Spring is finally here and we’re well and truly into the wettest and windiest April we’ve seen in a while. But whilst we’re lamenting about the lack of sun, all the plants are getting a good soaking to help them on their way, so why not grab your Mac (rain, not Apple) and make a refreshing wild salad of your own.

N.B. If you’re not sure what it is, please don’t pick it or eat it! Only collect what you’re certain of, but let us know how you get on!

Pennywort

Found in hedgerows across the UK, Pennywort is succulent and crisp and makes a great addition to salads.

Pennywort

Chickweed

Chickweed grows in abundance and is normally a weed, but its very fresh and mild in taste and can even be fried.

Chickweed

Sorrel

Sorrel is bitter and refreshing and grows near damp ground in fields and hedgerows.

Sorrel

Nettles

Young nettles can be picked with gloves and made into a lovely, spicy soup for a spring take on a winter classic.

Nettles

Gorse

Don’t forget about flowers, gorse flowers are edible and will brighten any bowl, can be made into icecream or added to smoothies and have a mild, coconut taste.

Gorse Flowers

Wild Garlic/Ramsons

Used in the place of traditional garlic, ramsons have a slightly milder taste and can be made into pesto.

Wild Garlic

Wild onions

Similiar to chives or scallions, wild onions are used much in the same way, added to soup, stocks or salads.

Wild Onions

With the sun finally making its presence felt, even if its heat is masked by a spring breeze, Bathonians are venturing out onto the streets again.
The increase in good weather brings with it an influx of tourists, so we’ve put together our favourite places to have tea and cake, that will hopefully escape the majority of the hordes.

Beautiful Victoria Park

King Jika Jika- so it’s on a main street, but it’s large enough, and loved by so many bath natives that we couldn’t not include it. Enjoy a daily changing menu and probably the best cup of coffee in town. There are a few outside seats, and blankets are provided to ward against the spring chill.

Cafe Retro- on the corner of the affectionately named ‘bog island’, cafe Retro is quiet, with a cool interior and the best breakfast eggs in town. No outside seating as yet, but large windows to watch the scurrying crowds from behind your steaming cup of tea.

Minerva chocolate shop- located right next to the abbey, but often overlooked, is the best chocolate shop in Bath. Have an illy coffee (an Eden favourite) with a truffle or two and feel ready to face the world again.

The Riveside Cafe- without doubt the best location to enjoy lunch, hidden below Pulteney bridge and overlooking the rushing canal, it has a fresh, vibrant menu and is one of the most satisfying places to enjoy a glass of wine, g & t, or fresh juice to toast the beginning of the summer.

Pulteney Bridge and The Riverside Cafe

AM.Y

We resent the fact that comfort eating is frowned upon, so instead of stretching your forehead muscles in a frown, why not give your jaws some exercise instead? (Is it wrong that as I write i’m nodding my head in agreement?)
Anyway, we thought we’d make a list of the best places to find all the naughty but nice ingredients needed to make for a happy tummy.

Cheese- Paxton and Whitfields. Nuff said. Free tasters, smiling attractive cheesemongers, and one of the best selections of fromage this side of the Cheddar gorge. ( What? The Cheddar gorge isn’t made of cheese?)

Heaven

Chocolate- Hotel Chocolat. Although we do also love Minerva Choco

lates too, the new opening of the store in Southgate has us all excited and eking out our overdrafts for a little taste of those fabled chocolates. Boyfriends take note.

Stew/Hot pot- a big warming dish with sage dumplings is what we’re talking about. You can pick up some great, and not so expensive, meat at the Saturday Market in Green Park Station. Or save money and get a cheaper cut, which is often the most flavourful, from our favourite butchers- Bartlett and Sons. They are super helpful and knowledgable.

Sausages- The Sausage Shop. That’s it. They’re awesome. Also, say hi to our lovely photographer Dan, who works there part time.

Cake and pastries- Sally Lunns, Jika Jika, or pop into The Bath Bakery and pick up a treat or two.

Ale- Enjoy a cheeky half of warming Ale in The Royal Oak, if you’re lucky you might even catch a folk performance. Packed with locals and lovely, helpful staff, it’s the perfect place to stave off the dark nights. Stay away from Beesting if you value any form of control over your limbs/vocal chords.

Hello chocolate, goodbye waistline.

 AM.Y

It’s the end of the year, all we want to do is curl up with loved ones, watch the lights twinkle and remember all the good things that have happened over the past twelve months. Instead A and I ventured out into the sleet to the little village of Box, and a newly opened coffee house- Toast.

Toast Coffee House

As well as a delicious toast based menu in the day, it lends itself to Sara’s Kitchen- a Lebanese catering company for a few evenings a month, and it was in this intimate setting we found ourselves last night. Hand made paper chains, wooden carved ornaments and hundreds of tiny twinkling lights mingled with the mouth watering scents wafting from the open kitchen and felt like home.

We ate course upon course, courgette fritters, Kibbeh (the National dish of Lebanon), red pepper hummus, chicken with sumac, spiced lamb, rice pilaf, gaza salad, chocolate torte with orange and k’naafeh (crispy stringy wheat with creamy cheese and syrup). It was all utterly divine. So full of flavour and spice, but never over powering. The chicken was lemony and rich from the sumac, and the k’naafeh topped with rose petal jam that was so sweet and sticky we were rendered speechless. All we could muster were a few quiet appreciative mumblings that may have been translated into ‘yum’.

Ruz Hashweh- Minced Beef and Rice

After we ate, the equally talented and lovely chef, Sara came over and offered to read our Arabic coffee cups, a tip she’d learnt from her grandmother. Growing up in Kuwait, Sara learned how to roll vine leaves at her grandmothers table, the spices and scents of her heritage she now shares through her catering company.

It’s rare to spend a night in the company of strangers that makes you feel so at home. We shared our table with four other guests, each one as kind and interesting as the next and all Box locals. The owner, Lucy, dropped in to say hello, justly proud of her beautiful space. We left much later than planned, full and happy and pleasantly surprised at the evening we’d just had. We’ll be back.

AM.Y

Find Toast Coffee House and Sara’s Kitchen on Facebook, or twitter @SaraJobling and @Toast_coffee.

Sparkles

Onions are one of those things that make everything better. On a low heat, slowly caramelising onions in butter just soothes the spirit, so with onions being well and truly in season, these are a few of our favourite things to do with them!

1. Onion tart- grab a pastry case, fill with caramelised onions, and top with goats cheese/mozzarella/pine nuts/any cupboard leftovers. Or pour over a few whisked eggs to make a quiche. This is the simplest, yummiest, warming dish pretty much ever created, plus it makes your home smell like melted butter … Mmmm.
   

   Onion Tart ... before it rapidly disappeared into our tummies!

2. Onion marmalade- there are various recipes for this all over the Internet, but what’s great about it is it’s simplicity. It goes with cheese, meat, fruit or on toast, crackers or just a spoon! Try this Waitrose recipe for Red Onion Marmalade with Balsamic.  
3. Pickled onions- try saffron vinegar, or adding some star anise. Use pickling onions or shallots for a softer texture. Perfect to break out as a boxing day nibble with the leftover turkey.
4. Roasted onions (and Garlic)- halve the onions and the whole garlic bulbs, put them facing up in tray and sprinkle with salt, pepper, herbs and a fair amount of olive oil. Leave in a medium oven until soft on the inside and nicely brown on the top. Leave to cool for use in sandwiches, serve with cheese or as a perfect vegetable accompaniment to meat in itself!
5. Onion and cheese on toast- We’re not talking a few measly slices on top of some cheese, oh no! Try cooking a large onion in a little butter, some red wine and parsley until soft, top the toast with the mixture, grate a strong cheddar on top and pop under the grill for a quick and delicious lunch!

Preserved Lemons


At this time of year I get an urge, as I’m sure many of you do, to fill jars and bottles with all manner of goodness and line my shelves for the coming months. I think it must be a throwback to the years when we were the type of animal that hibernated, or perhaps I’m just descended from squirrels and like keeping stores of things. My Mother likes to say ‘It’s like money in the bank‘ and I couldn’t agree more.

Anyway, I’m getting off point. It’s also very nearly Christmas and what could be a better present than a gleaming jar of home made pickles, or chutney, or in this case preserved lemons.
This is a cheekily borrowed and adapted recipe from David Lebowitz’ rather amazing website, Living the Sweet Life in Paris, if you haven’t already, definitely wander over and peruse his recipes.

So, I made four jars, with about ten lemons, but as the weeks go on I may need to top them up with some more lemon juice.

You will need some good quality sea salt - I used Malden, and any spices of your choice.

Jars of goodness.

Wash the lemons vigorously, try to get unwaxed lemons, organic are best, as the rinds are what’s important in this recipe.
Cut the little hard nobbly bits off each end and then slice them from their point, but not all the way through, and then again the other way, so you’ve cut an ‘X’ through each one but it still holds together.

Pack the lemons with the salt, at least a table spoon, possibly more, and push them into the jars – you can be quite rough. I have to say I could only get two into each one of mine but I was using smaller jars than normal and the lemons I chose were large. Then you can add the spices of your choice: I used Cinnamon bark, peppercorns and a bay leaf.
That’s it! The lemons will soften and as they do you can top them up with lemon juice until they’re covered. Voila! Your lemons will be ready in about a month. You can chop them up and put them with vegetables, or use then as a base for a fabulous roast chicken, using the juices to baste it. Or eat them as an accompaniment to a curry, similar to lime pickle. Experiment!
They certainly make a cheery, bright addition to our cupboard full of jars.

Flavoured Olive Oil

This is possibly the easiest Christmas present we have ever made. It takes two minutes and looks and tastes great.

A word of caution however, do not use garlic cloves- they may cause botulism as they are grown in the earth and the oil is the perfect breeding ground for this nasty bacteria.
Apart from that, you can use any fresh herbs, lemon rind, chillies, whatever you prefer.

I chose lemon and thyme, you’ll need two sprigs per bottle, and the rind of a whole lemon.

Perfect homemade accompaniment.

Heat the oil until it is hot, but not boiling and then pour it into the bottle. Push the sprigs of thyme and the lemon rind into the bottle and secure with a cork. Voila! The longer you leave it, the more pronounced the flavours will become. If you prefer you can heat the oil and pour it into a bowl with the lemon and thyme, and then refrigerate it until the flavour is the strength you want it, and then strain the flavoured oil into the bottle so it’s free from herbs.

Easy peasy!

AM.Y

M is beside himself. We’re dropping his sister back home after dinner and all he can talk about is the white chocolate gateau with ceps (creamy French mushrooms). He can’t quite get his head round it because it worked, and yet wasn’t a completely finished dish. As a chef, and a good one, this will have him experimenting with ceps for a few weeks to come.

We had all just eaten at Bells Diner in Montpelier, Bristol, and it was one of those evenings. You know the ones, where the sun sets but it’s still warm in the dark. We drank cool water in the little seating area as we decided on the menu. The tables were covered in starched white and dressed with glasses that shimmered and flirted in the candle light. The music was soft and forgettable, and the bookshelves that lined the walls held recipe books and bottles of wine, spare glasses and wooden baskets.

We sat right next to the window, just below the cobbled road, where we could watch the footwear of Bristol’s artists wonder past. It is a wonderful, intimate setting. I love it.
We had scallops, duck and pigeon as mains and chocolate millefeuille along with the bizarre but beautiful gateau.

Bells Diner

The food was, as it always is, good. It isn’t exceptional, exciting, wonder inducing food, but it is well cooked, seasonal and interesting. The millefeuille showcased impressive chocolate work and the pre-dessert, a take on Pimms, was a lovely treat.

The mains lacked a little in skill, my pigeon was overcooked, but the foie gras melted through the pearl barley risotto and left a wonderful soft texture on your tongue.
I don’t know what it is that makes a good night out great, whether it’s the service (very good, if a little nervous-it was their first night), the wine (excellently recommended) or the company (some of my favourite people). But perhaps it’s the fact that after dinner, and for at least a week later, we were still talking about it.
Go. Clink glasses over white linen and candle light. Fall in love with your company and enjoy good food, well priced with great service.

Forbidden Gin

Sloe Gin is one of those things your parents tell you is only for adults because it’s too good to share. When you’re finally old enough to be classified ‘adult’ it’s the back-of-the-cupboard, ‘no-I’m-sure-it-isn’t-there-dear’ invisible commodity that only exists after you’ve given up and gone to the pub in search of other refreshment.

Well we’ve decided that it’s time to reclaim this little beauty and so we made our own. There is one thing to consider before you rush out and buy some Gin- it does have to cure for six weeks, so make sure you buy two bottles; one for the sloes and the other for the tonic (no, really).

A litre of gin,

About 500g of Sloes,

300g of Sugar,

Zest of half a lemon and half an orange.

The boffins at Gordon’s freeze their sloes and then bash them about, this is all about breaking their skins so that they give off more of their sloe flavour. Traditionally you can prick your bounty with a pin a couple of times before plopping them into your gin, but I am too impatient for this.

I put all of the sloes in a pan with about a centimetre of water and all of the sugar. Keep an eye on it because the sugar needs to melt and not burn. Once the mixture is nearly purple (the inside of sloes are green) and the sugar’s dissolved, you know that most of the sloes have burst their skins.

Either use one large or two smaller bottles, separate the sloe mixture between them and pour gin over the top. We like to add the zest because it gives the gin a little bit of a fruity edge and also looks lovely in the bottles. Secure lids and put in the back of a cupboard, way out of your nans reach. You can use expensive or cheap gin, but to be honest we don’t think it makes much of a difference.

Now leave it for six weeks, pour yourself a gin and tonic and keep your eyes off that top cupboard. Stop looking. Stop it!

A little tipple to warm your cockles.

Blackberry jelly is a great Christmas present, but also the rich flavour of the jelly can be added to stocks, smothered on ice-cream or simply spread on toast with lashings of butter.

BlackBerry Jelly Recipe.

1.3-1.5 kg Blackberries

480- 500ml Water

A lemon (or two depending on size/taste)

2 Apples

Caster sugar

Jam Jars

Muslin or jelly bag.

First chop the apple and add with the water, lemon juice and berries into a pan. Boil until all the fruit is mushy and cooked, the apple with probably disintegrate.

I used an old thin tea towel, but if you have muslin or a jelly bag it’s even better. Pull the muslin tight, but not too taut, over a large bowl and secure in the corners with heavy items. The kettle, a bottle of wine and a few cans of tomatoes worked well for me. Gently tip the fruit concoction onto the muslin so that the juice can drip through. Don’t overfill! Be very careful.

Leave for  a couple of hours, or overnight, until the juice and fruit much has separated.

For roughly every pint of juice you need to add about 450g of sugar and simmer them until the sugar has dissolved.

This is the important bit so pay attention! To reach the setting point where you know the jelly is going to set, you need to turn up the heat until the liquid boils. As it boils you need to repeatedly take a tiny bit of the liquid onto a spoon and dot it onto a cool flat plate. If when you run your nail through the liquid, it begins to wrinkle or form a skin, you know that it is ready. Repeat the process until the wrinkling has been achieved and then pour the liquid into clean, dry jars. Add the lids and leave to cool.

Be aware that the lid needs to be fitted quickly so that it creates a vacuum and stops bacteria from entering.

I like to add some grated lemon zest into the jars just before the lid goes on, it looks pretty and over time, the jelly gets more and more lemony and fresh. Happy eating!

AM.Y

‘Taste’ is an exploration of what food means to each and everyone of us. There are two things we share from birth for the rest of our lives, laughter and food. So we will endeavour to bring you an insight into modern restaurant culture and haute cuisine. We’ll take you back to basics in our ‘Just how hard is it to…’  tutorials and we’ll attempt to explain the current food crisis. What it is and why it’s so important to eat local and seasonal produce.

 AM.Y & S.M