Wild Garlic Hummus, Wild Garlic Pesto and Green Chicken - Obsessed by Spring Foraging
I make a batch of hummus every month and freeze it in portions, so we always have hummus available, it's my husband's favourite filling for his lunchtime sandwich. I was looking for ways to use the wild garlic I had picked and, as hummus contains garlic, I decided to try making it with wild garlic.
Sometimes I forget just how fortunate I am to live in the country, mostly in the cold dark days of winter. However, I am reminded of the joys of country living in spring when everything starts to grow again. Close to where I live there are some woods with a burn (stream) running through them and this is my favourite place to walk. This year the Wild Garlic (Ransoms) have gone completely berserk and are covering the roadsides as well as the side of this little waterway.
We even had a late flurry of snow this weekend but you can see that the flowers are nearly ready to pop on this particular wild garlic plant.
Wild Garlic Hummus
250g cooked chickpeas
3 tablespoons of tahini
1 lemon, juiced
50g wild garlic, roughly torn
60ml olive oil
some of the cooking liquid from the chickpeas or water
Put all the ingredients into your food processor and process. Add cooking liquid or water until you have the thickness and texture you prefer.
Wild Garlic Pesto
If you ask how best to preserve foraged wild garlic you will find many people will direct you to make pesto. So I did! It has a stunning colour and an intense flavour and you can freeze it for later.
You need:
100g wild garlic leaves, roughly torn
50g nuts (I used almonds)
200 ml oil (I used olive oil)
75g cheese (I used a combination of grated cheddar and parmesan)
Pinch of sea salt
Place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Serve with pasta, risotto or however you would usually serve pesto.
Green Chicken or Turkey Breast
It looks a bit lurid when you first rub this mixture over your chicken or turkey, but it mellows down once cooked and and adds a subtle garlic flavour to the meat.
40 g wild garlic
1 tsp lemon zest
juice of 1 lemon
125 ml of olive oil
- Roughly tear up the wild garlic leaves and put them and the rest of the ingredients in a blender and whizz until smooth.
- Loosen the skin of the chicken or turkey breast and rub some of the mixture under the skin, directly onto the breast meat. Then rub the rest of the mixture over the whole bird.
- Roast breast side up for 20 minutes at 180C, then turn over and roast for the time appropriate to the size of your bird to make sure it is cooked through. Test by piercing with a skewer at the thickest part and the juices will run clear when it is cooked.
Wild Garlic Omelette
A very simple dish but one which really makes the flavour of the wild garlic the main feature.
3 free range eggs
1 tablespoon of water
4 or 5 Wild Garlic leaves, finely shredded
a knob of butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Beat the eggs and water together and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Melt the butter in the omelette pan (I actually keep a pan only for omelettes but any good pan will do) on a medium heat until it starts to sizzle.
- Pour in the eggs and as they start to set push the outside edges towards the centre and tip the pan to all the uncooked egg on top to fill the gaps, do this for about 30 seconds then add the wild garlic leaves.
- When the egg is almost but not quite cooked, Fold the omelette over onto itself , there should still be a soft oozy bit in the middle. Serve with brown bread and butter and a green salad.
I hope you have enjoyed this foray into the world of foraged food and you are encouraged to seek out some wild food for yourself. Please be very careful what you pick and where you pick it from, getting someone to show you which plants are safe is the best way to learn.
I'm adding these recipes to
Cooking with Herbs, the Linky Party run by Karen at
Lavender and Lovage
I'm also entering this seasonal wild garlic for
Ren Behan's Simple and in Season which is being hosted this month by Helen at
Fuss Free Flavours
Labels: foraging, green chicken, hummus, omelette., Pesto, ransoms, Turkey, Wild Garlic
Slow Cooked Christmas Round Up
I hope you all had a very Happy Christmas. Unfortunately, I was rather unwell with a terrible cold and cough throughout the festive season, but managed to enjoy it in short bursts!
The Slow Cooked Challenge for December was to make a festive recipe using a slow cooked method, here are the entries.
Ema at
De Tout Coeur Limousin cooked up
Bigos Polish Stew made with pork and sauerkraut and s traditionally served around Christmas time, a lovely warming dish with a great story of it's origins and significance to Ema.
Lucy at
Baking Queen 74 is the Queen of Slow Cooker cakes and does not disappoint with her Christmas offering of
Slow Cooker Christmas Cake
Nasifriet at
By the Way shared some Christmas lore from Belgium along with this intriguing
Slow Cooked Turkey Stew with Speculoos and Abbey Beer I really must make this, it sounds so good.
Claire at
Foodie Quine provides a host of delicious Slow Cooked recipes featuring Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork, all quality assured Scottish meat products. I'm featuring the
Slow Cooker Scotch Lamb with Red Wine and Butter Beans but please visit as there are more delicious recipes to choose from.
It's always nice to finish a meal with something sweet, and Sarah of
Tales from the Kitchen Shed is supplying this very festive
Black Forest Chocolate Pudding as our finale, this one isn't just for Christmas, it would make a great Sunday Lunch or dinner party dessert.
Many thanks to all those who took part in the Slow Cooked Challenge, both this month and throughout the year. I'll be back with a new linky on the 1st of January.
Labels: Bigos, Black Forest Chocolate Pudding, Christmas Cake, crockpot, Scotch Lamb, Slow Cooked Challenge, slow cooker, Speculoos, Turkey
Specially Selected Christmas Dinner
 |
| Hand Prepared 5 Bird Roast |
Christmas dinner is a meal that shouldn't leave you stressed out and sweating in the kitchen it should be tasty but easy. When Aldi asked me to try out their
Specially Selected range I was looking particularly for something special for Christmas dinner. I don't visit Aldi too often as it is a bit out of my way so was delighted to see just how many interesting products they had in the Specially Selected range and, of course, they were all at good prices.
I cooked the
Specially Selected Hand Prepared Five Bird Roast. When I read the instructions I couldn't believe that you can cook it from frozen! What a bonus and perfect for anyone who needs to make an extra meal over the holidays, you can cook this bird from frozen in 2 1/2 hours in an electric fan oven and 3 hours in a gas oven or non-fan electric oven. You can see for yourself the different layers of poultry. The Five Bird Roast contains turkey, duck, goose, pheasant and chicken, it also has a really delicious Pork, Clementine and Cranberry Stuffing.
The Five Bird Roast is listed as feeding 6-8 people but we managed to get four meals for three people from it, admittedly we are not big eaters but it would certainly feed more than 6 people. It's also good cold and the layers hold together better when it's cold. After trying the Five Bird Roast, I hot footed it back to Aldi to buy another one to put in the freezer ready for my Christmas dinner.
I served the
Five Bird Roast with
Specially Selected Goose Fat Potatoes and
Specially Selected Heritage Carrots (not frozen).
And now for the prices:
Specially Selected Five Bird Roast £9.99
Specially Selected Goose Fat Potatoes £1.29
Specially Selected Heritage Carrots £0.99
Specially Selected Salmon Wellington £3.99
Specially Selected Whole Cooked Crab £3.99
Specially Selected Coquille St Jacques £3.99
Specially Selected Yorkshire Pudding £0.99
Specially Selected Gourmet Crackers £0.99
There is also a range of
Specially Selected Desserts including Specially Selected Dessert Shots, macarons and mini cheesecakes as well as the traditional Christmas Pudding and mince pies.
Labels: Aldi, Christmas, Christmas Dinner, Five Bird Roast, Heritage Carrots, Roast Potatoes, Specially Selected, Turkey
Turkey, Bacon and Brie Tart
It's always a pleasure to make new dishes from food left over from other meals. Christmas is the greatest opportunity to be creative with leftovers and I am drawn to the tart, flan or quiche as a vehicle to use up those bits and pieces of delicious food.
Turkey, Bacon and Brie Tart
Serves 6
1 quantity of
shortcrust pastry, baked blind in a flan tin.
1 small onion, finely chopped
100g streaky bacon, chopped
Approx. 200-300g cold cooked turkey
250ml double cream
3 large eggs
100g ripe Brie
25g Parmesan, grated
zest of half a lemon
salt & freshly ground pepper
Heat the oven to 170C
1. Gently saute the onion in a little butter, add the bacon pieces and cook until golden, leave to cool.
2. Spread the onion and bacon in the base of the flan, chop the turkey into generously sized pieces and scatter over the onion and bacon.
3. Break off pieces of Brie and distribute evenly across the flan base.
4. Whisk the eggs, add the cream, lemon zest, seasoning and grated Parmesan, pour into the flan case.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the filling is golden brown and just set in the centre. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
This is a very rich tart and only needs a green vegetable or salad to make a meal.
What did you do with your leftovers?Labels: bacon, Brie, cream, flan, leftovers, quiche, shortcrust pastry, tart, Turkey
Your favourites and mine from 2012
It's traditional to have a round up of blog posts for the year and there are a lot to choose from in 2012. For each month I have chosen the recipe with the most page views, your favourite, and the one that I like best, my favourite. I've excluded those posts which had major giveaways as those do rather skew the page views! Many thanks to all who viewed and/or commented and to the hosts of all the challenges that I have entered.
January
February
March
April
May
June
We celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday and the Jubilee with a festive tea including this Victoria Sandwich filled with cream and lemon curd which I named an 'Elizabeth' Sandwich.
July
August
September
A visit to La Tasca in Glasgow for a demonstration of Paella making proved popular.
October
November
December
Labels: Chocolate Berry Pavlova, Chocolate Cake, Christmas Cake, cupcakes, fish, Jubilee, La Tasca, Lemon Meringue Pie, macarons, Review 2012, Rhubarb and Ginger Jam, Tapas, Turkey, Vanilla Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Christmas 'Coronation' Turkey
The festive feasting started a week ago with my office lunch and it seems that I have been eating constantly ever since. Today I felt no inclination to eat rich, sweet or savoury dishes, instead I craved something light and fresh. In the fridge, beside the turkey leftovers, cheeses and cream, I spied a bag of salad leaves, half a cucumber, a pack of mini sweet peppers and a jar of
Geeta's Mango and Chilli Chutney (Hot). All the basic ingredients for that great summer standard 'Coronation Chicken', a dish created for celebration buffets by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume for Queen Elizabeth II coronation in 1953. I've reduced the richness of the orignal recipe by using mainly cottage cheese and light mayonnaise in my dressing.
Christmas Coronation Turkey
200-300g cold cooked turkey
100g cottage cheese
3 tbsp cream
4tbsp light mayonnaise
1 tsp curry paste
1 tbsp Geeta's Mango &Chilli Chutney
pinch of salt
Salad to serve
1. Chop the turkey into bite sized pieces and put aside
2. Put the cottage cheese, cream, mayonnaise and curry paste into a food processor and blend until smooth, add a little extra cream if the mixture is too thick. You want it to be the consistency of thick cream.
3. Put the mixture into a bowl, season and stir in the chutney and the turkey pieces.
4. Serve with a mixed salad.
Sweet and crunchy, creamy and spicy, this salad provided the ideal contrast to the excesses of the last few days. It's also a delicious way to use up some leftovers, so I am entering it for the
No Waste Challenge run by Kate at Turquoise Lemons.
Many thanks to Geeta's for supplying me with a jar of Mango and Chilli Chutney to try, I was not required to provide a positive review, all opinions are my own.Labels: Coronation Chicken, Geeta's Mango and Chilli Chutney, leftovers, No Waste Food Challenge, Turkey
