Rosehip jelly

ROSEHIP JELLY

There are still rosehips to be found in the hedgerows, so if you get the opportunity to pick some, have a  go at making this simple jelly.

I am lucky enough to have these in the back garden, but there are plenty in the hedgerows and parks.

This jelly's  great for so many things - we love it on Scotch pancakes for breakfast, stirred into rice pudding, on ice cream, with Greek yogurt, drizzled over bread and butter pudding and mixed with hot water to make a fabulously soothing drink, ideal when you have a cold.

Rosehips have a very high Vitamin C content - so this really does do some good as well as tasting delicious.  This is an extract from http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-rose-hip.html to whom I am grateful for the following information.

Rose hip Benefits

Contents

• Rose hip benefits
• Notes / side effects
• Where to buy Rose hip
• Rose hip reviews

A Rose hip is the fruit of a rose. The wild dog rose is the type of rose most often cultivated for their hips. This plant grows up to ten feet tall and bears a white, very fragrant flower. Once the flower has bloomed, and all the petals have fallen off, the hip is picked and used in a wide variety of preparations. Rose hips are the best source of vitamin C; they contain 50% more vitamin C than oranges. A single tablespoon of the pulp gives an adult more than the recommended daily allowance of 60 mg. They can be eaten raw, after being put through a blender, or soaked in water overnight and then cooked in the water for about half an hour. Because of the high vitamin C content they are an excellent immune system booster, and are often used as a supplement to prevent or treat a cold. The pulp from rose hips may be used in sauces or made into jelly.

Take your harvest of rosehips and rinse them well.  Then put them in a food processor and chop them coarsely.  Put the chopped fruit in a pan and cover with water.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.  Strain through a jelly/muslin bag.  If you haven't got one a pair of (clean) tights works well!  Measure out the resulting liquid.

transfer this into a clean pan and add 1lb of preserving sugar for every pint of liquid.

Bring to the boil, reduce the heat  and cook until you reach a "set" - we like ours quite runny, but be careful you don't overcook it or it will turn to glue.

Transfer to hot, clean jars and cover.

Enjoy!

Two soups - hearty homage to the genius of Victoria Wood and Julie Walters

2 soups - with acknowledgements to Victoria Wood and Julie Walters - the 2 soups sketch is one of the funniest things, I have ever seen.  If you have seen it, you will know what I'm talking about - if you haven't, click on the 2 soups link and give yourself a giggle.

When my teenage kids were small, there were 2 authors they preferred above all others;  Dr Seuss and Helen Cooper - and one of their all time favourite stories was Pumpkin soup by Helen Cooper - I got to know it off by heart.  I am sure many of you know the feeling.

There's a good smell of soup, and at night, with luck, you might see a bagpiping Cat in the window, and a Squirrel with a banjo, and a small singing Duck. Everyone has their own jobs to do. Everyone is happy... or so it seems.... until one day Duck, the littlest one, decides it's his turn to stir the soup.

And that inspired this first recipe, a grown up soup for my growing up (all too quickly) kids

Spiced pumpkin and corn soup
A spicy blend of autumn ingredients to warm the body and soul

2 tblsp oil
2 onions, sliced
500g pumpkin flesh, chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp paprika
Chilli to taste - fresh or dried
25g creamed coconut
1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
2 corn on the cob

I cooked mine on the versatile and incredibly useful Kitchen Companion

Put the bowl on the diffuser ring on top of the heater base  and pour in the oil.  You can choose what ever oil you fancy, I used some local rapeseed oil, but anything from olive to vegetable will do.
Heat over a medium heat and add the onions.  Sweat them until soft, but not coloured.
Add the spices, stir well and cook for a minute.
Add the pumpkin, stir well and cook for around 5 minutes.
Add the coconut, stock and seasoning and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 15 minutes, until the pumpkin is soft.
Blend until smooth and then add the kernels from 2 corn on the cob.
Cook for a further 10 minutes and serve.

We had ours with some crusty bread, flecked with fresh sage and topped with sea salt.

Soup 2 is made from more autumn bounty, including apples and sage from my garden.

Parsnip and apple soup

2 tblsp oil
2 onions, chopped
2 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 apples, cored and chopped - there is no need to peel them
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
1 tsp chopped fresh sage - be careful with this, sage is a very pungent herb and too much will ruin the soup
Salt and pepper to taste

Again I used the Kitchen Companion for this.

Warm the oil over a medium heat and add the onions.
Cook until soft but not coloured
Put the parsnips, apples, sage and stock into the bowl .
Cover with the lid and bring to the boil over a high heat
Reduce to a simmer and cook for around 15-20 minutes until the parsnips are soft.

Blend and season with salt and pepper - it's likely you'll want to use a little more seasoning than usual,as this is quite a sweet soup.
I drizzled mine with hazelnut oil, for a luxurious and show off presentation and accompanied it with cheese bread.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2013 ©
www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

A recipe from our favourite pieman

After using our frying pans on Saturday Farm, which was filmed at the fabulous Daylesford Farm, James Strawbridge, founder of the fantastic Posh Pasty Company was keen to try out one of our tagines

This is the very first dish he cooked, which he has been kind enough to share with us.

Chicken & Sweet Potato Bake

INGREDIENTS

Chicken Marinade

• 1 tsp Paprika, Turmeric, Fennel Seeds, Pink Peppercorns
• 2 Garlic cloves
• Juice of Lemon
• 1 finely chopped Chilli
• Pinch of grated Nutmeg
• 2-4 tbsp Local Rapeseed Oil
• Handful of sliced Parsley stalks
• Salt and Pepper

Vegetables

• 2 roughly chopped Red Onions
• 2 Sliced Red Peppers
• 1 Sweet Potato diced
• 1 Lemon thinly sliced
• 1 Stick of Celery

Chicken

• 1 whole Chicken - jointed

• 1 pint Chicken Stock (Chicken carcass plus celery, carrot, bay leaf)

Pasta

• 200 g Rosmarino pasta or small Macaroni

METHOD

• Marinade the Chicken pieces for 1-2 hours and then heat your Tagine https://www.netherton-foundry.co.uk/electric_taginesbase on high.
• Place the chicken in the cast iron pan and cook until the skin is golden. Then add in the vegetables and stir.

• Allow to cook for 5 minutes before adding in the stock and place on the lid.
• Turn down the heat and cook for a further 20 minutes
• Stir again and add in the pasta - cooking for a further 10-15 minutes
• Serve with corn on the cob and some Spanish style beans

James Strawbridge

Founder of the Posh Pasty Company