We call this “Garden Sauce” because we use it to accompany so much of our food from the veggie garden. Here you see it with glorious artichokes It also goes well with asparagus, sprouting broccoli, courgettes, green beans etc. Its made with boiled eggs and lots of herbs and is kind of a riff on the classic Sauce Gribeche I usually replace the anchovies with olives to make it vegetarian but it tastes good with either and with both too!
This lavender sugar recipe is so an easy yo make that as a ‘recipe’ that it doesn’t really need writing down. But lots of people wouldn’t make it because they can’t think of what they’d do with it! So here are a few ideas
Lavender sugar also makes a wonderful small gift if you decant it into small, pretty jars and attach a pretty label. Great for kids to make as a gift for their teacher or grandparents.
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Is there anything better than a glass of cold, refreshing elderflower cordial on a summers’ day? It’s got to be one of the most quintessential drinks of an English June.
A lot of elderflower cordial recipes contain citric acid. This means the cordial keeps for longer in the fridge and saves on using as many lemons. I have given you the option to add a couple of tablespoons to this recipe if you want. Without it the cordial will keep for a few weeks (rather than a couple of months) in the fridge. I usually put some into resided plastic bottles and store in freezer to avoid this but it does depend if you have enough freezer space!!
Before the gooseberries and elder flowers are over use them to make this quickly infused gin/vodka that really does bring out the flavour of summer
For some reason rose petal syrup seems to have gone out of fashion – but there is nothing like it to enhance the flavour of strawberries. It makes them taste like you remember them from your childhood – luscious, sweet and mouth-wateringly. I can’t begin to tell you the difference it makes. The syrup itself smells of the best of summer and brings out the sun in everything you put it on. Fold a couple of tablespoons into softly whipped cream to transform a Victoria Sponge or meringues. Pour over vanilla Ice-cream to lift it to a whole other level.
Don’t stop reading because you think this jam is going to take too long and be too complicated to make Read on and you’ll see it takes less than 30 mins to make including chopping. It really is a doddle to make and tastes so much better than anything you can buy!
I have been flat out in the garden trying to get everything planted so there are lots of veggies to eat in the next few months we’ll, that is, if things go well There hasn’t been much to harvest in this bit of the year known as the hungry gap but things are changing
What there has been though is lots of rhubarb so I’ve been making lots with that Apart from crumble I’ve previously posted recipes for Rhubarb and Orange Streusel Cake and Rhubarb and Ginger Queen of Puddings so I thought I’d put in some recipes that preserve rhubarb (it does freeze beautifully in chunks too) for when you have to stop picking it at the end of June. So I am posting this recipe on jam and will add posts for rhubarb gin and rhubarb cordial shortly.
I know, I know – you are thinking that I am weird putting marmite (or Vegemite) into a chocolate brownie! But people thought a salted caramel was strange not so long ago so you can kind of get where I am coming from.
What the marmite actually does here is to season and round out the chocolate and make it more chocolatey. You could use a tsp of salt instead if you are a confirmed marmite hater but as you won’t pick out marmite as an ingredient, as it’s role here is to blend and add to the whole, in my opinion you’d be missing out.
This is a very simple, easy recipe which makes it easy to get a lovely gooey, squidgy brownie. I’ve added roasted hazelnuts but you don’t have to (use any other nut, or leave nuts out entirely), and if you are gluten free it works with gluten free flour or ground almonds.
So go on, surprise yourself and make a batch. Have fun letting people guess the mystery ingredient! Most can’t stop stuffing these for long enough to answer – they are that good!
Plum and Walnut Tart. So many people tell me that they can’t make pastry and so wouldn’t try to make a tart. Well this is recipe that allows you to make a tart without making a pastry! It’s a delicious cheat.
This is one of those cakes that you don’t want to be without. It’s delicious, can be put together quickly using whatever soft fruit you have to hand, is easily made gluten free, works well as a Traybake should you prefer and is as happy as a pudding as it is with a cuppa. Quite frankly it’s a complete and utter Winner.
