The Ethicurean
Cookbook (Ebury Press, 2013) contains "recipes, foods, and
spirituous liquors, from our bounteous walled garden in the several
seasons of the year"; so the dishes are all composed from very
English meat and veg.
The walled garden is
Barley Wood Walled Garden, near Bristol, set up by Matthew and Iain
Pennington, Paula Zarate, and Jack Adair-Bevan, who are committed
to ethically and locally sourced food.
Ethical gourmet food is
not available in your average supermarket- trolley dash, but
alternatives are given. And there are detailed sections on
forgotten cookery techniques.
Elderflowers are now with
us; so if you make their Elderflower syrup, you
will have the necessary for Cherry and elderflower
sauce, to serve with Chocolate and salt-caramel
brownies.
100 ml (3.5 fl. oz)
water
100g (3.5 oz) caster sugar
2 large heads of elderflower
Dissolve the sugar in the
water in a pan, and bring it to the boil. Immediately remove from
the heat, and add the elderflowers. Infuse them for 20 minutes, and
strain. It will keep in the fridge for a week. Heat 50g of syrup
(or substitute elderflower cordial) with 100g frozen sour cherries
for the sauce.
To make salt caramel you
need:
200g (7 oz) caster
sugar
2 teaspoons flaky sea salt
Heat the oven to
120°C/248°F/Gas ½. Place a silicone baking mat on a baking sheet,
and put it in the oven. Have a small bowl of cold water and a
silicone pastry brush ready. Put the sugar into a frying pan, and
stir in 4 tablespoons of water. Then cook it over a medium-high
heat without stirring.
Brush cold water on any
crystal-lising edges, and scrape them towards the middle, turning
it evenly. Check the colour by dripping a little on to a white
plate. When it is golden, pour it on to the silicone mat, swirl it
into a thin layer, and sprinkle over the sea salt. When cool, store
it in an airtight tin.
For the brownies, you
need:
250g (9 oz) dark
chocolate (72%+)
170g (6 oz) unsalted butter
300g (10.5 oz) caster sugar
3 large eggs and 1 egg yolk, lightly
beaten
80ml (2.8 fl. oz) rapeseed oil
60g (2 oz) plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
70g (2.5 oz) organic cocoa powder
50g (1.7 oz) salt caramel
Heat the oven to
180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Lightly grease a 23cm spring-form tin. Melt 200g
chocolate in a bain-marie. Beat the butter and sugar. Whisk in the
eggs gradually, and then the oil, until it looks glossy. Sift in
the dry ingredients, and then fold in the melted chocolate. Put the
mixture in the cake tin. Chop the rest of the chocolate and salted
caramel, and lightly press it on top. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve
with the sauce.