Little Green Space
|
Little Green Space |
|
|
LITTLE GREEN SPACE Originally published in the Peak Advertiser on 17 May 2010
May is the month when green shoots appear everywhere and everything
begins to grow in profusion. And by “everything” I mean flowers,
fruit, vegetables and – unfortunately – weeds. Yes, it’s a sorry fact that the sunshine and showers that are so great
for all our garden plants are also exactly what the weeds need to thrive. Vegetable gardeners will be busy with the hoe this month to keep those
weeds under check. Most vegetables hate competition from weeds, and some
– such as onions and asparagus – will really struggle if not kept
weed-free. But not all weeds are bad news. While we may not want them growing in our
veg patch or flower beds, many weeds can provide shelter or food for
garden wildlife. The flowers of dandelion and clover, for example, provide nectar for bees
and hoverflies, while the seedheads of thistles and teasels will attract
birds, particularly goldfinches. And nettles are a veritable wonder weed: a single nettle patch can
support over 40 species of insects. They are particularly good for all
sorts of butterflies, providing food for caterpillars. And here’s an
interesting thing about nettles – they can be a valuable food source for
us, too. Nettle soup Actually, nettles have long been the source of heated discussion in our
family. Ever since we saw Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage
turning nettles into soup, Rich has been saying we should give nettles a
go in the kitchen. But somehow, I just didn’t fancy them. For a start, what about the
sting? A nettle’s sting is caused by formic acid inside the hairs on the
nettle’s leaves. The acid is destroyed during the cooking process, so
cooked nettles can be used as an iron- and vitamin-rich substitute for
spinach. Just don’t use them raw as a substitute for a spinach salad –
that would be quite painful! I finally changed my mind about nettles a couple of weeks ago. For
Christmas we were given a family ticket for a guided walk near Castleton,
including a visit to a “secret” chocolate factory. So one sunny April
morning we set off with experienced Peak District guide, and Peak
Advertiser writer, Sally Mosley (www.sallymosley.co.uk). With the promise
of some free samples of chocolate to keep us going up the hills, we headed
towards Mam Tor. We were under instructions to keep our eyes peeled for
the chocolate factory, and the children hopefully pointed out each
building that came into view. But nobody spotted it. After walking for a couple of miles we came upon
an unassuming, unmarked farmhouse, nestled under the slopes of Mam Tor.
This was the Cocoadance chocolate factory. Nettle and rhubarb jelly Sally ushered us into a barn and up a flight of stairs into a spotless
kitchen filled with the mouth-watering aroma of melted chocolate. Here
David Golubows and Bridget Joyce produce their heavenly chocolates, using
locally-sourced ingredients: milk and cream from the Peak District Dairy,
rhubarb grown in Castleton and Buxton Spa water. They even make a beer
truffle from Thornbridge Brewery’s Jaipur IPA. Many of the ingredients for the award-winning chocolates are foraged from
the surrounding hedgerows, and elderflower, blackberries and – you
guessed it – nettles feature strongly. In fact my favourite chocolate,
one of the many free samples, turned out to contain nettle and rhubarb
jelly. David and Bridget demonstrated how to make a variety of different
chocolates: chocolate hearts, chocolate sheep and Easter eggs, to name but
a few. Each finished product was passed around for us to taste, until we
had eaten more chocolate than I had thought was humanly possible. Each
member of the group, grinning from ear to ear, left with a goody bag
bulging with chocolate. Walking back to Castleton, I resolved to give nettles a go – after all,
if something as delicious as the chocolates I had just eaten could be made
with nettles, surely they couldn’t be that bad? So the very next day, I went out with a large bowl, a pair of scissors,
and some thick gardening gloves – and I didn’t get stung once! We
couldn’t quite persuade the children to try the resulting risotto –
but Rich’s verdict was praise indeed: “This is actually okay!” If you want to give nettles a go, check out www.nettles.org.uk. And with Nettle and pine nut risotto Serves 4 1 large
onion, finely chopped 2 large
cloves garlic, crushed 35g butter,
plus a little extra for toasting the pine nuts 250g Arborio
risotto rice Large bowl
of nettle tops, washed thoroughly 700 ml
vegetable stock 100 ml white
wine 50g pine
nuts 40g Parmesan
shavings Blanch the
nettles for 2 minutes in a large pan of boiling, salted water. Drain
thoroughly and leave to cool, then chop finely. Melt a little butter in a
small saucepan and add the pine nuts, stirring for a couple of minutes
over a low heat until they are lightly browned all over. Melt the
butter in a large pan and gently cook the onions and garlic for about 10
minutes until soft. Add the rice and continue to cook gently, stirring,
for a couple of minutes until all the grains of rice are coated in butter. Mix the
stock with the white wine and add about a quarter of this liquid to the
rice. Bring to the boil then simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until
all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Continue to add the stock a
little at a time, allowing most of the liquid to be absorbed before adding
the next batch. After about
20 minutes, when almost all the stock has gone, add the nettles, and keep
cooking for a couple more minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed
and the rice is soft but still has a bit of a bite. Remove from
the heat and stir in most of the Parmesan and the pine nuts. Serve
immediately with the remaining Parmesan sprinkled on top. Penny at Little Green Space www.littlegreenspace.org.uk |
