Recipe 1
STEWED WILD APPLES WITH GRANOLA, YOGHURT AND HONEY
This is a simple one-pan breakfast served with yoghurt and honey and it's easy to cook on a hike or wild camp. It’s a good start to the day, healthy and nutritious - oat granola providing long-burning energy. With its apple crumble-like flavours though, you could easily eat this as a dessert and serve it with ice cream or custard. A splash of whisky here works wonders, the alcohol burns off in the heat, the added flavour is a fine thing and the aromas are sublime. Here I cooked a small variety of foraged wild apples - a few larger sized apples, a handful of wildings and crab apples. If you can’t obtain any wild apples - a cooking apple variety such as Bramley is good along with sweet eating apples (such as Pink Lady). You want some of the apples to cook down and some to retain shape.
Serves 1 or 2.
Ingredients:
200g wild apples - washed, peeled, de-seeded and roughly chopped
1 large knob of butter
60g golden granulated sugar
A good pinch of sea salt
A good pinch of ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tbsp root ginger in syrup, roughly chopped
1 tbsp whisky (optional)
2 tbsp water
100g oat granola
Natural yoghurt, to serve
A drizzle of honey, to serve
Method:
In a small heavy-based non-stick frying pan, melt the butter over low to medium heat. Add a pinch of sea salt and a splash of water. Cook for a few minutes until the sugar has dissolved. What you’re looking for is a syrup-like consistency. Tip in the apples and stir to coat. Add the cinnamon, vanilla bean paste, whisky (if using) and chopped ginger. Stir again and simmer gently for about 6 to 8 minutes. When the apples are soft but still retaining some shape, add some granola to the pan sprinkling it in and around the apples. Stir the pan a little to combine the flavours. Turn off the heat and pour in some yoghurt over the apples and granola then drizzle with some honey.
Recipe 2
TOASTED CHEESE SANDWICH WITH MACERATED WILD BERRIES
This is an easy lunchtime fix. Use whatever cheese you fancy but try and go for two (or three) contrasting types of cheese. This is a great way of using any wild berries you may happen to find on a hike. Fruit pairs well with cheese, here they add a bit of sweetness and tang in place of a chutney. I went for two types of cheese from Derbyshire - ‘Peakland White’, a crumbly, tangy cheese (like Cheshire) made using milk from Derbyshire. And ‘Bakewell Vintage Cobbler’ - a cheddar-style cheese.
Serves 2.
Ingredients:
A handful of bilberries
A handful of brambles (blackberries)
A handful of wild raspberries
Juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon of golden granulated sugar
100g cheddar cheese, sliced
100g Cheshire cheese, crumbled
4 slices of bread (sourdough preferably)
A small bunch of thyme, leaves picked
50g butter
To macerate the berries:
In cooking terms, the word ‘macerate’ basically means to soften. In a small saucepan add the berries, a squeeze of lemon and about a tablespoon or so of sugar. Bring the pan to a simmer and cook the berries to the desired consistency, try and keep some of the berries whole. Taste and add a little more sugar if required to sweeten. What you’re looking for is a nice balance of sweetness and acidity. Cooking time is only a few minutes, the liquid in the pan should be syrupy but not watery.
To make the sandwich:
Butter both sides of the bread, place some cheese on both slices of the bread then sprinkle over a few thyme leaves. Top some of the macerated berries over the cheese on one slice of bread then place the other slice on top. Place the sandwich in a small non-stick frying pan over medium heat. A knob of butter added to the pan assists in preventing the bread from burning too quickly. Cook the sandwich for a few minutes until the cheese starts to ooze out of it. Then carefully flip the sandwich over using a spatula to toast on the other side.
Recipe 3
CONFIT WILD DUCK WITH SLOW-COOKED LENTILS AND WILTED STINGING NETTLES
All the hard work is done beforehand here - duck legs cured in salt and spices then slow-cooked and preserved in duck fat. Lentils simmered slowly with vegetables and herbs in red wine and chicken stock. Once prepped all that’s required is reheating - very tasty post-hike nourishment. Stinging nettle leaves are added to the lentils to wilt towards the end of cooking and provide a spinach-like flavour. Nettles are also packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals - they’re a wild superfood basically. In lieu of nettles, you could use spinach instead. ‘Confit’ is an old method of preserving. A speciality of southwestern France, confit basically means to preserve. Here the duck legs are cured, then cooked and stored in duck fat. The resulting flavour is a wonderful thing. Once the meat is cooked it can be taken with you on a hike, then pan-seared to warm through and caramelise in a frying pan. Amazing aromas and great depth of flavour.
Note: If you can’t obtain any wild mallard legs just use duck legs, a lot of supermarkets sell them. Wild mallard tastes gamier and tends to be a bit leaner, so the confit process is the perfect cooking method for adding fat (and flavour)!
Serves 2.
Confit Duck:
2 duck legs (wild mallard if you can obtain it)
640 g duck fat
For the salt cure:
8g sea salt
1 star anise
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
4 juniper berries
3 cloves
1/4 tsp mixed peppercorns
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
Crush all of the above ingredients to a fine powder using a pestle and mortar or spice grinder. Leave the bay leaves whole.
Coat the duck legs evenly in the crushed salt and spices then refrigerate in a sealed container for a minimum of 12 hours or up to 36 hours to draw out moisture.
Rinse the duck legs under cold running water and then pat dry with kitchen paper then set aside.
Preheat the oven to 140°C.
Gently melt the duck fat in a heavy-based casserole pan with a lid over low heat, then gently submerge the duck legs in the duck fat. Put the lid on the pan then place in the oven and cook the duck legs for two hours.
When the duck legs are cooked, remove them from the fat then place them into a sealable container or jar with a lid. Pour over the duck fat until the duck legs are fully submerged. Allow to cool then refrigerate until needed. The duck legs will keep for two to three weeks. The remaining duck fat can be stored in a jar and reused.
Lentils:
200g Puy lentils (or green lentils), rinsed and drained
1 medium-sized carrot, finely diced
1 medium-sized onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
500ml chicken stock (preferably organic, low salt)
100ml red wine
100ml water
60g chopped tomatoes
2 sprigs of lovage (optional), leaves picked and finely chopped
1 sprig of rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
A small bunch of thyme, leaves picked and finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 red onion, peeled and thickly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
A good handful of stinging nettle leaves, washed
Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over low to medium heat then add the chopped carrot and onion, garlic cloves and bay leaves. Stir to coat in the oil, place the lid on the pan and gently sweat the vegetables for about 8 minutes until soft but not browned. Stir in the chopped herbs followed by the lentils and chopped tomatoes. Turn up the heat a little then add the red wine. Simmer until the red wine has reduced and appears syrupy not watery. Pour in the chicken stock and water. Cook the lentils until tender but still retaining their shape over a steady simmer for about 35 minutes. Add a little more water to the pan, if necessary, during cooking time. Once cooked, remove the whole garlic cloves and bay leaves.
To give the lentils a flavour boost; in a frying pan heat up some olive oil then gently fry thick slices of red onion for a few minutes until soft. Once cooked, add a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and stir to coat the onions. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the red onion to the cooked lentils.
Season the cooked lentils to taste, at the end of cooking, with sea salt and black pepper.
Store the lentils in a water-tight sealable container then refrigerate once cool.
To serve:
Pan-fry the duck legs in a small heavy-based non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary to the pan (to infuse some flavour) along with a handful of baby plum tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, to serve with the duck. Cook the duck legs for about five minutes to heat through and caramelise the meat on all sides.
Warm up the lentils in a medium-sized saucepan giving them a good stir. Re-heat time is about five to six minutes. Add a splash of water if necessary. Drop the stinging nettles into the pan during the last minute or so of cooking time, to wilt. The heat removes the sting from the nettles (in case you were wondering)
Serve the duck legs on top of the lentils, garnished with the tomatoes and herbs.
