Over the weather - or under the weather?

Black currants are so easy to grow and freeze (the picking not so much).  We have recently moved many of our bushes to the Food Forest and sold the remainder to those willing to come and dig them out.  The later diggers found it much more difficult than those who came earlier - the suction power of water has to be seen to be believed.  No sooner were the bushes out of the ground than the holes filled up with water.  Dragging the bushes out of the currant garden to the trailers and cars waiting was a mission through the bog that the area has become.   When it dries out, the ex-currant garden will become another paddock for grazing in our quest to be totally self-sufficient and sustainable.

After a week of being in the company of coughing and spluttering students I thought I should try and boost my immune system with a little extra vitamin C.  I say a little extra because heat destroys vitamin C pretty quickly so it's more of a comfort than anything else.   Writing this in the middle of winter means that there are no fresh currants but the frozen are just as good.   If we are going to use currants (red or black for juice or jellies) the fruit is just bagged, tagged and frozen.  If we want to make jam then the process is a little more careful - de-strigging red currants is easier if the fruit is frozen first and sorting the black currants is best done with company!

Making cordial is a good thing.  If you want less sugar, you can use less sugar.  If you want more lemon juice, you can add more lemon juice.   You can use red or black currants for this recipe or as I did in today's batch, use both.  The recipe is easily halved or doubled.

Currant cordial (PdB)

1 kg currants
500g sugar
500ml water
Juice and skin of 2 lemons

 Peel the lemons with a potato peeler and squeeze the juice into a large pot.  Add the currants, fresh or frozen, the sugar and the water.    Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add the peeled skin and the lemon halves themsleves.  Bring back to the boil and simmer for another 5 minutes.  Depending on how much time you have, you can let the mix cool, then run the juice through a jelly bag.   If you are in a hurry, you can carefully strain the fruit through a sieve.  If you are not too pushy, the reserved fruit can be saved to serve with yoghurt or added to apple for a pie or a crumble.

If you are pushy and push the fruit through the sieve until you can get no more juice, the resulting cordial will be thick enough to serve over ice cream etc.
However you strain it, use a funnel to fill sterilised bottles and seal.  You will need to keep the bottles in the fridge.