Pieminister, the posh pie folk from Bristol came down to stay here with us for a couple of days earlier this year to forage for their new cook book (A pie for all seasons) and to use our place as a pie photoshoot location. It was a great couple of days and now their cook book is on the shelves. Follow this link pieminister cook book sneak preview. There's a fat hen foraging section in the book and my wild pie recipe of hare with alexanders. If you want to buy the book follow this link. Buy a pie for all seasons. It's had great reviews so far on Amazon.
Here's my sneak preview:
If you really want to know the recipe you'll have to buy the book.
It makes a lovely rich warming winter pie.
There's the hare and alexanders pie filling simmering away gently on the stove.
Now, other things: We had one of our Gourmet Wild Food Weekends on 10th/11th September. The weather was glorious, all the better for starting hideously early on Sat morning. We left for the beach on our first foraging trip, the timing couldn't have been better as the sea fog lifted just as we set foot on the beach to reveal a hot sun and clear blue sky. No-one else thought to go to the beach so we had it all to ourselves…. We had a great weekend with our new chefs, Mark Devonshire, ex Rick Stein cookery school tutor and Hannah Noel-Paton, ex Gurnards head amongst others.
Mark Devonshire
quote "there's nothing wrong with a bit of dirt in your leeks, we call it organic black pepper, it's all good for you!"
"no, please don't take a photo of me!"
Our guests made their own soda bread with wild berries, herbs and seaweeds to take home. They had a choice of elderberries, dried fennel flowers (fennel pollen in the trade), mugwort, alexanders, sea lettuce, gutweed, laver seaweed, dulse seaweed and black mustard. This was the result:
Everyone became incredibly territorial about their bread as I came through with my bread knife singling one out for our lunch… they were grabbed desperately and tucked away in their bags to take home. We had extra loaves so there was nothing to fear!
And we had confit rabbit with nettle taglietelle for our Sunday lunch main.
If you're wondering what the green tinge is in the pasta – it's the nettles.
We've got one more of these Gourmet Wild Food weekends left this year on October 1st-2nd. My wild food of the moment is the Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). If you want to find out a fantastic sea buckthorn berry recipe come on down to sunny Cornwall and be inspired. Book here
Happy Autumn Foraging. x