Chicken and Mushroom Pie

St George’s mushrooms work particularly well with white meats. Personally I prefer to use a fresh wild rabbit rather than chicken, harnessing two of the best wild foods to be found in spring, but most people probably find chicken more acceptable and certainly easier to come by.

1             Onion
3 cloves Garlic
1 tbspn   Dijon mustard
250g     St George’s
500g     Diced chicken (or rabbit)
1 tbsn     Plain flour
150g     Single cream
250g     Puff pastry


Lightly sauté the onion and garlic. When translucent, add the meat and seal, then add the mushrooms and cook gently for five minutes. Stir in the mustard and flour, then the cream. Season to taste with black pepper and salt. Roll out the pastry and line a suitable dish, reserving a third for the top. Fill with the chicken and mushroom mix, then cover with the remaining pastry. Brush the surface with milk or beaten egg to produce a glaze. Bake in a hot oven (Reg. 5/160C) for 30 minutes until the surface begins to brown lightly.

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Mushroom Newsletter (10 May 2010)
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Mushroom Newsletter (4 June 2010)
Mushroom Newsletter (8 November)
Mushroom Newsletter (9 December 2009)
Mushroom Newsletter (Chanterelles - July 2010)
Mushroom Newsletter 3 June
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Newsletter Porcini (August 2010)

Wild Food

Our ancestors relied on wild food from the fields and woods, great great grandfathers were transported for helping themselves, while Mabey, Mears and Fearnley-Whittingstall have introduced a new generation to its charms. So what free delicacies are available now?

Alexanders
Birch Sap Wine
Chanterelles
Chestnut
Cockles
Elderberries
Hairy Bittercress
Hogweed
Hops (March 2010)
Morel
Pennywort
Ramsoms (May 2010)
Red-legged partridge
Seaweed (August 2010)
Signal Crayfish
Silver Birch
Sloe
St Georges (April 2010)
Stinging Nettles
Wild strawberries

Wildlife Profile

Britain is blessed with a rich and varied fauna - what seasonal highlights are visible now?

Badger
Barn Owl
Bats
Brown Hare
Butterflies
Fieldfares
Frog
Garden Warbler
Great spotted woodpecker
Hedgehogs
Jay
Kingfisher
Midges (August 2010)
Mistle Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Moths (July 2010)
Nightjar
Nuthatch (June 2010)
Partridge
Redstart
Roe Deer
Spiders
Tawny Owl
The Goshawk

Recipes

Just as we Britons have lost any mushroom lore we might once have possessed, so most of us are at a loss when we finally venture into the kitchen with our haul. In reality, however, mushrooms are one of the easiest things to work with. They have such fantastic flavours, the general rule is to not to mask these with complicated recipes. Most should be cooked, particularly the first time, because they can be indigestible, but otherwise, simple is usually best . . .

Baked eggs and rocket with chilli and yoghurt (June 2010)
Chanterelle and Feta Quiche
Chanterelles a la forestiere
Chicken and Mushroom Pie
Chicken-of-the-Woods Satay
Elderflower Cordial
Grilled Cepes
Jew's Ear on Pasta
Morel Fondue
Morel Stroganoff (March 2010)
Parasol Tempura
Pearl Barley and Wild Mushroom Risotto
Shaggy Ink Cap Soup
St Georges Vol-au-Vents
Thai Mushroom Soup
Venison and Blewit Casserole
Wild Mushroom and Nut Pate
Wild mushroom soup