Just a quick post from me today. At Hunter Gather Cook we are always after the best in wild food ingredients and after reading some great posts by my friend Nick Weston, and foraging compatriots Eatweeds and The Cottage Smallholder I decided to have a test of different Douglas Fir Vinegars.
Douglas Fir as an ingredient has been a favorite of many up market restaurants and chefs including the likes of Heston Blumenthal. It is also high in Vitamin C so good for the immune system too. I would suggest reading the other blogs mentioned in this article if you'd like to learn more or get the recipes as I am yet to try the fruits of my labors. In six weeks time I will be able to try my pine concoction based around three different vinegars (Red Wine, White Wine and Cider) and will let you know how it goes.
In the mean time I hope you will all enjoy this little timelapse / stopmotion video I made whilst creating these.
UK Wild Food Foraging with some game, wild brewing, recipes, herbal remedies and some adventures in there too. The travels of a foodie hunter gatherer around Sussex learning the skills needed to forage in the UK and create the best wild food dishes. Courses available through Hunter Gather Cook website
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Potted Rabbit
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Potted
Rabbit
Preserving
protein for the cold winter months has a long tradition in the UK as well as
Europe. In Europe and especially France the favoured technique is a Rillette,
however in the UK potting is the technique of choice.
Although
these days with 24 hour supermarkets, freezers, an endless supply of fresh food
from all over the globe this way of preserving is no longer a requirement of
your average household and seems for be slipping out of the publics psyche. It
is none the less a delicious way to serve rabbit and can add some much needed
moisture and richness to what can often be quite a dry meat.
At Hunter Gather Cook we always
have access to the best and freshest local game through our contacts with game
keepers and local farms. This can sometimes be too much of a good thing and
when I was presented with three tasty little critters and a freezer already
stuffed to the nines other gamey bits and pieces I decided it was time to get
potting!
Preheat the
oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
In a little
oil brown the rabbit pieces and then cook bacon in a frying pan. Set the bacon
to one side.
Put the browned
rabbit along with the trotters, chopped veg, thyme, bay, ground ivy, and wine
into a large casserole dish (two if need be). Top up with water so everything
is just covered.
Bring to the
boil, cover, put into the oven and cook until the meat flakes off the bone.
About 1 hour 45 minutes should do it.
Strain off
the liquor into another pan and reduce to around a quarter of the original
liquid. This will take a little while so in the mean time its back to the
rabbit.
Once the
rabbit has cooled slightly shred all meat off of the bones being careful to
ensure no small bones make it in there, they can be an unwelcome addition to an
otherwise amazing dish. Place the shredded rabbit into a large bowl, add the
mustard, parsley, bacon and season to taste. Give it all a good stir to work
the flavours in.
Next loosely
pack the rabbit mixture into your chosen vessels (Kilner jars are best for
this). Pour over the reduced liquor almost to the top of the jar.
Leave the
full jars to cool slightly then put into the fridge to chill overnight. By the
morning the gelatine extracted from the trotters should have done its magic and
set over the top.
I served
mine on wholemeal toast with lightly fried Ceps and Wood Sorrel
to Garnish. Went down a treat!
Labels:
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Tuesday, 16 October 2012
My Top 10 Favourite Venison Dishes
Labels:
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Sunday, 7 October 2012
My beer can heal you
The
history behind my ale.
Agrimony. Latin name: Agrimonia eupatoria
History:
Agrimony (Agrimonia
Eupatoria) was named after Mithradates Eupator, King of
Pontus, 134 BC – 63 BC.
He is credited for discovering many of the medicinal
remedies we still use today. The
legend goes that the King would test poisons and their antidotes on his
unfortunate prisoners. After much
trial and error with his expendable captives, he then began daily poisoning and
curing himself, with his newly discovered antidotes, he hoped to build an
immunity in a bid to make himself invincible from a death by poisoning – as was
the fate of his father.
This
backfired fired on him rather spectacularly, when his army was defeated by
Pompey and he faced imminent capture by Rome, which was to him a fate worse
than death. He lovingly dispatched
of his family by poisoning the lot of them and then attempted to poison himself
- only to find that he had strengthened his constitution rather too efficiently.
Now merely weakened by the
poison, he attempted to kill himself using a sword but when he also failed in this
endeavour he was forced to request that his closest bodyguard finish him off
properly.
Despite
his rather extreme drug trialling methods, Mithradates did a lot for the
progression of medicine. Agrimony
was just one of the plants he apparently used in his experiments and was used
globally by Native Americans, ancient Greeks, Anglo Saxons and many more.
Below
is a list of ailments Nicholas Culpeper, a 16th century herbalist,
believed would be benefitted by Agrimony.
Dropsy
Jaundice
Skin
Sores
Cleanser
of the liver, gall bladder and kidneys
Beneficial
to the bowels and for chesty coughs and colic
Antidote
to snake bites
Beneficial
to cold sores, cancers and ulcers
Draws
out splinters or anything that has got into the flesh
Helps
with hearing and the treatment of tinnitus
Diarrhoea
Healing
wounds
Purifier
of the blood
As
you can see Agrimony was historically used in the treatment of numerous
illnesses but modern research would disregard it as useful for most of these
ailments!
More
recently Agrimony has been prescribed as a cure for athlete’s foot and in herbal medicine is used for its’ mild
astringent properties- useful in the treatment of coughs and as a natural
diuretic.
Meadowsweet.
Latin Name: Previously Spirea ulmaria, Now Filipendula ulmaria. Other Names:
Dolloff, Meadsweet, Lady of the Meadow, Queen of the Meadow, and Bridewort.
History:
It
is believed that Meadowsweet was a highly sacred plant to the druids. Meadowsweet pollen has been found in
graves and barrows dating back 4000+ years – potentially given as a burial
offering. According to druid lore,
King Arthur’s lady of the lake taught the early healers of Meadowsweets medicinal
properties.
Unlike
Agrimony, many of the historical medicinal uses of Meadowsweet remain the same
today. It’s use in pain relief has
long been understood. It contains
salicylic acid – which has now been synthesised to create aspirin and other
painkillers. The latin name for
Meadowsweet was previously Spirea ulmaria (now Filipendula ulmaria) which is
where ‘a-spirin’ derived from.
Unfortunately,
the way modern Aspirin has been produced – extracting only the salicylic acid -
has neglected the natural tannins and astringent properties of Meadowsweet,
meaning that it can have an adverse affect on the stomach lining. So from now
on I plant to munch on some Meadowsweet when I’ve got a headache.
Meadowsweet
is also used in other medicine, which thins the blood, and in antacids. I would check with your doctor before
tucking into Meadowsweet yourself, as it may not mix well with other
medicines.
Having read about all the positive properties of both Meadowsweet and Agrimony (not to mention their fascinating histories and taste!), I decided to make an ale to cure EVERYTHING and possibly drink myself under the table in the process.
500g white granulated sugar
250g Meadowsweet leaf and flower
250g Agrimony leaf and flower
40 pts water
1 teaspoon champagne yeast
Firstly boil the water and add the leaves and
flowers and boil for half an hour - you can do this in batches if needed, I
did. Allow to cool, then strain
out the plant matter, stir in the sugar until fully dissolved allow to cool to
blood temperature and then add the yeast – allow this to sit on the surface of
the water (wort) for 15 minutes and then stir in. Loosely cover and allow to stand for 12 hours in a warm
place.
Next, strain the liquid into a pressure
barrel, if you’re brave you can use bottles but I wouldn’t advise it, these can
be rather explosive! Keep in a cool dark place and leave for 14 days and then
taste. In the end I left mine for a full 6 weeks, this was partly because I
forgot about it and partly because when I got round to trying it was a little
sweet and needed more time. You
may wish to leave it longer too, depending on your sweet tooth!
Labels:
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Ale,
aspirin,
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drink,
Filipendula ulmaria,
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healing,
herbal,
herbal remedies,
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