Tag: wild garlic

Once again: asparagus with wild garlic mayo and parmesan shavings

Published on by Hanna15 Comments

On Friday when Daniel and Maria arrived from the airport I had prepared a three course dinner, starting with this spring time favourite from last year; asparagus with wild garlic mayo and parmesan shavings.

I bought some lovely British asparagus from the supermarket and used some of my hidden freezer treasure of wild garlic for the modified mayonnaise recipe.

Wild garlic mayo 2.0

15 wild garlic leaves, steamed and drained

200 ml sunflower oil

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

lemon juice

salt

white pepper

Blend the oil with the wild garlic to a smooth oil. Place the egg yolk in a beaker and add the green oil drop by drop, later a little by little, while beating with an electric whisk. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Leave for 30 minutes to deepen its flavour.

Asparagus with wild garlic mayonnaise and parmesan shavings, serves 2

8 asparagus stems

wild garlic mayonnaise

parmigiano reggiano or other matured parmesan

extra virgin olive oil

Maldon sea salt

Break the ends off the asparagus, where it breaks naturally. Steam in salted water for 1-2 minutes. Drain. Place a large dollop of mayonnaise on each plate. Place the asparagus next to it, add shavings of parmesan, drizzle some olive oil and add a pinch of sea salt. Serve with crusty bread or as it is.

 

Mother’s wild garlic soup

Published on by Hanna8 Comments

My mother is massively into gardening and always has been, but her way of gardening has changed over the years. When I was little we had the best garden a child could ever had, because my mother grew just about anything, so you could just walk around the garden munching on fruit and berries all the time.

We had two types of cherries, two types of plums (the yellow ones were the best), strawberries, wild strawberries, serveral types of raspberries, currants, goose berries, black berries, tay berries and so on. Plus we grew lots of vegetables and I got my own vegetable patch to grow as well.

My grandmother’s garden was similar and I used to pick strawberries and eat sorrel that I picked myself while my grandmother was gardening. All this foraging as a child and my time as a scout has made me realise how much nice things nature has to offer, and at this time of year wild garlic is one of the best things you can find in the woods (or my mother’s garden).

Although mother still grows lots of edible things it is less now that I’m not there to munch away every day of the summer. Instead the garden is a lot more grown up in terms of style and incredibly pretty.

But back to the wild garlic. I have used it in mayonnaise before, which is divine and together with lightly cooked asparagus and parmesan it makes and incredible starter, but I decided to try my mother’s soup recipe with the wild garlic this time.

The ‘recipe’ is more of a sketch really as I was told no measurements, but use your own judgment and make the soup your way. Just don’t add too much stock to begin with, you can always add more later.

Mother’s wild garlic soup – a sketch

a large bunch wild garlic leaves

mild olive oil

vegetable or chicken stock

cream

maizena (corn starch) or other thickening agent

salt, white pepper

Fry the wild garlic leaves in the oil until it has wilted. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Blend the soup smooth with a stick blender, add cream and maizena and bring to the boil again. Cook until ut thickens. Season to taste.

The opening of The Jugged Hare pub

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On Thursday I was slightly out of my comfort zone, braving a pub opening all by myself. It wasn’t by choice as my friend Laura was suppost to come with me, but was ill and couldn’t make it. But since I wanted to go, I thought I can go on my own, hang out for a bit and leave early. Great plan.

But I didn’t stick to it. After my name was crossed off the guest list and I entered the pub I realised it was huge. After a tour around the room with my champagne glass in hand, two girls started talking to me, and suddenly I met lots of nice people. So nice in fact that we stayed really late, but we had so much fun I didn’t want to go home.

The Jugged Hare, was a much larger pub than I first anticipated, but it was still cosy inside. The bar counter was close to the entrance door, further in you had the kitchen to your left and an empty space where I expect the restaurant tables to be, and even further in at the back there were a few booths to sit in.The kitchen looked amazing with lots of copperware and Le Creuset dishes and a rotisserie cabinet with a suckling big being roasted. Later when it was served I luckily got the last bun and the last crackling. Delicious!

Apart from a few tables with drinks and the canapées that came out of the kitchen most of the action was on the lower ground floor where there you could taste different wines and cheeses. There wasn’t much information about the different cheeses and the man working there was really busy as everyone would flock around him and demand cheese. We definitely tried some lovely cheeses, but unfortunately I don’t know what they’re called.

The canapées I managed to get my hands on were all from the regular menu, but made bite sized. The wild garlic, turnip and leek broth was lovely and totally in season with the wild garlic. The little crab and crab mayo canapé on toast was also really nice and to my surprise I enjoyed the black pudding croquettes too.

Apsrt form the food and wine I really enjoyed meeting fellow foodies. The girl who talked to me studies at the Cordon Bleu, which I am mighty jealous of, and I also bumped into the well-known blogger The London Foodie which was a pleasure.

Although most people left around 10pm our group stayed on and the tweed clad waiters were happy to serve us more wine. When we actually decided to leave the pub was emptying quite quickly and on the way out we got a goody bag each. It was a nice touch since it contained both the menu, a recipe for Jugged Hare, the dish the pub is named after, a Jugged Hare beer and a apple chutney for pork.

The whole event seemed very professional and thought through, and I hope the service will be just as good once the pub is opening its doors properly today.

Scallops with bacon and wild garlic mayonnaise

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This is a great throw-together starter, that still has that something extra. Just serve with some nice bread.

I know that wild garlic is not in season now, but I happen to have quite a lot of it in the freezer, so I can use it for special occasions. I totally adore the flavour!

Scallops with bacon and wild garlic mayonnaise, serves 2

1 batch wild garlic mayonnaise

3 slices streaky bacon

6 large fresh scallops

mixed baby leaf salad

extra virgin olive oil or coldpressed rapeseed oil

salt

Make the mayonnaise. Cut the bacon into smaller pieces and fry until crispy. Drain on kitchen towel. Dress the salad with oil and salt. Cut off the muscles on the scallops (the tough white part) and fry in butter on high heat until just cooked through. Season. Plate and serve straight away.

Calamari, wild garlic mayo, asparagus and potato wedges

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We had this lovely supper one day in the middle of the week, last week. Why? Because we can. No, but squid is so cheap, and it makes such a lovely summery meal.

The best mayo I’ve ever made is the wild garlic mayo, and thanks to mum who dried some leaves for me I can enjoy this all year round. It didn’t work as well with the dried stuff as the fresh leaves, so next time I will try it with the frozen ones my mum has gathered for me. Mum – you’re the best!

Calamari, serves 2

4-5 squid tubes

3 tbsp semolina

2 tsp paprika powder

a pinch of salt

neutral oil  (vegetable oil/ground nut oil)

For serving:

lime and/or lemon wedges

mayo of some sort

Cut the squid into rings. Pour semolina, paprika powder and salt in a large ziplock bag and shake it. Add the squid rings and shake so the rings get coated by the mixture. Heat up 2 cm high of oil in a large pan. Check that it is hot enough by throwing in a small piece of bread. If it browns it is hot. Remove the bread and add a handful calamari. Beware of the oil splashing about. Fry until the calamaris are golden on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon or tong, drain on some kitchen towel. Fry the remaining squid in a few batches. Serve immediately!

Wild garlic mayonnaise

Published on by Hanna5 Comments

On Friday we had a simple dinner consisting of salad, tigerprawns, bread, nice Swedish cheese (gräddost) and the main act – wild garlic mayo.

I had some wild garlic left that I needed to use up and although I knew I wouldn’t be able to re-create the amazing wild garlic mayo I had at Trinity, I still had to give it a go. And it was delicious! Of course not playing in the same league as Trinity but for being homemade on the first attempt, it was pretty awesome! Especially the next day when the flavours had evolved even more.

Because of this lovely mayo we enjoyed the same starter both Saturday and Sunday (and I would happily eat it once a day for the rest of my life); green asparagus with wild garlic mayo, parmesan, extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Delicious!

Wild garlic mayonnaise

6-7 wild garlic leaves

200 ml vegetable oil, maybe more

2 egg yolks

1,5 tsp dijon mustard

salt

white pepper

Mix the oil with the wild garlic until you have a smooth green oil. In a separate bowl, mix egg yolks, mustard abd seasoning. Start whisking with an electric whisk while adding the green oil bit by bit. If you want the mayonnaise to be even thicker, add plain oil while whisking. I noticed that the mayonnaise was slightly thinner the next da.

Asparagus with wild garlic mayonnaise and parmesan, serves 2

8 sparagus stems

wild garlic mayonnaise

parmigiano reggiano or other matured parmesan

extra virgin olive oil

Maldon sea salt

Break the ends of the asparagus, where it breaks naturally. Steam in salted water for 4-5 minutes. Drain. Place a large dollop of mayonnaise on each plate. Place the asparagus next to it, add shavings of parmesan, drizzle some olive oil and add a pinch of sea salt. Serve with crusty bread or as it is. 

Asparagus and wild garlic quiche

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

I am one of those people that are cold all the time. Weird I know, since I am from a cold country… I have certainly heard that before. Why I am so cold, I don’t know, but when I don’t move about I get cold straight away. And that is why I am no fan of winter. Here in the UK it’s ok, but the windy winters in southern Sweden are awful.

Now that spring is here and it is getting warmer, I am incredibly happy. I love spring and summer! Apart from pollen but everything else is great. The warmth from the sun, flowers in bloom and all the fresh vegetables.

In this quiche I have combined two of my favourite spring time veg – asparagus and wild garlic. Feel free to use even more wild garlic, I will do that next time. I served the quiche as a light supper with coldsmoked salmon and a cold sauce with creme fraiche, mayonnaise, caviar and dill. Lovely!

Asparagus quiche with wild garlic, 6 portioner

Pastry:

120 g softened butter

300 ml plain flour

1/2 beaten egg

Filling:

2 bunches asparagus

about 6 wild garlic leaves (or more)

100 g philadelphia cheese

3 eggs + the leftover half from the pastry

350 ml milk

salt

white pepper

100 ml grated cheese

Bring salted water to the boil. First blanch the wild garlic, which is very quick, just leave for a minute and then drain on paper. Break the harder part off each asparagus stem and blanch them for about 5 minutes. Drain and leave to cool. Pinch the pastry together and coat a pie dish with it. Use a fork to make small holes in the pastry. Pre-bake it for 10 minutes in 200C. Leave to cool.

Fill the quiche with asparagus and wild garlic, and distribute dollops of philadelphia. Sprinkle over the grated cheese. Beat eggs and milk, add seasoning. Pour it into the quiche and press down the cheese so it is covered with the milk-mixture. Bake for 35 minutes, 200C or until set and golden brown on top.