* Strawberries & ....

What to put with strawberries this .... ahem ..... summer?
Strawberries and cream go with sunshine, sun dresses, sun glasses, but considering that we have had so little of that word sun this year, I have been trying to think of some other great combinations.

With Elderflower Syrup
At Stirchley Community Market on Tuesday we served fresh strawberries picked from the garden with our homemade elderflower syrup poured over the top; they were a real hit and tasted delicious with a real flavour of summer. Much nicer than just plain sugar.

With Balsamic Vinegar
A friend first introduced me to this combination, at first I was a little sceptical, but was instantly converted. For every 200g of prepared straberries add 2-3 tsp balsamic vinegar, 1 1/2 tbsp sugar and a little black pepper to taste. I have also seen scones with strawberries and black pepper which I would like to try.

*Tuna Steaks with Sumac

I had never used sumac before. A customer asked me to get some, and as soon as I opened the bag, I knew that it was something that I wanted to try, it was so aromatic and sweet smelling. I browsed the web and found so many people highly rating it for it distinct fruity flavour, so I'm going to be trying lots of recipes myself, and here's the first I've tried, and it's a super easy one as well (which is even better).
YOU WILL NEED
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp sumac
4 pieces of 200g tuna steaks (7 oz)
Salt & pepper to taste
METHOD
1.
Combine the oil, garlic and sumac and coat the tuna, seasoning well.
2.
Oil a grill plate or chargrill pan (a frying pan will do if you don't have these), and heat it on a medium heat, adding the tuna when hot, and cooking for 5-6 minutes on each side (or till cooked as desired).
A great accmpaniment is saffron rice.

* Rice Pudding

Whenever I've forgotten to leave a note out for the milkman, and have too much milk, I'll make a rice pudding, milky hot chocolates, or occasionally a bread & butter pudding; all great ways to use up excess milk. When you buy a bag of pudding rice it comes with a simple recipe, which I often use, but this is an extra special rice pudding that my step-father showed me. If you don't have time to soak the raisins, you can just add them without the rum.

YOU WILL NEED for 3-4 people
75g raisins
grated rind of 1 lemon (optional)
2 tbsp dark rum
48g pudding rice
475ml milk
20g butter
25g sugar
freshly grated nutmeg
METHOD
1.
Put the raisins and lemon rind in a bowl with the rum, and soak for as long as you can, preferably overnight.
2.
Grease an ovenproof dish and place all the ingredients apart from the nutmeg inside and mix together. Sprinkle the nutmeg over the top.
3.
Cover and place in a preheated oven on gas 2/300F/150C for 2 hours (if you don't cover, you'll get a better top skin which some people (including myself) like).

Basic Shortcrust Pastry

INGREDIENTS
225g/8oz plain flour
150g/5oz chilled unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg, beaten (add an extra yolk for extra flavour)
METHOD
Sift the flour into a bowl. Using your hands, rub in the butter whilst lifting the mixture above the bowl to introduce air, until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. — Add the beaten egg and mix into the pastry crumbs with a round bladed knife until they start to bind together. Then, lightly gather the mixture together to form a soft, but not sticky, ball of dough. — Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes before rolling out on a cool surface.
(For a flan pre-bake the pastry on gas 7/220 C/425 F for 15-20 minutes, lining the top with grease proof paper and baking beans)

*Elderflower Cordial

~The elderflower cordial infusing.~

Elderflower cordial is so easy to make and tastes amazing. Me and Nial made this from elderflowers that we picked locally, and there are loads of them in the area. We got about two litres out of this recipe, and you can freeze it in smaller batches to preserve over the year.




YOU WILL NEED
20 elderflower heads, with minimal stalks
1 lemon, sliced
2 tsp citric acid
1.5 kg sugar
1.2 ltr boiling water
METHOD
Place all the ingredients except the boiling water into a large bowl (we used a large pan).
Pour the boiling water over the ingredients and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Remove any scum from the surface of the water.
Cover the container with a cloth and leave for five days stirring twice every day.
Strain through muslin and decant liquid into steralised bottles.
Keep refrigerated and best used within two weeks, freeze if necessary.

Elderflower growing wild.
Please use a professional book to identify elderflower, I suggest Food for Free, which you can find at Amazon.