieve to remove the red hairs and this is how you get your sumac herb. This is lovely rubbed into chicken as a marinade, added as a topping to hummus and yogurts.Sumac is also on eo f the main ingredients in the spice Za'atar (used in  middle eastern cuisine). Below are some links that may be of interest to health and food and also source material.

Ta da...enjoy this lovely fruit freely

Source material

Fowler, Alys (2011) The Thrifty Forager, pp160-161

http://www.healwithfood.org/health-benefits/sumac-spice-good-for-you.php

http://www.thekitchn.com/inside-the-spice-cabinet-sumac-67042

                                                                 

Wild cherry plum jam with chilli

Wild Cherry Plum Jam...Yum

Fig.1.L.Moore wild plums and 3 apples with chillies

Fig.2 .L.Moore Wild cherry plum jam/jelly

It's amazing how much free food is about at the moment. I was taking a walk down one of the quiet streets where I live and I came across a load of squashed fruit on the floor. I looked up expecting to see these beauties hanging from some lovely branches. To no avail...there wasn't any. So a bit perplexed I kept on walking . I carry on a little further and there is more of these fruity darlings on the floor...and still no fruit trees as I look up. What's going on? I kept walking and then I saw a little yellow fruit sitting inside a jungle of hedges...hm I thought...maybe someone picked the fruit up and laid it in the tree.

Let me continue with this thought. 

I carry on walking and I see more little yellow fruits sitting in the hedges (the penny has nearly dropped). The fruits are getting more plentiful on the floor. I stand there still thinking about these fruits so I decide to peer a little closer into the urban hedge jungle. I pull back the hedge with my hand and Gordon Bennett (a UK saying)  deep in the jungle are not one but loads of fruit. (yep the penny has finally dropped). There are red, yellow, purple fruits and YES YES and more YES'S it's plum alley. OMG I was in my element. I smell it and take some home for research.

After some reading I eat one...No I'm not ill. They are definitely plums.Well I never! I have not seen these beauties before (I'm not surprised they are so well hidden). So here is my amazing wild cherry fruit jam...it's gorgeous.

Go and scan your local floors by hedges and see if you can fins some...there are loads of them. Of course always be careful 'if in doubt leave it out'.

Recipe

1 and a half pounds of plums (with stones in)

* 3 foraged small apples

half a pint of water

Sugar (the same amount of sieved juice)...read on for this

3 tbs lime or lemon juice

2 hot chillis (depending on your tolerance)

Method

Put your plums in a pan and then add your water. Bring to the boil and simmer until nice and soft. Now mash up your plums so the stones release and you have a soft mash (if it goes a bit dry add some more water. Simmer for a bit more. Then sieve your pulp into a bowl and collect all the juice. You can press it out a bit if you like which may make your jam/jelly cloudy. I pushed my pulp through my sieve a bit and it is not cloudy. 

Once you have collected your juice put it back in the pan. Now pour in your sugar. Your sugar should be the same volume of your juice. I used the same bowl and made a line where the juice came to and poured my sugar into the bowl until it was the same amount of my juice and poured it into my pan. Not chop up your chillies and put them into your pan (including seeds) and then add 3 tbs of lime or lemon juice. I then heated the pan up and brought to the boil. I boiled for about 30 mins to 40 mins stirring continuously. When you feel your wooden spoon resisting the stirring as you stir your jam test it i.e. (take a teaspoon and put on a cold plate and place in the fridge). When it is cold it should crease up when you push your finger into it. If it still too runny then boil a bit more. Then pour into your sterilized jam jars.

* Ooops I forgot to mention the apples. Chop your apples and put them in with your plums in the pan at the beginning (the apples help the jam/jelly set a little).

Hoorah...it's gorgeous.

This can be used with yogurt and fruit, or on toast with butter, or with cold meats and cheeses and also put into a stir fry. Experiment...I have tons more so I will be getting creative with these plums so watch this space. 

Fig.3. L Moore Can you see them?

Fig.4. L. Moore Can you see them now?

Fig.5. L.Moore Arh there they are

Fig 6. .L.Moore Now you see them

GO AND GET SOME... enjoy