Wild Food Recipes

Each month a new wild food recipe will be added to this page. All the recipes are tried, tested and recommended! Please note that identification of wild foods is key to going on to using them as foods, so please attend a walk or event before picking and using - if you're not 100% sure, then leave it!
Do get in touch if you would like to your favourite recipe added to the list, or to share your discoveries and enjoyment...

Bread and Blackberry Pudding

Tried and tested - a good comforting recipe for autumn, and a sweet, fruity twist to the usual bread pudding. The elderberry syrup makes it sticky and luxurious, and good for colds. In theory this recipe can be done outside, over an open fire, though so far I've only ever done it inside, in a warm kitchen. (Adapted from The Wild Gourmets by Grieve and Miers).

Ingredients

8-9 slices of white bread (crusts removed)

2 free-range eggs (whisked)

450ml milk

2 1/2 tablespoons of butter

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

125g soft brown sugar

100g blackberries

100ml elderberry syrup (bought or made)

Double cream to serve (optional)

Heat the milk with spices till it quivers (do not let it boil), stir in the eggs, 2 tablespoons of butter and 100g of the sugar. Take off the heat and soak the bread in the mixture for 10 minutes. Butter a heavy bottomed frying pan, sprinkle with a little sugar, layer half the bread in, followed by the blackberries and a final layer of bread. Pour any additional liquid over. Put a lid on the pan and cook the pudding for 20-30 minutes, checking the bottom regularly to make sure it hasn't burned. Sprinkle a little extra sugar on top, turn the pudding onto a plate, and slip back into the pan (cooked side up) for anther 20-30 minutes (covered), or until cooked. Serve hot, with elderberry syrup poured over for a decadent and comforting dessert!

Elderberry Syrup

Elderberries are fantastic in supporting the immune system, so great for colds and to keep us well during winter. This is the simplist way I know to make this syrup, which can then be diluted to make juice, poured over puddings, or desserts. You can do this with whatever amount of berries you've collected, cook with spices if you like, though I just like the pure, rich taste of the elderberries on their own.

Ingredients

Elderberries

Sugar

Spices (cloves, cimmanon- optional)

Pick ripe fruits, destalk the elderberries, wash and weigh them. Place them in a saucepan and mash them up with a fork, so the skins are broken and the full flavour can come out. Weigh out the same amount of sugar and add that to the saucepan too. Cover the berries and sugar with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes, then strain through a seive or fine muslin. Use immediately, or store in clean bottles and use when needed.

Seaweed Crisps

Personally I'm not a fan of crisps, though I am a fan of seaweed! So deep frying these beautys feels like a nourishing treat. I use laver seaweed - drying it first (fresh seaweed is fine, though it will spit). At a friend's party someone sprinkled marigold petals over them, and the black crisps and orange looked great together. These crisps are rather moreish, so beware, they can be devoured fast. **Please come on a seashore walk to find out how to harvest seaweed safely and sustainably.

Ingredients

Pieces of laver seaweed

Sunflower oil for shallow frying

Kitchen towel to absorb additional oil.

Heat the oil, add the laver sheets and fry for 30 seconds, remove and cool. Place on kitchen towel to absorb additional oil. Serve as a snack.

Chard & Black Mustard Fritters

Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's PLENTY book and experienced as a starter at our Wild & Organic - Forage, Cook & Dine event. A good hearty vegetarian snack, and made special served with sorrel dip (or our new wood sorrel and pennywort dip)!

Ingredients

400g chard (or wild greens)

200g black mustard leaves

40g walnuts (chopped and fried in olive oil till golden brown)

1 tablespoon olive oil

100g grated cheddar

1 free-range egg

40g white breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon salt

black pepper

1/2 & 1/2 vegetable oil & olive oil for frying

Cut off the chard stalks, bring a pan of water to the boil and simmer for 4 minutes. Add the chard leaves, and simmer for another 3 minutes. Drain the greens, leave to cool before squeezing out excess water. Next chop the stalks and greens, and add the finely chopped mustard leaves and add into a mixing bowl and add all the other ingredients and mix. You may need to add more breadcrumbs if the mixture is particularly sticky - shape the mixture into roughly 5cm round, 1.5cm thick patties. Pour 5mm deep of oil in a frying pan and fry each pattie for about 3 minutes on each side and transfer onto kitchen paper to absorb the oil. Serve warm.

Summer Flower & Leaf Salad

Summer and salad are meant to go together... what goes in your salad will vary depending on where you're foraging, so here are some ideas... I love the idea that each salad is unique depending on the picker, the place, time of year, variety and mix. Flavours that you may not be so keen on can work great amongst others, so give it a go!

Ingredients

Flowers of black mustard, sea radish, mallow, evening primrose, ribwort plantain, borage, rock samphire, wild thyme, red & white clover

Leaves of dandelion, plantain, black mustard, tree mallow, violet, daisy, dead nettle, yarrow, marjoram, fennel

Dressing

2/3 olive oil, 1/3 balsamic vinegar

salt to taste

Wash the leaves and break up into a bowl (the stronger flavours like dandelion and black mustard you may want to chop more finely). Check the flowers for bugs and add into the bowl. Mix the dressing, add and serve - simple and yum!

Elderflower and Apricot Bread

A sweet bread that I was inspired to create, quite heavy in texture - just the way I like it- so do use plain flour if you prefer a lighter loaf. This is great served with butter or clotted cream (the Cornish way) and an unsual way to enjoy elderflower cordial.

Ingredients

500g stoneground wholemeal flour (I use Dove's Organic)

Small handful of black (I prefer unsulphured dried apricots), chopped

1 teaspoon quick yeast (I use Dove's)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

3ooml warm water

100ml elderflower cordial

1 taplespoon of olive oil

Pre-heat the oven at Gas 7, 200°C, 425°F. Add the flour, salt and quick yeast into a large mixing bowl and stir. Add in the chopped apricots, and slowly add the warm water and elderflower cordial to the flour mix, adding the oil in too - alter the amount of cordial to water ratio if you prefer a sweeter bread. Knead (my favouriste bit!) for 10-20minutes, then place on a greased baking tray, or loaf tin, cover with a clean cloth and leave for 20 minutes. Bake in the oven for 40-45minutes and serve warm as an afternoon tea, instead of scones and jam!

Elderflower Cordial

A classic recipe, which has been enjoyed by many of our grandparents! This cordial is a wonderful refreshing summer drink, and elderflowers are also a great remedy for colds. This recipe needs some pre-planning - a bucket, clean screw-top bottles, lemon squeezer, a funnel and a seive/muslin cloth is needed.

Ingredients

25 elderflower heads (flowers left on stalks)

3 unwaxed lemons

1 lb unrefined sugar

2-3 pints/1.5 litres boiling water

3ooml warm water

2-3oz citric acid (if you're going to store the cordial for a whole

Ideally pick the flowers in full sun. Place sugar in a pan and pour boiling water over, stirring until dissolved. Place the elderflowers (check to remove bugs) in a clean bucket and pour hot sugar mixture over it. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice into the bucket, then grate the lemon zest and add this too. Stir, cover, and leave for 24-48 hours, stirring occasionally. Strain the mixture through a sieve, or preferably a fine muslin cloth, and funnel into clean bottles, or dilute and serve immediately!

Rock Samphire, Broad Bean and Mint Salad

This is a very seasonal salad - using the best of what is fresh. I made it for a friend's birthday gathering recently, with ingredients that we had to hand. Rock samphire has a very particular taste, slightly tangy and a good crunchy texture - this went down really well!

Ingredients

15 broad bean pods

Small handful of rock samphire, chopped

5-7 mint leaves

Balsamic vinegar

Teaspoon of honey

Olive oil

Salt and pepper (to taste)

Open the broad bean pods, discard the pods, and boil the beans for 10 minutes, or until soft. Drain and add to the salad bowl. Wash and chop the samphire and mint leaves. Mix the balsamic vinegar, honey and olive oil together, and salt and pepper. Pour over the salad, and serve with fresh bread.

Sorrel & Yoghut Dip

This recipe was made and enjoyed by a group of women at one of our Wild Food Forage, Cook and Lunch days held at Cotna. It is so simple and quick, making a tasty starter to dip freshly-made bread into. We also discovered it works well as a salad dressing, my only fear was we hadn't made enough! However, because it is quite rich, there seems to be a natural limit to how much can be eaten!
** Please note that sorrel is not good if you have kidney problems, or kidney stones as it contains oxalic acid. It is best eaten in moderation by the rest of us too!

Ingredients

90g common sorrel leaves, washed

150g Greek yoghurt

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tbs olive oil

Half tsp salt

Half tsp Dijon Mustard

Put all the ingredients in a blender & work to a fine bright green sauce. Chill till needed.

Fresh Nettle Pasta

This recipe was created by Sara and I at Cotna, while we were experimenting with all the things we could use nettles for. Making your own pasta is quite a lengthy process, yet surprisingly easy. This recipe makes a wonderfully vibrant green pasta, reminiscent of spinach pasta. We rolled the pasta by hand, preferring this to the mechanical and more effort-full method of using a pasta machine. The end result was a thick pasta that makes a good, hearty main course, particularly good with watercress pesto.

Ingredients

100g flour per egg

8 oz nettles, blanched & chopped

Pinch of salt

Wash and blanch the nettles to remove the sting. Squeeze out the excess liquid, and put this aside to mix with the flour. Blend the nettles, knead the flour & eggs (adding nettle water to create a firm, moist but not sticky, dough), then add nettles to form dough. Knead for 5-10 mins until smooth. Leave in fridge to relax. After an hour, remove the dough from the fridge and roll out onto a floured board or surface, cut into long strips, about 2-3mm thick. Boil a large pan of water, add a splash of olive oil, and carefully drop the pasta noodles into the water, simmer for about 8-10 minutes, stirring as you go. Drain and serve.

Watercress Pesto

This recipe was created by Sara at Cotna. Personally I find any version of home-made pesto great, though this one has a particularly fresh and light taste. Add into pasta dishes, rissoto, or spread liberally on toast!

Ingredients

100g watercress

100g walnuts

100g Parmesan cheese grated

2 plump cloves of garlic, chopped

About 150ml good olive oil

Juice of half a lemon

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Put the walnuts & garlic in a food processor and process until finely chopped but still granular texture. Add the watercress and process until leaves are chopped. Then begin trickling in the oil as the processor runs until you have a fairly sloppy puree. Add lemon juice, salt & pepper, Add the cheese & briefly whizz a bit more until it looks like pesto!

Pennywort, Hedge Bedstraw and Cream Cheese Canapes

These went down really well, and are a real talking point around the table! Very simple to assemble, fresh and refreshing taste.

Ingredients

Handful of pennyworts (large ones better)

Cream cheese

Hedge bedstraw (top leaves/sprigs

Small squeeze of lemon

Wash the pennyworts, discard or eat (!) the stems, and arrange leaves on a plate. Wash and finely chop the bedstraw and mix with the cream cheese, adding the small squeeze of lemon. There should be enough bedstraw to make it look like a 'herb' cheese. Place tiny balls of the cream cheese mix in the centre of each leaf and serve. Sara reckons these go very well with white wine - give it a go...

Potagers: Lemon Balm and Wild Garlic Pesto

Fresh pesto is better than any bought version you'll find, and this is a particularly unusual one - as experienced at our Potager WILD FOOD FORAGE - Learn, Make and Takeaway event. This pesto was as wild as we could make it, without using beech mast to create our own olive oil and storing hazel nuts from autumn. It's simple, fresh, and I had it mixed in with mash, and with sausages - use it your own way...

Ingredients

(alter the amounts of ingredients according to your tastes!)

Handful of Lemon Balm leaves

Small handful of wild garlic leaves

Fresh walnuts (shelled)

Olive Oil

Pinch of salt

Add all the ingredients into a blender and whiz up until it's all blended together, a little extra oil can help with this. Will keep in a jar in the fridge for up to a week (though ours got used instantly!

Nettle Beer

Nettle beer is a must for spring, a great way of enjoying nutritious nettles, and a perfect drink for those lighter evenings... Very simple to make, and can be ready within a week, infact, I prefered the 'fresh' one, to the version that had been stored for a year - how's that for instant rewards!! This recipe was adapted from Roger Phillip's book; Wild Food, which I consider a classic book for wild foodies.

Ingredients

50 nettle tops (top 6 leaves, with stalk

6 gallons of water

1oz cream of tartar

1.5 lb of sugar

1/4 oz of brewers yeast

Boil the nettles in the water for 15-20 minutes. Keep the water, and drain off the nettles, add the sugar and cream of tartar, and stir until dissolved (reheat a little if needed to help this process). Allow to cool down, and while luke warm add the yeast. Cover with a clean cloth, and leave to ferment for a week. Bottle, or drink immediately -it's alcoholic and fizzy!

Fresh Herb Butter

A simple, but very worthwhile thing for a forager to do. This can liven up numerous meals, and is yet another great way to enjoy butter! Ideas include; in mashed potato, on fish, on freshly made bread, on top of vegetable bakes, the list could go on...

Ingredients

3 teaspoons of fresh herbs of choice (wild chervil, sage, rosemary, wild garlic, or marjoram)

1lb of butter

Chop the herbs finely (add more if you prefer) and mix in a bowl with room temerature butter. Roll out a good length of greasproof paper, and add dollops of the butter in a line along the paper (close enough for he dollops to merge when rolled together). Roll up the paper, and you should get a sausage shape of butter. Refridgerate, and cut slices when needed. Should keep well in the fridge for a week or two.

Savoury Laver Oat slice

Laver was the first seaweed I really got to know- and I got hooked! This seaweed is so nutritious, packed with B vitamins and iron, I used to use it a lot as stock for soups, or as a snack on toast. This recipe was inspired by the traditional laver bread, and as an easy way to transport it as a walking snack. The long hours it needs to be cooked seems to add to the appeal of this seaweed - helping me value it more.
**Please note there are particular guidelines for seaweed collecting, so do join a walk to find out more.

Ingredients

Large handful of laver seaweed

Porridge oats

Jumbo oats

Tablespoon of Miso (or vegetable stock granules

Half an onion finely chopped

Good glug of sunflower oil

Thoroughly wash the laver seaweed and place in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 hours, or until the seaweed starts to break up easily. Giving it a good, regular stir seems to help this, and helps to move the seaweed around to make sure it all cooks through. Allow the seaweed to cool, and blend (optional). Add in the miso or stock granules (make sure it's dissolved, though try not to add any additional water). Then add the onion and the oats (about 3:1 to the amount of laver or enough to make a slightly sloppy cake mixture!). Grease a 2" deep baking tray, and spoon in the mixture. Bake in the oven (around Gas Mark 7, or 200°) for 1hr-1.5hrs or until firm and crispy on top. Leave to cool, then cut into slices. Serve along side fish, or meat and veggies, or take as a hearty snack on walks.

Wild Three-Cornered Leek Bread

Something about the creativity and fertility of spring got me making bread again, and this became a great way to add fresh herbs and enjoy the sweet, oniony taste of three-cornered leek. Down hear in Cornwall, there is so much of this plant, and this bread really helps to use some of its qualities. I've shared this bread a lot with various people, and it's always gone down really well!

Ingredients

500g stoneground wholemeal flour (I use Dove's Organic)

Large handful of 3-cornered leek (leaves, stems, flowers, bulbs

1 teaspoon quick yeast (I use Dove's)

1 dessert spoon honey

1/2 teaspoon of salt

4ooml warm water

1 taplespoon of olive oil

Pre-heat the oven at Gas 7, 200°C, 425°F. Add the flour, salt and quick yeast into a large mixing bowl and stir. Wash and roughly chop the three-cornered leek and put aside. Dissolve the honey in the warm water and slowly add to the flour mix, and stir in, adding the oil and chopped leek. Knead (my favouriste bit!) for 10-20minutes, then place on a greased baking tray, or loaf tin, cover with a clean cloth and leave for 20 minutes. Bake in the oven for 40-45minutes and serve with butter, or use for sandwiches, dips, or toast and have with pesto.

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