The Bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) this year are far smaller than last but still worth gathering. And Bilberries make the most amazing coloured and flavoured smoothie as this recipe shows.

I harvested my Bilberry in the quiet of a pine wood, wind blowing through the trees, birdcall ringing out, and the sun beaming through the tree tops to warm me as I crouch down by a bush laden with fruit. Not another human around. It’s moments like this that make foraging so special.

Ingredients

• 4 handfuls of Bilberries
• ½ banana
• ½ melon

Suggested Instructions

Blend ingredients together and serve in glasses.

Serves 2

Baked mackerel coated in Alexanders & Wild Fennel Seeds, then stuffed with Marsh Samphire brings this dish alive with the full flavours of estuary & seashore.

I gathered the marsh samphire and wild seeds over a 50 foot area while walking my trusted hound. The mackerel I bought from Mary & Kay at Sidmouth Trawlers, whose family have been sustainably fishing Lyme Bay for generations. It’s as local and fresh as it gets without having to catch the blighters yourself!

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons medium pinhead oatmeal
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon crushed Wild Fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon crushed Alexanders seeds
• Salt and black pepper
• 6 whole mackerel, cleaned with heads left on
• Marsh samphire
• Lemon slices
• Olive oil

Suggested Instructions

1. Combine the first five ingredients and spread out on a large plate
2. Wet the mackerel under a cold tap, shake and roll them in the dry mixture. Lay them on an oiled baking tray.
3. Tuck a couple of lemon slices in each body cavity with some marsh samphire spilling out. Sprinkle over a generous amount of olive oil
4. Place in a hot oven at 200ºC or gas 6 for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the fish.

Serves 6

This fantastic Marsh Samphire recipe uses ancient hedgerow spices to create a sublime pickle.

I’d heard whispers that Marsh Samphire (Salicornia) used to grow around an estuary that is near me. So I went exploring and finally found the hidden beds. Such is the joy of chasing plants. This Marsh Samphire recipe was well worth the wait…

Ingredients

• 300g Marsh Samphire
• 500ml white wine vinegar
• 50g granulated sugar
• 1½ tsp alexanders seeds
• 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
• ½ tsp wild fennel seeds
• ½ tsp celery seed
• 3 jam jars

Suggested Instructions

1. Boil spice mix for three minutes, allow to cool then strain.
2. Blanch Marsh Samphire for 60 seconds, strain and plunge into cold water, then immediately drain and allow to air dry for 10 minutes.
3. Put Marsh Samphire into jars and pour over the cool spiced vinegar and seal with a non-metallic lid or use grease-proof paper to protect the metal lid.

Makes: 3 jam jars

The young stems of Marsh Samphire (Salicornia species) add natural salt to any dish and complement this salmon recipe. The vibrant green provides a colourful contrast to the delicate pink of the fish. Although I have not tried it yet, I am confident this would also work with fresh and smoked trout fillets, another Marsh Samphire recipe variation.

With the left over egg yolks I made a mayonnaise and stirred in 50g of finely chopped seablite to serve with the terrine and a salad of mixed peppery leaves.

Ingredients

• 500g salmon fillet cut into chunks
• 120g smoked salmon pieces
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• 75g washed young stems of marsh samphire / glasswort

You will also need a small loaf tin oiled and lined with parchment paper

Suggested Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC, gas mark 4.
2. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Season with pepper, there is no need for salt as there is sufficient in the coastal greens.
3. Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Cover with a piece of parchment paper and cover the top of the tin with foil. Stand the tin in a deep roasting tin, then pour boiling water in so it comes half way up the sides.
4. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the mixture is set and just firm to the touch. Cool in the tin.

Serves 6

The heat is scorching and I’ve been out foraging for two hours. The estuary is calm with a breeze that makes the heat of the day appear cool. Mere illusion! That evening after dropping off my wares to various friends, I return home and make a quick dish of wild estuary greens. Simple food, slow food, deeply nourishing food. Enjoy…

Ingredients

250g of wild estuary greens (I used sea plantain & sea aster)
Big knob of butter
Splash of rape seed oil
Drizzle of balsamic vinegar
Crushed black pepper

Suggested Instructions

Wash and clean the estuary greens then slice into 1 inch bits.
Steam them quickly for about 2 minutes,
Melt the butter with the rape seed oil in a frying pan, and then sauté the wild estuary greens hot and covered in butter/oil.
Next add 200g of fantail prawns and fry for another 60 seconds.
Drizzle a small amount of balsamic vinegar over the greens and work in, with some crushed black pepper.

Serves: 2

The fine summer we have had this year means the Elderflowers (Sambucus nigra) are heavy with pollen making them ideal to make Elderflower Champagne.

This recipe is very easy to make, so get cracking as the window of opportunity is closing fast and the Elderflowers my way are turning already.

This is a work in progress! I will report back whether it works or not. It’s an unusual elderflower champagne recipe and folk have privately commented that they don’t think it will work… As I like to say “Time Will Tell”. Boo to the nay-sayers.

Ingredients

• 2 litres of Elderflowers
• 3 lemons (juiced)
• 500g of granulated sugar
• 5 litres of cold water

Suggested Instructions

1. Snip the flowers away from the main stalk and put in a plastic bucket or large bowl.
2. Slice the lemons and put in the bowl along with the sugar.
3. Next add the cold water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Cover with a weighted plate to exclude the air, so make sure that the Elderflowers etc. are all submerged. Leave for 24-36 hours.
4. Strain the mixture through muslin or a fine sieve, and pour into 1 litre screw top plastic bottles that have been thoroughly cleaned and dried. Make sure you leave a 5cm gap at the top.
5. Leave for a week and then drink within a month

Makes: 5 litres

Orache (Atriplex patula) is a member of the goosefoot family recognisable by their goosefoot shaped leaves. They are also cousins of the cultivated South American quinoa whose seeds are increasingly being used in cooking today. I decided to combine the two in this recipe.

The leaves of the goosefoot family should be eaten in moderation by anyone with kidney stones as they contain oxalic acid. Many of this species are tolerant of salty soil, thriving on salt marshes or close to salty water. This was certainly true of the leaves I used, so I did not add any extra salt to this recipe, relying on the salt naturally present.

The following is not really a recipe, the amounts can easily be changed and other foods substituted. It would also work well with cooled, roasted vegetables.

Ingredients

• 150g quinoa grains
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• 100g orache leaves, well washed
• Vinaigrette dressing
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• Bunch spring onions, sliced
• ¼ cucumber
• 2 sprigs mint
• Small handful flat-leaved parsley

Suggested Instructions

1. Place 400g water in a saucepan with the turmeric and bring to the boil. Add the quinoa and simmer for 15 minutes, when all the water should be absorbed and the grains soft. Tip into a bowl, pour over some dressing and gently fork through. Leave to cool.
2. Place the orache leaves in a steamer and place over boiling water for 2-3 minutes. The leaves will quickly collapse like spinach. Remove and chop roughly.
3. Prepare the vegetables. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds by running a teaspoon down the centre. Cut into strips and then across into dice, repeat with the pepper. Remove the roots from the spring onions and slice the stems, including some of the green leaves. Chop the herbs fairly finely.
4. Gently toss all the prepared ingredients into the quinoa. Add some more dressing if the tabouleh seems a little dry. Serve.

Serves: 4 ( as a side dish)

Sea Aster (Aster tripolium) is one of the most flavoursome wild edible plants if you are into ‘gourmet foraging’. Often overlooked by many, it holds it’s texture very well, has an unusual, but highly more-ish taste, and to date I have yet to find anyone who found it revolting.

I like many of my wild edible plants cooked very simply, and this is about as simple as it gets.

Ingredients

• 4 handfuls of Sea Aster leaves
• Knob of butter
• 1-2 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 5 tablespoons of kefir or natural yoghurt
• Cracked black pepper

Suggested Instructions

1. Melt butter in frying pan, then add the crushed garlic and fry for 30 seconds.
2. Stir in washed and dried sea aster leaves (either sliced or whole), and fry until they are wilted and look glazed.
3. Add the kefir or yoghurt and stir for 20 seconds.
4. Serve immediately.

Makes: 4 side portions

The awesomely (is that a word) sweet wild strawberries are the perfect ingredient to make Wild Strawberry Vinegar. Far superior to cultivated varieties, these ‘little balls of nectar’ are quite simply, heavenly, and the end product is a deep rich red strawberry vinegar that turns ordinary salad dressings into something sensational.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of Wild Strawberries
• 1 cup of organic red wine vinegar

Suggested Instructions

1. Put the wild strawberries into a suitably clean jar, smash them up a bit with the end of a rolling pin so the juice starts showing.
2. Pour in the red wine vinegar, and stir well.
3. Cap or cover the jar and leave in a sunny place for 4 days. Shaking a couple of times a day.
4. Strain through muslin then bottle.

Makes: 250ml

A Herb Bennet (Geum urbanum) recipe that makes a wonderful alternative to ‘crispy seaweed’ that you often get served in high street Chinese restaurants.

I made this one to simply be crispy, but if you’d like sweetness then sprinkle a little sugar over the dish just before serving.

Ingredients

• 6 handfuls of Herb Bennet leaves (chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
• Knob of butter
• Sugar (optional)

Suggested Instructions

1. Melt butter in frying pan and fry the crushed garlic for 30 seconds.
2. Chop the Herb Bennet leaves up and add to frying pan, and gently fry until crispy. You might need to add more butter as the leaves can absorb quite a lot.
3. Serve with spicy food.

Serves: 2