Cow Parsley Garnish Heston Style

This is a technique utilised by celebrity chef and molecular gastonomist Heston Blumenthal in his 3 Michelin star restaurant the Fat Duck, and works well on the young leaves of Cow Parsley Anthriscus sylvestris to make a visually attractive and tasty edible garnish for that wild food dinner party, and would look great decorating a fillet of Wild Trout or Salmon in a Cow Parsley sauce.  The method will work just as well with Chervil and Parsley and probably with other wild leaves as well.

Collect some young, fresh Cow Parsley leaves from an area unlikely to be contaminated with pesticides etc., traffic pollution and dog pee. N.B. Cow Parsley is incredibly generic levitra without prescription similar to the Deadly Hemlock and the poisonous Fool’s Parsley and Rough Chervil, please make sure you have correctly identified it (see accompanying blog on how to tell them apart)

Wash the Cow Parsley and dry thouroughly then remove the individual leaflets discarding any that are damaged, discoloured or unattractive.

Cover a small plate with food wrap tigtly so that it makes a smooth unwrinkled drum like surface across the top of the plate.

Brush the surface of the wrap with a thin layer of vegetable oil

Arrange the leaves on the oiled food wrap in a single layer making sure they are lying flat in full contact with the wrap surface.  Microwave on full power for 2 minutes.  They should be dry and crispy.  If not put back in the microwave and cook for 10 seconds at a time, checking in between.

Cooked like this they retain their colour and delicate flavour.  They can be prepared in advance, and will keep in an air-tight container for a couple of days.

Kev Palmer