Well hic this is for all those people who hic are 'free food' addicts (ok with the addition of the odd bottle of gin...), hic and who love a wee tipple of something extra hic special...
Hic
Damsons are small dark purple plums hic, which when eaten raw hic aren't terribly sweet like the bigger plums, and are at their best when hic stewed with some demerera sugar mmm hic mmm.
I don't have a damson tree hic yet, nor do I know anyone who has one... which is very sad.
I am going to hic have to try and buy some damsons in order to make Damson hic Gin this year I am afraid. Unless you have some spare ? !! Hic
The joy of this recipe, as well hic as any Sloe Gin recipe, is that it doesn't really require that you use expensive hic gin. Aldi or Lidl cheapo gin works great... and hic saves big time on the pennies...
You can also use this recipe to make Blackberry Gin, which is one very special drink... Instead of pricking the fruit as with the damsons, just gently squash the Blackberries in a bowl with a potato masher, just enough to release the juice. Carefully put the blackberries, and any squashed juice, into jars as in step 2, and continue as for the Damson Gin from there.
I will post my recipe for hic Sloe Gin tomorrow, as it is slightly different...
Damson Gin (or Blackberry)
1 lb Damsons
4.5 ozs white Sugar
A bottle of Gin
1. Wash the damsons and dry them carefully.
2. Prick/slice them all over with a sharp knife and pop them straight into a large glass jar (to which you have a lid that seals). Don't fill each jar to more than half way with the damsons. It would be great if you had one massive jar and they all went into 1. However, several jars is ok.
3. Add the sugar to the jar. If more than one jar, be careful to add the sugar in the near enough correct same proportions as the fruit, to ensure an even sweetness and taste.
4. Fill the jar of Damsons to about 1 inch from the top with gin. Put the lid on the jar (jars).
5. Shake the jar vigorously for a bit, then stand in a cool place, and not in direct sunlight.
6. Shake the jar well every day for the next month. Then shake every few days for 2 months after that (3 months in all).
7. After 3 months strain the Damson Gin through muslin (or a very fine sieve) into a clean sterilised bottle. Seal with a good lid.
8. Leave to mature for at least 6 months, 2 years if you want something really special.
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Monday, 5 October 2009
Unidentified Mushrooms
Help Wanted !
There are 2 of these mushrooms growing on the lawn the last couple of days. It is a mushroom I haven't seen before, similar to a field mushroom but also different.
It has brown bits on the top of the cap and the gills underneath are white. Field mushrooms have brown gills underneath.
If anyone knows what it is called please, I would be very grateful if you would leave a comment letting me know.
I've now also got myself interested in going mushroom hunting ! All that googling at lush edible mushrooms mmmmmmmmm.
I've now also got myself interested in going mushroom hunting ! All that googling at lush edible mushrooms mmmmmmmmm.
Fried Bananas & Honey Chocolate Sauce
I have this yearning for something sweet, sticky and very very unhealthy... but I know I will feel sick afterwards, so I thought of this 'healthy' sweet, sticky pudding.
OK so the chocolate isn't healthy, but the banana is packed full of potassium and stuff and the honey is, well honey. And I am going to use Green & Blacks organic chocolate, naturally...
You can use either milk, white or dark (plain) choc for this recipe. Wait and see what mood you are in, then decide !
White for melancholy and relaxed...
Milk for comfort and that 'orgasmic' feeling...
Dark for excitement and sheer decadence...
Of course you could always use all 3 and then goodness knows what will happen... (please comment about your experiences here as I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to know).
So here it is -
Sophii's Fried Bananas & Honey Chocolate Sauce
allow 1 banana per person
4 ripe Bananas (sliced into rounds, about 1.5cm thick (around 1/2 an inch)
4 teaspoons unsalted Butter
1.5 ozs Butter (normal salted)
4 teaspoons clear Honey
8 tablespoons chopped dark Chocolate (plain)
1. Melt the salted butter in a frying pan.
2. Toss in the banana rounds and fry on a medium heat, on both sides, until a golden colour.
3. Put the bananas into 4 individual serving dishes or plates.
4. Put the chocolate, unsalted butter and honey into a glass (or Pyrex)mixing bowl.
5. Either in the microwave, or using the bowl over a saucepan of boiling water, melt the mixture until it is smooth, stirring it now and then.
6. Pour the chocolate sauce over the bananas and serve immediately.
Note: The management are not responsible for the state of your mental health whilst eating the above recipe.
OK so the chocolate isn't healthy, but the banana is packed full of potassium and stuff and the honey is, well honey. And I am going to use Green & Blacks organic chocolate, naturally...
You can use either milk, white or dark (plain) choc for this recipe. Wait and see what mood you are in, then decide !
White for melancholy and relaxed...
Milk for comfort and that 'orgasmic' feeling...
Dark for excitement and sheer decadence...
Of course you could always use all 3 and then goodness knows what will happen... (please comment about your experiences here as I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to know).
So here it is -
Sophii's Fried Bananas & Honey Chocolate Sauce
allow 1 banana per person
4 ripe Bananas (sliced into rounds, about 1.5cm thick (around 1/2 an inch)
4 teaspoons unsalted Butter
1.5 ozs Butter (normal salted)
4 teaspoons clear Honey
8 tablespoons chopped dark Chocolate (plain)
1. Melt the salted butter in a frying pan.
2. Toss in the banana rounds and fry on a medium heat, on both sides, until a golden colour.
3. Put the bananas into 4 individual serving dishes or plates.
4. Put the chocolate, unsalted butter and honey into a glass (or Pyrex)mixing bowl.
5. Either in the microwave, or using the bowl over a saucepan of boiling water, melt the mixture until it is smooth, stirring it now and then.
6. Pour the chocolate sauce over the bananas and serve immediately.
Note: The management are not responsible for the state of your mental health whilst eating the above recipe.
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Photos of my Garden Today
This is my tarragon hung in bunches to dry beside the fire just a few days ago. The stove is in my office and the turf gives a nice gentle heat for drying.
Turf dried tarragon....It will take a few weeks to dry totally.
Now I went out to feed and water the donkeys, came back in to my office and these 2 were on the chair....
How on earth did they get up there ? !!!!!
The runner beans are always prolific and long lasting. They are still flowering and producing beans, and will do so long into November around here.
These are my Autumn fruiting raspberries... the bushes were new in last year so are still baby bushes as raspberries go...
However, during one of Thomas and Aoife's escape adventures, they munched all the top leaves from at least half the raspberry bushes - See the very sad bush on the left ! They ate the leaves off and left the growing fruits !
The bush on the right they didn't touch...
These Alpine Strawberries are incredibly prolific fruiters, well worth growing in anyones garden. They are perennial for a few years, and fruit all summer and autumn.
The berries are Oh So Sweet - exactly like the ones we used to pick in the hedgerows when we were children...
I am busy planning a full website to host this blog in, complete with a recipe database, conversion charts, tips and answers to all those questions you always wanted to ask.
I am busy planning a full website to host this blog in, complete with a recipe database, conversion charts, tips and answers to all those questions you always wanted to ask.
I am also planning a series of foolproof instructions for basic meals for the human being who us allergic to kitchens and cooking !
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Leek, Potato and Cheese Bake
I have been sat here this evening trying to decide what to make for dinner tomorrow from the bits and bobs I have around the kitchen and want to use up.
I have a love of leeks and today I managed to buy a whole bunch of the most gorgeous baby leeks at the Ballyvaughan Farmer's Market (Saturdays 10am-2pm).
So... something yummy to make with them.
I have concocted this recipe from one that uses tomatoes, and I have substituted leeks and tweaked it a bit to make the best of the tastes.
I am going to serve it with a couple of fresh salmon steaks.
Hence -
Leek, Potato and Cheese Bake
5 medium sized Potatoes
3 Leeks (sliced in rounds)
2.5 ozs Butter
2 ozs plain Flour (all purpose)
350 ml Milk
175 ml Chicken Stock
1.5 teaspoons chopped fresh Thyme
4 ozs Mature Cheddar Cheese
1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices, about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Slice the leeks into rings of about the same thickness, 1/4 inch.
3. Steam the potatoes and leeks (or boil them) until tender, being very careful not to cook too much or they will disintegrate.
4. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir it in. Heat it until it is bubbling then remove the pan from the heat.
5. Very slowly, bit by bit, stir in the milk and the chicken stock. Once it is blended, return the pan to the heat until the sauce boils and thickens.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the thyme and half of the cheese.
7. In the bottom of a largish greased pie dish, overlap the half the potatoes and half the leeks to cover the bottom of the dish.
8. Pour over 2/3 of the sauce evenly over the potatoes and leeks.
9. Make a second layer of the remaining potatoes and leeks, overlapping them as before.
10. Pour over the remaining sauce and sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top.
11. Cook in an oven at about 180C for 20 to 25 minutes, or until it is lightly browned on the top, no more.
I have a love of leeks and today I managed to buy a whole bunch of the most gorgeous baby leeks at the Ballyvaughan Farmer's Market (Saturdays 10am-2pm).
So... something yummy to make with them.
I have concocted this recipe from one that uses tomatoes, and I have substituted leeks and tweaked it a bit to make the best of the tastes.
I am going to serve it with a couple of fresh salmon steaks.
Hence -
Leek, Potato and Cheese Bake
5 medium sized Potatoes
3 Leeks (sliced in rounds)
2.5 ozs Butter
2 ozs plain Flour (all purpose)
350 ml Milk
175 ml Chicken Stock
1.5 teaspoons chopped fresh Thyme
4 ozs Mature Cheddar Cheese
1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices, about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Slice the leeks into rings of about the same thickness, 1/4 inch.
3. Steam the potatoes and leeks (or boil them) until tender, being very careful not to cook too much or they will disintegrate.
4. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir it in. Heat it until it is bubbling then remove the pan from the heat.
5. Very slowly, bit by bit, stir in the milk and the chicken stock. Once it is blended, return the pan to the heat until the sauce boils and thickens.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the thyme and half of the cheese.
7. In the bottom of a largish greased pie dish, overlap the half the potatoes and half the leeks to cover the bottom of the dish.
8. Pour over 2/3 of the sauce evenly over the potatoes and leeks.
9. Make a second layer of the remaining potatoes and leeks, overlapping them as before.
10. Pour over the remaining sauce and sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top.
11. Cook in an oven at about 180C for 20 to 25 minutes, or until it is lightly browned on the top, no more.
Friday, 2 October 2009
Sugar-Free Fruit Cake
This is one delicious cake !
And moist - I hate dry cakes.
And good for you... no sugar and loads of dried fruit, honey and orange juice...
For an even less sugary version, try replacing the honey with a well mashed ripe banana.
Means you can eat more hmmm
Sugar-Free Fruit Cake
3 ozs dried Apricots (chopped)
3 ozs Dates (chopped)
2.5 ozs Glacé Cherries (candied) (halved)
3.5 ozs Raisins
12 oz plain Flour (all purpose)
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon ground Mixed Spice (allspice)
4.5 ozs Butter
4 fl oz Milk
2 Eggs (beaten)
Grated rind of 1 Orange
6 tablespoons Orange Juice
3 tablespoons runny Honey (or 1 mashed ripe banana)
1. Put the flour, baking powder and mixed spice in a bowl and mix.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces, add it to the bowl and rub it all in between your fingers. This eventually makes a kinda fine breadcrumb texture.
3. Next stir in the apricots, dates, cherries, raisins, milk, beaten eggs, grated orange rind and the orange juice.
4. Stir in the honey and mix it all together until it is soft and squishy.
5. Spoon the mixture into a lined 8 inch round baking tin. Level off the surface.
6. Cook in an oven at 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4 (preheated of course). Bake for about 1 hour, until a thin skewer poked into the middle comes out clean.
7. Let the cake cool in the pan before removing it and turning it out.
And moist - I hate dry cakes.
And good for you... no sugar and loads of dried fruit, honey and orange juice...
For an even less sugary version, try replacing the honey with a well mashed ripe banana.
Means you can eat more hmmm
Sugar-Free Fruit Cake
3 ozs dried Apricots (chopped)
3 ozs Dates (chopped)
2.5 ozs Glacé Cherries (candied) (halved)
3.5 ozs Raisins
12 oz plain Flour (all purpose)
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon ground Mixed Spice (allspice)
4.5 ozs Butter
4 fl oz Milk
2 Eggs (beaten)
Grated rind of 1 Orange
6 tablespoons Orange Juice
3 tablespoons runny Honey (or 1 mashed ripe banana)
1. Put the flour, baking powder and mixed spice in a bowl and mix.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces, add it to the bowl and rub it all in between your fingers. This eventually makes a kinda fine breadcrumb texture.
3. Next stir in the apricots, dates, cherries, raisins, milk, beaten eggs, grated orange rind and the orange juice.
4. Stir in the honey and mix it all together until it is soft and squishy.
5. Spoon the mixture into a lined 8 inch round baking tin. Level off the surface.
6. Cook in an oven at 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4 (preheated of course). Bake for about 1 hour, until a thin skewer poked into the middle comes out clean.
7. Let the cake cool in the pan before removing it and turning it out.
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Blackberry & Elderberry Jelly
This is a heavenly, sharpish and almost free of cost jelly preserve, which is to die for with lamb or game meats, even chicken. It also goes well with a strong cheddar.
And the colour is like something Albert Irvin would like to use in a painting ! In case you never heard of him, he is my favourite abstract painter ever.
You can adjust the quantities, depending on how many berries you have picked. It is basically 1 lemon per 2lbs of fruit.
I use organic lemons because there is no wax or preservatives on the skin, and so you can safely use it for cooking. If you don't mind what chemicals you feed yourself - by all means use normal lemons.
Blackberry & Elderberry Jelly
2lbs Blackberries and Elderberries
1 organic Lemon
White Sugar
1. Squeeze the lemons to extract all the juice from them.
2. Put the lemon juice, the pips and the 2 skin halves into a large pan.
3. Add the berries.
4. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of water and stir well.
5. Cover the pan and simmer very gently on a very low heat for a few hours, until the berries are tender and very soft and squiggy. Do not be tempted to rush this on a higher heat, it will be ruined.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and crush the fruit with a potato masher.
7. Sterilise a muslin bag or cloth by pouring boiling water over it. Or do the same to a jelly bag.
8. Pour the fruit mixture into the jelly bag or the muslin, and allow to drain through at its own speed for 12 hours or overnight, into a non metallic container. Don't be tempted to squeeze it as you will cloud the jelly.
9. Measure the resulting juice.
10. Put the juice back into the clean pan and add 1 lb of sugar for every 1 pint of juice.
11. Heat gently, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved.
12. Now raise the heat and boil the liquid hard until setting point has been reached.
13. Pour the hot jelly straight into sterilised jars and put the lids on immediately.
Et voila - heaven in a glass jar !
If you are into preserving food from the hedges in interesting ways, and even in everyday ways, then this River Cottage cookbook is a kitchen bookshelf must. It has loads of jams and preserves in general, from things that are in many gardens and hedges.
Click here to see 'The River Cottage Preserves Handbook'
And the colour is like something Albert Irvin would like to use in a painting ! In case you never heard of him, he is my favourite abstract painter ever.
You can adjust the quantities, depending on how many berries you have picked. It is basically 1 lemon per 2lbs of fruit.
I use organic lemons because there is no wax or preservatives on the skin, and so you can safely use it for cooking. If you don't mind what chemicals you feed yourself - by all means use normal lemons.
Blackberry & Elderberry Jelly
2lbs Blackberries and Elderberries
1 organic Lemon
White Sugar
1. Squeeze the lemons to extract all the juice from them.
2. Put the lemon juice, the pips and the 2 skin halves into a large pan.
3. Add the berries.
4. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of water and stir well.
5. Cover the pan and simmer very gently on a very low heat for a few hours, until the berries are tender and very soft and squiggy. Do not be tempted to rush this on a higher heat, it will be ruined.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and crush the fruit with a potato masher.
7. Sterilise a muslin bag or cloth by pouring boiling water over it. Or do the same to a jelly bag.
8. Pour the fruit mixture into the jelly bag or the muslin, and allow to drain through at its own speed for 12 hours or overnight, into a non metallic container. Don't be tempted to squeeze it as you will cloud the jelly.
9. Measure the resulting juice.
10. Put the juice back into the clean pan and add 1 lb of sugar for every 1 pint of juice.
11. Heat gently, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved.
12. Now raise the heat and boil the liquid hard until setting point has been reached.
13. Pour the hot jelly straight into sterilised jars and put the lids on immediately.
Et voila - heaven in a glass jar !
If you are into preserving food from the hedges in interesting ways, and even in everyday ways, then this River Cottage cookbook is a kitchen bookshelf must. It has loads of jams and preserves in general, from things that are in many gardens and hedges.
Click here to see 'The River Cottage Preserves Handbook'
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