Recipe & Cocktail of the Month
From the Equinox’s Balance & Point of Stillness Found Within & Through the Awen!
Two Healthy & Delicious Spring Recipes...Now is the time for a metaphorical, spiritual but more importantly Physical Spring Clean& these two recipes are just the ticket!
(I know...Once more we offer more fabulousness for your taste buds..Enjoy my friends.... We cant help it.. we Love you...& you are still Very Welcome!)
Wild Garlic & Nettle Soup
I LOVE this recipe, it simple and clean and fulfils my inner forage/hunter-gather gene. Do make sure to pick the young fresh nettle tops as opposed to the older nettle. In the spring they are plentiful and can be cleaned and frozen until needed. If you are out gathering your fresh wild Garlic leaves, do make sure you know what you are picking, they are very distinctive smelling, but do not pick ANYTHING you are not sure of.
Wild Garlic is a fresh and I think a very tasty soup that can be prepared in advance, can be frozen for when it’s needed and is scrummy as a mains, a started or a weekday lunch time special. Once heated serve with warm buttered crusty bread with perhaps a grating of strong cheese of choice or maybe a spoonful of sour cream or Greek yogurt... OHHH YEssss.. my mouth is actually watering as I type this...( This recipe has been adapted from the Goodfood Guide).
INGREDIENTS
A... spring is definitely beginning to shoot through, The birds are singing again..(Loudly where I live & unreasonably early if you ask me!), and of course the Equinox will soon be upon us. The show of the Goddess awakening is around us as her hues of White, Green and Yellow are blossoming and soon the blue will join in.
However, many of us might still sluggish, slightly under par and in need to a good old detox and cleanse. Well my Lovelies, these two recipes are just the ticket, one of which in 2007 was considered by those in the know, to be the oldest known recipe found here in the UK, dating it at least 8000yrs old (6000bc) and they both are Nettle based recipes.
Nettles are such an important and often over looked plant. From its long stringy fibres being used for making beautiful cloth, to the healing and nutritional properties it carries, Nettles are versatile, sustainable and incredibly interesting re letting you know the acidity of your soil, thus helping with planting veg/crops.IE if nettles are growing your soil is acidic which is brilliant for certain things but not others etc.
Full of essential nutrients and vitamins like Vit A, Calcium, Potassium, Iron etc, nettles are fabulous for the liver, for detoxing and reducing inflammation, helping balance blood sugar levels, lowering blood pressure helping and is thought to have very positive affects in treating a fatty liver. Nettles have been part of our daily lives for millennium and it is only in modern times that we seem to have forgotten what this wonderful plant has to offer, often only seeing it as nothing more than an inconvenient weed. But our distant hunter gather ancestor and those from the stone and iron age were more than familiar with the importance and versatility of Nettles, understanding that what they offer us helps to sustain and promote healthy life and living
1 tbsp olive oil
25g butter
1 leek (finely chopped)
2 sticks of celery (finely sliced)
1 carrot (finely chopped)
1 small potato (finely diced)
1.2 litres vegetable or chicken stock
300g young nettle leaves
200g wild garlic leaves (keep flowers to one side if you have them)
3 tbsp milk/yoghurt
METHOD
In a good sized pan heat the oil & butter. Add Carrots, potato, leeks & celery and a good pinch of salt. Still all ingredients well, cover and allow to gently sweat for 20-30mins, with occasional stirring and until everything has cooked and/or is softened and to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.
Pour in the stock & simmer for 10 mins. Add the Nettles in batches whilst stirring and then add the Wild Garlic leaves in the same way & simmer for another 2 mins.
Remove from the heat and blitz using a hand/stick blender. Return to the heat and add the Milk and taste for seasoning, adjusting if required. Ladle into bowls, drizzle a little extra oil or add a spoonful of yogurt or grated cheese and garnish with Garlic flowers if you have them.
Nettle Pudding
This is the 8000yr old recipe thought to have been a staple for our ancestors and highly valued as a food source by many cultures. Nettle Pudding seems to be a dish that is usually served with meat such as venison, wild boar or beef, but could just as easily sit upon a veggie hotpot. It has reminded me of the more modern Lancashire hotpot or a general meat stew and dumplings recipe. Nettles were, it seems a staple ingredient in our ancestors diet, often combining with sorrel, dandelion mixed with barley flour salt and water. I think it’s an interesting recipe that can be easily adapted to out more modern taste buds and I hope you enjoy it. ( This recipe was taken from Bark today)
INGREDIENTS
1 Bunch of Sorrel
1 bunch of Dandelion Leaves
2 Bunches of Young Nettle Leaves
Some Chives
1 Cup of Barley Flour ( Swap for a GF option if required)
1 tsp Salt
METHOD
Finely chop the sorrel, nettles, dandelions and chives and mix well into the barley flour and added salt. Add enough water to bind then place into the centre of a linen or muslin cloth.
Tie the cloth tightly and place into a pan of simmering venison or wild boar. Beef or pork work just as well or try using other vegetables like a cabbage or cauliflower steak or even nothing if you prefer. Make sure you have left enough string so that you can pull the pudding out when ready.
Cook the pudding until the meat is tender and cook or for a min of 2 hrs. Remove from the pan and the cloth and once it has cooled a little cut into thick slices and serve on top of the meat and with thick cut slices of barely bread.
As with all of our recipes, do feel free to substitute or leave out ingredients that you don’t like or have allergies. For the Gluten free peeps amongst us, Gluten free flours are readily available, I personally use Sorghum flour because it is naturally gluten-free is not made from wheat and is made from ground Sorghum seeds which is full of natural nutrients and anti-oxidants and fab for bread and cake making. It also is available on line and at most high street supermarkets. But as always there are numerous variations out there so do look if none of these work for you. We really hope you enjoy this one...
Blessings of the Equinox to you all, may you find the stillness & balance if only for a short amount of time...
‘Awen’s Lady of Equinox’ - Violet (Gentian) White Lady
March is upon us and the Spring Equinox is nigh... A time of balance, equal day & equal night, a midpoint, a pause for reflection and a period of brief stillness and unity. From this point on the light will come quicker and stay for longer and we will feel the energy begin to rise, as we ready for the coming summer. Shoots through time will become more apparent and the song of nature is now well and truly awake..... So what better way to celebrate and call in the ‘Greening’ than with this rather gorgeous ‘Lady Of Equinox’ focused Cocktail, honouring the visible changing of the wheel as we shift more into the warmth and the light....
As always adjust the recipe to your personal tastes and if you fancy the Imbolc Flaming Cocktail as a Mocktail instead just substitute the Alcohol with Non-Alcoholic equivalents. There are some amazing Non-Alcoholic options out there so do have fun experimenting. As always you will most likely find that there are various variation of our choice of cocktails for this issue, so do have fun trying them all out.. This cocktail has been adapted from a ‘TheFlavorBender.com’ recipe.
INGREDIENTS
50ml Gin
10ml Violet Liquor
25ml fresh Lime Juice
1 Egg White
20ml Sugar Syrup
Violet petals to serve
METHOD
To make up the actual cocktail...Place all of the ingredients into a cocktail mixer, shake thoroughly making sure that the egg whites froth up well. Then pour into your Coupette Cocktail glass over ice. Garnish with the Violet petals and serve......Cheers!
Blessing Of the Equinox my Lovelies....