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Vegetables in a Small Garden: Simple Steps to Success (RHS Simple Steps to Success)

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At any second millions of our most valuable wild mushrooms will burst forth along railway lines, waste ground and even on golf courses, only to fade and rot, ignored by passers by. Yet only yards away their mere mention as an ingredient can double the price of a restaurant dish: try switching the name of chicken supreme to poussin aux morrilles.

Most chefs would rate the morel second only to the truffle in the taste rankings, although aesthetes would retort only a wizened black truffle could be uglier. They both have a point. The morel has a superbly aromatic flavour, but its thick white stalk is topped with a brown honeycombed cap which resembles a brain coral. As it ages, this fades to yellow and becomes deeply pitted, looking anything but appetising – until, that is, they have been through the hands of a sympathetic chef.

These mushrooms are fungal opportunists, springing up on any suitable ground, although they generally prefer sandy alkaline soils. They can grow beneath both conifers and deciduous trees (particularly ash), but are equally at home in the open – golf links are a favourite habitat. They also have a liking for aftermath of devastating fires, for the combination of bare soil and plenty of potash rich ash creates the perfect conditions. As a result they can grow around bonfires and flushed in huge numbers on London bombsites after the Blitz, nourished by lime from the fire-baked mortar. In the same vein, American websites list forest fire co-ordinates, knowing full well that two years later these are likely to be rich in morels.

Yet despite their bizarre appearance, wide distribution and love of destruction, morels are anything but easy to find. The otherwise conspicuous pale stalk is often masked by grass or foliage, while the muted, pitted, cap blends in with most backgrounds. They can grow in profusion, however, so once the first find is made, search hard – particularly along the path of prevailing winds – to find more.

Until recently, edible morels were divided into half a dozen species – a fact still reflected in most guide books. Mycology is barely a century old, however, and the experts keep changing their minds. Current thinking says there is just one main species, with regional variations of cap colour, size and shape. Grouping them all together causes less surprise among gastronomes, for cooks have always treated each variation with the same degree of veneration. One word of warning, however: there is a poisonous look-alike, the false morel. This usually grows under conifers and its cap is actually more deeply convoluted than pitted, resembling a brain – but more importantly, its stalk is divided into several chambers rather than one large cavity.

If you are fortunate enough to find a patch of the real McCoy, collect them carefully, cutting the stalks at ground level with a knife. Once home, the easiest way is to clean the mushrooms carefully with a brush (do not wash – this devastates the delicate flavour of any wild mushroom). It is also a good idea to halve each to check no insects are hiding in the stem. Then thread with cotton and hang in a warm, dry, dark place (an airing cupboard is ideal) until dry. This usually takes about a day after which they can be stored indefinitely in airtight jars. As with all dried mushrooms, use by steeping in near-boiling water for 15 minutes, reserving the liquid to use as stock (the reconstituted flesh is actually of secondary value).

Fresh or dried, morels can be very indigestible when raw, so they should always be cooked. This breaks down the tougher proteins, to release a wonderful flavour which is particularly good in sauces. While they work well with white meats like chicken, they also go well with dairy produce and Jane Grigson’s Mushroom Feast gives a particularly mouth-watering recipe for tartlets filled with morel-flavoured Mornay sauce.

Whether using dried or fresh, however, their superb flavour could instantly convert even the most fungi-phobic Briton into a fanatical mushroom hunter. The idea that such choice ingredients are there for the taking then leads to a whole new dimension to an April walk. And, here comes the usually overlooked wild mushroom health warning – forays are seriously addictive: find enough mushrooms to flavour one dish and your Spring walks will never be the same.

This article is reproduced by kind permission of Daniel Butler www.fungiforays.co.uk

For more information contact Tom Taylor 01547 520096

Far from finding our fields and woods barren and uninviting, Continental birds flood here in their millions. Most visible are the social birds, such as pigeons and starlings, that form huge flocks on farmland. Sadly the latter have suffered serious population declines as a breeding species in recent years, mainly due to changes in agriculture, but pigeons seem to be on an unstoppable upward climb.
Among the winter visitors redwings and fieldfares and fieldfares are particularly welcome. These are both members of the thrush family and like the rest of the clan are omnivores, but the shortage of worms and insects in winter drives them to a largely vegetarian diet. Both congregate in large chattering flocks – often mixed together – on farmland, foraging in grass for any careless invertebrates and stripping the hedges of the last berries.

Both are more colourful than the resident blackbird and song- and mistle thrushes. The redwing is the drabber of the two, but it lives up to its name by flashing a rusty underwing as it flies, while the fieldfare sports a slate blue head and tail. Later in the winter, as supplies of wild food run low, the birds move into suburban gardens to feed on the last windfalls and rosehips – and in really cold weather even visiting bird tables. In March and April their numbers will begin to dwindle. First to go are the wily older birds, which peel off to return to Scandinavia to secure the best nesting sites, but by late April even the youngsters will have disappeared to higher latitudes.

This concept of Britain as an ideal winter holiday destination, followed by a summer flirting with frost can seem strange, but the draw is a northern June and July with over 20 hours of daylight. It may still be chilly, but the sun’s energy creates an explosion of plant life which in turn fosters countless insects and their larvae – perfect protein for growing chicks. Even better, their parents have longer to search out tasty morsels. Fieldfares certainly turn this to their advantage, producing maybe two clutches of five or six eggs each year. This may add up to less than our resident blackbird’s three or four clutches of four eggs, but it is balanced by lower mortality thanks to better food.

This equation clearly makes sense for fieldfares, but it is always sad to wake one spring morning to find the countryside suddenly bereft of the chattering flocks with their bouncy flight. But perhaps it is just as well. Unlike our drab, retiring thrushes, nesting fieldfares are particularly aggressive, dive-bombing even human intruders with parcels of well-aimed excrement that make seagulls seem positively benign.

This article is reproduced by kind permission of Daniel Butler www.fungiforays.co.uk

Plus I am great believer in giving people a choice when it comes to low fat v high fat/super indulgence puddings, so there will be options for you to choose when making this delicious rice pudding. So now it is time to delve into the scrumptiousness that is the rice pudding of preference from Marge Land.

Ingredients:

• I teacup full of white pudding rice (actually you can use brown rice if you prefer it just takes longer to cook and doesn’t go as creamy)
• ¾ pint of milk (either full fat or semi skimmed)
• A large handful of raisins
• 1 medium sized free range egg
• 1 small pot of cream – optional
• 2 tbsps of blossom honey – optional

Method:

1. Boil up the rice in a large saucepan according to the packet instructions.

2. Drain the rice and chuck the water away.

3. In the saucepan add the milk to the rice and heat it all up – you don’t want it to boil though. Allow the milky rice to simmer for 10 minutes on a gentle heat so that the milk evaporates a bit.

4. Now beat the egg and stir into the warm milky rice. This will cook the egg and enrich the rice pudding.

5. Now add the raisins (if this rice pudding is not for the kids then you can pre soak the raisins in a liqueur of your choice for half an hour first! )

6. Cook the rice pudding for another 10-15 minutes on a low heat.

7. Turn the heat off under the saucepan. The rice should be nice and soft by now (if not simmer it for a bit longer). At this point if you wish to further enrich the rice pudding then you can mix the blossom honey and the little pot of cream – this is entirely up to you.

8. Serve the rice pudding either hot or cold (it can be microwaved in a couple of minutes for ease instead of using the saucepan again), and thoroughly enjoy!

This article is reproduced by kind permission of margeland.co.uk www.margeland.co.uk

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