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Blackberry Jam ( Blackberry Jelly)

Blackberry Jam Blackberry JellyIt’s been a beautiful summer, and I’ve focused largely on my children, and very little on anything else, including these pages. I’ve often taken a photo of things, thinking I’d publish them when I have a moment, and that moment has just never come, and here we are, just in time for autumn.

Nature is a beautiful thing though, and knowing full well that the barren months of winter are coming, Autumn blesses us with a bountiful harvest of apples, blackberries, rosehips, damsons and more. My children and I have spent time foraging in our local area, trying to take advantage of the free fruit as much as we can. Over the next few days, I’ll share some of the results of our foraged free food with you.

Today’s recipe is a bit of a cheat: Blackberry Jam. It’s a cheat because I used Jam Sugar with added pectin rather than making my own. We were lucky, I think and got the berries at just the right time, as they were sweet, full of juice and just delicious.

I use a jam strainer to catch all the seeds and skins, leaving me with a beautiful clear jam.

Blackberry Jam
Recipe Type: Condiments
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 250ml
The flavour of this jam depends a lot on the blackberries you use. We picked plump, juicy, ripe blackberries to make a sweet, delicious jam for toast, home made doughnuts and more.
Ingredients
  • 250g (9oz)fresh blackberries
  • 250g (9oz) jam sugar
  • 2tbs lemon juice (if from a bottle)/ juice from 1/2 lemon if using fresh lemon
Instructions
  1. (If you’re using a stove to make jam, you’ll need a sugar thermometer to check when your mixture is at 100C/212F. If you’re using a breadmachine with a jam function, follow manufacturer instructions. For a Thermomix, cook at 100 degrees at speed 2. )
  2. Place all ingredients in bowl and cook for 40 minutes at 100C or 212F.
  3. To check whether your jam has set, tilt the bowl slightly, being careful not to spill boiled sugar! Check to see whether a slight gel forms on top. If not, return to heat for five minute intervals. Your external temperature will affect how long your jam has to boil.
  4. It shouldn’t take over 50 minutes, but if it does, turn the heat up as high as possible (watching it doesn’t burn) for 3 minutes.
  5. Pour jam into sterilised jars and leave overnight to cool.

 

 

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Raw Pecan Pie

raw pecan pie

Raw Pecan Pie
Recipe Type: Dessert or Snack
Cuisine: Raw
Author: Charlotte
Serves: 8-10
Mmmmmm Pecan Pie! I was in a cooking mood (Well, technically ‘Uncooking’ hehe) but my cupboards were looking rather bare. Pecans! I had loads of pecans. So naturally the first thought to pop into my head was PECAN PIE. Yum. But not any old fatty, creamy pie, this pie is raw, sugar free, vegan, gluten free, made with a couple of wholesome, healthy ingredients. You can make them as big or small as you want. You could double the recipe and make one big pie or lots of mini ones. I put mine into silicon cupcake cases and it’s a great size and made them easy to take out, Perfect!
Ingredients
  • For the base:
  • 1 Cup Nuts – I used half cashew, half almond and that worked well
  • 3 Medjool Dates – Or if not medjool, use a few more and soak in water for 30mins before using
  • Pinch of salt
  • For the Filling:
  • 1/2 Cup Pecans
  • 1/2 Cup Medjool Dates (about 6) same as above if not using medjool
  • 1/2 Vanilla bean pod, scrape the seeds out – or a couple of drops of vanilla extract
  • 1-2 Tbsp Water – enough to make the paste soft and smooth
  • Also don’t forget some extra Pecans for the top – amount varies on how big or small you make your pies
Instructions
  1. For the base : In a Thermomix or food processor combine all of the ingredients and blend until the pieces are broken down and stick together when pressed. Spoon evenly into your desired pan or cupcake cases. I used silicon to help with removal.
  2. Press down gently to create a thin, even crust on the bottom and sides.
  3. Put them in the freezer while making the filling.
  4. For the filling: Place the dates, vanilla & pecans in a Thermomix or food processor.
  5. Add about 1-2 tbsp fresh water and blend until smooth and gooey, scraping down the sides often.
  6. Spoon into the chilled crusts and top with extra pecans.
  7. Place in refrigerator and allow pies to set for at least 1 hour.
3.2.2029
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{Slightly} Healthier Ice Cream With Rapadura

Ice cream, lovely as it is, is not exactly good for you. It’s sugary, fatty, and well, yum.

Rapadura Ice Cream

But, it’s summer, and when my children want ice cream, I’d rather give them something full of vitamin C, iron and B Vitamins: enter Rapadura Ice Cream. Now, sometimes I’ll have a nice, healthy yoghurt ice cream on hand, which is by far my preference for the children, but everyone cheats some times.

The rapadura gives this ice cream a really rich, caramel flavour, which I find delicious.

I use my Thermomix to mix this up, but you can use any blender or food processor. It’s also preferable to use an ice cream maker, and if you don’t have one – I don’t – use a steel container. I don’t have one of those easier, so I just use any old bowl, and it works a charm.

 

{Slightly} Healthier Ice Cream With Rapadura
Recipe Type: Ice Cream
Cuisine: Sweets
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 10
I make ice cream in the Thermomix. If you have an ice cream maker, you can use the same ingredients but follow manufacturer instructions. If you have neither, use a regular blender for this recipe.
Ingredients
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 250g cream
  • 250g milk
  • 150g [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/Biona-Organic-Rapadura-Sugar-Pack/dp/B006MW27UG” target=”_blank” title=”Affiliate Link: Rapadura Sugar”]Rapadura [/url]Organic Whole Cane Sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • pinch salt
Instructions
  1. Place all the ingredients into the Thermomix bowl and cook for 5 minutes and 80C on speed 4.
  2. Pour into a freezer bowl, and place into the freezer for 3-4 hours until firm.
  3. Mix it all up again, and return to freezer. Repeat every couple of hours until it is the right consistency, then serve.
  4. If you’re saving it for another day, remove from freezer about 15 minutes before you want to serve.

nutrition

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Cooked Ham Stew Recipe

20130607-232527.jpg

I’m not a massive fan of ham, so when a cooked ham turned up in our organic meat delivery last week, I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with it! It was a cold and rainy day, and I was short on time, so I decided to use up the last of our vegetable box contents, and add the ham to it.

What resulted was one of the nicest stews I’ve ever made! Even Ameli, my three year old, asked for seconds!

I’ve listed below the vegetables we used as that’s what we had on hand, but you can adapt it as you wish.

Cooked Ham Stew
Recipe Type: Stew
Cuisine: Winter, Hearty, Comfort Food
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3-4
I’m not a big fan of cooked ham, but wow, this turned out so well! One of the biggest bonuses of stew is that you can adapt the vegetables to suit what you have in the house. Keep this to ‘mild’ vegetables so as to keep the cooked ham flavour as the prominent one.
Ingredients
  • 1 Onion
  • 2 cm Ginger
  • 3 cloves Garlic
  • 15 ml Olive Oil
  • 2 tbs flour/corn starch
  • 3 large carrots, cut in bite sized chunks
  • 1 sweet red pepper, cut in rings
  • 4 large mushrooms, sliced
  • 5 stalks of runner beans, cut in bite sized chunks
  • 300g cooked ham
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 tsp beef stock or stock cube
  • pepper to taste
  • water to cover
Instructions
  1. Finely chop the onion, ginger and garlic (3 seconds speed 6)
  2. Saute in the olive oil until the onions are soft (speed 1 for 3 minutes)
  3. Add the ham and mix (reverse speed 2) till it’s well mixed.
  4. Add the flour or corn starch, carrots, pepper, beans, mushrooms, paprika, and stock, and cover with water
  5. Boil for 20 minutes, (Veroma, Speed 3, reverse), till the vegetables are soft.
  6. Serve on its own or with bread or noodles.

 

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Wild Garlic And Cashew Pesto

Where my inlaws live, the public bridleway is lined with wild garlic on one side and dandelions on the other. It’s a foragers feast! Last year I picked a shopping bag full of wild garlic, brought it home, cooked with it and stuck a two plants in a pot. They looked as though they were dying, so I forgot about them and got on with the year. Cleaning out the garden this spring, I found four beautiful Ramson plants! I actually did a little happy dance, because I sometimes crave this stuff!

Wild Garlic PestoWild garlic is simply delicious stuff. In the spring it has a much milder taste than late in the summer, and unlike it’s commercial counterpart, you eat the leaves and the flowers, not the bulb (although you could).

Identification: You can smell the garlic before you see the plant. It has broad, spearlike leaves, which smell like garlic, and pretty white, star-like flowers, in a rounded ball shape, which also smell like garlic. All parts are edible, the leaves preferably in spring.

Poisonous lookalikes: The leaves do look a lot like the Lily of the Valley, which is poisonous but doesn’t smell like garlic, and if it doesn’t smell like garlic, it isn’t wild garlic.

Uses: Basically, anything you could do with Basil, you can do with wild garlic. You can make a soup, add it to salads, stir fry with onion and olive oil as a vegetable (instead of spinach, for example), and add a few dandelion heads for colour.

Here’s on my favourite recipes for Wild Garlic: Wild Garlic and Cashew Pesto

(Pine nuts are seriously expensive. Cashews are a lot cheaper, and just as good.)

Wild Garlic And Cashew Pesto
Recipe Type: Dip, Sauce,
Cuisine: Pasta
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 – 6
The amounts in this recipe are rough guides. If you have more or less of an ingredient, it doesn’t matter. Cashews provide the ‘bulk’ in the ingredients, and the Ramsons are very strong in flavour, so while you can add more you don’t need to.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed Ramsons/Wild Garlic
  • 1/2 cup Cashew Nuts
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
  • Pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup Olive Oil
Instructions
  1. If you’re using a Thermomix, place everything in the bowl, and blits on Turbo for 3 seconds and you’re done.
  2. If you’re not:
  3. Crush the cashew nuts
  4. Grate the Parmesan Cheese
  5. Place the salt into a pestle and mortar and add the wild garlic. Use the ‘friction’ of the salt to crush them together.
  6. Add the olive oil for a smooth paste, before adding the cheese and cashews and stirring in well.
  7. Pepper to taste.
Notes
Use as a spread on a rustic bread or as pesto for pasta. Keeps for around 3 days in the fridge. Top with edible Ramson flowers for prettiness.

 

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Four Thieves Vinegar

Healing VinegarFour Thieves Vinegar can be used both for food, and around the house for cleaning and decontaminating.  It can also be put in the bath or used medicinally.

Allegedly, Four Thieves Vinegar is so named after the four thieves who pillaged the homes of Plague victims but were not affected by the Plague themselves. When they were eventually captured, they would have been put to death for their looting, but were instead given their lives in return for their secret.  If you Google Four Thieves Vinegar, you’ll find a few variations on the ingredients. This is the one we use. It makes a pretty good salad dressing, if nothing else.

Four Thieves Vinegar
Recipe Type: Dressing, Cleaning
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Total time:
Ingredients
  • 1 Tablespoon each of: [br]
  • [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dried-Lavender-flowers-200g-www-thespiceworks-co-uk/dp/B004DA9L8A” target=”_blank”]Lavender[/url]
  • [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abbey-Botanicals-Dried-Sage-Herb/dp/B00AGWRDPW/” target=”_blank”]Sage[/url]
  • [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/AbbeyBotanicals-Herbs-Thyme-Leaf-whole/dp/B002AK258I/” target=”_blank”]Thyme[/url]
  • [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lemon-Balm-Love-Cleansing-150grms/dp/B004BAU2F8″ target=”_blank”]Lemon Balm[/url]
  • [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hyssop-For-Protection-Cleansing-50grms/dp/B004BAZTR4/” target=”_blank”]Hyssop[/url]
  • [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abbey-Botanicals-Peppermint-Dried-Loose/dp/B005WGKOAI/” target=”_blank”]Peppermint[/url]
  • 3- 5 Garlic cloves
  • 1 cup [url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/Raw-Health-Apple-Cider-Vinegar/dp/B004JBRVAI/” target=”_blank”]Organic Apple Cider Vinegar[/url]
Instructions
  1. Place the herbs in a large sterile jar and top with the cider vinegar.
  2. Cover tightly and leave in a cupboard for six weeks, till it’s well infused
  3. Strain off the herbs and garlic and use the vinegar as needed.

 

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Raw Caramel Slice


Rawfood, Caramel Slice
I’m super excited to welcome Charlotte as an author on Keeper of the Kitchen. I met Charlotte in Perth, Australia, and I’ve always been so inspired by her adventures in raw food preparation. She makes it look so good, and I’m really chuffed that she’s agreed to share her recipes with us!

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This is a raw, dairy free, vegan (if not using honey!), gluten free caramel slice alternative. I say alternative but for me there is no question which one I would rather eat. This still has high calories like a regular caramel slice but they aren’t empty calories. With nuts, coconut oil and raw cacao powder full of healthy vitamins and minerals there is no reason not to eat this delicious slice. I like to cut it up into little squares and freeze it, perfect for that 3pm sweet craving or to have ready for unexpected guests.

I make it in the Thermomix, but you can make it in any high powered blender.

Raw Caramel Slice
Recipe Type: Desert, Sweets, Raw
Cuisine: Raw
Author: Charlotte F
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 15
Just to taunt you for now – recipe will be up shortly – is this raw, dairy free, vegan (if not using honey!), gluten free caramel slice alternative.
Ingredients
  • [u]Base[/u]
  • ½ cup Medjool dates
  • 1 cup almonds
  • ½ cup cashews
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence[br]
  • [u]Caramel[/u]
  • ½ cup tahini
  • ½ cup maple syrup or raw honey
  • ¼ cup coconut oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • Large pinch Himalayan salt[br]
  • [u]Chocolate topping[/u]
  • 3 tbsp raw cacao
  • 1 tsp carob powder
  • 3-4 tbsp coconut sugar, rapadura sugar or agave syrup
  • ½ cup coconut oil
Instructions
  1. Grind pitted dates and nuts in blender. Add vanilla & blend until it’s sticky. If it’s not becoming sticky add an extra date.
  2. With a spatula or back of a spoon press mixture into a rectangular dish greased in coconut oil.
  3. Blend caramel ingredients together and pour over biscuit base and set in the freezer for 20 minutes.
  4. While the slice is setting, for the chocolate topping blend coconut oil and all other ingredients. The heat from the blender usually melts the coconut oil if it is solid.
  5. Then pour chocolate topping over slice and place back in freezer to set again.
  6. With a warm knife, cut into small squares to serve.