If I told you I'd have to kill you.

That is how seriously the French take their mushroom foraging.

I found another three cep mushrooms on Tuesday but I can not tell you where as I am bound by blood oath never to reveal their secret foresty location.

We are intending to eat them gluttonously this evening in an omlette.

I put aside some time today to start conserving all my dried herbs, so far a large jar of dried parsely, a jar of dill seeds, a jar of coriander seeds and three smaller jars of dried chopped chillies.

The cold weather we had a week or so ago which necessitated in lighting the Rayburn left me with space in the warming oven to completely dry out all the seed heads. There is just fennel now left to do, but with the recent Indian summer I have not been lighting any fires, so they are still outside in the garden.

The smallest of the foraged ceps - I am thinking that perhaps one omlette tonight, and a thick creamy mushroom sauce for tomorrow.

Poor Thea - she really hates 'shrooms.

Never mind - I have her hard at work in the garden today, sanding off the new bureau she has been given, which, being a teenager, she is obviously not happy with in its natural wood coloured state and which she wants painted black for her room.


She is of course being ably assisted by Ferguson.

'Shrooms - Foraged Cep Risotto

I love a good 'shroom, I am just very wary of picking anything that I can't identify.

Luckily one of the tastiest 'shrooms is one of the easiest to be sure of, the Cep, (thank you Wiki once again : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus_edulis).

Looks like Mushroom Risotto for dinner tonight - all except for Thea who is convinced that I am going to poison her so just plain pizza for her.

Foraged Cep Risotto


1 cup of arborio rice per person (amounts below are for 2 people)
1 large cep cleaned and sliced thinly
1 large onion thinly sliced
1 small glass of white wine
1.5 litres of boiling chicken stock
salt and pepper to season
1 tablespoon of olive oil or butter


Bring the stock to the boil in a separate pan, meantime in a large shallow pan fry the onion gently in the olive oil (or butter if you prefer).

When the onion is translucent, add the rice and fry gently until every grain has a coating of oil and has started to become opaque, then add the glass of white wine and bring to the boil, when this has reduced start adding the stock a ladle full at a time.

Stir through the rice until it has been absorbed then add another ladle, after about 10 minutes and when the rice liquor is thick and creamy with the starch from the rice, add the sliced cep, leave to cook for a further 20 minutes stirring pretty much constantly to prevent the rice sticking to the base of the pan, until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Season and serve.

You can grate over a bit of parmesan to finish - but I don't have any and I don't like it anyway so I don't.

Best not to eat these though, beautiful though they are....

thank you Wiki again : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_muscaria

Here we go, dinner cooked on the pot belly stove in the living room, making the most of only lighting one fire that can provide heat and a stove.