Yoghurt and Whortleberry Compote

This is just the thing to have with leftover compote.... taking some mighty fine yoghurt mixed with my whortleberry compote for a delicious summer breakfast. You can of course add some cereal but who would want to with this great combination.

Summer Beetroot Soup

I first tried a summer beetroot soup some years ago at the garden of Margery Fish - the great cottage gardener based in East Lambrook, Somerset. It was that combination of fresh beetroot and tomatoes that made this soup so divine. It truly goes down in memory as one of the best soups I have ever had. Riffing on that theme of beetroot and tomatoes I created my own version with the addition of a little chilli. A great friend of mine calls this the ticklish beetroot soup on account of the chilli content.

Now, the key to a great soup is the thickness. What marks out a great homemade soup is the thickness. Can I emphasize the fact anymore? This is the joy of plenty in the summer months; you can have the thickest, most luscious soup with no extra cost. You try the tin soup and really they do not compare (can you buy beetroot soup anyway?)

But I digress....

Serves 4/5

4 medium beetroot, peeled and chopped
4 large tomatoes
1 chilli
1 onion chopped
1 stock cube
Some tap water
seasoning
Olive oil

1. Gently fry the onion in the olive oil for 10 minutes to gently brown.
2. Add some chopped chilli (you can add some dried chilli if you wish).
3. Add the chopped beetroot and tomatoes and cook for 30 to 45 minutes with enough water to just about cover the mixture.
4. Add a crumbled stock cube.
   
5. Whizz up in a food blender or liquidizer.
6. Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.
   

Honey Cake and Whortleberry Compote

After a recent visit to Hugh Fernly-Whittingstall's River Cottage Canteen in Axminster where we had the most devine honey cake with blackcurrant compote I thought I would make a local version with whortleberries (see my post on whortleberry jam). I make no claim to the honey cake - find the recipe on-line at the Guardian. It's a great recipe and well worth trying. It is moist and syrupy.... and the ground almonds add the right amount of granuality. I found some great local honey in order to try this dish.

To make the compote: Take your left over whortleberries and tip into a saucepan. Add 3 or 4 tablespoons of sugar and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately or just place in a jar and keep for those unexpected breakfasts.

White Currant Soup

I could not turn down a bag of white currents that was offered at my local transition town meeting. The question was what exactly to do with them. Sorbet - hmmm perhaps, some sort of tart sauce for some fish - possibly, or maybe, just maybe a soup. I had recently heard about summer soups on the great podcast KCRW Good Food and decided to go for the unusual and make myself a cold soup out of these white currants. Apparently fruit soups are quite popular in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.... I couldn't resist. Armed with a recipe for a Polish blueberry soup I set about making this odd soup.


Serves 2 to 3

400g/500g white currants
1 ltr of water (pretty rough estimate)
1/2 ltr of milk (I used goats milk which seemed to work quite well)
1 vegetable stock cube (this was my addition and perhaps not necessary)
2 tbsp of cornflour
1 tbsp of sugar (or to taste)

1. Bring to a boil the white currents and water. I put in enough water to just about cover the white currants.
2. Simmer for about 10/15 minutes or so to allow some of the fruit to burst.
3. Sieve the liquid to get rid of the pips. I used some butter muslin and made a terrible mess so my advice is to use a metal sieve.
4. Return the liquid to the cooking pan.
5. Combine the cornflour and milk to make a paste and add to the soup to thicken.
6. Cook for about 5/10 minutes to eliminate the floury taste.
7. Add sugar to taste. I added about a tablespoon to get a very tart soup but add as much or as little sugar as you wish.
8. Chill the soup. I really do not recommend eating this warm.
9. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt.

My verdict. Well, it is very refreshing soup and I am sure on a hot day it will be very welcome. But the British summer has not been up to much of late and eating this soup on a rainy and chilly day did not tick all my food boxes. This is one of the oddest soups I have ever made, and it sure is a talking point. Make it on a very hot day to refresh and revive.

Whortleberry Jam

More wild food and one of my favourites. I have very happy memories of climbing on the local Quantock hills and picking these whortleberries as a child; scrabbling amongst the heather, gorse and bracken for this very subtle and tart berry. The whortleberry is generically known as the bilberry... an unassuming berry smaller than the blueberry but perhaps a little more charming.

It grows on moorland in little shrubby clumps. The season is quite short; dependent on the year's weather and location the season is from July to August. The berry has many great qualities; apparently it is high in vitamins C and D and according to the Whortleberry Tea Room second world war pilots would eat whortleberry jam to improve their night vision. Big claims indeed. So after some marathon 'berrying' sessions I decided to put all that great fruit to use in a jam so we could eat it all winter. (This hasn't happened as we have now given much away in a fit of good neighbourliness - have to go out again to pick more!). So after consulting many recipes for whortleberry jam I decided to go with a very ancient recipe from an old jam and preserve book with a little addition of a lemon. This is where I resort to imperial measurement just for convenience.

Makes about 3 * 225 g jars of jam

1 lb whortleberries (picked over for stalks and leaves, washed and dried)
1 lb preserving sugar (choose the one recommended for strawberry jam which is high in pectin)
1 juiced lemon

1. Firstly, gather your implements: one large saucepan or preserving pan (should be made of stainless steel and not aluminium), 2-3 saucers placed in the freezer, a wooden spoon, a heatproof jug, a plentiful supply of sterilised jars (you can wash the jars and place in a hot oven to dry off), some wax paper discs (you can buy these or cut them out yourself - but believe me it is easier just to buy them), and washed lids.
2. Ensure that the size of the pan is adequate to contain all the ingredients safely (jam does splutter a bit so only fill the pan halfway)..... I could only do a pound of fruit to a pound of sugar at a time but if you can manage it try and double the recipe. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes giving it a stir to ensure all the sugar is distributed in the jam. Whortleberries like strawberries are low in pectin which allows jam to set. To compensate for this it is important to use preserving sugar that is high in pectin. I also added the juice of a lemon (citrus fruit and apples are high in pectin) to ensure it set well.
   
3. Now comes the difficult part of assessing whether your jam will set or not. Retrieve a saucer from the freezer spoon a dollop of jam onto the saucer. Allow to cool and them gentle with a finger push the jam. If it wrinkles the jam should be ready.
4. Get a few jars ready with the wax paper discs and lids at hand.
5. Pour your jam into the jug to transfer to your jars easily.
6. Pour into the jars. Try to leave only about a 2 mm gap at the top.
   
7. Place a wax disc wax side down into the jar.
8. Seal with a lid and allow to cool. You can reuse your old jam jars but ensure that you have the right lid for your jar. When you put the jam in the jars and screw on the lid after it cools it should now be sealed. On most jam jars there is a little 'button' on the top. Once your jam has cooled you should not be able to push the button. If you can then use that jam straight-away and put in the fridge.
9. Produce some labels with the date of production and enjoy!