Conference turris::cooks

    I'm currently collecting this years crop of elderberries.. I make Jam
    (Jelly) - tastes very similar to grape jam, elderberry ketchup - (you
    just can't beat it!), crumble (I used 1/3 elderberry, 1/3 blackberry
    and 1/3 apple) and elderberry vodka can't be beat!  Simply empty the
    vodka bottle, fill half full of elderberries, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and
    pour back in the vodka (1 bottle of vodka will do two bottle of
    elderberry vodka) - cap and store until Christmas - decant and strain.

    You can make pies with elderberries but I find they are best mixed with
    another fruit such as blackberry or apple.

    I've got a ton of recipes - I'll post them on Tuesday when we get back
    after the bank holiday.

    gailann

    One thing about elderberries though.   Make sure they are really ripe -
    good and purple (at least for the English ones;  some American
    elderberries are red).   I was always told in England that unripe
    elderberries are  "poisonous."   Whether they are as poisonous as
    deadly nightshade, I don't know, but I imagine the unripe ones can give
    you a nice case of the eliminations at the very least.
    
    Joan

    
    
    	I always eat them raw, never a problem but they aren't real full of
    	flavor this way until dead ripe.  
    
    	I'll make a pie or two this year-just be ready to 'crunch,crunch', 
    	and have had the homemade wine and jam(again crunch crunch)
    
    	Never heard of them being poisonous.
    
    	Chuck
    

    The following information comes from the GAILANN elderberry information
    service...
    
    "The Elder, a common hedgerow plant and a member of the honeysuckle
    family, has always been linked with magic, both good and evil, since
    earliest times.  It was seen as a potent force, to be respected or it
    could do you great harm.  One of the most widespread beliefs was that
    the Crucifixion cross was made from Elder wood - as  seen in this
    rhyme from Scotland, where it is known as the Bourtree:
    
    	Bour-tree, Bour-tree, crooked rung
    	Never straight and never strong,
    	Ever bush and never tree
    	Since our Lord was nailed to thee.
    
    Various medicinal cures were attributed to the elder - everything in
    fact from warts and epilepsy to toothache and rheumatism."
    
    And now for some recipes...
    
    Elderberry Sauce
    ================
    
    Preheat the oven to 250F (130C) (Gas �).  
    
    Wash 2lb (900g) ripe elderberries, place in an ovenproof dish with 1/2
    pint of vinegar and cook at the bottom of the oven for about 30
    minutes.  Remove from oven and leave to stand overnight.  
    
    The next day, press the fruit to release the juice, then strain into a
    saucepan.  
    Add 4 peeled and finely chopped shallots, 
        1 teaspoon (5ml) salt, 
    	6 cloves,
    	20 black peppercorns and
    	2 pieces of root ginger.
    
    Boil for about 10 minutes, then strain, pour into jars and seal with
    preserving skin.  
    This sauce, very good with fish, has a long shelf life.

    these recipes are reproduced without permission (except from Gailann)
    from some book from Gailann(!)
    
    Elderberry and Apple Pie
    ========================
    
    1lb (450g) cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
    1/4 pint (150ml) (2/3 cup) dry cider
    4 tbsp (60ml) (1/3 cup) clear honey
    6oz (175g) (1 1/2 cups) elderberries, stripped from their stalks
    sweet crust pastry
    beaten egg, to glaze
    
    Put the apple slices in a bowl.  Blend the cider and honey together in
    a pan over a low heat.   Bring to simmering point and stir into the
    apples.  Fold in the elderberries.  Leave to cool.
    
    Roll out two-thirds of the pastry and use to line a 7" (18cm) pie dish
    that is at least 2" (5cm) deep.  put in the apples and berries with
    some of the juice,  roll out the remaining pastry and use to cover the
    pie.  Press the moistened pastry edges together with a fork.  Brush the
    top with beaten egg.
    
    Bake in the oven at 400F (200C)(Gas 6) for 30 minutes or until golden
    brown.
    
    Serve hot, with thick cream or Greek yoghurt.
    
    (slobber slobber)

    Hedgerow Jam
    ============
    
    Makes 4-5 jars
    
    1lb (450g) Elderberries
    1lb (450g) Blackberries
    1lb (450g) Cooking apples
    8oz (225g) Sloes
    4oz (125g(?!)) Shelled hazelnuts
    3 pints    Water
    3 1/2 lb (1.6kg) Granulated sugar
    
    Wash and pick over berries.  Peel, core and chop apples.  Remove stalks
    from sloes.
    
    Place fruit in a pan with hazelnuts and water.  Bring to the boil and
    simmer till soft.  Skim off sloe stones that rise to the surface with a
    draining spoon.
    
    Stir in the sugar and boil vigorously till mixture begins to thicken. 
    Test for setting point by dropping a little jam on to a cold saucer -
    it should be fairly thick and form a skin on the surface.  
    
    Ladle jam into warmed, sterilized jars and cover with waxed discs and
    cellophane covers.
    
    Store in a cool dark place.

    Elderflower Sorbet
    ==================
    
    1 lemon
    4 heads of elderflower
    6oz (175g) Caster sugar
    1 pint (560ml) Water
    1 egg white
    
    Thinly pare rind from lemon and squeeze out juice.  Wash and drain
    elderflowers.
    
    Put sugar and water in a pan and heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves. 
    Add lemon rind and elderflowers, bring to the boil and cook rapidly for
    6 minutes.  Remove from heat and leave to cool.
    
    Stir lemon juice into pan.  Strain into ice-cube trays and put in
    freezer or freezing compartment of fridge until crystals begin to form.
    
    Whisk egg white in a bowl till stiff.  Turn half-frozen mixture into a
    bowl, mush with a fork, then fold in whisked whites.  Return to
    ice-cube trays and freeze till firm.
    
    Freezer life : 3 months.  To use, thaw for about 10 minutes at room
    temperature.
    
    Serves 4

    Elderberry Vinegar
    ==================
    
    "A powerful vinegar, very dark in colour and extraordinarily strong in
    its elderberry flavour.  This vinegar adds a distinctive touch of autumn
    to sauces and dressings, and keeps indefinitely."
    
    1 1/2 lb (700g) elderberries 
    1 pint (600ml)(2 1/2 cups) white vinegar
    1 lb (450g)(2 cups) granulated sugar
    
    Cover the elderberries generously with water in a pan and simmer for 20
    minutes, partially covered.  Cover and leave until cold.
    
    Strain off the juice into a pan - there will be about 1/2 pint
    (300ml)(1 1/4 cups).  Add the vinegar and sugar and stir well over a
    gentle heat.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the
    liquid becomes syrupy and clings to the spoon.
    
    Pour into bottles and seal.
    
    Makes 2 pints (1.1 litres)(5 cups)
    
    
    Blackberry Vinegar
    ==================
    
    "This dark red, slightly sweet vinegar is beautifully spicy and full of
    the flavour of ripe blackberries.  It is delicious in salad dressings. 
    use it instead of wine vinegar either in a vinaigrette or mixed with
    soy sauce and a little garlic to make an Oriental-style dressing."
    
    4 tsp (20ml) cloves
    4 tsp (20ml) allspice berries
    2 3" (7.5cm) cinnamon sticks
    1 pint (600ml)(2 1/2 cups) white vinegar
    2lb (900g)(4 cups) granulated sugar
    2lb (900g) blackberries, hulled
    
    Tie the spices in a muslin (cheesecloth) bag.  Place in a pan with the
    vinegar and sugar.  Dissolve the sugar over a gentle heat, then bring
    to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the blackberries and simmer
    for a further 10 minutes.  
    
    Leave to cool completely, then strain into clean bottles and seal.
    
    Makes 2 pints (1.1 litres)(5 cups)

    Elderberry and Crab Apple Chutney
    =================================
    
    "This chutney matures well - you can keep it for several years and it
    improves all the time, so long as it is kept well-sealed."
    
    8oz (225g)(2 cups) onions, skinned and minced
    1 pint (600ml)(2 1/2 cups) vinegar
    1 1/2lb (700g) elderberries, stalks stripped off
    1 1/2lb (700g) crab apples, cored and sliced
    8oz (225g)(1 1/3 cups) sultanas (golden raisins)
    1 tsp (5ml) ground ginger
    1 tsp (5ml) ground allspice
    1 tsp (5ml) ground cinnamon
    1 tsp (5ml) cayenne
    4oz (100g)(1/2 cup) salt
    8oz (225g)(1 cup) sugar
    
    Put the onions with water to cover in an aluminium preserving pan. 
    Simmer for about 5 minutes until tender. Strain and add a third of the
    vinegar and all the other ingredients, except the sugar.  Simmer until
    all the elderberry juices are drawn out and the mixture thickens.
    
    Add a second third of the vinegar and simmer again until thick.  Add
    the rest of the vinegar, and the sugar, and simmer until thick, and no
    liquid is visible when a wooden spoon is drawn through the mixture.
    
    Pack the chutney in warm, clean jars and cover.  Seal.
    
    Makes 6 lb (2.7 kg).
    

    Elderberry Catsup
    =================
    
    "Based on an old English country recipe, this 'catsup', or ketchup, is
    presumably the forerunner of the ubiquitous 'brown' sauce found next
    to the salt and pepper on many a table.  Elderberry catsup is rich,
    fruity and full of autumnal flavour."
    
    3/4 pint (450ml)(2 cups) malt vinegar
    1lb (450g) ripe elderberries, stripped off their stalks
    4 shallots, skinned and sliced
    1/2 tsp (2.5ml) salt
    1 slice fresh root ginger
    1 blade of mace 
    40 peppercorns
    12 cloves
    
    Boil the vinegar and pour over the elderberries in a glazed earthenware
    dish.  Stand, covered, in the oven at 225F/110C/Gas 1/4 overnight. 
    Strain.
    
    Put the liquid into a pan with the shallots, salt and spices, then boil
    for 10 minutes.  Leave to cool.  
    
    When cold, bottle and store for at least 1 year - it is said to be at
    its best after 7 years!  Strain before using.
    
    Makes 1 1/4 pints (750ml)(3 cups)

    
    
    
    	To determine when Elderberries are at the proper ripeness, 
    	check the trees often.  When you see that most of the
    	berries have been eaten off by the birds, you will know that
    	they ripened the day before.....
    
    	Chuck
    

    re .6:
    
    What's a "sloe?"
    

    "the blackish plumlike fruit of the blackthorn"
    
    -- from which the ligueur "sloe gin" is made among other things.
    
    Now, what's a blackthorn?  And where does one find sloes?
    
    ed

>> And where does one find sloes?
    
    In the hedgerows of South Wales (UK!)
    
    
    Anyone care to tell us how to make sloe gin?
    
    Maybe this topic should be renamed to hedgerow recipes...!
    
    Jane.

    My friend and I just made this year's supply of sloe gin - 4 big
    bottles!  We picked the berries in the woods that morning.  We also
    made a more modest batch of elderberry gin and blackberry gin... the
    method is the same with any berry you wish to use:-

    1 bottle
    enough berries to fill bottle half full (hard berries like sloes need
    to be pierced first - soft fruit you need not bother)
    equal amount of sugar to fruit
    gin or vodka to fill bottle.

    Place berries in bottle - add sugar - pour over gin or vodka to fill
    bottle - make sure you tip the bottle around to allow the booze to fill
    all the air bubbles!  Cork and place in a cool, dark place until
    Christmas (make in September or early October for Christmas)

    When you think about it give the bottle a little shake from time to
    time to mix the sugar and encourage the berries to bleed. 

    Decant, strain and put in clean dry bottle with a well fitting lid.

    gailann