All Rise for The Great Yorkshire Pudding Book

Dear Wild Cooks

I have been foraging like never before, more recently for a job that I have lined up for next year! Unfortunately I am not allowed to tell you about it yet but I can safely say you will be the first to know when the embargo is lifted!

So it was time to give my hands a rest from all the Rosehip and Sloe picking and time for some glamour! What better than to be invited to a book launch, and not just any old book launch, but for the “The Great Yorkshire Pudding Book” with author Elaine Lemm.

Steph with The Great Yorkshire Pudding Book by Elaine Lemm

I am proud to say that one of my recipes features in this book. However this does mean that there’s no recipe on this blog folks, you will have to buy the book! We used my recipe to make the Yorkies for the book launch, and the book itself has loads of other great recipes, interesting facts and top tips to put the lift into your Yorkshires.

So all you Aunt Bessie’s converts, why not give The Great Yorkshire Pudding Book a try? It is available to buy in many book retailers and supermarkets including Waterstones and Asda. The book is selling like hot Yorkshires!

Author Elaine Lemm with Dickie Bird and Rosemary Shrager

The photo of Clocktower  features in the book (see below) and shows the Chefs working away in the kitchen. There are plenty of super photos in the book taken by Elaine’s husband Ron, a talented photographer. I think it takes a lot of skill to photograph a droplet of gravy mid air! We are delighted at Rudding Park that our Clocktower Restaurant gets a mention in this fantastic read.

Steph in Clocktower Kitchen with the Boys!

Steph Moon catered for the event with help from Leeds City College Students – they are now all experts in making the perfect Yorkshire Pudding!

All rise for the pudding!

Steph x

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Hippy Hippy Shake

Yes wild cooks take a look at those hips!

They are healthy and glorious fruits that indicate to us that winter is on its way. Why not try this very simple recipe for Rosehip syrup.

Rosehips - watch out for the thorns!

Simply drop a spoon full of rosehip syrup into a mug of boiling water for a healthy dose of antioxidants. These antioxidants are supposed to help Arthritis folks, so it is good stuff and the best of it is – it’s free!

Now, a word of warning from experience…make sure you wear a waterproof type jacket when picking the rosehips. I pulled my black coat to shreds on the rose thorns (slight exaggeration if I am being honest, but you catch my drift!).

Please take care when foraging on a roadside as pesticides may have been applied to crops and fields that are within your foraging range.

You need to be quite a “hardy” to pick these hips, and responsible too, so do not pick all from one plant, make sure you leave half on the tree.

The syrup that you can produce from rosehips is worth the odd occasional scratch from the rose bush, but I can’t emphasize enough that those thorns are piercing wild cooks! 

Roses are such useful plants, and the wild rose petals are delicate beauties, their perfume is so gentle and easy on the nose. The petals look great crystallised or even dried in pot pourri.

Click here to see my recipe for Rosehip syrup.

Steph x

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Ample Fun at Ampleforth

Dear Wild Cooks,

It is not often that you are asked to cook a lunch in such a beautiful setting, surrounded by amazing produce and for such a worthy supplier. So when Ampleforth asked if I would be interested, I agreed straight away! 

It was amazing to see the Ampleforth orchards laden down with so much fruit. The stores of apples are distributed all over Yorkshire and most importantly to Father Rainer’s cider and brandy making cellars. Let me tell you, the new Amber Liqueur is fantastic! 

The day started nice and early with a torch lit foraging session in the grounds at Rudding Park. Thankfully, however, I knew where to forage for my starter ingredients! It was then a case of hot footing it back to the Clocktower kitchens to make my nominated courses, the forager bread, the starter and the cheese course.

When I arrived at Ampleforth, Darren from the White Swan at Pickering had just arrived and Andrew Pern from The Star arrived soon after. They were both there to prepare the lunch for many foodies in the area and journalists from further a field such as London.

The banter in the kitchen was great and the cooking standards were very high. Many thanks to Carol for the constant topping up of the tea pot! Great to work with you.

Steph x

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