Mother's Ruin? Or a vital part of life?

Following hot on the heels of recent headlines about the threat to juniper bushes of a new fungus, Sainsbury's asked me if I'd like to try some of their own gin. I have to say after a few weeks of medication and painkillers it was a lovely Friday treat, frosty, fresh and wonderful - just what you want your Friday gin and tonic to be. It's a milder taste than some and would definitely lend itself to cocktailing as it doesn't have any overpowering aromatics.

The email from Sainsburys was actually somewhat serendipitous as it's prompted me to write up some gin drinking I did not so long ago, somewhere totally unexpected. Barcelona. Nope me either. If I was to associate gin with anywhere it would be the UK in the summertime, but gin, and specifically gin cocktails are where it's at in Barcelona right now.

Surprisingly Spain has the largest gin market in Europe - it's the preprandial I would expect over here, but it's also being drunk as a nightcap. It's the flavours that wildly intelligent, inspired barmen and women are putting with it that make it so special - I tried a gin, bramley apple and licquorice cocktail at Bobby Gin, as well as a Decantando - with tonka beans, peppercors and chamomile at the Ohla Boutique bar. Both drinks really were triumphs of creativity in flavours. I would never have considered apple with gin, but it works - it needs to be something like a Bramley though, tart and crisp, with the licquorice adding a sweetness and roundness that just balanced the drink.

I have to say were I not in the midst of packing up our entire kitchen, then in addition to flinging the contents of my vegetable drawer and spice shelf at my gin glasses, the gin and tonic jelly of Nigella's would definitely be being rolled out.

I was asked when I was waxing rhetorical about the Sainsbury's gin at the weekend - I can get a bit overexcited at times - if I would use it for Sloe gin, as it is nearly that time of year after all. I have to say that I wouldn't. I only ever use the cheapest gin I can lay my hands on for sloe gin - Sainsbury's basics does the job perfectly - this bottle is far too nice for sloes. And what's more, it's mine.

I feel pretty, oh so pretty... Preserving

Over the last couple of weeks when we've been going along in the car, I've not paid M a great deal of attention (sorry). My eyes have been trained on trees and hedgerows looking for a glimpse of the bounty late summer and early autumn brings the keen and nifty cook.

The blackberries are nearly there, those that have benefitted from the (occasional) sunshine already turning glossy and purple, those in more shady spots just hitting a glorious rose. I dragged M out this afternoon and between us we managed to pick 2lb or so of beautifully ripe blackberries - I have earmarked half of this for apple and blackberry jelly (one of M's mum's recipes) but the other half is destined for more alcohol. 

I haven't seen either elderberries or sloes yet but they are normally Autumn's later gifts.

As you know whilst my patience with dough and children is legendary, my patience for my need to preserve less so. It was with (a swiftly stifled) squeal of delight on Friday evening that I noticed that Sainsburys had marked down three punnets of blackcurrants and two of blackberries. I gazed around me, sizing up the other shoppers, trying to decide if there might be any competition, and then swooped in, scooping up the punnets into my trolley and heading off in search of the Basics rum. Apparently Sainsburys don't do Basics rum, so I got the next one up the ladder.

I followed the recipe I used a couple of years back where you start by making and straining a berry juice, and then add spices and alcohol, leaving it to mature briefly before boiling up with sugar and bottling. Previously I did this with redcurrants and you can see in the photos in the original post the pretty pink colour of the end result. Unsurprisingly doing this with blackberries and blackcurrants produces a stunningly dark and glossy liquer. The vodka and this rum are all destined to be gifts 

I wanted to write this post despite the recipes not being new ones, and the photos all being on Instagram already to remind you just how easy preserving is and how fabulous the results can be. You don't need a sugar thermometer, jam sugar, a maslin pan, or even a jam spoon - I start with my Ikea 365 pan, a long handled wooden spoon and a saucer in the freezer. That's it. I don't even buy jam jars, I save all ours, and ask Guide parents to donate any they have. Sterilised with boiling water and in a low oven, you're good to go. Also, my jellies (and alcohol is all strained through an old pillowcase in a seive. Yes, the picture below is an old pillowcase. 

If you're west of me, you may still be able to get some strawberries at your local PYO so why not have a go at strawberry jam (see the idiots guide on that post)

Otherwise, go, forage (or buy heavily reduced) blackberries and have a go at vodka, rum or jam. I'll put my recipe for blackberry and apple jelly up as soon as I've done it. 

For all my preserving exploits - click here and you'll be able to scroll through and pick the ones that appeal to you. 

Moonlight and Vodka. Blackberry vodka to be precise

It feels like ages since I've done any preserving - I think marmalade was my last foray into one of my favourite pastimes. Seriously preserving is up there with Musicals, good books and baking. What can I say? It's just who I am.

So, we're wandering around Sainsburys and there are three, lonely punnets of blackberries. Wildly off season, imported from Turkey, but less than a pound for all three. Faced with such a bargain, I broke my "not if it's not in season" rule and decided to indulge. And that's when blackberry vodka was born, between picking up the blackberries in aisle one, and finding the value vodka in aisle 27 my decision was made.

And then I got home and realised I had no idea how to make Blackberry vodka, I had an idea that it would need sugar, but as for quantities, I just wasn't sure. A bit of Googling threw up eleventy million recipes, so I just decided to go back to my sloe gin recipe and use that as a starting point. Blackberries, being by their very nature (I tested just make sure) sweeter than sloes meant I cut down the sugar.

70cl vodka
300g blackberries (washed)
100g sugar

Then, quite literally, just simply...

Add the sugar to a large kilner jar

Add the blackberries
Pour on the vodka
Seal the jar
Put in a cupboard, and turn upside down daily for a week or two to help dissolve the sugar
Leave in the cupboard for another 4-6 weeks

Strain through a muslin/ very fine seive
Bottle the remaining liquor
Enjoy! It's fabulous added to a glass of prosecco/ champage, just a splash makes it pink and gives a lovely fruity/ slightly sweet note.

I declare it Gin o'clock: Sloe gin

It is with much interest that Mark and I follow @Queen_UK on twitter, she never ceases to amuse us with her acerbic wit and sardonic asides. And my promise does say that I will "serve my Queen and my country" so naturally the possibility of making sloe gin was not to be turned down.

Like the recent Elderberry cordial sloe gin was something where there was no one definitive recipe for - although at least I didn't need to check which bits were poisonous with the sloes! Last year I held out to wait for frosted sloes, only to find that the blackbirds had thoroughly filled their tummies. This  year Mark's parents helped me out when they came across some on a walk, which was a relief as I couldn't fimd any locally. (Damn living in town)

So without a definitive recipe, here is my general
Penelope's Pantry Sloe Gin Guidelines...

Wash and prick the sloes (you could miss this step by freezing them overnight to split the skins) and then put them at the bottom of large kilner (or any) jars. 
I had 2 pints (1 litre) of gin and so split the sloes in half between 2 kilner type containers
Add 12oz sugar (I just used granulated)
Top with the gin, screw the lids on tightly and leave in a dark cool place

For the first 2 weeks (or until the sugar dissolves) shake your containers every day. Then just give them a turn over or shake as you remember.

At some point you will need to strain the berries out of the gin, from all the guidance I've had (both internettty and real life) it seems that whenyou do that is entirely up to you. the lovely man I spoke to at the Newbury show drains his after six weeks, other people wait up to a year. I think I'm going to strain mine relatively soon so that I can bottle it before Christmas.

Again when you drink it is up to you - all my research indicates that older sloe gin matures into a soft madeira like flavour, whereas when it's newer, it retains the tartness of the fresh fruit. Personally I prefer younger gin in a champagne cocktail at Christmas, and the older is an amazing after dinner drink - or one to secrete about your personage in a hip flask for a winter walk!

Preserves round up: home made and well preserved

I was chatting on twitter a while back about the preserving I've been doing (I'm waiting on my badge that says I'm preserves queen) and realised that since first attempting marmalade I've done a fair bit. Susan of A Little bit of heaven on a plate tweeted back to tell me about her post on preserving. So I thought I'd take the opportunity to link up with another blogger, and do a round up of everything I've been up to.

If you bear in mind that roughly this time last year I was too anxious of boiling sugar to do anything other than preserve some redcurrants in rum (and leave that shrub in the dark to steep, for ooh too many months to mention) I think the learning curve I've been on this year is fabulous. Most recently this hit home when I knocked up a sugar syrup for my Christmas cake fruit and barely even blinked. One of the best things about blogging is that you can see yourself growing and developing and being someone that spends most of my waking hours doing that with and for others, be they adults at work or Guides or Brownies in my free time, it's lovely to have that reflection about yourself.

I thought it might be useful as even with the search function and some fairly detailed tagging on my part I can't get everything to come up in an accessible fashion (another reason to go to WP perhaps?) to link to all my preserving posts - and I'll add to this post and link to it in the sidebar, so you can always find it as I do more.

So here's my round up of my preserves so far:

Green tomato chutney

Seville orange and whiskey marmalade

Strawberry jam

Gooseberry jam

Apple and mint jelly

Plum jam

Spiced redcurrant rum

Spiced redcurrant Rum Tum Tugger

I have a Musical Theatre confession to make. I hate Cats. It terrifies me. I think it's the makeup. And the fact that it has Memory in it. Oh there are so many reasons. I could go on all day, but the opportunity to throw in a character name was too good to miss.

Last year, I randomly got a punnet of redcurrants in what I think was my last veg box before the move of doom. Much in the same way of last week's gooseberries, I had no idea what to do with them. I'm generally not a fan of meat and fruit on the same plate which were a lot of Google's suggestions. When I say not a fan, I actually mean slightly afeared and trepidatious. My foodie friends came up with some amazing suggestions, although I convinced myself that making jam required a sugar thermomenter so didn't try. Oh what a fool I was. What I did do though, was add them to alcohol! I know. I am contemplating this with all veg box leftovers from here on in. Swede sherry anyone?

Spiced redcurrant shrub

The recipe is called Currant Shrub, I just adapted it.
Stage one - to make the basic juice:
1kg redcurrants
400ml water
You don't have to top and tail the currants or even take them off their stalks. (Can you see why this recipe appealed to me?)
Wash them then put in the pan with the water and simmer until they are very soft and have released all their juices. This will take about 45minutes, I kept it on a low heat, but didn't stir.
Strain through a jelly bag (or muslin) for several hours, or overnight.

Stage two

300ml strained rudcurrant juice
600ml rum or brandy
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 tbp grated nutmeg
300g granulated sugar

Mix the juice, rum/brandy, orange zest and nutmeg together in large widenecked jar. (I used a kilner)
You may find the mixture of acid and alcohol forms a gel. Don't worry the mixture will become liquid again when you add sugar.
Seal jar and leave for 7-10 days in cool, dark place. Surprisingly I used the pantry. I do have an admission to make. After moving (which was about 8 days after making this, I left it in the fridge for a while. A few months. Until this week)

Transfer the currant & alcohol mixture to a pan, add the sugar and heat gently to about 60oc. (I just brought it up to a gentle simmer stirring all the while so that I could feel when the sugar had dissolved.)
When sugar has dissolved strain the liqueur through the jelly bag or muslin. I fixed a muslin over the neck of a big kilner and let the mixture strain through that.
Decant the strained liquid into a sterilised bottle and seal. Store for several months in a cool dark place so the shrub can fully mature. Use within 2 years.