Rhubarb Cordial - Recipe

Ridiculously Rhubarby Cordial

One of my favourite seasonal recipes is from Pam Corbin's preserves book and is for cordial, which during Spring and Summer has to be rhubarb based!  Mine is adapted a little.

Ingredients:

Stage 1 

2kg rhubarb

300ml water

Stage 2

Output from stage 1

Granulated sugar (around 1kg)

Method:

Stage 1

Roughly chop your rhubarb, remember rhubarb leaves are poisonous if ingested so please dispose wisely.  We use ours as ground cover in the veg plot to help stop weeds.

Add your 2kg rhubarb and 300ml water a large pot and simmer until soft.  For me this is around 30 minutes.

Leave to cool slightly and then hang this and allow to drip overnight through a scalded muslin bag.

Stage 2

Next day, I make the residual liquid (usually around 1300ml) up to 1500ml using tap water.

To this I add up to 1kg sugar depending on how sweet we would like it, however work up from 500g to your preferred taste.

Simply warm the liquid and sugar, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Add to sterilised warm bottles and drink asap, though it will keep for a few months.

I never water bath it as we use it so quickly, however you can water bath immediately after bottling for longer term use.

Enjoy :)

Basic Breakfast Porridge - recipe

Basic Breakfast Porridge

Sometimes the simple recipes are the easiest.  

I don't weigh things out now, however I know some people find that the best way, so here is my basic breakfast porridge recipe.

Ingredients:

40g porridge oats

220ml milk

Method:

This is my method, you can also do it in a microwave I am told.

I add the milk and oats to the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for up to 10 minutes, using a whisk to make it nice and smooth.

Serve with fresh fruit, nuts, honey, whatever you fancy and....

Enjoy :) 

Comforting Chicken stock/bone broth - recipe slow cooker

Comforting Chicken stock/bone broth

Link to my YouTube video which includes how I make chicken stock

Makes as much stock as you add liquid. 

This is a guide, use what you have in and that you like.  Adapt and be flexible, it'll turn out great regardless!  

Point to note, the healthier life your chicken has had, the healthier your bone broth/stock will be for you.

The addition of ginger is recommended to help with immunity (my opinion only!).

Ingredients:

1 chicken carcass, all odds, sods and last bits of meat included.

2 onions or leek

3 sticks celery

2/3 carrots

1/4 turnip/swede

Lots of garlic cloves

Root ginger, thumb size or so

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp whole cloves

Herbs such as thyme, mixed herbs

Bay leaves

Method:

Don't be precious about this.  

Bung it all in, you can even afford the skin on the onions, it's up to you.
Roughly chop the rest of your veg and put in the SC with the carcass.

Garlic I bash and thrown in.  

Ginger I cut up or bash to release the flavours and throw it in.

I don't measure the peppercorns, cloves or herbs but feel free to.
Cover with as much water as it needs to have everything submerged, season with salt if you use it, I do.
Leave it on low overnight or for 6-8 hours and then once cooled, strain it through a colander then a sieve.  The liquid is your stock which you can freeze or pop in the fridge for a few days.  Use it whenever recipes as for stock and it is so nice!

Enjoy :)

Nourishing Nettle & Lemon cake - recipe - foraging

I'm posting this a little earlier than planned as I have had lots of requests from social media for it.

Nourishing Nettle and Lemon cake

Makes 1 loaf cake

Ingredients:

2 cups nettles

200g butter

150g sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla essence

zest & juice of half a lemon

250g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Pick your nettles and ensure they are as young as possible and only the top 4 leaves are picked to avoid them being bitter.  

Obviously avoid where people walk their dogs or where vehicles pass! 

Pour boiling water over your nettles and boil for 2/3 minutes.  This loses their sting.

Drain and squeeze them out as much as you can.

Add the lemon juice and blitz with a hand blender, set aside.

Cream your butter and sugar, add eggs, zest, vanilla, flour, baking powder and salt.

Incorporate the nettle puree and give it a good mix.

Pop it in to a cake liner/tin and bake for 30 or so minutes at around 180c, testing with a skewer to make sure it comes out clean.  

I had to cover with foil half way through as it browned a little more than I'd like

You can cover with frosting or a glaze, whatever takes your fancy.  I made a glaze of sugar and lemon juice for this one and it was very nice.

Enjoy :)

Recipe links and a bit of home schooling

Happy Monday everyone!  We hope you are all safe and well.  The world is a strange place at the moment and it's affecting everyone in different ways, so please try to keep smiling :)

I started writing this on Friday, so it's started from then, which explains the recipe posts that have popped up since then :) 

Today I wanted to share with you my revived (and presently very limited) recipe page.  It should be at the top of the blog somewhere once it's live.  Despite working in IT for a living, I have no clue when it comes to web site design.  

During this lockdown period I have been working from home which has allowed me more time in the house (instead of travelling to and from school and the office), so my mornings and evenings are somewhat more relaxed, yet busier if that makes any sense.  

I have been able to dedicate so much more time to one of my passions, cooking.  Now I do not claim to be good at it nor do I know the correct way to do everything.  That said, I think when you do something you enjoy, things generally come out well in life.  I have a file FULL of scribbles and ideas and it's taking me longer and longer to find things when I want them as they're literally things on the back of the proverbial fag pack!  Time to get organised and transfer them on to here as and when I can.

Therefore you're going to start to see posts that are purely dedicated to recipes which I will then provide a link to (saves searching) in the Recipe page once it is all up and running.  Make sense?  It does to me, so fingers crossed.  I'm going to schedule these once a week o a Friday evening, so people know if they want new recipe ideas or to see what I have been making my family that week, that's when they will be out, otherwise they know to ignore the posts as that's when I will schedule them all for.  Is it sad I am excited about this!?

Additionally I want to start with seasonal recipes and have an area dedicated to that - I need to give that a bit more thought though.

In other news, these last couple of weeks has been a lot better for home schooling as I have relaxed things a bit although I have found that it really does have its ups and downs.  Last week ended on Friday with a no screen day until the afternoon.  For those who don't know, the home schooling for us is all online, so the kids are generally sat in front of screens all day.  On Friday, after getting the kids up late (I was working from 8), we started with Maths and then did chores around the house and farm, moving on to a movie (yes it's a screen but not like the concentration they have interacting with computers) and then a scavenger hunt.  I set them tasks to find, all fun and games and not to be taken seriously (see pic below). I think I was more excited with the hunt than they were :)  Ended up getting rained off a bit but it's there for another day too.

Let's see what this week brings - I'll be updating again soon as need to sign off for now, take care everyone.

  

Marvelous Muffin Scones - Bacon, cheese and chive - recipe

Marvelous muffin scones - Bacon, cheese and chive

You have to try these! They are SO nice.

Makes 8 good sized scones. 

This is quite a wet dough so I cook them in muffin tins, hence their name.

Ingredients:

100g butter

6-8 rashers bacon (or as just many as you can spare.  I also use left over ham)

275g Self Raising Flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

150 ml milk

50 ml sunflower (or vegetable) oil

1 egg

Chives

150g grated cheddar

Method:

Sift the baking powder in to the flour as I find it always lumps.

Combine butter and flour with fingers until resembles breadcrumbs.  If your butter is very hard, I grate it.  It works!

Beat your egg and add to wet ingredients.

Combine everything.

Spoon in to greased muffin trays.

Cook for 15 mins in moderate oven.  Check after 10.

Yum!  Enjoy :)

Before baking 

Slow Cooker Fantastic Frittata - recipe

Fantastic Frittata (Slow Cooker)

Makes 1 large frittata, serves a family of 4 with sides. 

Ingredients:

8-10 eggs (I use 8 as I use duck eggs)

1 cup of either milk/cream/water or a combination

Any ingredients you like such as

Cooked bacon/chorizio

Vegetables (I like peppers and spinach)

Cheese (1 cup ish - we use cheddar)

Salt and Pepper

Method:

Butter your slow cooker

Beat the eggs and add the liquid, mix together.

Pop everything in the slow cooker and stir

Leave with the lid on low for up to 5 hours or adjust for your slow cooker.

Enjoy :) 

Beautiful bread (white) - recipe

Beautiful Bread

Makes 1 large loaf or 8 rolls. 

Ingredients:

450g strong white bread flour 

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1 tbsp oil (I use sunflower)

320-350 ml tepid water

Method:

Grease of flour your loaf tin or baking sheet

Add flour and salt to mixing bowl (I use my stand mixer here)

Add yeast

Switch on mixer with dough setting to start combining ingredients, or stir.

Add oil and half of the water.

Once combined, add the remainder of the water, though do not let it go too wet (it'll still work but it's harder to handle)

Knead in a stand mixer for 5, by hand for 10 mins.

Turn on to a floured surface and cover with the bowl you've been mixing in.

Leave for up to an hour until double in size.

Knock back (I poke holes in it to deflate it)

Shape it and if using, move it to the bread tin to rise again or leave on a bread board as in the picture below.

You can cover with a plastic bag or tea towel whilst rising.

Leave for 30-40 mins until it's a nice size to bake

Bake for 20/30 mins in moderate/hot oven.

With temperatures I have an Aga so I just bung it in hence my terminology :)

Enjoy!

Fabulous flapjack - recipe

Fabulous Flapjacks

Makes 8-10 larger size flapjacks. 

I find cutting them in 16-20 works best as smaller treat.

I prepare this in a saucepan.

Ingredients:

1 mashed banana

200g butter

200g oats

200g  brown sugar 

3 tbsp. golden syrup (honey will work too, not tried it yet)

Optional extras - choc chips or seeds

Method:

Melt the butter in a pan

Meanwhile mash a banana and weigh your dry ingredients

Add everything to the butter and mix.

Bake for 20/25 mins in moderate oven.  

Mark slices in them whilst still warm to make cutting easier.

Enjoy :)