Ingredients
4 venison steaks, fat trimmed and cubed
1 onion, diced
1 large or 2 small carrots, diced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
Olive oil
Knob of butter
Couple of tablespoons of plain flour
Salt and black pepper
3 cloves
1 stick cinnamon
3 or 4 cardamon pods
1 bay leaf
Two slivers of orange peel

Method
Marinate the venison in oil, salt, pepper, bay leaf, onion and carrot for about an hour.
I cooked this stew in a large, lidded billy can over a wood fire, but it could be done in any lidded pan on a gas stove. I heated a pan over the fire and put in the marinated meat. Once the meat was browned all over, I added some water, the spices and orange peel, put the lid on and left it cooking for half an hour or so.

Meanwhile I made a thickener with flour and soft butter, mushing it with the back of a fork until completely incorporated. I mixed this thickener with a bit of the liquid from the pan and then stirred it all into the stew. I cooked the stew some more, regularly stirring it and checking it had enough liquid. Once the meat was tender, I crushed the garlic against the side of the pan and stirred it in. Once seasoned the stew was served with fried gnocchi and a watercress, raisin and pine nut salad.

Sausage and wild garlic stew cooking on the campfire

A large patch of wild garlic leaves grows in the shady areas under the trees by the Tipi trail. You can smell the garlic as you approach; it grows in such abundance that we were allowed to gather as much as we wanted. It is the leaves that you cook with, treating them as you would spinach or as a strong salad leaf.

Wild garlic leaves at WOWO campsite

I took the toddlers and a carrier bag and collected enough for two ‘made up on the spot’ recipes. As Matthew set the fire, I washed and chopped a good handful of wild garlic leaves and some flat-leaf parsley. I then mashed it up with a fork along with a pinch of sea salt, a knob of butter and some lemon juice.

Cath and kids picking wild garlic leaves at wowo campsite

Once the fire was going I toasted some slices of home-made bread that I sprayed with olive oil. Once they were toasted on both sides, I rubbed in the wild garlic leaf mixture and ate it without ceremony; Wild Garlic bread.

Sausage stew with wild garlic leaves for 4

The main course was a sausage stew with wilted garlic leaves. I had some Italian style sausages from Tablehurst Farm and decided to stew them rather than grill them over the campfire. They are meatier than British bangers and so stew well without falling to bits. I had a loaf of bread I made at home; I sprayed it with olive oil and toasted it over the fire. The garlic leaves give a fresh garlicky taste, not harsh at all and barely need cooking.

Ingredients
8 decent Italian or Toulouse sausages
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 sprig of rosemary
1 onion, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper
2 red peppers
2 handfuls of freshly picked wild garlic leaves, washed

Method
Roast the red peppers on the campfire until they are blackened, then skin and chop them. Meanwhile, heat the oil and gently cook the onion, then add the sausages and rosemary and fry for a minute or two before adding the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and simmer covered until the sausages are cooked through. You may need to add some water if your stew looks like it may stick. Don’t forget to add the peppers when they are done. Take the stew off the heat and stir in the leaves, they will wilt very quickly. One last taste for seasoning and serve with toasted bread, pasta or new potatoes.
Tags: foraging, sausages, stew, one-pot meals,

Tablehurst farm

WOWO campsite

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Ingredients
250g dried black turtle beans, soaked for 24 hours, or 2 x 240g tins, drained
240g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 large or 2 small carrots, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 stick of celery, diced
1 red pepper, roasted, skinned and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 bay leaf
2 dried kashmiri chillis
1 tsp chilli powder
1 star anise, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 cloves, crushed
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground caraway seeds
1 handful raisins
1 handful flaked almonds
1 tbs cocoa powder
1 handful fresh coriander, chopped
Salt
Juice of 1 lime

Method

The beans
If using dried beans, once they have been soaked for 24 hours, put them in a large pan with enough water to cover them plus about 5cm. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, chillis and bay leaf. Bring to the boil, put the lid on and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until they are soft and edible. Keep an eye on them, if the water runs out top it up otherwise the beans will stick and burn.
If you are using tinned beans, then drain them. Fry the carrot, onion, garlic, celery in a little onion, then add the beans and chillis and cover with 1 to 2cm of water. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until they are soft and edible, don’t let them burn.

The spices and finishing off
Grind the whole spices. Add them to your pot along with the other already ground spices. Add the tin of tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cocoa, raisins, almonds and red pepper, cook through. Once the dish is fragrant and tasty, then you can add the salt, lime and fresh coriander. You may want a spicier dish in which case add a little more dried chilli powder and cook it through.
You can serve it now, or it will heat up easily, you may need to add some water when reheating to stop the beans sticking. Serve with soft flour tortillas, yogurt and guacamole.

This is a nod to the bouillabaisse I ate on the balcony of the Peron restaurant in Marseilles, which hangs over the sea.  Perfect if you are staying near a market and can pick up a variety of
fresh white fish. 

Ask the fishmonger to skin and bone your fish if necessary, as this is an effort at home, let alone in a field.  Use one or more varieties of fish, whatever is available. You can add more kick with a sprinkling of paprika.



Ingredients

1kg of firm white fish such as monkfish, haddock or conger eel, cut into 2cm chunks
8 new potatoes, scrubbed and thickly sliced
1 small onion or the equivalent in shallots, diced
1 leek, white part only, finely sliced
1 fennel bulb, peeled off its tough outer layers and remove the heart before dicing
1/2 tin of tomatoes or 4 decent sized fresh tomatoes, deseeded and diced
1 carrot, diced
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
½ tsp paprika
Pinch of saffron
1 lemon, wedged
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
1 small glass of white wine
1 tbs flat leaf parsley or chives, oregano, chopped
Olive oil for frying


Equipment
Chopping board
Sharp knife
One-ring stove
Large saucepan


Method
Heat the oil and gently fry the carrot, onion, leek, fennel and garlic until soft.  Mix in the saffron and fennel seeds.  Add the wine and cook off the alcohol for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes, paprika, herbs, salt and pepper.  Stir well and adjust your seasoning if necessary.  Layer the potatoes in the pan, you may need to add some water to just cover them, but not drown them.  Cover the pan and cook until the potatoes still hold their form, but are just cooked.  Add your fish.  Cover and cook for a further two minutes, check and cook for longer if necessary. Serve with lemon and chunks of bread to mop up the gravy.