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How to make Wild Garlic Salt

Thursday, April 07, 2022

A great way to make the most of the very short wild garlic season is to find delicious ways to preserve them so that they can be enjoyed all year round. The deep intense flavour of wild Garlic foraged from the forests on the Rhine blended with sea salt makes this seasoning really healthy and addictive. This flavoured salt gives every dish that certain something extra and can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. It's ideal as a finishing salt for barbecued meats, sprinkled over fresh vegetables, on pasta, or baked into fresh bread. Use sea salt for your infused salt. It is much more aromatic and contains no additives such as iodine, which can lend a bitter taste to foods salted with table salt. Whether you take a small or large crystals is up to you. Coarse sea salt with wild garlic is perfect for the spice mill.

500 g Sea salt, fine or coarse
100 - 200 g Wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped (depends on how green and strong you prefer)

Rinse the wild garlic leaves and pat them dry using kitchen paper or a kitchen towel. Roughly chop the wild garlic leaves.
Place the chopped garlic leaves in a food processor. Add in 100 grams of sea salt. Blend them into a smooth paste.
Pour the remaining salt into a bowl and add the wild garlic paste. Mix thoroughly until all of the salt is consistently green throughout.
Spread out the mixture in a thin layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let the wild garlic sea salt dehydrate in the oven for about 2-3 hours at 50C/120F degrees. You can also dehydrate the infused salt in your dehydrator. Check the salt once an hour and mix to make the salt dehydrate completely. If weather allows, dry the mixture in the sun for 24 hours or until completely dry.
Place the wild garlic sea salt in an airtight container and leave it in a cool, dry, dark location. The flavoured salt does not have an expiry date but will lose its intensity over time. If you store it properly, it can potentially have an indefinite shelf life. But for optimal flavour and colour, use it up in 2-3 years or just until next wild garlic season.

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Wild Garlic and Ginger Butter

Monday, April 04, 2022

Wild Garlic in the Woods

Wild garlic, aka ramsons, or ramps, or bear’s garlic (Bärlauch), is expensive to buy (100 g=2 Euro) but free to forage. Just make sure you’re picking the right thing: the leaves of wild garlic are easily mistaken for lily of the valley (Maiglöckchen), and also autumn crocuses (Herbstzeitlose). They are both poisonous and neither of these two smell or taste like garlic or chives. The best way to identify wild garlic is by smell. Crush a leaf in your hand and the aroma should smell strongly of garlic.
Wild garlic is used traditionally throughout Europe as a spring tonic due to its blood-purifying properties, similarly to bulb garlic, it is also thought to lower cholesterol and blood-pressure, which in turn helps to reduce the risk of diseases such as heart attack or stroke.
Picked wild garlic leaves will keep for 3-4 days in dark and cook place (a plastic bag in the salad draw of your fridge is ideal), but the flowers are best used on the day they are picked. The whole plant of this punchy springtime herb is edible and can be used in pestos, garlic butter, soups, tarts, marinades and more. This wild garlic flavoured butter is extremely versatile – use to spread onto a sourdough bread, to make garlic pull-apart bread or gnocchi, to toss with pasta or melted over a griddled steak or baked potato.

Wild Garlic and Ginger Butter

inspired by this recipe on Küchengötter

50 g Ginger root, peeled and pressed through a garlic press
100 g Wild garlic leaves
1 Garlic clove, peeled and pressed through a garlic press
200 g Butter, softened
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 Lime, juiced

Peel and finely chop the ginger, preferably press it through a garlic press. Wash the wild garlic thoroughly, then spin dry them using a salad spinner. Finely chop the dried wild garlic. Peel the garlic and press through a garlic press.
Place the softened butter in a bowl with salt, then juice the lime and add to the butter. Add in ginger, wild garlic and garlic.
Mix all the ingredients with a hand mixer until combined. The flavoured butter is now ready to use if you're cooking with it straight away.
Or spoon out the soft butter into a log at the bottom quarter of a cling film and wrap very tightly round the butter, then roll up the rest of the cling film around it. Roll the wrapped butter across the table until you have a smooth log shape. Tie a knot at each end, ensuring you have squeezed out all the air. Chill for at least one hour or until needed. You can freeze the log for a month and cut off slices as needed.

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Whole Baked Mackerel

Saturday, April 02, 2022

Mackerel is an underrated fish that’s packed full of flavour, beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B-12 and other important nutrients that can benefit your health while being a budget-friendly and sustainable option too. Buy at its freshest, when in season if you can. Good mackerel will have a shining eyes, colourful skin, blood-red gills and a firm, muscular feel. Their flesh is rich, dark and oily and must be eaten very fresh. Despite the simplicity of the recipe, roasted mackerel with fresh herb, potato, and tomatoes makes a perfect oven-to-table family meal!

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Baby Dandelion Greens with Strawberries and Nuts

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Dandelion is much more than just an annoying weed growing in the yard. According to webmd.com, it has been cultivated for its culinary and medicinal benefits for centuries. From root to flower, dandelions are highly nutritious plants loaded with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. The polysaccharides in dandelion are known to reduce stress on the liver and support its ability to produce bile. They also help your liver filter potentially harmful chemicals out of your food. Dandelion is also a good source of Vitamin C, one of the most helpful vitamins for the immune system. They are also noted for their ability to stabilize blood sugar, making them an excellent supplement for diabetics. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), dandelion (pu gong ying in Chinese) has been used to treat stomach problems, heartburn, skin disorders, and high cholesterol. Dandelion greens have a slightly bitter, arugula-like taste. The earlier you pick them, the less bitter they will be. Harvest tender young leaves for best flavour. The sunny blossoms of dandelion can be used to garnish salad or to make fritters (dipped in tempura batter and fried until crisp). The root can be used to make tea, which will effectively treat digestive issues and fight inflammation. They can be found in deep woods, gardens, lawns or roadsides. Avoid high traffic areas when harvesting dandelion plants and any dandelions that have been sprayed with fertilizer or any other toxic sprays. To keep your dandelion harvest fresh, store it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator or in a lightly dampened towel.

150 g Dandelion
300 g Strawberries
30 g Pine nuts, toasted (or hazelnuts)
2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp Vegetable broth
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Maple syrup
Salt and pepper to taste

Thoroughly wash the dandelion leaves. Use a salad spinner to dry them and cut in half crossways if necessary. If you don't have a salad spinner, then use clean dish towel or paper towels to thouroughly dry them. Set aside for an hour to air dry them. You don't want to use wet greens for the salads as they will dilute the flavour of your dressing.
Cut the stems off the strawberries. Rinse and dry them, then slice the strawberries into half or quarters if they are too large.
Put the pine nuts in a dry skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant and slightly browned, about 3 minutes.
For the vinaigrette, mix together the olive oil, broth, vinegar, maple syrup, salt and pepper until combined.
Toss danelion leaves and strawberries with the dressing in a salad bowl. Sprinkle the toasted pine nuts over and serve.

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Keto Air-Fryer Fried Chicken

Monday, March 28, 2022

Those air-fried chicken thighs come out golden and crispy on the outside and moist and juicy on the inside, and needs only a light coat of of olive oil to become crisp. Spicing up the almond Parmesan mixture with garlic powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper gave the coating a wonderful array of flavours, aromas, and colours.
Chicken thighs get a crispy, crunchy coating with a well-spiced blanched almond powder with Parmesan in this simple and easy chicken recipe. Everything comes together deliciously in the air fryer for a family-friendly meal that's perfect for busy weeknights. Serve with a seasonal salad or use them to make chicken sandwiches.

	Breading
3 Boneless chicken quarters, halved 3 Medium eggs Olive oil Salad, to serve Ranch, to serve	100 g Ground blanched almonds 50 g Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated 1/2 tsp Garlic powder 1/2 tsp Cayenne powder 1 tsp Smoked paprika powder 1/2-2/3 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Freshly milled black pepper

Half each chicken thigh, trimming off excess fat if desired. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels. Set aside.
Whisk eggs in a bowl until combined. Stir together all breading ingredients in another bowl until well-mixed. Prepare a large tray lined with parchment paper for the breaded chicken thighs. Working with one chicken piece at a time, coat chicken first in breading bowl, then in egg wash bowl, then again in breading bowl. Place breaded chicken pieces on prepared tray.
Preheat your air fryer at 200C/400F. I usually switch it on about 3 minutes prior to cooking. Coat preheated fry basket with olive oil or cooking spray. Transfer the chicken to the air fryer basket, making sure chicken pieces are not touching. Coat chicken breasts with olive oil. Depending on the size of air-fryer basket, you can make 2-3 pieces at once. I have a small air fryer so I could only fit in 2 pieces at once.
Cook for 8-10 minutes. Open the air-fryer and flip chicken thighs over, and coat with olive oi. Air Fry for 6-8 more minutes. Remove chicken breasts to a plate, and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken breasts.

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No Bake Chocolate Tart with Edible Gold and Rose

Thursday, March 24, 2022

This decadent, luscious no-bake chocolate tart tastes as good as it looks, yet couldn't be easier to make. For the crust, I use a simple mixture of all-butter spiced cookies and butter- a combination that you can never go wrong with. You can even vary the type of cookie crust you make by changing out speculoos cookies for other types of cookies. Try shortbread cookies, Oreo cookies or simple sugar cookie.
The crust is filled with a lusciously rich chocolate ganache and toasted hazelnuts, then topped off with specks of edible gold leaf and dried rose petals. An easy yet sophisticated dessert! The chocolate tart will keep for up to a week in the fridge.

Cookie Crust	Filling & Assembly
200 g Butter speculoos cookies (or gingersnap cookies) 100 g Butter	50 g Hazelnuts, toasted 120 g 65-70% Dark chocolate (or bittersweet chocolate), coarsely chopped 200 g Milk chocolate, coarsely chopped 200 g Heavy cream 40 g Butter, cut into small pieces

Crush the biscuits by putting them in a large, strong, plastic food bag and bashing with a rolling pin. Melt the butter, then stir in the cookies. Press onto the base and up the sides of a 22cm-24cm tart pan with a removable bottom, making sure the edges and the bottom are compact and of even thickness. Chill for an hour to firm up before adding the filling. Or just make the crust a day or two before.
Preheat oven to 180C/350F. In a baking pan add hazelnuts in one layer and toast in middle of oven for 15 minutes, or until lightly colored and skins are blistered. Wrap nuts in a kitchen towel and let steam 1 minute. Rub nuts in towel to remove loose skins and cool completely.
In a medium bowl, add chopped dark and milk chocolate. Set aside. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, bring the heavy cream and butter to a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat and pour mixture over the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute and stir until melted and smooth.
Add the toasted hazelnuts to the crust and pour mixture over chilled cookie crust and chill until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.