HEDGEROW FORAGING!

I lost my father last week, weeks before one of his favourite times of the year.  My dad was a Yorkshire man through and through and he loved nothing more than “sumutt for nowt” and the humble blackberry fitted the bill perfectly. We would descend as a family, little pots in hands or, in the best years, a carrier bag each. Picking and then taking them home to eat fresh, in a fruit salad or the next day in a crumble then freeze the surplus for the winter ahead, saving a few quid at the same time.

One of my favourite ways to honour the blackberry is one of the most impressive but easy deserts I know. The beautiful summer pudding. You can make it with gluten free bread with enormous success, it is a great one for vegans with dairy free ice cream and it never fails to get a wow.

Ingredients:

350g strawberries

300g blackberries

100g redcurrants

500g raspberries

(Or what you have.)

125g golden caster sugar

7ish slices day-old good white bread or gluten free

Put sugar and 3 tbsp water into a large pan and heat until sugar dissolves. Boil for 1 minute, then tip in the fruit (not strawberries). Cook on low for 3-4 minutes with minimal stirring. The fruit will be softened but holding together and surrounded by dark red juice. Use a sieve to separate the fruit and catch the juice into a bowl keeping both.

Line a pudding bowl with cling film in both directions and alow 6″ overhang on all 4 sides. Cut the crusts off the bread. Cut 4 pieces of bread in half, a little on an angle, to give 2 lopsided rectangles per piece.  Cut 2 slices into 4 triangles each and leave the final piece whole.

Dip the whole slice into the juice just to coat it. Push this into the bottom of the basin. Now dip the wonky rectangular pieces one at a time and press around the sides so that they fit together, alternately placing wide and narrow ends up. If the last piece does not fit just trim into a triangle, dip in juice and slot in. Now spoon in the fruit, adding the strawberries randomly as you go.

Dip the remaining bread triangles and place on top. Keep leftover juice for later. Bring cling film up and loosely seal. Put a plate on top and weight down with cans. Chill for 5 hrs or overnight. To serve, open out cling film then put a serving plate upside-down on top and flip over. Serve with leftover juice, cream or icecream.

Use websites like eatseasonally.co.uk to find what is good now and follow the seasons.

Follow my bi-monthly foraging and seasonal recipes on The Forest Bee website – just click on the ‘Foraging News’ picture on the left, or check out Infamous Catering on Instagram and Facebook.

M: 07954 583784 or T: 01594826215
E: ian.barnes@zoho.com.

The Forest Bee will be holding their AGM on the 24th July 2018 

Starting at 10:30am 

Blakeney Village Hall, Blakeney, Glos, GL15 4DW

Nettle has a unique and delicious flavour. No surprise then that its soups with potato, a luscious risotto, and the various flamiche recipes become favourites.

This recipe concentrates the taste of the dark green fleshy leaves with the rustic flavour of toasted sunflower kernels, a soupcon of chilli heat, and the richness of a good olive oil.

You could use this forager’s Nettle pesto as a base and build it up with flavours of your own: such as basil, anchovy fillets, Kalamata olives, crab apple purée, or hazel nuts.

INGREDIENTS

100g stinging nettle leaves (single leaves without stalk or petioles)

100 ml good olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped finely

2 tsp mild red chilli, chopped finely

1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

50g sunflower kernels

juice of 1 lemon

1. Put the nettle leaves into a bowl and cover with clingfim and microwave on full power for 2 minutes. Take out of the microwave, leave the clingfilm on and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Alternatively steam the nettle leaves for 5 minutes until tender.
2. Fry the chilli in 2 teaspoons of the olive oil until soft and the oil is coloured.
3. In a food processor add the rest of olive oil, the fried chilli and all the chopped garlic and blitz. Add the nettle leaves and combine to a smooth purée. Add black pepper and lemon juice to taste.
4. Heat the sunflower kernels in a dry frying pan over a moderate heat, stirring or tossing them, until they just start to colour. Careful or they will burn. Immediately tip into a bowl to cool.
5. With a spatula, remove the nettle purée from the food processor bowl into a serving bowl. Add the sunflower seeds and gently mix in.
6. Serving tips: excellent with feta cheese, on toast (or bruschetta), with roast vegetables (including jacket potato), or just mixed into hot pasta.
7. The pesto will keep in the fridge, best to top the pesto with a thin layer of olive oil and store in a sterilized, lidded, and labelled jar.

Foragers tip: If you cut stinging nettle back to about 20cm high, it will reshoot giving you a supply of fresh leaves. Repeat cutting works until the first frost.

Christopher Robbins

Medical Herbalist & Forager

robbinsc@clara.co.uk

Twitter:@phytoforage

Yes – The Forest Bee reaches places other brochures can’t go:

Schools:  Dean Academy, Dene Magna,  Lakers and John Kyrle in Ross, plus a few junior schools around the Forest.

Doctors’ Surgeries and NHS health professionals eg nurses gave them out when doing flu jabs this winter

Village Agents who support the over 50’s across the Forest, sponsored by Gloucestershire Rural Community Council.

Organic Veg Boxes (Forest Food Hub, Field Fayre)Leisure Centres and Gyms

Forest Voluntary Action Forum (FVAF) at Belle Vue Centre, Cinderford

Care agencies (by request)

Great Oaks Hospice (by request)

Village & Community Halls via our network of tutors

Plus, of course, all the usual:  Libraries, Cycle Centres, Forest of Dean, Ross & Monmouth Tourist Information Offices, Forest of Dean District Council offices, Midcounties Co-ops, village shops (and yes, they are welcome in ALL of them, including those very pushed for space), cafes, pubs, Taurus Crafts, Harts Barn Craft Centre, Vantage Point, several chip shops (particularly popular with the Littledean one, so thanks to our distributor there who is constantly topping them up).

We also have a popular Facebook page and Twitter feed.

The Forest Bee is fluttering its wings!

Our brilliant logo was created and donated to our project by the very talented local cartoonist, Ron Tocknell.