Tag: Farming

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Desserts Recipes

Gooseberry & Redcurrant Compote

They could be described as the forgotten fruits, so rarely do we see gooseberries and redcurrants on the shelves of our local supermarkets and market stalls.

However, this tasty compote cooked up by my wife, Lesley, serves as a timely reminder that both fruits have everything going for them: delicious, nutritious and packed with Vitamin C.

In this guest post, I will let Lesley explain….

When I was little, we had green gooseberry bushes in our garden. I didn’t like picking them as a child, as they had thorns! I also thought they looked like green marbles. However, I loved having them cooked up for tea along with custard. My job was to cut the little shrivelled flower off the fruit with scissors. 

This year, they ripened at the same time as redcurrants at the local community farm I belong to. I brought them home and washed them, as you can see from the main photo at the top of this post.

It seemed natural to cook them up together, so I made the compote shown in my photo below. It is a beautiful rich, red colour, so summery and light. I had made elderflower cordial a few weeks ago so used that as a sweetener, meaning I didn’t need to add in any extra sugar. This helps in appreciating the natural, slightly tart taste of the fruit.

Servings

This will give 4 adult servings.

Timings

15 mins to make.

You Will Need:

  • 200g redcurrants
  • 100g gooseberries
  • 2 tablespoons elderflower cordial

Method

  1. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat it up until the fruit is soft, and the  juice reduces to make a jammy compote. This takes about 10 mins. Alternatively, you can cook it in a microwave on full power until the fruit is soft. 
  2. Leave to cool, then transfer to the fridge to chill.

Once chilled, I served the compote with yoghurt. It looks amazing when swirled in with a spoon (see below), but you can also have it with ice cream or custard.

As a guest poster on A Different Kitchen, I get to choose the latest track for Kevin’s Spotify Playlist. I have gone for a light and fun track to go with my summery compote. This is Chic with disco hit, Le Freak.

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Recipes Sides

Spicy Rhubarb Relish

Over to my wife, Lesley, for a guest post on a tasty, spicy relish made from a batch of the lovely rhubarb that is in season this early in Spring…..

At the community farm I belong to, April, May and even into early June is called the Hungry Gap for good reason. All our winter crops have been harvested, our spring crops are seedlings, and there are precious few fresh fruits and vegetables.

Step up rhubarb. Field rhubarb is plentiful in April and May and I take my share of approx 500g home each week. As ever, a glut like this can be bottled and so I have invested in a book to help me, published by the Dorset-based River Cottage team, headed up by TV chef, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. 

This is one of the recipes, creating a Spicy Rhubarb Relish. It’s easy to do, making 4 jars worth of relish in one regular-sized saucepan. We have enjoyed a dollop on salads, over hot dog sausages and in sandwiches. It’s sweet and spicy, and next time I will experiment with a wider variety of spices in the muslin spice bag.

Servings

Makes 4 x 340g jars.

Timings

Takes about 40 mins to make.

You Will Need

  • 500g granulated sugar
  • 100ml water
  • 1kg rhubarb (untrimmed weight)
  • 100ml cider vinegar
  • 125g raisins

For the spice bag:

  • a piece of muslin about 20cm square
  • a piece of string about 30cm in length
  • 4cm chunk of root ginger bruised with rolling pin
  • 2 cinnamon sticks snapped up
  • 6 or so cloves

Method

  1. Place the spices in the centre of the muslin. Gather the muslin up to create a parcel with the spices inside, and tie it with the string.
  2. Dissolve the sugar in 100ml of water and bring to the boil, with the muslin bag submerged to infuse the spicy mix into the syrup.  
  3. Turn off the heat and leave for 20 mins or so. Take the bag out and discard.
  4. Trim and chunk the rhubarb, add into the syrup with the vinegar and raisins. Bring back to the boil and let the rhubarb soften. Most of the chunks will break down into a soft spoonable relish. 
  5. Pour into pre-sterilised jars. Leave to cool down and store in the fridge. 

The relish is very versatile. You can enjoy it in a number of ways – alongside cheese, ham or cold meats, or as a dollop spooned into a bowl with lettuce, cucumber, tomato, rice or grains, and other salad ingredients.

As a guest author on A Different Kitchen, I get to select the next track for the ADK Playlist. My choice is one of the many great songs we enjoyed hearing recently at the Northern Soul Orchestrated show in London. This is Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons with The Night.

Categories
Blog

Hamble Spring Market

This Sunday we went to our first Hampshire Farmers’ Market of 2023, at the nearby village of Hamble. It took place down by the waterfront, where the River (also named the Hamble) meets the Solent (which in turn flows out to the English Channel).

As the sign above shows, it is actually possible to walk or cycle there via the England Coast Path. You can also ‘park and float’ from Warsash (on the other side of the River) via a great little ferry.

I always like visiting these local markets. The food is original and high quality, and it’s an opportunity to support independent producers in a sustainable economy. You can buy as much or as little as you wish, and packaging is minimal, as shoppers usually bring their own bags.

The sellers are generous with tasters and free samples. This adds a lot of fun and, like the produce itself, is not something you’d normally find in the branch of a big supermarket chain.

I’ll start with New Forest Shortbread. This lady bakes all her own in a 200 year-old cottage in Burley, in the centre of the Forest. I particularly liked the coffee shortbread, blended with Mozzo coffee roasted in Southampton.

A few weeks back, we were having a tomato shortage in our local shops. No chance of that now however, with this array of beauties grown just across the Solent on the Isle of Wight.

Lovers of charcuterie were also well served by this selection of spicy cured meats.

And why not combine this in a tasty sandwich, with some fresh sourdough bread.

We brought home a box of four fishcakes by Catch, who are based in Calshot, a little way along the coast. You can mix and match flavours, my fave being mackerel and beetroot.

Brownies are always a hit, especially when you have this amazing range of flavours to choose from.

Basingstoke’s Longdog Brewery were attracting a lot of interest with free tasters of their excellent beers….

…so much so that I just had to take home a bottle of Longdog IPA, which I enjoyed later.

It went down a treat sitting in the back garden listening to some music. A track came on my headphones which I hadn’t heard for some time, and I was reminded how great a song it was. Time to add it to the ADK Playlist, therefore. All the way from Montreal, here’s Arcade Fire with The Suburbs.

Cheers!