Arford Books Cooks

Easy recipes from Apple Tree

Category: DIY Ingredients

Wild Garlic Butter

03/05/2023 /

Another recipe so simple it’s hardly a recipe. You can use either salted butter, or unsalted butter plus salt. The advantage of unsalted is you can adjust the salt level to taste.

  • 250g butter, softened to room temperature
  • 50g wild garlic leaves, finely chopped

Simply mix! That’s it. However, there’s another step to help with storage and use. If you mould the butter into a sausage shape and chill or freeze, you can cut slices off the log to flavour steaks, flatbreads etc. I wrapped the butter log in clingfilm and then rolled the loose ends to tighten it up.

Wild Garlic Oil

03/05/2023 /

This is very simple to make, almost so simple you might think I just made it up. However it comes from Great British Chefs and I have made some to share.

  • 200gm wild garlic leaves, washed
  • 200ml olive oil (or rape oil)

Simply blanch your wild garlic in boiling water for 60 seconds them immediately scoop the drained leaves into a basin of iced water. This kills any bugs but prevents further cooking which would lose the lovely green colour.

Drain thoroughly then blitz the oil and leaves in a blender. Allow the resulting mush to drain into a bowl through a fine seive, I made mine finer with the addition of a layer of kitchen paper. Be patient and just let it drain, if you press the pulp it may go cloudy. Bottle the oil in sterlised bottles or jars and store. Fabulous as an alternative drizzle for anything that calls for a drizzle of olive oil.

Wild Garlic Salt

26/03/2023 /

This is more of a ratio than a recipe. It must be the easiest foraging recipe in the planet. Simply take a handful of wild garlic leaves and dry them in a deydrator or in an oven set to the lowest setting. If you trim the stems off first, it will take about 8 hours in a fan oven at a warm-to-the-touch temperature. If you leave the stems on it will take longer. Crumble the dried leaves to a powder either with your fingers or a pestle and mortar. Mix with salt of your choice (I used a coarse sea salt) at a ratio of 1 cup (250ml) of salt to 4 tsp of dried wild garlic powder. Seal in a jar and label it. I’m told it will keep for a year. I have no intention of keeping it that long.

Garam Masala Spice Mix

25/08/2022 /

I’m not too fond of excessive cinnamon in savoury dishes, although I like a hint where appropriate. Unfortunately the last few jars of garam masala I have bought have been too heavy on the cinamon, so I decided to mix my own. This is adapted from a BBC Good Food recipe and it is perfect (in my opinion).

Heat a dry skillet and dry-fry the following whole spices:

  • 2 tbs coriander seed
  • 1 tbs cumin seed
  • 2 tsp black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp cardamom seeds (you’re going to have to open 20 pods with your fingernails here)
  • 1 tsp fennel seed
  • 0.5 tsp whole cloves
  • 4 dried bay leaves (or fresh, they will dry in the cooking)

Haet until they give off a fragrant smell, but don’t burn them. Add

  • 0.5 tsp to 2 tsp ground cinnamon depending on cinnamon tolerance

Tip the lot into a spice grinder and grind to a powder. Perfect in Chicken Biryani

Jamaica

Awesome Jerk Seasoning Mix

23/08/2022 /

This looks like a lot of ingredients but an active cook will have these to hand. Nothing too exotic! Simply mix together:

  • 1 tbs onion powder
  • 1 tbs garlic powder
  • 2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1-2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tsp golden caster sugar
  • 1 tsp ground allspice
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 0.5 tsp dried pepper flakes
  • 0.5 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 0.5 tsp ground cloves
  • 0.5 tsp ground cumin

Tip #1: I didn’t have any dried parsley. Turned out fine.

Tip #2: If you only have whole spices (black pepper, cloves, chilli pepper flakes) then put whole spices all together in a spice grinder. I have a cheap IKEA coffee grinder reserved for that purpose.

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