The Garden Forager - Edible Delights in your own back yard by Adele Nozedar

"Many of the plants that we now cultivate purely because they are ornamental were once highly regarded not for their looks but for their flavour" Adele Nozedar

One of the benefits of Food Blogging is that from time to time we are sent items to review. A few weeks ago I noticed that the lovely Adele Nozedar was publishing a new book "The Garden Forager" which is to be published on 26th March 2015

Well, we have been lucky enough to be sent a pre-release copy, the book follows a similar format to her previous book " The Hedgerow Handbook" reviewed here.

This beautifully illustrated book features 40 commonly grown garden plants which can be used in cooking, baking, remedies or for cosmetic use. The watercolour illustrations are by Lizzie Harper a very talented artist and Adele's words combine to create a stunning addition to anyone's bookshelf who has an interest in gardening, cooking or foraging.

The recipes include Marigold Butterfly buns, Oregon grape preserve, Salmon sumac rub, Lilac wine (of Elkie Brooks or if you are younger Miley Cyrus fame) and the particularly fascinating Begonia, strawberry and peach crumble, which I am definitely going to try once all the ingredients are in season.

The book encourages you to explore your own exotic kitchen garden and try the new ingredients you have to hand, unlike wild foraging you barely have to leave the house to discover this new fresh larder of flavours.

The publisher has kindly given permission to allow me to publish one of the recipes and two illustrations from the book, aren't they absolutely beautiful.

Sunflower Seed and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 50 cookies

125g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
300g light brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
350g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g dehusked sunflower seeds, lightly toasted
100g chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180C / gas4.
Lightly grease for 30 x 20cm baking trays.
Cream together the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon (or use an electric mixer) until pale and fluffy.
Stir in the egg and the vanilla and beat until smooth.
Sift together the flour and bicarbonate of soda over the mixture, then add the toasted sunflower seeds and the chocolate chips and stir to form a dough. Do not overwork the dough.
Form the dough into balls - 50 balls will make biscuits about 4cm in diameter. You can make larger cookies if you prefer.
Press each ball on to the prepared baking trays to approximately 1cm thick and leave a 5cm gap around each one to allow for spreading.
Bake for 12 -15 minutes, in batches if necessary. Keep any uncooked dough in the fridge before baking.

Published by Square Peg , The Random House Group, the hardback will retail at £12.99 and is available from all good book shops. Support your local independent bookshop who will be more than happy to order for you when published.

Recipe reproduced by kind permission of Square Peg from The Garden Forager - Adele Nozedar and illustrations by Lizzie Harper.