Category Archives: Foraging

Wild Food & Winning Competitions

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Wild Food from O'Brien PressDo you ever win competitions? For years we didn’t win a thing, not a single raffle, draw or lottery but a couple of years ago that all changed. Little prizes started to arrive in the post box…

A bottle of Bailey’s, a book on Irish Slang, a couple of CD’s and a cook book, a beautiful Greengate Jug, a DVD player, a bottle of champagne and in 2011 Electric Picnic tickets!

A couple of weeks ago I entered a competition over on the Irish Food Bloggers website to win a Wild Food book and was absolutely thrilled to receive an email letting me know I was one of the winners! I’ve been meaning to buy a foraging book for some time now but hadn’t got around to it.

Wild Food by Biddy White Lennon and Evan Doyle
The winning book was a new one from O’Brien press by Biddy White Lennon and Evan Doyle called Wild Food. I like that it’s handbag sized and divided into seasonal chapters. For instance this month I could be looking out for Wild Nettle, Dilisk, Carrageen, Wild Garlic, Wild Sea Beet and Wild Rock Samphire and if I find them (each chapter includes tips on where to look and how to pick the plants) there are some delicious looking recipes from sweet, savory to boozy (how about a wee dram of wild rowanberry schnapps for instance?

I used to think there was no point entering competitions but as a result of our little wins have completely changed my mind. On this occasion there were 142 responses all hoping to win one of five books being given away. Sometimes there might only be twenty or thirty other entrants. We still rarely buy lotto tickets but really, you just never know…

Have you won any interesting, beautiful, expensive or strange gifts in the past?

How to Make Dandelion Honey

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Dandelion Clock

I adore dandelion clocks but have had a love/hate relationship with the plants themselves for years due to their pesky roots.

However, as ‘weeds’ go, they are beneficial as they attract pollinating insects (and in particular bees), they can be eaten, made into drinks of all descriptions and are loaded with vitamins and minerals, namely A, C and K as well as iron, potassium, calcium and manganese. They’ve also been around for over 30 million years – it’s no wonder their roots are so deep and strong!

Almost every child I know has heard the tale that they make you wet the bed (indeed I was taught the very same) which stems from the plant’s use as a strong diuretic, though it’s the roots that are used for this purpose, not the flowers.

It wasn’t until @zwartblesIE mentioned Dandelion Honey on twitter that I’d seriously considered using the flowers in the kitchen. Suzanna generously shared her recipe and if you’d like to try this intriguing sounding dish, here it is:

4 cups dandelion flowers
3 cups water
3 whole thick cut lemons
2 1/8 cups sugar

Place the flowers, water and lemons into a saucepan and simmer for 30 mins, leave to cool and stew overnight. In the morning strain through cheesecloth (or coffee filter paper) then bring the liquid to a slow boil, stirring in the sugar until dissolved, then slowly simmer for about one and a half hours and you have your honey.

dandelion honeyIf you start to notice the mixture turn darker, whip it off the heat quickly or it can develop a burnt caramel flavour.

If you’re feeling adventurous you could  try adding a few drops of vanilla essence as @NiamhMaher on twitter did or a few drops of alcohol as @Justcallmelet suggested!

Honey is perhaps a misleading name as the resulting flavour is more like marmalade – guess it got it’s name from the gorgeous colour.

Have you ever tried food or drink made from dandelions? Did you enjoy it?

Image courtesy of www.foxglovelane.com

 

Late Summer ….. Elderberry Syrup Recipe

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Elderberries
(photo taken on a very sunny 31st August)

Over on the Greensideupveg facebook page Valerie asked if I had any recipes for Elderberries.

(www.facebook.com/greensideupveg)

I’ve used the flowers (to make cordial (which the children are still enjoying) and as a flavouring and setting agent in gooseberry jam), but have never used the berries so it was with interest that I started researching their use.

I was surprised to learn that the Elder tree has a very spooky reputation.  Folklore says that if you approach it after dusk you will place yourself in the mercy of witches (we’re in trouble then as there’s a tree at the entrance to our chicken run and one of the family passes it twice every evening to close the coop.).   It’s known as the witch tree, devil’s tree or Judas tree (it seems that Judas Iscariot hanged himself on one).

Folklore aside, I think it’s a very pretty tree and to me signifies that summer’s on it’s way.

So, for recipes using the berries…..

Firstly I put the question out on Twitter (www.twitter.com/Greensideupveg) and was rewarded with a few replies (thanks you)…. @pierrerigothier suggested they should be infused in milk and made into an ice cream or a creme brule or infused in cream for a pannacotta. @fenifur suggested sorbet, jelly or jam or perhaps a cake and @mykidstime thought that Dick on Masterchef made a cream dessert.  Great ideas as the only recipe that had sprung up in my head was for Elderberry Wine (eh, hem).

Next I turned to my favourite recipe book for preserving ideas - Food From Your Garden from The Reader’s Digest Association Ltd  (published 1977). 

Valerie has requested the Elderberry Syrup recipe, so taken from that book:

6lb (3kg) ripe elderberries
Sugar
1/2pt (300ml) water
6 cloves and a piece of root ginger or 2oz (50g) cinnamon and 1 level teaspoon allspice

  • Strip the elderberries from the stalks, wash them and discard any that are shrivelled.

  • Put the water and berries together in a large earthenware bowl and break up the fruits. (Do this by mashing the fruit in a bowl then heating over a pan of water until the juice runs, then mashing again.)  Strain the pulp through muslin or a jelly bag (coffee filters work too) and to each pint (600ml) of juice add 3/4lb (375g) sugar.

  • Put the sweetened mixture into a pan and simmer for 10 minutes.  During this period add either the cloves and ginger or the cinnamon and allspice.  Pour into sterilised warmed bottles and seal. 

However, I’m tempted by the Elderberry ‘Port’ but this needs specialist wine making equipment and ingredients such as pectin destroying enzyme, campden tablet and port yeast so I’ll be checking out an online brewing equipment website first for the ingredients http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/?biy

Happy harvesting…..