Food Glorious Food!

Hello everyone. I thought I might share a hooman recipe with you today!

A short while ago Mum took me on one of our favourite walks along the Leeds - Liverpool canal. The tow path has been closed for a while, so we hadn't been there for sometime.

This is where Mum likes to pick wild garlic (ramsons) It grows in semi shaded moist conditions often in wooded areas. The season is usually April - mid May, so we were really surprised when we caught the instantly recognisable smell in June! I guess the terrible spring weather has made everything late! 

Yep Mum; that's definitely Wild Garlic!

Being a responsible owner, Mum always has several poo bags (in my case, pedal bin liners...) about her person, so we stopped and picked some. This attracted several odd looks from other walkers as Mum appeared to be bending down in a patch of nettles!

With this year's crop Mum decided to make a simple Wild Garlic sauce for pasta.

The Wild Garlic leaf. Looks quite like Lily of the Valley.

The garlic needs washing thoroughly before use. Many recipes say this isn't necessary....but there are a lot of dogs along that tow path.......just sayin'!

Wild Garlic is a bit like spinach, in that it seems to break down to very little once it is cooked. Mum used about 50 leaves to make a sauce for 2 people!

Once the spinach is washed, blanch for 3 minutes in boiling water and then drain. Place it in a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth bright green sauce. Add a glug of olive oil, 1 tbs of lemon juice, a sprinking of zest and salt to taste. 

Wild Garlic pasta sauce ready to go!

Mum used Fiorelli, but it works well with most pasta. Good for our vegetarian friends too!

While we are on the subject of food, I feel I should share something for all my doggy pals out there. I best just say that if your hooman is with you and if they are eating or not feeling so good, you might want to skip this.....

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

My latest find!! Raw green lamb tripe........or possibly it is an alien. For those of you unfamiliar with this delicacy, it is the lining of a lamb's stomach. Beef tripe is more common and usually bleached white for human consumption. I should point out that this was purchased at a butcher's counter for people..... nice! 

So, if ever proof was needed that my Mum adores me, this is it. She said that initially it smelt like a cross between horse poo and rotting eggs......but now that it has been in the fridge for two days (airtight lead lined box required...should it attempt to escape) there is a definite hint of rotting fish there too. Needless to say, I LOVE it!

****************************

Finally I would like to pay tribute to Blueberry, sister of Bunny over at Tales and Tails As many of you will already know, Blue passed away yesterday; yet another victim of the dreadful Osteosarcoma. She didn't suffer for long; having started limping intermittently only two weeks ago. 

Our deepest sympathy goes to Carrie, Bunny and all the family, who have lost their very special girl. Mum had a real soft spot for Blue (and her mum, Lilac before her) and she wasn't the only one. Blueberry will be missed all over the world.....which says a lot about what a special dog she was.

Blueberry. RIP.

Run Fast Run Free Beautiful Blue. 

Cooking with Declan

Welcome to another Cooking With Declan slot!

If there is one thing that my Mum really loves, it's foraging. Now, before your imaginations run riot, what I mean is, searching fields and hedgerows for wild food stuffs. Most commonly this happens in Autumn when we go out and pick Blackberries and Sloes. Mum makes several bottles of Sloe Gin which we keep for Christmas. Okay.... We keep some if it for Christmas!  She has a romantic notion of going out before breakfast to collect mushrooms from the fields, but Other Mum says she is not allowed until she has been on an identification course, as she will probably end up killing us!

At this time of year Mum loves to go along our favourite canal walk to pick Wild Garlic (Ramsons)  Even an idiot less experienced person like Mum can't fail to recognise this stuff; you smell it long before you reach it!

Here in the UK, the season lasts from about mid-April to end-May

This is me in my lovely new coat. (The Wild Garlic is behind me....!)

This is a duck we saw on the canal - you can just make out her newly hatched ducklings next to her!

Anyway, I digress, Back to the garlic.

Once Mum has a large bag of it, we are rarely allowed to eat anything else! One of her favourite recipes is for Wild Garlic Pesto. It is really easy to make and very tasty.

You will need:

80 g wild garlic leaves (stalks removed)

50 g parmesan (or similar hard) cheese

50 g pine nuts

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

100 ml olive oil + some more for topping up the jar

You can use any nuts or seeds that you like, Mum often uses Walnuts instead of pine nuts.

Basically grab your food processor and grate the cheese. Replace the grater with the blade attachment and put in half of all the ingredients, blend until smooth and gradually add the remaining ingredients and continue to blend. Place the pesto in steralised jars. Cover the top with olive oil. This recipe will make about enough to fill a 300g jar. It will keep for a couple of months in the fridge.

Mum hasn't tried it, but has read that if you make the pesto minus the cheese it will keep for a year if refrigerated. You then just grate the cheese and add as needed. 

Mum hasn't made any Pesto yet. She plans on going back to our garlic patch next week when she is back from Ganny's. Have I mentioned she is going to Ganny's WITHOUT me.?!

With our current batch of leaves, Mum has been making Wild Garlic Mayonnaise for everyone that we know! You can make your own Mayo from scratch, obviously, but really, isn't life a little short?!

Anyway, grab a jar of your favourite Mayo and put in a bowl. Add lemon juice to taste. Finely chop about 8-10 wild garlic leaves per 750ml jar of Mayo and stir in. Easy and really really good!

Well I do hope you've enjoyed today's recipes. Whether or not I speak to you before next week sometime will depend largely on Other Mum, who is being left in charge! I have mentioned I'm being abandoned, haven't I?.......................