Nettle Soup with oat and Yoghurt bread and Dandelion Waffles

Today we will be making oat milk for the waffles we are making, using the left over oats to go into the oat and yoghurt bread.
A great foraging day today.
Although there was a fresh chill in the air, the sun was out and so were the dandelions that we picked in the garage area behind our house.

When we peeped around the corner we were greeted by a see of yellow dandelions. We all pick a few handfuls to be prepared for Dandelion Oat Waffles we followed this recipe to the letter other than adding some poppy seeds which were harvested last autumn.

The Ladies are separating the yellow petals from the flower head

     

These were then added to the batter  and turned into some delicious waffles, which we ate with icing sugar but also a dollop of banana and blueberry ice cream (left over from Monday's from Spade to Plate session)
     


We made some Swedish Nettle soup which we had with the oat bread. We baked the bread on the stove in a pan. Delicious!

    

Time to prune the grapevine

As the grapevine needed pruning, I thought it was a great opportunity to get the dolmades recipe out again. I used the same recipe as the one in my first cookery book From Spade to Plate, and went down pretty well.


As we had run out of sweet chili jam and this group had not made it before,  I went to buy peppers and chilies to turn into a delicious jam to go with our dolmades.
    

We also went in the garden and the allotment to pick some strawberries and turned them into a savoury salad.

   

this post was first posted on 6/6/2019

Lilac uses

These recipes were first posted on 1/5/2019.
I have updated  it As the last 3 weeks have been un seasonally warm and dry, the lilac blossom is peering over the fence.

I miss cooking it with Melendra, Sayaka, Simone, Tina and Yasmin so will be doing it for Mark and myself, and maybe it inspires others to try it out.

So  I did the lilac syrup which turned pretty pink when mixed with sparkling water.
As a main course we had the Asparagus and lemon orzo (it was a little on the salty side) but found out later that we had forgotten to add the dressing. Believe it or not, it was still a lovely meal..

Because of the last warm weeks, the chard is starting to bolt so I made a soup with this spinach tasting vegetable.  It was lovely to mix with frozen peas as well. With it, we also made a basic bread roll using the potato yeast which I made over night.  With a shortage of dried yeast this is a great find.



As a desert we had our lilac biscuit.

On my daily walk I picked some dandelions for a afternoon snack

As the milkman just sent an email that due to the current crisis they cannot amend regular orders, I decided to make oat milk . Other than the fact that it gives me a little more cows milk for tomorrows tea (we drink so much more tea now we are asked to stay at home)  in April last year we also made some for the waffles. I used the left over oats to go into the oat waffles recipe

Although it is chilly the sun is shining and I was in need for a walk to the allotment. There were loads of dandelions which would not only be nice in a waffle but has got some medicinal powers too.
A great foraging day today.


 Dandelion Oat Waffles we followed this recipe to the letter other than adding some poppy seeds which were harvested last autumn.

The Ladies are separating the yellow petals from the flower head

    

These were then added to the batter  and turned into some delicious waffles, which we ate with icing sugar and maple syrup

Tina mixing the waffle batter with flower petals

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Having been on holiday there is an abundance of fruit and vegetables

Back from holiday and we are welcomed by a glut of tomatoes, runner beans, courgettes and even apples. I have decided to do the from Spade on Monday eventhough it is a bank holiday, I suppose it is even nicer as that way the whole family can come.

Before Tina and her family set sail for the US , she let me harvest appleas from her garden and on the way there I noticed that the apples in behind St Luke's church are ready too so have decided to turn them into juice, (there is something special about the first juice of the year)
It should be nice to do for young and old, especially the tasting.
The pictures turned out to be a little pink as we were working under a red gazebo to protect us from the blazing sun,
            
After sending out an FB announcement that we would do a family event we had a wonderful turn out.
Lu, Francisco and Isobella, Karina and Urban, Melendra, Robin and Bridget, Suzie K. Vasey, Brian , Gray and Natalie, Lucy, Omer, Theo and Thomas, Akiko and Yosuka all showed up to turn the apples into delicious juice, and apple juice.  Although we had a lot of apples, with so many people coming to help, Mark and I went to pick apples from Githa's garden and later he took Akiko, Yosuka and Suzie across the street to pick the apples in the alley way

For lunch we made wraps filled with cream cheese,  courgetti spagetti, carrots and bean salad, lettuce and grated cheese, as it was  30degree C. too hot for cooking I think
           

Pappardelle with peas, broadbeans and parmesan and lovely waffles

May be not the cleverest thing to do, but we made pappardelle for 7 people today. The kitchen surfaces were covered in drying pasta. The first batch (left over dought from yesterday's meal) had been in the fridge over night and came out beautifully. Nice thin pasta that once cut, dried instantly (well, almost instantly) The newly made pasta dough (2 cups of flour, 2 eggs, a little salt, some oil and water, was a bit sticky and needed lots more flour to work with. Despite this, the food was delicious.

Melendra showing us how to make the pasta like a pro!

Whilst we were waiting for the pasta dough to rest, Mark revealed the first audio reading of his book College of Shadows for the critical listeners to give feedback. We all agreed on pace, type of voice etc so he can go and pass on this useful info to Howard directly.  Thanks ladies!

Peas, Broadbeans and lemon what a delightful combi.

We also made Belgium Waffles with this tasty lemon and raspberry sauce. We picked the raspberries from the back garden.

Ben and Tina picking the raspberries

Then we went to the allotment to pick the mint that went so well with the peas and beans in the pappardelle.

  When we arrived home, we put the whole lot together and within no time we were dining like a King and Queens. Must do this again, it was so tasty.

   

Mushroom Tartlets

Using the grey oyster mushroom  from the funguslab.com that we grew over the last month or so, we made some delicious mushroom tartlets with new potatoes,  french beans  and salad.
A very easy meal but out of this world scrumptious.

Rhubarb last chance of the season

Last week Rozenn passed on a Rhubarb dhal recipe to me.  As the season draws to a close I decided to make this dahl and see how the group enjoys it.

First we chopped a kilogram of rhubarb to turn into a rhubarb cordial, for this we used oranges, lemons, ginger and sugar. The end result as per usual was delicious.


Asuka and Lolita whipped the double cream with the yoghurt and then blended it with the rhubarb mix to turn it into a Rhubarb fool.

            

For our main meal we had a rhubarb dahl with  rice and flat bread.
   





Whilst we were in the allotment,

  

We  picked dandelion (leaves and roots), plantain, cleaver, chickweed and nettles. Chopped them really finely and then packed this into a large jar. We covered this with apple cider vinegar and will leave this to stand for a few weeks before straining and using for salad dressings and/or 1 teaspoon per day as a mineral supplement.  This mix is great for healthy bones, hair and nails.
           



It went down a treat.