Scallop Risotto with Rosemary Petals & Fennel Flowers

When I go home to see my parents I always look forward to cooking with our Aga and using goodies from our garden. Mum’s herb garden is brimming with interesting varieties of thyme, numerous types of basil, umpteen varieties of rosemary and different gradations of sage. And Dad’s orchard is normally heaving with a range of apples, pears, medlars, quinces, plums, greengages and crab-apples, with mulberries, apricots and nectarines planned for the future. And that’s before you get into the issue of which mushrooms are edible, let alone which flowers you might want to scatter into a salad or use as a garnish.

I wondered long and hard about telling you about our amazing scallop risotto because I’ve banged on about them a lot in the past. But this one is worth it because it featured the subtle floral flourish of rosemary flowers and fennel blossom.

Simply fry 3 small onions in butter and olive oil. After 5 minutes add 500 grams of risotto rice. Listen to it crackle and then tip in a third of a bottle of white wine. Once this has almost dried up add your first ladle of chicken stock whilst stirring slowly. Keep doing this until the rice is tender (after around 30 minutes). Then add a mug of frozen peas and 300 grams of queen scallops. Cook for 4 minutes and then add some spinach which will wilt in the heat of the rice. Stir in some butter, season and allow to rest for a few minutes.

Serve with a garnish of purple rosemary flowers and honey coloured fennel flowers which taste of aniseed. The floral notes added a very subtle layer of flavours and interest that transformed this from just being a scallop risotto into a memory that will linger forever.

Mum’s Gardening Blog

Regular readers will know a bit about my Mum because every now and again she gets a mention… She’s great at making ice bowls.

And is a star in the world of garden design and edible flowers. Last month she was on Gardeners’ World demonstrating how to cook with flowers for instance.

Also her adventure with Hannah was a huge success too. Who can resist floral cupcakes?

And for Mum’s birthday this year we had the most amazing edible flower experience at Roussillon.

But what I am most proud of is Mum’s blogging. She’s taken to it like a duck to water and is now writing brilliant articles about the garden, edible flowers and most excitingly the fascinating world of garden art.

So jump over to Mum’s blog and have a gander. Please welcome her to the blogosphere and offer her some encouragement! I’m worried that she’s going to put my humble blogging to shame!

Petersham Nurseries, Richmond

The pain is finally over…. my exams are done. This has given us not only an excuse to celebrate and dine at fantastic restaurants, but I also now have some time on my hands to dedicate to the Paunch.

Since my birthday weekend I have been spoilt rotten by Mr B. And this weekend was no exception, when I was taken on a secret lunch at a secret location.

I have a love / hate relationship with surprises.. they excite me but equally infuriate me! Despite failing to guess where we were going, I was over the moon that the exclusive Petersham Nurseries was the target, where chef Skye Gyngell works the stove.

We didn’t know quite what to expect on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Due to the grind of revision, I have spent most of my recent weekends in a woolly jumper and Jack Wills trackie Bs. So I was delighted to have the excuse to glam up somewhat for lunch… but someone should have warned me not to wear my fav snake skin heals… as we had to wade through slusshy wet, muddy gravel to get to the ‘restaurant’, which did in fact resemble a glorified green house!

But this was the charm and style of the place. The staff we equally as welcoming, trotting about in black skinny jeans and wellies. It had a lovely relaxed Boho atmosphere and the food certainly did not disappoint.

The menu was brief, with only 4 options for each course. Scottish girole mushrooms on toast and 3 epic, massive grilled sardines were both superb starters. Its not every day you pay £12 for a starter of sardines, but the portion was vast and they were truly scrum.

For mains, as predicted, Brown was true to form and had the slow roasted shoulder of pork, accompanied with endless veggies, beans, and a very herby salsa verde. Simple, tender and beautifully cooked. However I was pretty smug as the Monk fish stew was actually astonishingly good! Big, plump, meaty chunks of fish, sweet roast peppers, fennel and tomatoes, almonds, all infused with lashings of garlic, saffron, plus a naughty blob of aioli.. YUM!

As you can imagine our bellies were feeling pretty stretched at this stage, so we shared a delightful and refreshing clementine sorbet to finish.

A fantastic way to spend a wet Sunday afternoon. Delicious, honest feel-good food… if slightly on the pricey side. Great place to treat someone with earthy, stylish qualities, who doesn’t wince at a speck of mud!

Inner Temple Floral Fancies

Mum and Hannah have now recovered from their phenomenal project at the Inner Temple Flower Show: Floral Fancies.

Their concept was brilliant – English afternoon tea with a floral twist.

Imagine cupcakes with rose petal icing. Brownies with a violet glaze. Ice creams with lavender and gin, raspberry and rose petal. I had the honour of helping out on a very busy Saturday. From 10am onwards we were completely swamped with people greedily wanting to try our cakes. According to Hannah, “we sold 1,000 floral cupcakes, 1,000 brownies, 250 almond croissants, 675 mini foccacia, 300 loaves of bread and lots of tray bakes, ice cream and prosecco with violet liquor.” Pretty impressive stuff.

I am enormously proud of Mum and Hannah. Their venture was extremely brave and has taken a huge amount of effort on top of Hannah writing her debut book and Mum has been busy with the garden and appearing on Gardener’s World and Britain’s Best House and Garden TV shows.

I am looking forward to Floral Fancies going from strength to strength in the future. You can read more about the whole thing on Hannah’s blog here.

Nasturtium and Prawn Salads

Inspired by our experience at Roussillon and have bought Mum some edible flowers in Selfridges, I decided to incorporate them into a light, tasty salad on a warm Saturday.

Simply marinate some large prawns in chilli, garlic and olive oil before quickly frying them. Then add them to a bunch of salad leaves and sliced avocado and sprinkle your nasturtium flowers on top.

Serve with some rapidly fried garlicy cougettes with a good squeeze of refreshing lemon juice.

Who ever said cooking with flowers was weired or difficult! It looks beautiful and tastes fantastic. Using flowers also stops you from cooking anything too heavy, which if you are me is a very good thing! Apart from cakes of course!

Kathy Brown’s Edible Flowers

When I was doing my GCSEs about a decade ago Mum was busy adding flowers to all our food! I thought it completely normal and nothing really to cause a fuss. Little did I know she was about 10 years ahead of a major culinary trend!

This excitement peaked a few months ago when the contestants in the Master Chef final visited Michel Bras’s restaurant in Southern France that specialises in using flowers in his cuisine. The setting, philosophy, style and no doubt taste were stunning. Mum was enthused and we can’t wait to find an excuse to go there for lunch!

Then, this week, Charles Campion, who as it happens is a judge in the semi final of Master Chef who comes out with gems such as “TEK nically accomplised… dinner party ordinary” wrote an article in the Evening Standard which is shown below. Inspired by Chelsea Flower Show he talks about:

“The highlight of the horticultural calendar, the Chelsea Flower Show, will be upon us again next week — so dust off the daisies and bring on the begonias, we’re all going flower power crazy. However, if smelling the roses just isn’t enough for you, you can now eat them as well. London’s restaurants have taken a leaf — or should we say a petal — out of the Royal Horticultural Society’s book.

And we’re not just talking lovely, fragrant bouquets on the tables or culinary staples that have been cleverly reinvented with a floral twist — the capital’s top chefs have devised a whole new crop of florally inspired dishes, from entire menus to afternoon teas and cocktails. These run the whole gamut, from gently incorporated floral essences (an initiation for the nervous) to serving up the real thing — petals, stamens and all.

But if you’re planning to attend the show at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, don’t make the mistake of eating the displays — you may find yourself unceremoniously ousted.”

Whislt in this online article it concentrates on the RHS, Chelsea and some restaurants the printed article says,

“For the home cook, the seminal reference book, Kathy Brown’s Edible Flowers, is republished by Anness in June.”

How exciting! Charles, if you would like to come for dinner with my parents in Stevington we will show you around the garden and then feed you with flowers just let me know.

Hannah’s Floral Cookery Demonstration

Last weekend was very special. Mum had around 400 people around our garden for charity despite the horrible rain. Hannah gave 2 brilliant demonstrations of how to make delicious desserts including a sinful Toblerone tiramisu, a ginger cheesecake, a strawberry tart and some fantastic lavender shortcake.

Here are some of the snaps I took:

Hannah signing autographs…

Everyone in the audience loved the demonstration and Hannah was an inspiration. There was a collective intake of breath as the fifth layer of double cream was layered on top of the tiramisu! And you’ve never seen desserts guzzled more quickly than when Hannah’s creations were handed around the audience. It was as if no one had eaten for 40 days or nights!

My Mum’s Ice Bowl

My Mum is a genius in the garden and writes wonderful gardening and cookery books. But I would say that wouldn’t I! I remember when I was at school she was writing The Edible Flower Garden.

I would come back from school and be used as a guinea pig trying all sorts of floral treats such as this delicious rose petal cake is a winner. I’ve never seen it go down badly!

And better still Mum’s incredible Ice Bowl… I haven’t got a copy of Mum’s book with me so I have had to steal the recipe from RecipeZaar… just hope Mum forgives me!

Here’s how you make it thanks to RecipeZaar…

1. Fill a metal or ceramic bowl 3/4 full with water and the flower petals.
2. Place a smaller bowl inside the first bowl and anchor with duct tape to keep it centered.
3. Freeze bowls overnight.
4. When ready to serve, remove duct tape and the small bowl.
5. If you happen to have a blow torch, flash the larger bowl to release the finished ice bowl– but don’t worry, room temperature will release the bowl in 10-15 minutes.
6. Fill with something colorful and yummy and serve!

It looks stunning when full of ice cream or a nice gazpacho. Although you’ve got to eat it quickly! It is certainly a good conversations starter.

Mum is having great fun teaming up with Master Chef’s brilliant country cook Hannah Miles dreaming up new flowery recipes and generally getting very enthusiastic about cooking with beautiful flowers. This is the link to Hannah’s demonstration from last weekend.

Here’s the link to Mum’s garden where we have regular garden openings throughout the summer. The next one is on July 29th.