Miss Foodwise

Celebrating British food and Culture

DIY

I had my mind set on Sloe Gin

by 22 Comments

I had sloes on my mind the last two times we drove up to Kent…
On both occasions I went home without them…
My eyes were on honesty boxes by the road, people selling produce from their garden at car boot sales and little blue-ish dots in the trees we drove passed.
The location of sloe trees is a well guarded secret of those who have discovered them on foraging trips. This makes them even more mysterious to me, I just had to have some sloes. I heard stories saying the native British sloe is so very rare it only grows from ancient trees. They look like black olives, and like olives best not eaten straight from the tree. Sloes are very tart and mostly used to make jams to accompany cheese and for making sloe gin…

The
sloe or ‘Prunus Spinosa’ is a berry from the blackthorn. Sloes or blackthorns were planted
around the countryside in the 16th and 17th century as hedges around the
fields to keep the cattle in. The word ‘sloe’
comes from the Old English slāh, in Old High German slēha and in Middle Dutch sleuuwe.
Traditionally when making sloe gin,
the berries must be gathered after the first frost and one must prick
each berry with a thorn taken from the blackthorn bush. Sloe gin is made
by infusing gin with the berries. Sugar is required to ensure the
juices are extracted from the fruit. Some swear by freezing the berries
before use.

But I had no sloes…
Until a lovely lady offered to send me some of the sloes she had gathered to maker her own boozy preserves. I must say I was quite nervous for them to arrive as they are after all perishable. Luckily they weren’t reduced to jam and I was able to use them thanks to Claire who froze them for the journey. That same day the sloes would be drowned by Gin…

It is so easy to make, the hard part is keeping yourself from opening it too soon to drink it. I’ve been told a ten year old sloe gin has a wonderful flavour… so I decided to hide a bottle from myself so I can actually try it. I think I might put it behind my 8 year old cherry brandy I was able to save.

 

To Make you own sloe gin!

What do you need

500g ripe sloes
250g sugar
1 litre of Gin, I used No.3 London Dry Gin

Method

  • Prick the sloes with a thorn from the tree or a toothpick
  • Put them in a suitably sized Kilner or jam jar
  • Pour over the
    sugar and the gin
  • Close the lid
  • Shake and shake every day until the sugar
    has dissolved
  • Store in a dark cupboard

After 3 months

  •  Strain out the sloes using muslin, bottle and store in a dark
    cupboard
  • Try to wait 1 to 10 + years before opening a bottle.Thank you Claire for the sloes, I will drink to your health when I open a bottle!

You might also like
Cherry brandy
Raspberry vinegar

Raspberry Vinegar – Summer in a bottle

by 21 Comments

 

As the end of summer is approaching I feel the urge to start preserving things for the winter months to come.
I made Cherry brandy to enjoy at the christmas holidays and next week the damsons are going into the copper kettle to become a gooey jam to use in pies.
This is how I hang on to those months when we had plenty of light and warmth from the sun, colorful delicate fruits at the market and fresh strawberries on our bread.
Summer in a bottle or a jar.
When autumn has deprived us of the last of the warm days, I will make a salad with perhaps some quail and walnuts, this raspberry vinegar will be used to drizzle the green leaves with a radiant red color. Like blood it will be dripping on my plate and I will remember the summers day when I bought the raspberries at a farmshop in Kent and the lunch we had after we strolled trough the little village by the sea. The Cider vinegar came from a road trip to the Cheddar gorge on my parents 35th anniversary and is the tastiest I’ve ever found. Memories are stored in this bottle if you like, if you are as romantic about it as me.

 

This recipe for Raspberry vinegar is fuss free and takes minutes to make, you only need to let the vinegar rest for 4-6 days before you strain and bottle it.
I used Isabella Beeton’s 1860’s recipe as a guide and amended where needed. As she uses a lot of sugar in hers, I didn’t in mine and I find the vinegar doesn’t need it.

Raspberries
are a rich source of vitamin C, B, iron and magnesium. Up to 20 percent
of their total weight is made up of fiber and they are also high in
antioxidants. The leaves of the raspberry plant have been used for
medicinal purposes for generations.

 


What do you need
To make 1 bottle as shown in the picture:
100g of raspberries or leftover raspberry pulp.
25 cl of good quality cider vinegar
a strainer
a funnel
a ceramic bowl

Method
Rinse the raspberries
Place the raspberries in a ceramic bowl
Crush the fruit with a fork
Add the Cider Vinegar until your bowl is completely full
Cover the bowl with cling film
Leave in a cool dark place for 4-6 days

After 3 days
Strain the vinegar and discard the pulp
Transfer the vinegar to the bottle(s) using a funnel

Leave for a month in a cool dark place, it will be autumn by then.
The vinegar will keep for at least six months.

Lovely with salad with quail, goats cheese and also with ice-cream. But I like a little spoonful from time to time… Some claim it is good to cure a cold.

You might also like
Make your own cherry brandy
Make your own butter

Drunken cherries – make your own cherry brandy

by 61 Comments

Preserving cherries for later, for generations to come.

“My top way of eating cherries is a bowl of cherries. If good, they need no adornment, other than perhaps a glass of pink champagne.”
Fergus Henderson.

Before the second world war there were about 40 000 acres of cherry orchards in Britain. These were mainly in Kent, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.
The past 50 years however 90 % of these cherry orchards have disappeared.
The labour was very intensive as the trees were very high, too high to cover the crop from the birds. I were mostly women who harvested the cherries on high ladders with baskets tied to their waists.
To tackle this problem nowadays and to revive cherry growing, dwarf plants are planted to replace the towering trees. The dwarf trees are covered with netting so the birds can’t steal the crop and the orchard has a maximum yield.

The people from Food Lovers Britain have started ‘CherryAid’, a campaign to point out to the supermarkets and consumers that the British cherry needs our attention and preservation. Since the campaign started most of Britain’s biggest supermarkets like M&S and Tesco are selling British cherries and Waitrose has stated that imported cherries will be phased out completely for the five week the British cherry season.
So it’s fair to say, British cherries are on their way of being saved for future generations.

Britain however is not the only country in danger of loosing their native fruit, in Belgium you can’t even get Belgian cherries in the supermarket. You find them rarely at the market. A lot of cherry growers in Belgium leave their crop rot on the trees because it’s too expensive to pick them for the price they will get for them. Such a shame that the most famous ‘Schaerbeekse cherry’ has been lost for ever, this was the variety used for the typical Belgian cherry beer. Instead of finding another Belgian cherry, most of the breweries choose to import the cherries from Poland. Only a small number of cherries used for the beer today are Belgian.

Most of you will try and buy ‘local’ or British cherries, I’m sure.
I love how the cherry season transforms the roads of Kent with cherry
signs and little stalls packed with punnets of cherries. The sellers
sitting there, usually seeking shelter from wind and rain under a bright
umbrella, reading a book.

Below some interesting links to explore:
Brogdale farm has an annual Cherry festival celebrating the British cherry and
Food Lovers Britain – ‘CherryAid’ a campaign to put British cherries back on the map.
Great British Food Revival Cherries and Walnuts
Rent a cherry tree

Cherries come in two types: sweet and sour. My mum and I used to make this cherry brandy and the recipe is handed down by my grandmother. For cherry brandy it’s better to use the sour variety however you can use the sweet ones and slightly decrease the sugar you use. Or not, if you like it very sweet!
So what about you? What do you like to brew?

What do you need
cherries: 1kg
Eau de vie or Vodka: 1liter
sugar: 300 g
sterilised jars

Method
• rinse the cherries well
• cut of the stalks leaving 1cm still on the cherry, that way the brandy will keep longer as
the cherries stay nice and firm.
• layer the cherries with the sugar
• pour over the alcohol and close the jar
• put in a dark place at room temperature and shake every day for a week
• forget about the cherries until christmas or thanksgiving!

I have jars that date back to 1999, these cherries are very very strong!
Enjoy in a little glass or why not with a scoop of ice cream…

You might also like
Strawberry and Pimm’s granita drink
Blaeberry pie


Please leave a comment, I love reading them!

Home made butter, the best

by 19 Comments

I’ve always wanted to make my own butter so when my friends Sarka and Giulia made their own in januari I decided to finally give it a go. I started this butter making adventure on a sunday morning while the rain outside in the garden became snow and snow turned to hail. B was reading a book while I was shaking a jar and soon he joined in and we were shaking and tapping together, sitting on the floor with our backs against the heating.
I can’t believe I didn’t do this sooner, the rewarding taste of homemade butter is yet to be equaled. The butter made me want to bake delicious bread to go with it and left me inspired to cook and write all day!
What do you need
Organic double cream
good quality sea salt
Jars, solid ones as you don’t want them to break
Tea towel
optional: herbs or garlic

Follow the steps

 

 

1. Pour the double cream in to a jar and fill it for two third.
2. Close the lid
3. Start shaking the jar. After 5 minutes the double cream should be very thick
4. Shaking might be difficult now so wrap the jar in a tea towel and tap it on the floor.
Turn it up and down again while you tap it.
5. At this point the buttermilk should be starting so separate from the butter, drain the buttermilk by squeezing it out with a spoon or spatula. Keep the buttermilk.
6. Try to get out as much buttermilk as you can, keep squeezing until it becomes to look more and more like butter.
7. Pour water into the jar to wash away the last of the buttermilk from the butter.
8. Use your spoon or spatula to squeeze out the remaining water.
9. Now add seasalt and herbs or garlic.
Keep the butter refrigerated.
You can use the buttermilk to bake delicious pancakes

Enjoy

 

butter on speculoos, delicious!

Home made butter, the best!

Please leave a comment, I love reading them!

Apple glazed ham – Best of British

by 9 Comments

I went to London 3 days before christmas for a ridiculously short visit. We arrived with the Eurostar at 10:30 and left again at 5.
My bestie Vanessa and I wanted to shop for food and bras, that was our mission.
After the bras were sorted we started the food shopping and ended up with a full backpack each and more to carry in our hands. I was actually relieved to be on the train again as the 
2 kg Gammon and the quarter wheel of Stilton were doing my back in. To be fair, I did buy some dinner plates and bowls too and those might have been the heaviest of all.
I wanted to cook a glazed ham for ages, we don’t get that cut of meat here so I had to buy it in London that day. Because there were strikes going on in Public transport the cancellation of our trip was pending for a week. To much of my regret I couldn’t risk ordering a gammon from the butcher I wanted it from. I was looking forward to a ham from a rare breed pig rather than a pig that was kept indoors as I don’t approve treatment like that. Luckily I found a nice piece of gammon that came from a farm where animals are raised naturally and outdoors, but no rare breed sadly.

If you are in London and wonder where to get that wonderful rare breed meat, these are a few places you can buy from:

The Ginger pig: shops in Sheperds Bush, Marylebone, Hackney, Waterloo and Borough market
www.thegingerpig.co.uk

Daylesford farm shop: shops in Pimlico, Notting Hill and Selfridges. 
Main farmshop in the Cotwolds
http://www.daylesfordorganic.com

Preparing this glazed ham is actually very easy, I was surprised how easy it was. Imagine how much you can save by cooking your own ham if you have a large family to feed.
If I could get my hands on this cut of meat easier I would cook this a lot!

What do you need
2 kg gammon
a lot of cloves

for the cooking tray
1 teaspoon of cinamon (or 1 stick)
10 peppercorns
half an apple cut into small wedges
2 bay leaves
a small sprig of thyme
1 small onion

for the glaze
4 teaspoons of apple syrup
2 teaspoons of mustard
2 teaspoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cider vinegar

Method
preheat your oven to 160° Gas
Cook the gammon by filling half a roasting tray with apple juice or water, add the mix of spices and finally the ham.
Cover with tinfoil and leave to cook for about 45-60 minutes.

Prepare the glaze by adding all the ingredients to a small pan and warm it through.
 
When ready, take the ham out of the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes, covered.
After the ham has rested and cooled, take of the skin but leaving a generous amount of fat on the meat.
Score the meat with a sharp knife and stick a clove in each crossing.

Now you can start brushing the glaze onto the meat.
Brush on one generous coating and put the ham in the oven for 30 minutes. Add another coating of glaze after 15 minutes. 

Ones removed from the oven, leave to rest in the baking tin for 10 minutes while you set the table.

We ate this ham with roasted potatoes and a fresh salad.

The leftover ham is great in pasta dishes or in a sandwich, the options are endless.

Other recipes in the Best of British category:
Pork stew, braised with cider and apples

This recipe was inspired by one of Jamie Magazine #december

Please leave a comment. I appreciate every single one.