More produce

We had a courier delivery from the UK today which included the 'pressoir' and masher for the cider-making process. At long last! We had a trial run this afternoon and pressed a bucketful of mixed apples to see what kind of juice yield we would get. The result was 2 litres of juice from 3.5kgs of apples. The hydrometer suggested that we should be able to produce a cider of max 7.5% alcohol ..... Hic! The juice is very brown but very very appley. This afternoon we have given the tree behind the house a good shake and collected another ~30 kgs of apples, so the production line will be in full swing over the next week or so.

After straining the elderberry, blackberry and apple pulp overnight, I made the hedgerow jelly this morning. Not only is it a fantastic colour but it has the most delicious flavour with the blackberries dominating. The rest of the elderberries are currently on a slow stew in the oven with some cider vinegar and will be transformed into Pontack sauce tomorrow. It is apparently "an unrivalled partner for winter stews, casseroled liver, slow-roasted belly pork, or anything wild and gamey". For those who may be interested, the recipe can be found in Richard Mabey's 'Food for Free' and also in the River Cottage Preserves Handbook. More apples are currently in the jelly bag and will be transformed into apple and chilli jelly tomorrow. This afternoon Andy has also made some hot brown sauce of which 2 jars have been put away and half a jar stored in the fridge. I think the store cupboard is almost full now, although I would love to produce some homemade tomato sauce which is sure to knock the socks of Heinz ketchup ;-)