Summer Cabbage Salad with Satay Sauce.
‘Eat Five a Day’, is the super catchy phrase started out as a health marketing slogan in the US in the 1980s.
It’s unquestionably a good idea to include lots of fresh vegetables and fruit in our diet, but in practice there's huge confusion and considerable manipulation about what constitutes 'one of your five a day'.
Here you use the basic Madeira mixture for the topping and add fruit – whatever you please, depending on the season: green gooseberries, cooking apples, rhubarb, pears, damsons, raspberries.
Servings
6Preparation Time
25 minsCooking Time
20 minsTotal Time
45 minsCourse
DessertIngredients
700g gooseberries
4 elderflower heads
about 275-300g sugar, depending on the ripeness of the gooseberries
For the Topping:
50g butter
50g sugar
1 organic egg, beaten
75g (3oz) self-raising flour
1-2 tbsp milk
To garnish:
Caster sugar
crystallised elderflowers if available
900ml pie dish
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.
Top and tail the gooseberries and put them in a heavy saucepan with 50ml water, elderflowers and sugar. Cover the pan and stew the gooseberries gently until just soft but not burst. Remove the elderflowers. Spoon into a buttered pie dish with a slotted spoon, reserve any excess liquid for a sauce. Allow to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, using a handheld beater, cream the butter until soft, add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the beaten egg by degrees and beat well until completely incorporated. Sieve the self-raising flour and fold into the butter and egg mixture. Add about 2 tablespoons milk or enough to bring the mixture to a dropping consistency. Spread this mixture gently and as evenly as possible over the gooseberries.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until the sponge topping is firm to the touch in the centre. Sprinkle with about a tablespoon of caster sugar and decorate with crystallised elderflowers.
Serve warm with homemade custard or lightly whipped cream.
Here’s a suggestion. For your next trip to Dublin, particularly if you are staying overnight, try to get a table at Ross Lewis’ Osteria Lucia on Clanwilliam Terrace.
I’d been meaning to go along for ages but hadn’t made it until recently. We had a really delicious meal and perhaps the best arancini I’ve ever eaten.
They can be so stodgy, but these were stuffed with juicy tomato and nduja with a little blob of basil emulsion on top – delicious, perfectly executed comfort food, made with superb ingredients.
Celebrating its 10th year on the festival circuit this summer, Big Grill BBQ and Food Festival will return to the lush green surrounds of Dublin’s Herbert Park from Thursday August 22nd to Sunday August 25th, 2024.
Showcasing the very best Irish and international chefs, restaurants and barbecue experts across one action-packed weekend in the capital.
Elderflowers are in full bloom at present so harvest them to make elderflower syrup, lemonade, cordial, ice cream, sorbet...
I’ve included the much requested recipe for Elderflower Champagne – enjoy.
The bottles need to be strong and well-sealed, otherwise the Elderflower champagne will pop its cork.
This magical recipe transforms perfectly ordinary ingredients into a delicious sparkling drink. The children make it religiously every year and then share the bubbly with their friends.
Course
DessertIngredients
1 lemon
2 heads of elderflowers
560g sugar
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
4.5 litres water
Method
Remove the peel from the lemon with a swivel top peeler.
Pick the elderflowers in full bloom. Put into a bowl with the lemon peel, lemon juice, sugar, vinegar and cold water.
Leave for 24 hours, then strain into strong screw top bottles.
Lay them on their sides in a cool place.
After 2 weeks it should be sparkling and ready to drink. Despite the sparkle this drink is non-alcoholic.
Top Tip: The bottles need to be strong and well-sealed, otherwise the elderflower champagne will pop its cork.
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