GROWING & COOKING WITH FLOWERS FROM AN ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDEN

- Award winning Sudbury House Hotel hosts an afternoon tea with a difference in support of NSPCC's Childline 30th Anniversary by Nick Bennett

When we had the gardens at Sudbury House landscaped in the late autumn of 2015, I never realised it would lead to me doing a combined talk with the horticultural expert Sir Roddy Llewellyn in aid of charity. However as head chef Andrew Scott and I use a number of plants and flowers in our kitchen at Restaurant 56, the more I am planning what I shall be talking about, the more I am looking forward to it. Having come through the challenges presented to me last year when I took part in MasterChef: The Professionals, making it all the way to the final, in many ways this task is quite simple. Just don't ask me the Latin names of the plants I shall be talking about!

Apart from vegetables, which are obviously plants, there are many uses for flowers and other plants, some not immediately considered part of a fine dining menu. We use them as infusions, marinades, as crystallised decorations and raw ingredients to add additional flavour and texture to our dishes.

As our talk is in the middle of summer on Saturday July 16, I will be using plants such as lavender where the stems can be infused in cream by adding gentle heat to draw out the flavour. The cream and lavender should then be refrigerated for at least 24 hours. Infusions take time and should not be done quickly otherwise they simply won't work. The lavender cream can be used to make ice-cream or Panna Cotta. Lavender flowers, removed from the stem, can also be chopped and added as a flavouring to shortbread biscuits.

We also use nettles in our restaurant kitchen. Normally regarded as a weed, they can actually be a very tasty addition for making purees or blitzing into mayonnaise for a lovely dressing or using in soup. You need to select young, fresh leaves from the tips but don't use nettles once they start flowering. I recommend you wear rubber gloves both to pick them and whilst you are washing them to avoid getting stung! They are full of vitamin C and iron and should be boiled rapidly before being plunged into ice water to reserve the nutrients and colour.

With our newly planted rose garden, I shall be sneaking out to collect rose petals, particularly the strongly scented varieties, which again have a number of uses. Again they can be used as an infusion or added in abundance to a Moroccan lamb marinade which adds a lovely floral note. Just remember to lightly tear or scrunch up the petals to release the oils. Rose petals can also be crystallized and used for decorating cakes and desserts.

If you have nasturtiums growing in your garden, tear up the leaves and use the flowers which add a peppery taste, similar to watercress, to salads. The flower buds and seeds, picked when soft can be pickled in vinegar and used as a substitute for capers. Strawberry leaves are equally edible and can add an alternative flavour to a summer salad.

Many people grow Anise Hyssop in their gardens which has a pretty blue flower from June to September. Although it has a strong aniseed fragrance and flavour, it is actually part of the mint family. We use this plant at Restaurant 56 with chocolate and apricot and infuse the hyssop in an apricot sorbet, which just adds a lovely and light anise flavour.

To raise additional funds for NSPCC on the afternoon of our talk and tea, we shall be auctioning a cake that I have been asked to bake. This will give me an opportunity to be creative and use a number of plants for inspiration. I may even get to learn about how to grow some of them!

Growing and Cooking with Flowers from an English Country Garden, held at Sudbury House Hotel, Faringdon is in aid of NSPCC who are celebrating ChildLine's 30th anniversary. The award winning Sudbury House Hotel is inviting guests to come along and enjoy a talk with gardening expert Sir Roddy Llewellyn, and "MasterChef: The Professionals" finalist, Nick Bennett to raise money in support of NSPCC's ChildLine 30th Anniversary. The duo will be combining gardening advice with cookery ideas on how to use plants found in the garden and hedgerows to flavour and decorate food on Saturday 16th July at 2.00pm until 4.30 pm. Guests will also be able to partake of afternoon tea and get to walk around the hotel's newly landscaped gardens. Tickets for this special afternoon tea event will cost £35 per person and are available from Sudbury House Hotel by telephoning 01367 241272. Places are limited so don't delay to book.

www.sudburyhouse.co.uk

www.restaurant56.co.uk