TARRAGON & THYME

Now the jelly is on the go my mind has turned to thoughts of jam and I have found the following recipe.  Me thinks the jam pan will be on the go after the jelly is made.   Ingredients 1kg/2lb seedless black grapes - if not seedless cut the grapes in half and remove the seeds. 750g/3 cups warmed sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice 50g/ 13/4 oz jam pectin or a sachet of dried pectin Method Remove the stems from the grapes and place in a large pan with 80ml / 1/3 cup of water.  Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer covered for 5 minutes Add the sugar and lemon juice and stir over  a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Return to the boil and boil the jam rapidly for 10 minutes stirring often,  Remove any scum during cooking with a skimmer or slotted spoon (I always put a knob of butter in to stop the scum spoiling the preserve).  Add the jam setting mixture and boil for a further 5 minutes or so.  Remove any scum from the surf...

 Being as my very good friend bought me a load of grapes in I have some of this dripping as we speak soon to be made into another lovely jelly.  I love making jellies as the colours are so shiny and vibrant and tasty.  A lot of people don't like fruit lumps or pieces in jams and so are quite partial to jellies in preference.  I like both.  Looks like I am going to be busy tomorrow night when I get in from work. Ingredients: 1 kg/2 1/4 lb grapes For every 500ml/16 fl oz of juice: 675g/1 1/2lb caster sugar 100g/3 1/2 oz liquid pectin freshly squeezed juice of a large lemon Method  Put the grapes which can be solely one colour a mixture of black and white into a heavy based stainless steel pan and crush them.  You can use a potato masher to achieve this.  Add 150ml/5 fl oz of water and then bring to the boil, reduce the heat and then cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the grapes are very soft. Crush the grapes again then spo...

As promised here is the alternative recipe for a "Quick Ginger Beer" that I have come across but have never made.   There's a batch of this brewing as we speak. Ingredients 1 oz root ginger 1lb sugar 1oz cream of tartar 1 lemon 8 pints of boiling water 1oz fresh yeast or 1/2 oz dried yeast Method Put the ginger into a piece of clean cloth and hit it with a hammer or heavy weight until the ginger is bruised. Put in a bowl and add the sugar and cream of tartar. Grate the lemon rind and squeeze out the juice and add to the bowl Pour in the boiling water, stir well and leave until cold. Mix the yeast with 5 tablespoons luke-warm water and add to the bowl. Cover and leave overnight.  Strain through a muslin cloth and bottle in strong screw-topped bottles (e.g. those used for cider or beer).  Leave for 48 hours before using.   I am hoping this version will be less explosive but then again its me making it!

Saturday my veg shop people were back so I did a big stock-up yesterday buying sweet potatoes, cauliflower, leeks, carrots, parsnip, onions, celery, cabbage, broccoli, apples, tomatoes, apricots, lemons, garlic, a melon, pineapples, to name but a few of the ingredients.  With this colder weather I am keen that we both get plenty to eat - good solid home made food that will do you good in the long run.  The tomatoes I am going to make into pasta sauce and bottle. The apples are also going to be bottled for puddings etc.  I might put some of each into the freezer as well. The tomatoes are primarily as a base for a soup as I have acquired some soup/stock bags from the pound shop.  I also intend to bottle some more plums.  I have been looking for some damsons and also some purple bullace but so far no luck.  Damsons make a lovely jam. I also managed to get a load of my stored bottles sterilised in the dishwasher ready for use in the coming weeks ahead. They wi...

I love crumpets but strangely enough have never made them at all.  I have all the equipment just never got round to making any.  I have therefore been inspired to have a go.  What has spurred me on is the new Hairy Bikers Family Cookbook "Mum's know Best" ISBN 978-1-4072-2458-9.  I managed to get mine from the Book People - they visit at work  - for a fiver.  It might be worth paying a visit to their website to see whether it is still on offer - it really is a lovely book and has some really good recipes in - really good home cooking with the occasional twist.   These are on the menu for Saturday night's tea. Apparently it makes 12 Ingredients 350ml whole milk 225g strong white bread flour 125g plain flour 7g sachet of fast action dried yeast 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 teaspoon of caster sugar 1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 150ml warm water softened butter for greasing the rings Method Put the milk in a saucepan an...

Well I have started to see the odd pumpkins about and I absolutely love Pumpkin.  As you might have guessed Pumpkin and Squash is a firm favourite in this household. I developed a liking for it when I went to Australia some 30 years or so ago. I am always on the look out for new recipes and I have found the following recipe in some cut outs of recipes I had put to one side.  I am not sure where its from, (the recipe that is)  but Pumpkin season is already here if you grow your own and I am hoping that it will shortly be available for me to buy so that I can feed my pumpkin passion and freeze some down for the winter months (we love it roasted and I prepare this for the freezer and then just drag it out as I need it.  I always make sure I have a couple of pumpkins for the cold shelf as well. The orangey colour of this chutney is enough to cheer the heart on a cold winters night.  We love chutneys of any description and I am hoping that its as good as the reci...

Well what a busy weekend.  Please forgive me a tad if I rattle on a bit - its a while since I posted and am just stretching the writing muscles a tad and also showing my age to boot. Saturday was spent at my Mums.  She is having a new central heating boiler installed and the plumber needed to do work in the attic.  One small problem the attic was heaving.  Enter one son, one daughter, one daughter in law and two nephews.  We spent the day clearing the attic of rubbish and bits and bobs. My nephews were intrigued to see what would come down next, including a load of toys that were still living in the loft that belonged to my brother.  Mum sorted through items as to what she did or did not want.  But one of the things to come out of the attic was special cards going back years - we have left mum to sort those out as and when she is ready, no doubt that will be emotional for her as she is very sentimental.   Clearing the attic  was something th...

Brrgh autumn  seems to be well and truly with us, the first of the cold weather seems to be manifesting itself. Today started with grey skies and a blustery wind.  About mid-day the sun actually escaped for a little while  but had gone in again by the time it was my lunch time.    These fluctuations in the weather don't do my arthritis much good and trigger episodes so I haven't been too clever today.  I am off to see the Consultant next week, so hopefully they will be able to get a different medication control in place rather than steroids which I am still on. .  Because it has been cold  I wanted something nice and warm for tea tonight.  As a consequence we have had lamb shanks with mint gravy, boiled potatoes, french beans, cauliflower, calabrase, and peas with lashings of mint gravy, followed by treacle sponge and custard. Scrummy  - reinforcements for cold weather and not bad going as all ready within an hour of getting home an...

I have spotted in a neighbours garden a load of Japonica Quince and I am going to ask him if I can have them as he does not seem to do anything with them and in the spirit of waste not want not and with the promise of a jar of the preserve, I am hoping that he will let me have these.  Its something I have always wanted to have a go at but never came across any to actually use or know of anyone who had any.  So I have been researching and from what I can see, the Japonica Quince is more acidic than the normal Cydonia Quince or the larger tree Quince, but that the recipes are more or less interchangeable. If he lets me have them I intend to make some Quince Jelly and some Quince Cheese and hopefully some Membrillo, so will have to see how it goes.  This is all very new to me so I am looking forward to experimenting a great deal. I am also looking out for the Cydonia Quince as well, as it would be good to compare the flavours by making the same or slightly different reci...

I haven't been too well the past couple of days having suffered from an upset stomach and the beginnings of a cold.  Fortunately both have subsided and I felt a little more energetic today and we took Missy for a constitutional walk, but not where we normally go. We went to  a  local Woods (a place I have been going to since I was a small child  - we regularly used to go for picnics there with friends and many a happy time was had there as it is a lovely place to roam. and have a nic pic. I even took the step-children there when they were growing up.  I felt the need to be near trees and in open spaces today it really tugged at me and I needed to get out and about.   Not often I get like that but today was definitely one of those days.   I love walking but I also absolutely adore foraging of any kind- I like looking out for new sources of different wild produce. There were lots of mushrooms but I dare not pick them. I was taught how to recognise field ...

I love plums - in fact a lot of the preserves I put down each year tend to be plum related.  This one in particular goes well with pheasant and chicken (and also perks up gravy) and also goes well with cheese.  Ingredients: 1.6kg red plums 400ml cider vinegar 150ml Port 1 cinnamon stick 8 cloves 8 green cardamom pods 700g granulated sugar Method Cut up the plums anmd place them with their stones into a very large heavy based saucepan. Add the vinegar, port, spices and bring to the boil, cover and then simmer for about an hour. Tip the contents of the pan into a jelly bag suspended over a bowl. Allow to drip through I usually allow overnight as a minimum. Do not squeeze the bag as this will produce a cloudy jelly which will spoil the appearance of the preserve. Place a couple of saucers in a cold fridge or freezer (these will be used for testing for a set of the jelly) Measure the juice from the jelly.  Add 500g of sugar to every 600ml of juice. Brin...

Well its official that "C" word has  reared its head again along with all the produce to go with it.  Our local Coop has all the Christmas bits and bobs in i.e the full range of goodies to tempt customers to part with those few extra pennies.  Well yes it is September some four months to go until Christmas.  Most people have only just had their "summer" holidays. And it is somewhat of a body shock and wake up call to be reminded that Christmas is drawing nearer and nearer and parents start worrying about how they are going to be able to afford that particular present that "Betsy" or "Bob" wants as well as make sure that there is plenty to eat on the table for the Christmas celebrations and afterwards as well.  Please remember that Christmas in reality for most families means that they only get time off for a day or two, although traditionally Christmas was a festival of 12 days and that for the most part the shops are usually closed for a one or ...

I started this the other night and since then it has been merrily bubbling away in the bucket.  There are two gallons on the go (approximately 8 bottles) Ingredients for one gallon: 3lbs elderberries 4lb apples 1 gallon of water (8 pints) juice of 4 lemons Yeast Yeast Nutrient Pectolase 3lbs sugar String the elderberries and put them into large saucepan and crush them (I used a potato masher).  Wash and chop the apple and then put in the pan with the elderberries. Bring them to the boil and boil for about 15 minutes then decant to large sterilised bucket.  Cool the mixture to lukewarm then add the yeast, yeast nutrient and the pectolase. Cover the brew and leave it in a warm place to ferment for four or five days stirring every day.  Strain the liquid onto a syrup made with the sugar and 1 pint of water.  Add lemon juice.  Pour into a 1 gallon jar (I have 2) and fit a fermentation lock filled with some sterilisin...

This is a recipe for the pantry for the winter months that I intend to have a go with.  Although my mushrooms will be the puffballs that OH obtained yesterday and also this morning for me. Ingredients 3oz butter 8oz onions peeled and finely chopped or grated 1 1/2lb flat mushrooms finely chopped 1 teaspoon mixed dried herbs 1 teaspoon of paprika 1 pint dry white wine 1 pint of stock 1/2 teaspoon of salt 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper grated rind and juice of 1/2 large lemon Cooking time about 25 minutes This recipe comes from a very old cook book I bought when I first got married The St Michael Cookery Library Home Preserves by Jackie Burrow ISBN 0 904230 81 3. To Quote;| "This makes a thick concentrated mushroom sauce. It is often made in French cooking when it is used to flavour other sauces.  It can also be used as a condiment sauce on the side of the plate." Melt the butter in a saucepan add the onion and fry gently for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms an...

OH took Missy for a quick walk this morning but was back rather promptly as there was a fishing match on down where we regularly walk her.  However, he did not come back empty handed.  He bought me three puffball mushrooms.  I was both delighted and then thrown as I although we had spoken about the puffballs before and trying them, neither of us to date had tried them. Puffballs are meaty - they smell mushroomy and are best so everything I have read suggests served simply in slices cooked in a little butter, which I did but I added some fresh chives to the mix.  What a revelation.  We one puffball between us just to taste with some hunks of bread and butter.  This one is definitely going on my repertoire list. The recipes suggest that this mushroom can be used in place of aubergine as it also takes on the flavour of the items that they are cooked with. However, as with all things much care must be taken the puffballs should only be eaten if their i...

Well I am home on holiday for the week.  Have lots of things to do and lots of thing to try.  I also need to recreate some semblance of order to my home its got a tad out of hand again.  Catch up with you all later as I am busy busy busy pattypan xx

Well the Elderberries are all sorted after going through them and stringing them with a fork to remove the berries and leave the stems intact they are now residing in a brewing bucket in readiness for making Elderberry Wine.  There was 8lbs plus so I have made a couple of gallon of wine. I have never made this wine myself before and am following a recipe from Country Wines and Cordials which apparently makes a sweet strong rich wine which is best drunk after at least a year's storage but preferably three - I don't know as I will be able to wait that long but I am going to give it a go.  It is currently cooling in the bucket, ready for the next stage.  Will post the recipe later on and if I don't try the recipes I will not know whether to repeat the recipe or not, so it is going to be a case of try and see. Catch you all later. Pattypan xx

Well I managed to get out yesterday foraging in the hedgerows, predominantly I came back with two carrier bags of Elderberries and over four pounds of Rosehips - somebody had beat me to it with the blackberries, will have to source another site. We were out for well over an hour and a half.  OH walked the dog  - I did the foraging - I came back with purple stained hands and a purple splattered hoodie and that was using scissors to cut the elderberries.  The rosehips I picked by hand were nice and large  - I am hoping to get some more at the weekend. But needless to say I got scratched and had little cuts from the rosehip stems.  There are various ways of using the hips, either fresh, processed as below, left whole and dried, left whole and fresh.  For years I have known of the method of drying them whole, as this is what my Nan used to do to make Rosehip wine during the winter months when there was little else available to make wine from. (i.e put...