I copied this from another forum because I thought it would appeal to the instincts of most homebrewers:
Lots of talk on here about the cheapest ways of getting hold of good quality food, so I thought I'd chuck another idea in: free food found in the wild.
People are often convinced that unless something comes shrink-wrapped from Tesco, then it can't be any good. But the reality is that there is plenty of excellent quality food available in the wild that is better, and tastier, than anything you can buy in the supermarket. Plus, next time you think of buying cling-filmed asparagus air-freighted from Peru and covered in pesticide, remember that there are perfectly good options available that eliminate the food miles, non-degradable packaging and chemicals.
I'll use my local disused railway track as an example. A strip of about half a mile in length, it is lined with a typical selection of wild plants that you'll find in any area of the town or countryside. Here are four fantastic sources of free food, and their seasons...
April to June: nettles
May to July: hogweed
July to October: blackberries
October to December: rosehips
Yes, you can eat all of that lot! And here is how (all recipes are for two hungry adults)...
1.'End of the world' nettle stew
The common stinging nettle is extremely high in nutrients, and tastes great. After a very short period of cooking their stings are removed, and they make a delicious green vegetable – like spinach, but with a deeper savoury flavour. Popeye may have been convinced that spinach made muscles, but Olive Oyl kept on running away with Bluto for his nettle patch. Nettles contain twice as much iron as spinach, and almost three times as much vitamin C as broccoli.
Here's a great recipe...
about half a carrier bag full of freshly-picked nettles
one onion (chopped)
one tin of chick peas (drained)
one vegetable or fish stock cube
one clove of garlic
splash of olive oil
(optional) a small jar of clams or cockles
Pick the nettles carefully with garden gloves (rubber 'marigolds' do not protect you from the stings... I know because I have the stings to prove this). Early in the season the whole plant can be used. But the stem gets woodier as the year goes on, and later its best to use only the leaves, or top part of the plant. Gently wash the nettles in the sink to remove any soil or pests (you'll still need the gloves here). Shake them dry, but not too hard – the few drops of water that cling to the leaves will form part of the cooking process. Wilt leaves in a pan with just that water for about five minutes, until they look a bit like tinned spinach (a dark green mush, really). Place in a sieve and squeeze out the almost luminous green liquor with the back of a wooden spoon. Put nettles to the side.
Cook the onion and garlic in the oil until the onion is just translucent. Add the chick peaks and a pint of stock and cook for five to ten mins – until chick peas are to your liking. Add nettles and cook for a further five minutes. You want a thick soup/stew consistency – add water (or even a large splash of white wine) if necessary.
The cockles are an optional extra that can be added a minute before serving.
Why 'End of the World?' I came up with this idea following a stew of clams, greens and chick peas I had at the lighthouse in Finisterre, Spain (the westernmost point of mainland Europe). Ancient seafarers feared that sailing beyond Finisterre would result in them dropping off the edge of the flat earth. Literally, it means 'end of the world'.
2.Hogweed risotto
Hogweed is a much maligned plant, whose infamy is not deserved. Many people confuse hogweed with giant hogweed – and the two are very different. Hogweed is a member of the celery family which, once cooked, tastes a wee bit like a slightly more savory asparagus. It grows on waste ground and verges among grass and dock leaves. If its higher than your knee, with a stem thicker than a cotton bud, then its not worth eating. It has small white flowers. Giant hogweed is, as the name suggests, huge. It can grow to over 10ft high, and has a thick woody stem; the cross section of which can be larger than a 50p coin (although its best not to slice it for comparison – as the giant hogweed's sap can bring you out in blisters). It generally grows alongside ditches or streams.
Nutrition-wise, hogweed is another winner. It is very high in potassium (more than twice as much as lettuce), phosphorous and calcium. It packs six times as much vitamin C as spinach.
A recipe...
a few handfuls of hogweed (I generally fill a small tupperware lunchbox)
one onion (chopped)
4oz risotto rice
vegetable stock cube
one glass of wine
clove of garlic
olive oil
grated parmesan to taste
(optional) handful of prawns
Pick the hogweed. The best bits are the tender stems and flowers towards the top. There should be no danger in picking this plant, but if you suffer from photosensitivity (a condition where the skin blisters or discolours in even the most gentle of sunshine) then it may be wise to use garden gloves. Any small risk will be removed once the hogweed is cooked. As with asparagus, any stem that cannot easily be broken with your fingers is not worth eating. Wash the hogweed in a basin and, as with the nettle above, wilt in a pan with the residual droplets of water. Put aside.
Cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent (getting the hang of this?). Add the rice and turn in the oily mixture until every grain is coated. Do not let the rice fry, or you'll end up with Snap, Crackle and Pop! Add the glass of wine, and breathe in the wonderful garlicky/grapey aroma. Cook the rice, making sure it does not go dry or burn. Add a ladle of stock at a time, keeping the risotto bubbling gently. Taste the rice from time to time to see if it is soft enough to eat. Cooking may take anything upto 25 mins, depending on the quality of rice and temperature of your hob.
Just when its almost done, add the hogweed and cook for five more minutes. The risotto will slightly take on the colour of the hogweed.
If you fancy the idea, add the prawns (if using frozen ones, make sure they are thoroughly thawed) 2mins from the end. Take off the heat, stir in the parmesan (always freshly grated – never that awful Quaver-flavoured dust they sell in the supermarkets), and serve with a gloop of glistening olive oil on top. Yum!
3.Blackberry fruit crisp pudding
It never ceases to amaze me that people pay a fortune for blackberries in the shops. Pre-packaged, freighted all over the country, covered in pesticide, and usually forced under eyesore kloshes. This is one of the most common of wild fruits in the UK, and is far healthier, environmentally friendlier and tastier (yes, really!) when picked in the wild. My patch along the disused railway has a massively plentiful supply. I pick to use fresh, to freeze, to allow others to benefit, and to leave enough to ensure the birds leave purple poos all over my neighbours cars! And STILL there are plenty left rotting on the brambles come autumn's end.
Recipe time (I doff my cap to Nigel Slater on this one)...
a coffee mug full of blackberries (don't be greedy or you'll get an upset tummy!)
400g of good seasonal fruit (look for British apples, British pears or British plums – whatever you can find that hasn't circumnavigated the globe)
2 or 3 slices of soft white bread made into not-too-fine breadcrumbs
2oz soft muscovado sugar
2oz butter
pinch of ground cinnamon
lovely, lovely fresh cream
When picking blackberries, do one thing for me: only get the fresh ones. I see people carting off handfuls of red ones which are headed nowhere but the bin. Employ Ian Gillan's Rule of Blackberries: if it ain't Deep Purple, it ain't worth having. Red ones grow-up into purple ones anyway. Use gloves if you are squemish about the prickles, but I find you get a better guide to ripeness without. Ripe blackberries should surrender their bramble without a struggle, and should be almost fit to burst with juice. Unripe ones will play hard to get. Wash them carefully.
People are often worried, when picking wild fruit, that next door's canine may have cocked his leg over their pudding. Bear in mind the following: commercially grown fruit of the sort you buy in the supermarket is usually plastered in pesticide, and this is often sealed in with wax. Most people never wash supermarket fruit before eating, and even if they do their chances of shifting the evil mix of chemicals is minimal. Dog wee rinses off fairly easily, and is probably less bad for you than anything your French Golden Delicious will be coated in.
Preheat the oven to 190c. Chop the fruit into bite-sized peaces, and place it in a greased pudding bowl along with the berries. Toss gently with the cinnamon. Mix the breadcrumbs and sugar, and cover the fruit loosely with the mixture. Melt the butter, and pour evenly over the top. 35 mins in the oven should do it. Pour cream over top, and drool like a St Bernard.
4.Rosehip syrup
Margaret Patten did as much to help Britain win the second world war as Winston Churchill or Bomber Harris. Possibly more. Through books like 'Cooking for Victory', she kept the subjects of these isles alive with recipes for healthy and nutrition-packed food while those living in enemy countries were dieing from serious malnutrition. She is one of the true heroines of 20th Century British history.
The recipe reproduced here came out of the Ministry for Food in 1943 ('Hedgerow Harvest'), and was almost certainly penned by Patten. This was a time, remember, when oranges from the Empire countries were not available to the British people because of naval blockades by the Nazis. Without this vital supply of vitamin C, there was a real concern that British children would grow up with scurvy. The picking of rosehips in the autumn months was practically placed on the curriculum, with children dodging the thorns to help produce what was effectively liquid gold. Rosehip syrup contains roughly ten times as much vitamin C as orange juice.
This makes a tasty cordial you can dilute with water. It tastes like a sophisticated mixture of exotic fruits with a slight bit of spice to it. If you've ever bought a New Zealand Chardonnay that claims on the label to taste of 'exotic fruits', then that sort of exotic fruitiness is what rosehip syrup tastes like. You can also add it to cocktails, pour it over cheesecake, or stick a shot in your capuccino. Great stuff...
Boil 3 pints (1.7 litres) of boiling water.
Mince hips in a course mincer (food processor) and put immediately into the boiling water.
Bring to boil and then place aside for 15 minutes.
Pour into a flannel or linen crash jelly bag (I use a linen tea towel) and allow to drip until the bulk of the liquid has come through.
Return the residue to the saucepan, add 1.5 pints (852ml) of boiling water, stir and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
Pour back into the jelly bag and allow to drip.
To make sure all the sharp hairs are removed put back the first half cupful of liquid and allow to drip through again.
Put the mixed juice into a clean saucepan and boil down until the juice measures about 1.5 pints (852ml), then add 1.25lbs (560gm) of sugar and boil for a further 5 minutes.
Pour into hot sterile bottles and seal at once.
The syrup keeps for ages in sealed bottles stored in a cool dark place, but once opened only lasts about 10 days in the fridge. So use small bottles. It may seem obvious, but I'll say it: if you are using plastic bottles, wait for the syrup to cool before putting it in there!
And that's it. This lot is only a wee guide to get you thinking. I hope people try it, and come to realise that great food need not cost the earth...
Free food!
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prodigal2
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Immy's Dad
Alternatively you could take a detour whilst driving through the countryside and go through a field full of sheep/cows. Anything that gets hit is fair game!
I prefer nature's harvest when it is a bit meatier!!
Seriously, I would love to go mushrooming, but I am afraid I might kill myself.
Incidentally did anyone see that programme about roadkill, was on a couple of months back, quite interesting. (I'm not sure I would eat badger, although Billy Connelly highly recommends 'growling at the badger'!)
I prefer nature's harvest when it is a bit meatier!!
Seriously, I would love to go mushrooming, but I am afraid I might kill myself.
Incidentally did anyone see that programme about roadkill, was on a couple of months back, quite interesting. (I'm not sure I would eat badger, although Billy Connelly highly recommends 'growling at the badger'!)
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Wez
Hmm, shit, never eat shit, it's free but probably tastes like shit.johnmac wrote:The nettles came from our garden, which is dog - free, sadly. And I rejected the leaves with bird shit on them!I hope you collected the nettles from the far side of the ditch, just in case any little boy doggys have been past Razz
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Vossy1
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Wez
Very, Very true. I remember the last one I ate very well, it was 3 years ago and i felt so ill after it.johnmac wrote:Not all shit is free. Try McDonalds.
I also object to the idea that parents give their children a Mcd's as a 'treat'.....if you want to treat your little un give them something that they love but ain't that bad. I'm not a live your life by a book tree huggin type but I make sure my little girl get's and enjoys good food. Quite proud that at 2 and a half she'll very happily sit with me and eat fish, veg and olives.
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sparky Paul
Rabbit's okay... we were overrun with them here a year or two ago, but mixy has softened them a bit of late. Can be a bit dry roasted, but I prefer the taste of roasted for some reason.
Pigeon is excellent too, very tasty - and there's an inexhaustible supply of them around here, nicely fattening on whatever the local farmer is growing this year...
Pigeon is excellent too, very tasty - and there's an inexhaustible supply of them around here, nicely fattening on whatever the local farmer is growing this year...
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sparky Paul
