Buckwheat

Buckwheat is one of those ingredients everyone has heard of but few could tell you what to do with. Originating in Russia and Asia the plant is relatively new to our diet and only came to western Europe in the late middle ages.

Buckwheat flour is generally available in health food shops and is a useful store cupboard staple. In France, and Brittany in particular, it is very easy to source as it is used for making savoury crepes.

For savoury crepes just use a standard pancake recipe (2 eggs, 250g Flour, 450ml Milk) but substitute buckwheat for most or all of the flour in the recipe. Cook the pancakes as thin as you can and fold them with ham, eggs, smoked bacon etc.

In the US you will find buckwheat used for both sweet and savoury pancakes and the slightly smoky flavour works particularly well with blueberries.

Blinis are the classic yeast based pancake to be found in Russia and Eastern Europe. This is one of those things everyone should know how to make for the day somebody brings a tin of Caviar to your house. I know this is unlikely to happen for at least a decade given our current woes, but you never know.

Blinis are probably even better with smoked salmon, especially for breakfast, and at least that is something we can all afford.

Blinis
250g Buckwheat Flour
1 packet Instant Yeast (or 15g fresh yeast)
250ml Water (lukewarm)
250ml Milk (lukewarm)
2 eggs, separated
1tbs melted butter
Smoked Salmon, Caviar (optional)
Sour Cream or Crème Fraiche

Mix the yeast with the water, 125g flour and 125ml of milk, cover and allow to ferment for 1½ hours. Beat the egg yolks with the remaining flour and milk and add the melted butter and a pinch of salt. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter. Allow to stand for half an hour.

Heat a pan and add a small dab of butter until sizzling. Add a ladleful of pancake mix to the pan and cook on both sides for approx. 60 seconds. Each blini should 3-4 inches in diameter. Stack and keep warm

Serve with smoked salmon and sour cream (or crème fraiche) or try some inexpensive lumpfish caviar. Of course if you know a rich banker you could steal some of their caviar stash.

Blackberries

Blackberries are the great free (and often ignored) treasure of Autumn.

Every hedgerow in Ireland contains blackberry bushes of varying quality and all are worth picking - even the smallest and bitterest.

The sweetest berries are the ones at the bottom of the bunch, and only pick the ones that come away from the stalk easily.

Blackberry jam is the classic recipe and has a nice rustic edge you don't get from other fruits such as blackcurrant, raspberry or strawberry. If you are not keen on the gritty texture you could make a jelly by allowing the pulp to drip through muslin over a couple of days.

Adding a dash of Crème de Mure (the blackberry equivalent of Crème de Cassis) will add some depth of flavour to the recipes below but it can be difficult to find in Ireland so experiment with Crème de Cassis.

Blackberry and Apple Jam
500g Cooking Apples, 1500g Blackberries,1500g sugar
Peel core and chop apples and boil in a little water until very soft, then push through a sieve. Combine the apple pulp with the blackberries and sugar in a large saucepan, bring slowly to a boil and cook rapidly for 30-40 minutes, stirring regularly, until the Jam will set (test with a saucer). If the jam fails to set add the juice of a lemon.


Blackberry Ice Cream
500g Blackberries, 50g Caster Sugar, Juice of 1 lemon, 400ml Double Cream.

Combine the blackberries and sugar and blend for 1 minute. Push through a plastic sieve to remove seeds. Whip cream lightly, mix with the Blackberry pulp and chill for 2 hours. Transfer to plastic tub and freeze or add to an ice-cream maker and churn until the consistency of whipped cream. If you are still freezing you should remove after an hour to beat out the ice crystals.


Blackberry Syrup
Put 1 kilo of picked-over de-stalked blackberries in a shallow bowl with about 200ml of water and leave overnight in a cool place. Add 400g of Caster Sugar and blend for a minute. Push through a sieve and adjust the flavour with lemon juice if you wish but be warned that the lemon will cause the syrup to thicken. Bottle in glass bottles and keep in the fridge. Pour on ice-cream, apple tarts and crumbles, or add to Cava or Prosecco to make Kir.

Bottling it

Autumn is the traditional time to bottle and preserve the bounty of the harvest to offer comfort in the cold winter months ahead.

Nobody bothers preserving vegetables any more, but fruit is a different matter. Brandy preserved peaches eaten in December is a wonderful reminder of warmer days.

Almost any fruit can be preserved and these recipes can be adapted and experimented with. Sterilization of the bottling jars is important however - heat the jars and lids in the microwave or oven until they are too hot to touch.

There is no need to use pristine fruit – bargain with your greengrocer for the damaged fruit. Similarly don’t use expensive brandy, the inexpensive XO from Aldi works very well.

I use brandy below but you could also use Vodka, Tequila or Poitín for equally delicious results.

Cherry Brandy (adapted from Jane Grigson’s Good Things)
This works best with sour morello cherries but unless you have a tree in your garden you will only find sweet cherries for sale.

Wash and pick over the cherries and cut off any bruised bits. Prick each cherry a few times and pack into a sterilized jar. Add a couple of tablespoons of sugar and fill to the brim with brandy. Add extra sugar if using bitter cherries. Close tightly and store at the back of the cupboard for three months (or 20 years).

Once you pour off the brandy, the cherries can be eaten with cream or to make the very best Black Forest Gateaux.

Grape Brandy
Follow the same method as above but use grapes, especially Muscats.

Brandy Preserved Peaches
Peel 12 peaches (boil in water for 60 sec.), cut into quarters and add to a saucepan with their stones. Add 500g of sugar, 1000ml of inexpensive Brandy, a crushed cinnamon stick, a teaspoon of cloves and a quarter of a grated nutmeg. Stir over gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Spoon peaches and brandy into sterilized jars with some cinnamon, a stone or two and some spices. Fill to the brim, close tightly and leave in a cool place for approx. 3 months. The peaches add a kick to fruit salad and taste as good as the brandy. Pears or Apricots work well also.