Elderflower Cordial

 

We are lucky enough to have an elder tree in the Hastings garden - just outside the kitchen window - and today I made my first ever Elderflower cordial!

June is the best time to gather Elderflowers. Pick them early on a warm, dry morning when the flowers are heady with scent but be sure to leave some flowers for elderberry picking later in the year - I've got a mind to make elderberry liqueur!

This recipe is by Pam the Jam and can be found in The River Cottage Handbook No.2.

You will need:

About 25 elderflower heads
1 orange & 3 lemons, zest and juice

1kg sugar
1.5 litres water  

And here's how:

Inspect the elderflower heads carefully and remove any insects; there were lots of little green spiders in mine! Place the flower heads in a large bowl together with the orange and lemon zest. Bring 1.5 litres of water to the boil and pour over the elderflowers and citrus zest. Cover and leave overnight to infuse.

Strain the liquid through a piece of muslin and pour into a saucepan. Add the orange and lemon juice and sugar. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar, then bring to a simmer and cook for a couple of minutes.

 

Use a funnel to pour the hot syrup into sterilised bottles. Seal the bottles with swing-top lids.

There you go, as simple as that! Serve diluted with sparkling water, sparkling wine or champagne, and undiluted to fruit salads. But my favourite of all has to be a cucumber and elderflower gin cocktail!

Gin
Tonic water
Elderflower cordial
Cucumber slices
Ice

Fill a glass with ice, mix a gin and tonic to your taste, add a splash of elderflower cordial and a few slices of cucumber. Perfectly refreshing.

Hot Lemon Pickle

A couple of nights ago I sat down to a dinner of homemade lentil curry, unscrewed the lid of the hot lime pickle for to have on the side when to my alarm realised that it was the last spoonful of hot lime pickle! *Gasp* Once I'd happily devoured the lot (mmm delicious), I hastily added 'hot lime pickle' to the shopping list. Then I looked in the fruit bowl; there sat 4 lemons and 2 limes. I looked in the spice cupboard; well stocked. So I scrubbed out 'hot lime pickle' from the shopping list. I was going to make my own.

Simon brought me THIS South Indian cookbook for my birthday and there is a recipe for Hot Lemon Pickle in the chutneys and pickles section, so I decided now was the right time to give it a go. This is a really simple and quick recipe - some of the others I've come across, although incredibly delicious I am sure, require weeks of stirring, shaking and marinating in sunlight, the latter of which we are not having much of in England at the moment!

So here's what you will need;

Lemons, 6 (I used 4 lemons & 2 limes)
Water, enough to cover the lemons
Fenugreek seeds, 1 tsp
Asafoetida powder, 1/2 tsp
Sesame oil, 180ml
Brown mustard seeds, 1 tsp
Chilli powder, 4 tsps
Ground tumeric, 1/2 tsp
Green chillies, 6 chopped
Fresh ginger, 4cm piece, peeled and chopped
Salt, 6 tbsp (yes I know that's a lot, but I think it's worth it!)

And here's how to...

Dry-roast the fenugreek seeds and asafoetida powder for about 2-3 minutes. Grind into a fine powder. Set aside. 

Place the whole lemons/limes in a pan. Add enough water to cover them, and bring to the boil. Boil for 10-15 minutes, or until tender. Allow to cool, cut into small pieces, be sure to remove all the pips, and set aside. Reserve the cooking water. 

In a large heavy bottomed pan, heat the sesame oil and add the mustard seeds. 

When the seeds start to pop, add the chilli powder, ground tumeric, ginger and green chillies. Saute for 2-3 minutes.

Add the lemons/limes and reserved cooking water. Now add the salt and the fenugreek/asafoetida mixture. 

Store in an airtight jar/bottle and refrigerate.

And enjoy on the side of a homemade lentil curry!

Poo Balls

A couple of years ago I went to Melbourne to visit my good friend Caitlin and whilst I was there she took me to meet and her dad and his family. His wonderful wife Lorena cooked us all a delicious meal and for afters we had 'Poo Balls', well that's what their two young girls called them, a more explanatory description would be Date Truffles.

Lorena, a very creative and talented photographer, artist and food blogger - follow her here at Comida de Moda - has just recently published her first cook book, The Rich Hours, well done Lorena! And the recipe for Poo Balls is in there! A sneaky peak can be found here or contact her if you'd like your own full copy.

I've just made a whole batch of Poo Balls and they're amazing! Here's how..

Ingredients:

1 cup sunflower / pumpkin seeds

500g dried and pitted dates

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp cocoa

Shredded coconut

Method:

Whizz up the seeds in a food processor then add the dates, cinnamon and cocoa and whizz again until you've got the consistency of coarse sand. Lorena's note: "Be careful not to burn out your food processor - it's hard going for the poor motor." Form into little balls and roll in shredded coconut.

Couldn't be simpler. What's more, they're delicious and are even good for you!

Thank you for sharing Lorena!

Wedding Bells

Stone Cold Comfort got hitched, yay! Magpie and I were in charge of the flowers. Here are some pictures of our makings and what fun we had! It was a beautiful wedding. Congratulations Chloe and Ciaran!

Home Made Fig Rolls

For Christmas my friend Chloe very kindly gave me a jar of her home made Figpote: Figs bottled in a honey and orange syrup. I decided to put them to use in home made fig rolls!

You will need:

For the filling:
200g Figpote - Chloe used a Pam Corbin recipe from the River Cottage Preserves Handbook

For the pastry:
75g plain flour
75g wholemeal flour
75g unsalted butter
50g sugar
A pinch of salt
1 egg, beaten and a little reserved for glazing
1tsp vanilla extract
40ml cold water 

Here's how to:

Put the flours, butter, sugar, salt, egg and vanilla into a food processor and whizz until combined. Whilst the machine is running, slowly add the water. Remove the dough, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.  

 

In the meantime, cut the figs into small pieces, preheat your oven to 180C and prepare a baking sheet with parchment/greaseproof paper.

Take the dough out of the fridge and using a rolling pin, roll out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle, about 40cm x 12cm. You want the dough to be relatively thin, about 5mm or so. Tidy the edges by trimming.

Arrange the figs lengthways down the centre of the rectangle, then fold one side of the dough over the filling, and then the other side over the top of that.

Cut the roll into pieces about 7.5cm long. Place the rolls fold side down onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with the remaining egg and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until they start to turn golden. 

 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. 

Time now for a cuppa I think!