Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
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sickpup
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hawthorn berry recipesdoes anyone have any good hawthorn berry recipes, ive scoured the internet and cant find anything
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sally_in_wales
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I made hawthorne berry brandy once, it was ok, nothing special if my memory serves though.
I sometimes add a few berries to hedgerow jelly, again, just a few though as I never found them much good alone and there are also folk medicine associations with hawthorne berries having an effect on the heart, so I tend to treat ingredients like that with a little caution pending more in depth information one way or another
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cab
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Makes a passable wine, an unimpressive jelly... In themselves, they're not that exciting.
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gil
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Agree with both the above replies. I've used hawthornberries in jelly and wines too, but more as a 'padding out' of a main ingredient than on their own.
Partly because I still can't bring myself to accept that something that grows in such abundance can be so uninspiring in flavour. And I tend to add a few hawthornberries to whatever I'm foraging, just because they're there.
I find them mealy and bland.
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cab
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I wonder... Stewed, sieved, boiled down with sugar... Hawthorn cheese? Might be nicer than some of the alternatives.
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gil
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If it makes an unimpressive jelly, making a cheese with it would prolly bring a similar result, but with all the faff of pushing the flesh through a sieve.
Are you volunteering for this task/experiment, Cab ? 
BTW, which fruit cheeses did you think were not worthwhile doing ?
Just so I can avoid wasting time...
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cab
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Might be controversial, but I simply can't be doing with quince cheese. Its just so dissapointing. I love damson cheese though.
Hawthorn cheese now on the 'to do' list, somewhere around number 150 I should think 
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shandy
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| sally_in_wales wrote: | | hedgerow jelly |
Any chance of sharing your recipe Sally?
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lottie
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WW2 cookery books claim hawthorn berries make a guava like jelly--- not in my experience  suppose it depends if you're desperate for ingredients, I don't think much of them in wine either T.B.H. Much better to use the hawthorn flowers in the spring to make may blossom wine which is a nice dry white. If you can get pink mayblossom you get rose which is pretty.
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sally_in_wales
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| shandy wrote: | | sally_in_wales wrote: | | hedgerow jelly |
Any chance of sharing your recipe Sally? |
walk along a hedge picking anything thats ripe, make sure there are at least some crab apples to help the set. Put in pan with a mere drop of water, stew a bit, mash it up and put through a jelly bag overnight. Put a pint of juice to a pound of sugar and boil until you get a set. Sometimes I add spices
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shandy
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Thanks! 
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cab
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| sally_in_wales wrote: |
walk along a hedge picking anything thats ripe, make sure there are at least some crab apples to help the set. Put in pan with a mere drop of water, stew a bit, mash it up and put through a jelly bag overnight. Put a pint of juice to a pound of sugar and boil until you get a set. Sometimes I add spices |
I love it, proper hedgerow jelly
I favour rowan berries as flavouring myself; a mix heavy on rowan and crab apples gives the most awesome jelly I know.
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hedgehogpie
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I've pm'd a file I have of Hawthorn recipes. Hope you find them useful.
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gil
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| hedgehogpie wrote: | | I've pm'd a file I have of Hawthorn recipes. Hope you find them useful. |
Oooh ! Please could you post them on here, so we could all have a go at making something more palatable / interesting ?
Many thanks
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shandy
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What she said!
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hedgehogpie
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OK!
Bear in mind that these snippets have been gathered off t'interweb over the years for personal experiments, so my apologies to any originator who may find their work listed uncredited - just let me know and I'll make the necessary amendment.
Here goes.....
Hawthorn Jelly
Ingredients
1 GALLON HAWS
WATER
SUGAR
Directions
WASH HAWS AND PLACE IN A 6-8 QUART POT.
BARELY COVER WITH WATER; SIMMER UNTIL SOFT.
STRAIN THROUGH A JELLY BAG.
MEASURE JUICE, PLACE IN POT, BRING TO A ROLLING BOIL.
SKIM OFF FOAM, AND ADD ¾ CUP SUGAR FOR EACH CUP OF JUICE.
STIR UNTIL SUGAR DISSOLVES, STIRRING CONSTANTLY; COOK UNTIL SYRUP SHEETS OFF SPOON.
SEAL IN HOT, STERILIZED JARS.
PROCESS IN BOILING WATER BATH FOR 10 MINUTES.
HAWTHORN BUTTER
4 POUNDS HAWS (TO YIELD 3 CUPS OF PULP)
1 QUART WATER
7 CUPS SUGAR
Cook Haws in the water until soft. Press through a sieve. Cook the strained sauce with sugar. Soon after boiling, it will flake rather than coat the spoon. Jar and seal. Process in boiling water 10 minutes.
A tart jelly made from hawthorn berries
Chef: Sally Wise
A gentleman asked about using the fruit of the hawthorn tree. Here's the way to make an excellent, if somewhat tart, jelly. That is, if you can find the fruit...
You need:
Hawthorn berries, sugar and water. Some people call them haw berries.
As well as jelly, I read the fruit also makes a good liqueur. This could truly be used for medicinal purposes, as they are reportedly good for the heart. The recipe I read for this contained just the berries and vodka. Given the fact that the jelly is so tart, I think the recipe should contain some sugar or honey. But first, the jelly:
Method:
1.5kg ripe hawthorn berries (haws)
water
sugar
Wash the berries, then place in a large pot and add enough water to cover. Cook until they are very soft.
Place a colander over a large bowl and pour the mixture into this, breaking the fruit up with a potato masher or similar. Strain the resulting juice in the bowl through muslin.
Add 1 cup of sugar for each cup of this juice. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil vigorously until the setting point is reached. Pour into sterilised bottles and seal.
Hawthorn Berry Syrup
A wonderful syrup for pancakes can be made by simmering hawthorn fruit and hackberries (1 part fruit to 3 parts water). When the liquid is dark, strain and simmer down to half its original volume. Add sugar or honey to taste, and either store in the fridge or process in a canner at 10 pounds pressure for 15 minutes.
Hedge jelly
Summer’s coming to an end, which means lots of good things in the garden So, yesterday, we used the first crab apples from our new little tree (two years old now) to make hedge jelly. This is a nice little recipe that we found in Bob Flowerdew’s Complete Fruit Book. What’s especially nice is that it emphasises foraging for the ingredients.
You need:
1 quantity elderberries
2 quantities crab apples
4 quantities haws (the berries of the hawthorn)
(Anne gathered about 700g haws, so we based our recipe on that amount.)
Wash the fruit, removing elderberries from their twigs with a fork, removing twigs from haws and chopping crab apples. Place all in a pan and just cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer until soft (we left them for a couple of hours). Strain off the juice. “Proper” cookbooks will tell you not to squeeze the fruit but that’s for the purists. It gets you the clearest jelly but loses more of the fruit. Once the juice has strained, weight it and add the same amount of sugar (we had 920g juice so added 920g sugar). Bring it back to the boil and boil until it sets (I like a temperature of about 104 degrees C, which gives a nice soft jelly), then pour into clean, sterile jars. We got over 4 pounds of jelly from this quantity – a small but worthwhile amount, and really quite quick to make!
Hedgerow Sandwiches
For a couple of weeks in March the hawthorn bushes start to sprout tiny leaves. Pick a few cupfuls carefully and use them in sandwiches as you would water cress, add a little freshly ground pepper and salt and even some grated cheese if you wish. Children find this great fun.
Hawthorn sauce for ever!
Chef: Anne Young
Hawthorn berries, or haws, are abundant and widespread but much under-used. With all those hips free for the taking alongside highways, Anne Young from Greens Beach has sent in some delicious recipes.
You need:
Berries (haws), vinegar, sugar, and pepper and salt.
Says Anne: I have found a hawthorn recipe which is quite delicious. Also, my mother, who came from Sweden, used to make 'hip soup' which is really a dessert, and very yummy.
With all those rosehips along the highway in the Midlands, I can almost imagine an entrepreneur making his fortune! Delicious as a topping for cheesecakes or just served with cream and/or ice cream.
Haw sauce
1½ lb/750g haws
¾ pint/450ml vinegar
4 oz/100g sugar
1 oz/25g salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Strip the berries from their sprays and wash them. Put into a pan with the vinegar and cook over a gentl heat for 30 minutes. Press the pulp through a sieve and return to the pan with sugar and seasonings. Boil for 10 minutes. Bottle and seal.
This makes a delicious ketchup to go with rich meats, either hot or cold.
Anne tells us her Haw Sauce recipe comes from Rosamond Richardson's book, Hedgerow Cookery, while the Hip Soup is from one called Swedish Food. The picture's from a UK Morris Dancing site: now that should definitely be an Olympic sport...
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sickpup
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Thanks hedgehoppie ive got the kids out picking haws now, will let you know how i get on
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lottie
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Ours aren't nearly ripe yet---are we late or are you early?
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hedgehogpie
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Down here (in Kent) we have some that are 'just' beginning to come to ripeness, but like the blackberries and elderberries, most still have a way to go.
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lottie
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Yes but sickpup is in Sunderland that's why I was suprised--must have had a better summer than me--not difficult
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KatP
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IIRC there was something involving hawthorn berries on Mr Mears fascinating Wild Food prog, hang on, will look up book......
Yup. No cooking involved interestingly. I'm not saying it'll be good mind!
Pick haws (mind fingers, can be ouchy - they used large basket + stick on t' telly).
Remove leaves + twigs. Possibly also any livestock (How come no matter how careful there are always spiders?)
Mash.
Remove as much of skins, stalks and stones as you can. This will be messy. A sieve may work, they used hands - probably due t being in a field.
Leave in bowl. It sets to a kind of jelly like mush.
(To me this suggests an awful lot of pectin!)
Can't remember what they said it tasted like, but I don't think it was completely inedible, but probably rather sour.
I suspect this is more something to do for interest and curiosity than a thing you would want to eat often! Course there's potential for playing with it. I just find it fascinating that the pulp sets without any cooking at all and feel I have to try it just to check!
Oh, and hawthorn is used in herbal medicine with heart and circulatory problems problems. It contains antioxidant compounds, including flavonoids which dilate blood vessels. Clinical studies have shown that it enhances the strength of heart muscle contractions, increase blood volume pumped, and cn help stabilise rhythm. It's also been shown to improve circulation and may be beneficial in hypertension. So generally it's pretty good! Unless you have very low blood pressure.
Here endeth the sounding knowledgeable. Books are marvellous.
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hedgehogpie
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Ripe Haws aren't sour in my experience. In fact, they can be surprisingly fruity & tasty (honest!).
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Tilia
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I tried this last year in a small quantity and it was pretty tasty. Planning to do a larger batch this year. When the juice was set to jelly they cut it into slices and left it out to dry in the sun, creating a kind of natural sweetie bar. I didn't have enough for this but spread it thinly onto clingfilm to set then rolled it into wee sweeties a bit like fruit gums. Very nice.
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