Sloe and Apple Jelly

Nature has her own timetable and her programme is set to ensure we are well stocked for those winter months. This is why we currently have an abundance of apples ready to harvest and the sloes in the hedgerows are ready to collect. Most people think of cider in Brittany when it comes to harvesting apples for use the following year and I am sure you have all heard of sloe gin! However apples when combined with sloes makes a delicious piquant flavoured jelly which will enrich those game dishes you may wish to serve over those dark cold days of winter.

Ingredients:

20 green apples
5lb of ripe sloes
2lb of sugar

Method:

Stew the complete apples and sloes until soft. Strain through a jelly-bag. To each pint of juice add 1 lb of sugar. Bring to the boil and boil until a little sets when tested. Store in glass jars in a cool larder.

Apple with Blackberry

Brittany,the UK and Ireland have ripe apples and blackberries in abundance right now and freely available too so no excuses please - get out and enjoy the countryside as well as the natural resources that nature has made available to us this time of year. A delicious and simple recipe I find which never fails is as follows:

Ingredients:

10 ripe apples (crab or cookers)
1.5 kg of blackberries
50 g of sugar or golden syrup or honey
small cup of water

Method:

Peel and core the apples. Press the blackberries to a pulp and mix with sugar/honey or golden syrup. Press the mixture down well into the apple cores and any left over can be distributed around the apples. Place into a casserole dish, add the water (less is best)and cover with a lid. Cook in a moderate oven (150 degrees) for 30 minutes until the fruit is soft. Enjoy on its own or with home made honeysuckle ice cream.

Welsh Television comes to Kerrouet

Creso and welcome to Channel 4 Wales who came to our cooking school for the past few days and enjoyed some great food and some fun as we undertook the filming of the cooking process. Poul, our chef, and Edith our neighbour, were responsible for training two Welsh speaking presenters who were endeavouring to master some of the unique skills in preparing some classic Briton dishes. On Thursday our menus started with artichoke in a citrus sauce, followed by turbot and seabass with langoustine and mussels. This was followed by a delicious home made cinnamon ice cream with crab apple gratin. On Friday we concentrated on the world famous Briton recipe "Far Briton" which is translated as a custard plum pudding as well as home made galettes which Edith demonstrated is a far more intricate process than simply making pancakes!