Will make 6 well stuffed pittas to serve 6 people or 4 really hungry people

Ingredients For the Marinade:

• 400g lamb chops
• 50g salted butter – melted
• 2 tsp ground cumin, coriander and paprika
• 12 wild garlic stalks – finely chopped (or 3 garlic cloves)
• 1 tbsp Mugwort leaves – finely chopped (or thyme)

Method:

• Melt the butter and mix all the ingredients marinade the lamb in this for at least 1hr – overnight would be best

Ingredients:

• Marinated lamb
• 20g fresh sweet cicely seeds (or fennel seeds)
• 1 grated carrot
• 1 small red onion – chopped roughly
• Dandelion leaves – 3 per pitta (or gem lettuce leaf)
• 6 pittas
• Top leaves of 3 water mint plants (or any other mint)
• Mayonnaise 200g

Method:

• BBQ or grill the marinated lamb for 7 minutes on each side
• Whilst this is cooking make your coleslaw; mix your carrot, onion, sweet cicely seeds and one table spoon of mayonnaise together in a bowl
• For you mint mayo; Finely chop the water mint and add it to the remaining mayonnaise
• When your lamb is cooked remove it from the heat and chop in to small cubes (about 2cm squared) cover with tin foil and leave to rest whilst you prepare your pittas
• Whilst the lamb is resting quickly toast the pittas for 30 seconds on each side, cut them open and stick in your lamb, coleslaw and dandelion leaves
• Finish off with a couple of good dollops of your mint mayonnaise and enjoy

Click here to identify sweet cicely

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This side dish is nice to enjoy with a fish dish or served straight on to a nice toasted and oiled piece of ciabatta, even simply tossed through some pasta is also nice – lots of ways to use this!

Will make a bowls worth – which will make a good side for 4 people

Ingredients:

• 200g bacon – diced
• 4 Wild Garlic Stalks – chopped (or 2 cloves garlic)
• 2 onions – finely chopped
• 500g tin marrowfat peas – drained
• 10g sweet cicely seeds
• 50 ml veg stock

Method:

• Put the bacon and onions in a hot pan and cook until golden brown
• Add the stock and boil down until the liquid has almost all gone
• Add the wild garlic and drained marrowfat peas and cook for a further minute
• Remove from the heat and stir in the sweet cicely seeds
• Serve cold or hot

Click here to identify Sweet Cicely

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How to Identify Sweet Cicely

Botanical Name

Myrrhis Odorata

Could be confused with

Cows Parsley (Anthriscus Sylvestris) very easily, the leaves are almost identical although Sweet Cicely leaves are a little softer to touch, the flower bunches of Sweet Cicely are smaller than those from cows parsley and the seeds are more elongated and will turn black.

Poison Hemlock (Conium Maculatum) looks similar in leaf structure and flower, however, it grows to a larger size and has purple blotches over its stem which Sweet Cicely does not.

The easiest way to tell apart from these two is from the smell of aniseed as you break the stem and seed.

Range and Distribution

Found in the UK and the most temperate regions of Europe, America and Asia

Habitat

Garden edges, sunny spots, hedgerow edges

Physical Characteristics

Sweet cicely is a perennial growing to 1m high and 1m across in full bloom.

Stem

It has a rounded hollow stem with down hairs all over, giving it a slight velvety feel.

Flowers

The flowers are white, but can be slightly pink on occasion; they’re based in medium sized long stalked umbels 2-4cms across with 5-12 umbels coming from each plant.

Seeds

The fruit/seeds are elongated rugby ball shaped from 1-2cm in length, beginning green and turning black as they mature.

Leaves

The leaves are up to 30cm long and appear fern like and are 1-3 times pinnate.

Root

A thick pale yellow parsnip like root grows to 20cms down.

Edible Use:

Root: Eaten raw thinly sliced in salads and other dishes, Boiled similar to parsnips

Stem/leaves: Syrup, Candied, Salads, Sliced in all dishes, Sparkling wine, Lemonade, As a straw

Seeds when green: Dried and powdered, As seasoning, As flavor boost, Candied

Herbal

A tonic can be made out of the whole plant that will aid digestion and will promote an appetite. The volatile oils and flavonoid extracted through alcohol infusion can act as a blood purifier.

It’s also referenced that an infusion of the roots in tea will give boring people a lift of life and boost of confidence.

Miscellaneous

This is the perfect plant for eating whilst on a walk, it gives you the feeling of a sugar boost, the seeds are easy to carry and keep nibbling on.

Tips and Observations

Although there’s a poisoness look-alike to this plant I always advise beginner foragers to find this plant as the aniseed smell and flavour makes it easily distinguishable from every other plant in the Umbellifer family – apart from fennel of course.

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