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Bramble
& Apple Chutney
350g Blackberries (hulled)
140ml Pickling Vinegar
1 small onion (chopped)
350g Cooking Apples (peeled, cored and chopped)
100g Raisins
½ Tsp Salt
½
Tsp Cayenne Pepper
½
Tsp Ground Mace
100g Soft Brown Sugar
Method Put the blackberries, apples, onions, raisins,
sugar, salt, spices and vinegar into a preserving pan. Bring
to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring
occasionally, for about 3 hours, until the mixture is of a thick
consistency, with no excess liquid remaining. Spoon the chutney
into prepared jars and cover immediately with airtight and vinegar-proof
tops.
Bramble Wine
I couldn't put an entry for blackberries here without adding
a recipe for one of my passions, homemade wine.
4lb
Blackberries
3¼
lb Sugar
7 Pints Water
Yeast & Nutrient Pectic Enzyme
Campden Tablet
Method This will give a full bodied, sweet wine. Crush
the fruit well by hand and pour on 2 pints of boiled and cooled
water. Mix in well. Crush and dissolve a campden tablet in a
little water and mix this in. Cover and leave for 12 hours,
stirring well once during this period. Now strain through muslin,
squeezing well, into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer
for 5 minutes. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.
In the meantime boil half of the sugar in two pints of water
for a couple of minutes til fully dissolved. Pour this along
with the fruit juice into a lidded bucket or suitable glass
or pastic container.
When it is cool add the pectic enzyme. Cover and leave for 24
hours before adding the yeast and nutrient. Ferment for between
7 and 10 days. Now boil the other half of the sugar in another
two pints of water til dissolved and when cool add to the mix.
Cover and ferment for a further 4 days. After this syphon off
the lees into a demijohn and top up to the neck with boiled
and cooled water. Fit an airlock and ferment out. Rack once
before bottling.
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Blackberry
This photo was taken in late August 2004 at night, after a walk
around the stunning parkland that surrounds the village of IIam
(pronounced 'Eye Lamb') in Derbyshire. I'd picked a few and
the flavour was wonderful.
The
name of the bush is derived from brambel, or brymbyl, signifying
prickly. The ancient Greeks knew Blackberries well, and considered
them a remedy for gout.
The blackberry season runs from August until November and it
is suggested that the early-ripening berries are the best. There
is a celebrated taboo about not picking blackberries after 10
October, because during the night the Devil either spits, stamps
or urinates (depending on which telling of the tale one reads)
on every bush.
The origin of this myth relates to Lucifer having been cast
out of heaven at Michaelmas (29 September), which corresponds
with 10 October in the pre-1752 Julian calendar. The warning
probably has more
to do with the presence of leaf hopper insects, that form a
saliva-like foam barrier around themselves before hatching into
the adult insect.
Blackberries have been gathered from the wild for thousands
of years. The juicy berries are traditionally made into jelly,
pies, wine and vinegar, and since the monks of Yew have started
producing spiced beverages - a wonderful mix of sweetened blackberry
juice with spices and brandy has been one of their top exports.
Blackberry leaf tea is a domestic remedy for sore throats, while
chewing the fresh leaves is an ancient cure for bleeding gums.
The fresh, lightly boiled leaves were applied to piles, and
blackberry vinegar is a home remedy of long standing or feverish
colds.
Blackberry vinegar is a wholesome drink that is easily made
and can with advantage have its place in the store cupboard
for use in winter, being a fine cordial for a feverish cold.
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Jack
by the hedge
Also
known as garlic mustard, this biennial spring flower smells
remarkably like garlic when the stems are crushed. The leaves
are bright green in early spring, darkening as the year advances.
Appropriately named, this is a plant of hedgerows, but in shaded
places you will also find it lining riverbanks. The best of
the flowers appear in April and early May, but you can occasionally
find a few blooms right through until August.
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Garlic
Mustard Pesto
4 Cloves Of Garlic
150g Garlic Mustard Taproots
100g Parsley
150g Garlic Mustard Leaves
50g Basil
200g Low-Sodium Olives
250g Pine Nuts
120ml Miso
300ml Olive Oil
1. Chop the garlic and garlic mustard roots in a food processor.
2. Add the parsley, garlic, garlic mustard leaves and basil
and chop.
3. Add the nuts and chop coarsely.
4. Add the olive oil and miso and process until you've created
a coarse paste.
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Potato
Nettle Soup
200g Nettle Leaves (young shoots)
1 Sml Onion
6 Small Potatoes
250ml Water
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Parsley
3 Cloves Garlic
Method Puree onion, garlic, and nettles with 1 cup of
water. Cut potatoes into small pieces. Simmer pureed mixture
with potatoes and remaining water for 45 minutes or until tender.
Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes making the soup thick
and creamy.
Olde English Nettle
Pudding
An old English recipe, which is not a dessert but a hearty main
dish. Use the English teacup measurement again. Volume of one
of these is approximately 250ml Water to the top.
Method In a bowl add the ingredients below:-
2
Cups Cooked & Chopped Nettle Greens
1 Cup Chopped Onion
1 Cup Chopped Broccoli or Green Cabbage
200g Raw Rice,
1 Cup Minced Beef (omit this if veggie)
½ Cup Suet (beef or vegetarian).
Season with 1 teaspoon salt and a little freshly ground black
pepper, mix well, then tie the mixture up in a muslin cloth
that has been wrung out in cold water.
Drop into boiling water and boil for 1 hour, or hang over boiling
water and steam for 3 hours. When you remove the pudding cloth,
you will have a round cannonball of a pudding that is delicious
when served with a good gravy or melted butter.
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Stinging
Nettle
The nettle photo was taken in late March 2004 by the side of
Stenson canal. Some of this patch later that day got turned
into the Potato & Nettle Soup opposite, served with some
fresh baked bread it's wonderful.
In April, greenish clusters of tiny flowers hang down from the
joint of the leaf stem and main plant stem. At this point, they
have reached their full size of up to 3 m tall. Plant size tends
to vary depending on the amount of light and moisture.
Stinging
nettles bear their flowers throughout the summer on the edges
of woodland, roadsides and some river banks. The male and female
flowers occur on separate plants; both flower sexes are green
with yellow stamens. If you do get stung by nettles, rubbing
the area with a dock leaf is recommended to alleviate the pain.
Nettles have been used a free staple for centuries, they make
excellent beer, soups, savoury puddings, and when young and
tender they can make a wonderful alternative to spinach. In
addition to their good taste, nettles are rich in vitamins A
and C, amazingly high in protein, filled with chlorophyll, and
probably exceedingly rich in many of the essential trace minerals.
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Ramsons
The
above photo was taken is early May on a visit to Matlock. Ramsons
or Wild Garlic as it is sometimes known grows profusely in this
area, you can't mistake it with it's rather pungent aroma.
It's a tall hairless perennial plant, usually found growing
in large colonies. The leaves, normally 2, are upto 20cm long
and are broad, pointed and long-stalked. The flowers are white
star-shaped with 6 segments.
The glossy green leaves of Ramsons, or Wild Garlic are delicious
in sandwiches, used sparingly in salads, or added to sauces
and dressings. It also makes splendid pesto. The bulb can also
be eaten raw or cooked, and can be harvested all year round,
though is best used when the plant is dormant from July to December
or January. It has a fairly strong garlic flavour, though it
is quite small and fiddly to harvest. Flowers - raw or cooked.
These are somewhat stronger than the leaves, in small quantities
they make a decorative and very tasty addition to salads. The
flowering heads can still be eaten as the seed pods are forming,
though the flavour gets even stronger as the seeds ripen.
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Wild
Garlic Soup
Ingredients
2 Large Diced Potatoes
3 or 4 Handfuls Wild Garlic Leaves
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese (omit if not liked)
2 Tbsp Mascarpone Cheese
Large Bunch Flat Leaved Parsley (roughly chopped)
Salt & Pepper
Method
1. Sweat the potatoes with extra virgin olive oil for 10 minutes.
2 Add the wild garlic and continue sweating for 5 minutes
3. Stir and gradually add 1¾ pint of boiling water.
4. Season to taste and cook until potatoes are soft enough.
5. Whiz to your favourite soup consistency. Should it be too thick,
simply add water.
6. Add as much grated parmesan as you like and stir until all
melted through.
7. Serve piping hot and add a dollop of mascarpone cheese and
the roughly chopped parsley. |
More
Herbs & Recipes Coming Soon
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