White Currant Jelly-Jam

One of my work colleagues brought some bags of white currants into work for us to help ourselves to.  Well, it would be rude not to, so I brought home a little bag marked 8oz White Currants.  As it was such a small amount currants I wanted to do something that would make the best of them so I did what I usually do and had a search on the internet and found this recipe for White Currant Jam from The Well Seasoned Cook.

It's a strange one, not quite jam, because you sieve the berries, and not quite jelly as it has a slight thickness from the white currant flesh.  Mine looks more like jelly than the picture on The Well Seasoned Cook, so I decided to call it White Currant Jelly-Jam.  It tastes similar to red currant jelly although I think it is a little sweeter, I love the peachy colour which develops as the berries cook and it sets really easily.


Here are some other ideas for fruit jellies that you might like to try

Kavey's Apple Lemon Verbena Jelly - Kavey Eats
Crab Apple Jelly - Fuss Free Flavours
Rochelle's Grape Jelly - It's Not Easy Being Greedy 
Spiced Apple Jelly - Foodie Quine
Plum Jelly: Sunshine in a Jar - Kavey Eats


I'm entering this recipe for the No Waste Food Challenge at Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

Labels: berries, currants, jam, jelly, preserves, summer, white currants

posted by Janice @ 22:20 10 Comments

Slow Cooker Challenge August - Preserves

August is a month of plenty and a time when traditionally we preserve the fruits and vegetables from our gardens and markets by making jams, jellies, curds, chutney and relish and even some bottling and canning.  The Slow Cooker is ideal for making some preserves and can be used for softening the fruit for those that need a rapid boil on the stove to bring to a set.

Apple and Apricot Chutney

To celebrate the World Jampionships, which take place in August,with winners announced in September, your challenge this month is to make a preserve in your Slow Cooker, write about it on your blog and link the post to the Linky below.



If you would like to take part, then please: 

• Make your recipe in your Slow Cooker and post a photograph and the recipe, or a link to a recipe, on your blog
• Link to Farmersgirl Kitchen
• Use the Slow Cooker Challenge logo in your post
• If you use twitter, tweet your post with @FarmersgirlCook and #SlowCookerChallenge and I will re-tweet it to my followers AND post your picture on the dedicated Pinterest Board. 

Rules: 

• Please do not publish recipes from cookbooks on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
• If you are using recipes from another website, please link to the recipe on the website rather than publishing the recipe.
• One entry per blog.
• Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

Labels: August, chutney, Curd, jam, jelly, preserves, relish, Slow Cooker Challenge, world jampionships

posted by Janice @ 10:20 6 Comments

Rhubarb, Rose and Elderflower Jellies and a Giveaway

I did warn you that rhubarb was going to feature quite frequently on the blog as 'tis the season! These jellies were inspired by the fabulous natural cordials and presses produced by Belvoir Fruit Farms a family run company based in Lincolnshire.

Most of us have had a little glimpse of summer, at the weekend, when I took this photograph, although there was a cool breeze blowing, the sky was blue and it wasn't raining!  I know that further south it has been much warmer and summer drinks are definitely on the menu.  I've tried all four of these drinks and must declare them totally delicious.  They are not too sweet, very fruity and the presse is not too fizzy and very refreshing.  The Cranberry and Raspberry (lurking at the back) was probably my favourite, but they are all very good.

I was inspired by the Elderflower and Rose Presse to make the jellies as I know that elderflower goes well with rhubarb and the pale pink rose colour complements the colour of the young poached rhubarb.

Rhubarb, Elderflower and Rose Jellies (makes 6)

6 stems of young rhubarb cut into even pieces
2 tbsp granulated sugar
500ml Belvoir Fruit Farms Elderflower and Rose Presse
4 sheets Gelatine (Supercook)

1. Heat the oven to 170C
2. Place the rhubarb into an ovenproof dish, add 50ml Elderflower and Rose Presse and 2 tbsp sugar.
3. Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the rhubarb is just tender (check regularly)
4. Soak the sheets of gelatine in cold water as per the packet instructions.
5. Remove the rhubarb from the oven and drain the juices into a measuring jug, squeeze the water from the gelatine sheets and add to the hot liquid, the gelatine should melt into the liquid immediately.
6. Top up the liquid to 500ml with the Elderflower and Rose Presse.
7. Place a few pieces of rhubarb in each of the glasses and fill with the jelly mixture.
8. Chill in the fridge until set, this quantity of gelatine gives a fairly soft set, you can use more if you like a firmer jelly.

Printable Recipe


Belvoir have recently launched a range of five new products all with an English garden theme and I have five gift sets to give away comprising a Sophie Conran gardener’s journal and matching enamel mug plus 4 bottles of Belvoir products.

Gardeners Journal

Sophie Conran

Enamel Mug

To enter the giveaway, follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter Widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Labels: Belvoir, Blueberry and Blackcurrant, cherry, cordial, drinks, Elderflower and Rose, Fruit, jelly, presse Cranberry and Raspberry, rhubarb, Sophie Conran

posted by Janice @ 20:25 31 Comments

Jewelled Jellies!

I don't often have the opportunity to use my crystal jam dishes, but for our New Year Day lunch, I filled them with two gloriously vibrant and aromatic jellies bought from local artisan suppliers.

The golden jelly on the right is Clove Apple Jelly produced by Sarah from Creeside Charcuterie to her grandmother's recipe. When I met Sarah at Drumlanrig Christmas Fair, she told me that her gran made this every year from a recipe entitled 'Cinnamon Apple Jelly' but she never made it with cinnamon, always with cloves!  I'm so glad that Sarah decided to continue the tradition and make this jelly, the taste is reminiscent of clove rock, without quite such a sugar rush.  If you have never eaten clove rock, it's hard to explain the flavour, not quite apple pie (my mum always put cloves in the apple pie), it's more intense than that, with a spicy kick at the back of your tongue. It is the kind of taste which is an ideal accommpaniment to cold hams and the lovely terrines and pates that Sarah also makes.

The pretty pink jelly is made by Margaret of By Heck. Margaret makes a wide range of jams, jellies and chutneys which she sells through local farmers markets. I love the unusual hedgerow jellies she has created, this one is Rowan and Crab Apple Jelly.  The rowan adds a mild chilli-like heat to the jelly and it is not too sweet, again perfect with cold meats such as the baked ham we enjoyed yesterday. By Heck doesn't have a webpage, so I've linked to the information about the business on the Savour the Flavours directory.

This isn't a PR or sponsored promotion, I just wanted to share my pleasure in this fabulous produce, from the South West of Scotland.  What are your favourite locally produced preserves?

Labels: By Heck, Clove Apple Jelly, Creeside Charcuterie, jelly, Rowan and Crab Apple Jelly, Savour the Flavours, South West Scotland

posted by Janice @ 15:23 4 Comments

Jubilee Chicken

As a child I was always told that you had to eat all your main course before you were allowed any cake.  But I broke that rule and showed you the 'Elizabeth Sandwich' before you saw the rest of our Jubilee tea! 

When I decided to have this tea, I knew where to look to find a delicious main course. This is Mary Cadogan's Jubilee Chicken, a take on Coronation Chicken - and I used this recipe 10 years ago for the Golden Jubilee. 

I had filed away the page from BBC Good Food Magazine but it is also available on the BBC Good Food website: Jubilee Chicken

We also had finger sandwiches with egg, ham, cheese and, of course, cucumber!  I made some mini scones and filled them with my mum's homemade strawberry jam and piped whipped cream.

Then there was my red, white and blue jelly.  Raspberry, lemon and blackcurrant jellies went into this, just ordinary bought table jellies, it was a bit of fun.  Thank goodness for my Tupperware Jelly mould which unmoulds every time due to the clever way it has been designed with a lid on the top and bottom which allows you to release the vacuum and let the jelly drop down.

And a last glimpse of the Elizabeth Sandwich which took pride of place.  I hope you had a lovely time over the Bank Holiday for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, I'd love you to tell me what you did and what special food you made for the Jubilee in the comments.

Labels: BBC Good Food, Chicken, Elizabeth Sandwich, jelly, Jubilee chicken, Mary Cadogan, salad, sandwiches, Scones, Victoria Sponge

posted by Janice @ 19:37 6 Comments

Strawberry Jelly

Now I know that Delia will be frowning and tutting at me, but I didn't make my own jelly for this, I took my inspiration from Delia's Summer Collection but also from her Cheat cookbook!  So I used a Robertson's strawbery jelly and added sliced strawberries which had been quickly mascerated in a teaspoon of caster sugar and a squeeze of lime juice.  Set that in a loaf tin lined with clingfilm and you have something quite impressive.

Labels: jelly, mango sorbet, strawberries

posted by Janice @ 19:42 8 Comments

Chicken Pot Pie and Plum & Raspberry Jelly

I was inspired by a recipe for a 'Lighter Chicken Pot Pie' on The Bite Me Kitchen Blog. I can't remember the last time I made I made Chicken Pot Pie, but I do remember the first time I had it. My dad worked for a US company and often went to California and Arizona on business. The first time he was able to take my Mum with him was in 1975 when I was 16, it had been arranged for me to go to Belgium to visit friends there for my holiday and my older sister was working during vacation from university. When Mum returned she brought with her an 'American Cookbook' and this was one of the recipes she made from it that we all loved and became a familty favourite.

I decided to make it yesterday, because of a mix up over whether my MIL needed any supper on Friday, I thought she didn't and apparently she did! So I used one of the chicken breasts that I had planned to have on Saturday, this left me with less chicken so I used the idea from The Bite Me Kitchen of bulking it up with lots of veg. I didn't however, go for a pastry topping, but the 'biscuits' as per the original recipe.

I have actually got my own copy of the book Mum brought back from the states (I bought it in 1979 when I first went to California), but it was jammed in behind the new kitchen units, so I just made a basic unsweetened scone recipe. OMG it was good though, the biscuits were soft and deliciously buttery (that would be the butter lol!) and the chicken and veg were sweet and tender in their luscious gravy.

When the kitchen is finished I'll dig out the book and post the recipe but it is really just chicken, onions, carrots and peas thickened with flour and sauced up with chicken stock, then the biscuit/scones on top.

I had some plums left over from last week's plum crumble and they needed used up. I poached them with some sugar and cinnamon then added a raspberry jelly (jello), topped up to 1 pint with orange juice and let it set. Served with Greek Yogurt (sorry Vegboxboy - no cream again!)

Labels: biscuits, Chicken, greek yogurt, jelly, Scones

posted by Janice @ 18:42 12 Comments