Recipes, Lotions and Potions
Do you have a favourite recipe or potion using plants, herbs, weeds that might interest readers? If so, (and provided it's legal!) we'd love to hear from you! Just e-mail it to info@plantswithpurpose.co.uk for adding to this page.
Cream of Weed Soup
This is one of my favourites, and easily adapted to the edible weeds in your garden at any time of year. MAKE SURE YOU CAN IDENTIFY YOUR WEEDS WITH 100% CERTAINTY!
1 Colander full of nettle tops, loosely packed
1 colander of comfrey, ground elder, sorrel and garlic mustard (Jack by the Hedge) 1 potato, washed and chopped
1 onion, chopped
You can have a carrot too if you want.
Fry onion for a few minutes in olive oil, then add the potato and chopped greens and steam-fry on a low heat for five minutes or so. Add water or stock (marmite or vegemite are ideal) and simmer till evrything is tender. Liquidise, add salt and pepper to tase and more liquid if needed, then stir in a cup of cream, creme fraiche or natural yoghurt. Serves 4.
Salads, Dressed or undressed?
Many weeds make excellent ingredients for salads, in small or larger quantities. In May, I use Garlic Mustard, Ramsons (often called wild garlic), Yarrow, Ground Elder, Corn Salad, Miner's Lettuce, Lime leaves, Sorrel, Dandelion leaves, Bittercress, Salad Burnet, and sprinkle the petals of Cornflowers over the top. Shred all leaves and mix them well. A nice dressing to go with this can be made from olive oil, red wine vinegar and a spoonful of honey, generously sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper. Experiment with proportions, remembering that many herbs have a bitter taste you don't want to over-do.
Teas of the Moment
Herbal teas made from the fresh leaves are NOTHING LIKE the stuff you get triple-wrapped in tea bags. Just now I'm enjoying
Lemon Balm & Eau de Cologne Mint
Peppermint and Nettle top
Make sure you use enough leaves, roughly torn or whole, and - very important - infuse for at least ten minutes before drinking.
Elderflower Fritters
Pick several clean elderflowers that are just at their best. You can wash them if you think they need it but then let them dry on kitchen towel. Make a batter of one egg, a small cup of milk, and flour until its thick and creamy. I then heat oil in a deep frying pan - not exactly a deep fry but enough to be thorough. I suppose if you have a chip pan you could use than instead. When the oil is hot (faintly smoking but not too much) dip the elderflowers one at a time in the batter, and drop into the oil. Fry till golden and crisp. You can add salt, and a sqeeze of lemon is nice when serving. Eat hot!
Lavender and Poppyseed Honey Bread
 People often assume lavender is a herb only for perfumery, medicinal and cosmetic purposes, but the flowers and seeds can be used to impart a subtle and totally different flavour to desserts, cakes and bread. This is my own recipe for a special bread that keeps well and is lovely just spread with real butter.
1lb strong white bread flour
Half a pound wholemeal flour
1 sachet fast action dried yeast
Flowers and/or seeds from 7-8 heads of lavender
1 tablespoon roughly of poppyseeds 1 teaspoon sea salt (I like Maldon salt but mainly because I used to live there)
Large dash olive oil and a dessertspoon of honey
About three quarters of a pint of tepid water
Dissolve the honey in the water. Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and add the water/honey and the olive oil. Mix to a dough and knead for about 10 minutes. (I find visualising George W. Bush very helpful at this stage. You don't get that if you have a breadmaker.) Divide dough into three sections and stretch into long sausages. Plait them together and place on a lightly oiled baking tray in a warm place to rise until double in size. Bake at 180 degrees C in the middle of the oven for about 40-45 minutes. It's ready when it sounds hollow when tapped underneath.
DISCLAIMER: Plants with Purpose cannot take any responsibility for problems or effects of trying the recipes on this page. Please desist or take professional advice if you think your health may be affected!
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