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Challenge for the Weekend... Trees...
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cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 11:11 am    Post subject: Challenge for the Weekend... Trees... Reply with quote
    

This weekends challenge, for those willing to accept it...

Many, many trees have got good edible leaves and/or flowers at the moment. Elder, hawthorn, beech, lime, etc.

This weekend, use some! Make a wine, put some in salad, make flower fritters, etc. And let us all know next week how you got on!

My own current plan includes elderflower and oak leaf wine and elderflower fritters.

judith



Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire
PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We don't have to lick any, do we?

Daydreaming



Joined: 12 Apr 2005
Posts: 291

PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 11:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I can imagine my OH face if I plased a bowl of leaves in a bowl in front of him at the table. Really? Beech tree leaves??

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 12:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Judith wrote:
We don't have to lick any, do we?


Shhhh! I might yet use that gag here.

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 12:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Daydreaming wrote:
I can imagine my OH face if I plased a bowl of leaves in a bowl in front of him at the table. Really? Beech tree leaves??


If the beech leaves are still young and velvety soft, they're delicious, and they are the basis for what I rate as the best liquer you can make with wild ingredients here in the UK.

Get them older than that and they're a bit too tough.

Blue Peter



Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 2400
Location: Milton Keynes
PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

cab wrote:

If the beech leaves are still young and velvety soft, they're delicious, and they are the basis for what I rate as the best liquer you can make with wild ingredients here in the UK.



You can't stop there....


Peter.

judith



Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire
PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 1:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

cab wrote:
If the beech leaves are still young and velvety soft, they're delicious, and they are the basis for what I rate as the best liquer you can make with wild ingredients here in the UK.


Now he tells us - we trimmed my Mum's beech hedge last week. All the trimmings went into the green bin .

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 1:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

On last night's Ray Mears he was going to use lime leaves as the basis of a salad, unfortunately I had some shortbread to prick at the time so missed the other ingredients.

I have tried hawthorn and am unimpressed..

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 1:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Blue Peter wrote:


You can't stop there....


Peter.


I haven't got the quantities to hand; I'll look them up later.

bernie-woman



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7824
Location: shropshire
PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 1:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Ray Mears also used wild garlic leaves and crab apple blossom with his salami

Nanny



Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales
PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 2:10 pm    Post subject: challenge for the week Reply with quote
    

i hve tried the hawthorn buds and they were quite nice actually, can't describe the flavour but very nice

and cab on your suggestion i tried a salad with a bit of lettuce but also with

dandelion leaves
chick weed
some chives
parsley
thyme
yarrow

and i have to say it wans't bad and all the better because it was free apart from the lettuce

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 2:13 pm    Post subject: Re: challenge for the week Reply with quote
    

Nanny, that sounds like a most pleasant salad; I've never been entirely convinced by yarrow, though. Not a huge fan of it, except in very small portions. Which is a shame, because the 'wild' bit of my allotment is covered with it. What did you think of it?

Sally
Guest





PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 2:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The beech liqueur- Is that the beech leaves, cup of sugar, loads of alcohol one, or do you put in anything else? I've been meaning to make it myself and couldnt remember the specifics.

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 3:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Sally wrote:
The beech liqueur- Is that the beech leaves, cup of sugar, loads of alcohol one, or do you put in anything else? I've been meaning to make it myself and couldnt remember the specifics.


No, it's beech leaves in gin, left a couple of weeks then strained, then make a sugar syrup and mix it with the gin, add a glass of brandy, and bottle. Haven't got the recipe handy, but I'll dig it out later.

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Fri May 20, 05 8:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Here we go... Beech leaf noyau... Fill glass jars loosely with beech leaves and cover with gin. Seal the jars, shake them every day or three.

Strain it after 2 or 3 weeks. Per bottle of gin, you want half a pint of water and half a pound of sugar. Warm the sugar in the water to dissolve it, blend this with the gin and then add a good glass of brandy.

You can add an almond to the mix with the leaves. I do this if I've got one handy.

I make this every two years; two bottles of gin gives you best part of three and a half bottles of the liquer.

Best time to make it is when the leaves are young and velvety, but as long as they're youngish this will be really, really good. This is a tremendous liquer, right up there with my infamous blackberry whisky.

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