Seafood » Carl Legge

Wild garlic mash, warm chickweed salad & seafood

Autumn, Foraging, Forest Garden, Permaculture, Recipes, Seafood, Spring, Vegetable, Winter 11 Responses »

Mar 202012

This meal started off as one of those: “What do I do with these?” scenarios.

Debs had made a gorgeous parsnip, cinnamon and lemon cake with some of our over-wintered parsnips. It was delicious. I had one parsnip left that Debs had not been able to use.

And I had cleared a space in our big polytunnel for a new kiwi ‘Jenny’ and for our tarragon. (How posh is that, to have a big and a little polytunnel?) The space for these had a huge clump of chickweed in it that we’d been harvesting for ages.

And, of course, it’s wild garlic time.

So I thought that the parsnip would make a really intense sweet/savoury mash with potatoes and wild garlic pesto. It did.

I gave the chickweed a good haircut. Then I just washed it, gave it a good shake and wilted a 2 litre pan full, covered and shaken for 2-3 minutes. I dressed it with my normal vinaigrette.

I brushed the seafood with a little harissa and griddled it on a very hot ridged griddle for about 4 minutes. I then turned the heat off and covered with a saucepan lid to leave it to cook in the residual heat and steam.

The whole recipe took less than 30 minutes to prepare and had a lovely contrast of colours, flavours and textures.

So the only thing for me to add is a recipe for wild garlic pesto. Read on… Continue reading »

A new haggis recipe from Wales, via London

Beef, Lamb, Pasta, Poultry, Recipes, Seafood, Seasons, Winter 1 Response »

Jan 092012

The Legendary Wild Haggis as pictured by StaraBlazkova

Haggis is one of my most favourite savoury meat dishes. It’s spiced and has a nutty smoothness. It’s a great way of using offal and an economical make-ahead dish. Traditionally it’s made with a sheep’s heart, lungs and liver (the ‘pluck’), mixed with oatmeal, suet, onions and spices and packed into the sheep’s stomach. It’s then boiled till cooked.

It’s mostly associated with the Scots now and Burn’s Night celebrations on the 25th January. According to Wiki its origins could come from Scandinavia through to Greece. As anyone who knows anything about butchering fresh killed meat, the offal will spoil quickly, so it seems logical to use what you have to hand to cook it asap after the kill.

Anyway, it’s something I’ve made a version of at home a few times and really enjoyed. I’ve used a few different people’s recipes and thought it was time I came up with my own version. I made this during the festive break and had it with a pearl barley risotto one day and then as a lasagne the next as you can see here. My version is cooked in a saucepan, not in a sheep’s stomach or in an ox bung (big sausage skin).

So here’s my haggis recipe, from Wales (via London).

Would you like to have a go? Read on… Continue reading »

Chickweed recipes: pakora & hot dressed salad

Foraging, Permaculture, Recipes, Seafood, Seasons, Vegetable, Winter 4 Responses »

Jan 082012

I picked a load of chickweed (stellaria media) after I took all the pictures for this post on the 52 Week Salad Challenge.

It’s a very versatile ingredient. When at its peak like this it can be easily eaten raw and is also great cooked. As the plant gets older it can get a bit tougher, so strip off the leaves and steam them or sauté in some butter or oil.

I used my bounty in two ways. First, it was an ingredient for some deliciously moreish and spicy pakora. Second, I used it in a simple carrot salad dressed with hot kalonji seeds in oil. I served these with some fried, spiced mackerel for a simple curry feast.

Do you fancy having a go at this? Read on… Continue reading »

Wild garlic and smoked salmon carbonara

Foraging, Forest Garden, Permaculture, Recipes, Seafood, Seasons, Spring 5 Responses »

Apr 082011

This recipe is a delight. It’s stunningly quick & simple to cook and moreishly gorgeous to eat. It will provide a quick supper for two or a fantastic dish for entertaining friends.

The wild garlic is seasonal, of course. Out of season, you could use garlic chives or chives. Other members of the onion family would work too such as the green tops of baby leeks sliced finely.

I know. This isn’t ‘authentic’ carbonara. I also know there’s a cultural difference in the addition of cream to a carbonara. I’m a no cream person (mostly) and there’s no cream in this recipe. I think you’ll make it too heavy if you use cream and spoil the freshness of all the tastes.

Fancy giving it a try? Read on… Continue reading »

Wild garlic and homemade ricotta pasta

Dairy, Foraging, Forest Garden, Permaculture, Recipes, Seafood, Seasons, Spring 1 Response »

Apr 052011

We’re really lucky here because the wild garlic a friend gave us has taken and produces masses of wonderful tasting leaves & flowers. It’s also called ‘Ramsons’ and its latin name is Allium Ursinum. As you latin scholars will know, ursinum refers to bears who like the bulbs.

Wild garlic growing
Wild garlic and ricotta give a twist to simple pasta. Here I’ve cooked pasta and a simple tomato sauce and garnished it with home-made ricotta flavoured with wild garlic.
This is a very simple recipe which will look and taste great without hours of effort.

You’ll need to make the ricotta a few hours ahead of eating it. The rest of the recipe is very quick to assemble.

The quantities serve about 4: here’s how to make it… Continue reading »

Dark Days Challenge Not Quite Chish & Fips

Recipes, Seafood, Spring, Summer, Vegetable 1 Response »

Jan 212010

I came across the Dark Days Challenge on the ‘Urban Hennery’ blog written by Laura.

Essentially you’re challenged to eat at least one meal a week that is ‘SOLE’:

Sustainable
Organic
Local
Ethical

Sounds easy. That’s what I thought until I went to the shops. I could get organic but from Egypt or Israel: not exactly local or sustainable in transport terms. And the range of organic stuff in my ‘in the sticks’ shops wasn’t very impressive.

Anyway, I thought some more and found that I had the makings at home already. It turned out to be a delight and a surprise. Fish & Chips – well sort of…