BACK TO BASICS - Fresh Fruit Schnapps

 By early Spring our store of frozen fruit is diminished, or finished. Any dried fruit has long since been eaten. Summer fruits are merely a promise of blossoms in the orchards. There are only a few dwindling jars of sweet preserved fruit. And then the rhubarb emerges with all it's tangy tongue-sucking sharpness, packed with vitamins and the freshness of Spring.

Impatiently I tug out immature leaves and add the stalks to oats porridge, muffins and puddings. Some of the farm children chew the sour stalks raw, dipping them in sugar to ease their bite. The zingy scent of Spring rhubarb sends happy thoughts up my nostrils into my soul.

A kind gift from Kerry, Salt Sugar Smoke by Diana Henry, inspired me to try a new recipe for our Spring rhubarb: Rhubarb Schnapps. The giant leaves on my five emerging plants belied the size of the new stalks that were ready for picking. Undaunted, I just reduced the recipe.

In deference to copyright, I'll not share the exact details of the recipe, but rather the BASIC idea that can be adapted to any fruit liqueur, as the basic principle is the same. We have made cherry and apricot liqueur in the past using the same method.

FRESH FRUIT SCHNAPPS

 Wash and chop your chosen fruit and weigh it. (We used rhubarb stalks)

 Measure out sugar, roughly half of the fruit's weight.

 Leave the fruit and sugar in a clean jar overnight to draw out the fruit juice.

Cover the juicy mixture with vodka or other strong spirit.

Keep the jar at room temperature and shake every day for about a month.

 Strain the liquid into a sterilised bottle and discard the fruit. 

Chill well and enjoy. 

Liquid rhubarb in a glass. 

Delicious.

Brilliant Bread Recipe

 Every now and then I plan to post a BACK TO BASICS recipe. These standby recipes give stretch to my Elastic Mom lifestyle.

I live too far from the shops to buy fresh bread regularly and so on most days I bake a hot, steaming loaf of bread for lunch. Lately, due to frosty weather, our daily bread has frequently been seen gracing the table alongside fragrant bowls of soup. My current favourite bread recipe is so easy and quick to make, and best of all, it is versatile. I vary the ingredients daily, just ensuring that I follow the basic pattern of ingredients. Baking this bread uses up all the odd jugs and jars of dairy products that are lurking in the fridge. I make my own butter and yoghurt, so often have buttermilk and whey, but you can use any milky thing really.


So, here it is:

BRILLIANT BREAD
Turn your oven on to 180 degrees celsius (350 deg. F) - your dough will be ready to pop in the oven before the bread heats up.
Grease a loaf tin. I keep a little oil and a pastry brush in a mug the fridge for quick tin-oiling.
Grab two bowls - one for the wet stuff and one for the dry stuff.

In the dry bowl, stir together :
31/2 cups flour - any combinations of flours will work. (Today it was white bread flour, yesterday it was half white flour and half freshly ground wheat. Just use whatever you have)
1 t salt
1 t bicarbonate of soda (or if using self raising flour, leave this out)
Now add your special ingredient of the day (see below)

In the WET bowl, whisk together:
2 cups yoghurt, or a bit of yoghurt and the rest milk, or buttermilk, or whey, or sour milk, or milk with a bit of lemon juice added to make it sour. (It needs to be sour to react with the bicarb ... to make bubbles ... to make your bread rise.)
2  dollops of honey, or sugar, or syrup. We keep bees, so I dollop the honey from two table spoons.

Pour the wet stuff into the dry stuff. Stir quickly, and spread evenly into the greased loaf tin.
Bake for roughly an hour.

That's it!

Easy-peasy-puttsticks!

Oh yes, if you forget to make it in time for an hour of baking before lunch, (as I did this week) just spoon the dough into a muffin pan and your muffin shaped bread rolls will bake in half the time.

OK, now for those SPECIAL INGREDIENTS. This is what makes your bread brilliant, and keeps your family enjoying the same bread every day. I vary this part according to whatever I have plenty of in the house, or whatever needs using up, or whatever I am in the mood for.

Today I chose to add a handful each of wheat bran and raisins.

Here are some other ideas:
- grated cheese and mixed herbs
- assorted seeds.... sunflower, sesame, poppy, linseed etc.
- grated apple and chopped walnuts
- half a teaspoon of ground cumin or coriander
- crushed garlic and some rosemary
- olives
-sun-dried tomatoes and fresh herbs



Use your imagination and have fun.

Crazy Quick Quiche

I have a stash of versatile BASIC recipes that are quick and easy, and most importantly, ADAPTABLE. This Crazy Quick Quiche is actually a savoury tart masquerading as a quiche.

Remember, as the Queen of Leftovers, I absolutely adore any recipe that uses up those little bits of meat or vegetables that are lurking in the fridge, or a recipe that successfully handles a glut of vegetables from the garden, and this is one of them. This is creative cooking at it's best. The art is in finding the tastiest combinations of ingredients. I go by the philosophy of FOOD FAMILIES. There are just some foods that are meant to be put together -





like chicken and broccoli ,
or how about butternut, feta and toasted sunflower seeds,
or straight sweetcorn and tuna,
or even bacon, mushrooms and tomato with italian herbs,
or pumpkin, walnuts and leeks,
or what about olives, tomato and pesto,
or bacon, peas and potato,
or try going mexican with cooked beans, green pepper, tomato, chili, cumin and oregano
or standard spinach and feta with a sprinkling of nutmeg...

... the combinations are as endless as your imagination.

Today I am using broccoli, sweetcorn and sliced jerusalem artichokes. I often only use vegetables in my quiche as there is already plenty of protein in the meal thanks to the eggs and cheese. This saves any leftover meat for another meal. Yep, Elastic Mom streeeeeeeeetching those resources again.

Another flavourful idea is to shake up some milk in an almost empty jar of chutney, mayonnaise or relish  and use it in this recipe. This uses up every last tasty drop from the jar, making washing up easier,  and adds zing to your quiche. Today I cleaned out a yummy jar of coriander chutney.

CRAZY QUICK QUICHE
Heat the oven  to 180"C or 350'F depending on where you live.
Take a casserole dish and grease it well.
Fry up an onion and put it in the bottom of your dish.
Cover the onion with your exciting combination of chopped vegetables - fresh or cooked.
broccoli /sweetcorn/ spinach / mushrooms, asparagus / butternut / potato / tomato ....etc.
Add in any bits of meat - bacon / chicken / tuna / nuts or whatever takes your fancy.
Sprinkle grated tasty cheese over the top.

In a separate bowl whisk together:

6 eggs
1/2 cup flour
2 t mustard - powder or paste
1/2 t salt
2 c milk (sour milk will also do, as will leftover yoghurt, buttermilk or cream.)
1/3 c oil
some herbs or spices to compliment your tasty combo.

Pour this mixture over your veggie combo.

Bake until set and golden. Serve hot or cold with some bread or potatoes on the side and a fresh salad or cooked vegetables depending on the weather.

I hope you enjoy giving this recipe a try. Keep a lookout for more of my BACK TO BASICS recipes over the next while.