Recipes

Blackthorn flowers make Gin!  The Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa ) is found in many hedgerows and across the countryside but most importantly  in the many hedgerows  on the Chewton Glen Estate and recently Estate Manger Darren Venables tweeted a wonderful picture capturing the moment of this years flowering. It was beautiful. My mind heart skipped a beat. Its such an exciting time when nature starts to let you in to her little secrets and plans. And so the Blackthorn moments of glory is upon us before even his leaves appear giving this shrub a little glamour  in the bare hedgerows. A perfectly formed elegant...

As you know I am a fan of this particular farm in Spain their love and passion for growing organic oranges spreads across from Spain to our shores and into our kitchens like rays of the sun.  You can buy these beauties from River Ford Organics, or Waitrose and a few independent retailers.  This week on BBC radio Solent I talk about the farm marmalade making and here is the recipe the wonderful farmers send with their beautiful orange:  Ingredients: 1 kilo of Ava Marie Seville Oranges. 1 lemon Water 2.5 kilos of sugar. Instructions: Weight the empty pan and...

Last week http://www.oakhavenhospice.co.uk managed to entertain many of you at their fantastic event held at the wonderful http://www.chewtonglen.com/ with the Green Goddess Diane Morgan. What an amazing afternoon and if you were lucky enough to go. You would have been given a little gift of tea jelly. I would like to help you make the most of this jelly. Naturally you can enjoy it with most game meats or even stirred into a duck gravy. Its can also be used as an alternative to jam! But as its almost Christmas how about a Martini? So here my recipe for the...

Pumpkin Jam 1 pumpkin chopped into one inch chunks and de-seeded (you should end up with about 2kg) 5 cloves crushed Large Pinch of ginger & cinnamon 2kg of sugar The juice of two lemons Place all the ingredients, except the sugar into the jam pan. Cook on a low heat until soft about 30 mins stirring all the time don’t let the pumpkin catch. Once the pumpkin starts to soften add the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved bring all the ingredients to a rolling boil. The jam can take up to 20-30 mins to cook through from adding...