Good Food 101 Easy baking recipes cover

Food styling: Lizzie Harris
Prop stying: Jo Harris

Soured cream bundt cake with butter glaze

Recipe & Food styling: Val Barrett
Recipe >>>HERE<<<

Key Lime Pie

Recipe: Janine Ratcliffe

Food styling: Val Barrett

Recipe >>> HERE <<<

Quick Jack-by-the-hedge rostis

 If there was any doubt that Spring hadn't quite flickered into life, the tangerines-and-cream scatter of an Orange tip butterfly hurrying along a quiet country path is a firm chime of the seasonal clock. It'll be one of the first spring butterflies that you'll see; it's certainly one of the most striking. At this time of year one should also keep an eye out for its citrus-lemon spring cousin, the Brimstone.
  Orange tips and I share a similar culinary pursuit: Garlic mustard. It's also known as Jack-by-the-hedge, and the leaves are the common food source of the butterfly's caterpillar. In the spirit of polite consideration, I always inspect each leaf carefully before picking, and only ever take a few leaves from a single plant.

2 large potatoes (there's no need to peel them)
2 red onions
A good handful of finely chopped Jack-by-the-hedge (Garlic mustard) leaves
Lemon zest (optional)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

1 Grate the potatoes and onion. Over a bowl, squeeze the mixture in batches between both hands to remove as much water as you can (the drier the grated mix, the more likely your rostis will hold together). Stir in the chopped Jack-by-the-Hedge leaves, lemon zest and season well.
2 heat a large, well oiled frying pan. Use your hands to shape four saucer sized patties, then carefully place in the pan. Use a spatula to tidy up any crumbly edges. Leave for 5-7 minutes, without moving the rostis.
3 Place a large plate over the frying pan, then turn the rostis onto the plate. Use a fish slice to slide them back into the pan, then cook for a further 5-7 minutes on the other side until golden. Great served with a poached egg on top.


Here's another Garlic mustard recipe...

>>> Baba ganoush with garlic mustard flowers <<<

First crop of Purple sprouting broccoli from the garden

Ramson buds/Pickled dandelion buds

Ramson buds
As Spring foragables go, one would be hard pushed to beat the fresh, garlicky crunch of a freshly picked Ramson bud. They're wonderful mixed raw into simple mixed leaf salads, or quickly flashed in a pan with a slosh of soy, squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Pickled dandelion buds
These pickled buds can be used instead of capers in many recipes; brining the buds before pickling gives them a moorish, mildly salty flavour. In a few weeks time, the same pickling process can be applied to Elderflower buds.

3/4 Mug boiling water
2tsp Maldon sea salt
A handful of tightly closed dandelion buds
3/4 Mug cider vinegar
1tsp Mustard seeds
A few chunky strips of lemon zest
1 Bay leaf

1 First brine your dandelion buds. Fill a mug two-thirds full with boiling water, then add the salt and stir until it dissolves. Bring the water level to just below the brim by adding buds, then leave in a cool spot for 2-3 days (stirring intermittently).
2 Strain the dandelion buds. Bring the vinegar to the boil, kill the heat and add the mustard seeds. Spoon the buds into the bottom of a small, sterilized jar and top up with the hot vinegar. Wedge in the lemon zest and bay leaf -leave in a cool dark place for at least two weeks before eating.

Hot cross buns

Food styling: Carla Ovenden

Thai carrot and radish salad

Shot for BBC Good Food Magazine, May '12 Issue
Recipe and food styling: Sara Buenfeld
Prop styling: Jo Harris

Watercress

Prop styling: Jo Harris

Griddled chicory with lemon bittercress dressing

I keep finding lunch between the cracks of the cobblestones in the back garden. Slender, peppery rocket leaves have appeared not far from where the salad box sat last year, while a lone strawberry pokes up cautiously next to Amelie's tricycle by the back door (I fear that its days are numbered). Hairy bittercress has sprung up too, which is a joy.
Many wild herbs and greens suffer from unfortunate titling; odd names that might unfairly cast them into the realm of pejorative subjectivity. There's Hogweed and Dead nettles to name but two, not to mention Bastard balm. It's the "Hairy" element of Hairy bittercress that seems to raise an eyebrow, although to me it seems to be one of the least follicaly-blessed plants in the garden. Hairy bittercress tastes not entirely dissimilar to cultivated cress, but has stronger, peppery notes. This simple side dish is great with roast pork.

3 to 4 Chicory heads, chopped in half lengthways
The juice of one lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
One large garlic clove, finely grated
2Tsp Chopped Hairy bittercress leaves
Salt and pepper
Hairy bittercress leaves, to garnish

1 Heat the griddle pan/BBQ until scorching hot, brush the chicory with a little olive oil, then place flat side down on the heat. Don't move them for about five minutes, then flip onto the rounded side for a further three. Leave to cool.
2 Squeeze the lemon juice into a glass or jam jar. Eye-up the level of juice; add the olive oil, at a ratio of two parts lemon to 3 parts oil. Stir in the the garlic, chopped bittercress and a good grind of salt and pepper.
3 To serve, toss the chicory in the dressing and serve with young bittercress shoots.