Author: Anna @ Camera & Clementine

Wild Elderflower Cordial

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Elderflowers equals summer for me. I love them. They are both pretty flowers to look at, as they cluster together on branches, as well as having one of the most delicious aromas and flavours around.  They combine hardy and veracious stems with the most delicate of flowers, enabling them to thrive almost anywhere. But the lovely ivory flowers are quick to come and go, so for that reason, you have to quick to make a batch of this summer drink once you spot a ripe tree. And do remember to leave some of the flowers on the shrub, as they will ripen to glorious elderberries that are splendid to harvest later on in the year.   ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Makes about 1.5 litres 20-30 elderflower heads 2 organic lemons 2 tbsp citric acid 650 organic caster sugar 1 litre of water ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Shake the elderflowers to free any unwanted bugs, and put them in a large pot or similar container with a lid. Wash the lemons and cut them into slices, then add to the pot. Mix …

Kohlrabi from Ardross

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On a very wet Tuesday morning in July I went to visit Ardross Farm, as I shall be writing recipes for their shop. I went along to see how they grow their seasonal vegetables and pick some for myself, which I turned into the recipes below. I was greeted by Nikki, the daughter of the farm, and introduced to Andrew, the grower who showed me around the rainy fields of hand sown and hand planted vegetables. Ardross Farm is situated in the picturesque East Neuk of Fife, it’s a heaven for unspoilt beaches and abundant in secluded fishing villages. Originally rearing beef cattle, the farm opened their doors to the public, in an attempt to supply the surrounding community with locally produced meat. The demand for local produce proved to be greatly sought after, so the family expanded their business and began growing and supplying vegetables, herbs and fruit. Although not certified organic, the farm is a traditionally managed farm, using non invasive farming techniques and minimal spraying. The ever so slightly wonky lines of …

Upside Down Beetroot and Chive Flower Salad

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  During the summer time, my go to food is usually a salad of some sort. I love the fresh, crunchy textures you get from a raw salad and I find the flavour combinations are endless with all the abundance of seasonal fruit and veg available in June/July. I like a substantial salad, one that is filling and textured. I don’t like to feel that I need to fill up on bread when having a salad, so I like to incorporate loads of high fibre veg as well as seeds and sprouts. This salad is no ordinary salad, it’s an Up-Side Down Salad! That’s right, it’s the wrong way up! It is really fun to put together, and it looks impressive. Once tried, you’ll probably serve all your salads up side down! I decorated my dome shaped treat with chive flowers that I got at my local farm shop. They were giving away the beautiful purple flowers as little gifts to their costumers. Something that I thought was a lovely gesture. If you have any …

Koldskål – Danish Summer Buttermilk Dish

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  A natural reaction to hot weather for me, is to start craving Koldskål. In Denmark, as a kid I could easily go through a litre a day, no problem. I didn’t mind if it was shop bought, or home made, I just had to have it during the warm summer months. Saying that, homemade is always going to triumph over shop bought. And since a lot of you don’t live in Denmark, homemade is the only option anyway! Koldskål, literally translates as Cold Bowl. It is made with buttermilk and a milder version of yoghurt, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and lemon. I have never thought of comparing it to an Indian Lassi, but I guess that is a far comparison if totally lost trying to explain it to a foreigner. It is served in a bowl, and eaten with a spoon, and enjoyed with little biscuits called Kammerjunker, and I’m not even going to try and explain that word! Well, OK then, its a title for a sort of foot solider within the Royal …

Japanese Soba Noodle Soup for one

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My boyfriend is currently in China, where he is on tour with his band. And when I cook for just one, it tends to develop into a different kind of meal – I make ‘less of a meal out of it’ than when I cook for two or more people, if you know what I mean. I simplify a lot of what I do and I tend to eat more raw foods than larger cooked dinners. A dish that is really great to cook for one person is noodles. It’s really quick and non demanding, but you can still throw in a lot of vegetables and make it really nutritious with not much effort. Here is a rough guide to Japanese Noodle Soup, the vegetables can be replaced for any other veg you have at hand. Try baby corn and carrot strips, or mangetout and mushrooms and garlic. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Serves 1 1 thumb size piece of ginger, peeled. 1 stick of lemon grass ½ a bulb of fennel 4-5 florets of broccoli 2 tsp organic …

Middle Eastern Spiced Warm Salad of Butternut Squash

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  When the weather gets warmer, I always start craving salads. Warm salads, cooked salads, raw salads, it doesn’t matter what kind of salad, I just have to make them. Putting a salad together is so therapeutic for me, you have to taste the ingredients in your head and with your eyes as you assemble the dish. If it looks good, it will no doubt taste good too.   Preparing a summer salad is an excuse to combine tons of ingredients and incorporate them all onto one dish. As the longer evenings appear, I naturally want to eat outside in the garden, and a generous portion of an exciting salad is just the ticket for Alfresco dining. This dish combines the sweet flavour of the butternut squash with tart goats cheese mixed in a beautiful spice infusion. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Serves 4 1 small butternut squash or ½ of a large one 100g soft goats cheese 250g chickpeas, cooked 4-5 cherry tomatoes a handful coriander ½ a lemon, juice of Spice Mix 1 tsp cumin seeds 4 …

Beech and Wild Garlic Canapés

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Walking my dog this morning, I was greeted by the beautiful sight of the beech tress bursting into leaf. Finally! Growing up in Denmark, I have come to associate the mark of spring with the sight of fresh beech leaves lightly decorating the tall trees in the forests. I was also thrilled to see that the entire forest flour was covered by the beautiful snow white flowers of the wild garlic. They are extremely pretty incorporated into a salad, or stuck in a vase at home, if you dont mind the faint smell of garlic..Or make them into this great recipe I have adapted a super simple recipe from Anette Eckman’s ‘Naturens Spisekammer’ that uses new beech leaves filled with cheese, as a little spring snack. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 24 new beech leaves 200g soft cream cheese 4 wild garlic leaves 1 tsp cayenne pepper or chilli oil a pinch of salt and pepper ____________________________________________________________________________________ Pick your beech leaves and wild garlic leaves the day you intend to eat them. Wash and pat them dry. Finly chop …

Wild Nettle Bread

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With the little bit of heat we have greatly received over the last couple of days, all sorts of wild green plants have sprung to life, including stinging nettles. What was lying dormant as small shoots, have all at once shot up 30 cm in just a few days. I find springtime incredible, and if you are lucky enough to have a garden to view every day, you can really notice the fast pace at which the vegetation grows. Instead of mowing down your nettle patch, try using them in your cooking! Here I have created a recipe using a few handfuls of nettles added to bread dough. Its delicious, and nutritious! ____________________________________________________________________________________   Makes 6 large sandwich rolls 1 tsp easy bake yeast 500g organic shipton mill strong white flour 1 tbsp honey 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp salt a big handful of scolded and chopped nettles 350ml luke warm water 6 extra big nettle leaves for the top 1 egg ____________________________________________________________________________________ Start by harvesting your stinging nettles, with gloves on. Once home, …

Apple Cinnamon Cake

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Sundays call for cake I say! And what better to have as a weekend treat, than a slice of a tangy apple and sweet cinnamon cake.  Its best to use tangy, not to sweet apples, but as Ive added a whole lemon to the recipe, it has a great balance of flavours regardless. This cake keeps well, if you don’t manage to finish it in one day! And it also freezes really well, if that’s what your after. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 450g or roughly 3-4 tart apples , such as breaburn 1lemon, juiced 225g butter , softened 280g golden caster sugar 4 eggs 350g self-raising flour 2 tsp baking powder 4 tbsp sugar and cinnamon combined, to sprinkle extra knobs of butter for the top. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4, and grease and line a baking tin of your choice roughly measuring between 21-25 cm. Core, and chop the apples, and squeeze the lemon juice over, and set aside. Next, beat the sugar and butter together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. …

New Potatoes with Spring Vegetables and Honey Lemon Dressing

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New Scottish potatoes have hit the shelves in the shops recently. Potatoes that I assume are grown in poly tunnels, in order to get a head start on the short Scottish season. But I’ve still got a few months to wait yet, before my own seed potatoes are ready out in my garden. So until I can dig up some fresh tatties of my own, here is a new potato recipe to tie you over with. It’s really good served with fish, as the sweet and sour dressing really adds bite to the otherwise delicate flavours of spring vegetables. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 500g new baby potatoes 3 small carrots, halved lengthways 1 leek, chopped For the dressing: ½ lemon, zested and juiced 1 tsp dijon mustard 2 garlic cloves, crushed 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp honey a few pepper corns, roughly crushed ____________________________________________________________________________________ Boil the potatoes in a pan of water for 10 min, then add the carrots and leek, simmer for a further 5 min, until the potatoes are tender. Meanwhile make the …