I love these wee radishes, they are such a gorgeous colour and look great sliced in salads or added to stir fries at the last minute . One  of my favourite ways to use them are in a  delicious potato salad.   Cold potatoes are high in resistant starch,  which our gut bacteria love!!
These wee bombs are also a great digestive aid and will get your digestive juices flowing! The brine is a beautiful pink and can be used in salad dressings or just drink a small glass as a great tummy settler!
The brine is packed with probiotics and is really  delicious!
Ingredients

• 400g radishes, tops trimmed
• 1 or 2 tsp pickling spice or fennel or coriander or freshly ground black pepper
• 15g/1 tablespoon sea salt
• 10g/2 tsp caster sugar
• 1 litre filtered water
• 1 red onion sliced or 5 spring onions, white bits only
• 3 slices fresh ginger
• 2 or 3 large slices of lemon
• 3 or 4 garlic cloves, smashed with the back of a knife
• 1 tsp or more dried chilli flakes, depending how hot you like it

Method

1. Make the brine by dissolving the sea salt and sugar in a jug. Wash your glass jar in hot soapy water and rinse it well to remove any soap residues.
2. Put the spices in the bottom of the jar, then add the vegetables, finishing with the lemon slices on top. Pour the brine over until everything is completely submerged. Cover with a large cabbage leaf or ziplock bag filled with extra brine to keep everything under the brine.
3. Loosely close the jar and leave somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight for 7 to 12 days. I tend to put mine in the garage since the sulphurous pong can be quite overpowering and you may get complaints from family members!
4. Taste them after 7 days and if they are sour enough for you then transfer them to the fridge where they will keep for around 6 months.
5. If not sour enough then leave them another 4 or 5 days.
6. Keep any excess brine and use it in salad dressings, its teeming with probiotics!!

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Wild Garlic Kimchi

This is a great way to preserve all the lovely wild garlic. You can make it as hot as you like by adding more chilli flakes. The Korean chilli flakes are called gochugaru, they also come in powder form and are very hot! I am a chilli wimp and  can't deal with spicy food at all so I only add one tablespoon of chilli flakes!  I was advising my  lovely friend Sumayya Usmani   on  some ferments for an event she is organising, so Iet her   decide how spicy  she wanted it! It was way spicier than I could eat but she is an expert with spices  and the joy of making your own is you can  adjust flavourings and spices to suit your taste!
This is a fast ferment, around 7 days, so not too long before you can eat it!

Ingredients

• A carrier bag full of wild garlic ( about 800g to 1kg roughly)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons grated ginger
• 1 to 3 tablespoons chilli flakes, depending how hot you like it
• 1 tablespoon sea salt or himalyan salt
• 1 daikon/ mooli grated
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• 1 or 2 tablespoons seaweed flakes (optional)

Method

1. Simply wash and roughly chop the wild garlic leaves and stems.
2. Keep any unopened buds, you can ferment separately in 2% brine (20g sea salt dissolved in 1 litre filtered water)
3. Transfer wild garlic to a large bowl or plastic basin, sprinkle in salt, leave for 30 mins to an hour.
4. Massage and squeeze the wild garlic until brine starts to pool at the bottom of the bowl.
5. Add the chilli flakes, grated ginger, grated carrot and daikon and give it another good mix.
6. Pack the mixture into a large glass mason jar or 2 smaller jars. Press it down firmly.
7. Top with water filled ziplock bag to keep oxygen out & keep veggies submerged under the brine
8. Put lid on loosely, set aside to ferment for 5 to 7 days. Taste it after 5 days, decide whether it tastes sour enough. It’s a matter of personal taste so just keep trying it until you like it!
9. Once you are happy with the flavour you can store the kimchi in the fridge where the flavour will deepen and it will keep happily for months, if it lasts that long!!

 

So wild garlic season is in full swing!  Wild garlic are among the first greens to appear in the spring and are always a welcome sight, heralding  warmer brighter days.
 If you like   garlic then you will love wild garlic. You can use it anywhere you would use spinach, in salads, soups, omelettes,   dips and pesto.
Most people make wild garlic pesto with oil  but I like to make mine  with just salt and ferment it for 5 to 7 days for fabulous flavour and  loads of probiotics!!
It's a win  win situation, seasonal eating at it's best,   and wild garlic is free!!

So this pesto is delicious, tangy, garlicky with real texture and umami flavour, and so simple to make!
You can use any combination of nuts and seeds.
 Pine nuts, sunflower seeds & a tablespoon lemon juice works well
You can add sun dried tomatoes, olives and harissa for a Mediterranean flavour
Endless possibilities  so get your creative hat on and your wellies and go and collect some !
Go to your nearest wood and your nose will guide you to   carpets of  delicious wild garlic! Be aware that Lily of the Valley sometimes grows beside wild garlic and looks quite similar.  It is however poisonous and doesn't smell of garlic.   Just take a leaf and crush it,  it will smell unmistakably  of garlic. Just google it if you are unsure, there are lots of videos and articles on identification. 



 
Ingredients

• Giant bunch of wild garlic, at least 250g
• 150g cashew nuts 
• 150g seeds, sunflower or pumpkin seeds
• a tsp sea salt ( about 5g)

Method

1. Wash the wild garlic and either finely chop or blitz in a food processor.
2. Transfer to a large bowl and sprinkle with the sea salt.
3. Massage wild garlic to release some brine; alternatively you can bash it a bit with a rolling pin! 
4. Add the nuts and seeds to the processor and pulse a few times to break them up. You don't want them finely ground, some bits are good for texture! 
5. Add to the wild garlic in the bowl and give it all a good mix! 
6. You can put the lot back into the food processor and blitz a few times
7. Pack it tightly into a clean glass jar, leaving a bit of headspace.
8. If you don't have enough brine to cover the pesto then top it up with filtered water and top it off with a zip lock bag filled with water to weigh it down.
9. Cover and leave at room temp for 5 to 7 days, until it tastes nice and tangy!
10. It’s a good idea to put a plate underneath it to catch any escaping brine and be careful when you open it, mine was fairly active!! Just put your jar in the fridge where it will happily keep for ages!!