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LOVE & THE WILD GARLIC AROMA IS IN THE AIR

March 14, 2018

As spring is very slowly approaching this year, the first leaves of wild garlic are finally poking through the frozen ground.
With the vibrant green colour, strong aroma and delicious taste, it is a great ingredient to have in the kitchen. Good for soups, pestos or added to  salads.

Matt, Magda and their offsprings Edu and Annie love to go outdoors to the beautiful Cotswolds Painswick countryside hedge-grow picking and foraging.

The secret places for wild garlic are best away from busy roads and dog walkers, close by rivers and streams. While harvesting please pay attention to the leaves you are picking. First wild garlic leaves are easy to confuse for lily of the valley, bluebells, snowdrops and even daffodils – and you definitely would not want one of those in your soup – as they are toxic. Please make sure you know what you are picking.

And as it goes, we are happy to share our favourite wild-garlic soup recipe:

You will need:
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 110 g onion
  • 110g leeks (white parts only)
  • 400g peeled potatoes ( ideally Desire)
  • 30g butter
  • 100ml full fat milk
  • 200ml vegtable stock
  • 100g wild garlic leaves
  • 100g double cream
  • 50g butter
Method:
Melt the butter. Add the crushed garlic. Chop the onions, leeks and potatoes into even sized dice and sweat slowly in the butter for at least 20 min without colouring. Add the vegetable stock and milk and simmer for 20 minutes until the potatoes are falling apart.
Bring a small pan of water to boil and add well washed garlic leaves.

Cook very briefly for 1 minute. Then drain and refresh in ice cold water.When cold, squeeze out excess water and add the leaves to The cooked soup. Blend throughly and pass through a fine sieve pushing all the soup through.

Finish the soup with a dash of cream and knob of butter.

Shred finally a few wild garlic leaves and sprinkle on the top.

Eat with a smile and slice of homemade bead.

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