Nature Walking...

Hedgerow Elixir

I Had such a lovely day yesterday collecting ripe fruits from the hedgerows to make this lovely elixir.. diluted in hot water, it's a delicious way to end the day when the winter chill sets in. Full of Vitamin C it strengthens the immune system and leaves a warm afterglow... And just look who popped out of the hedge bottom to make their presence felt...

Ingredients
Altogether you will need roughly 2 kg or 4 lbs of fruit it really depends on what's available on the day
Yesterday I gathered
1 kg/2 lbs  of elderberries taken off the stalk
500 grams/ 1lb of rosehips
300 grams/10 oz hawthorn haws
200 grams/7 oz blackberries
1 pint/ 500 mls water
2 inches bashed fresh ginger root
2x 2 inch cinnamon sticks
A couple of star anise
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp allspice
A couple of pounds of sugar or honey (depending on how much juice you make)
A glug about 5 fl oz of Brandy (if you like)

Method

1. Pop all the fruit, water and spices into a pan, cover and bring to the boil
2. Simmer for about an hour
3. Mash up and leave to cool (overnight if possible)
4. Strain the fruit from the juice through a muslin in a sieve

5. To each pint/500 mls add either a pound/500 grams of sugar or 12 oz/750 grams of honey return to the pan and bring back to the boil

6. Simmer for 15 mins

7. Cool, add the brandy (optional) 

8. Pour into clean, sterilised bottles and set aside until winter sets in...

Tumeric paste and golden milk

Tumeric paste

Ingredients 

1/2 cup tumeric powder

1 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 teaspoons coconut oil

Method 

1: Combine everything in a saucepan

2: Stir the mixture over a medium heat until it combines and makes a paste

3: Cook out for about 5 mins 

4: Cool, put in a suitable container and refrigerate ( will store for up to two and a bit weeks)  

Now to make a delicious cup of golden milk

Golden Milk

Ingredients 

1: 1 cup of milk (this can be any milk)

2: 1 teaspoon turmeric paste (as above)

3: 1 teaspoon coconut oil

4: Sweetner of choice 

Method

1: Combine milk, tumeric paste and coconut oil in a saucepan 

2: Gently heat until just under boiling 

3: sweeten to taste...

Soda bread

Ingredients
For one loaf
250 grams wholemeal flour
250 grams plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt
400 mls kefir or buttermilk

Note: I use spelt flour because my daughter is intolerant to normal wheat and kefir because we always seem to have a surplus.

Method
1. Place dry ingredients in a bowl and mix them together
2. Add the kefir or buttermilk
3. Bring the mixture together into a soft dough... but no heavy kneading
4. Shape into a round and slash a cross right across quite deeply
5. Place on a well greased baking tray and rest for 20 mins
6. Preheat oven to gas mark 6
7. Bake for about 30 mins until bread sounds hollow when smacked on the bottom.

Aubergine Parmegaro (for weight watchers)

This lovely Italian dish, which you layer (as you would a lasagne), is surprisingly filling it can be used as a side dish or a main. The nice thing is it works well when you have guests because it looks and tastes sensational and certainly seems more than the sum of its parts. Your non-slimming friends can have crusty bread with it. We had it last night with a crisp mixed salad and an oven cooked large portabella mushroom (sprayed with the oil mister) topped with a tsp of caramelised onions and 20 grams of Stilton cheese (use any cheese you like cheddar and brie are both good). All round it was a delicious combination.

You will need

An oil mister

A large ovenproof dish or roasting pan

A griddle pan

Pre heat the oven to 180 or gas mark 4

Ingredients for 6 (works out at 12 points the lot)

1 large or 2 small aubergines

2 Sprays of olive oil from mister (2 points)

100 grams grated Parmesan cheese (10 points)

For the tomato sauce

1 vegetable stock cube

1 onion diced

2 cloves garlic

1 red pepper diced

1 tbs. tomato puree

Fresh Basil to taste

Either 3 tins of tomatoes in juice or 2 lbs of fresh tomatoes

A large jar of passata

Seasoning

Method

First make the tomato sauce

1.     Put about half and inch of water in the bottom of a saucepan add a vegetable stock cube bring this to the boil

2.     Add the onions and garlic simmer for a few minutes until the onions are getting soft

3.     Add the red pepper and if you are using fresh tomatoes add them here too and continue to simmer till the pepper is cooked

4.     Add basil and tomato puree

5.     Then if you are using them add the tinned tomatoes

6.     Add the passata

7.     Season to taste with salt and pepper

8.     Simmer gently for about 20 minutes

Whilst the sauce is simmering away deal with the aubergines

1.     Slice the aubergine into slices about ¾ of an inch thick

2.     Lay them on a chopping board and spray them with the oil mister on both sides

3.     Heat up the griddle pan and when it is hot cook the aubergines on both sides

Then construct the dish

1.     Place a layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of your oven proof dish

2.     Layer the aubergines on top

3.     Sprinkle with half the Parmesan

4.     Add another layer of tomato sauce

5.     Finish with the remaining parmesan

6.     You can either cook it now for 30-40 minutes in the preheated oven or it will keep chilled for up to three days.. it also freezes very well

Caponata (For weight watchers)

This is a Sicilian dish that can be eaten hot as a side dish or stirred through cooked pasta or cold as antipasto. Of course (being Italian) it traditionally would be made with lashings of olive oil… but I'm trying to loose weight… so I have devised a way to do without and it still tastes great if you really cant do without the oil for an extra point a spray from an oil mister at the end of the process would mean you could still taste it… any way enjoy

Ingredients: serves 4…

1 Vegetable stock cube

1 onion (finely chopped)

2 celery stalks (finely chopped)

I garlic clove (crushed)

2 medium aubergines (diced into 1 cm cubes)

Large tin chopped tomatoes

A tablespoon of tom puree

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tsp soft brown sugar 

30 g sultanas 

2 tablespoons baby capers

30 g stoned green olives (sliced) 

Seasoning to taste

Method

1.     Pour about half and inch of water into the bottom of a saucepan and crumble the stock cube into it

2.     Bring to the boil and add onions, celery and garlic cover with a lid and sweat until soft

3.     Add the aubergines and continue to cook until they are soft but not soggy

4.     Add the tomatoes and the juice from the can simmer gently for a few minutes to thicken the sauce

5.     Add the vinegar, sugar, sultanas, olives and capers

6.     Cook for about ten minutes

7.     Serve hot either as a side dish or stirred through cooked pasta or cool completely and serve with antipasto 

Roasted Garlic

Whole Roasted Heads of Garlic

This way of cooking garlic is totally delicious do not be deceived by its simplicity the resulting paste is luscious, rich and sumptuous.

When making jacket potatoes I often serve roasted garlic and onions as a couple of side dishes and it’s so easy: - just stick a few heads of garlic and a few small raw onions in the oven about 35-40 minutes before the potatoes are cooked.

You can also mash the roasted garlic cloves with a fork and use in any dish calling for garlic.

Garlic puree is delicious spread over warm French bread (the ultimate garlic bread) or mixed in to cooked pasta with olive oil, fresh basil and Parmesan.

Method

1.               Preheat the oven to 400°F

2.              Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact.

3.              Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic 

4.             Place the garlic heads on a baking tray

5.              Drizzle a couple tsp of olive oil over each head, season with salt and pepper

6.              Bake at 400°F for 35-40 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed

7.              Once the garlic has cooled enough to handle… get involved…  squeeze the individual cloves with your fingers either strait into your mouth or on to your plate