Pear Brandy Liqueur

Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such. – Henry Miller

Golden moments, captured in liquid form? I suppose this liqueur could be considered such.

The scent of ripe pear is a golden moment of autumn. Close your eyes, lift a pear to your nose, and breathe deep. It’s the smell of a well won harvest, of garden labour winding down, of pride in accomplishment.

All in one small, yellow orb.

It’s a nostalgic smell. And it’s one to counter the weeks of cold and wet still ahead. “Farch,” the term coined by local writer and consultant Jim Meek to describe the seeming eternity of February and March in Nova Scotia, is very apt.

There’s really only one caveat for this recipe. Get a ripe, very fragrant pear. It has to have the aroma you want to capture. So look weird, smell the pears in the produce section.

Yes, I may be on a strict diet right now, but I will not always be so. And then I’ll be able to enjoy a sip or two – on occasion – of this wondrous golden liquid.

If you want to capture a few rays of autumn sunshine to brighten this winter, try this liqueur. It’s so very easy, and so delightful.

Pear Brandy Liqueur
Time: 1 week  |  Yield 750ml  | 20% alc/vol (estimate)
375 ml (1 pint) brandy
1 medium pear, fragrant
2 whole cloves
1 cup sugar
1-1/4 cup water

Wash and slice the pear into 12 wedges. Combine the brandy, pear and cloves in a jar. Seal and let steep for seven days. Shake gently once per day.

At the end of the week, strain the pear and clove from the brandy, reserving both. I used a fine sieve lined with eight layers of cheesecloth.

The fruit will discolour. This is normal.

Combine the sugar, water, pear slices and cloves in a saucepan. 

Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Strain the syrup through the cheesecloth again, pressing gently on the pear slices to extract the juice. Then combine with the brandy. Bottle and seal.

The liqueur should last 6 month unrefrigerated if stored in a cool place out of direct sun.

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Chicken, Fruit & Wild Rice Pilaf

Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship. It is of great importance to the morale. – Elsa Schiaparelli

I’m in need of a morale boost this month. I made a distinctly wrong decision by stepping on the scale last week. Not a good idea. I’m in need of dropping quite a few pounds. 

I KNEW those tight pants were telling me something... Against my hopes, it was not an evil conspiracy hatched by the clothes washer and dryer.

I have an ugly habit – I’m a boredom eater. While sitting in front of the TV in the evening, my oft-time companions are ice cream, cookies or potato chips. Kind of like the twins in The Shining with an extra sister... So I’m starting to pay much more attention to what I eat.

I know that January is the “guilty” month so weight loss is what we’re being pedalled by the media. But this morning on CBC Radio the hosts were talking about weight gain and age, and how people of my vintage start to see changes in body shape.

The browned chicken balls, onion and garlic.

Great. Just great. But I will not go down without a fight. I may even pull out the big gun in this battle: exercise (shudder). I’m a rather sedentary creature—even more so since Henry our dog passed away—which I know will come back to bite me in future if I don’t do something about it.

So I have a lot on my plate, metaphorically. But I will succeed. And the first step is what goes into my mouth, as opposed to that which falls out, like this post.

This is an “under 500 calorie” dinner. I succeeded and it was quite delicious and filling, to boot. You don't really have to suffer while watching what you eat.

I’ve broken out the calorie count for each ingredient (number is for whole ingredient) so you can see where the big calorie items are. Those with zero or one calorie are not listed. Six servings does not give heaping platefuls, but the rice and chicken are quite filling, and the sweet fruit rounds it all out nicely.

If course, if you’re not in need of low calorie meals, feel free to make this recipe four servings, two servings, or even just one! We all know how that ends... :-)

Warm Chicken, Fruit & Wild Rice Pilaf
Prep and cook: 1 hour  |  Serves: 6  | 437 calories per serving
1 cup wild rice (478 cal)

Chicken and fruit. Covering the pan not only finishes cooking
the meat, but also partially re-hydrates the fruit as steam collects.

1 cup chicken stock (86 cal)
3 cups water
1/4 tsp salt
chicken balls:
1 lb lean ground chicken, breast (496 cal)
1 cup bread crumbs (427 cal)
1 tbsp finely diced onion (6 cal)
1 tsp yellow mustard (3 cal)
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp mint
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
remaining:
1 tbsp olive oil (120 cal)
1 cup chopped dried apple (290 cal)
1/2 cup dried cherries, whole (268 cal)
1/4 cup pecan pieces (340 cal)
1/4 cup diced onion (16 cal)
1 garlic clove, minced (5 cal)
1/2 cup orange juice (55 cal)
1 tbsp corn starch (30 cal)

The sauce is key. It adds a moistness to the dish that it
otherwise would not have. It makes it more of a "meal."

Combine the rice, stock, water and salt in a saucepan. (If stock is heavily salted, omit salt). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 45 min, or until about half the rice has begin to split open.

While the rice is cooking, make the chicken balls. Mix together all the ingredients listed for the chicken balls. Using slightly moistened hands, roll into 3/4” to 1” balls. Heat the oil in a wide sauté pan with a lid. Cook the balls until browned, being careful not to break them apart as you turn them. 

Then add the onion and garlic and sauté until slightly softened. Reduce the heat to medium low. Add the pecans, apple and cherries and cover. Let cook for 5-6 minutes, until chicken balls are cooked through.

Mix together the orange juice and cornstarch. Add to the pan and cook until thickened.

Drain rice, carefully fold together and serve.

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Chicken Tropicana for wintry weather

All we need, really, is a change from a near frigid to a tropical attitude of mind. – Marjory Stoneman Douglas

No winter weather inside this pot. Nope. None at all.

We’re 24 hours away from what Environment Canada is calling a “weather bomb.” Apparently in a day and a half I will be looking out on a front yard that has up to 50 cm of snow. So much for spring.

Not a whole lot of ingredients have
to be bought.

Firmly in the "got lemons, make lemonade camp," this recipe will at least make you think of tropical places and summer fun. Sometimes the best cure for bad weather is to make the best of what you can do inside. Spring will come. I guarantee it.

Cooking is always therapeutic when a snowstorm hits. A tried and true favourite for me is to make bread. There’s something about the smell of homemade bread that can drive away even the deepest weather blues.

So is the smell of fried chicken. Double down with mango and pineapple and you’ve got a recipe that will make you entirely forget what’s going on outside.

There are a couple caveats with this recipe, but they both have the same basis: sugar. 

There’s a lot of natural sugar in pineapple and mango, so you can easily burn the chicken when you fry it after it’s marinated. Usually you can fry chicken on medium high or even high. Not this. Use medium temperature.

The same holds true when you are reducing the sauce. It can start to stick if you don’t stir it occasionally. So watch the pot.

This recipe takes a little while, but what else will you have to do while the snow is piling up?

The chicken marinating. Note the use of a glazed clay pot.

Chicken Tropicana

Marinade: 2 hours  |  Cook: 40 min  |  Serves 3-4

6-8 chicken thighs

1 medium sweet onion, diced

2 cups cubed mango, can be frozen

2 limes

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp cumin seed

1 L pineapple juice

salt and pepper, to taste

2 plum tomatoes, diced

1 tsp sugar, optional

1/4 cup cilantro

Place the diced onion in the bottom of a non-reactive pan (non-metal). Layer the chicken on top, then the mango, chilli and cumin. 

Pour enough pineapple juice in to just come to the top of the chicken. Squeeze the juice from one lime on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Marinate for 2 hours on the kitchen counter, or overnight in refrigerator.

After marinating, remove the chicken and fry skin side up over medium heat in a sauté pan that has a lid. As the chicken fries, fat will render out. Cook until browned on both sides, but not cooked through. Watch that the chicken doesn’t burn. Remove to a plate.

Discard all the collected fat except for about 1 tablespoon. Add the marinade and tomatoes to the pan. Cover and cook on medium, stirring occasionally, until the mangoes and tomatoes have softened. Add more pineapple juice as needed to keep it as a liquid.

Once the sauce has reduced to small into chunks, nestle the chicken into the sauce, cover and cook on medium-low for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.

Remove the cover, turn heat to medium and cook until sauce has thickened. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. Now is also the time to add the additional sugar if desired. Stir in the cilantro about 1 minute before serving. 

Just before serving, squeeze the juice from the remaining lime on top of the chicken. Serve with rice.

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Cranberry Rum Liqueur

Let's be naughty and save Santa the trip. – Gary Allan 

Christmas, in liquid form.

We’re not exchanging Christmas presents this year. With the expenses we’ve occurred in moving, etc., and my business just starting to build, it doesn’t make sense. Especially when most people don't need what you give.

The leftovers from the infusion.

Think about your gift shopping... Do you have trouble buying for some people? That’s a good indication that there’s not really anything they actually require. You may very well just be contributing to the clutter they have in their house.

So, if you feel you must give something, why not something that can be used up? Try gifting baked goods, or other homemade items. How about a liqueur? That’s almost always appreciated, unless the recipients don’t drink.

There are some signature tastes of the holidays – and I don’t mean fruitcake. Face it, very few people like fruitcake. So don’t do it. Another signature taste is turkey, and another is cranberry. 

Since turkey is notoriously difficult to drink, why not introduce the tartness of cranberries and cinnamon into a liqueur? That's sure to be a hit. It was one of the favourites I made two years ago. 

You have to infuse the cranberries and spices into the rum. It takes one month but if you start now you’ll have it ready in time for the holidays.

The infused liquor is a very beautiful cranberry red. It tastes of spice and cranberries, just like what you would expect. (Most homemade liqueurs will last unrefrigerated for 3-4 months.)

Drink it chilled “straight up” or use as a mixer in any number of vodka, rum or even whiskey-based cocktails this Christmas.

The 375 ml bottles and corks are easy to get. Look in any wine kit store. Tie a bow around the top, attach a gift card and you’re good to go.

Cranberry Rum Liqueur

Time: 4 weeks  |  Yield: 4 x 375 ml

2 1L Mason jars

4 cups fresh cranberries, chopped

1 medium orange, quartered

2 x 2” cinnamon stick

12 whole cloves

750 ml Demerara rum (or Amber)

3/4 cup brandy

2-1/2 cups white sugar

2 cup water

Divide the chopped cranberries, orange, cinnamon, cloves and rum between two Mason jars. Seal well and let steep for 4 weeks shaking periodically. 

After the month, strain through a fine sieve or cloth to remove all the solids. Press to extract as much juice you can. Stir in the brandy. You should have about 1L of liquid.

Place the sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 7 minutes. The syrup will make a little less than 1L. Remove from the heat and let cool. Add the syrup to infused liquor. Cool slightly and then fill four sterilized 375 ml bottles.

This liqueur will improve if left to sit for two further weeks, but can be used right away (if you can’t wait). After all, you’ve already waited a month…

Photo: Urban Mixer, Flickr ccl

Here’s a drink recipe using this liqueur for a festive gathering. Attach a hand written card with the recipe to each bottle. This version of the classic Crantini is a blend of sweet, sour, spice and tart. Be careful. They’re deceptive!

Crantini

1 oz Cranberry Rum Liqueur

2 oz vodka

1 oz cranberry juice

cinnamon sticks (optional)

Coarse sugar for rimming the glass

lemon wedges

Rim each glass with lemon juice. Dip into coarse sugar to coat.

Pour the liquid ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into the garnish martini glass.

Serve with a cinnamon stick as a swizzle for more spiciness.

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Flowering Quince Jam!

The important thing is that men should have a purpose in life. It should be something useful, something good. – Dalai Lama 

Not too sweet, and "floral." No other way to describe it.

This is a re-post from last year but bears repeating. It’s the perfect time to go out foraging the flowering quince. Yes, they are useful, and make something quite delicious.

Photo: fyrefiend, Flickr ccl

Flowering quince can be a bit of a test of your tenacity. We have one under a front window that was planted far too close. There is no way we have been able to kill it, and the root is too large to move. Currently it is buried under a hill of dirt. That will probably only make it angry.

I would love to have one in a more practical spot, especially now that I know a “secret.” You can use the fruit to make jam.

Everyone knows the bush I’m talking about. It’s actually quite breathtaking in bloom – literally covered with hot-pink flowers. This bush's botanical name is Chaenomeles speciosa.

Quince in the store are Cydonia oblonga. Cydonia are not winter hardy in Nova Scotia.

Any recipe that uses those quince can use flowering quince fruit. The flowering quince fruit is smaller, so if a recipe calls for a specific number of fruit be aware that you’ll need more. Cydonia quinces can be the size of apples.

Remove seeds and obvious blemishes.

You can "forage" your flowering quince from your own, or your neighbour's bush. They probably won't have a use for them and will look at you strangely when you ask to pick.

Because of our growing season don’t expect the quince to be ripe as you would expect an apple to be ripe. They will be as hard as rocks – and almost as difficult to deal with. They also will be somewhat green/yellow outside. If you can, pick ones that have started to yellow.

It’s also best to wait until the frost hits them once or twice. This helps develop the internal sugars. But don’t try to bite into one. It will either break your teeth, or suck all the saliva out of your mouth. They are unbelievably astringent. Smell the quince – it should have an pleasant, unusual, floral aroma. This translates into your jam.

I’m actually quite amazed that such a nice jam can be made from something so unpromising. When you're making the jam it does a magic trick close to the end of cooking time. It turns from yellow to quite a lovely orangey red º– almost the same colour as the flowers!

Quince makes a very old-fashioned and unusual jam. It has a bright flavour that is unlike anything else. It also is not overly sweet which makes it very different than other jams and jellies.

This is what it looks like at the start.

Quince are high in natural pectin so all you need is the fruit, sugar and water. They also contain more Vitamin C than lemons.

Flowering Quince Jam

Prep: 45 min  |  Cook: 45 min to 1 hour  |  Yield: 3+ cups 

Adapted from Simply Recipes

4 cups finely chopped flowering quince (between 5-7 fruit)

3-1/2 cups water

juice of one orange

zest of one orange 

3 1/2 cups sugar

*1/4 cup Grand Marnier (optional)

Unless you are used to making jelly, use a candy thermometer for this.

And then, miraculously, it turns this colour!

To prepare the quinces first wash the fruit well and remove any obvious blemishes. The ones I picked had some dark spots on the skin, which I didn’t remove. Bruises were removed.

Quarter the quince and cut out the cores. This may take some doing. They are very hard. 

Chop the quince in a food processor – or a chef’s knife – into small pieces. Measure out 4 packed cups of fruit.

Place the quince, water, orange zest and juice in a stock pot. Simmer for 10 minutes to soften the flesh. then add the sugar, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium low.

Cook the quince until a thermometer reads 220°F. This is the jelly stage. It may take 45 minutes; it may take an hour; it may take longer. 

Stir occasionally to ensure the jam doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Skim off any "scum" that forms on the surface.

Once ready, prepare your canning jars by sterilizing the glass, rings and lids in very hot water. Fill the jars leaving a little head room. Place the tops on and tighten the rings on top.

Turn upside down and let sit on the counter for 1/2 hour. Flip over and let cool completely. The lid should be dimpled down to show that the jars are vacuum sealed. If they aren’t, refrigerate. Better safe than sorry.

I used Dollarstore cage-top jars. Since there was no way I could know if they were sealed, I refrigerated mine.

* If adding the Grand Marnier, stir it in after the jam has reached 220°F and is off the heat. The extra liquid will make a slightly softer jam but I wouldn't worry. It certainly won't make it runny.

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Thai Beef with Lychees

Revenge is sweet and not fattening. – Alfred Hitchcock

Have you ever eaten lychees? They can often be found fresh in the grocery store. They have a red, nubbly husk. Inside is a large seed surrounded by sweet, white flesh. You can also find them canned in the fruit or “international” aisle.

Photo: sugree, Flickr ccl

Lychees are pretty sweet—sweeter than any of our local fruit—so I was a little leery when I concocted this recipe. But I wasn’t too worried because there are similar recipes floating around. I also had a steak that needed cooking, and a can of lychees that had been hanging around without a use.

I was kind of surprised that this recipe wasn’t as sweet as I thought. It’s no sweeter than pineapple chicken or sweet and sour recipes, although a little on the “junky” side.

Maybe that’s what the attraction is for me. It’s a little un-authentic. Although – as far as I can figure – it is close. Fruit goes very well with beef, so it’s a good match.

If you’ve never eaten lychees you should do yourself a favour and try them. They’re an amazing ingredient.

Lychees are amazingly versatile. Some easy to find recipes are cucumber lychee salad, gorgonzola and lychee dip, various lychee salad dressings, lychee muffins, and lychee glazed roast chicken. See what I mean? 

For my own part, I have posted a fried calamari dipping sauce that uses lychees. It’s one we recreated from one of our favourite Halifax restaurants, Vinnie’s Pasta Bar on Inglis Street.

So if you’re up for some Asian food, buy a can of lychees and go to town. This recipe makes enough to feed 3-4 easily as a main course with rice.

Thai Beef with Lychees

Prep: 15 min  |  Cook: 15-20 min  |  Serves 4

1 lb beef, cut into strips

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp corn starch

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

pinch of salt

1 530 ml can lychees in syrup, halved (reserve syrup)

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

2 dried red chillies, chopped (or to taste)

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1” piece fresh ginger, diced

1 bunch green onions, sliced

salt and pepper, to taste

the sauce

1 cup lychee syrup, reserved from can

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp corn starch, mixed with some of the syrup

Prepare all the ingredients before you start. It makes life far easier.

Thinly slice the beef and place in a bowl. Add 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp cornstarch, pepper and a generous pinch of salt. Toss well to coat and set aside.

Drain the lychees (reserving 1 cup of the syrup) and slice in half. Slice the red pepper and place with the lychees in a small bowl. Slice the green onions.

Chop the red chillies, garlic and ginger and set aside. Mix all the sauce ingredients together in another bowl. Now you’re ready. 

Heat a generous tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok. Add half of the beef and stir fry just until no longer pink. Remove to a bowl and add the rest of the beef and cook. Then remove it as well. 

Scrape the bottom of the wok if there is a brown crust, and remove it. If not you won’t be able to fry the aromatics.

Add a little more oil and stir fry the chillies, garlic and ginger for 2 minutes. Then add the lychees and red pepper. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes and then add the beef back to the wok.

Pour in the pre-mixed sauce. The mixture will thicken almost immediately. Add the green onions, some salt and cracked black pepper, toss and serve with hot rice.

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Sweet Apricot, Pepita and Flax Bread

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. – George Bernard Shaw 

Lots of progress and change going on here recently – in many facets of life. It seems one hurdle is just vaulted and another one rises in front of you. The vicissitudes of life...

Last Friday it was a new furnace; the week before a new roof shingle job; a month before a new drilled well. Today it's a front door.

The door was needed. We had an attempted break-in before we were living here daily. They smashed the front glass but couldn’t get in. Bastards. I "patched it with plexiglass. Quite inelegant.

Although it was a nice heavy wooden door, the old glass was single pane so wasn’t very energy efficient. So in goes a vented steel door with argon glass. Should not only make the front look nicer but save on heating costs. Sweet.

But what does that have to do with bread? Nothing, really. But man cannot live by doors alone. We do need bread – especially for those quick snacks. My spouse at college needs bread, too (even though he may not totally agree) – as well as his “landlady,” a good friend.

So baking I did. Two loaves. One for the chef and one to help out. This one’s not your run-of-the-mill loaf. It’s packed full of apricots, pumpkin seeds and flax, so hopefully it is a little healthy, too.

I love my no-kneading breads. They do take time (a day, or overnight) but dovetail easily with a busy schedule, much like mine recently.

Of course the pepita and flax can be changed. Try walnuts or any other rough chopped nut, or quinoa, or whatever. Variations are endless.

For added sweetness I used molasses, but honey could be substituted, too.

If you’re looking for a slightly sturdy loaf (most with fruit are) this is one you should try. It was quite delicious, still warm, and slathered with butter!

Sweet Apricot, Pepita and Flax Bread

Prep: 10 min  |  Rise: 8 hrs  |  Bake: 30 min  |  2 loaves

5 cups flour

2-1/4 cups water, 110°F

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

1/2 cup shelled pumpkin seeds, unsalted

1/2 cup flax seeds

1/4 cup molasses

1 tbsp yeast

1 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a large ceramic bowl. Knead to bring together and then knead in the bowl for an additional 3 minutes.

Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel. Let rise on the counter for 8 hours.

Once risen, punch down and divide in two. Fold each piece with your hands into two logs, each able to fit in a 4x8 buttered bread pan. You may need to use a little flour to do this.

Place the loaves in the pans, dust with flour and let rise again until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 450°F with a pan of water on the bottom rack. Bake the loaves for 10 minutes with the water bath, then remove the water and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.

The loaves are done when nicely browned on top and sound hollow when tapped with your fingers.

Remove from the pans and let cool on a wire rack.

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Questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks? Just ask! I’ll answer quickly and as best as I can. If you like this post feel free to share it. If you repost, please give me credit and a link back to this site.

Blueberry & Lemon Pound Cake

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. – Winston Churchill 

This does NOT look like failure.

I’ve been to my secret blueberry patch again. It seems that they’re just about peak right now, even though I first went up to pick some a month ago. That’s a long time for blueberries to hang around.

It took me no time at all to gather 4 cups of the wondrous dark blue darlings. But now I have a slight problem. What should I do with them? It’s easy enough to put them in a bowl with cream and sugar, but what’s interesting about that? Not much, I dare say – although delicious.

I have had occasion to doubt my abilities with the oven lately. I’ve made a couple cakes that were absolute flops. As you can imagine, they ended up in the compost as opposed to our stomach. I used to be able to bake...

Whatever the reason for failure—haste, inaccurate temperature, insanity—I felt the need to “prove” I could do it, at least to myself. Lack of confidence is a terrible thing. For me it’s deadly. I do the cooking.

So always one to get back onto the horse that threw me, I launched myself into a blueberry cake. To mitigate my chance of failure I pulled out an old friend: the Quatre quarts recipe from Larousse gastronomique, the bible of all things food.

Quatre quarts (pound cake) is an English invention of the 1700s. It consists of equal measures of flour, sugar, eggs and butter. In English recipes each weighed a pound. As you can imagine, this sort of recipe was a godsend to illiterate masses who couldn’t read a cookbook even if they had one. Easy to remember, easy to do.

The leavening in a classic pound cake is only air whipped
into the eggs and sugar.

The leavening was/is accomplished by beating the heck out of the sugar and eggs until you have a very creamy, very light coloured and fluffy mass. Not everyone had access to baking powder or soda in the 1700s, or their forerunner potash.

This really is “the” classic cake as far as I’m concerned. It has just a few, readily available ingredients and is easy to put together. You can easily tell when your sugar and eggs are ready for the flour and butter.

But I had to change the original recipe from a straight vanilla cake to blueberry and lemon. Somehow I succeeded without bollocks-ing it up. I did add some baking powder to help. Soda and powder act in acidic batters to help rising. Lemon juice = acidic, so it seemed right to do. 

The result? An ever-so-slightly lemony cake studded evenly with beautiful, sweet wild blueberries. The classic “crack” down the centre is just a aesthetic bonus.

I’m vindicated. I can bake (again)! But I still have well over 2 cups of blueberries...and will be going back for more.

Blueberry & Lemon Pound Cake

Prep: 15 min  |  Cook: 1.25 hr to 1.5 hr  |  Yield: 1 loaf

1-1/2 cups wild blueberries*

2 tbsp flour

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs

2 cups flour

1 cup salted butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp grated lemon rind

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Butter a 5x9 loaf pan and sprinkle with enough sugar to coat well. Toss the blueberries with the 2 tbsp of flour. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cream the sugar and eggs together in a mixer. After about 5 minutes the mixture will get very light and fluffy.

Turning the mixer to low, incorporate 1 cup of flour followed by 1/2 cup butter, alternating again to include all of both. Then add the vanilla, baking powder, juice, rind and nutmeg and beat for a further minute. Fold the berries and any flour left in the bottom of the berry bowl into the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place in the hot oven.

Bake for 1 hour and then check for doneness. The cake is fully baked when it pulls away from the sides, has the characteristic bump down the centre with a crack in it and a cake tester (or toothpick) inserted in the centre of the crack comes out perfectly clean.

If in any doubt at all, bake the cake longer. (That was my downfall with my failures.)

Let cool slightly on the counter, then remove from the pan. Slice as you serve.

* Cook’s tip: chill the blueberries before tossing with the flour. Once you take them out of the refrigerator they will have a slight dampness that helps the flour stick.

Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

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Homemade Raspberry Wine Vinegar

Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike. – J. K. Rowling

The vinegar after infusing, but before straining out the solids.

We used to have a beautiful straight row of ever-bearing raspberries in our backyard. “Used to” are the operative words. My neglect certainly has done them no good service. It's difficult to maintain everything in a yard when you're only there 2 days out of every 2 weeks. That's no longer the case.

Pretty sad looking... Hopeful for next year.

Over the years my beautiful raspberries were taken over by wild rose and goldenrod. I couldn’t have done them any more harm if I had been working actively against them. But I do like them. Quite a lot actually.

So early this summer we cleaned out the patch, now “spotty” and about four times as wide as it was, to give them room to come back. I have my fingers crossed. There's also logan berries hiding in there somewhere...

If you have a small place in your yard I highly recommend purchasing raspberries. They come in an “ever bearing” variety. So if you have enough canes you can have a steady supply for quite some time. 

Raspberries fruit on second year wood. That means the new green stalks this year will give you fruit the next. After fruiting you can cut out the old, dry brown stalks. They won't fruit again.

Unfortunately for me – this year – I’ll have to rely on the grocery store. either fresh or frozen. Frozen are available year-round and are more than acceptable for making fruit vinegar, but they can be a little sour. 

Image: Wiki CC

If buying fresh berries be a little careful, especially if they’re on sale. When raspberries go on sale it means one of two things: either the raspberries are tasteless, or they’re about to go mouldy. In my experience it’s usually the latter. Check the bottom of the package.

“On sale” means you should get them either into you, or into a preservative or jelly within 24-48 hours. Infused vinegar is a great way to extend your enjoyment of  these delicious summer berry.

Raspberry vinegar can be drizzled over a salad “as is” or mixed into vinaigrette. You can also add it to sparkling water for a deliciously different summer refresher. Sprinkle it over melon or other berries, or use in marinades for pork, poultry or fish.

The only concern in making fruit vinegar is the overall acidity of the finished product. It has to be acidic enough to preserve whatever natural flavourings you have introduced. Raspberries have a pH about 3.2 to 3.6. The other ingredients affect the final pH as well.

The closer you get to 7 pH (neutral) the faster your vinegar needs to be used. For example, fruit may potentially lower the pH a little because juice is introduced; herb vinegars probably do not.

There’s a useful online guide that shows the pH of many common foods. Look here if you want to try other fruits in vinegars. You can find it at

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/food-ph-d_403.html

Natural raspberry flavours fortified with white wine and white wine vinegar makes this a delight both in the mouth and under the nose.

Homemade fruit vinegar also makes a really nice gift. I use small bottles available at any wine-making store. They’re 375 ml and very affordable. This recipe filled two bottles with enough for me to try it out. If you want to enjoy this outstanding vinegar more than a few times, or gift it, you may want to make a double batch.

Raspberry Wine Vinegar

Yield: 2 x 375ml + a little extra

1 cup white wine, dry or sweet (about 4% acidity)

2 cups white wine vinegar (6% acidity)

1/4-1/3 cup sugar, depending on berry sweetness

2 cups fresh (or frozen) raspberries

Bring all the ingredients just to a boil in a saucepan. Place in a sterilized 1 L Mason jar and let sit for 7 days.

After it sits, strain out the solids through a sieve lined with cloth or a jelly bag. I extracted a lot of vinegar by gently squeezing the cloth. Too much will force pulp through the cloth and cloud the vinegar a little.

Bottle and keep in a cool place out of direct sunlight. This vinegar will last at least 6 months.

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