Crème de Groseille Rouge. (Redcurrant Liquour) and Christmas Jelly

Served here with elderflower champagne

Last July I was overwhelmed with soft fruit ripening rapidly in my garden and was to the pin of my collar trying to both pick it and figure out what to do with it (apart from the usual).

I wrote about it here. So now the time has come to finish off this glorious redcurrant creation.

I have had several reports from other people who have already completed theirs and are beginning to enjoy it. To be honest I had completely forgotten about mine.

So I poured the vodka with the redcurrants into a large bowl and gave them a good mash with a potato masher. I have seen some recipes advising using a food processor to blitz them.

Put a muslin cloth in a colander and balance it over a suitable container (alternatively you could use a jelly bag).  Pour the mash into it and leave it to drip through. Give it a gentle push from time to time. After it has all dripped through pour it back into a clean jug.

Make a sugar syrup. I used 400g sugar and 200g water (In the other recipe it says 300g but I felt it needed slightly more). Simmer it until sugar is dissolved and it becomes syrupy. Allow it to cool slightly and pour into the redcurrant liquour. Give it a good stir and transfer to clean sterilised glass bottles.  Allow to mature for as long as you have patience.  It will improve with age.

(It is pictured here served with elderflower champagne I made in 2011 and it was really delicious).

Christmas Jelly

I was then left with a big pot of both spent redcurrants and blackcurrants from making cassis. They were plumped up with vodka and it seemed like a crying shame to just dump them. So I made a Christmas jelly with them.  Bear with me as this recipe was an experiment and the quantities I had may not be the same as you may have, but both berries contain a lot of pectin so it will set.

I had 475g spent redcurrants and 895g spent blackcurrants. I added 500ml of water along with two star anise, a cinnamon stick, a few cloves and a few juniper berries.  I simmered it until the fruit was soft and pulpy. Cool it and transfer to your muslin set up again. This time allow it to drip through overnight. Don't be tempted to push it through or it will become cloudy.

Next day I measured the liquid (actually it had already turned to a jelly). It was about 500ml so I added another 200ml water. I heated it and then added 250g sugar and brought it to a rapid boil. I tested it after a few minutes and it had reached a set. I then transferred it to clean sterilised warm jars.

This jelly will be delicious served in place of cranberry sauce with turkey for Christmas. Or it could be used to add to a jus to be served with game.

Lidlicious

It's not often I eat my words but:
Cherry, vanilla, silky-smooth.
A real Italian
Morellino di Scansano 2011
Tuscan Sangiovese
Open before tasting at least an hour.
€10.99
Lidl












Disclaimer - I have been known to slag off Lidl wines - in the past.

Hipster Gin (Rosehips in Gin)

I've walked roads and lane ways looking for sloes this year to make sloe gin, but haven't found any. I have an old fashioned, wild rose bush (Rosa canina), well actually it's more like a tree, at the back door and it's dripping with rose hips.

I searched the web for ideas and found a recipe for rose hips in vodka.

This is adapted from it.

All you need is an empty litre bottle, a funnel, approximately two thirds of a 75cl bottle of gin (enough left over for a few G&Ts), 50g sugar and 500g rose hips.

Top and tail 500g of hips and rinse them under running water. Dry them off on kitchen paper.

Push the rose hips into the clean, sterilised bottle. Pour in the sugar using a funnel. You will have to make sure it's dry and keep tapping it to make it flow. Finally add enough gin to cover the fruit. Seal the bottle and leave for a month.

After a month strain the liquid off and transfer into another clean, sterilised bottle.

Leave for at least two months to mature.

Should be ready on time for Christmas - a perfect Hipster Gin.


Wineborn wisdom.

First Post

Hello.
This is a blog about wine. I don't pretend to be a wine expert. I'm not. I know what I like. I have a reasonably good palate. If this can help you make a choice then I'm really delighted. I love when someone recommends a good wine and I can agree or disagree. If I agree I will let you know.

There are lots of ways to get information on wine. Twitter is great as lots of people post pictures of wines they have had or are currently enjoying. Additionally many post links to reviews they have read on line. This is a good way to get some fascinating information. A recent post I read was about UK multiples discounting wine. as in, selling at "half price."  I have long been suspicious of this practice.  Very often I would say to myself, if I had paid full price for this I would be really mad.

I have an interest in home brewing as well so I hope to write about these experiments as well. To date my most successful have been cider, crème de cassis and gooseberry infused gin. I have written about these over on my other blog www.foodbornandbred.com.


Tags: Foodbornandbred  Wine  Twitter  Cider Crème de cassis  Gooseberry infused gin UK multiples Discounting wine