Cashew Catering: Vegan recipes, raw food and tales from the kitchen

I thought I should share this really easy, incredibly tasty and extremely nutritious brownie recipe. It’s definitely up there in Cashew’s most popular recipes and having made it at a class we hosted the other day and changing the recipe a little, I thought it would be nice to share it with the world. Lets get started.

Raw Chocolate Brownie Recipe

Raw Chocolate Brownie
(makes about 16-20 pieces)

Base:

1c almonds
1c brazils
1c dates
1c walnuts
1c desiccated coconut
1/2c raw carob powder

Topping:

150g cacao paste – chopped up
(a quality dark chocolate will work fine in its place, if you can’t get hold of cacao paste)
100g coconut butter – cut into small pieces
½ cup agave
1Tbs vanilla extract or you can use the seeds from about an inch of vanilla pod
1 punnet raspberries

First start by gently melting all of the topping ingredients, except the raspberries, in a double boiler and then set aside. Process all the base ingredients in a food processor until well combined but not homogenised– it should be a fine crumb like consistency. Then stir in a third of the topping mixture to this and press firmly and evenly into a suitable ‘baking’ tray, about 10” x 6” lined with baking parchment. Then pour the topping mixture over the base and place the raspberries on top, chill to serve and enjoy.

eh voila..................x

With Valentine’s in just a few days, I wanted to share a really simple recipe that you can follow to make some amazing vegan chocolates for someone special – which almost certainly includes making some for yourself and if you choose to share with a loved one also, then even better!!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........chocolate

The recipe can be adjusted to suit yourself and what ingredients you have available to you.

Simple & Sassy Chocolate Truffle Recipe

100g dark chocolate (i used 78% cacao) / 100g cacao paste (if you want to make raw chocs)
50g extra virgin coconut butter / you can use a vegan margarine if you prefer
2Tbs agave syrup or similar liquid sweetener
1tsp vanilla extract or the seeds from about an inch of vanilla pod
3 drops cherry extract (i used black cherry, Medicine Flower Extract) or about 3 tbs dried cherries – finely chopped
1 small hot dried chili – finely chopped or chili powder to taste

100g dark chocolate or cacao paste(if wanting raw) to coat with

dried fruit powder or dessicated coconut to ‘dust’ with.

You will also need: heart shaped silicon chocolate moulds or just use a margarine tub sized container with greaseproof paper lining to set them in and then cut into pieces.

Firstly create a bain marie or double boiler with a small saucepan containing about 2 inches of boiling water in it and then a suitably sized heatproof bowl to melt the chocolate/cacao paste and coconut butter/margarine in (if using cacao paste for a ‘raw’ chocolate then remove the pan from the heat source to stop the water from boiling whilst the cacao melts). Once the solids have melted then stir in all the other ingredients and either pour into moulds if using or line a margarine sized container with  greaseproof paper to then set a large block, which you will cut into pieces to dip. Then pop in the freezer for a quick set or just put to one side until they have set hard , which in these current minus temperatures shouldn’t be long at all!!

........its tricky to pour, aim and take a picture all at once but you get the idea!!!!

While you are waiting for the centres to firm up, you can place the 100g of ‘coating’ chocolate or cacao paste into the heatproof bowl and melt it down ready to coat the middles. If you have more spare chocolate to melt for this then do so as it will make coating them much easier but 100g will just about do it.

Once the truffle filling has set you can ‘knock’ them gently out their mould and if you have set them into block, you must cut with a sharp knife into bite sized squares or rectangles to then be able to dip.

Now just lay the truffle centres out next to your bowl of melted chocolate(making sure this isn’t too hot or it will melt the centres before they come out!!) and have a chopping board or plate next to you, covered with

greseproof paper to put the dipped chocolates onto. Now just start dipping them by putting a truffle centre into the melted chocolate, turning it with a fork to make sure it is completely coated and then lift it out, run the underside of the fork on the side of the bowl to remove excess coating and then lay out on the greasproof paper, sprinkle with either freeze dried fruit powder (I used strawberry here) or desicated coconut then leave to cool and set. Repeat the process until they are all done.

yum, yum and furthermore yum x

Once they are all dipped and set, the only thing left to do is have a taster and pack them up either for storage or in readiness to give as a gift. I was lucky enough to come across this beautiful metal heart shaped tin, that is just made for the job of holding some hot chocs as a wonderful loved up gift for someone special!! Happy dipping from all at Cashew x x x x

Hi – after a really great weekend catering at The Lewes Well Being Festival and sharing our food with the masses, one item we had seemed to stand out more than others and that was the humble flapjacks we made!! Packed full of energy and also loaded with quality nutrition, so a great all round snack for busy days and definitely a much better alternative to gacky chocolate bars and other plastic wrapped junk!! Plus they are really quick and easy to make. So here goes:

Golden Granola Bar (aka the humble flapjack)
makes 2 small trays full (24 large pieces)

250ml sunflower oil
250g sugar
1/4 cup agave syrup
1.5 tbs vanilla
2tbs molasses

100g apricots – chopped
100g dates – chopped
50g sunflower seeds
50g sesame seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
100g raisins
375g oats
1/2 tsp salt

Start by pre-heating an oven to gas mark 5/190c/375f and grease 2 small sized (roughly 8 x 5 inch baking trays). Then in a large bowl mix together the wet ingredients (the first five) and set aside. Now in a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Now stir the wet mix into the dry mix, combine thoroughly and divide into the 2 trays and bake in the middle of the oven for 20-30mins until the flapjacks are golden, remove from the heat, cool and enjoy with cup of coffee in the morning if its a big day ahead or with cup of chamomile tea at the end of a long day!? These will store for a good few weeks in a decent tupperware!

the humble flapjack - a proper winter warmer!

Christmas is almost upon us and with it comes the ‘roast’ dinner to end all roast dinners, especially seeing as it’s on a Sunday this year!! The only drawback to this festive feast is the potential time warp and subsequent aftermath in the kitchen that can easily happen when you get carried away with a Christmas banquet! So I thought it appropriate to put together a really quick and simple dinner menu for 4 that not only hits the spot on all levels, great tasting and nutritionally balanced but also doesn’t hit the pocket too hard – coming in at about £10 if you shop wisely which isn’t bad at all! The preparation and cooking time for this meal is about 2hrs from start to finish including all washing up at an easy pace or 1hr and half if you get your skates on – including time allowance for a wee tipple of sloe gin or mulled wine if you so desire!

So without further ado the main event.

Braised tempeh, hazelnut & sage stuffing, onion gravy, mashers, roast squash & carrots, broccoli and chili’d cranberry sauce x

Ingredients List:
Braised Tempeh:
1 300g packet plain tempeh (or tofu if you can’t find tempeh or prefer tofu?)
50ml oil for frying
100ml water
40ml Balsamic vinegar (or other vinegar)
20ml agave syrup or 1 1/2 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Stuffing:
300g fresh bread (or 250g stale bread plus 50ml water) cut into chunks
1 large onion – fine diced
100ml oil
75g hazelnuts – roasted
5g fresh sage leaf – chopped

Gravy:
1 large white or red onion – sliced
1/2 tsp salt
25ml oil
400ml water (cooking water from the veg)
1 tbs corn flour

Mashers:
750g potato
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp salt

200g butternut squash
100g carrots

1 head broccoli

Cranberry Sauce:
50g cranberries (i could only find sweetened so if you use unsweetened then they will need a little extra sweetening)
250ml water
A generous dash of your favourite chili sauce or a pinch of chili powder(optional).

Preheat the oven to around gas mark 5/ 400c/ 200f.

Start with the carrot by cutting them up into medium/large pieces and par boiling them for about 5 mins, strain and save this water. Then cut the squash into large pieces (about twice the size of the carrot) and place both on a baking tray with a little oil, some agave(optional) and salt and pepper to taste. Then place in the oven to roast – about 25 mins.

Next prepare the stuffing by frying the onions with salt and oil until soft (I know this is quite a lot of oil but the excess is combine with the other stuffing ingredients to create a moist end product), then place these with all the other stuffing ingredients into a food processor and process until all become breadcrumb size pieces, this should be a reasonably moist mixture. Press into a loaf tin and then place in the oven – about 10-15 mins, until golden but not dry.

Now clean and cut the potatoes and place in a saucepan with the carrot water to boil, once cooked through- about 15 mins, save and strain the water into another pan and then place the other mash ingredients with the potato and mash until smooth, set aside and if necessary place onto a tray, into the bottom of the oven to stay warm.

Whilst the spuds are cooking place the cranberries in a liquidiser with the water and chili and process until reasonably smooth. Now place in a pan and simmer until the mixture thickens and set aside.

Now for the gravy, gently fry the onion in the oil and salt on a medium heat until they are soft and translucent, adding water if needed to stop them sticking,this will take about 10 mins.

Next cut the tempeh into 8 pieces length ways and in a large frying pan heat the oil and fry the tempeh on a medium heat for about 4 or 5 mins on each side until golden. Then mix together the braising liquid (all other tempeh ingredients) and pour into the pan, reduce the heat so it simmer gently and cook until all the liquid has evaporated or absorbed, turning once during this process and set aside, onto a tray, into the bottom of the oven to stay warm.

Now cook the broccoli in the carrot/potato for about 4 mins, until they soften slightly but retain their vivid green colour, strain and save this water. Set aside the broccoli onto a tray, into the bottom of the oven to stay warm.

Now finish the gravy by adding 300ml of the ‘veg water’ to the onions bring to the boil and take the remaining 100ml of saved veg water stir in the corn flour to create a ‘slurry’ and add to the onion mixture stirring well to ensure an even lump free gravy, cook until it thickens.

Hey presto – your all done (well you’ve probably got a few pots and pans to clean – which I always think are better to do before you eat or even better ask a guest to do them) and ready to serve and enjoy. What better to follow it up with than a slice of your already made Christmas Cake, see previous post for details! Happy holidays x (note the over all protein content of this meal as suggested is about 20g per person, if your really craving an extra boost then double up on the tempeh, which will bring the total to about 30g per person – which is more than ample for any body type!)

So, its that time of year again and one of the things that comes with the festive season is Christmas cake and in my experience its either something that you adore or just don’t get! Fortunately for me Christmas cake is up there in the top ranking treats of the year and equally fortunate my partner (who is my harshest critic!) doesn’t really care for it – so I get to squirrel it away and share it with my boy who equally loves it but not his sister who feels the same as mum! Christmas cake shares an equal spot in my heart and stomach with the Easter treat, Simnel Cake – that is more or less the same thing with the marzipan in the Simnel Cake going inside and out so if your a marzipan lover then Simnel creeps ahead in the stakes. I do love marzipan but the rose tinted memories of Christmas as a kid and helping my mum make the rich, fruity and oh so comforting Christmas cake each year, even this almond advantage out and put them back on level pegging. The big difference between rich fruit cakes and normal sponge types for me is the huge nutritional variance in them, with fruit cakes relying mainly on natural dried fruits for their sweetness rather than large amounts of sugar and also a minimal fat content. As well as the nurturing nature of a hefty chunk of fruity goodness on a cold winters day, really hits the spot and gives you a boost from within and the knowledge that whatever chilly job lies ahead will be easily accomplished with a good old cuppa and slice of crimbo cake, one or both sides of the task at hand. With this all said the thought of going without simply because you choose not to or can’t eat dairy or egg based products is  unthinkable and heaven forbid substituting a less worthy alternative that just doesn’t make the mark. Therefore I have been experimenting with different recipes each year that all do quite well but finally I have perfected it and now have a finished product that would satisfy the most conditioned of old school Christmas cake eaters, without the bat of eyelid in disapprovement- more likely in sheer joy!! So without further digression here we go.

The recipe takes about 30-45 mins to prepare, plus a little time for things to pre-soak and then will take between 1 to 3 hrs to cook depending on how big the cakes you make are, so make sure you leave plenty of time to get it done! I prefer to make smaller cakes so that the edges of the cake don’t get dry whilst cooking and also make a few tiny ones to give out as gifts! The batch below would make either one deep 9 inch round whopper or I made a deep 5 inch round, a shallow loaf tin and also 5 mini loaf tins, which gives you a few nice pressies, ensures they cook through and stay moist and also cuts back on cooking time.

Ingredients:

700g raisins or sultanas
50ml brandy or your favourite tipple(optional)
200g ground almond/almond flour
600ml soya milk or other dairy free alternative
50g molasses
50g golden granulated sugar
100g muscavado sugar
2tbs vanilla extract
juice and zest of 1 lemon
juice and zest of 1 orange
250g dates – chopped
250g apricots – chopped
100g mixed peel – preferably organic to avoid e numbers
150g glace cherries – preferrably organic to avoid e numbers
1tbs cinnamon
1/2tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg – freshly ground makes a big difference
1tsp almond extract
1tbs baking powder
400g white spelt flour
100g whole spelt flour – sifted and large fibrous bits removed
1tsp salt

plus: marzipan to cover with, bandy for ‘feeding’, pecans for decor and glace cherries for decor

So start by soaking the raisins with the brandy, if your using it but if not skip this part. Then mix together the almond flour and the soya milk and combine well, allowing the mixture to aerate and improve final texture. Next add the sugars, molasses, golden granulated and muscavado and mix well. If you don’t have all three you could substitute here but I wouldn’t use all molasses, I would think all agave would work quite well but the combination used give a lovely depth to the end flavour. Next stir through the vanilla extract (again you could substitute real vanilla seed here if you prefer, use about 1/2 to a whole pod) orange and lemon, mix well. Now add all the dried fruits including the pre-soaked raisin/sultana mix, it’s pretty imporant to use quite plump and juicy fruits at this point not overly dry hard ones or the cake will end up pretty tough! Then add the spices – coriander (a favourite of mine in other cakes like carrot or apple), nutmeg (freshly grated is always the best option) and cinnamon and also the almond extract. Now sift in the baking powder and also the flours and salt, stir them in properly and the mixture is ready.

To prepare your baking vessels you must line all sides of the tin or tins with about 4-6 layers of baking parchment, which will help keep the cake moist and stop the edges from burning.

Now just pop the cakes into a pre-heated oven heated to gas mark 3/165c/325f on the middle shelf and let them do their thing. The cakes will take anywhere from about 45mins for little tiny ones up to at least 3 hours for a whopper. Just keep turning them every so often, especially in a gas oven, to allow for even cooking. The cakes are done when a skewer inserted into the very middle comes back out clean and free from cake batter. Now bring the cakes out and let them cool on a cooling rack but still in the tin.

Once the cakes are completely cool then remove them from their tin and

using the cake base as a template for the marzipan

decorate them. Traditionally for this you would entirely wrap the cake in marzipan and then cover with royal icing but for me this is just far too much sugar and completely spoils the cake so I just prefer to cover the top with marzipan and then some cherries and pecans. To do this roll out the marzipan in between 2 sheets of baking parchment and then use the base of the tin you used as a template to mark out and cut around the marzipan to create the lid. Then just decorate the marzipan with the pecans and glace cherries.

Now the cake is pretty much done, if you have made it advance (you can make this at least 4 weeks in advance) then it is best to wrap it first with baking parchment and then cling film to keep the moisture in and also make ‘feeding’ it simple. ‘Feeding’ the cake is when you turn it upside down, unwrap it , poke a few holes in the bottom and then slowly ‘feed’ it some brandy or your favourite tipple. You can do this a number of times and really load the cake up with booze if you like. This is also a great way to moisten a cake that dried out too far during cooking!! I normally do ‘feed’ my cake but this year I’m not going too so when I cooked the cake I made sure it was only just done to ensure a wonderfully moist finish. Happy baking guys and girls, I hope you enjoy x x x

vegan christmas cake, Cashew style x

Friends and food share a very common link in all society across the world, be it a group of school children swapping stuff out of their lunch boxes, Indian Saddhu’s sharing some rice and dahl in the Himalayas or perhaps two neighbouring apple farmers in New Zealand tasting each others crops? I think it is probably one of the main driving forces in my desire to be involved with food: to share something delicious, whoever has made it and wherever we are, with an old friend or a new acquaintance  – food is a very natural and common ground.

As well as eating food together I think it is also crucial to have people around you that you can call on when you need some help, support or just a friendly ear to listen to you in times of need. Enter…….Robin Van Crevald otherwise known as the Community Chef. When I first moved to Lewes and I had plans to set up something that would operate as a platform for good food, skill sharing and empowerment for individuals to learn the knowledge of health and nutrition that can help us day to day.

After a little research I discovered that Robin not only had the same sort of idea as me but he had already set up an initiative and was well under way teaching, training and helping people along the path of healthy eating. The Community Chef project is entirely pioneering in its approach to hands on learning and is basically real life ‘Jamie Oliver’ (hope no one minds me making that resemblance?) work, without the TV crew in tow!!

Along the way Robin has taught me how to demonstrate my cookery skills: be it to a small group of school children or a large theatre of hungry on lookers, how to enthuse and motivate people, how to plan, to process, how to communicate effectively, the wonder of salsa romesco, the delight of salsa verde – I could go on for ages. Even helped me get a job at Aloka by recommending me.

One thing that really highlighted all this to me was the recent unrest and frustration that the ‘rioters’ in London and across the country displayed when they decided to protest (in an entirely unsuitable fashion) and generally run amok. That’s not say I would have been smashing up health food shops and looting almonds willy nilly were it not for friends like Robin but it is to say how important that kind of support is to us all and without it life can be very frustrating! To have someone that believes in you and helps you blossom and flourish is crucial.

Picture this ………….. a Sunday, i was heading to a Community Chef event where i was going to be facilitating a smoothie bike for the children (occasional adults) of Chichester to be able to make their own smoothies via the wonder of peddle power. My van wouldn’t go and eventually i got it going with a bump start down the hill, over to the shops to grab all my supplies, back to the van to head off only to find that it definitely wasn’t going to start and now i was on the flat, a bump was out of the question. A quick call to said friend and calmly he arrived minutes later we loaded everything into his vehicle and i was away and made it to the event as planned. !

To date Community Chef has trained hundreds (almost 1000 I believe) cookery leaders, who are then personally empowered to go out and spread the word and love of good food. What more can I say than ‘I (we) get by with a little from my (our) friends’………..

you can check out ‘Good Food For All’ here…..community chef……….

Recently a friend offered me a Kombucha culture and i jumped at the chance to start brewing it again. It is something that I used to brew for years as a ‘young adult’ and even traveled around a large part of SE Asia carrying it with me and brewing it along the way – something you just wouldn’t get away with nowadays (carrying a Kombucha culture through customs!!) I really enjoy the drinks effects very uplifting (that’ll be the caffeine and mild alcohol content) and refreshing (when served chilled) and had now started bottling in sealed glass bottles and leaving to further ferment in the bottle and therefore carbonate, which is even more refreshing!!

I took some to a very small gathering the other day and offered it to friend, who said ‘oh, I thought Kombucha wasn’t actually all that good for you?’ and this then prompted me to do an online search for any info I could find on the subject. When I first brewed it (about 15 years ago) I purchased an easy to read guide to Kombucha brewing that seemed to cover all aspects of this mysterious entity including its history, how to prepare it and also how to stay safe when fermenting it – which is an important part of almost any fermentation you may get involved in! The book did a good job of seemingly covering all aspects of the ‘scoby’  – Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast but certainly didn’t mention anything untoward about the ‘elixir’.

Well my recent search unearthed a seemingly thorough investigation by mycology expert Paul Stamets and the discovery of his investigation left me feeling very unsure about continual ‘recreational’ use of this potentially dangerous ‘substance’!  That might be a bit of an over reaction (potentially dangerous) but I would urge anyone who consumes Kombucha on a regular basis to read this article and then make an intelligent decision as to how they use Kombucha with this info in mind!

My thoughts are that if i had a life threatening illness that Kombucha was reputed to help with then I think I would definitely use it but as for on a day to day basis as an all round tonic I’m not going to use it like that anymore!

Follow the link below to read the full article…………..

The Blob by Paul Stamets

After a very positive and generous email from a gentleman called James Kim, reading from all the way over in Austin, Texas, USA (birth place of the Wholefoods health food chain) I am pleased to be able to post a guest article, based on the ‘consumer ethic’ of eating locally.

Offering us some easy to follow tips on how to eat fresh, local and seasonal produce that should hopefully be of a higher quality (in both taste and nutrition) plus reduce excess food miles.Here goes……

How to Eat Local

Eating local saves the environment by preserving farmland and minimizing air pollution while also providing you with fresher, more nutritious food. So how can you go local in your meal planning? Here are some easy ways to get started.

Farmers’ Markets

The most common way to go local is to buy from farmers’ markets. Keep your eyes peeled for a farmers’ market near you or use the farmers’ market search engine on the USDA website. Farmers’ markets allow you to actually meet the people who have harvested your food. Feel free to ask them questions about pesticides or fertilizers that they use. You can also ask them if they sell to any local restaurateurs — perhaps they can give you a list of restaurants in the neighborhood that serve local food. Not only are farmers’ markets a great way to feel closer to your community, they’re informational, too.

Know Your Seasons

Shopping for food by which foods are in season is one of the easiest way to go local. Making sure that the food you buy is in season can minimize your food’s carbon footprint. Less travel time means less fuel emissions. Smart Living gives a list of seasonal foods for each state. Look up your region’s food and throw that list on the fridge to shop by and memorize.

Local Food Producers

Another great way to go local is to endorse local eateries. Try a loaf of bread from your neighborhood bakery and buy coffee beans from the local coffeehouse. Not only will these items be way more delicious than the ones crammed in the grocery aisles, but they will also help out the local economy. In endorsing your local economy, you help give a long, healthy life to your community.

So what are you waiting for? Get up and get some local eats! By shopping local, you can feel good about what you’re putting into the community, the environment, and your stomach.

James Kim is a writer for foodonthetable.com. †Food on the Table is a company that provides online budget meal planning services.† Their goal is to help families eat better and save money.

Follow the link here to the UK version of the Farmers Market ‘directory’.

Thanks James, much appreciated for the info……and to reinforce what is being said here, the next few months are by far the best we have in the UK for the widest selection of quality items – there’s no reason not to enjoy almost entirely locally produced vegetables and a wonderful selection of soft fruits this time of year. In town here we have a number of wild plum & cherry trees and as you can see they are literally overflowing with weighty branches of juicy fruits, burgeoning as my neighbour Tim would say!!!

wild plum tree on the side of the road in East Sussex

wild mirabelle (I think) plums

Also fun to experiment with are ingredients you may not be familiar with and give them a try!! Or just do something really simple and delicious – let the ingredients ‘speak’ for themselves, how about some wonderfully plump broad beans, quickly blanched and then sauteed with some Spring onion and basil to finish, served on slice of toast with a generous helping of olive oil, yum!

On a recent and presently rare weekend off, due to a somewhat welcome last minute cancellation I found myself at a ‘loose end’! Where to start with all this spare time?

I did all the obvious and necessary things that need doing in my life, including spending time relaxing with the fam, a good tidy up and sort out in the house and some maintenance of the garden and green house and I even managed to find a fantastic new (to me) bike on a ‘well known internet auction site’ at a strange time of day when seemingly no one else was looking for a similar thing, so I got what I felt was really good deal on it!

How to end this perfect weekend……………..in a free bar of course!! When I say free I don’t mean in the sense of drink ’til you drop insanity – wine and beer on free flowing tap! I mean in the sense that we had made the drinks ourselves using hedgerow staples elderflower and sloe.

My now favourite drink in the world ‘Gongas pop’ was ready to go (see earlier post on Foraging and free food) and really exceeded my expectation for being truly a wondrous tipple of magical proportions!! I would like to note that our brew did not ferment of it’s own accord and so we added a little wine yeast, which worked very well indeed. I do think though it fermented the drink much more so than the wild ferments I’ve done in the past, giving quite a heady finished product. We bottled up after 5days of fermentation (at the advise of the recipe) but the ‘pop’ was still very active for at least another a week, which meant the bottles needed to be released twice daily for about 5 days and once daily for a few more until i felt they were safe to leave unattended. I have in the past had a bottle literally explode in the cupboard, leaving shards of glass stuck in the cupboard door and ceiling – I think this was due to the bottle not being reinforced well enough as it was a pink lemonade thing that had probably only had minor carbonation added. So as a safety precaution I think it is quite important to store bottles out the way in a closed space, check them regularly at first and release excess gases and also make sure you bottle up in strong enough vessels in the first place!!

So to go with our elderflower fizz we also cracked open the last of this/last years sloe gin and mixed them together to create the ultimate foraged cocktail!!!

sloe gin & elderflower champagne.....

To get the sloe gin to fall to the bottom of the glass and separate I just poured it in very slowly on the backside of a teaspoon that was angled up against the side of the glass above the level of the elderflower (which was already in there).

What a treat, not only did it look like something out of the Club Tropicana video (just re-watched the video and am now disappointed that the same barmen didn’t make this for me!!!) it also tasted incredible – an effervescent, sweet, flowery and intoxicating nectar of pure joy!! Although in hindsight it was clearly missing an umbrella in there!!!

As ever we didn’t really make enough of the elderflower champagne (if there is such a thing?) and so now all the flowers are gone in the wild, being rapidly replaced with equally (in fact possible more) usable berries, we are going to experiment making the brew with bought in dried elderflower – which I think will do pretty much the same job but you will almost certainly need to use wine yeast to activate the brew. I will post on this as and when it happens.

On another wonderful walk, this time on a blustery Sunday at Birling Gap, in East Sussex we harvested loads of wild seaweed. Unfortunately my knowledge of wild seaweeds is completely limited to knowing that pretty much any of that thick rubbery wet stuff or leathery dried up crispy stuff that scatters most beaches especially as the tide goes out is a great fertiliser for the garden!!!

Freshly harvested seaweed, soaking

The important thing to remember is that the seaweed has quite a high salt content and so MUST be well rinsed before applying to the garden. To do this I just soak it in a large container for about 24 hours and then repeat the process a further once or twice more, discarding the water each time. To check that the salt has been removed then just give the soaking water a little taste (you can spit this out if your squeamish about seaweed!!) if it tastes salty then it needs more soaking. Once its well soaked its ready to use.

Salt free seaweed, boiling in the pan

Now all you need to do is find a saucepan big enough to fit the seaweed in and then cover it with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 mins. Then leave this to cool and it is ready to apply to your garden. You can water down as necessary and also store it if you have enough. I water mine down to make sure the whole garden gets some. You can either apply as a generally feed and water it in or you can spray it on foliage which is especially good for fruiting plants like strawberries and tomatoes as they really appreciate this direct application when working hard to produce fruits. I believe it also helps to strengthen the plants resistance to disease when applied like this – so in other words it can’t hurt to spray all your plants with a little as well as water them with it!!!

I would then repeat the boiling process a second time to get the most out of it and you can also chop up the leftover cooked plant bits and apply on top of beds or even mix it into your compost heap!

The beauty of boiling the seaweed is that we are really trying to extract the minerals from the plant which unlike vitamins are not badly destroyed with heat.

Happy gardening………………………x