Its that time of year

[thebeard]

there's been threads on this before i know, but its the time of year when wild food is starting to become rife, although it is available year round, late summer-autumn has got to be the best.

so any ideas on what to pick and eat? recipes??

ive been busying myself and cutting my hands to shreds collecting blackberries. made some jam last year but last night i made some jelly - its excellent! going to collect some haws and some elderberries tonight and brew up some more concoctions!

[moozy]

Originally Posted by thebeard

there's been threads on this before i know, but its the time of year when wild food is starting to become rife, although it is available year round, late summer-autumn has got to be the best.

so any ideas on what to pick and eat? recipes??

ive been busying myself and cutting my hands to shreds collecting blackberries. made some jam last year but last night i made some jelly - its excellent! going to collect some haws and some elderberries tonight and brew up some more concoctions!

I collected lots of blackberries for jam last year and will do the same this year too (in a couple of weeks).
Its a good time to collect wild garlic (a lot tastier than the bulbs you buy in the shops) chop it up and mix with good olive oil and freeze in ice trays and they last over the winter.
Rabbits are plenty up here, I had a couple last week and cooked them in the slow cooker with black pudding carrots and onions and cider stock they were very tasty.
There some mushrooms to be had this time of year, I've just bought my self a mushroom guide book and hope to get out next week.

[thebeard]

careful what you pick with the old mushrooms, there's a good few folk who will advocate this on the fungi forums! i just stick to a handful of species that i know are good and can't confuse with anything else!

re the wild garlic, i like it in spring but its difficult to find now there's nothing above ground! i might try and relocate where i found some last year and have a dig about, but it was only a small patch.

i was speaking to someone when i was volunteering about foraging, and he said not to ignore other berries too, he recommended rosehips, hawthorns and rowanberries too, so i'm going to experiment a bit this year.

[moozy]

I only pick if 100% sure what it is (if unsure dont pick it) so like yourself I normally stick with a handful of species. I would'nt want to be posting on wab that ive seen pink elephants in the woods .
Your right about wild galrlic but the roots are very good for cooking and the leaves for salads in spring, early summer.

[moozy]

Originally Posted by thebeard

i was speaking to someone when i was volunteering about foraging, and he said not to ignore other berries too, he recommended rosehips, hawthorns and rowanberries too, so i'm going to experiment a bit this year.

Any good recipes for the above

[thebeard]

not done any yet, i went to get some haws the other day but didnt know if they were ripe or not, there's not much flesh on them! i've got a recipe for hawthorn jelly though, looks good, even though i have no idea how it might taste! here it is - Hawthorn Jelly Recipe

thats a good site, lots of interesting ideas.

i was going to do something with rosehips too, but i cut one open and it didnt look very appetising!

[moozy]

Thanks beard I will give the site a look,
When picking blackberries on sunday I notice some sloe berries, so I found this reciepe -
Pick your sloes from blackthorn hedges in October or November when they are most ripe - probably after the first frosts.
Take a litre bottle of gin, and drink half a litre

Cut or prick the sloes and drop into the half-empty bottle so that they displace the remaining gin to near the top.
Add one wine goblet of sugar (approx 150g).
All you have to do now is turn or agitate the bottle daily for a week, then weekly for a month or two ... by which time it will be ready to drink (but it is really best kept until the next winter).

[Deb London]

Originally Posted by moozy

I collected lots of blackberries for jam last year and will do the same this year too (in a couple of weeks).
Its a good time to collect wild garlic (a lot tastier than the bulbs you buy in the shops) chop it up and mix with good olive oil and freeze in ice trays and they last over the winter.
Rabbits are plenty up here, I had a couple last week and cooked them in the slow cooker with black pudding carrots and onions and cider stock they were very tasty.
There some mushrooms to be had this time of year, I've just bought my self a mushroom guide book and hope to get out next week.

Interesting tip about the wild garlic. Bought a plant for my garden, so in a few years time, I may be able to harvest this crop without fear of getting it wrong. I assume you mean Ramsons, moozy?

[Ben Orme]

Originally Posted by moozy

Thanks beard I will give the site a look,
When picking blackberries on sunday I notice some sloe berries, so I found this reciepe -
Pick your sloes from blackthorn hedges in October or November when they are most ripe - probably after the first frosts.
Take a litre bottle of gin, and drink half a litre

Cut or prick the sloes and drop into the half-empty bottle so that they displace the remaining gin to near the top.
Add one wine goblet of sugar (approx 150g).
All you have to do now is turn or agitate the bottle daily for a week, then weekly for a month or two ... by which time it will be ready to drink (but it is really best kept until the next winter).

Made that last year, should be ready for Christmas!

[moozy]

Hello deb, I am sure you will be able to harvest next year, buckrams, wild garlic, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic (Ramsons) They are all very vigourous in the correct conditions, They can even take over a garden if not careful.

[moozy]

Originally Posted by Ben Orme

Made that last year, should be ready for Christmas!

I will defintely give it a go this year, it will probably blow my socks off

[FungiJus]

I always make a couple of bottles of sloe gin - beautiful stuff, and ready just in time for Christmas (not that I get to drink much of it before it's gone.....)

Also got some raspberry vodka on the go at the moment - taken from the garden though (the raspberries that is, not the vodka ), and still haven't quite finished the elderflower champagne that I made back in June - I did make 25 litres of the stuff though so I'm quite glad it hasn't all been drunk yet

I guess the hazelnuts will be ready soon too?

J.

[moozy]

Originally Posted by FungiJus

Also got some raspberry vodka on the go at the moment - taken from the garden though (the raspberries that is, not the vodka ), and still haven't quite finished the elderflower champagne that I made back in June - I did make 25 litres of the stuff though so I'm quite glad it hasn't all been drunk yet



J.

All sound great fungijus, have you got any advice/recipe for elderflower champagne.

And if anyone has recipes for green tomatoes (I have had a bounty crop this year) I would be very greatful.

[FungiJus]

There are loads of recipies for elderflower champagne on t'net and they all seem to vary in terms of number of flowers, amount of sugar etc. so I don't suppose it matters too much!

What I do is make up 25 litres in a fermenting bin - 2 kg sugar, 8 lemons (juice, zest, and then throw the rest in too), couple of tablespoons of white wine vinegar, and I usually add a little cider yeast (just to make sure things begin to bubble properly you understand ) and top up with water.

Then the fun bit - go and collect your flower heads - fully open, in the sunshine in the afternoon. Shake the thrips off (and don't tell the missus that there are any bugs in there ) and drop them in to the mix. Give it a gentle stir.

Leave that lot for a few days, covered, and then carefully decant into bottles, leaving as much sediment behind as you can (which at that stage won't be easy - besides which, you need to have a bit of yeast for some continued fermentation going on in the bottles so you get your bubbles).

I use empty fizzy drinks bottles, which I try to remember to release the pressure from each day (or they DO go pop!). That way, it's always fizzy, and the taste gets continally more interesting as things mature.

That's pretty much it - depending on the sugar and yeast content, you will have a different kick - but one thing I am fastidious about is sterilisation. Fermenting bin, bottles, transfer jug, funnel, etc etc all get a good soaking in Milton solution (you can buy the tablets in the baby section of the chemist or supermarket).

Works for me - I haven't been disappointed yet

[tcvarlh]

One for you, you won't find this in the UK but this has got 'balls' - Nuss schnapps Tyroler style-

10 green walnuts quartered
2 bottles vodka
container with air tight lid - large enough for the 2 bottles and nuts
sprig Artemesia (small)
sprig Fenugreek
Star aniseed (optional)
1/2lb sugar (227g for the metricated amongst us)
Sling this lot together into the container, give it a shake and park it somewhere in the light for 4-6 weeks.
It will turn black and unctuous. AND delicious!
Zum Wohl!
h

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by FungiJus

There are loads of recipies for elderflower champagne on t'net and they all seem to vary in terms of number of flowers, amount of sugar etc. so I don't suppose it matters too much!

What I do is make up 25 litres in a fermenting bin - 2 kg sugar, 8 lemons (juice, zest, and then throw the rest in too), couple of tablespoons of white wine vinegar, and I usually add a little cider yeast (just to make sure things begin to bubble properly you understand ) and top up with water.

Then the fun bit - go and collect your flower heads - fully open, in the sunshine in the afternoon. Shake the thrips off (and don't tell the missus that there are any bugs in there ) and drop them in to the mix. Give it a gentle stir.

Leave that lot for a few days, covered, and then carefully decant into bottles, leaving as much sediment behind as you can (which at that stage won't be easy - besides which, you need to have a bit of yeast for some continued fermentation going on in the bottles so you get your bubbles).

I use empty fizzy drinks bottles, which I try to remember to release the pressure from each day (or they DO go pop!). That way, it's always fizzy, and the taste gets continally more interesting as things mature.

That's pretty much it - depending on the sugar and yeast content, you will have a different kick - but one thing I am fastidious about is sterilisation. Fermenting bin, bottles, transfer jug, funnel, etc etc all get a good soaking in Milton solution (you can buy the tablets in the baby section of the chemist or supermarket).

Works for me - I haven't been disappointed yet

I try sloe gin every year & every year it's terrible, either too sweet or too bitter. Still drink it tho, not wasting all that gin . I always buy the cheapest gin but does it make a difference? Should I be buying a more expensive brand? I once tried orange gin & that did actually work, people even complemented me on it, same principle as sloe but I don't know what I did,proportion wise to repeat it. I experimented a lot that year with all sorts of fruit. I also tried using peaches, but they stuck out of the top of the vodka & went off, ruined the whole batch, very sad day pouring a litre of vodka down the drain . This year hubby is off to try bramble whisky, does anyone know about this, again does the brand make any difference?

As to the elderflower champagne, I have tasted some & it was wonderful. I am definately going to try it next year. When you say top it up, do you mean to the top of the tub? or til the sugar etc is covered & how much flowers do you add? What's cider yeast & where do you buy it?

[tcvarlh]

Originally Posted by cowgirl

pouring a litre of vodka down the drain

what !!!!!

[FungiJus]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

As to the elderflower champagne, I have tasted some & it was wonderful. I am definately going to try it next year. When you say top it up, do you mean to the top of the tub? or til the sugar etc is covered & how much flowers do you add? What's cider yeast & where do you buy it?

So many questions.....

When I say top it up, what I mean is, put the sugar, lemons etc in before the water - that way you know you won't spill over the top Like I say, I make 25 litres in total with the proportions of sugar etc listed. It is surprising how much volume the sugar takes up - even when diluted! Spose it's gotta go somewhere....

I picked a good number of large flower heads this year - probably 15 or so, but I don't thinks it's critical. For me what matters most is that they are fully open and powdery.

As for the cider yeast, any brewing shop will stock it I'm sure, or there's always Google. If buying online - make sure you don't pay too much for postage - I found you could spend more on this than the yeast itself! (but ended up not doing ).

Have fun.
J.

[FungiJus]

I should add that the additional yeast isn't absolutely necessary as the elderflowers have natural yeasts on them which should be enough to start the fermentation process. You will end up with something about 4% if using this alone - and you would probably want less sugar to compensate, or it may end up too sweet?

J.

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by tcvarlh

what !!!!!

I know trust me it couldn't be drunk, (I tried tenaciously) it was rank!

[Cowgirl]

Thank you fungijus, sorry about all the questions can't help myself. I had no idea elder flowers had natural yeasts, interesting, good job you said only about 15 flowerheads otherwise I may have gone out & laid the countryside to waste

[tcvarlh]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

I know trust me it couldn't be drunk, (I tried tenaciously) it was rank!

Did you try holding your nose and just pouring? You'll never get to heaven now you know!

[redandshane]

Got some raspberry Vodka on the go it smells great .
Like raspberrys

This year I am going to try a concotion based on aHungarian Rosehip drink cant decide whether to use Schnapps or Vodka as the base spirit
Hips are nearly ready to pick in fact some are but most not quite ready yet

I love this time of year

[moozy]

Originally Posted by redandshane

Got some raspberry Vodka on the go it smells great .
Like raspberrys

This year I am going to try a concotion based on aHungarian Rosehip drink cant decide whether to use Schnapps or Vodka as the base spirit
Hips are nearly ready to pick in fact some are but most not quite ready yet

I love this time of year

When I was out picking blackberries< I noticed loads of big fat juicy rosehips there defintly ready to pick now redandshane.

[moozy]

All Brewers will have too bring sample bottles to the next wab meeting.