Picking and plucking

On a day that started with me walking to work in -15.5C weater I thought we really need some sunshine and happiness.

What can you find in the centre of town, that is beautiful and you can enjoy in a gastronomic way?

A little path into some unused land

A girl in sandals and a dress

And some elderflowers just wanting to be picked.

They are full of flavour an scent.

You can also find some beautiful wild flowers.

All of this behind the national library on wasteland in the middle of the city.

Once we get home we strip the flowers.

Then we weigh them out.

wow, all those flowers and only 45 grams.

Next we rim the fresh ripe strawberries

Slice them

Then cook with a little sugar (but not too much)

Once they are cooked through you have an elderflower and strawberry jam. Screaming sunshine!

That time of year again

Oh yes! We are back from holidays in Sicily and now it is one of my favourite times of the year. Elderflower time!

This year I am planning to make; Elderflower syrup, Elderflower jelly, Elder-gummis, and Elderflower champagne again...... fingers crossed that no one dies with the last one.

Today I had a couple of free hours, so rather than go for a jog, although after all those Italian pastries that may have been a good idea, I went to my secret spot of elderflowers hidden away from pollution and prying eyes and picked me a quick bag.

 They just smell divine and sweet as it is.

But to that I added some sugar, water, lemon juice and peel, and some citric acid to make about 4.5L of syrup. This will steep for a few days and then be strained and bottled. mmmm I can't wait. Also, I chose some of the prettier flower heads to dry to be used as tea later, in winter.

There are two recipes as follows for these two bottles.
2 x lemons (rind and juice)
990g of white sugar (I have tried brown before but it makes it look off)
20g Citric acid
30 heads of flowers (removing as many stems as you can be bothered)
2L of water

and

2.5L of water
1kg of Sugar
25g Citric acid
2 x lemons (rind and juice)
30-40 heads of flowers

Instructions:
Remove flowers from the stems, you will always have some stems in there but the more you remove the better as they are supposedly toxic. I just use my fingers to pluck them off.
Remove rind from lemon and juice and add to the flowers.
Dissolve sugar and acid in water and get to a boil
Then add the flowers/lemon mixture and continue to boil for at least a minute.
Then set aside to cool, I put it in my big jars but anything you can cover to stop it getting infected would be fine.
After a few days strain through some muslin or just a sieve (the latter will give a more cloudy mixture but still tastes great).
Then add to water, sparkling water or even more fun sparkling wine.

Enjoy!

Swerving in Sverige, Maniacal Mariestad

After a brief, two hour, but lovely train ride, John picked us up at the station and gave us a quick run through on the way to the summer house. It really was a marvellous setting, that's M-A-R-V-E-L-L-O-U-S. For all the cricket fans out there. We got to meet Madelene and little Loke for the first time. I think it was just us, but he did manage to belt out some decent screams.

From sad to happy with only the acceleration of a car

but with a bit of playing

he would be back to his dribbling self.

We popped into the house to find that the cat had caught a snake and kindly brought it home for us, minus the head.

Green door, what is that secret your keeping?

Then we thought what would be a really nice thing to do? Yes, like most of the time I think about food. So, I convinced everyone to head into the forest on the back of John's talk of mushrooms and berries. and my word it was a good idea.

hunting for the elusive blueberry and wild strawberry

So far a reasonable haul of wild strawberries and raspberries the odd blue in there too

Then we found a good patch of blueberries

We ended up doing well with the bucket

Then as we neared the house the girls picked some really sweet dark cherries

While the men hunted Chanterelle mushrooms

On return they are in need of a trim and a brush

Here Dr. John shows us the temperate require.

To me the Chanterelle is the prettiest and tastiest mushroom

The golden yellow and the white innards are just stunning

What ever should we do with such a beautiful bunch of mushrooms, as fresh as they can be....

Some eggs in your crepes

And some cream and pepper with your mushrooms makes a great breakfast.

Elderflower Champagne

Firstly, I have to say, I am scared. Very scared. I haven't lived in a Quasi war zone, unless you include the times I ventured into New Year's sales in the Women's Shoe department or of course when I lived in Guatemala, as they signed a declaration to end their civil war the year I was there. But I am experiencing once "again" living in fear of injury and explosions.

It comes from making champagne. How on earth is that a war zone? I can tell you are thinking. Especially as many people would think that it is magical and fabulous place to be. Well as you can guess from the previous posts, it is associated with Elderflower champagne. 

The beautiful white and slightly cream (with pollen and yeast) flowers

It is made without yeast, and therefore it relies upon wild yeasts already on the flowers. So we used two different recipes. I have 10 bottles from one style and 15 from the other. As opposed to my cider I made last year, this already tastes fabulous. The elderflower world that has opened up to me now is fantastic! I love it.

So the recipes are:

From my other love River Cottage and Hugh F.

Ingredients

• 4 L hot water, 2 cold
• 700g sugar
• Juice and zest of four lemons
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• About 15 (I added 20+) elderflower heads, in full bloom
• A pinch of dried yeast (you may not need this, I didn't)

METHOD
How to make elderflower champagne 1. Put the hot water and sugar into a large container (a spotlessly clean bucket is good) and stir until the sugar dissolves, then top up with cold water so you have 6 litres of liquid in total.
2. Add the lemon juice and zest, the vinegar and the flower heads and stir gently.
3. Cover with clean muslin and leave to ferment in a cool, airy place for a couple of days. Take a look at the brew at this point, and if it's not becoming a little foamy and obviously beginning to ferment, add a pinch of yeast. The smell you get from this is amazing and makes the house smell like a flower based sweets shop.

4. Leave the mixture to ferment, again covered with muslin, for a further four days. Strain the liquid through a sieve lined with muslin and decant into sterilised strong glass bottles with champagne stoppers (available from home-brewing suppliers) or Grolsch-style stoppers, or sterilized screw-top plastic bottles (a good deal of pressure can build up inside as the fermenting brew produces carbon dioxide, so strong bottles and seals are essential).

5. Seal and leave to ferment in the bottles for at least a week before serving, chilled. The champagne should keep in the bottles for several months. Store in a cool, dry place.

Get them labelled

The second is a little different and so I am a little worried.... we will see. Although the author says she has been doing it for 20 years.

1 (4.5L) gallon hot water
1 1/2lbs (680g) white sugar
7 heads of elderflowers (I added probably 15-20 smallish ones)
2 lemons, sliced thinly
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Dissolve sugar in water, and leave to get cold; add lemons, flowers and vinegar. Cover loosely with a tea towel and leave for 24 hours. Strain and bottle, try after a fortnight. Will keep for up to a year I've found, tasting just as good. 

I let it sit a wee while longer,for safety concerns

I didn't bottle after 24hours as I was afraid it would explode just from thinking about fermentation and the speed at which it happens, so I let it sit for 3 or 4 days in a demijohn with a bubbler airlock. 

I am all excited as they should all be ready in about a week to taste! Who wants to come around and be a guinea pig? Possibly quite a drunk one?

10 green bottles sitting in the larder.