Wild Garlic – Dr Pippa

Wild Garlic Sourdough Focaccia

April 26, 2024April 26, 2024Posted in Light Bites & Snacks, Recipes, SidesTagged Bread, Fermentation, Plant based, seasonal, Sourdough, vegan, vegetarian, Wild GarlicLeave a comment

I’m still trying to savour the wild garlic season, and I love baking it into bread. You can freeze the bread and use it in the months to come so further preserve the flavour of it.

For more information about making sourdough and the various stages visit my page on sourdough bread.

Makes 2 x 9″ square tins, but you could bake one large, or make a very deep focaccia

Ingredients

150g levain, refreshed 8-12 hours earlier
15ml extra virgin olive oil plus extra for later
150g wholemeal bread flour
600g white bread flour
12g salt plus extra to top
A big bunch of wild garlic, roughly chopped – the more you put in the more garlicky the flavour
A few sprigs of rosemary (optional)

Method

Mix the levain, 500ml water and 15ml olive oil together before adding the flours and mixing to make a shaggy dough. Leave for 30 minutes covered.
Mix 12g of salt with 75ml water till dissolved, and pour over the dough, scrunching the dough with your hand to mix it in. The dough should look very rough and almost broken into small pieces. Cover and leave for 45 minutes.
Over the next few hours complete 4 sets of coil folds, adding the wild garlic in during the 2nd coil fold, allowing the dough to rest for 45-60 minute between each fold.
Grease two non-stick baking trays with olive oil (if not using non-stick line with baking parchment and add olive oil to the parchment). Tip out don’t the work surface and divide the dough into two. Gently transfer to the baking tray and push the dough over the surface so it reaches the corners as best you can – there will be some resistance so don’t force it.
Cover the dough and leave in the fridge to slowly rise overnight – anywhere between 8-24 hours depending on your schedule
The next day preheat your oven to maximum temperature, add a small empty tray to the bottom of the oven for steam later, and remove the focaccia from the fridge.
Once the oven is up to temperature, uncover the dough and drizzle with a little olive oil. Using wet fingers, press your fingertips through the surface of the dough to create plenty of dimples. Add rosemary to the dimples, sprinkle with a little extra salt and then flick water over the surface of your dough with your fingertips. Adding extra moisture will give a softer crust, so if you want a very crispy top omit this step along with the steam.
Place the focaccia in the oven, adding water into the hot tray to create steam, closing the door as quickly as possible to trap the steam in, and reduce the oven temperature to 225°C fan/ 245°C convection for 20 minutes.
Remove the tray with water and bake for another 5 minutes* till the crust is golden.
Remove from the oven, and allow to cool on a wire rack.

*if baking a thicker focaccia you may need an extra 5-10 minutes to fully cook the dough.

Wild Garlic and Prawn Dumplings

April 13, 2022Posted in Light Bites & Snacks, Recipes, SidesTagged Asian, Dumplings, Prawn, seasonal, Wild GarlicLeave a comment

I’m not sure it would truly count as Spring if I didn’t make something glorious and green with wild garlic!

If you can’t get wild garlic, or it’s out of season, you can use garlic chives as an alternative and still get that lovely allium flavour through the dumplings. If you can’t get these either you can replace with spinach, and then add a minced garlic clove to the prawn filling – you will still get a gorgeous green hue in the dumpling wrappers, and the addition of a garlic clove to the mixture will add all the flavour you need.

Makes 12 dumplings

Ingredients

For the dumpling skins

50g wild garlic or spinach leaves
108g plain flour
12g corn flour

For the filling

150g raw prawns, minced
50g bamboo shoots, roughly chopped
5g fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp corn flour
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil, plus extra for cooking
White pepper to taste
(1 garlic clove, minced if using spinach)
1 tsp rapeseed oil

Method

To make the dumpling skins start by blending the wild garlic leaves to a paste. Strain the liquid off, weighing it as you do.
In a bowl, add the plain and corn flour, mixing together.
Take the strained liquid and top up with boiling water to make a total of 62g of liquid. Add this hot mixture to the flour and stir to a shaggy mixture. Cover and leave for 10-30 minutes.
Knead the dough till it is smooth and elastic. Cover and rest for 30-60 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare your filling by mixing all the ingredients together, except for the rapeseed oil.
Roll the dough into a long sausage shape and divide into 12 equal rounds.
Take one round, and cover the reaming pieces of dough, and press down with the palm of your hand on the cut surface to create a flat disk. Using a rolling pin, roll from the centre out, turn a quarter and repeat till you have created a round flat disk with a thin edge.
If not using immediately, cover to prevent it from drying it out as you continue to roll out the remaining dough.
Take one dumpling skin and fill it with a heaped teaspoon of the mixture. Using a little water over one half of the inside of the dough, start from one end and gently pinch with an overlap to seal each dumpling in a crescent shape. Repeat with the rest of the dough and mixture.
Add the rapeseed oil to a frying pan and heat gently. Arrange the dumplings so they have at least 1cm between each dumpling – you may need to cook them in batches depending on the size of your pan.
Cook for 2-3 minutes on a medium heat till the bottom turns golden on the bottom.
Boil the kettle and add water directly into the pan so it come up to the bottom third of the dumpling. Immediately cover with a lid to steam the dumplings.
After 5 minutes, remove the lid and allow any remaining liquid to evaporate off, add a dash of sesame oil to finish and crisp the bottom for 1 minute.
Remove from the pan and enjoy hot.

Per 4 dumplings: 232kcal/ 5.3g fat/ 0.8g saturated fat/ 32g carbohydrates/ 2.7g fibre/ 13g protein

Sheep’s Cheese and Wild Garlic Scones

April 14, 2021April 14, 2021Posted in Light Bites & Snacks, SidesTagged Goats Cheese, Scone, vegetarian, Wild GarlicLeave a comment

Seasonal savoury scones. If you can’t get wild garlic, or it’s our of season, substitute with chives, spring onions, or spinach with a small clove of grated garlic.

Don’t like sheep’s cheese? Whatever cheese you like would be suitable as long as it is medium-hard e.g. Gruyere, Manchego, Cheddar, Wensleydale, Goat’s etc

Makes 9 scones

Ingredients

125g plain wholemeal flour
125g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g butter, cold, cut into small cubes
125g hard sheep’s cheese, grated
30g wild garlic, roughly chopped
1 egg
Approximately 140ml semi-skimmed milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C fan
Add the flours, baking powder and butter to a large mixing bowl. Mix the butter into the flour using your fingertips till it resembles breadcrumbs.
Mix 100g of the cheese in, reserving 25g, and all the wild garlic.
Crack the egg into a measuring jug and top the volume up to 200ml of liquid with milk. Mix.
Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients – you may not need it all so hold back around 20ml – and mix to form a soft but sticky dough.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 30 seconds till it comes together.
Roll out to 2.5cm (1 inch) thick and using a 6-7cm cutter, cut rounds of the mixture out, dredging the cutter with flour between each cut to keep the sides clean.
Reroll any remaining dough.
Place the scones onto a lined baking tray, brush the top with any remaining egg milk mixture and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 15 minutes till risen and golden brown.
Transfer onto a wire rack.
Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freezing for up to 3 months.

Per scone*: 205kcal/ 10.1g fat/ 6.0g saturated fat/ 20.8g carbohydrates/ 2.4g fibre/ 7.2g protein

*Analysis done using chive nutritional information.

Wild Garlic Pesto

April 1, 2021Posted in Educational Hub, Light Bites & Snacks, Main Meals, Recipes, SidesTagged Garlic, Low FODMAP, Pesto, vegetarian, Wild GarlicLeave a comment

Could wild garlic be a low FODMAP alternative to garlic?

A 2019 paper investigated the fructan content of wild garlic and other herbs commonly used in Bulgaria. From their analysis, the authors found that the total fructans (FODMAPs) were lower in wild garlic in comparison to chives (2.2g vs 5.7g per 100g dried weight). Interestingly, people following low FODMAP diets tolerate chives and are encouraged to use chives in place of onions in recipes. While this research hasn’t been validated by Monash University, the leading site for low FODMAP food analysis, the finding suggest it may be worth self-challenging yourself! If you happen to know that garlic is one of your trigger foods and are able (and willing) to try this herb, please do get in touch to let me know how you got on.

Serve 4-5 people

Ingredients

100g wild garlic, roughly chopped
30g basil, leaves and stalks roughly chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
40g toasted pine nuts
45g parmesan, grated

Method

Blend the wild garlic, basil, olive oil and lemon juice together.
Add the pine nuts and parmesan and blend to the consistency of your choice – I prefer to keep mine with some texture in it.

Delicious served with my egg pasta recipe. If you want a double hit of wild garlic, try adding in a handful of wild garlic to make it vibrant green.

Any leftover pesto can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days – layer a little oil over the top to help reduce any oxidation. Alternatively, you can freeze your pesto in containers, or in ice cube trays for future use.

NOTE: Wild garlic looks very similar to the poisonous Lily of the Valley. If you aren’t sure, do not pick. Alternatively, it is available to buy for supermarkets, farmer’s markets, and to grow at home from garden centres.