The Preserver's Year

Patchwork_Quilt

Unfortunately, I have just poured away all our Elderflower Champagne. Someone did say that the HFW recipe was too sweet and indeed it was. Thumbs down from the whole family.

As a complete long shot, does anyone have the Archers' Cookbook from years ago please? There was a recipe in there for Elderflower Champagne which worked, but I never wrote it down.

nopot2pin

Patchwork_Quilt wrote: »

Unfortunately, I have just poured away all our Elderflower Champagne. Someone did say that the HFW recipe was too sweet and indeed it was. Thumbs down from the whole family.

As a complete long shot, does anyone have the Archers' Cookbook from years ago please? There was a recipe in there for Elderflower Champagne which worked, but I never wrote it down.

Ohhhhh noooooooooo...
If I dont like a wine... I keep it, and use it, to cook with, in recipes that use wine therein.
A sweet wine can be used, if sherry is part of the recipe

Gigervamp

That's a shame, you could have added more water to it.

ELIZA_D

was going to start a new thread but found you guys....very excited ! HOORAH!
At the same time as being deflated ...B000!

Made my first plum chutney last night which was a disaster if i tell you (in short)what i did can you tell me where i went wrong ?
Firstly i adapted the recipie as once i had started i realised i had not got the exact herbs needed (im not a natural cook.......so excuses over)
1.5 kg of foraged (ripe now)plums
2 large onions
3 cloves garlic
200g caster sugar
300 ml white wine vinegar
4 cardomom pods
handful of garam masala
put it all in a big pan brought to a simmer and stirred occ to check it did not burn.
i put it on at midnight (after researching recipies) and turned it off at 1.30 am as i was knackererd and it was still sloppy
got up this am and it seems to have thickened somewhat but a dipped finger tells me it is yak tasting of vinegar and garlic.......what to do can i start heating it again or bin it !

Gigervamp

Carry on cooking it until the point where if you drag the spoon across the bottom of the pan, it leaves a little trail. Bit like the parting of the Red Sea!

It will take several months to mature and the vinegar taste will calm down with time.

cheerfulness4

I noticed that some of you have been making spiced plum chutney (my tree is hitting the floor with all the plums ) and also blackcurrant jam (lovely FIL fetched me some from his allotment.
Would anyone have the recipes for these please or have I missed a post that includes them?
I'd much rather have a go at 'tried and tested' recipes on here than ones I just find through googling. Scared I'll waste money and my precious fruit on mistakes.

thriftlady_2

Eliza D
It will not taste good for a few months as Gigervamp says. It just gets better and better with age.

Cook it for longer

Cheerfulness I use Delia Smith's Spiced Plum/Damson chutney Recipe -it is delicious.

helyg

Cheerfullness: I used this recipe for plum chutney: http://www.waitrose.com/recipe/Plum_and_Apple_Chutney.aspx except that I added a cinammon stick as well, and I used this recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11750/angelas-flexible-jam-recipe for both blackcurrant and plum jam (blackcurrants need no water and reach setting point in around 5 mins).

cheerfulness4

Thanks thriftlady and helyg for those links. I think I might try both chutney recipes as I've lots of plums and we love chutney.

Thanks for the additional info about the blackcurrants, too. I've only tried jam making once and not very successfully so all the extra help builds up the confidence for a second try.

helyg

OK, emergency... my son fell off his bike while I was making jam (he's OK, it's the jam I'm worried about...) and while I was seeing to him the jam caught slightly at the bottom. Will It still be OK? I have tasted it while checking for setting point and it seems OK, and there aren't any black bits in the actual jam, but I'm a bit worried about it now!

What do you think?