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. 

  

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

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

    

Jack by the hedge pesto with cream cheese

Jack pesto with cream cheese


It's free...it's delicious...and it is everywhere at the moment.

© Fig.1.L.Moore 'Jack by the hedge pesto with cream cheese'

This is so versatile and can be used in a number of ways. It can be used in pasta to turn the ordinary into extraordinary.You can put it on toast with some cheese...yum, it can be added to a pot of lovely new potatoes, plonked on a cracker, added to your favorite sandwich and more. I love Jack by the hedge (or commonly called garlic mustard). Next time you go walking have a look around. At the moment there is a lot of it about and it is quite easy to recognize. If you think you have spotted crush the leaves between your fingers. You can't mistake the lovely garlic/mustard smell. Of course if in doubt then leave it out.

You will find this garlic mustard in field margins, road verges, hedges, river and stream banks, edges of woods and ditches. This is a native biennial. First year growth have long stalked cordate (heart shaped) leaves with regular saw-like teeth and a crinkly looking network of veins. The main stem that appears in the spring of the second year has paler green nettle like leaves. It grows tall and thin like nettles. The leaves have the distinct smell of garlic when crushed. Small white flowers (6 mm wide) appear in clusters from mid April;seed pods are long, up to 60 mm, and 2 - 3 mm thick curving out from the stem.

It is a slightly bitter plant and needs to be mixed with ingredients that accompany such as fatty meats and salt fish. However I love it mixed with a number of ingredients such as goats cheese and nettle pasta or pirogi, and/or mushroom and salmon pirogi...yum. My Polish friend taught me how to make pirogi and it's stunning in a lot of my recipes.

You can eat the leaves sparingly in salads and sandwiches, add to risottos and the flowers are also a delightful ingredient in garnishes salads. This is one of my favorite free wild edibles which you can't get in a supermarket. I have used the roots grated which is amazing and similar to horseradish mixed with yogurt and served with beef.You can even use the green seed pods as spices and use as you would as mustard seeds.

Get out and find Jack...you will be amazed and so proud of your find. Share the love with this stunning wild edible. When I first came across 'Jack' I can't tell you how liberating it was. I was taking a walk one day along a common pathway I use everyday. I looked down and thought 'that looks like Jack'. I gave it a crush between my fingers and got the unmistakable whiff. OMG I could not believe my luck. It was one of my first finds and I wanted to share it with the world. Yep I nearly shoved it up a strangers nose but I contained my excitement and shared it with my partners nose instead when I got home. Now I see it everywhere and I am sharing it with you.

If you have any 'Jack' recipes to share then please contact me I would love to hear about your experiments.

Jack pesto with cream cheese

1 handful of lightly toasted pine nuts
3 handfuls of Jack
3 cloves of garlic
1 handful of grated parmesan cheese
a few glugs of olive oil (to your taste and consistency)
black pepper
salt to taste
2 tbs lime juice
2-3 tablespoons of Philadelphia cheese (or any of your choice)

Place all ingredients into a bowl and blitz with your hand held blender or machine. It will keep longer in the fridge if you pour some olive oil over the top of it. Enjoy this with anything or as you would any pesto. I tried mine with pirogi filled with goats cheese and nettles and smoked salmon and mushroom pirogi. The photographs you see are taken when I tried this pesto with roasted butternut squash. For me the squash was too sweet with Jack but as with all my recipes you can experiment with this strong flavored pesto.

© Fig.2.L.Moore close up of Jack by the hedge

© Fig.3. L.Moore 'Jack pesto'

© Fig.4. L.Moore Pirogi with jack pesto  

 Source
Irving, M. (2009) The Forager Handbook: A Guide to the Edible Plants of Britain, Ebury Press,  pp, 76-77

© Fig.5. L.Moore an young Jack to scale with a ten pence piece 

    

Jack (garlic mustard) Salsa Verde

Jack Salsa Verde

Oh my goodness this is to die for... it is much lighter than my 'nettle verde' (see other posts). This truly is a taste sensation and I had it with my homemade bread and my scrumptious nettle soup. What is most amazing about this little gem of a dip is the fact one cannot buy it in the supermarket and I feel rather pleased with myself. Whenever I come across jack-by-the-hedge or it's other name (garlic mustard) I can't resit picking it. I pick a little from each patch and gather in different locations to keep it going and leave plenty for other gatherers. There is nothing quite like picking your own food and experimenting with it.

All my recipes are intended to be exploratory. I document my experience as a forager and like to share what I can do with these wonderful wild edibles. I always know when a experiment is successful because the food is scooped up immediately and I have my partner and friends to thank for that and their wonderful honest comments. I will continue adding 'Jack' to my food creations so keep an eye out for new taste sensations.

I made my 'Nettle & Jack Salsa Verde' a few weeks ago and it was very powerful indeed. It packed a punch with it's taste and the colour was truly amazing. From that 'Jack Verde' was born ... and boy am I glad I made this ... I love it. Here is the recipe and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Spread it all over a homemade bread, have it with cheese or plonk it on top of a good fish ... the list is endless ... just try it ... yum!

Fig. 1. L. Moore 'Jack Salsa Verde' 

Fig .2. L.Moore A Detail of 'Jack Salsa Verde' 

Fig.3. L.Moore 'Jack Verde' with my homemade tomato bread

Jack Salsa Verde

1 decent sized bowl of jack-by-the-hedge
2 handfuls of pine nuts
2 anchovies
1 large tbs mascapone
4 good sized cloves of garlic
1 handful of capers
1-2 tbs lime juice
A good glug of olive oil
Salt & black pepper

Wash your jack in a bowl of tepid water. I add a little salt (to get rid of any nasties) and give it a good wash and then sieve and rinse under the tap to get rid of the salt. Add your jack and all the other ingredients into a bowl and wiz up with a hand blender (or put them all in a blender) until it is a nice consistency. Ta Dah it's done. Spoon it into a nice dish and eat ... Yummy.  Oh for decoration add a touch of olive oil on the top and a few Jack leaves.

This recipe can be altered in any way you wish. If you like it a little thinner add more oil etc and less mascapone ... just explore and enjoy.