Dandelion pesto recipe

Our little Segurian courtyard is filled with dandelions, no flowers yet, just the lovely little leaves. Usually I weed the courtyard, making way for the bright green moss that I love. It grows in the shade underneath the dandelions and sparkles in the sunlight when exposed. 

This week however, I decided to do a little reading on the ever present dandelion greens. It turns out dandelion greens are very nutritious. They have concentrations of beta-carotene than carrots, and more iron and calcium than spinach. By eating, as opposed to composting this ubiquitous little weed, you also get vitamins B-1, B-2, B-5, B-6, B-12, C, E, P, and D, biotin, inositol, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc.

Worth a try I guess! Apparently the term dandelion comes from the old French of “dent-de-lion” lions tooth, after the saw-toothed shape of the dandelion leaf. I picked a couple of large handfuls of the smaller leaves – these are less bitter that the larger leaves, and set about making pesto. The pesto was quite bitter, but still made a tastier dip than anything store bought, and was especially good smeared in the base of vegetable tarts, and mixed with a little cream fraiche in pasta dishes.

Dandelion leaves are tougher than basil leaves, which can be mixed nicely into pesto by chopping and then pummelling with a mortar and pestle. I used a hand blender to chop and blend the leaves together. If you use a hand blender be aware that leaves may collect in the blade. This happened to me and I (incredibly stupidly) attempted to free them, blending my finger as a result... a quick, painful trip to the pharmacie ensued. If you do need to clear the blade be sure to turn the power off.

Here’s the recipe, I hope you like it.

Recipe:

Three handfuls of young washed and chopped dandelion leaves

Half a cup grated parmesan cheese

!/4 cup olive oil

Sea salt

Step One: In a large mixing bowl place the dandelion leaves, parmesan cheese and half of the olive oil. Mix with a hand blender. This will take a while as the leaves are slightly tough. Slowly add the remainder of the olive oil and salt to taste. The finished consistency should be smooth and bright green.  

Dandelion Syrup Recipe

Segur le Chateau sits in a deep valley, on the edge of the L’Auvezere. Approaching the village, from any direction, one drives through fields and fields, edged with deep green woodlands. The bright green fields are populated by Limousin cattle, a hefty caramel breed, prized for their quality beef. Among the fields and the wooded areas, are literally hundreds of apple orchards. In April, the apple trees lack leaves, but instead are adorned with delicate pink and white apple blossoms. The stout trees, standing in deliberate parallel rows, glistening in the sunshine, seem to be showing off their flowery jewels.  

In April, many of the cattle fields are carpeted with dandelions. The green grass forms a background to the yellow seas of Spring. Entire fields are filled with these ubiquitous plants smiling at the sun with their bright yellow heads.  The cattle lay contentedly among the flowers, presumably after goring on the flowery feast before them.

Because that’s the thing about dandelions, although often thought as a pretty pest, the entire plant is edible and very nutritious. According to an aromatherapy website (xxx), dandelions boast the following health benefits, they: improves gastrointestinal health; cleanses the skin and prevent acne; can prevent or lower high blood pressure; improve liver health; and help control or prevent diabetes.

So this is my first post using dandelions. Tomorrow I’ll be posting about dandelion pesto, but today,  dandelion syrup, a dandelion flower sugar syrup that we’ve been adding to mineral water, but could be also added to white wine as a dandelion aperitif. I used a recipe I found at FX Cuisine.

Remember, when you are collecting dandelions, collect then from clean areas. Avoid the edges of roads, areas that may have been sprayed with pesticides, or used by dogs as a loo. Here’s the recipe, I hope you like it.

Recipe:

Dandelion heads (as many as you can find, I collected a small plastic bag full).

1Kg white sugar

Step One: Rinse your dandelions in a bowl of water. Pat them dry on paper towel. Then remove the stems, placing the petals in a large pot. There’s a technique to this. You could use a knife, but I found it more satisfying to grab the green stalk and twist it away from the petals. 

Step Two: In a large pot bring 1L of water and your petals to the boil. Once it’s boiling remove from heat and let the flavour of the dandelions steep into the water overnight.

Step Three: Sieve the dandelions out of the water. Press the dandelions into the sieve to remove all of the water. Dispose of the petals.

Step Four: Return the water to the large pot, and dissolve in 950grams of sugar over a medium heat. Once the sugar is dissolved, let the syrup cool and then decant into glass bottles. 

Do you have any dandelion recipes? If so, please do send them along. We have an endless supply of dandelions. 

Beautiful Roasted Beets – Spring Salad Recipe

I came across some heirloom beets a few days ago and they were stunning! I bought two types. The first looked like a standard fuchsia beet on the outside, but slicing them exposed contrasting pink and white concentric rings. Delightful! The second, were bright orange-skinned, with yellow flesh. 

I roasted both of them. Unfortunately the defined colours of the concentric rings dissolved somewhat in the roasting process, but they still tasted fabulous. According to some food writers you can avoid obliterating the lovely rings by steaming the beets as opposed to roasting.

The pink and white beets are defined by a sweet peppery flavour. The yellow-fleshed beets were sweeter again. I served them once they had cooled in a green salad, with bok choy flowers, salty sheeps feta, and an orange and poppy seed and pistachio nut dressing. A delicious combination!

I also held some of the beets back and mixed them into pasta dishes and added them to steamed greens over the following couple of days. Once roasted, the beets will keep for around a week in the fridge. Here’s the recipe, I hope you like it!  

Recipe:

(Serves 2)

Three heirloom beets chopped into wedges (whichever you can find)

50 grams sheeps feta (crumbled)

Three handfuls salad leaves, I used a mixture of baby Spring greens including beets tops

Handful of bok choy flowers (if you can find them)

Handful roughly crushed pistachio nuts

Juice of one orange

Glug of olive oil

Two tea spoons of black poppy seeds

Salt and pepper

Step One: Roast your beets by placing them in a covered baking tray filled with water (to allow themto steam and roast), at 180C. They’ll take around 25 minutes, but you’ll know they are done when you can slice through them easily with a knife. Once they are cooked, drain the water the let them cool. 

Step Two: Mix the dressing. In a small jug, squeeze the juice of your orange, add a glug of olive oil, a pinch of salt, the poppy seeds, and some ground black pepper. Shake it, or stir it and taste. It should be sweet and peppery.

Step Three: in a salad bowl place the greens, the bok choy flowers, the cooled beets, and crumbled feta and the crushed pistachios. Then pour over the dressing and mix with your hands, ensuring each leaf is coated with dressing.

 

Et voila! Serve and enjoy. And if you have any tips on cooking candy-striped beets and keeping the contrasting colours, I’d love to read them.

A night at Chateau de la Motte

Driving from our flat in London, to our home in Segur is something Kritstoph and I imagine we enjoy, much more than we actually do. We talk about it for a week beforehand, what we need to take, the route we will follow through London, and ponder stopping somewhere fabulous for lunch en route. Without fail the reality is somewhat departed from our road trip ideal.

This time TomTom couldn’t find “a valid GPS signal” and as a result, we couldn’t find our way across the Thames. At 6am we found ourselves stuck circling the city, coming to a sudden halt as we drove into a fish market where delivery vans were busy unloading produce. We got ourselves stuck behind a forklift. We were attempting to beat the traffic we didn’t.

Upon arrival at the Channel Tunnel the check-in office explained politely that we’d missed our designated train at 6.38am and that we’d need to wait five hours for the next available one. We politely replied that we always miss our train, but that our ticket was valid for two hours. Apparently this is subject to availability – and it was Easter Thursday, the Channel Tunnels busiest day. Stunned we prepared to sit in the car for five hours, marvelling at our dumb luck and ignoring our stupidity. Eventually I hatched a revised plan, to break up our stay in the Loire.

I bought a copy of Alistair Sawday’s Go Slow France, and found Chateau de la Motte, at the southern edge of the Loire. And like weary travellers have done for around 600 years, we pulled in for the night, looking for a bed, and a hearty meal. The 15th century building was brought back to life 13 years ago by its gentile owners Marie-Andree and Jean-Marie. They’ve renovated, redecorated, planted gardens and orchards, and continue the small castles long tradition of welcoming guests, under the motto of “Castellum honesto numquan clauditur” (the door of this castle is never closed to an honest man).

During our evening with Marie-Andree and Jean-Marie we strolled around the medieval garden, admired the blossoming cherry trees, enjoyed aperitif in the light-filled salon, cracking home-grown nuts. This was followed by dinner “en famille” with our hosts and three Russian guests, listening with interest to Jean Marie’s potted history of the last 600 years at La Motte. For breakfast we tasted Marie-Andree’s preserves, and admired the gorgeous and ornate limestone fireplace which she carved for four hours a day over one winter, and Jean Marie’s fantastic aromatic wines.

Feeling cheerful and reinvigorated we got back in our car and headed confidently towards Segur... or so we thought. After around an hour we determined I’d been driving quite fast, but in the wrong direction. We turned around and took a slow drive home.

Picnic food – Vegetable and Feta Pie Recipe

Happy picnic season! Spring leaped quickly towards summer over the past week in London. In response, the parks were immediately filled with keen, white Brit’s bikini-clad or bare-chested, soaking up the available Vitamin D with abandon. We were caught slightly off-guard, wondering what to do with our last remaining bag of smokeless coal. Not the sort of thing that stores well, far too dusty for the hall cupboard.

But an excess of smokeless coal aside, all this sunshine means one thing to me – its picnic season. Long, lazy afternoons on my grandma’s old picnic rug await us over the next few months. These are my favourite days. With my head buried in a novel, or just staring at the cloud formations, and a wicker basket filled with fabulously tasty morsels and uncomplicated treats by my side. Simple pleasures... Sounds cliché? It probably is. For good reason though! Picnics are a relaxing and gentile way to be outside in nature.

During the long summer months in Segur we waste away the hours by the side of Lake Ruffiac, or Vigeous, eating bites of cheese, in between swimming back and forth across the lake. We set challenges, play games, forage for berries. Mid-afternoon someone usually hikes from our secluded place lakeside to the little shop selling ice-cream.

In honour of this sunny week in London Kristoph and I packed a picnic to share with a friend in the late Friday afternoon London sun. I dug out one of my favourite picnic recipes that made use of our last window box grown carrots and beetroots. The key to picnic food is that it tastes good when it’s been lying in the sun a while, can be packed in small containers and withstand a car ride. This pie meets those criteria and is also good straight from the oven, or reheated under the grill. I hope you like it as much as we do. Here’s the recipe:

Recipe:
300 grams shortcrust pastry
6 baby beets roasted and sliced thinly sliced (or one regular large beetroot)
6 baby carrots roasted and thinly sliced (or one regular large carrot)
3 handfuls of chopped purple sprouting broccoli
1.5 cup crumbled sheeps milk feta cheese
1 egg
Olive oil
Ground black pepper

Step One: Preheat the oven to 180C. Roast the whole baby carrots and beets for 30 minutes in a shallow covered dish filled with water (this ensure they remain moist).

Step Two: Roll the puff pastry and place on a greased baking tray. Score the edges. Arrange the carrot, beet and broccoli on the pastry base. Top with the broccoli and then the feta.

Step 3: Lightly beat the egg and wash the pastry edges with it. If there’s egg left over poor it evenly over the pie. Then pop it in the oven until the edges of the pie are golden, around 20 minutes.

What are your favourite picnic treats?