The two Ed's 'Inishowen' Whiskey and Elderfower Ice-cream

The two Ed’s ‘Inishowen Whiskey’ and Elderflower Ice-cream

Capturing  Essence.
Thanks to @bidgestoneEd  who reported wonderful  snippets of information from the  2^nd Inishfood festival , one of them from Ed Hick's talk on Taste, notably that Whiskey and Elderflower  go well together, and thanks to the warm weather this week the elder-flowers are finally starting to release some of their headiness and that the  2^nd ‘Whiskylive' event is  happening  in Dublin makes for natural pairing.  I’d need for a whiskey based dessert to include on a Whiskey menu at work, ice-cream makes sense now that summers arrived. Which whiskey though to pair up with it was the challenge, I first searched whiskey and elderflower to see what was out there already on-line, Ed Hick popped again well at least a 2min ‘youtube’ video of a cocktail named  after him ‘Ed Hick's Whiskey Elderflower' being made in 'the sugar club' Dublin,  and can be seen at this link,  http://youtu.be/pH5RPz5nKBg

A little further research  ‘whiskey notes grape’ brought up Tasting notes for a whiskey called ‘Inishowen’, now made by  Cooley Distillery, that made happy coincidence, it’s not the most common of whiskeys in shops though so as in Ed's cocktail use Jameson or another Irish whiskey.
thanks to the two Ed's


The essence of the Inishfood Festival is well captured by Sally aka @bridgestoneEd in her Blog http://kitchenlifeskills.blogspot.com/
The other Ed' can be found in most good Markets selling Pork products not least 'Bacon Jam', but at www.hicks.ie  or  on twitter @edhick are a good start to follow his trail.

The Ice-cream

Ingredients

1 Tin of condensed milk 390gms

500 ml cream

2 handfuls of elder-flowers approx 60gms (with the stems on is fine), if you cant get the flowers 50ml  of cordial should do.

100ml whiskey

Method

In a saucepan bring 50ml cream and half the whiskey  with the elder flowers to the boil, to infuse the flavours, and then leave to one side to cool over ice or in the freezer. Strain when chilled.

Put the the rest of the cream and beat with a whisk ( if your using an electric  mixer do this on a low speed always beat cream on a low speed gives as  it more strength and it holds itself better  for longer)  until it just starts to stiffen then fold in the condensed milk.

Now gently stir the elderflower cream add the rest of the whiskey to taste, you should get whiskey first then the elderflower  notes will arrive.

Place into a plastic container and freeze should take 3-4 hours depending on the container dimensions, divide into smaller amounts if you’re in a hurry.

Enjoy plain in a bowl or with a tipple.

Whiskey Recipes, with or without the 'e' whatever!

Whiskey or Whisky take your pick, just be careful which one you use for cooking, they are complex.  

‘Hot Whiskey’ Chicken and Prawn Skewers

I’ve chosen to use Paddy whiskey for this recipe, the chicken and prawns are delicate flavour and the mellowness of ‘Paddy’ lends itself to the sweetness of the honey and  bite of lemon.

Ingredients

For the skewers

16 Tiger Prawns

2 Free-range chicken breasts approx 150gms each

¼ of a lemon juiced

Salt and cracked black peppercorns

Rapeseed or vegetable oil for cooking

8    6’’ skewers

For the glaze

1 measure of ‘Paddy’ whiskey

1 tablespoon of honey

Method

For the skewers

Defrost and devein the tiger prawns.

Slice the chicken breast into 24 thin strips.

Marinate the above in a small bowl with the lemon juice salt and pepper 10-15mins

Then thread onto the skewers alternate 3 pieces of chicken and two tiger prawns onto each skewer.

Place onto a lightly oiled grill tray and cook approx 6-8mins turning once

For the glaze

In a small saucepan add the whiskey and bring it the boil add the honey and remove from the heat.

Finishing the Skewers

Remove the skewers from the grill and glaze with the honey whiskey mix place the skewers back under the grill to glaze- the honey should just caramelize.

Place on a party plate and share, with a glass of whiskey of course.

 ‘Mint Julep’ Lamb chops, Sherry and Egg emulsion, Rocket Salad

Whiskey and Lamb, kind of partners, usually coming from the same terrain, in this dish it’s all about the finnish I’m flaming the chops with a Bourbon pepped with a hint of mint and marrying them up with peppery Rocket leaves using the sherry emulsion to smooth things out, taking notes from a popular way of aging whiskeys in barrels previously used for other spirits.

Ingredients

For the lamb

 8 lamb cutlets

1 tablespoon freshly chopped mint

1 measures Bourbon, Jim Beam’s good

Salt and cracked black pepper

A little oil for the pan

For the emulsion

2 free-range egg yolks

1 measure sweet sherry

½ teaspoon sherry vinegar

½ teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper

 Rocket leaves (approx 300gms) washed and dried.

Methods

The lamb

Marinate the cutlets with the mint and 10- 15mins.

To cook, rub of the mint and season with salt and cook on a hot pan approx 3mins each side.

The emulsion

While the lamb is cooking whisk the egg yolks with the sherry and sugar until white and frothy, season lightly with salt and pepper.

Flaming the chops

Once cooked dab any excess fat from the pan with piece of kitchen towel( you can use a pair of tongs to do this, to avoid burning yourself) add the whiskey to the pan return to the heat and light the  whiskeys alcohol vapour with a naked flame. Have a large lid handy to smoother the flame; your chops are now ready to serve.

Plating

Divide the rocket between four plates dress with the sherry and egg yolk emulsion, add two chops on each and enjoy.

St George's Mushroom 'Calocybe gambosa'

St Georges mushrooms 'Calocybe gambosa'

So called because it usually arrives around the 23rd of April which is St Georges Day in England, and is around through May and early June.
My usual spots have been slow to produce this year and first finds for me were on the 2nd of May a cool end to April and drier conditions may have been the reason.
The French  use  a 'nom usuel' -common name, Mousserons, they are a good edible mushroom and a delightful start to the season.

What to observe.
The cap, normally off white, convex flattening,with age from button to 9cm.
The gills, narrow and crowded, ranging in colour from white to grey.
Spores, white
Flesh, firm
Habitat, beech, oak and surrounding grassland sometimes in ring or trooping.
The stem/stalk, stout and narrows slightly towards the cap.
The smell, 'mealy' is the term that's used to describe the aroma, which is a  wet floury smell.

Eating them.
Good to go after brushig off and dirt and giving them a quick wash, then slicing them and frying in butter with a little chopped wild garlic or garlic 'leaves' from the garden, season with salt and pepper serve on sourdough toast.

St Georges mushrooms pan-fried with garlic butter on sour-dough'

Foraging Notes, Mushrooms.

Foraging is a good way to supplement the food basket, get outdoors and tune in with nature, it can be dangerous however, without proper guidance and research fatal mistakes can be made.My friend Louis Smith advises when he takes a group out on a fungi foray, 'There old mushroom hunters and bold mushroom hunters, but there's no old and bold mushroom hunters' sound advice. Louis is co author of 'Forest Fungi in Ireland' a very good guide to what is around and well worth including in your library.

Red-stalked Boletus 'Boletus erythropus'

I've been foraging for mushrooms quite a while now and have a hit list that I'm certain with in my local area, all the good ones are on it, there are others that I'm fairly sure of  but until I'm in the company of someone I trust, a mental note of location and a photograph is all I will take.

What is a mushroom?
 Simply a mushroom/fungi is a fruit body on a mycelium -the web like structure of hypae that run underground or through rotten wood, and leaf litter.I liken it to an apple on a tree.
 The purpose of the mushroom is reproduction and it distributes spores 'seeds'.
There are thousands of variations of this 'fruit body', the difference in structure and forms and their particular peculiarities leads into 'classifications'.
This is first achieved by dividing the fungi into two groups. mycetoza - slime moulds- which we will skip and true fungi eumycota which we will focus on.

Eumycota or true fungi are divided into sub-divisions,  reasons ranging from structure to spore reproduction.
Gill fungi i.e. saffron milk cap, wood blewitt, tube fungi- boletes, fungi with out gills- i.e. chanterelles, puffballs, Cup and Flask fungi-morels,
These mushrooms/fungi share the fact they need a host to live off as unlike plants they can't produce chlorophyll and use the host as a source of food.
Their relationship with a host will further determine their groupings and habitats.



Mushrooms relationships with their host/habitat.

Parasitic fungi take nutrients and give nothing in return.

Mycorrhizal fungi take the food and in return provide nutrients to the host.

Saprobes decompose dead matter.

Some form a Symbiotic relationship with a tree or host, so the types of tree in a particular area can lead us to assume certain mushrooms will be found in that area,  however there are further complications in the matter, soil type, pollution, soil disturbance and prior climatic conditions.
In looking at true fungi we will be breaking these into three groups; edible, inedible and poisonous.

How can we identify fungi?
In all guides mushrooms will be described in a similar way,  Descriptions given will be visual- colour-appearance-shape, olfactory, tactile, habitat, and in some cases taste (this is only in the cases where one is satisfied that the mushroom is not poisonous in any manner).
Cap
The cap will be described along with it’s colour as being of a certain size, shape and any tactile notes I.e. slippery, sticky.
Gills/tubes.
Colour, how they are attached to the stem, size, spacing and shape..
Spores.
Colour when a spore print is made- place a cap gill side down on apiece of white card for 1hr+ and the spores will drop onto the card giving a colour indication. Where similarities are to great a microscope can be used to look at the spores formation.
Stem.
 Height, width, shape, the base of the stem, colour, surface, any markings present.
Flesh.
Colour, any discolouration upon cutting, smell, texture. (In the lab mycologist use  different chemicals to determine reactions on contact with the flesh )
Habitat.
Trees, soil types, leaf litter, moss, pasture.
Smell.
 Differences in smells are used in the identification of mushrooms
Microscopes.
As mentioned above the use of a microscope and chemical agents are used in laboratories to enable the mycologist to clearly define the ‘genus’ family of mushrooms, worldwide variations of species  appear in each family. Some guidebooks do contain spore formations as a guide.
Further information can be obtain through books, browsing the web and attending a workshop/hunt.


Fungal names.
Mycologist only apply names in Latin-this method of identification makes research  and communication easier as it first gives the family/group/genus name followed by the specific mushrooms species name.
For example 'boletus edulis'.
 The first name in Latin tells us that it is from the ‘bolete’ family and the second name ‘edulis’ the specific mushroom from that group. this allows us to know the group and the second is descriptive and it is indeed very edible as the name suggest. Another in this family is called ‘boletus satanas‘ no prize here for surmising it is bad for your health, though it comes from the ‘boletus‘ family that provide us with the no 1 mushroom on most list. Boletus are characterised by sponge like tubes where you’d normally expect gills to be.
Common names apply to most mushrooms,Penny Bun, Porcini, Steinpilz, Borowik and Cep are all common names for the 'boletus edulis’, but in different languages.
It's best to familiarise yourself with both Common and Latin names it makes researching and identifying and communication easier.

Edibles.
Those that are consumable, again the similarities to selecting fruit are applied -only specimens that are in good condition should be consumed, those that are old, insect infested or immature, should be left in their habitat. As a general rule when picking mushrooms leave 25% of the type untouched to grow and provide for next year.
Have a hit list of edibles.
Always cook wild mushrooms  before consumption. Never ingest large amounts,. Keep a sample.

Inedibles
These are unfit for consumption, and are  by far the largest majority of mushrooms. For various reasons, bitter taste, to tough to digest, unpalatable, size -to small to ever be worth picking in the first place  aka little brown jobbies-.

Poisonous  
I cannot stress the importance of familiarising yourself with these mushrooms. There are among the same family of mushrooms some that are edible and others that are Deadly!
The Amanita family has some of the most deadly, ‘the death cap’ Amanita phalloides, ‘destroying angel’ Amanita virosa being two that cause liver failure, termed phalloid poisoning,
'the fly agaric’ Amanita muscaria {the red and white one usually depicted with an elf on top in fairytale books}, ‘the panther cap’ Amanita pantherina  both contain muscarine poison.
Psychotropic poisoning, caused by magic mushrooms- psilocybe/ liberty caps- are to be avoided.
Brown roll rims. Paxus involutous
Yellow stainer. Agarics xanthoderma
The sickener. Russula emetica.


Where and when?
When autumn's best, though every thing is weather dependant mushrooms do like a hot summer with some rain late august and nice temperatures to follow during September.  long wet periods and cold breezes aren't good.
There are mushrooms in appearance year round though St George's 'Calocybe gambosa' and Common Morels 'Morchella esculenta' usually start the season for most hunters.
Early in the morning and midweek are good times, as there's fewer people around.
While mushrooms can be found in most places and as mentioned earlier the habitat will dictate types. For edibles its best to cover areas of deciduous and coniferous woodland, as these two areas will provide a wide range of habitats that hopefully will provide a wide range of specimens. Of course park land and meadows can provide good habitats but are more likely to have been disturbed by pollution and pesticides.
 Remember to keep your bearings when in a new wood /area.

What to  wear/bring?
Suitable clothing, Wellingtons/waterproof walking boots, warm clothing, rain gear.
 Water, banana, bread or energy bar.
A Light Flat bottomed basket, or cloth bag with stiffened flat bottom {i.e. available at most supermarket tills, stiffen out with extra card board.
Small paper bags or waxed bread wrappers are good for isolating differing types of mushrooms in your bag/basket.
A sharp knife preferably with a folding blade,there are special knifes for mushroom hunters with a bristle brush on one end for cleaning of any dirt before you place your mushroom in the basket.
 Do not carry a open blade while walking.
Pen, notebook, Camera 2 build up your own records, take notes and photograph mushrooms you are unsure of for reference later at home.

Mobile phone, also let someone know your intended area of hunt and estimated time. accidents do happen.


RESPECT  THE COUNTRYSIDE.
LEAVE THE AREA AS YOU FOUND IT.
FOLLOW ANY INSTUCTIONS INDICATED IN FOREST/PARK LAND.
DO NOT TRESSPASS.
BRING YOUR LITTER HOME.
DO NOT  COLLECT SPECIMENS WHEN FIELD IDENTIFICATION WILL SUFFICE.
KEEP DOGS ON LEADS AND SCOOP WHENEVER.
DO NOT DISTURB  THE WILD LIFE UNECCESSARILY.
CLOSE ANY GATES THAT YOU MAY OPEN.

A list of my favourite edibles commonly found in the greater Dublin area.

Porcini. Boletus edulis.
Bay boletes. Xerocomus badius.
Saffron milk caps. Lactarius delicious.
Amethyst deceivers. Laccaria amethystea.
Hedgehog. Hydnum repandnum.
Giant puffball. Langermannia gigantea
Chanterelles. Cantharellus cibarius.
Yellow leg chanterelles. Cantharellus tubaeformis.
Wood blewitts. Lepista nuda
Slippery jacks. Suillus luteus.
Larch bolete.Suillus grevelli.
Brown birch boletes. Leccinum scabrum.

Penny Bun 'Boletus edulis'

A few of the poisonous mushrooms found in the greater Dublin area.

Death cap. Amanita phalliodes
Fly agaric. Amanita muscaria
Panther caps. Amanita pantherina
Brown roll rims. Paxus involutous
Yellow stainer. Agarics xanthoderma
The sickener. Russula emetica.
.

Fly agaric 'Amanita muscaria'

During the course of the season I will post my Finds of edible mushrooms, using the above notes as a guide and hope you can use them as an aide to your forages, naturally there after the responsibility is all your own.

Short clip at Killegar Mushroom Festival, spelt my name wrong must be my accent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHjEHgeCndU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
















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