image source wikimedia commons

1. The latin name for the European Raspberry is Rubus idaeus and botanically it belongs to the same family as roses and blackberries.

2. Most likely native to Asia, wild raspberries have been eaten since prehistoric times. Cultivation began in England and France, probably in the 1600s.

3. Scotland is famous for its raspberry growing and in the late fifties raspberries were taken from Scotland to Covent Garden on a steam train known as the Raspberry Special.

4. Traditional folklore recommends the use of raspberry leaf tea for pregnant women, it as it is suggested it may shorten the second stage of labour. Most sources agree that it should be avoided in early pregnancy.

5. Raspberries come in many colors besides red: there are also black, purple and gold raspberries.

7. Raspberries are high in potassium, vitamin A and calcium.

8. Raspberries contain more vitamin C than oranges, are high in fibre, low in calories and a good source of folic acid.

9.The annual Golden Raspberry Awards present Dis-Honors for Worst Achievements in Film in categories ranging from the obvious (Worst Picture, Actor and Actress) to the obtuse (Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel and Worst Screen Couple).

10. Raspberries are good eaten fresh, but can be made into jam, sauces or smoothies .

When making chutney it is often difficult to tell when it is thick enough to start potting in steralised jars.

A good guide is to draw a wooden spoon across the bottom of the preserving pan, if the line created doesn't fill up with surplus vinegar then the chutney is ready to pot.

If, after potting, a small amount of vinegar appears in the top of the jars then this is fine, it will be absorbed into the chutney during the maturing process.

The above photo, taken while making green tomato chutney, shows the ideal consistency.

With the late summer fruits starting to ripen on the trees (and fall off in the wind), this recipe is great for using up a glut of apples and plums. I actually used the last of last years frozen stewed plums from the freezer, and some windfall apples. The relative quantities of plums and apples can be easily altered within reason.

Click here for the Plum and Apple Chutney recipe in more detail.

Recipe Costs

£1.35 900g plums (PYO cost)
£0.80 600g cooking apples
£0.33 450g onions
£0.50 50g fresh root ginger
£0.14 50g raisins
£0.15 1 tbsp mustard powder
£0.08 2 tsp ground coriander
£0.05 3 cloves garlic
£0.43 275g demerara sugar
£0.45 600ml vinegar

£4.28 Total (£2.13 without buying the plums and apples)
£1.90 per kg of relish (£0.95 without buying the rhubarb, one seventh of the cost of similar at tesco.com)

I thawed out my frozen plums first, although this was probably not necessary, this recipe is great in that all the ingredient are chucked in a preserving pan and brought to the boil.

Apples are peeled, cored and chopped up, size is not crucial as they will be reduced to a pulp during the cooking process.

Onions are peeled and finely chopped, they will remain reasonable firm in the finished chutney so its important not to leave them to chunky.

This recipe uses ground coriander, which I like to make freshly from coriander seeds, my stone pestle and morter make short work of grinding these up. Mustard powder, garlic and ginger adds extra taste to the chutney. The ginger can be grated, or chopped finely as I've done here, a tablespoon of mustard powder is added using my ever useful measuring spoons.

Demerara sugar adds sweetness to the fruit, you may want to increase the amount by 75g if you use more plums, or you can make a sharper tasting chutney by reducing the amount to 200g.

I used some home made spiced pickling vinegar to add depth to the taste, you can buy this commercially or just use malt vinegar.

All the ingredients are added to the preserving pan and brought to the boil.

The chutney is then simmered until it is thick, a good guide to judging the correct consistency of chutney can be found in this blog post about green tomato chutney.

This batch of chutney took several hours to reach the correct thickness when it was then potted in steralised jars. I'll leave it to mature for a few months before eating, it should last for over a year in a cool dark place.

Recipe Timings

30 minutes Preparation
120 minutes cooking
20 minutes potting

We've been drinking a lot of elderflower cordial recently, and stocks are getting low, so I've been looking round for other cordials to make.

Using the gooseberries from the garden seemed to make sense, they're just starting to ripen and taste wonderfully fresh.

This recipe also includes lemon verbena, which should add a few citrus notes to the finished drink. Lemon verbena is one of those herbs that grows like crazy in the garden but which I very rarely actually use for anything, so it's nice to feel it's making itself useful.

This recipe is adapted from one on The Independent website.

Click here for the Gooseberry And Lemon Verbena Cordial recipe  in more detail.

Recipe Costs

£0.52 400g gooseberries (PYO cost, mine were free)
£0.36 280g caster sugar
£0.00 1 litre water
£0.00 6 sprigs lemon verbena

£0.36 Total (£0.88 if buying the gooseberries)
£0.36 per litre of cordial (£0.88 if buying the gooseberries - an equivalent cordial at ocado costs £5.78 a litre)

One time saving aspect of this recipe is that the gooseberries don't need to be topped and tailed, just a quick rinse to remove any dirt and insects, then they're placed in a pan with the sugar...

...water (I find a glass measuring jug the easiest way to measure out quantities of liquid)...

...and the lemon verbena.

Interestingly, lemon verbena originated in South America and can grow to 3 metres high, our plants seem to like it here but have never grown more than a metre high, although they do tend to spread sideways rather quickly.

The strong lemon scent is said to keep for longer after picking than other lemon scented herbs, other than for culinary use the herb can be used as a reviving addition to a hot bath.

The herb is crushed under a rolling pin before adding to the pan, as this release the essential oils.

The mixture is simmered for about 10 minutes, or until the gooseberries start to get tender.

It's allowed to cool, then strained through muslin, making sure every last drop of flavour is squeezed out of the fruit pulp.

After bottling in steralised bottles, this cordial will keep well in the fridge for several months, it can also be frozen in plastic bottles.

Dilute to taste with still or sparkling water, or sparkling white wine.

Recipe Timings

10 minutes Preparation
20 minutes cooking
1 hour cooling
10 minutes bottling

Taste Test

A subtle tasting, not overly sweet cordial, but very refreshing. The lemon verbena adds a very slight citrus taste.

The gooseberries are swelling nicely and early varieties are already in the shops. The fresh fruit is not to everyone's taste, but is delicious when used in jam or chutney. Why not try some of these recipies:

 

Gooseberry and Lemon Verbena Cordial
A thirst quenching way of using up a glut of gooseberries.

Gooseberry Chutney
A basic gooseberry chutney.

Green Gooseberry Jam
Quite simply the best thing to do with gooseberries.
An excellent jam for breakfast, tangy yet sweet, a lovely orange colour, can be flavoured with the addition of elderflowers.

Gooseberry and Elderflower Cordial
A combination of early summer flavours in a cordial. Uses elderflower cordial.

 

 

The highly talented Amy Moss at eatdrinkchic.com has created 8 wonderful down loadable label sets.

She's provided labels for Strawberry, Rhubarb, Apricot, Blueberry and Cherry Jams and also for Marmalade.

Click here for her home made jam packaging labels blog post.

The elderflowers are bursting out of the hedgerows at this time of year. The best time to pick them is on a dry, warm day when the blooms are newly open and white. Try to find a bush that is away from a main road (to avoid exhaust fumes), and remember to keep to public footpaths. Their fragrance gives a wonderful summery flavour to the following recipes.

 

Elderflower and Rhubarb Jam
A combination of the best two early summer flavours.

Elderflower Cordial
A special drink ready in time for the summer, great served with fizzy wine.

Elderflower Cordial With Citric Acid
A tart, refreshing version of the classic elderflower cordial recipe.

Green Gooseberry Jam
Quite simply the best thing to do with gooseberries.
An excellent jam for breakfast, tangy yet sweet, a lovely orange colour, can be flavoured with the addition of elderflowers.

 

 

Gooseberry and Elderflower Cordial
A combination of early summer flavours in a cordial. Uses elderflower cordial.

 

 

The elderflowers are really starting to look good in the hedgerows and this is a perfect way to use their subtle flavour with that other early summer favorite rhubarb. You don't need may umbrels of flowers to get a hint of the taste, and you can use any extra to make elderflower cordial.

This recipe is adapted from the one in Edible Wild Plants & Herbs by Pamela Michael.

See here for the elderflower and rhubarb jam recipe in more detail.

Recipe Costs

£0.00 6 large elderflower heads (you can get dried ones on ebay, but I haven't tried them)
£0.00 1.5 kg rhubarb (£9.33 if bought)
£1.40 1.5 kg sugar
£0.35 1 lemon

£1.75 Total (£11.08 if buying the rhubarb)
£0.87 per kg of jam (£5.54 if buying the rhubarb - Elderflower and rhubarb jam costs £9.26 a kg at gallowaylodge.co.uk)

My elderflowers were on the small side, so I used about 15, they are tied up in a muslin bag and put in the bottom of a large bowl.

The rhubarb is chopped up and placed on top of the elderflowers.

The sugar is sprinkled onto the rhubarb and the bowl shook to make sure it settles down. This recipe relies on the sugar drawing out the juice from the rhubarb by osmosis, the only other liquid added is the juice of a lemon. As a result the jam should have an intense flavour. I used a glass bowl so I could see just how much juice was coming out, I've used a similar process before when making marrow and ginger jam and am always surprised how well it works.

Afetr 12 hours the rhubarb is starting to give up it's juice, it's given a quick stir and then covered back up again.

After another 12 hours the rhubarb is swimming in it's own juice, it's heated up slowly to dissolve all the remaining sugar, then returned to the bowl for another 12 hours.

Before the final cooking process the juice of a lemon is added, using my satisfyingly functional glass lemon squeezer.

The jam is cooked for about 45 minutes until it reaches setting point, then potted in steralised jars. I always find a jam funnel useful at this stage.

Recipe Timings

20 minutes Preparation
36 hours standing
45 minutes cooking
10 minutes bottling

Taste Test

It's surprising how so few elderflowers give such a distinctive taste to this jam. It's not overly sweet, which brings out the flavour of the rhubarb nicely.

This recipe was tempting to try as another way of preserving rhubarb.
There's nothing wrong with relilable rhubarb chutney, but you do have to wait several months before it's good to eat, the advantage with this recipe is that the sweet fruity relish can be enjoyed straight away.

As a variation you could add finely chopped chilli, or try the lime and ginger version on sweet mary's blog.

This recipe is taken from Preserves: River Cottage Handbook No.2 by Pam Corbin

See here for the rhubarb relish recipe in more detail.

Recipe Costs

£0.47 500g granulated sugar
£0.14 100 ml cider vinegar
£6.22 1kg rhubarb (equivalent cost, mine was free)
£0.35 125g raisins
£0.50 50g fresh root ginger
£0.34 2 cinnamon sticks
£0.02 6 cloves

£8.04 Total (£1.82 without buying the rhubarb)
£5.74 per kg of relish (£1.30 without buying the rhubarb)

The ginger is chopped into chunks and bruised with a rolling pin, then put with the other spices in a muslin bag.

The spice bag is put in a saucepan along with 100ml of water and 100ml of cider vinegar, I find it easiest to use a glass measuring jug.

500g of sugar is also put into the pan, this seems like quite a lot but does make the relish lovely and sweet.
The mixture is heated gently until the sugar has dissolved, then set aside for 20 minutes.

About a kilogram of rhubarb is washed and then chopped into 2 - 3 cm long pieces.

125g of raisins are used to give some variety to the relish, these could easily be left out if wished.

The spiced syrup, rhubarb and raisins are combined and cooked gently for about 45 minutes. At first the pan will seem very dry, but the rhubarb releases a lot of liquid as it cooks. I left the muslin bag in during the cooking to try and extract more of the flavour.

This is meant to be a runny preserve, suited to being poured from a wide necked bottle, so shouldn't be reduced too much when cooking.

Recipe Timings

10 minutes Preparation
20 minutes standing
45 minutes cooking
10 minutes bottling

Taste Test

Great in a strong cheese sandwich and should go well with cold cooked meats. This is most definitely a sweet relish, but has a pleasing acidity from the rhubarb.

Now is the time of year when rhubarb is readily available. Why not get the preserving pan out, celebrate this most English of vegetables, and try some of the following recipes:

 

Elderflower and Rhubarb Jam
A combination of the best two early summer flavours.

Rhubarb and Ginger Schnapps
A delicious summer drink, spiced up with a hint of ginger.

Rhubarb Schnapps
A special drink ready in time for the summer, great served with fizzy wine.

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam
A subtle tasting jam with crystallised ginger.

Rhubarb Chutney
Recipe for a rich dark chutney with apricots.

 

Rhubarb Relish
Make with maincrop rhubarb, good with curries, oily fish and cheese.