foraging fun with magic elder

This year the elderflowers bloomed early and I never managed to get myself out to forage them until last weekend, when low and behold, they had all but disappeared. Undeterred, I foraged as many as I could with my friend K, we reached as high as we could and picked the remaining flowers. We specially selected the ones that weren't brown, and of course avoid any hint of berries.

So, what to do with such a small number of elders? I could have made a small batch of elderflower cordial but was it worth the sticky mess? I had the citric acid from my foraging buddy J, who had bought be some in Austria. But I had no muslin. And elderflower does make the kitchen VERY sticky...

So, while scanning my favourite blog, Ms Marmite, I noticed she had a recipe for elderflower fritters. I had stumbled across this recipe before and was dying to give it a go. I also had all the ingredients- small miracle given my usual 'inventive' way of cooking....

So here, it is, step by step to making the fritters, which can be sweet or savoury. I opted for sweet...they were really tasty and there is something decadent about eating flowers picked from Haggerston Park.

Step 1: select the best elderflowers in your batch

Step 2: Make batter. Here's Ms Marmite's recipe- and please check out her blog- it's amazing- 

http://marmitelover.blogspot.com/

Elderflower fritters

8 -12 Elderflower heads

Oil for deep frying

Batter:

1 egg, beaten

200g sifted plain flour,

20g corn flour

180ml soda water or sparkling water, chilled

Sea Salt, to taste

• Mix all the batter ingredients in a bowl, salt to taste. Don't overwhisk the batter as it'll get too tough.
• Heat the oil in a deep fat fryer to around 190C. Dip the Elderflowers lightly in the batter, then deep fry until lightly golden. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and serve immediately.
• Option: sweet Elderflower fritters. Replace the salt with sugar and sprinkle with sugar. 

Step 3: Heat oil in pan and dip elderflowers into batter. Fry and flip until golden.

Step 4: Serve. We had ours with vanilla ice- cream and home grown strawberry. 

There was something really special about eating a dessert that had been handpicked in the park, then fried with ingredients in the cupboard and then my own strawberry. Could not stop smiling.

I washed the dessert down with nettle tea foraged by J in Ireland. I really admire her for making this tea- I'm a little scared of the sting!

PS- leftover fritter batter worked really well with bananas the following day. Not such a special feeling as the elderflowers though!

summer weekday meals

It's been lovely and warm this week and I've been waiting for summer days like this to try out a recipe from Ottelenghi cookbook.

It's a simple salad of watermelon, feta cheese, red onion, basil and pepper. So light and refreshing. I served the salad on one of my favourite items of crockery, a wonderful gift from one of the pumpkins B. It is a family treasure so felt very honoured to be given it.

This salad wouldn't fill you up after a hard's day work, so I roasted mini aubergines, mushroom and served on a bed of spinach, flaxseeds, honegar, avocado and beetroot. A lovely, quick and tasty weekday dinner. Voila!

hey big spender

So, we were trundling along in Margate, we'd seen the new Turner Gallery, which I really enjoyed. It's a fantastic space and some nice pieced of art. Well worth the visit. But I'm no art critic and this blog is supposed to be about crockery, cakes and caffs...

and just  heading up the sea front to find the infamous Shell Grotto (which is mystifying, magical and wonderful)

I loved the way Margate was all run down and just by the Lido there was a car boot sale.

I splashed out on a teapot and a plate for the grand price of £1.50. I was feeling generous so paid him £2.

The tea pot looked lovely displayed back at the Reading Rooms. I love the owl tea pot..

reading rooms margate

If anyone is looking for a romantic, peaceful and inspiring weekend away, I couldn't suggest anywhere better than the Reading Rooms in Margate. It was heavenly- so relaxing and with amazing attention to detail.

We stayed in Room 3, which has a sea view. One of the pleasures of the Reading Rooms was coming back from long walks to find fresh bakery treats in the room. Perfect with a cup of tea and to ponder life while admiring your surroundings.

afternoon treat

They were from Clifton Bakery- never made it there - but plan to next time I'm in town- it sounded great and these little treats were delightful.

One of best things about the Reading Rooms is the absolute privacy- the only time this is disturbed is when breakfast is brought direct to your room- but it is so lovely to sit in your robe and nibble all the treats....so delicious and lots on offer for vegetarians.

 Freshly squeezed carrot, ginger and orange juice to drink, and the full vegetarian breakfast was roast vine tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage and halloumi cheese. 

The following morning I decided to try cream cheese, honey and cinnamon on toast and what a taste sensation. I have officially found my new favourite breakfast. I dare you to try it.

I didn't take enough interior pictures of the Reading Rooms, but there are plenty on the website

http://www.thereadingroomsmargate.co.uk/

It's a perfect little getaway and very romantic. So romantic that my girl and I decided to take the plunge and have a civil partnership this September...

sacretorte by the see

A trip to Austria would not be complete without a taste of my favourite cake- the Sacretorte. I was introduced to this delightful cake by fellow enthusiast J :)

So, it was my last day in Tirol, which we had spent reading and sunning ourselves by a wonderful lake (or See in German- I think)

We wanted to soak up the last drops of sunshine before heading back to Blighty and found a lovely outdoor cafe. We sat in the garden and enjoyed all the beautiful birds flying around us.

We wanted to eat here but it was full, a lovely lakeside cafe

And here is a picture of the famous cake- a winning combination of chocolate and apricot. YUM.

coffee by zaha hadid

It was a sunny Austrian day and we took the cable car designed by Zaha Hadid up to the top of the mountain in Innsbruck. The stations were something else,  apparently they were made to look like ice. The curved shapes were beautiful.

After getting to the top and then halfway down, we stopped for lunch in the sunshine at a really cute little cafe. Not sure of the name but it's the only one there (I think)

I swiftly ordered a melange, feeling happy I knew the local lingo. Only to be told melange was used only in Vienna....doh! So, cappuccino it was. It was my favourite coffee of the whole trip, full of body , perfect temperature. Of course being in such beautiful surroundings helped.

We were absolutely starving, the menu was good, lots of vegetarian options. I went for the strudel (picture is weird as I'm still working out macros for new camera)

lemon and basil recipe

As requested by Anon here's the lemon and basil recipe, courtesy of my friend in Holland C....

Great cake!

Here's the recipe! It's very easy to make, you can even mix in the pan it bakes in.

Ingredients

1 cup flour
¾ cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
A handful fresh basil leaves (you can also make this with 2 tbsp poppy seeds instead, different cake, but also a possibility)
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup water
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp grated lemon peel
3 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

Heat oven to 180C (350F).
Mix flours, sugar, fresh basil or poppy seeds, soda and salt in a greased 8 inch square or round pan. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bake 40 minutes, middle of the oven.
Cool in pan 10 minutes, un-mould onto wire rack and cool completely.

Glazing: there are many glazing and frosting recipes you can make. I avoid anything with powdered (confectioner's) sugar, so this was the glaze I made which was good, but you can use less sugar, just go by eye. The sugar does make it all crunchy, I like that! Make some holes into the cake so when you pour the glaze it drizzles into the cake.

GLAZE:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
3/4 cup sugar

Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over the warm cake. Cool completely before serving.