WILD GARLIC FOCACCIA

For the biga

150g strong white bread flour
2g active dried yeast
30mL olive oil
120mL room temperature water

In a mixing bowl bring together all of the ingredients for the biga and mix by hand for about five minutes. Cover the dough and place in the fridge for 8-12 hours

This slow fermentation builds up delicious flavour compounds and allows the yeast to build in strength.

Now for the focaccia dough -

230mL warm water (around 40ºc)
300g strong white bread flour
5g salt
3g active dried yeast
40mL olive oil
Extra oil for your hands and drizzling

To garnish

Good handful of fresh wild garlic leaves
Sea salt

In a large mixing bowl, combine the biga and the water and mix for a couple of minutes. Add the remaining focaccia ingredients and bring the dough together. Knead for five minutes until it starts to feel elastic. The dough should be soft, loose and sticky. You may find it easier to keep the dough in the bowl to knead it. With oiled hands fold the outside edges of the dough into the centre and flip it over in the bowl, then cover the whole exposed surface with the olive oil.

Cover and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes. Now you want to begin a series of folds; carefully lifting and pulling the dough from each corner into the middle, trapping in the air and building the structure. Ideally this is repeated four or five times throughout the proving time, or you can just leave your dough to prove at room temperature for a total of about two hours.

Heavily oil a roasting tray or line a large baking tray with silicone paper.

Once again, fold the dough over in the bowl, bringing the outside edges over. Lift the dough out carefully and place it into the tray. Leave for ten minutes.

Brush olive oil over the whole surface of the loaf, then push your fingers into the dough to create dimples on the surface. Be bold, but take care not to tear or stretch the dough out too much. Push out to fill the whole tray.

Roughly chop some of the wild garlic leaves and sprinkle over the top of the loaf. Push the leaves into the dough. Sprinkle with the sea salt and leave for about forty minutes to an hour, until beautifully risen. Finely slice the remaining garlic and combine with a little olive oil, keep to one side.

Place into a preheated oven at 220ºc. Bake for ten minutes, then rotate the tray and bake for another ten minutes. Turn the oven down to 200ºc and bake for a further five minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with the remaining wild garlic and olive oil.

Allow to rest for 15 minutes and serve slightly warm.

 
 

PICKLED CARROTS WITH TARRAGON

Our favourite way to capture the sweetness of baby carrots to use all year round.

500g baby carrots
300mL dry cider
200g cider vinegar
50g caster sugar
50g honey
1 star anise
Black peppercorns
Salt
Fresh tarragon

A pickling liquid is something that must be tasted; the spices can change to one’s preference.

Put all ingredients except the carrots and tarragon into a pot and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, peel the sweet, new season baby carrots and split into quarters, lengthways.

Sample the pickling liquid and adjust the spice and seasoning to suit your taste. Add the carrots and simmer for two minutes or so before adding the tarragon. Put into hot, sterilised jars. Store in a cool place.

Serve as a nibble or add sweetness and crunch to salads.

WATER KEFIR

To make a batch of water kefir you need to have some water kefir grains. These are known as a SCOBY, a Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast.  Water kefir is just one of many names for this culture, that in the restaurant we use to ferment a sugary liquid to which we add lemon and a little dried fruit to bring a fruity flavour to the finished sparkling drink.

The term grains is purely to do with the appearance; there are no actual grains used in the process. It is also important to remember that milk kefir and water kefir grains are not the same. Their appearance is similar, but for this recipe we require water kefir grains.

 Making your own water kefir is a fun and simple process. As with all preserving and fermenting, it is beneficial to collect all your equipment and ingredients before starting and important that your fermenting vessel and other equipment has been cleaned well. 

Caring for your grains requires a little work; if keeping them in a jar in the fridge it is good to add a teaspoon of sugar every three days to keep them ticking over. If they are happy, then they will multiply so share them with friends and family. Having a weekly rhythm is useful when making kefir; we make it twice a week for the restaurant, meaning we have a super sparkly drink with a slightly sour tang, like a lemonade with more funk. The finished kefir will store for about a week in the fridge with the flavour becoming more sour each day.

 We would like to say a huge thank you to Naomi Devlin for sending us our starter grains. The recipe we use in the restaurant is an adaptation from her wonderful book, Food for a Happy Gut, a super guide for healthy gastronomy and a constant source of inspiration. Naomi recommends for newcomers to kefir to indulge in small glass or 2 each day then slowly increase the quantity you drink over a week as the probiotic can cause a little bloating for some people and has a cleansing action on the liver for others. People with no digestive issues can probably consume as much as they like.

Ingredients
1L warm, unchlorinated  water (our tap water on the farm is fine, but you can use filtered water if you are concerned about your own; heavily chlorinated water kills off the grains)
2 tbsp water kefir grains
3 tbsp organic cane sugar
a slice of organic, unwaxed lemon
2 unsulphured apricots (alternative dried fruit can be used resulting in different final flavours)

Equipment
1.5L fermentation crock or glass jar with lid or cheese cloth
1 whisk or wooden spoon
2x 750mL or equivalent swing top glass bottles
1 measuring jug
1 funnel (for bottling)
1 small sieve
1 jam jar for storing grains

Begin by cleaning your equipment. This can be done by simply washing everything in hot soapy water and rinsing well. Then fill and boil the kettle and slosh the boiling water over all the equipment. Allow everything to cool to room temperature and then get started immediately.

Once the equipment is ready, pour the warm water into the fermenting vessel, add the sugar and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Then add the kefir grains, dried fruit and lemon slice and gently mix for a few seconds. Place the lid on loosely, or secure the cheese cloth with an elastic band. This ferment is not reliant on oxygen, but it will begin to produce gas, so it’s good to allow some kind of release. We only cover ours to prevent foreign bodies climbing inside and floating amongst the grains.

Leave the jar to ferment at room temperature for up to 48 hours. The longer the ferment the more sour it becomes. We find that 24 hours fermentation before bottling is perfect for us. The trick is to have a little taste along the way. The drink won’t yet feel carbonated, but you can decide on the acidity you prefer.

Once you are happy with the flavour, it’s time to bottle. Using a clean spoon, fish out the now rehydrated fruit and the lemon. Carefully pour the grains and liquid through a sieve and into a clean measuring jug. The grains can now be stored in your jar, making sure they are covered with water and fed every two or three days with a teaspoon of sugar. Leaving the grains in the same solution without the addition of sugar will eventually kill them, so look after them and keep making fresh batches of kefir.

Carefully pour your kefir into your clean bottles using the funnel. Seal the bottles with the swing tops and leave at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Check the fizz by opening a bottle every few hours. Don’t leave too long at room temperature otherwise the bottles may explode; I am know this from personal experience!

The kefir can be enjoyed as it is or mixed, as we do with a little homemade fruit or herbal cordial. Enjoy!

WILD GARLIC CAPERS

Trill’s wild garlic grows deep in the forest, close to the river and when it awakens in spring it transforms the forest floor to green and fills the air with its pungent aroma.
The leaves make wonderful pestos, butters and are a great addition as a dressing for a wild spring salad of dandelion leaves, pennywort and ground elder. The roots are also edible, scrubbed, poached in milk and warmed in good butter. Once the leaves are fully grown, the plant goes to flower and after the flower comes my favourite part, the seeds.

To pick the seeds wait until the petals begin to fall, this is when they are full off flavour and packed full of juice. I love to gently sauté these little flavour bombs in butter and serve them with squid, lemon and a pinch of cayenne. This recipe allows us to preserve them for later in the year. It also means that we can add to the larder of native ingredients. They’re salty, sour & delicious!

After collecting the seed heads, simply snip of the small seeds; don’t worry if there’s a little stalk left on the seeds, it’s all edible. Firstly, in a non-metallic container generously sprinkle the seeds with sea salt, cover the container and place in the fridge. Leave the seeds for two weeks to cure. After two weeks, empty the seeds into a sieve. The salt will be wet but can be reused.  Wash the salty seeds under the cold tap. Allow to drip dry for ten minutes.
Meanwhile, make your pickling liquid.

For 200g of seeds you will need roughly 250ml pickling liquid

200mL cider vinegar
100g sugar of your choice
1 bay leaf (optional)
A pinch of black pepper
1 sprig rosemary (optional)

Boil all the ingredients together. Add the wild garlic seeds and return to the boil, then quickly pour into sterilised jars and seal immediately.

Store in a cool place for one month before using. They will last for one year.

PRESERVED LEMONS

1kg unwaxed lemons
300g sea salt
1 tsp black peppercorns
3 bay leaves, sliced into strips
1 tsp coriander seeds

To fill a 1L Kilner jar.

Firstly, make the cure. In a pestle and mortar coarsely crush the peppercorns and coriander, then combine in a bowl with the salt and bay leaves. Mix well.

Slice the lemons in half lengthways and again into quarters, and squeeze to remove juice - the juice can be used for something else or added to the preserve. Add the used rinds to the cure mixture. Combine well, making sure to rub the salt into all the little nooks and crannies.

Sterilise your jar then scatter a little of the cure in first. Pack the lemons in alternating layers with the cure until the jar is completely full and each lemon piece is surrounded by the salt and spices. The lemons should be completely covered so add a little more salt, if needs be.

Seal the jar and keep in a dark room for at least one month before use.

At the ODK, we use the preserved lemons in a multitude of ways, but our favourite is making our Lemon Tasty Paste, combining puréed preserved lemon with rosemary, raw garlic, fresh lemon juice and olive oil. We turn this into dressings for winter cabbages, replace parmesan in our dairy-free pestos or rub onto chickens before roasting. Yum!

CHARRED CABBAGE WITH FRIED BROWN RICE & SAUERKRAUT

2 large pointed cabbages
1 tbsp fennel seeds
150mL dry white wine
100mL unsweetened apple juice
50mL olive oil
20g unsalted butter
1 lemon (cut in half)
1 tbsp natural yoghurt
3 tbsp red cabbage sauerkraut
400g cooked rice
salt

Begin by splitting the cabbage into quarters lengthwise. Salt the cabbage well and allow to sit for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile heat a quarter of the olive oil and butter in a frying pan until the butter begins to foam, add the sauerkraut and fry for five minutes or so. Add the rice and reduce the heat to low. Stir the rice every few minutes with a wooden spoon until it becomes crisp. This mixture should be crunchy and savoury.

Heat another frying pan until hot, add the cabbages and char on the two cut sides. Do the same to the lemon. Add the fennel seeds and toast briefly, then add the white wine and apple juice.

Reduce the liquid until it becomes syrupy and add the remaining olive oil. Turn down the heat and place a lid on the pan; cook gently until the cabbage is tender. This will take around ten minutes. When the cabbage is soft, squeeze the juice from the lemon and remove from the pan. Add the yoghurt and combine.

Plate the cabbage and spoon over the crispy brown rice.