Redcurrant Jelly

OK so the summer hols went on a little bit longer than expected! I have tons and tons of stuff to stick on here about the wedding, the stag, the honeymoon as well as the usual stuff at home.

Here is my recipe of the classic accompaniment to venison, terrine, pate and the like

It couldn't be easier to make. Just get equal quantities of both redcurrants and sugar. Boil up the fruit until it realises it's juice (about ten minutes) and then add in the sugar. Boil for eight minutes before straining through muslin and into sterilised jars. Simple as that!

Tom Doorley digs the Bounty!

Been meaning to put this up. I recieved this message from food writer Tom Doorley about barrowsbounty.com.
"Hiya Liam. This looks really good. Keep up the good work. You have inspired me to start blogging again".
I must be doing something right!!! Good man Tom!

Plans for the year

Firstly sorry for the break in posting. I was in hibernation with Christmas and the snow!

I really just wanted to let you all know what the plans for the coming year are going to be.

I will be continuing to try and grow as much of our vegetables and fruit as possible. The pigs and laying hens will also feature along with trying to find as much wild food as possible.. A new departure will be chickens for the table. Me and a buddy of mine are going to raise some chickens for eating so I will keep you posted as to how we get on!

The big project for the year however is going to be our wedding which is happening in June. I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew here as I want to try and have all the food for the wedding either home grown produce or wild food! At 150 people it is by far the biggest challenge I have attempted in the garden and kitchen.

We are having a marquee and the idea is to have a relaxed homemade wedding with all our friends and family. The food (hopefully!!) will be some canapes of wild food followed by a whole spit roast pig with salads and vegetables from the garden and then some kind of seasonal dessert which will feature our eggs and fruit. God its a bit overwhelming when you actually write it all down!

I will post on here as to how I am getting on with the preperations, whether it be catching a wild salmon to growing the vegetables or trying to encourage the pig to grow so it is ready for June!!

The picture above is of me and George spending some man time on our local shoot which we have been doing quite a lot of while we have been away.

Picnic Time

With all the sunshine we decided to go on a picnic the other week. There is a cool wood nearby to where we lived so we set off with a few pals. I had made a goat's cheese and asparagus tart using our hen's eggs and we picked some wild garlic along the way to have as a salad with it.

I also made some homemade Lemonade. Easiest thing in the world to do. Boil up a pint of water with one pound of sugar for a couple of minutes to make a syrup( This will store in your fridge for several weeks). Allow to cool. Add about 450ml of the syrup to 1.5 litres of water along with the juice of 2 oranges, 3 lemons and some chopped mint. Easy as that.

Brewing Cider

I started brewing cider nearly two years ago and have been making steady progress since. The first few batches went bananas on me and were way too strong, up around the 13% mark I reckon. Since then I have been honing my skills and while it may not be Champagne de Carlow it has at least become drinkable! I prefer a sweet cider which is why my first batch went so crazy( I added too much sugar). In essence cider making is very simple, yeast loves sugar and after it eats the sugar the by product is alcohol. Apple juice has sugar in it, so you just add some yeast and away you go. Here is how I brew my stuff.

Equipment:

1 Carboy (just a container to hold your brew)

1 additional carboy or bucket.

1 airlock

yeast
Funnel, tube and some bottles

Apple juice

Lactose

Hydrometer

When we started first we picked and pressed the apples to make the juice which broke our hearts so now I just buy apple juice from either Lidl for €1 a litre or from a local fruit farm in bulk.

It is simplicity itself to make. Just sterilise all your equipment with Milton or such like. Pour the juice into your carboy. Take a reading with your hydrometer. This allows you to figure out how strong your brew will be. I use this calculator to help me. So once you have done that throw your yeast in(you can buy cider yeast and all other equipment at a home brew website. I buy mine from The Home Brew Company which are an Irish outfit). Finally stick your airlock on and sit tight for as long as it takes!

You will know it is ready when it stops bubbling and the reading on your hydrometer is around 1000 and more importantly it has the same reading for a few days in a row ( this may take weeks and weeks). After this stage I syphon off the brew into a sterilised container leaving the sediment behind. I then clean the original carboy and pour the cider back into it. It is usually at this stage that I sweeten the brew. I have been using lactose which is a sweetener that does not contain sugar and therefore the yeast cannot turn it into alcohol. You simply heat some of the brew and dissolve the lactose into it. Pour it into your cider to taste, be careful not to over sweeten! I like to leave it under the airlock in the carboy for another few months in order to allow more sediment to settle on the bottom. This gives a less cloudy cider.



The final stage after that is to bottle it. Again sterilise everything with Milton. Put one teaspoon of sugar into each pint bottle which will make it fizzy. Pour in your cider and leave for as long as you can. I find around 6 months works well for me. There you have it a recession proof tipple for 50 cent a pint!!