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...