To profit from the Wild Harvest I have just finished making a batch of Rosehip and Apple Jelly.
It took a long time to harvest enough ripe Rosehips and Greg generously helped pick some of them when he came with me for a foraging bimble.
We now both bear the scars from the wickedly sharp thorns that defend the Hips, but at least the tweezers from my new Victorinox Rescue tool proved effective in removing thorns embedded in flesh!
The recipe
Ingredients
2lb of Rosehips (that is more than you would think!)
2lb of apples
Juice of one lemon
6 cloves
white sugar
Method
Wash the apples and Hips, removing stalks, petals and any nasty looking bits.
Roughly chop the apples.
Put the fruit in 2 separate pans and add 1pint of water to each and the lemon juice and cloves to the Rosehips pan.
Bring to the boil and simmer until all the fruit is mushy.
Strain all the fruit and juice through a Jelly Bag. DO NOT SQUEEZE THE BAG TO EXTRACT EXTRA LIQUID AS THIS CAN FORCE HIGHLY IRRITANT HAIRS FROM THE ROSEHIPS INTO YOUR JUICE.
I chose to strain the juice again through a clean Jelly Bag - just to be on the safe side....
Put the strained juice into a large pan, adding 1lb of sugar for every pint of juice.
Bring to the boil, stirring until the mix reaches "Setting Point".
To test for the setting point pour a teaspoon of the mix onto a cold saucer and let it cool for a moment.
Push at the mix with your finger. If the top wrinkles as you do this, Setting Point has been reached.
Once Setting Point is reached pour the jelly into clean, hot jars (I use old honey, jam or similar jars with tight fitting screw lids) label them and store in a col dark place.
Rosehip and Apple Jelly goes well with poultry and white meat and is a belter on toast!
Enjoy!
It took a long time to harvest enough ripe Rosehips and Greg generously helped pick some of them when he came with me for a foraging bimble.
We now both bear the scars from the wickedly sharp thorns that defend the Hips, but at least the tweezers from my new Victorinox Rescue tool proved effective in removing thorns embedded in flesh!
The recipe
Ingredients
2lb of Rosehips (that is more than you would think!)
2lb of apples
Juice of one lemon
6 cloves
white sugar
Method
Wash the apples and Hips, removing stalks, petals and any nasty looking bits.
Roughly chop the apples.
Put the fruit in 2 separate pans and add 1pint of water to each and the lemon juice and cloves to the Rosehips pan.
Bring to the boil and simmer until all the fruit is mushy.
Strain all the fruit and juice through a Jelly Bag. DO NOT SQUEEZE THE BAG TO EXTRACT EXTRA LIQUID AS THIS CAN FORCE HIGHLY IRRITANT HAIRS FROM THE ROSEHIPS INTO YOUR JUICE.
I chose to strain the juice again through a clean Jelly Bag - just to be on the safe side....
Put the strained juice into a large pan, adding 1lb of sugar for every pint of juice.
Bring to the boil, stirring until the mix reaches "Setting Point".
To test for the setting point pour a teaspoon of the mix onto a cold saucer and let it cool for a moment.
Push at the mix with your finger. If the top wrinkles as you do this, Setting Point has been reached.
Once Setting Point is reached pour the jelly into clean, hot jars (I use old honey, jam or similar jars with tight fitting screw lids) label them and store in a col dark place.
Rosehip and Apple Jelly goes well with poultry and white meat and is a belter on toast!
Enjoy!
