All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

A week in Wales

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I have just come back from a week in Wales. We went to a place where there is no phone signal and not even a hope of connecting to the internet so you have no choice but to properly relax and get away. Holidaying with the family is always good fun; lots of meals in, walks and catching up on silly things. This is what I got up to over the week and, if you’re heading off to mighty Wales, I hope it gives you some ideas for what to do.

We started up in Snowdonia National Park staying in possibly the strangest hotel I’ve ever been to. It was one of those hotels that time forgot; apparently the cleaner forgot some of it too but when has dust ever hurt anyone? The room was nice but it was like a gadget bomb had exploded in there and each individual piece of technology had adhered itself to a socket or wall. No idea what any of it was for. The shower deserves a special mention for being (literally) out of this world weird. There were lights on the outside, inside and all over the place; nozzles, knobs and buttons everywhere and doors that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a spaceship air locker. On the plus there was a radio in there but it would only tune to white noise. Never mind. Despite its many, many options for water temperature, angle and point of exit it was a surprising disappointment; not much more aggressive than a thick fog. read more

Elderflower, Cucumber and Mint Gin

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Elderflower, Cucumber and Mint Gin - before adding gin

I love this time of year in Britain; when the weather is getting warmer and warmer but it hasn’t quite got to the muggy stage and it’s still nice and cool at night. There are flowers in the hedges and the fruit has started growing on the trees; most of my time is spent outside and as far as I’m concerned, shoes are optional. I have done plenty of cooking with elderflower in the past and it seemed an ideal time to try out something slightly different and obscenely summery: Elderflower, Cucumber and Mint Gin. read more

Wild Garlic Bread

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If you fancy going out and trying your hand at foraging there isn’t much of a better time to start than now. Wild garlic is one of the best things to look for as it’s so distinctive; you smell it before you see it, the leaf is fairly specific and if you’re still not sure you can tear the leaves and do an additional sniff test before you start taking it home. I fancied my hand at baking some Wild Garlic Bread, sort of tear and share style, so off I sauntered to my favourite wild garlic spot to get picking. read more

Wild Wales – A Hiking Adventure

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I have been camping a few times with my family, with school and even once in my own back garden. For some reason unbeknown to me I had the grand idea to pack up a load of camping stuff and go hiking through wild Wales. I have never hiked anywhere before unless you count carrying the washing basket upstairs. If you’re considering hiking and camping then this is a tale for you.

I consider my other half and myself to be somewhat sensible people with reasonable general knowledge and survival skills. I mean, we’ve watched Ray Mears a few times and Wales has no poisonous spiders or bears to contend with; how hard can it be? read more

Elderflower and Blackcurrant Gin and Tonic

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Elderflower and Blackcurrant Gin and Tonic bird's eye
My idea of a perfect evening when it’s raining is to eat something filling then settle down to watch a film (preferably a funny one). On a sunny evening however I always try to be outside; we’ve been spoilt for sunny evenings recently. Sitting in the garden watching the world go by and the sun go down is improved if you accompany it with a refreshing home made drink. My homemade elderflower cordial has made plenty of appearances this year and this time it’s used to make an elderflower and blackcurrant gin and tonic.

Ingredients

You will need (per drink):

  • 50ml gin
  • 6-7 fresh ripe blackcurrants
  • 15ml elderflower cordial
  • Ice cubes
  • Slice of lemon
  • Tonic water (a good quality one)
    • read more

    Elderflower and Lemon Ice Lollies

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    Elderflower and Lemon Ice Lollies
    We’ve been so lucky with the weather recently, fingers crossed it continues! Sat outside in the sun on a lovely day there’s nothing quite as refreshing as an ice lolly; especially one you can slurp enthusiastically at being ever so proud that you’ve made it yourself. My elderflower and lemon ice lollies are subtly flavoured and just the thing to enjoy on a summer day. I find that adding cordial to an ice lolly inevitably results in much stronger concentrations of cordial at the bottom and faint flavour at the top. The added lemon zest in these elderflower lollies means they have flavour throughout.

    Ingredients

    You will need (I made enough for six ice lollies):

    • Ice lolly mould
    • Elderflower cordial (homemade or shop bought)
    • Zest of 1 lemon

    Method

    Make up the elderflower cordial a little stronger than you would if you were drinking it.

    Put the lemon zest into the bottom of each mould and top up with the diluted cordial.

    You could add the fresh lemon juice to the elderflower mix before pouring it in if you want the lemon flavour a little stronger.

    Freeze, wait and enjoy!

    You might have to try and convince people that it’s not just water you’ve frozen but as soon as they try them they’ll be glad they did! Elderflower is such a distinctive flavour and the lemon and lemongrass that were in my homemade cordial work so well with the added lemon zest. Shop bought elderflower cordial will work just as well, whichever you use just make sure you mix it up a little stronger than you would for drinking it. Floral, easy, zesty and refreshing, like a little piece of frozen summer. read more

    Elderflower and Blueberry Jelly

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    elderflower and blueberry jelly
    I do like a jelly; easy to make, it doesn’t need many ingredients, it looks lovely and it makes for great entertainment when trying to serve it into smaller bowls. You might have seen I made some elderflower cordial recently and other than trying it with sparkling water in the evenings this elderflower and blueberry jelly was what I rustled up to take to a Sunday evening BBQ with my parents. A fantastic dessert to make in advance and forget about in the fridge.

    Ingredients

    You will need (to make enough for four generous servings):
    • 150g blueberries
    • 1 pint water and elderflower cordial, mix it slightly stronger than you would to drink
    • 1 sachet powdered gelatine
    • 8 tbsp boiling water (or whatever your gelatine says!)

    Method

    Put the blueberries into the bowl you will serve the jelly in. Add the hot water to a large measuring jug and sprinkle the gelatine on top. Stir to make sure the gelatine is well mixed in and fully dissolved. I ended up adding a little more water to help the gelatine along. Pour in the elderflower cordial mix and stir together well. Add the elderflower mix to the blueberries and refrigerate until set.

    I’m not sure why some of the blueberries sank but the majority floated; it didn’t matter at all, if anything it added a slight curiosity to the dessert. A large serving spoon is your friend when serving this up lest it wobble its way off a smaller spoon onto the table or floor. I made it in a bowl as I thought it looked pretty but you could divide it between glasses or jars as I did for my blackberry and perry jelly previously. I love the delicate colour of the elderflower jelly broken up with the little blueberries. The flavours worked really nicely together too; a light bowl of summer perfect for the warm evenings. read more

    Homemade Elderflower Cordial

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    picking wild elderflower
    If you’ve been reading my blog over the years you’ll know I love anything elderflower. This year I was invited to go foraging in the grounds at Audley Inglewood, home to restaurant The Walmesley, and to knock up a batch of homemade elderflower cordial with their head chef Gert Pienaar. It was great to go out to the fields, pick the elderflowers and have a good old chat about food at the same time. I’ve not made elderflower cordial before; syrup and sugar yes but this was my first cordial attempt.

    Ingredients

    The recipe we used was written down in Gert’s secret black book but it was very similar to this one on the BBC Good Food site. Apart from the added ingredients below.

    You will need (for around 1.5 litres of finished cordial):

    • 20 elderflower heads
    • Sugar – all the recipes I’ve seen vary so much in sugar quantity so it’s how sweet you like it
    • 1.5 litres boiling water
    • 2 lemons, zest and juice
    • 50g citric acid
    • 1 stalk lemongrass

    Method

    Tap the elderflower heads on the side of a bowl to get rid of any insects then put them into a bowl with the sugar, lemon zest and juice and citric acid. 

    Pour over the boiling water and whisk everything together well.

    Add everything to a sterilised jar, whack the lemongrass with a knife and add this to the jar too. read more

    Wild Garlic Gnocchi with Mozzarella and Wild Garlic Oil

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    wild garlic gnocchi with wild garlic oil
    It all got a bit serious last weekend. I went all out for a foraging expedition; books, bags to carry what I picked and bigger bag to carry all my things, wellies, I was prepared for anything. While out I found a few new things I didn’t realise were edible but I headed straight to my favourite patch of wild garlic to get picking before the season is over. I did have to travel a little downstream to get to the good stuff and there was a wobbly moment where I thought I might have to go for an accidental swim but otherwise it was a very successful trip. I carried home my bounty and set to work on some Wild Garlic Gnocchi.

    Ingredients

    You will need (for two):

    • 300g waxy potatoes
    • Small handful (roughly 20-30 leaves) wild garlic, blended or very finely chopped
    • 100g plain flour
    • Salt and pepper
    • 25g Parmesan, grated
    • 125g mozzarella
    • 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

    If you’re not sure where to find some take a look at this to find places where wild garlic grows near you.

    Method

    Peel and dice the potatoes to roughly the same size then boil them in salted water until tender.

    Drain the potatoes then leave them to cool (take the lid off the pan to allow steam to escape). 

    Mash the potatoes well then add the flour, most of the wild garlic, plenty of salt and pepper and the Parmesan. Mix together until you have a dough.

    Knead the dough lightly then roll into sausage shapes and cut into roughly inch sized pieces. I pressed the top of each gnocchi with a fork, for looks more than anything. read more

    Stilton Scones with Sloe Port Jelly

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    stilton scones
    Is it just me or does everyone seem to open their fridge at some point in December and a wodge of Stilton has magically appeared? Cheese and biscuits is a must over the festive season but sometimes you can get left with an odd or and end of cheese that’s not only in the way but is also stinking the fridge out. Enter Stilton scones. They take minutes to make and around 10 minutes to bake so they are a quick and simple way to use up a bit of cheese. Delicious with any membrillo, redcurrant jelly or whatever else, I knocked up some sloe port jelly to accompany these powerful scones.

    Ingredients

    You will need (for 10-12 scones):
    240g self raising flour
    Pinch of salt
    Black pepper
    50g butter
    60g Stilton
    130ml milk plus extra for brushing

    For the sloe port jelly:
    100ml sloe port (any other port would be good too)
    60ml water
    30g sugar
    2 sheets gelatine

    Method

    Make the jelly first.

    Put the gelatine into some cold water to soften.

    Get a small saucepan on a low heat and add the sugar and water. Once the sugar has dissolved squeeze out any excess water from the gelatine and stir the gelatine into the hot sugar syrup. read more

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