Hunt & Gather UK

The River Itchen - My First Time Fishing for Trout on a quintessential beautiful English Chalk Stream

5/31/2015

The Beautiful River Itchen

The Lower Itchen Fishery, is an absolutely stunning quintessential English chalk stream. It's just picture perfect. Clear water, broken by chalk runs and green streamer weed.

The trout are usually around the 2lb mark. They catch around 300 salmon a year from this stretch and there is a huge run of sea trout.

We found that, Grey Wolfs and GRHEs were the flies to use on the day. Although we did catch on Adams, when the trout were feeding off of olives.

It was a wonderful days trout fishing on a picture perfect English chalk stream.

A classic Itchen Brown Trout.

The Lower Itchen

Another Itchen Brown Trout

The Grayling run to over 3lbs

Crystal clear watchers of the Lower Itchen

A classic Itchen Brown Trout

Another River Itchen Grayling

River Itchen Brown Trout

Baked Itchen Trout

River Itchen Trout on the plate.

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Foraging for Edible Spring Plants along the Bristol Frome

5/15/2015

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Hairy Bittercress - tastes just like water cress.

Today I took my 8 year old daughter and our dog to see if we could find and forage for some of the common spring edible plants. We found quite a lot within a very short space of time. We found bittercress as soon as we stepped out of the front door. It tastes pretty much like water cress and was growing against our driveway wall. The rest of these edible plants were found growing along the Bristol Frome within a few hundred yards of our house..

Another picture of the Hairy Bittercress that we found.

Wild Garlic - Bristol Frome

Wild Garlic growing close to the Bristol Frome

Crow Garlic or Wild Chives/ Onion - amazing foraging find. These have a really strong oniony flavour.

Another picture of the wild chives/ garlic this time I dug a couple up to show the bulbs. Commonly known as Crow Garlic.

Hedge Garlic. Note the Ground Elder growing around it. Ground elder is also edible.

Cow Parsley or Wild Chervil

Be careful of picking Hemlock (pictured), when foraging for Cow Parsley, as it is deadly. Hemlock has obviously blood spotted stems, as opposed to hairy, silver stems with Cow Parsley. Hemlock also smells nasty when rubbed, as opposed to chervil like with Cow Parsley.

Another confusion species Hemlock Water Dropwort (Water Hemlock). This is deadly poisonous. Care must be taken not to confuse Cow Parsley with either Hemlock or Water Hemlock. The latter 2 are very poisonous!

Lesser Celandine - should be cooked. This was growing along the Bristol Frome, along with all the other plants that I took pictures of today.

Another picture of the heart shape leaves of Lesser Celandine (should be cooked).

Comfrey - young spears can be picked in March and eaten raw in salads. Older leaves boiled like spinach.

Bitter Vetch - the tubers can be eaten.

Stinging Nettles - boiled and eaten like spinach, the ability to sting is destroyed via cooking.

Dead Nettle - treat as above:

Balm - Lemon Scented - Balm can be used as a herbal tea or to flavour drinks

Ground Ivy makes a good herbal tea

Wild Mustard can be found growing everywhere. It's flowers and young leaves have the same hot flavour as mustard. Used sparingly can add flavour to salads for example.

Chick Weed - makes tender wild greens

Red Valerian - a tad bitter, but very young leaves can be cooked as greens.

Goosegrass (sticky weed) can be boiled up and used as greens, like spinach.

Sheep Sorrell

Common Sorrel - if you chew a young leaf you will get an amazing and unexpected taste of lemon. Sorrel adds an great twist of lemon flavour to food such as soups and fish.

Thistle's stems are surprisingly good to eat. Just strip them back to the stems and then cook them.

A field full of Common Sorrel, clover and Pig Nuts all are edible.

A Pig Nut one of my favourite edibles. See my Pig Nut Blog.

Crab Apples - here there are a mass of trees on the Bristol Ring Road. Deer love to eat them, which is why we may sadly see deer run over on this spot on several occasions.?

Plantain - the very young leaves are dwindle as greens. The seeds have an interesting nutty taste.

Horseradish - see my post on how to make creamed horseradish sauce.

Camomile - can be used to make Camomile Tea.

The large root of the Burdock plant is edible. It's very good sautéed or roasted.

We have Wood Sorrel on our driveway. For some reason both the Wood Sorrel & the Bittercress turn red on out driveway as they get older?

Another Picture of Wood Sorrel. This one was growing against a pub wall. It has a similar lemony taste to the Common and Sheep's Sorrel, despite the difference in appearance.

Ground Elder. I've seen Dog Mercury growing amongst Ground Elder, which is poisonous. Both carpet the floor and before the Ground Elder flowers, can be confused. Make sure you can tell the difference.

Silver Weed - Easily Identified by its Silver Underside. The roots can be cultivated and eaten, boiled, baked or raw.

The Edible Roots of the Silverweed Plant

Silverweed and it's pretty yellow flower.

A huge bed of wild water cress.

Elderflowers can be used for Elderflower Champagne. The recipe is in another of my blog posts.

Meadow Sweet - it's unique flavoured flower make a good alternative to Elderflowers in making Elderflower Champagne.

Wild Carrot - identified by the tiny blue/ purple spot in the middle of the white flower. I found this one today in the grounds of a hospital. They have small carrot like roots that are often white, rather than orange. When rubbed they smell just like the carrot that we all know and recognise.

Another confusion species according to others. Lords & Ladies or Cuckoo Pint. Some people believe that you can confuse this poisonous plant with Sorrel, as they have similar shaped leaves. Although I'm not personally convinced. The Lords & Ladies plant is associated with woodland? Has dark green and veiny leaves, that are much thicker. As it matures it's reproduction parts are obvious. Sorrel is associated with meadows, fields & verges and is an altogether much taller and finer plant. The reproduction parts are very different. The leaves in general, much smaller, finer and paler. But please do research before hand to ensure that you can tell the differences.

The tiny little but tasty wild strawberry

Wild Parsnip

Wild Parsnips

The wild parsnip root, it looks and smells just like the cultivated parsnip that we all know, it's just smaller.

The small wild parsnip.

Wild Raspberries - yummy!

Cuckoo Flower or Lady's Smock

Lady's Smock or Cuckoo Flower - very peppery. The flowers are milder.

Cuckoo Flower or Lady's Smock - here in the grounds of the Royal Glamorgan Hospital

Penny Wart a beautiful salad leaf, here with cheese and wild cherry chutney.

Penny Wart growing on an old roof.

Three-Cornered Leek. A member of the Allium family. And yes they taste like leeks. Milder than Ransom but a similar taste. Love them. They often flower abs grow amongst the blue bells.

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Stuart Mitchell Secare & Muntjac Knives

5/4/2015

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Stuart Mitchell Secare

My Secare Survival Knife has just arrived from the talented custom knife maker Stuart Mitchell.

It's a stunning knife and an amazing piece of craftsmanship.

The blade is made from SF100 Steel (Surgical Steel). The handle is made from G10 and the sheath Kydex.

I am really pleased with it and can't wait to try it.

All of Stuarts knives are handmade to order.

He consulted several survival experts for the Secare design, including I believe Bear Grylls.

Absolutely stunning!

http://www.stuartmitchellknives.com/phone/index.html

My new Stuart Mitchell Secare Knife.

Stuart Mitchell Secare Knife

The Secare Knife Handmade by the talented Stuart Mitchell.

Secare Survival Knife by Stuart Mitchell. Love the Kydex Sheath as well, with it small accessories pocket.

Stuart Mitchell Secare Knife

"Secare" Survival Knife by Stuart Mitchell. Love the Kydex sheath as well. It's got a small pocket for accessories or survival bits. Stunning knife.

Stuart Mitchel Secare Knife

So many pictures I know, but I just love this knife. The Secare by Stuart Mitchell.

This Secare Knife has a Black G10 Handle lined with orange. Always useful to locate it after putting it down, especially in the dark.

Stunning knife & sheath - Stuart Mitchell

Stuart Mitchell Secare Knife.

My knife being built

A lot of work goes into making a hand made knife.

Polished

G10 handles added.

That's my knife 608

My Stuart Mitchell MuntjacX knife has arrived. It will be used for Gralloching / Butchering. The Secare will be my general purpose / bushcraft knife.

My Stuart Mitchell Muntjac Knife

Stuart Mitchell Muntjac

Stuart Mitchell Muntjac Knives

Stuart Mitchell Muntjac Knife made from SF100 Steel, G10 Scales and Liners.

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Muntjac on the BBQ

4/26/2015

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The leg and fillet of the young muntjac on the BBQ. It was still pink in the middle. A fresh as it comes. It tasted amazing!!!

This had been marinated in Salsa Verde, wrapped in cling film and then placed in the fridge for several hours prior to cooking. I used several cloves of garlic.(See the picture of the haunch marinating).

I have used a Moroccan style rub, with sweet smoked paprika and corriander. This works well.

I tend to make a modified Salsa Verde depending on what I have in the Garden.

This time:

1 or 2 cloves garlic

Chopped fresh Oregano

Chopped Tyme

Chopped Rosemary

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon capers

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

⅓ cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Blend and then rub all over it. Marinate it.

Or I improvise on a spicy rub:

2 Teaspoons Sweet Smoked Paprika

1 Teaspoon Fennel Seeds

1 or 2 Teaspoon of Ground Corriander.

1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin

1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

2 Cloves finely chopped Garlic

Sweeze of Lime Juice

Rub and Cook.

Or add olive oil and marinate.

Butterflied Muntjac loin marinated in a salsa verde.

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Primrose Curd

4/25/2015

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Primrose Curd

Another wonderful recipe kindly passed on by a friend. And one that I must try making with my children.

Primrose Curd

Two generous handfuls of unsprayed clean primrose petals.

450grms sugar

450grms Bramley apple

125grms unsalted butter

4-5 large eggs

The zest and juice of two lemons.

Day One

Finely chop the primrose petals and place them with the sugar in a container and stir through the primrose flowers. Cover and leave for at least 24 hours (this will allow the flavours from the petals to be released into the sugar.

Day Two

Peel and chop 450grms of apples, put them in a pan with 100ml of water and the lemon zest and juice. On the hob, gently cook the apple until it is yieldingly soft and then mash it into a purée.

One third fill a pan with water and place a snug-fitting heat-proof bowl on the top of the pan. Add the apple, butter, lemon juice and primrose sugar mixture to the bowl. Heat the pan and stir the mixture until the butter has completely melted.

Turn off the heat and add the eggs to the mixture through a sieve. Stir the eggs in thoroughly with a balloon whisk.

Put the pan back on a gentle heat and stir the mixture for about 10 minutes until it thickens. (It will thicken further as it cools). Pour the curd into sterilised jars, seal immediately and store in the fridge where it will keep for up to a month. Sieve the curd whilst pouring the curd into the jar.

It looks delicious and apparently takes amazing. A superb and very interesting wild harvest recipe in my opinion.

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Foraged Dinner From the Bristol Frome

4/18/2015

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A Brown Trout from the Bristol Frome

Eva and I caught a wild from trout from the Bristol Frome this evening. We rarely take Trout from the Frome, but I took this small trout this evening for Eva's dinner. I tend to only take small fish (less than 1/2lb) for my children's dinner. All big fish go back.

We made a Wild Onion, Elephant Garlic, Smoked Elephant Garlic and Wild Garlic Pesto and Eva had it for her tea. She couldn't stop praising how it all tasted!

Eva also made a giant Lesser Celandine chain and we had a fire by the river. Happy days!!!

The Pesto ingredients;

Pine nuts

Hazel nuts

Olive oil

Vinegar (slash to preserve)

Elephant Garlic

Smoke Elephant Garlic

A small bunch of Wild Onion Leaves

Wild Garlic

That pesto is bloody amazing!!! Probably the best that I've tasted! Hazelnuts and pine nuts pan toasted. Your elephant garlic and the smoked garlic, was added towards the end of the toasting. Parmesan. Wild garlic leaves, with a small bunch of wild onion leaves. Olive oil and a splash of vinegar, to preserve it. It's not at all potent, like you would expect, just a really nice taste!!

Wild Onion & Garlic Pesto

Wild Onion and Garlic Pesto

The Bristol Frome

Eva's dinner - Wild Bristol Frome Brown Trout, with Wild Garlic Pesto.

Elephant Garlic

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Wild Brown Trout Bristol Frome

4/16/2015

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I can't believe it, but I've just caught a 4lb fin perfect wild brown trout from the Bristol Frome! What an awesome fish to see from an Urban River! I'm so chuffed with it! I couldn't kill a beautiful fish of such quality from the Frome and returned it unharmed. Happy days!!!!

That's 5 x 3lb+ wild brown trout that we've caught from this section this year.

There are dippers, kingfisher and otter currently using this stretch of the river.

We regularly see muntjac and roe deer. It really is quite amazing for an urban river.

Another Wild Brown Trout from the Bristol Frome. This one over 3lbs.

Another 3lb+ Bristol Frome Brown Trout. This was caught by a friend of mine. I don't tend kill the browns in the Frome. We have now agreed to return all fish over 2lbs in weight.

Another big Bristol Frome Brown Trout

1st Brown Trout of the 2015 Season on the Bristol Frome

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Salad Made With Foraged Spring Plants

4/13/2015

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Foraged Salad Made With Edible Spring Plants.

A wild salad made up by Eva (my 9 year old) - Hairy Bittercress, Sorrel, Lesser Celandine, Wild Onion (Leaves & Bulb), Wild Garlic (leaves & buds), Young Hawthorn Leaves, Hedge Garlic, Ground Elder, Cow Parsley, topped with a handful of Sweet Violets and Primrose. We ate it with Merguez, Cooking Chorizo and Burdock Root.

Foraged Salad and Biolite Stove

A wild salad made up by Eva (my 9 year old) - Sorrel, Lesser Celandine, Wild Onion, Wild Garlic (leaves & buds), Young Hawthorn Leaves, Hedge Garlic, Ground Elder, Cow Parsley, topped with a handful of Sweet Violets and Primrose. We ate it with Merguez, Cooking Chorizo and Burdock Root.

Foraged Salad made with edible spring plants. Merguez Sausages, Cooking Chorizo and Burdock Root cooked on the Biolite Stove.

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Biolite Wood Burning Stove

3/23/2015

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Biolite Wood Burning Stove. It uses the heat from the fire, to run it's own fan. It can also charge iPhones, iPads and run LED lights via its USB port. My Stuart Mitchell Secare Knife did a great job splitting branches and sticks to feed the fire and barely lost it's edge, in the process.

Biolite Stove - It use runs off of foraged sticks and branches. It uses the heat generated from the fire to run it's own fan. It can also run LED lights, charge phones and tablets. As well as the obvious cook your food. The stoves fan increases the cooking speed & distributes the heat.

It's a genious little stove and works really well.

You can cook with pans directly on top of the stove, when not using grill. The kettle pot can me used to make tea or cook other food, in a similar way to a pan.

It just runs off of sticks and chopped branches.

The fan has two speeds, high and low. Low is best when the grill is being used or it burns the food. If the fire starts to die in the stove, switching the fan to high, quickly gets the fire going again. Using small twigs to restart the fire from glowing embers reduces the amount of smoke it produces.

They are not cheap, but a really clever bit of kit. I love it!

The Biolite Camping Stove - it runs off of foraged sticks and branches or kindling. It cooks your food, whilst converting the energy from the fire into electricity. This drives it's own fan and can also run LED lights and charge electronic equipment.

The Biolite Wood Burning Camping Stove - here it is diving a multi LED snake light.

The Biolite Wood Burning Stove in action. The Biolite kettle can be filled to 1.5 litres and can be used to make hot drinks or cook food as you would with a saucepan.

The Biolite Stove - cooking food and charging my iPhone, as well as running it's own fan. All of this, by burning foraged sticks and branches.

The Biolite Stove cooking sausages.

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Snowdon Horseshoe & Crib Goch

3/4/2015

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The 800 meter sheer drop either side of Crib Goch. You have to traverse across the top of this ridge when you do the Snowdon Horseshoe.

The Snowdon Horseshoe one of my favourite little adventures and an outstanding ridge walk, that involved walking, scrambling and an amazing sense of exposure.

The total ascent is 1152 meters, reaching a maximum height of 1,085 meters on the top of Snowdon.

Do not attempt in bad weather or strong winds!

As you can see from the picture above, it involves Srambling across the "knife-edged" arête or ridge for several hundred meters, know as Crib Goch. This will involve using your hands and feet. This gives you the most amazing sense of exposure as there is an 800 meter drop either side on you as you move across the top with is only a couple of feet wide! It's exhilaration though and the views as you can see below are outstanding!

I've wild camped several times on the lake at the base of Snowdon. Every time I have done so, I have had the lake to myself. You camp with Snowdon as a back drop! Such a dramatic place to wild camp!

It really is quite an adventure and one of my favourites!