Homegrown & homemade recipes

HOMEGROWN & HOMEMADE

This month FRAN STEVENS, aka The Food Wife, shows you how to prepare a few delicious summery homemade treats for you and your friends!

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED STRAWBERRIES

I’ve been thinking about homemade edible gifts, full marks if they are homegrown too! The strawberry plants on my allotment are in flower and I’m eagerly anticipating the arrival of the berries (I’m also anticipating the slugs will get to some of them before I do too).

So at the moment I’m relying on punnets of shop bought strawberries but it won’t be long before I can harvest my own or indeed you can visit a PYO. These are super easy to make. Make and eat them fresh (within a day or two). Use them as a garnish on a dessert or as the dessert if you are hosting a dinner party or bring a box of them if you’re the guest.

Ingredients Approx. 100g chocolate (white, milk or dark) per 300g strawberries

Method Carefully wash the strawberries and dry them (gently!) using a clean tea towel.

Melt your chosen chocolate (if making these gluten-free and/or dairy-free use an appropriate chocolate) either in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water (don’t let the bowl come in contact with the water) or in a bowl in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring after each time.

Line a tray with baking paper, and then use the stalk to hold each strawberry as you dip it in the molten chocolate. Use a spoon to help cover then gently shake off any excess and carefully place on the paper. Leave a gap between each one so they don’t stick together. Allow to set in the fridge and store in the fridge until ready to eat!

DANDELION HONEY

Makes approximately 1L (3 jam jars) About a year ago I heard about dandelion ‘honey’ being used as an alternative to honey for vegans. I was intrigued. I gave it a go and am really impressed. The flavour and texture are a perfect substitute!

It’s important to pick dandelions that are pesticide free and away from popular dog walking areas (for obvious reasons)! You can scale down the quantities here but this should make three good sized jars.

Ingredients Approximately 200 dandelion heads 1 unwaxed lemon, sliced 1.5L water 1.2kg caster sugar

Method Thoroughly wash the dandelion heads (I do this in a clean sink full of fresh water). Place the clean dandelion heads, the lemon and the water in a heavy bottomed pan. Bring to the boil and simmer, for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and leave to cool and steep overnight. Simmer the dandelions and lemon and then allow to steep overnight.

Drain the liquid through a muslin or fine sieve. Discard the dandelions and lemon. Place the liquid back into the (clean) pan and add the sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer until the mixture has reduced and thickened (this took me about an hour and a half). Remember it will continue to thicken as it cools. As it cooks it will darken too. Pour into sterilised jars and seal.

The high sugar content should mean that this will keep a long time.

RHUBARB GIN

Makes approx 900ml

Rhubarb is one of my favourite flavours. I’m also rather partial to gin. Marry the two together? Sign me up!

This takes four weeks to brew (boo!) but the good news is it is quick to put together. You need only four things: a good quality gin, raw rhubarb, caster sugar and a large, sealable vessel (I used a 2L mason jar). Also, don’t forget to keep your empty gin bottle to decant back into afterwards.

If you use forced rhubarb the result will be beautifully bright pink, or use regular rhubarb, as I did, and you are left with a more subtle shade, but either way the flavour is all there! I like to serve mine as a fizz - simply pour a 50ml measure of rhubarb gin into a fluted glass and top up with a sparkling wine of your choice, delicious!

Ingredients 240g white caster sugar 600g rhubarb, cut in to 2-3 inch pieces 70cl good quality gin

Method Combine the three ingredients in your container and seal.

Leave for four weeks, shaking every few days to mix everything up.

After four weeks, strain the liquid and decant into your gin bottle (you will make slightly more than the original amount of gin so make sure you’ve got an extra bottle to decant the last little bit into).

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