Smoky Haw Sauce

Hawthorn is one of our favourite wild foods and is also a beautiful medicine and tonic for the heart. The berries, also known as haws, are ripe & ready to harvest through late March & the month of April. Some say that they taste sweeter after a frost, but if I'd followed that advice in one spot last year, I would have lost the lot to the pukekos!

We gathered these haws (below) up the Esk valley in Hawke's Bay last week and they are just perfect. Thanks to Abby @ Earthly Pearls and her wonderful hawthorn post and recipe for smoky haw sauce we have been able to get the hang of making our own sauce and it's totally worth the effort.

Haws are not something that you can pick in a hurry and since the plants have long thorns, are frequently found on steep hillsides and the fruit is quite small, we find that we come home with a very manageable amount of fruit with each picking.

Firstly, we sit for a few minutes at a time gently pulling off the berries and discarding as many stalks as possible & any leaves.

We both love this therapeutic process.

Next, wash the berries well and drain in a colander.

Put in to a pot that matches the amount of berries that you have and just barely cover with a mix of half water and half good apple cider vinegar.

I like to leave them to soak in the vinegar for an hour or two, or even overnight.

Then, turn on the heat & gently bring them to the boil. Simmer for around half an hour until the colour has gone out of the fruit and they have become soft.

Pour the liquid in to a jug and push the cooked berries through a coarse sieve or colander.

Using a potato masher is quite handy for squishing everything up and then we take turns working the soft stuff through the sieve until all we have left is some fibre and the little stones from inside the fruit or we've had enough- which ever comes first. Adding some of the liquid every now again also helps to get the pulp through to the other side.

Carefully scrape the goodness from the back side of the sieve as best you can & then discard the seeds that remain.

Pop the sieved hawthorn back in to the pot with any left over liquid.

This is not a strict recipe- just a general take it as it comes arrangement so, say to 

~ 3 cups of pulp I then add around a cup of raw sugar (or you could use honey)

~ 1/2 tsp of good salt, some ground black pepper

~ 1 large tsp of smoked paprika 

~ 1/2 tsp of chipotle powder (don't worry if you don't have any but it really is amazing)

Simmer all these bits and pieces together for perhaps 15- 20 minutes until thick and smooth.

Check the seasonings and balance and add more salt, sugar or spice to taste.

Pour in to sterilised jars or bottles.

No idea if it keeps well as we ate it all before we could find out!

Here is another plain version with measurements:

1. 500g of hawthorn berries.
2. 300ml of cider vinegar.
3. 300ml of water.
4. 170g of sugar.
5. 1/2 tsp salt.
6. freshly ground black pepper.

Dreamy Fig Ice-cream

Fresh figs truly make the best ice-cream & it's really, really simple to make.

Being such a fragile fruit they often go off quicker than we can use them or they ripen all in a rush.

So...firstly- they freeze really well & can be slow baked any time of the year from frozen.

Secondly, the fresh fruit slow bakes so beautifully- just uses as is or...best of all, turn those succulent baked figs in to the most delicious ice-cream you've ever tasted.

So many different varieties & colours in the fig world.

They can be simmered in a pot..

you can find the recipe for simmered figs just here.
Or, you can spread them in a baking dish & bake them for an hour- an hour & a half on 120-130 C until they look much like this...

Each time I bake figs they come out a little different but always so delicious.

So here's the basic recipe for the ice-cream:

Slow bake as many figs as you have to work with.

Cool- blend with a hand mixer or in a small processor, bullet etc until fairly smooth.

The balance is 1/2 & 1/2 to get the texture of the ice-cream just right.

1 cup of baked fig pulp to 1 c of whipped cream

To the cream add 1 tsp of vanilla essence & either honey or maple syrup to taste.

To a 2 cup ice-cream I would probably add a tbsp of honey/maple syrup.

But taste it & see what you think.

No, no don't eat it all- it needs to go in the freezer first!

Ginger is a nice edition on occasion.

Freeze in a flatfish dish with a lid.

Serves perfectly, straight from the freezer & really doesn't require much else.

Just that simple.
Love Katie x

Pickled Myoga Ginger Flowers & Sushi Ginger

Myoga ginger is a Japanese woodland ginger that is used mostly for the edible flowers that appear in early autumn. These flowers are rather peculiar as they grow at ground level which is most surprising indeed.

Pick the flower buds and remove any tough outer layers.

Give them a little wash and pat dry.

Slice 8-10 buds finely which ever way takes your fancy.

Bring to the boil in a little pot:
1/2 C of apple cider vinegar & 1/ 2 C of rice wine vinegar (or just one or the other- your preference).
Add 1/4 C raw sugar & 1/2 tsp good salt.

Stir to dissolve.

Pour this mixture over the sliced ginger & add some red shiso leaves (also known as beefsteak) if you have them.
Leave to cool and infuse for several hours, or overnight.
Store in the fridge.

If you want to make more to keep just make the pickle into a sterilised jar with a plastic lid and seal. Keeps well for ages.

The red things in the colander are hyacinth beans and the green ones are Peans.

I added the few hyacinth beans & some shiso leaves to this pickle.

Very quickly the ginger is pickled & turns a wonderful pink colour and tastes amazing- perfect unami flavours.

 Lovely with radicchio..

 and fresh figs, feta, gynura bi-colour (red vegetable- tastes like gingery spinach) and avocado.

Any left over pickle juice can be used to make vinaigrette dressings. 

Just as easily made, is Sushi pickled ginger.

if I had realised sooner, just how easy it is to make Gari or Amazu Shoga, I would have made it years ago.

Peel & finely slice around 250 grams of good, tender looking fresh ginger root.

Put in to a bowl & sprinkle with 1 1/2 tsps sea salt. Stand for 30 minutes & then transfer in to a clean jar of a suitable size.

Bring 1 cup of good rice wine vinegar & 1/3 c sugar to the boil- stirring as you go to dissolve the sugar. I used a fine raw organic sugar.

Pour the hot vinegar over the ginger in the jar. Cool. Put on the lid & store in the fridge for a day or so until well pickled. The rice vinegar will turn the ginger pink quite quickly, but for a deeper shade you can also add a few Red shiso leaves.

Red shiso is a really tasty & interesting summer annual herb that we find delicious.

Red Shiso

Katie X