blackberry season

i find it surprising that greek people don't eat blackberries*..they eat dandelions, frogs, snails, intestines..but not blackberries? and they don't eat mushrooms either*! i made a blackberry pie one autumn in edessa for eleftheria my landlady to try..she tasted it suspiciously and reported liking it but she never wanted to go foraging with me and she never accepted any on offer either..

i love them though and last week i was lucky enough to have a foraging day with my daughter alexandra..we didn't get many and the ones we did find were crunchy with seeds and a little past their best flavourwise..

my preserves cupboard is groaning with jam so i didn't want to make jam or jelly with them..instead i made an almond and blackberry cake and meringue nests filled with blackberry puree and cream and garnished with fig leaf dust** and blackberry syrup..that's it for this year's blackberries unfortunately..i had planned to go again with a friend but a daughter's wedding is taking priority over blackberries this year!

almond and blackberry cake

meringue nests with blackberry puree and cream garnished
with fig leaf dust** and blackberry syrup

note

*   my comments are based on the experiences i had while living in greece several decades ago
** i've recently discovered that fig leaves are edible so i dried fig leaves and crushed them to a very fine powder to use as a garnish

further reading

http://www.naturalcuresnotmedicine.com/2013/03/fig-leaves-just-as-healthy-as-figs.html (health benefits)
http://kimberlyshaw.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/08/fig-.html (fig leaf tea)

comments

~ i thought the almond and blackberry cake was a great recipe in which to use my precious blackberries because there were no other competing flavours to eclipse their beautiful autumn flavour..i think it's a versatile recipe that would work with other berries too and it would easily convert to gluten free by substituting the very small amount (40 gms) of plain flour with rice flour or any other gluten free flour


~ i like the flavour of the fig leaf dust..it tastes and smells just like a warm summer day under a fig tree

do you like blackberries or do you they're best left for the birds?

why would you bother?

this is a phrase that my son in law uses when he sees or hears of someone doing something he thinks is a waste of time..it's a bit ironic really because he bothers a lot..he bothers welding bits of scrap metal together to make works of art and furniture..he bothers constructing a quirky metal frame on the flat roof of part of a building and then elevating an old canoe high up onto it and then using it as a planter..he bothers air brushing dozens of life sized wood cutout people..he bothers collecting and storing a huge amount of stuff for work related projects..he bothers project managing the internal construction and outfitting of  various bars and clubs in melbourne where he uses no working drawings or plans but works entirely from his imagination and memory..and he bothers having exhibitions..

'why would you bother' is now firmly entrenched in my children's and my vernacular and it's aways guaranteed a laugh..yesterday when i picked my second and last crop of elderberry umbels for the season with a view to making elderberry jelly i imagined my son in law looking at the seven umbels and saying 'why would you bother?' and those living in lands where they grow like weeds might think the same..but, people, it's not the same deal here in australia..elderberries don't grow everywhere..

there's a bit of irony in where i first discovered them..it wasn't in the uk where i once lived or other parts of europe that i've visited where i know they grow..the first place i found them was 10 years ago in daylesford, in north west victoria, while on a bush walk where i noticed 5-6 trees growing wild along with a few neglected vines..exotic fruit growing in among australian bush might seem a bit odd but the area was once part of the era of the heady gold rush..

i didn't know what the fruit was when i picked the first umbels but i felt sure they were something edible so i took them home and looked the tree and fruit up in my trusty and well used book on fruit trees..when i found out they were indeed edible i boiled the few berries i had with a bit of sugar, strained the juice and had it on yoghurt..after tasting the syrup i planned on visiting again but i never did get back there (it was an 8 hour walk) so then i thought of growing one..four or five years ago when i was planting out my new garden the only place i could find an elderberry was through digger's garden club but i've noticed they're now more widely available..

sourdough semolina and yoghurt roll with elderberry jelly

why would you bother?

because waiting 10 years between tasting the delicious cooked berries again is a long time..and because the colour is truly gorgeous..it would have been even darker and i think the flavour richer had i not used a granny smith apple along with the berries..hopefully next year i will have a bigger crop and i won't have to dilute the jelly with pomes..that's assuming the birds that carole away in it all day don't realise the berries are edible too..

frugal by choice

3 left over egg whites

3 dozen crunchy almond macaroons with amaretto

one $14 box of tomatoes

12 jars of tomato puree

1 large jar of dried tomatoes in olive oil

several glasses of tomato juice (a by product of preparing the tomatoes)
 served with chilli flakes, pepper, salt and worscestershire sauce

about 2 kilos of plums picked from an abandoned orchard and a few apples picked from trees growing by the side of the road

3 jars of plum/apple jelly

 plum 'ice cream' made by processing plum/apple pulp from jelly making
with a frozen banana and drizzled with honey

a quick sweet made with sweetened pureed plum/apple pulp and
 a vanilla egg custard with a sprinkle of cinnamon

yeasted blackberry and apple bread

i bought some apples a couple of weeks ago..i got excited thinking they might be new seasons granny smiths because for me new season's apples and pears herald autumn..the gentle season..the season of muted colours and even temper and clarity in the air.. but even as i bought them they didn't look quite right but i went ahead anyway getting ahead of myself and the seasons..

they sat lingering for ages until i cut one up to see if they were salvageable..inside they were streaked brown through out and looked momentarily as if destined for the compost bin..but me being me just couldn't do that so i cut them up and threw them into a pot with a bit of water and cooked them, mashing them occasionally, until they were soft..i had no idea what i was going to do with them at this stage but i was considering apple jelly..after straining the pulp for 24 hours i had a lovely not brown at all liquid that tasted delicious..

my apple juice thoughts danced here and there but the one thought that stopped me in my tracks was the idea of putting the apple juice in a loaf of bread..that thought was added to another and another..i had more blackberries from another foraging session with one of my daughters and i now had proper new seasons granny's..my thoughts settled and blackberry and apple bread was made..

blackberry and apple bread

tea with hazel

ingredients 

bread dough

400 gms strong bread making flour
100 gms wholemeal flour
apple juice (strained from poaching apples in a little water and lemon juice)
1/2 teaspoon (tsp) yeast
11/2 tablespoons ( tbs) salt (murray river)

filling

2 medium granny smith apples
1 tbs sugar
1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly ground almond meal
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

glaze

1 tbs blackberry jelly
1 tbs boiling water
1 tsp gelatine
1 tsp lemon juice

method

~ mix flour and yeast with enough apple juice to obtain a soft shaggy dough and leave for 10 minutes
~ add salt, mix briefly, rest for 10 minutes
~ mix briefly once more, remove bowl from mixer, cover with greased cling film, and leave until the dough has doubled
~ remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and do one stretch and fold then rest for 15 minutes
~ repeat the stretch and fold cycle twice more
~ dice small the peeled and cored apples and cook with the sugar until just softening
~ mix the bread crumbs, almond meal and lemon
~ roll the dough into an oblong, sprinkle with bread crumb mix, and dot with blackberries and apple
~ roll the dough up sealing the end with a little water
~ place in a greased bread baking tin and leave until doubled or until a finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression
~ bake at 220 deg c (bread baking function) with steam for 25 minutes
~ reduce heat to 180 deg c and continue to bake for a further 20 minutes covering with foil if browning too much
~ mix the glaze ingredients well until the gelatine is dissolved using a bain marie if necessary
~ glaze the loaf as soon as removed from the tin


notes:

~ i purposely didn't add any sugar to the dough or the bread crumb mix because i didn't want a sweet loaf
~ i cut the loaf way too soon so it looks a bit doughy in the photo
~ for me the flavours worked well..not too sweet with a lovely apple and blackberry flavour that wasn't eclipsed by the subtle but welcome hint of lemon

it doesn't feel like autumn here in melbourne with temperatures over 30 deg c for another week but it's not going to stop me celebrating its imminent arrival..

this post submitted to yeast spotting

rose geranium and blackberry spanish creams

spanish cream was one of the few summer sweets my mother used to make for me and my siblings when we were young..i remember liking the texture of it but being a bit ambivalent about its flavour..i was disappointed to find i felt the same when i made it myself once many many decades ago..the memory of it and a desire to make it again remained in the recesses of my mind until today when i was thinking about how i might best use some close to 'use by date' milk..i experimented by infusing rose geranium leaves in the milk and putting blackberry jelly mixed with chambord in the base of the moulds..

rose geranium and blackberry spanish creams
serves 6

adapted from here

ingredients 

550 mls full cream milk ( i used unhomogenised organic) 

50 mls double cream

3 tablespoons (tbs) castor sugar

5-6 rose geranium leaves washed and dried

5 leaves gold strength gelatine 

3 eggs separated

blackberry jelly

chambord

6 blackberries 

method

~ wet the moulds, shake out excess water and place 2 teaspoons (tsp) of blackberry jelly and 1 tsp chambord in the base of each mould 

~ place the milk, cream and the rose geranium leaves in a saucepan and bring the mixture to the boil stirring to prevent scorching

~ remove from the heat and add sugar stirring until dissolved

~ remove the geranium leaves

~ beat egg yolks and add about 1/2 cup of hot milk/cream a little at a time* while stirring 

~ strain the egg/milk mix into the remaining milk/cream mix 

~ pour the mix into the top of a double boiler and heat** for 3-5 minutes while stirring 

~ cut the gelatine leaves into four and put in a bowl of water for a minute or two until softened

~ remove the pan of milk mix from the heat, add well squeezed gelatine leaves, and stir until dissolved

~ place the pan of custard in an ice bath and stir occasionally until cool

~ once cool beat the egg whites until stiff

~ mix a little of the egg white into the milk and then fold in the remaining egg white

~ divide between the moulds and refrigerate for 2- 3 hours until set

serve 

unmould the creams on to serving dishes and garnish with extra blackberry jelly/chambord mix and a blackberry

notes: *   to prevent curdling

          ** do not boil

so what did i think? 

i think the combination of the soft rose geranium flavour and not too sweet custard was complimented by the slight tang of the sweet jelly/chambord

i'll definitely be making it again 

blackberry clafoutis

we took off east last week to go in search of blackberries again after our meagre pickings out west the previous week..as soon as we arrived at the spot i had in mind we spied the burgeoning bushes..in a short amount of time we filled our containers and we could have continued to pick an almost unlimited amount but we were constrained by a lack of containers and the heat..i've eaten quite a few of the 3 kilos i picked, made a blackberry syrup, frozen about half a kilo and today i made a blackberry clafoutis..

blackberry clafoutis
tea with hazel

ingredients

350 gms blackberries

330 mls milk

60 gms cooled melted butter

60 gms plain flour

80 gms sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

extra butter

1 tablespoon extra sugar

method

~ heat oven to 180 deg c

~ butter a 2 litre oven proof shallow dish

~ place berries in the baking dish

~ beat eggs, add flour and butter, and beat well until flour incorporated

~ mix in vanilla, milk and sugar

~ strain mix over berries

~ cook for 30 minutes

~ sprinkle with extra sugar and continue to bake until the top is browned and the custard is just set (mine took 10 more minutes) 

serving

serve warm

i served it with a spoon of double cream and a drizzle of chambord


note

i don't like clafoutis too heavy or sweet so i have adapted my recipe over time to suit my preferences

it's worth it

they drove north west into the open landscape and were surprised by how dry it was

it didn't rain in january they said 

the blackberry bushes growing close to where she used to live were parched

leaves berries and canes all withering helplessly 

she remembered somewhere else

close to the railway bridge over riddell's creek

a huge oak lovingly arching its massive branches

offering solace from that heartless celestial orb

nestled into the shoulder of the railway embankment

there're only a few small blackberries they said

they picked fingers stained scratched and bleeding

it's worth it they said

from wikipedia

blackberry and elderberry jelly

tea with hazel

ingredients

blackberries and elderberries* (a fork easily removes elderberries from their stalks)

filtered water

sugar

lemons

method

~ wash berries well, pick off any remaining stalks, and drain well

~ place berries in a large saucepan and just cover with water

~ bring to the boil and then simmer gently until the berries are soft

~ once they are soft mash the berries with a potato masher

~ pour the berries and juice into a jelly bag or muslin lined colander placed over a large bowl

~ place in the fridge once cooled and leave to drain for 24 hours (for a clear jelly don't squeeze the bag) 

~ measure the juice and for every 600 mls use 450 gms sugar and the juice, pips and pulp of one lemon

~ wrap the lemon pips and pulp in muslin and tie securely

~ put the berry juice, sugar, lemon juice and muslin sachet in a large saucepan and put on to heat

~ heat gently stirring until the sugar granules dissolve

~ increase heat and boil vigorously until the jelly reaches a good set**

~ pour into sterilised jars***

notes: *   this year, for the first time since i planted my elderberry, i have managed to pick a few umbrels but alone they were not enough to make a jelly so i added them to the blackberry jelly

           **/*** go here for information on jam/jelly set, sterilisation and other useful jam making tips

a lot of effort for only one 750 ml jar of jelly
but it's worth it!