Recipes

I always think this meaty bracket fungus is the perfect beginner’s mushroom. Resembling a stack of bright yellow dinner plates on the side of a tree (usually oak), it’s highly visible, totally unmistakable and – better still – tastes great. This Indonesian inspired dish is an unusual, but delicious way of eating this substantial mushroom

This is a great way to use up excess milk and harness the delicate flavour of ramsoms at the same time . . . 1 litre Whole milk (you can use semi-skimmed) 100 ml White wine vinegar Handful of wild garlic leaves, finely chopped Salt (to taste) Bring the milk almost to boiling point. As […]

Cook the vol-au-vent cases according to the instructions (you can make your own of course, but I find it too much of a fiddle when the whole point is to have a tasty nibble with the minimum of fuss). Lightly sauté the garlic, onion, mushrooms and chicken (if used) in a little of the butter. Meanwhile, make a roux by melting the rest of the butter, stirring in the flour and mustard. When this has formed a thick paste, slowly stir in the milk, then the cream over a very low heat. Add the Parmesan and the mushroom mixture and season to taste. Leave to cool and then put a dollop in each vol-au-vent case. Garnish with a little chopped parsley, tarragon, chives, ramsoms or whatever takes your fancy and serve warm.

All mycophiles ought to try making their own bread and some of the most interesting and delicious rely on ‘wild’ yeasts. As with larger edible mushrooms, the concept is frightening to the modern mind because it requires you to abandon yourself to the randomness of natural decay. . . Wild yeasts are everywhere – since […]

I got this recipe from the wonderful Bill O’Dea who’s forgotten more things about mushrooms than I will ever learn. The sublime taste resembles coconut and honey . . . 500ml Cream 250ml Milk 100g Mascarpone. 6 Handfulls of gorse flowers 6 Egg yolks 80mls Honey Slowly raise the cream, milk, marscapone and flowers to […]

The only equipment you need is a ‘kettle’ barbeque (ie one with a lid). The important thing is to keep the temperature down – you want to infuse the chillies with smoke rather than cook them to a soggy pulp. One way of doing this is to have a normal barbeque with friends and then, as the last coals glow gently among the ash, put on handfuls of wood shavings. You can buy these loose or as pellets from the internet , better still, ask a local joiner for his waste – the only important thing is that these must be a hardwood: oak, ash, apple and plum are some of the best. The other consideration is what heat strength you want – this is obviously going to depend most on the type of chilli, but there will always be a fair amount of trial and error. If you end up with something which is far too fiery, make another batch using sweet peppers instead and then blend the two.

This lovely creamy dish uses dried morels, so isn’t tied to spring (although obviously it would work well with fresh). If you are on a budget, chicken livers are an even cheaper option – and of course vegetarians could dispense completely with the meat and just use more mushrooms (preferably oyster or shitake) . . […]

This fantastically luxurious, earthy, creamy soup is the perfect mid-winter pick-me-up . . . 500g Potatoes 500g Celeriac 1 Medium onion 3 Cloves garlic 1ltr Vegetable stock 50g Butter 300ml Single cream Truffle oil Chop the onion, potatoes and onion and fry in a little butter until softened, then add the garlic. Then pour in […]