All posts filed under: Sides

Pear, Leek and Veggie Sausage Stuffing

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So we have started the new year, and the festive season is over. We can all breathe easy again! I made it through the holidays in good health, and just as new year passed, I got a big old nasty cold! I think the whole country has a cold this week. So, I thought I’d share with you a recipe that I did for Kitchen Garden Magazine this month, on juicy pears. And this stuffing is perfect for enjoying under the covers on the couch, watching daytime TV, and generally feeling sorry for yourself….! When its cold outside, and you’re stuck indoors, comforting food is the way forward, especially when you have a cold! With sweet pear, and tangy leeks, it’s a delicious winter warming dish to try out. I use veggie sausages, but if you eat meat, try using free-range pork sausages. Serve as a side dish, or as a main. _____________________________________________ Pear, Leek and Veggie Sausage Stuffing Serves 4   4 free range pork sausages, or 4 vegetarian sausages, chopped 2 slices of …

Wild Garlicky Mushroom Toast & Wild Mushroom Foraging

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With autumn comes a whole range of new foraging opportunities, including bramble picking, rose hip picking and mushroom foraging. I have in fact never foraged for mushrooms before, largely due to my fear of picking something poisonous as I think a lot of mushrooms look like all the other mushrooms! But ever since I met my good friend Helle, who’s husband happens to be a Mycologist, that’s a fungi specialist to you and me, I have been interested in trying my hand at scouting out those little fungi’s. Helles husband, Nevil Kilkenny is at the centre for Scottish fungi research and runs mushroom forays at Shepherds Cottage each year teaching people how and where to forage, and most importantly- how to do so safely. Please do not use my limited knowledge as a guide to identify mushrooms, rather get a good book and go on a course if you are keen on experiencing how fun finding mushrooms really is. On our little outing we managed to find, Hedgehog Mushrooms, Chanterelles, and Purple Deceivers, all of …

Grilled Corn on the Cob

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There have still been a few warm evenings to enjoy over the past couple of weeks, so when I came across fresh corn on the cob, still in their green overcoats, I couldn’t wait to get them home and stick them on the BBQ. Some fruit and vegetables, like corn or bananas,  are ingenious in the way they come with their own packaging ready to be transported in, or cooked in. The husks on the corn serve as a ready made wrapper, that can be put directly on the BBQ, with no need for foil. And I can’t eat corn on the cob without a dollop of cold butter, melting into all the little dimples, and consequently going everywhere. Corn is definitely not a ‘first date’ food, but it does make a great family meal. For this recipe, I have made a spicy herb butter to enhance the sweet flavors of the corn. __________________________________________________________________________________ Serves 4 Ingredients 4 fresh corn on the cob, with husks 75g butter 1/2 tsp sweet paprika 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper …

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 …

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, …

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 …

Potato Duaphinoise with Cabbage and Cheddar with a Side of Portobello Mushrooms

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I get most of my veg at a great little farm shop, The Ardross Farm Shop, near Elie in Fife. They mainly stock vegetables that are in season, so its a great way to stay in touch with British seasonal produce, and eat accordingly. As its still cold (I know I keep banging on about it) they still have cabbage in supply. And I love cabbage, mainly because when all the summer crops have been eaten, cabbage matures and is ready for eating during the winter. A real trooper of a vegetable, a little hero full of vitamins that are essential when the days are still cold and grey. Here is a tasty variation of the traditional Potato Dauphinoise, with cheese and cabbage. ____________________________________________________________________________________ 6 large waxy potatoes, such as King Edward ½ head of green cabbage 400ml double cream 400ml milk 2 cloves of garlic 100g cheddar cheese ½ tsp nutmeg salt, pepper to taste ____________________________________________________________________________________ Preheat your oven to 200°c/fan 180°c/gas 6, and prepare a baking dish by rubbing it with butter. Slice …