Winter drinks - the verdict.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, were spent, you might remember, madly concocting inifinite beverages, that the winter might be spent hunkered down by the fire, a glass of some sweet form of hedgerow inebriation in the hand.  And, thank goodness!  For now, winter is ripe, and the cupboards overspilling with tipple.

First then, the infused liquers.  Gin left to mull with Bullace from the garden, Whisky full of wild Blackberries, Vodka with Elderflowers and Gooseberries.  I have learnt a lot about these.  Often the tendency, and the recipes I have found, have doused the alcohol full of sugar, as well as fruit.  As, it appears, the alcohol alone preserves the fruit and is quite palatable with only the barest brush of sugar, the amount of sugar often reccomended is really for those with a sweet tooth.  I prefer a sharper, dryer and often bitterer drink, so for next year, I will use the following quantities:

4pts Alcohol : 3lb Fruit : 8oz Sugar

With very sweet fruits, such as Blackberries, I might even reduce this to 6oz Sugar.
Secondly, as I am not a drinker of summer cocktails with ice, shaken in tall glasses, I have found the lighter Vodkas and Gins (Gooseberry, floral etc) harder to drink, too sweet mixed with tonic, and not quite my thing on their own.  I have found these best as gifts.  The darker, winter brews, are wonderful alone, warm by the fire, and I will make these again by the bucketful next year.

The Quince Brandy was long awaited, hoping to capture that wondrous floral perfume and tart flavour.  I tried two versions, one raw, and one cooked.  I have to say that having left the both three months in bottles with a variety of spices, the Quince sadly hadn't given much of its inimitable flavour to the Brandy, it instead tasted mainly of the spices, of which too much Star Anise for my palate was evident!  The cooked version did have a slight fruitiness.  Next year I shall attempt with grated Quince, as one friend suggested, no spices and leave it longer, perhaps even with a dash of Quince Juice.  However, it made a wonderful spiced warming drink, and another great Christmas present...

2011 Recipes for infused Alcohols:
Sloe Gin
Bullace Gin
Blackberry Whisky
Gooseberry and Elderflower Vodka
Gooseberry and Whitecurrant Gin
Quince Brandy

2010:
Cherry Vodka

As for the brews, the Elderflower Champagne was a dream, drunk young, aged well to a sharper wine, and I shall be making much in the future - despite the explosions in the shed!

Otherwise, I still have to perfect my brewing.  My tactic seems to be: mix it all up, forget about it... and in one case mice had found my muslin bottle tops rather tasty, another had turned to vinegar.  The experts on home-made wines are Carl Legge - see his wonderful blog.  And, Christophe, on Clare Island.  I spent November there racking, bottling, and tasting a variety of brews.  My memory is still sharp with the sweet sour and perfectly musty Rhubarb and Apple Wine, the two years aged Vin de Cassis, which was sweet and rich and drank like a good Port.

The Hedgerow Syrup has been a favourite.  Pasteurised as it was in bottles, it has kept well, and serves as a hot and heartwarming winter drink, to fend off flu, to ward off the weather.  I also made a Quince Syrup, along similar lines, which i drink as a cordial, a lovely flavour, and great quencher of the thirst after a stint in the garden.  Both can also be used in crumbles, compotes and wintry puds...

So... with the coming of Spring, and first the Elderflowers, I look forward to a new spell of concocting drinks to fill the cabinet, for yet another winter hunkered down by the fire.

Chillies- Harissa, Zhoug, Chilli Jam... and Roasted Peppers

Utterly unseasonal with the skies outside sitting grey on the land, the land thick with fallen leaves.  Chillies ache of Summer heat, of Mediterranean, Asian, Caribbean flavours and sit strongly in contrast with an English Autumn. 

But, I have been meaning to write about these fiery fruits Summer long, and recently those friends in Kabul found themselves in the ‘midst of a Chilli glut and sent the following question:.  Is there any chance you know what type of chilis these are in the first photo? we're going to try doing osmething with them because we have too many and they'll go to waste but not sure if theyll make good chili powder or good pickles.

A succinct response from Tweeter @Rhizowen of Radix : pequin type C. annuum

Produce from a home in Kabul

So it was, yesterday I set to work with a pile of Chillies to try out some recipes:  Harissa, Zhoug, Chilli Jam.

Harissa 

Harissa is a Moroccan Chilli Paste.  Used in Tajines, Couscous, for marinades etc, it can also just be served as a spicy accompaniment to a meal.  There are a multitude of recipes, it can be raw or cooked, contain tomatoes, peppers or neither.  I briefly noted some Harissa recipes to accompany a Lamb and Fig Tagine here.  To my mind Harissa has to be very hot, very salty and full of Cumin.

Yesterday’s Recipe went thus:

Grill three small Red Peppers (or one large), twelve very small Plum Tomatoes (or equivalent), six cloves Garlic.  The Peppers should be turned, so they are charred on all sides, the Tomatoes just bursting and the Garlic's skin browning.  Meanwhile toast one and a bit tablespoons of Cumin Seed in a dry pan.  Peel the Peppers and remove seeds and stalks.  Pop the soft Garlic out of its skins.  Grind 2/3 of the Cumin in a Pestle and Mortar.  Blend Peppers, Tomatoes, Garlic.  Finely chop chillies (the amount of which has to be played about with to get the suitable heat).  I used two or three Scotch Bonnets and one long red Chilli. Put the whole lot, including the ground Cumin in a pan, bring to heat and simmer until nearly a dry paste.  Remove from heat and allow to cool, add remainder of whole toasted Cumin Seed, two teaspoons of Salt, douse with Olive Oil.  Stir the lot and taste, it should be very salty, slightly sweet, with a palpable texture.

Mine made yesterday was sublime.  Grilling or roasting the ingredients gives it a nutty sweet flavour behind the Chilli heat – I could eat it by the spoonful.  

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Zhoug

Zhoug is a Green Chilli and Coriander paste from Yemen.  I made it a couple of years ago on Clare Island according to a recipe I found I thinking The Gate vegetarian cookbook.  Or, perhaps Denis Cotter’s sumptuous Café Paradiso cookbooks.  Either way, I couldn’t find same online yesterday, so went for a mishmash.  

Toast one tsp Cumin, one tsp Coriander seed, one Cardamon pod, one tsp Caraway seed.  Grind with a few Peppercorns in Pestle and Mortar.  Add three cloves of Garlic, grind.  Add this blend to a large bunch of Coriander, roughly chopped, stalks and all, a few sprigs of Parsley, Two Chillies (or according to taste) and juice of one Lemon.  I used Red Chilies as had no Green to hand.  Blend the lot.  Return to Pestle and Mortar, grind again adding coarse Salt and Olive Oil to taste.  Eat immediately – I smothered this zesty Chilli Coriander paste on my poached eggs this morning – a great kickstart to the day!  Whilst best eaten with Flatbreads, Olives and Yogurts, Hummus and Falafel, drinking sweet shots of Coffee, this paste can also serve as a base for spicy green dishes. 

If you wish to keep the Zhoug, it is best kept short-term in the fridge or for larger amounts, frozen.  Otherwise, keeping salt and oil content high, pop in sterilised jars cover with a layer of Olive Oil, store in a cool, dark place, and it should keep several months.

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Chilli Jam

I had long planned to make a Chilli Jam recipe I had espied on An English Kitchen blog.  But, the day came and the recipe, blog, the lot, had vanished.  I was directed by a kindly Kentish Kitchen to another recipe here: Saladclub.  Altered it as is my tendency, and made Chilli Jam according to the following method:

Blend 1lb peeled Tomatoes, 3 Scotch Bonnets, 2 Red Chillis, 3 small red Peppers, 1 large Orange Pepper, 12 cloves Garlic, 4 in Ginger.  Put lot in Maslin pan, adding 4 tbsp Fish Sauce, 16oz Sugar, 300ml Red Wine Vinegar, and 1lb raw chopped Tomatoes.  Bring to boil, stirring occasionally.  When jammy pot in sterilised jars.

Mine is very hot indeed, you might want to reduce the Scotch Bonnets.  I am retaining half of the batch at that heat and adding another 1lb of Tomatoes to the rest to make a gentler jam.  But, delicious it is, sweet, with a thick jammy texture and the obvious Chilli kick.

A bite of sweet Chilli joy for coming winter days.

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Chillies can also be dried against a sunny wall or window, then kept in a jar for when needed.  When dry they can also be rehydrated in warm water.  

Another, and very luxurious way, of storing vegetables is in the Italian manner by roasting or grilling them and jarring in oil.  Courgettes, Aubergines, Peppers and Chillis store very well this way.  I made a pot of grilled Peppers this Summer – see the pictures below.

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N.B.  I have used Scotch Bonnets in these recipes, I was likely lured by their beauty.  They have a real biting heat that comes at the end of the mouthful.  If you find Chilli difficult  I would replace these with something milder.

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Rumour has it that the Kabul Kitchen might soon commence blogging its own cooking ventures... with a mere scrape of ingredients, how to live it up in an ex-pat kitchen in Kabul... I'll keep you posted.  - Indeed it has already, see: Kabul Kitchen - The unlikely adventures of a war photographer in Kabul with no weighing scales...

Blackberries - wi' Beetroot Relish, wi' Cinnamon Whisky, in Vinegar et cetera

Beetroot, Blackberry and Walnut Relish


Apparently nonsensical, it is often colours that define choices of food combinations.   Not quite for this reason alone, I decided to give a touch of the wild to a conventional Beetroot Relish, with the addition of Blackberries and Apples.   More likely, I based my choice on an only-part-forgotten Beetroot and Blackcurrant Relish espied once in the Riverford Cookbook, but the colour, as well as the gluts of berries nearing their end on plentiful briars outside the house, were certainly influential factors in the concoction of this recipe.


On cooking, my head was chiming with shouts of Chilli! Horseradish! Ginger!  But I forestalled such fervour, deciding that the addition of Blackberry was quite quirky enough. Indeed, on bringing a pot to dinner that evening,  there was already a raised eyebrow, a giggle, a sneer...


1/2lb Blackberries, 4 medium Beetroot, 1 Apple, 1 Onion, 100ml Apple Juice, 100ml Cider Vinegar, 100ml Balsamic Vinegar, 1tbsp Blackberry Jam (optional), 100g Sugar, Port (optional), handful Walnuts (optional).


Heat half the Blackberries in the Apple Juice, till cooked, strain and keep the juice.  Grate the apple into this juice, bring to simmer, stir in Jam, set aside.  Heat Vinegars with Sugar and add grated raw Beetroot and chopped Onion, turning so that all the ingredients are covered.  Add Apple and Blackberry Juice.  Stir.  Add slosh of Port rest of Blackberries and Walnuts, simmer a minute longer.  Press into hot sterilised jars, seal.  Leave for a month (although it is lovely immediately) and serve as a sweet/sharp addition to rich wintry meats.

Unlike the Bullace, Port and Walnut Jam, which is given edge by the tartness of the fruit, this is incredibly sweet.  In the future I would indeed add something fiery to lift it.  If making this yourself, why not slice in a Chilli with the Onion, or grate in some Horseradish...

Despite my convincing myself this is a Relish, it has turned out not unlike my Beetroot Pickle, I rather thought the Sugar and Jam would make it more of a spread - I understand a Relish to be something between a Pickle and a Chutney.  In future to make it more Relish-like I shall try cooking it for longer.

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Blackberry and Cinnanmon Whisky

I have had to turn my thoughts from simply: preserving, to: preserving in the most practical manner... So, despite enjoying the flamboyant, the flippant and the fun, I have started questioning what is really necessary.  It might seem odd that I am talking about practicality under the seemingly superfluous heading of Blackberry Whisky.  But, I am headily conscious of living in a chilly house, am predicting another icy winter, and know well that a nip of something sweet and strong is not only pleasant, but vital on those winter eves...

My recipe went thus:  Fill a very large bottle (1.5lt) to a third with Blackberries (about 250g), cover these in Sugar (about 250g), add 1 bottle cheap Whisky (1lt) and a splash of very good single malt.  I also added a Cinnamon stick.  Shake the lot, and leave in bottle, shaking on occasion, for three months. Strain through muslin, drink when necessary.  The addition of the Single Malt ( a tip for any impoverished Whisky-lover) is said, in a mere drop, to transfer the flavour of the malt to the cheaper stuff.

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Blackberry and Elderberry Vinegars

Another practicality is how can we make what we tend to buy.  So, vinegar-phile that I am, I was delighted when Carl Legge shared Sandor Ellix Katz's recipe for DIY Vinegar.  Having a so-far-successful Apple/Crabapple Vinegar on the go, I decided yesterday to try Blackberry Vinegar, Elderberry Vinegar and Quince Vinegar.  Rather than using the whole fruits, I have used the Apple and Quince skins and cores, potting and pasteurising the fruits themselves (see pic below).

Briefly: Fill a 2pt Mason Bowl with washed cores and skins of Apples and about 100g of Berries.  Cover with 1pt of 10% Sugar Solution at room temperature.  Place plate on top to keep fruit under liquid and cover with tea-towel.  Leave until starts fermenting, stirring on ocassion if deemed necessary.  After about a week of fermentation remove fruit.  Continue as before, when convincingly vinegar-like, strain and bottle - there's your Vinegar!  


For the Quince, I took the skins and cores of a pile of windfalls, fallen during last week's storms, and did as per Carl's recipe.  

Of course, I'm only at stage one, so will relate whether this method is succesful or not once I can confirm.  For further information, please refer to Carl's blog and Sandor's website.

Quince in Syrup - Elderberry and Apple Compote

Pickled Crab Apples - a flamboyant addition to the winter table

Fed up of endless yearly Jelly-Making…Indeed, does it not seem a pity to see the fruits thrown, only the liquid kept, not to mention the vast amounts of sugar demanded?  I was delighted to come across a recipe for pickling Crab Apples.  The idea came from quite one of my favourite forage books: Suzanne Beedell’s Pick Cook and Brew… I picked it up second-hand on the Charing Cross Road years ago, the name alone won me over, and at the time I thought it a gift suited to my father.  It has since been relinquished, and found a home in the cottage here as if meant to be. It's particularly appropriate, as the forager herself lived in North Norfolk - what she found in the seventies can likely still be found locally today.

So, amidst recipes and illustrations for Crab Apple Pudding, Crab Apple Wine…there I read: Crab Apple Pickle.  An incorrigible pickler, this could not fail to whet the appetite.

I altered her recipe to suit me, and pickled as follows:

Heat 750ml Cider Vinegar, 250ml Apple Juice, 600g Sugar in a pan stirring until sugar dissolves.  Add 1kg Crab Apples, washed, the blossom end removed, I chose to keep the stalks on an aesthetic whim.  The liquid should cover the Crab Apples.  Add 2in. grated Root Ginger, a few Cloves and Peppercorns, 3 All Spice, 3 Star Anise, 2 Cinnamon Sticks,1tbsp Mustard Seed, and her recipe also calls for garlic cloves wrapped in muslin, to be removed at the end.  (The terrible stench of pickled garlic made me think I would choose onions on another occasion).  Simmer until Crab Apples are tender.  Pot fruit in sterilised jars and reduce syrup if necessary.  Pour syrup over Apples, making sure they are well covered.  Seal immediately.  Leave a few months to mature before eating.

These beautiful pickled yellow fruits would look glorious adorning Beast and Fowl in winter months.  Try also on a Cheese Plate, with Pork, even Suckling Pig.  A sharp bite they make a statement both in taste and looks, cutting through fats and rich flavours… I cannot recommend enough for adding a touch of the ostentatious, the extraordinary, the medieval to a winter banquet.

For other alternate Crab Apple uses, see: Hedgerow Syrup and Carl Legge’s Blackberry Chutney.  Carl also has a recipe for DIY Cider Vinegar, hope maybe to get to that this afternoon..

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I also pickled some beautiful tiny Epicurean Apples.  These were windfalls, and have a great flavour, but are small enough to fit whole in pots.  I used this Recipe, which I used for the Pear windfalls of last year, only replacing the distilled vinegar with White Wine Vinegar and adding some All Spice.

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Follow this link for all the Chutney and Pickle Recipes on this blog.

Potted Figs, Bullace Jam, Pumpkin Chutney...perpetual preserving

Halved Figs to be macerated in Honey, Lemon and Vanilla.

The Figs have been wondrous this year, and indeed, it seems a pity to cook them at all, when, despite an impoverished summer they are sweet, soft and nearly-not-quite comparable with memories of those bursting, bulbous falling from the trees of the Andalusian countryside.  If your tree hasn't produced same sumptuous crop, do bear in mind, as far as I understand, that Fig Trees like stress and sun.  They are often put in pots or planted in amongst builders' rubble against a South-facing wall to encourage fruiting and ripeness.

But, we are unable to eat them all, and besides piling them into a Tagine, as I did last week, potting is an excellent way of preserving them.  That said, drying now comes to mind.  A solar-dehydrator would do the trick, as would a hot no-too-damp greenhouse, or strung up inside the car.  Whether our Figs are sweet enough to preserve successfully dried, and whether Autumnal Norfolk has enough heat, I don't know. (Do let me know of any of your own experiements...)

Potted Figs.  I posted the recipe here when enjoying last-years potted figs, and simply mention it again as it's the season and I've been taking great pleasure in doing so at the cottage.  On this occasion I replaced the Whisky with Brandy and for lack of Vanilla Pod I used good quality (Nielsen-Massey) Vanilla Extract.

As, it seems to be the season of perpetual preserving, do bear in mind that you can also pot Pears, Peaches, Apples along these lines.  In most cases I would take the precaution of pasteurising as well.  On another note, the tradition of Rumtopf offers a great way of preserving fruits for pudding.

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Bullace, Port and Walnut Jam

This recipe was shared by Jules Jackson of De-lish (@dehyphenlish).  It's so good that I was near' pouring scalding hot spoonfuls of the stuff down my throat...only some last hold on reason prevented me.

Place about 2kg of stoned Bullace (Plums, Damsons etc will do equally as well) in a bowl.  Cover with Port and leave to macerate overnight.  The following day bring to the boil.  Take off the heat and add 2kg of Sugar, stirring until dissolved.  Add 400g of Walnuts, halved or quartered as desired.  I also added a good slosh of Balsamic vinegar (red-wine vinegar would do equally) to give the jam a slightly sharp edge.  Bring to heat again and simmer hard until setting-point is reached.  Pot in warmed, sterilised jars.

Despite being called a "Jam", a touch tart, this is really more of a confiture, to be served with savouries, such as Cheeses, Pork and Game.  Mr Jackson resolutely sticks to the term "Jam" merely, I suspect, due to a certain pleasure in the mundanity of the word... Or, indeed, he simply prefers to spick with the Anglicised version. Either way, I am sure this would be quite as dreamy on toast, but, truth told, I'm not really one for spreading jam on toast, and much prefer the savoury combinations...

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Pumpkin and Apple Chutney

Again, it seems a pity to put a Pumpkin in chutney as they store so well as they are.  This chutney was really a result of half a Pumpkin sitting around not being eaten and the eternal Apple glut.  I have quite a variety of Apple Chutney recipes up my sleeve, but this is a blend of the quirky and the traditional.

Chop 2 Onions, half a small Pumpkin (Uchiki Kuri), 8 large Apples (peeled, cored), oh, I see, a handful of green tomatoes (optional!),  1 Chilli (more or less depending on heat) into small pieces.  Grate 2 in. Root Ginger.  Put the lot in a pan with 1lt Cider vinegar.  Bring to the boil then take off heat and add 400g Demarara Sugar, 1 tbsp Corinader Seed, 1 tbsp. black Peppercorns, 1tbsp Brown Mustard Seed, a handful yellow Sultanas, a pinch of salt.  Stir and bring once again to the boil.  Simmer gently for several hours, stirring to prevent sticking.  Once the mixture is considerably reduced and of a thick, sludgy consistency which holds a wooden-spoon upright, it is ready to be potted.  Pot in warmed, sterilised jars.
Leave several months to mature before eating.

Lacto-Fermentation, what's bubbling now...

I won't extrapolate once again about the whys and how-tos of Lacto-Fermentation, I do so all-too-often, and the chat can be found on this blog:  here and particularly in this article that appeared in Permaculture Magazine last year, and also of course on Sandor Ellix Katz's fab Wild Fermentation website.

I thought simply, as I chopped green and purple French beans this afternoon, to share what's fermenting at home now, to show what a range of vegetables can be preserved using this method.  As well as the sauerkraut that I made at the end of July and am eating away - for lunch today with beef carpaccio, raw baby yellow courgettes, cucumber and brown rice with toasted pumpkin seeds...

In the pots fermenting are the following:

Lacto-Fermented Cauliflower (1/2 lt jar)
And, in that jar:  1 Cauli head; 5g Salt; 1tsp whole Cumin; Blackcurrant Leaves; Parsley; Spring Onions; Water.

For those that can't stomach cauliflower this is a great alternative to the cheese sauce disguise, it really peps up the cauliflower, and makes of something dull a spritely veg, excellent too in curries and stir-frys.

Lacto-Fermented Courgettes (1lt jar)
In the jar: Sliced Courgette; Fennel Seedheads; Spring Onions; Fennel Leaves; 10g Salt; Blackcurrant Leaves; Water.

Lacto-fermented Cucumbers and Radishes
3 Whole Cucumbers (pricked); 5 Radishes; Blackcurrant Leaves; fennel Seedheads; Landcress; Rocket; Red Mustard; 10g Salt; Water.

Lacto-Fermented Beans
And this afternoon I made these beans, chopped with Fennel Leaves, 5g of Salt and 3tbsp of Cow's Whey (left over from home-made Cheese), squashed down and covered with water.  The Whey is thick with lactobacilli and works as an alternative catalyst to blackcurrant leaves.  I'll also be doing Lacto-fermented Beetroot, a real favourite, in the next few days.

Hedgerow Syrup and A Line Made by Walking

A chesty cold and sore throat on waking took me to the fields for some dawn air and to gather some of those Elderberries hanging bulbous, big as Blackcurrants, before the birds did.  Wellybooted over pyjamas - for the Elder grows in patches of nettles high as my hips - I stepped out.  The fields dewladen, my steps marked the grass invoking Richard Long's beautiful artwork - A Line Made by Walking.

A Line Made by Walking - Richard Long

The hedgerows brimming with fruits, as well as the Elderberries, I grabbed handfuls of Haws and Rosehips, Blackberries and Wild Apples... a few Crabapples, some wild Plums all to go in the syruppy concoction.  Chopped up the hard fruit, just covered with water in a pan and brought to simmer, then adding the soft fruits (remove the elderberries from their very bitter and cyanide rich stalks using a fork).  Pummel the lot adding a few Cloves, some grated Ginger and half a stick of Cinnamon.   Simmer gently for up to an hour, so the liquid is rich gloopy purple.

Strain for several hours or overnight through muslin.  Then, adding between 500g-750g of sugar per litre of liquid heat once again until the sugar is dissolved, the syrup just boiling.  Pour immediately into sterilised bottles and seal tightly.   The syrup keeps thus for several months, rich in Vitamin C and wild goodness it is somewhere between a cordial and a medicine.  Drink hot or cold, diluting with water, on those cold-ridden days, or wintry evenings by the fire, adding a splash of brandy when necessary.  Otherwise add to Crumbles, Pies and even stews for some late Summer Hedgerow Flavour.

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If you happen to have a steam juicer this concoction can be made without sugar, the steamer will pasteurise the juice and it can likewise be kept in sterilised bottles for several months.

Bullace Gin + Sloe Gin

The season is nigh', to rummage again in the hedgerows, concoct what preserves one might.  The next posts will surely be full of forage and preserving, as we hoard in preparation for the winter.  The weekend was spent on bikes foraging, and this evening a brief stint at Sloe and Bullace Gins.

I have already posted a foolhardy recipe for the Sloe Gin... Here's a brew made with something of our rampant garden hedge - we suspect it is Bullace.

The same recipe applies for Bullace as for Sloe -  about 4pts Gin to 3lb Fruit and 1lb Sugar.
(I notice however the River Cottage handbook suggests equiv: 1.2 pt : 1lb :1lb , so perhaps one should say each to their own, depending (always) on what is to hand, and what feels right)
Shake/stir regularly and allow to mature over several months (at least two).  Then strain through muslin, bottle, and age further in bottles.  My father prides himself on drinking his ancient vintages of the stuff, here in the cottage we have trouble keeping it 'til Summer.  Indeed, my father is so abstemious, he would ne'er pick a Sloe before the first frost.... here, we couldn't wait.  There will surely be a post-frost batch to follow.

Drink these wintry Gins in the depths of the season, huddled by the fire, fill a hip-flask on a blustery walk, or use for a farmhouse Kir aperitif, mixing it with home brewed Elderflower Champagne.  Right now however we're drinking a more sober homemade Blackberry + Lemonade with Water Mint.  (Juice of 3 Lemons, 100g Sugar, a few squashed Blackberries and some Water Mint leaves, topped up with Sparkling Water and Ice if you have.)

Lacto-Fermented Horseradish

As with all Lacto-Fermentation, this recipe is subject to experimentation, and depends on what you have to hand.  Here I grated Horseradish, muddled it with Parsley and Radish Tops.  Stuffed the lot in jars with 10g or salt to 1lt jar (in this case 2.5g to 250ml Jar).  Pressed in tight and covered in water.  Left a few days at room-temperature, when obviously fermenting moved to a cool-dark place.

Eat at your leisure, keeping the horseradish out of the air by consistently checking and topping up the layer of water.

Eat with Beef, Mackerel, or Beetroot... Or trying tossing into a 'Slaw to spark it up.

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For further information on Lacto-Fermentation, please refer to other posts.

Plum Chutney, worth more than a song...

Sunday morning, lain in bed, nursing toothache with an array of Cloves, Whisky, Ice-cubes, Painkillers, anything to hand… and quite draped in the fumes of vinegar rising from the kitchen.

I will sing and sing again for a Chutney, that Anglo-Indian concoction, accompaniment to many a meal.  Yet, Amelia’s Plum Chutney deserves more than a song:  

Rich, magenta, thick with Plumchunks, it somehow retains an almost rawfruit texture whilst being quite the most gloopy Chutney one could dream of.  Smother it on cheese, offer to friends at breakfast, spread on toast when alone or slather over rich meats for a medieval feel… 

She produced a remaining jar in Spring and we’d quite finished it in a day… so, this year, nudging over a box of Early Rivers Plums.  I left her too it:

Stone and halve or quarter 1.5 kilos Plums.  Chop three Apples and Two Onions.  Place the lot in a Jam Pan with a couple of Star Anise, a stick of Cinnamon, Peppercorns and coarse Salt.  Add 750ml Cider-Vinegar and 500g Raw Cane (or Demerara) Sugar.  Bring, stirring, to the boil, then simmer steadily for several hours, stirring to prevent sticking.  The chutney is ready when dark and sludgy, a wooden spoon will stand-up in it unaided.  Pot in sterilised jars and leave at least a month to mature.

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For other Chutney and Pickle recipes and posts see: Chutneys n Pickles

Sauerkraut and Cabbage Kimchi

Besides beautiful 'Slaws, Pot-au-Feu and stir-frying in vinegar, Sauerkraut is quite the best way of rescuing Cabbage from the confined notions we have about the vegetable: insipid, slovenly, "cabbagey" Sauerkraut is not, but sharp, sparky, sexy even, a super accompaniment to meats, cheeses, grains... it will zaz up even the most drear' of dishes.

Make sauerkraut in times of glut as it may require several, using white or red cabbage, very thinly sliced, and adulterate as you wish with favourites leaves, fruit or spices.

For a classic Sauerkraut:
Slice White Cabbage very thinly, layer with Salt (10g per 1lt Jar), Caraway Seeds and Sliced Apple, pushing down as you go.  Eventually the liquid form the cabbage will rise to cover the leaves. Weigh down so the Cabbage remains covered by the water.  Leave thus at room-temperature for about three days, the start of fermentation is marked by bubbling, then move to a cooler place and allow to ferment slowly for at least a month, not being afraid to taste regularly.

(You can also use Rocket, Red-Mustard Leaves, Land Cress, Horseradish Leaves, Fennel, Mustard Seeds or preferred Herbs with the Cabbage in the above recipe.  Blackcurrant Leaves, rife with Lactobacilli might speed up fermentation, Salt keeps it in check.)

For a zestier version, based on the Korean fermented dish, Kimchi:

Chop cabbage with Chillies; grated Horseradish; White, Black or French Radishes, chopped; grated Root Ginger; Spring Onions.  Use your own judgement to measure amounts of each.  Squeeze into jar or crock, layering with Salt (10g to 1lt Jar), until liquid rises. Weigh down and leave to ferment as above.

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For more in-detail information about Lacto-Fermentation, please refer to earlier posts:  The Art of Lacto-Fermentation, Purge!, Fermentation Fervour, Wild Fermentation (review)      
or Sandor Ellix Katz's Wild Fermentation website.
See also Carl Legge's posts on Fermenting and particularly this one about Kimchi.