Redcurrants

How pretty do these little jewels look on a plate, add to super sweet meringues, some double cream and a dusting of icing sugar.  For extra sweetness, as the redcurrants are tart, you can add icing sugar to the cream, how about a a few drops of vanilla essence too.

I remember my grandmother having loads of these bushes and she used to spend ages taking all the currants from the stem by putting them through the fork tines to gently strip them off.  Having had a search around I find a handy video....not my grandmother!
remove currants

I posted a summer pudding recipe a while back that is always good to fall back on, super easy to make, just needs to be done in advance:
Summer Pudding

Also available are gooseberries and raspberries - for the next few weeks:

Not into puddings well how about red currant gin:
Red currant gin

Quail Eggs

We have been lucky enough to have a few quail eggs each week, for the last few weeks, and I know I puzzled over what you could do with them, so have had a search around to see how long they take to cook and a few ideas how to serve them.


So one blog post I found suggested cooking them for 4 minutes for hard boiled and around 2.5 minutes for soft boiled.  This was to add them to already boiling water.

There seems to a range a recipes out there, where there seems to be a lot of work with a tiny egg, adding them to a raised pie, making them into scotch eggs, but I think it best to keep the simple, this recipe on the BBC site looks simple and delicious for a lovely light lunch.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/smoked-salmon-quails-egg

Have you bought any yet - how did you cook yours, would love to hear.

And then of course like all good things there is a lot of information out there why they are so good for you :)

Benefits of quail eggs

It starts by saying: Quail eggs are packed with vitamins and minerals. Even with their small size, their nutritional value is three to four times greater than chicken eggs. Quail eggs contain 13 percent proteins compared to 11 percent in chicken eggs. Quail eggs also contain 140 percent of vitamin B1 compared to 50 percent in chicken eggs. In addition, quail eggs provide five times as much iron and potassium. Unlike chicken eggs, quail eggs have not been know to cause allergies or diathesis. Actually they help fight allergy symptoms due to the ovomucoid protein they contain.

And another interesting fact the plural of quail is quail.....

Chutneys, Pickles & Jellies

Chutneys and pickles are available around Christmas time and then are available whilst stocks last.  They are made in the autumn to preserve the bounty of fruit and vegetables that are available in late summer.  As they are best eaten after the flavours have matured for a few weeks this makes Christmas the perfect time to start the new chutney.  They will last for months unopened.

Perfect to eat with cold meats, quiches, sandwiches, cheeses.  So of course perfect to eat with your cold turkey on Boxing Day.

We often have jellies, such as quince and crab apple jelly which are perfect for savouries dishes and roast meats.

So I thought you would like to see a quick step by step making chutney :)  Lots of fresh ingredients from the garden, along with some other items that are grown a long way away.





Then all chopped up and ready to start cooking, I bet you can almost smell the aroma of it starting to cook now.









Then after a lot of cooking it is then put into jars.

Then it has to sit on the shelf for a few weeks, to let all of those flavours mature, it will be perfect for Boxing Day.

Savoury Turnovers

We have tomatoes and courgettes for sale on the market at the moment, and they should be available for quite a few weeks now - here is a simple idea to use them.











Roll out a pack of puff pastry (half at a time might be easier), and cut into 12 squares in total.

Chop an onion - red would be good and fry it gently, then add some courgette - diced or sliced which ever you prefer. Put this mixture from corner to corner, and add some diced feta and some sliced tiny toms - make sure it looks attractive at the ends, add some seasoning and herbs.  Fold over the two corners, and seal with milk or egg. I brushed with milk - or for a shinier finish brush with beaten egg.

Cook them for about 15 mins in a fairly hot oven, I always guess these type of things but sure the pastry pack will give guidance.

Runner Beans

Runner bean season is upon us now, and we will be having some locally grown on the market over the next few weeks.  Sadly we do not have as many as years ago due to members moving away...so if you have a glut you know where to sell them, you don't always have to be selling items to join...check out our join us post.  We also have french beans - just as an aside.

I have childhood memories of my parents with a load of runner beans that they had grown on the allotment, and no freezer  - yes really - we didn't have a freezer...they only became affordable and popular in the late 60s early 70s - I think we had one before other people as we had so many vegetables that needed freezing! see it tells you all about it here: http://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_britain/70s/70s_high_tech_household.html :) .


I remember us all in the kitchen with a bean slicer at the kitchen table, piling them into glass sweet jars - you know the type that sweetshops have boiled sweets and salting them as a way to preserve them.  I have just found a link here to prove that I wasn't going crazy... http://www.1900s.org.uk/1900s-preserving-beans.htm
and then delving a little bit further it seems as though some people recommend this way of preserving over freezing - here is a youtube video and HFW-forum.



I personally remember them tasting quite salty, but that may not be accurate - I was a bit fussy as a child!  And I am pretty sure that my parents added more salt to cooking than I have ever done, and maybe they didn't rinse them enough?


So back to the bean slicer you fed in the beans and turned the handle a bit like a mincer...it was clamped to the table.  I have searched around and it was a bit like this one - ours used to have a little gadget on the top that you slid the beans along to 'string' them, no most of the varieties are stringless anyway.  I wonder if my parents still have it?

We do have a modern hand held one - no where near as quick, and not so much fun as we all had turning the handle.

Raspberries

The first pickings of raspberries will be available on Ampthill Country Market on Thursday, I love raspberries.  Along with fresh raspberries this week there will be jam to follow in the next few weeks as well.

We had homemade Raspberry muffins at the weekend, that my other half made using a square muffin tin, so thought I would share the recipe with you, delicious with a blob of vanilla yoghurt, or maybe some icecream, or clearly great on their own.  You can do the same with reasberries as gooseberries see here:
http://ampthillcm.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/soft-fruit.html

and of course the summer pudding posted last week:

http://ampthillcm.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/summer-pudding.html

Here is the muffin recipe:

I have a large jug that I always use for making muffins and find it easier to pour the mixture as it is runny, and all muffins are delicious straight from the oven.

200g plain flour
100g caster sugar
50g soft brown sugar
Cinnamon to taste (optional)
2 ½ Baking powder

½ teaspoon salt
90ml skimmed or semi-skimmed milk

80ml vegetable oil

1 large egg, beaten
5 drops vanilla extract
200gms (approx) fruit

• Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6 and add paper cases to a muffin tray.
• Measure out flour, sugars, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large jug. 
• Combine milk, oil, egg and vanilla in another jug.
• Stir until just combined (mixture will be lumpy).
• Gently fold in chopped fruit, divide amongst 10 cases, or around that number, cases 2/3rds full.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top, sprinkle with icing sugar when slightly cool.

NB I have cheated and use loganberries in the picture as that is all I had in the garden :)

Jam

We sell a wide variety of homemade jam throughout the year, and is made mainly from home grown fruit.

Homemade jam is special and the quality is far superior to any mass produced jam in the shops - come and buy a jar, so that you can taste for yourself.  It doesn't have any artificial preservatives or colours.

A selection of varieties like raspberry, damson, victoria plum, gooseberry, blackcurrant are often available. 



There is the most variety following the summer months when fruit is in abundance, what is your favourite variety and how do you like to eat your jam?

Sometimes we have scones on the stall too, a perfect partner, and we often have a victoria sandwich with homemade jam inside.

Summer Pudding

With the abundance of soft fruit in the summer months here is a really easy recipe, and it is even low in fat :)

You need a quantity of fruit, a nice selection is good - but it pretty much works with any combination of:
Strawberries
Blackcurrants
Redcurrants
Blackberries
Loganberries
Blueberries

I like to put something in with a bit of punch like blackcurrants or blackberries, but not too many that it overpowers.

I put all the fruit into a saucepan with some sugar, and a tiny drop of water, I personally think that the quantity of sugar depends how sweet you like things. I heated it up until some of the juices came out, not too much as you want the fruit to keep its shape. I took nearly all of the fruit out of the saucepan and left a bit in the saucepan, I mashed these up and made more sauce.

I then roughly lined a pudding bowl with cling film leaving the edges out, this just ensures it will come out easy.

Then it was a case of using sliced white bread to line the basin. I found a saucer than fitted on top of the basin so that it would squash the contents down. Leaving the slices as complete as possible and just filling in the gaps. The outside of each of the pieces was dunked into the sauce and put back into the basin. Then pile the fruit into the basin so it is full. Then make a sliced bread lid - again dunking the outside in the sauce.  The first time I made this I didn't dunk the outside of the bread into the sauce and I found it didn't seep all the way through.

Then pop the plate or saucer on top so that it squashes it down, and put a tin of something on top to weigh it down.

Leave over night.

The pic is a slice with some clotted cream icecream (not homemade!)

There are loads of recipes on the internet - here is one by Mary Berry it isn't a recipe that needs an exact science - just go with what you fancy, you just don't want too much juice, if you have too much use it to add to serve.

Soft fruit

Over the summer months we have soft fruit, starting with gooseberries this week, thenwe will have redcurrant and blackcurrant, raspberries and plums and greengages.  Each have a short season, but are a real treat and are so local and fresh you really must get down to the market to get some.  Shop local :)

I will post on Facebook and twitter when they are coming in.

For a simple idea for a pudding, serve up on a meringue nest served with icecream or yoghurt, or even cream.  Or crush the meringue nest and stir in fruit with yoghurt or cream.

The gooseberries will need cooking with some sugar first depending how sweet you like things,  the other fruit can be served as they come, or the currants you may prefer to add sugar.  Elderflower cordial is a perfect partner for gooseberries, and it is so simple to make, the elderflowers are out at the moment, and there are plenty in the hedgerows :)

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/531660/homemade-elderflower-cordial

here are couple of sites that will aid you identify it:

http://www.britishlarder.co.uk/elderflower-cordial

http://www.discoverwildlife.com/blog/new-series-how-find-wild-food-part-1-elderflower

A spotlight on plants

At this time of the year we have a range of plants, they have been raised and cared for by our members and are knowledgeable about the plants that they have raised.  









There are shrubs, perennials, annuals and vegetables plants, so something for everyone.

We are often asked for plants that come up every year, you need to look for hardy perennials or shrubs.  Generally perennials die down every year, and then come back in the spring, so don't panic, and try to remember where you have planted them - in case you start weeding :)  The bees like the flowers of many perennials.

Shrubs need a bit of a prune, more for tidying up than anything complicated, some lose their leaves.  By pruning can mean that you can keep the shrub smaller, and generally best to do after flowering, and they are great for birds.

Toast and marmalade

Did you know that in 2003 Leeds university researched how to make the perfect piece of toast?

They came up with an equation, as scientists should, and gives the details butter and toast temperature.

Researchers' found that people think the perfect piece of toast should have partly melted butter patches on it, improving its taste and texture.



For this to work, the butter should be applied at fridge temperature of five degrees Celsius.

The formula was developed following research commissioned by Lurpak.  They wanted to know how the properties of melting butter affects the taste of toast.

They studied thickness, specific heat, density, the initial temperature of the toast, the weight.  All this lead to this statement:

Professor Bronek Wedzicha
"To produce the patches of butter most people said they preferred, the bread needs to be heated to at least 120°C, and the butter should be used straight from the fridge, applied unevenly within two minutes of the bread coming out of the toaster.

"The amount of butter should be about one-seventeenth the thickness of the bread," he said.

So next tome you sit and have your morning toast and marmalade from the Ampthill country Market you may need to rethink your strategy :)

Griffin Farm Apple Juice

Griffin Farm apple juice, sold by the bottle on the market.

The Apples are grown in small orchard at Griffin farm, they are naturally grown with no pesticides or fertiliser.

The tree varieties we have are:

• Charles Ross 
• Blenheim orange
• Coxs orange pippin
• Discovery
• Russet
• Bramley
• James Grieve
• Ellison's orange

There are different batches pressed, the variety currently on sale is Bramley and Blenheim orange.

All the apples are picked by hand by the family.

Have you tried any yet?  What did you think?

Duck Eggs

We often have ducks eggs on the stall, you can always ask for us to bring them or set them aside, send an email or let us know on the stall. 

There are several different breeds of ducks hence the different eggs, some are a lovely blue, and others white.  

The breeds are: Khaki Campbell, Silver Appleyard, and Indian Runner.  

They live in a orchard with a secure fence together with bantam hens, turkeys, geese and guinea fowl.   For more information about ducks go to www.waterfowl.org.uk

Jamie Oliver recommends using them - here are a few things that he says:

• Duck eggs interestingly are lower in cholesterol than chicken eggs. 
• They also have a longer shelf life because their shells are so much thicker. 
• They are also a good addition to gluten free baking—what your baked good loses in structure by omitting gluten can be partially gained back with the denser albumen (egg white protein).
• Duck eggs make baked items so much fluffier than chicken eggs.

see more of the article here: www.jamieoliver.com

Rapeseed Oil

We have Griffin Farm Extra Virgin Rapeseed Oil on the market most weeks, email if you want to make sure that there will be some available.

The rapeseed oil is from the family farm in Toddington, Bedfordshire.  This extra virgin cold pressed oil has 10 times the amount of Omega 3 oil and half the fat of Olive oil. It is very versatile and has a slight nutty flavour and high burn point.

Here is a website with lots of information about the oil, including recipes.  

The oil is perfect as a salad dressing, and can be used in most of the ways that you would use other oils.

Here are some of the benefits:

• Rapeseed oil has a favourable balance of 'good' and 'bad' fats:
• Less unhealthy saturated fat than all other cooking fats and oils - e.g. 50% less than olive oil
• High in the healthy mono and polyunsaturated fats omega 3, 6 and 9
• It is also a rich source of vitamin E, a natural antioxidant
• And contains plant sterols - which may contribute to the cholesterol lowering properties of rapeseed oil

Honey

We nearly always have jars of local honey, it is very popular and it is thought to have lots of health properties. 

We are often asked why some of the honey is runny and some set, so thought I would share the information from the beekeepers site:

The type of honey made by the bees is dependent on the types of foliage and flowers available to the bees. Crops such as oil seed rape (the bright yellow fields in the spring) produce large quantifies of honey that sets very hard, so hard even the bees could not use it in the winter, garden flowers tend to give a clear liquid honey. If the beekeeper wants to produce a mono honey i.e. clover, orange blossom etc. the beehive is put out of range from other sources. This can be difficult for the small hobbyist and a blend of the season’s honey is usually the result.

It is also thought to reduce the effects of hayfever, it must be local, and you need to take a teaspoon everyday for several months before the season starts, some of our customers swear by it.

As you can see we have both the clear and the set available.

Rhubarb

We will still have rhubarb this week on the stall, did you know that orange is a good partner?  so how about cooking it in a drop of orange juice or even adding an orange.  

There are lots of recipe ideas here: bbc good food

You may be interested to know that it was announced as a superfood here: NHS news

According to nutrition-and-you it has many health benefits:

• Rhubarb is one of the least calorie vegetables. 100 g fresh petioles provide just 21 calories. Nonetheless, it contains some vital phyto-nutrients such as dietary fiber, poly-phenolic anti-oxidants, minerals, and vitamins. Further, its petioles contain no saturated fats or cholesterol.
• The stalks are rich in several B-complex vitamins such as folates, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin, and pantothenic acid.
• Red color stalks contain more vitamin A than in the green varieties. Further, the stalks also contain small amounts of poly-phenolic flavonoid compounds like β-carotene, zea xanthin, and lutein. These compounds convert to vitamin A inside the body and deliver same protective effects of vitamin A on the body. Vitamin A is a powerful natural anti-oxidant and is required by the body for maintaining the integrity of skin and mucus membranes. It is also an essential vitamin for healthy eye-sight. Research studies suggest that natural foods rich in vitamin A help the body protects against lung and oral cavity cancers.
• As in other greens like kale, spinach, etc., rhubarb stalks also provide good amounts of vitamin-K. 100 g of fresh stalks provide 29.3 µg or about 24% of daily recommended intake of this vitamin. Vitamin K has a potential role in bone health by promoting osteotrophic (bone formation and strengthening) activity. Adequate vitamin-K levels in the diet help limiting neuronal damage in the brain; thus, has established role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
• Its stalks also contain healthy levels of minerals like iron, copper, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus. However, most of these minerals do not absorb into the body as they are subject to chelating into insoluble complexes by oxalic acid, and excreted out from the body.