Autumn is upon us, that season of mellow fruitfulness. A walk connot be contemplated without being armed with some sort of basket or bag lest you miss something exciting in the hedgerow just crying out to be jam!
Today I’m not just sharing a recipe with you I also want to tell you a bit about my latest book Simply Scottish – A Wee Taste Of Scotland which is due for release on 31st October. This is a book about party food, all those great traditional (and some modern too) recipes of Scotland scaled down to nibble and bite size just perfect for parties, snacking or picnics.
Although the book is full of recipes for such goodies as mini venison burgers, Musselburgh tarts, Burn’s baubles, Drambuie souffle and the like, there are also recipes for those little extras that make your party table extra special. Things like this rowan and redcurrant jelly which goes so well with those mini venison burders!
This was a fun book to write and photograph. Being more of a savoury person I enjoyed all the testing and sampling of this one far more than the baking book. Give me a party nibble over a scone any day!
It certainly cheered up the start of the year for me when I was trapped on the sofa with the disasterous foot surgeries. The fact that all the cooking and photography was completed while on crutches and hopping about the kitchen crashing into things was just an added little challenge. Never let anyone tell you that there is glamour in producing a cook book, there is much swearing, too many calories, eating way too much and a huge lot of washing up every day.
Your popularity knows no bounds as friends are always popping in to sample the latest recipe, especially when they know you are playing with such goodies as smoked salmon, prawns and scallops.
This was definately more interesting to them than testing four different types of shortbread and then going on to the gingerbread rounds.
You can preorder the book, read more about it and see more tempting foodie photos from it on my books page at my Karon Grieve site. Or you can go straight into Amazon here
In the meantime here is my lovely rowan & redcurrant jelly recipe from the book.
- 450g/1lb rowan berries
- 450g/1lb red currants
- 675g/1 lb 8 oz cooking apples
- 450g/1lb granulated sugar for each 600ml/1 pint of juice
- Wash all the fruit and remove stalks. Roughly chop the apples but there is no need to peel or core them.
- Put all the fruit into a large pan and just cover with water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for approximately 20 minutes or until all the fruit is soft.
- Pour into a jelly bag (or muslin in a sieve/ even old tights will do) and let it drip into a bowl over night.
- Discard pulp and measure the juice. Pour this into your pan and add the correct amount of sugar (see above), heat gently to dissolve the sugar and bring to boil for about 5 minutes until the setting point has been reached.
- Spoon into sterilized jars and seal.
- The recipe makes about 4 small jars.
Your cookbook sounds like a wonderful idea but to an American with Scottish ancestry of course, what is a rowan berry& is there something maybe local or frozen that I could substitute. it sounds very interesting and I’d love to try it, your recipe that is. best of luck on book sales
Hi Cathie,
Seemingly you can get rowan berries growing in USA, they are also called Mountain Ash or Sorbus Americana. They are never sold commercially here as are only really used in jam and jelly making and not something widely used.
Hope you can find some.
Kx
You are a whiz-bang to be sure! Another book, I am so impressed! I need to email you – I have so many questions!! Love the look of the new book, hope it sells like hotcakes at the fair! xoxo, Nan
thanks Nan,
That is so kind of you.
K x
Well your new book is straight on my wish list for Christmas Karon, looks fab. 🙂
Your book looks fabulous! Congrats, Karon! Being from the states, what would be the closest thing to a Rowan berry in the US? This jam looks delish!
Patti xxoo
Hi Patti,
Apparently you can get rowan berries, or Mountain Ash/ Sorbus Americana, in USA so have a look. Unfortunately not something ever sold commercially. They are very bitter so can’t really think of a substitute.
Thanks for nice comment on the book.
All best
K x
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Nice blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it
from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog jump out.
Please let me know where you got your theme. Bless you
This is just the free 2011 theme from wordpress, nothing fancy.
Glad you like it.
K x
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