sugarmouse's blog

This year's model

Quince cheese again, this time made with less concentration on the recipe and probably less sugar.

Initially it looked a bit pale but it seems to be setting fine. I left it to set in  heatproof containers lined with slightly buttered paper or in silicon moulds with spray on oil in case I needed to return any of it to a cooling oven to dry. I like the idea of shapes, either from the moulds or cut out of the slabs. That said it is lacking a bit of finesse.

 

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Boing

Spring is finally here after the coldest winter in how many years. The usually seasonally-challenged black swan pair in St James's Park (last seen attempting to raise a family from Halloween eggs) are busy sorting out a comfortable, if somewhat exposed, springtime nest. As ever, I will them on in the face of rats, foxes, seagulls, crows  and humans bearing nutritionally useless white bread. I've seen them lose both eggs and cygnets but they keep trying and sometimes succeed. 

I'll be keeping an eye out for an explosion of ducklings, goslings, cootlings (?), moorchicks etc. as the weather warms up. I would include a picture of the crocuses (glorious) or the daffodils (soon to be glorious) but I haven't managed a decent one in sunlight yet. Other blossoms and leaves are yet to show themselves.

Happy returns

This week sees the return of Masterchef UK, the one featuring ordinary people not 'celebs' or chefs. It's predictable, repetitive, often laughable yet strangely addictive. I'll be glued to it, playing the drinking game and texting fellow addicts throughout. Let's hope the rumoured format changes are not of the sort that ruined the most recent series of 'The Reastaurant'. Cooking obviously does get tougher than this, but I won't tell them.

Back from the dead, or recently embalmed - the sloes from my first decant of either vodka  or gin. They have been sitting in their jar, wrinkled and reproachful, awaiting their fate. Seeing as I have failed to cook with them I have decided to follow a tip from the sloe biz forums and bring them back to life by covering them in sherry to create another liqueur. That I left them so long may not help, likewise the fact that I know nothing about sherry apart from the general cooking with alcohol rule (if it's not good enough to drink...). I bought medium dry and not the cheapest as I'll have to use up the rest somehow. We'll see how this turns out.

Quince cheese

My second attempt at making membrillo, I failed to photograph my first. Having been brought up eating something known as quittenkase at Christmas / New Year and noting its similarities to various other forms of quince paste or cheese across Europe I decided to try making it. I wouldn't have got even this far if quinces hadn't been readily available on the Seven Sisters Road.When ripe their scent can fill a room.
Peeled, cored, chopped into chunks, covered with water and boiled till soft  with a bit of lemon zest. Pulped then put in a pan on a low heat with an equal volume of sugar and juice of a lemon and simmered and stirred for a couple of hours till it became orange and jammy.
Left in greased paper-lined tray on lowest oven setting for an hour or so to dry out et voila. Softer and less crystalline than the quittenkase I know but similar to the flexible blocks of membrillo 'carne' you can get in Spain.
I'm not sure how long quinces may be available in the UK but I am tempted to try this with a bit of spice perhaps or chilli.
My raspberry gin remains a thing of beauty. I can't believe I waited this long before attempting to make it. I'll have to check the recommended time for decanting and if this is a success I'll be making several bottles a year.

My glamorous assistant

Furry Fiend

The furry fiend had three of his last five teeth removed this week and was left with stitches where some had apparently fused to his jaw. The vet said I might have to tempt him with food to get him to eat. Happily that is not the case, he is wolfing down tinned food, possibly with additional snarfing noises, and the chicken-wrapped antibiotics are not even touching the sides leaving him plenty of time to sleep and interfere with my activities.

A monochrome world

Cold snap, pictures from London parks.

Whilst the white birds suddenly look less pristine and the St James's Park pelicans are distinctly pink, the black swans become more elegant with a touch of snow frosting their curly funereal plumage.

This is the second year running that London has had a week (or more) of snow. The news may go on endlessly about industry's lost billions and the UK's inability to cope with the white stuff but I love it. The world is briefly transformed and unpredictable. I get to see the trails of birds and animals normally lurking around me and make new ones myself. I like the way snow (well some kinds of it) squeaks underfoot or in hand and the fact that I can see dog shit before I tread in it.

Raspberry gin

300g raspberries
330g white granulated sugar
Approx. 1.4 litres (2 bottles) gin

• Wash raspberries, put in bottle or jar. If using 2 gin bottles, split between them.
• Add sugar.
• Top up with gin.
• Close lid. Shake daily till sugar dissolves.Keep in a cool, dark place.
  

Decant (and filter if necessary) anytime between 3 months and a year later.

This must be the prettiest and simplest concoction to make - it looks stunning already.

Unfortunately I have neglected some of my other jars and the greengage gin has gone from golden glow to murky brown, maybe due to increased heating in the current cold snap. I'm filtering it which is producing dark amber liquid the colour of bitter, don't know if that's normal. Filtering will also remove my little maggoty stowaway who I've glimpsed drifting through the ginny gloom but evading my spoon.

The unusual (for the UK) winter chill has mean that using the oven adds noticeably to the warmth of the flat. I may try to make some biscuits to keep my circulation going.
 
 

Decant

Sloe vodka which has been percolating since September is decanted. I may leave this for another couple of months before tasting. Unlike my first sloe gin decant it smells slightly more alcoholic than inviting although the colour is as good.
More sloe gin, damson and greengage gin to go. What initially seemed like a large amount now appears to be shrinking as I find it may be actually very palatable.

Have just started up a bottle of raspberry gin, a highly recommended combination.

Half-arsed experiments with the culinary arts and the odd encounter with nature.

Greengage gin

I'm not much of a cook, I like reading / watching things about food but, possibly due to my lack of decision-making skills when faced with a wide choice, I am really no good at creating any dish that involves good timing or coordination. Obviously that doesn't stop me from having an opinion on any number of food-related issues.
 
I have thus decided to aim my efforts at the alchemy of baking (assemble ingredients, apply heat), and preserving (assemble ingredients in relatively
sterile environment, drown in alcohol or similar) to see if any of my experiments bear fruit, despite my half-hearted commitment.

Wild things of all sorts - they lounge around in gardens and parks and don't seem averse to finishing off some of my less well-conceived creations - were always going to feature in this blog as I take a lot of pictures of them and their environment so this blog will be an odd mix. As is the greengage gin (vodka?) above - spot the maggot. I didn't until it  emerged from one of the fruit and glided gracefully towards the surface. I suppose it died happy.