our own christmas tonic, bottled & ready to go under the tree

I've just spent the morning bottling our Christmas tonic ready to give as presents. It's been fermenting since August so it's a bit special.

Here's how we made it:
1 litre of whisky or vodka
1 lb (500g) sugar
1 lb (500g) winter berries
Leave in a cool, dark place for at least 3 months, giving it a good shake every week or so. Then strain & bottle. Serve either in suitably smart liqueur glasses to sip in a genteel manner or in a hip flask to nip from while enjoying the great outdoors.

This year we used a mixture of blackberries, raspberries & redcurrants, however you could use any berries. We made a whisky and a vodka, however you could also use brandy instead, or gin is great with sloe berries. If you do make a sloe gin, the sloe skins need to be broken - instead of pricking each individual berry you can freeze them, spread out on a tray, for 24 hours then defrost them so the skin breaks.

We did have a cheeky taster at the weekend & it definitely warms you up! We'll be keeping a few bottles for sure & I'm already planning to make some for our wedding next year. Any new recipe ideas would be welcome...



Juliet D-H

buy a $10 raffle ticket from menu for hope

Menu for Hope is an annual fundraising campaign hosted by a revolving group of food bloggers around the world. Five years ago, the devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia inspired them to find a way to help, and the very first Menu for Hope was born. The campaign has since become a yearly affair, raising funds to support worthy causes worldwide. In 2007, Menu for Hope raised nearly $100K to help the UN World Food Programme feed the hungry.

Each December, food bloggers from all over the world join the campaign by offering a delectable array of food-related prizes for the Menu for Hope raffle. Anyone can buy raffle tickets to bid on these prizes. For every $10 donated, you earn one virtual raffle ticket to bid on a prize of your choice. At the end of the two-week campaign, the raffle tickets are drawn and the results announced on Chez Pim.

The Menu for Hope V fundraiser runs from December 15-24.

Click here for the European prize list on the European host blog, Miss Adventures In Italy , including details about how to get involved & how to donate.

Click here for the blog of the American-based originator, Chez Pim.

Having only just come across the campaign this year, we haven't been able to offer a prize because we can currently only deliver locally in East & South East England. However we hope to get involved next year & will be buying a good few raffle tickets to be in with a chance of snaffling one of the fab prizes on offer!

Juliet D-H

experiment #573: rolled pork joints, roasted in wild garlic leaves

I've just found some pics on my old camera from a weekend at M&D's few weeks ago. Apart from reminding me how much better my new camera is, they also reminded me of my most recent experiment.

I was doing the Sunday roast to give Mum a break & nipped out to the herb bed to get some mint for the potatoes when I spotted some wild garlic. I wrenched some leaves from it and proceeded to stuff them, with some difficulty, through the string holding together the two small(ish) rolled pork joints we were having. Then rubbed in plenty of salt & oil and popped them in the lovely aga...



They looked a little scary after roasting...



The wild garlic leaves were delicious - like mildly garlicky seaweed - but didn't seem to flavour the pork enough to notice, obviously because I'd put them on the outside & because the pork is quite strongly flavoured (that's the marvellousness of the rare breed pig, of course). So, next time probably best to use garlic cloves & save the wild garlic for salads or stuffing chicken breasts. Good experiment though.

Here's more about eating wild garlic

Juliet D-H

Some crackingly good crackling

Hmmm... home-grown pork roast. Wins every time.













Juliet D-H

"I carried a marrow"

Well actually it wasn't a marrow, it was an overgrown courgette which resembled a small manatee and required eating. Thus I found myself creating stuffed courgette skyscrapers for supper last night. Here's the recipe:

> 1 gigantic courgette (or a marrow will do), sliced to make one slice each, cored & boiled til just tender (turning translucent)
> 1 lb delicious beef mince (we used some from beef raised on the farm, obviously), fried with 1 onion & 2 garlic cloves, half a pint of beef stock, tomato puree, anchovy sauce and whatever interesting herbs and spices you'd usually add to a bolognese.
> a saucepan full of cheese sauce - I make a classic white sauce (melt butter, add flour, mix to a paste, cook til the edges sizzle then slowly stir in dashes milk til you get a gooey sauce) then add plenty of grated strong cheddar.

Place the courgette-marrow pieces on their ends in a baking dish, fill each with mince sauce (just pour any overflow into the dish) then pour the cheese sauce over the top. Add a liberal sprinkling of parmesan and bake in a hot oven (top of the aga so i guess about 250+) for 20mins until the top browns.

We usually have this with boiled potatoes or crusty bread.
Leftovers are fab cold from the fridge, on hot toast or ciabatta.

Juliet D-H