Foraging in my Day

Ripe blackberries in hedgerow

When we were kids my father used to drive us up into fields near the Dublin Mountains to pick blackberries.  We did it every year and my memory is once we had stuffed our faces and our hands were black we started moaning we were bored and wanted to go home.  Of course we were never let and we had to at the very least fill the bowl we had been given.  When we got home my mother made jam and apple and blackberry tarts.  She used to freeze them as well and I remember trays in the freezer with fruit spread out until it could be picked off and bagged.

I continued on the tradition when my kids were small.  We used to head off with my son on his bike and my daughter in her buggy and Simba the dog in tow.  The kids had buckets and did all the usual moaning while Simba had a great time sniffing out rabbits.

I always remember getting the "funny looks" from passing cars.  At least I thought they were looking at me strangely but maybe they were just curious as to what we were doing.  You always got the odd one who stopped, rolled down the window and gave some sort of advice re: maggots, bugs, pollution etc.

Blackberry jam is up there with the greats and by the greats I mean raspberry and apricot - my favourites.

Blackberry and apple crumble is sublime served with big dollops of whipped cream.  Pure comfort food.

Blackberries also freeze really well and you don't have to go to the trouble my mother did trying to freeze the berries separately.  Unlike softer fruit they don't go into a mush when they defrost and they keep their flavour. 

Plus and it's a very big plus - they are free; they are full of vitamins and anti-oxidants and they have not been flown half way around the globe having been sprayed with pesticides en route. 

Blackberry and apple tart and blackberry muffin

So get back to your roots and go blackberry picking.  Make a day out. Pack a picnic.  Take the dog and the kids.  Then when you get home make a big blackberry and apple tart and enjoy!

Muffin recipe here
Basic tart recipe here

Meaningless

For a long time now I have steered clear of anything packaged that describes itself as "artisan".  It has fast become the most overused, meaningless word.  Describing everything from genuinely craft-made to processed ham that came from the "oink" of a pig.

The true definition of artisan is an object or item made by a craftsman as opposed to a machine.

An "artisan" food made in an intensive production plant is not artisan; rather it may have been made to an artisan recipe but more than likely was not.

Another overused word is "gourmet".

Gourmet cat food

I saw a comment on Twitter recently that since gourmet is now used to describe cat and dog food it really has become ridiculous.

Farmers' Market to my mind conjures up images of a market where farmers wheel up and sell their excess produce. Not the markets we have, where everything from jars of imported Italian pesto and Tapanade are sold alongside car-boot-style junk and cupcakes.

Or a friend who recently described a lifestyle store as selling "boom-time tat".  It actually sold grossly overpriced lifestyle goods including a range of outrageously expensive "gourmet/artisan" foods.

Free range another meaningless description.  Apparently Bord Bia have written a new definition of this. I can't wait to see chickens sold in supermarkets when this new definition becomes law.  Will the ones currently described as free range now be described as "almost" free range?

It really is a refreshing to see a product well-presented and described for what it is.  No overblown claims - relying on the quality and taste to make a repeat sale.  If a product does not rely on eye-catching packaging, extravagant claims or even lies then the chances are it is worth a try.

Plan Ahead Chilli

Cooking something fresh every day is a great aspiration, however life invariably gets in the way.  When you have small kids - as I did in the long distant past, I used this method, and even now when I live mostly on my own it works as well.

It means that when there are times you don't feel like cooking, you can't be bothered driving for a takeaway or just when you are in a rush, you always have something at hand in your freezer take away.

The essentials are a freezer and a microwave because, unless you are super-organised you will forget to take your food out of the freezer on time.

Another essential is labelling.  Sounds obvious but I have lost count of how many times I have taken out a curry, because I felt like curry (my mother used to kill us for saying this) only to discover it was beef stew or a pasta sauce.

The way to do it is to always cook more than you need.  Always!

And then to save those great plastic takeaway containers and use them to freeze your extra into individual portions.  Luckily I have friends who seem to live on takeaways and they save the containers for me.  Incidentally, they think I am mad!

Lots of meals work for this - chilli being one. I also cook extra rice and freeze it so I don't even have to go to the trouble of cooking it.

Chilli is one of those dishes everyone has a different way of cooking and I have heard arguments about whether it should contain beans or even meat.  I spent a year and a half in California and during that time I dipped into Mexico - okay it was Tijuana , but still Mexico.  My recipe has developed over years of experimentation and it is the one I am happy with.

Chilli con Carne

2 medium onions diced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 carrot diced
1 stick celery diced (if you want to conceal the carrot and celery from small kids or big ones grate them)
454g mince beef or diced rib beef
1 tin kidney beans
1 tin mixed beans or broad beans (as with celery and carrot - mash if you want to conceal them)
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon hot chilli powder
2 heaped teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon turmeric.


Fry the onion and garlic until soft and just coloured.  Add in spices and cook for a few minutes.  Add in the celery and carrot.  Add beef, beans, tomatoes and cook over a low heat for at least an hour.  The longer it's cooked the nicer it is.  It is also much nicer a day or two after cooking.

Serve with rice.

When my kids were small I used to disguise all sorts of vegetables in dishes like this either grating them or chopping them very finely.  My son hated beans so I used to mash one tin and then allow him to pick out the ones he could see.  He was happy as he thought he had got away without eating them - little did he know! I also add the turmeric as it apparently has all sorts of anti-inflammatory properties and you don't taste it. 

Freeze the leftovers in Chinese takeaway plastic lidded containers.

The above recipe makes enough for 6-8 servings.

I freeze curries, stews, lasagne, pasta sauces and fish pie using this method of always cooking extra.  It's so much easier to cook extra than trying to batch cook on your day off.