Dream Country Chat

LET THEM EAT CAKE

 'Let them eat cake', may not have been said in quite the most politically correct manner back in the French revolution, but nowadays when you see those French goodies set out for your delectation, well one really has to

EAT CAKE!

 

Not just those fancy creamy creations, the pastry has its place too. Fragrant, crispy and drizzled with a snowstorm of icing sugar. Perfect for that cup of coffee you've been thinking of having this morning.

Oh but these are works of art in their own right. Even the tiny chocolate wafer has delicate gold printing  with the name of the shop. What price an M&S cup cake now eh!

To me this shows the french at their finest. A country that has attention to detail down to the finest of arts. Display is important, packaging means a lot. Service not only with a smile but with cheerful chat and Gallic charm.

I will admit to sampling more than my share of fabulous cakes over the past week. Ann and i have been on a mission to find the best delicacies every day and carry them home in triumph to savour in the evening with a cup of coffee beside the roaring fire.

So when you see those delightful little cake boxes being carried around town along with the ubiquitous baguette, just imagine the goodies hiding inside. The finest of France just there at your fingertips, patissier perfection.

Okay, reality check, back to my mug of coffee and a chocolate biscuit now. how times change, c'est la vie!

Karon x

ROWAN JELLY ADVENTURE

Rowan berries, they are everywhere I look just now (my view is somewhat limited out here in the country) which is great as there were hardly any last year when I wanted to make some rowan berry jelly.

No such problem this year, more than enough to go round. So the other day I set off round the lane armed with my big basket and a pair of snips, also had small assistant in the form of Idgy.

Berry picking is such a relaxing and enjoyable pursuit. Well it is when the berry trees are not all on the other side of the damn drainage ditches. Keen readers will know just how big our drainage ditches are when they recall how I managed successfully to wedge (and write off) my jeep in one back in February.

No dainty ditches round here, oh no, ours are big and deep and muddy. Picture the scene if you will. Idgy leaps over the ditch and snips at the berries with gay abandon. And before you get carried away, no she is not wearing an outfit somewhat reminiscent of the 'Sound of Music', dirndl skirt and natty headscarf cunningly run up from the curtains. Get real, we may be out in the sticks, but my gal is trendy - jeans and trainers all the way. Moi? Well of course I am in full berry picking regalia of ball gown, tiara, slingbacks and feather boa.

With Idgy jumping the ditches and me grabbing overhanging branches, we soon have a basket-full of gorgeous red goodness. But berry picking is an addictive sport, just as you think you are finished and ready to drop the snips and call it a day, you will see yet another tree, this one laden with berries far bigger and redder than those you already have. You must have 'just a few more'. Okay, okay I did want those few more, and I was determined to get them. 'No, no I'll do it, I'll get them' I insist to my helper. She turns round to head back up the lane. I lurch (ain't no grace and charm here) over the ditch and start topping up the basket. This is fab, I can't stop, I keep snipping. There is a distinct sinking feeling, what the hell, carry on. BIG mistake, that sinking feeling was the bank of the drainage ditch collapsing under me. You guessed it, feet flying, back we go, scrabbling desperately to get a grip, but no, I'm over, it's done. Flat out in the mud at the bottom  of the ditch with the full basket upended on top of me. Help I shriek, or words to that effect. Idgy who is up the lane a bit can't even see me as I am in the bloody ditch. She rushes back just as I emerge clutching the berries to my chest and looking like the swamp monster. Does my girl rush to the aid of her errant mother and help her out of the ditch. No, she sits down on the lane and laughs her head off. Then she leaps up and tells me no to move or I will lose all the berries that are piled around me. Next half hour spent rescuing the berries.

So here is my recipe for rowan berry jelly. So easy to make if you have managed to capture the wild and dangerous berries first..............

I used just under 2 kilos of rowan berries (should have been full 2 kilos had the ditch not grabbed me)

1.5 kilos of cooking apples, roughly chopped with skins on

450g of granulated sugar for every 600ml of juice you get

Throw all the fruit into a huge pot and just cover with water. bring to the boil and simmer away till it is all soft and mushy, about 20 minutes.

Pour into a jelly bag (cheesecloth, muslin etc, not tea towel) and let it drip into a non metallic bowl overnight.

Measure your juice and put it back into the pot, now add 450g of sugar for every 600ml of juice that you have there.

Simmer over a low heat for about ten minutes till sugar has dissolved. Now zap up the

heat to a rolling boil for about five minutes until your setting point has been reached.

Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal.

This is a really tangy jelly with a sweet and sour sort of taste. Great with meat dishes, but just perfect on hot buttered croissants too, yummy.

Was it worth being upside down in the ditch (again), you betcha!

Have a great weekend

Karon x

HIPPY JELLY

As you will know from last weeks 'Yum Run' I have been foraging whilst running in the mornings. Well this week I have been lusting after the rose hips that are dotted along the stream. I see them every morning and watch them ripening before my eyes. Yesterday after school Idgy and I went rose hipping (just a couple of hippies I guess!) and brought back a big basketful.

Now what could I do with this bounty of goodness?  Rose hip and apple jelly of course. The only drawback on this is chopping up the rose hips themselves. I now have a lovely blister as proof of my efforts, ho, hum, the jelly tastes great tho'.

HERE'S HOW

1 kilo apples
450gm rose hips
about 1.3 kilo preserving sugar/granulated sugar
water

Chop the apples into quarters and put in a big pot with enough water just to cover them, now add approx 300ml of water. Bring to the boil and simmer until the apples soften.

While this is happening you can chop those rose hips.  In hindsight I would put an elastoplast on my finger before chopping to avoid the nasty blister I now have!

 

Toss the rose hips into the pot with the softened apples and simmer for another ten minutes or so.
Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes before pouring into a jelly bag (cheesecloth/muslin bag) and hanging over a non-metallic bowl to drip overnight.

 

Now before you are all thinking what a paragon of virtue I am with all this preserving and gosh what a star. I am not, I am a twit who gets it wrong. Not only did I remove half the skin on my hand with blisters, I completely  messed up on the jelly bag.
Last year I made a great little jelly bag out of muslin. Unfortunately on a clear out earlier this year I chucked it out. In panic last night I knocked up a new bag, and because I didn't have any muslin I used a thin tea towel. Don't do this, tea towel was just not thin enough, read on........

Now in the morning you should have a nice bowl of jummy juice that has dripped joyfully from your jelly bag. I didn't, I had a mere puddle, well okay, I had 300ml of the stuff.

You have to measure your juice and pour it back into the pot. now add the sugar at a ratio of 400g of sugar to every 600ml of juice.

Now in my case because the damn jelly bag was too thick and didn't let thew juice drip through properly I only had 300ml of juice and therefore only had to add 200g of sugar. All in all this made me a pathetic single jar of jelly!

Anyway back to the recipe bit; Stir the sugar until it disolves completely and boil fast to setting point (105 C/220F), about ten minutes.

Now pour into prepared warmed jars and seal. Or in my case have 6 jars lined up and only have to use one of them!

And here we have it, gorgeous, yummy rose hip and apple jelly. Okay so I only have one jar of the stuff so must treat it like gold-dust, it is still just perfect.

I am eyeing up the rowan berries now....................

Karon x

FORRAGING FOR SOUP

Just look what I found on my run yesterday - yummy field mushrooms, just perfect for soup.

A raid on the garden produced onions, potatoes and celery, a good start.

 

Seriously basic stuff this;

Mushrooms
a few potatoes
1 onion
stick of celery

Chop it all up and start by cooking the onions in a little olive oil. Add in all the other bits and pieces and some chicken stock.
Cover and simmer for about half an hour.

What could be easier. Maybe not the most appealing of soups in the looks department, but oh how yummy.

Finished off with a blob of creme freche (ok I didn't have that in the garden) and a chunk of French bread.

Hmmmmmmm it was the perfect lunch.

Karon x

MAY WINE

May wine is a tradition in Germany where the herb Sweet Woodruff grows in profusion. This delightful herb grows in the shaded woodland and carpets the ground with its tiny star like flowers.

I started with 4 tiny plants 3 years ago, and now have a gorgeous starry blanket with enough of this fragrant beauty to fill sleep sacks and heart warmers all year long. Apart from being so delightfully pretty woodruff has a secret, when dried it has the relaxing scent of new mown hay.

In Germany it is widely used to flavour jellies, sweets and drinks. The taste is almost honey-like with a touch of aniseed. The May Wine is lovely and just a little Pimms like, perfect for the start of summer.

MAY WINE

large handfull of sweet woodruff
1 bottle German wine - Hock etc
1/2 cup sugar
1 basket strawberries
sprakling water or Cava

Dry the woodruff overnight in oven with door open just a crack
Pour wine into large jar and stuff in the woodruff
Leave this in the fridge for a week to soak up the flavours
Strain the wine and disgard the herbs
Mash up strawberries with the sugar
Mix into the wine and pour into a large jug
Top up with either sparkling wine or sparkling water

Serve in the sunshine with family and friends.

It was Simon's birthday yesterday, so I took a jug of May Wine up the lane and we all sat in the garden sipping sunshine and enjoying the day.

Enjoy your day whatever you are up to.

Karon  x

STINGING NETTLES FOR SOUP

Hi guys,
Had a few comments and emails re the nettles soup l mentioned on Monday. Yes it is good old Stinging Nettles that are used. You pick the young and tender nettles and just the top tips of them. They are less stingy at this time, in fact they shouldn't sting at all, but best to wear a pair of rubber washing up gloves to be on the safe side. When you have a good basket full tip them into a colander and rinse them out.
Now grab a hand full (whilst wearing those glamorous rubber gloves!) and chop them up. When all are chopped just throw them in the pot to cook as per recipe on Monday.
Re taste, yummy, like a spinach soup but sweeter and softer. Not so strong. More a cross between spinach and parsley.
Hope this helps. I really should have said it was stinging nettles on the recipe.

You can use nettles as you would spinach. Just wash the nettles and toss them into a pot and simmer with lid on. You don't need to add any water. When nearly tender add about 2 oz of butter, plus lemon juice and salt and pepper. You can also add a tablespoon on chopped herbs like thyme, chives or a little mint. Serve hot.

So go on, get out there and gather ye stinging nettles before they can sting you back!
Karon  x

NETTLE SOUP SPRING SUPPER

Last night l did one of my pay back dinners to even up the score on all the lovely food l seem to guzzle at friends houses. I decided to go for a Spring and herb theme so started my day by picking nice fresh new young nettle tops for soup. This is the only time of year to get just the right new nettles so make the most of it. Here is the recipe l used for my Cream of nettle soup.

1 lb potatoes
1/2 lb nettle tops
2oz butter
1 1/2 pints of chicken stock
salt and pepper
Creme fraiche

Boil potatoes, drain and set aside. Chop the nettles and toss into large pot with the butter, stir until wilted down. Now add the cooked potatoes and chicken stock with your seasoning. Bring to boil and then simmer for ten minutes. Whiz with your blender and then stir in your creme fraich.

It was a Spring Supper so l went for daffodils and candle-light.

Even did menus.

The main course was pork tenderloin with sage and a mustard and sage sauce.

I marinated the pork with a dry rub of dried sage and salt and black pepper. For the sauce l used 8 fl oz of double cream and half a teaspoon of dried sage and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Heated cream to boiling and reduced by half. Pan fry the medallions of pork and pour over the yummy cream sauce.

The potatoes are just a slight variation on your usual mash. I used red skinned potatoes and boiled them with their skins on. Then drained and roughly mashed a bit. Add olive oil, butter and salt and pepper and that's it.

Pudding was Idgy's homemade chocolate brownies (they were fab!!) with my lavender-honey cream. The infused cream makes a lovely different topping to your desserts.

5fl double cream
1 tablespoon flower honey
1 teaspoon dried lavender

Bring to the boil and stir as it reduces by about a third. Set aside to cool. Strain and put in fridge. Whip till fluffy and serve on pie, brownies or anything you like. I sometimes use this as an icecream mix and put it in the icecream maker.

So that's it, thought l would share part of my lovely evening with good friends and nice easy food. A nice start to the week.

Happy Monday!
Karon  x

RADIO CAKE

Last week on the Chris Evans drive time show on Radio 2 they were making chocolate cakes in mugs. Well my mouth was watering as l listened so l was determined to have a go. It being the Easter holidays and weather a tad wild, what better way to while away 5 minutes in the kitchen with kids!

I downloaded the recipe from the BBC web site so here it is for you.

4tbs self raising flour
4tbs caster sugar
2tbs cocoa powder
1 egg
3tbs milk
3tbs sunflower oil
3tbs choc chips (optional)
dash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (mine was a tad small - High School Musical not best choice!)
Double cream, creme fraiche - optional for serving

Put all the dry ingredients into your mug and mix like mad. Now add the egg and mix again. Then add the milk and oil and really mix like mad, get that oil everywhere in the mug. Now add the dash of vanilla extract, choc chips or any other little extra you can think of.
Put mug in microwave and cook for 3 minutes (in a 1000 watt oven).

Now you are meant to let this cool and tip it out on to a plate. No chance, Idgy and l were in there like starving dingos, the cake didn't stand a chance.  Yummy!

So if you still have the kids around and are looking for a quick treat that gives them something fun to do, go for it, make a cake.

Big thanks to Radio 2 for having this fab recipe on their show.

Karon  x

COMFORT THYME SOUP

The weather man says we are in for more cold weather. However, l don't need any excuses to make comfort food. Yesterday l gathered my ingredients to make my    COMFORT THYME SOUP

4 carrots
2 potatoes
1 onion
2 tins of tomatoes
bunch of thyme
handfull of lentils
squeeze of orange

Sweat the onion in a little olive oil. Throw in everything else and add some water. Cover and simmer for half an hour. Now dive in with your magic wand food mixer thingy ~(technical term!) or bash about with a potato masher - certain satisfaction derived from this method.

Serve with a swirl of plain yogurt and a chunk of crusty bread.

Enjoy!

MUM GIVEAWAY is open all this week (til Sunday 8th), so zap me your comment about Mum.

Karon  x

INSTANT SOUP (well almost)

This snowy weather is so so beautiful, but just a tad chilly. What better than a hot bowl of tasty soup. Even better if you can whisk this up almost instantly.

Here's how to make some hearty PEA AND ROSEMARY soup.

3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 packet of frozen peas
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
4 small potatoes

Chop onions, garlic  and potatoes. Sweat off the onions in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the garlic. Then toss in the potatoes, frozen peas and rosemary. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for approx 15 minutes (just until the potatoes are tender). You can add some chicken stock or a stock cube if you like. This soup actually has a lovely flavour without additions, just give it plenty of seasoning. Whizz up with blender or bash with potatoe masher.

Serve in a big bowl with lots of crusty bread or buttered toast. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Karon  x