Tuesday, May 25, 2010

World's Best Elderberry Pie

Here you will find one of the best Elderberry Pie and Elderberry Wine recipes in the world!
Our Elderberries Are Certified Organic, In Stock And Ready To Ship In Our Flavor Savor Containers! All our herbs are true certified organic by CCOF, OTCO and certified NOP Kosher! All herbs are free from irradiation and ozone treatment, sulfur, gasses and other sanitary chemicals! Unsurpassable in color, depth, taste and aroma! Guaranteed fresh and not from "warehouse stock" Processed and handled according to strict organic standards! Analyzed for quality, safety and true botanical identity by the best in quality control!

Buy Organic Elderberries On Sale - 1 Lb

Our Favorite Elderberry Pie Recipe!
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups organic elderberries
3 tablespoons organic lemon juice
3/4 cup white organic sugar
2 tablespoons organic flour
1/8 teaspoon organic salt
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a 9 inch pie pan with pastry.
2. Combine berries and lemon juice. Pour into shell. Mix sugar, salt and flour. Sprinkle over berries.
3. Cover with top crust. Seal and flute edges. Cut a few small steam vents in the top.
4. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 10 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake 30 minutes longer.


Make Your Own Elderberry Wine!
FRESH ELDERBERRY WINE (recipe to make one gallon of wine)
250 grams of Dried Organic Elderberries
White Granulated Sugar 1 kilo for dry wine
Or White Granulated Sugar 1.25 kilos for a medium wine
Or White Granulated Sugar 1.5 kilos for a sweet wine
Citric Acid (1 teaspoon)
Yeast and Yeast nutrient
Water
1 Campden Tablet
Potassium Sorbate (Stoppitt) as directed

EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO MAKE ONE GALLON OF WINE
5 litre/1 gallon white plastic food grade bin and lid
5 litre/1 gallon demijohn either glass or plastic
Cork with hole and airlock
Fine nylon Straining bag
Syphon
Hydrometer/Trial Jar (Optional)


RECIPE
Strip the fresh elderberries from the stalk by using a culinary fork, then weigh the berries and crush them in a food grade white polythene bucket. If using dried elderberries or sloes put them directly in the bin and pour on 2 pints of boiling water and dissolve the amount of granulated sugar required. Once cool - approximately 21C (75f) add the yeast, yeast nutrient and citric acid.

Cover well and leave in a warm place to ferment for 4/5 days.

Strain of the liquid into a glass demijohn, top up with cool boiled water and fit a cork and airlock. Continue to leave to ferment for approximately 4 to 6 weeks. When the wine has finished fermenting (test using a hydrometer, the reading should for a dry wine read 0.998sg.). Rack again in one months time. The wine should be stored in either a glass demijohn or bottled. If storing in a demijohn, top up with cool boiled water or red wine up to the neck of the demijohn and add one campden tablet and 1/4 teaspoon of Stoppit. Rack again in two months time. The wine can be sweetened if necessary . This wine can be drunk within 3/6 months or left to mature

TIP: Adding an extra kilo of blackberries (2lb) at the bucket stage makes an excellent Port style wine

Have a fun Tuesday!

Stephen Sharp
www.FloridaHerbHouse.com
www.SharpWebLabs.com

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Lemon Balm - A True Lemon Spice


Happy Thursday Here From Florida Herb House!

After packing up 10 lbs. of our organic Lemon Balm today for one of our customers we suddenly noticed the entire room smelled like a refreshing lemon grove. If you are a lemon lover and cook with lemon frequently then you must add lemon balm as an essential spice to your pantry! Our organic certified lemon balm is chopped and sifted and ready for your kitchen! You can purchase online at www.FloridaHerbHouse.com or www.SharpWebLabs.com! Shhhhh...... don't tell anyone but if you type in this code FLORIDAHERB at checkout you get an instant 10%-20% off!!!

Because of its delicate lemon flavor, lemon balm has lots of culinary applications where it works perfectly. Apart from using fresh leaves as an attractive garnish, Chopped fresh leaves can be used to to add zest to sweet or tangy dishes. It combines well with allspice, bay leaves, mint, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Fresh herbs with essential oils, however, are less potent and should be added at the end of cooking. A wonderful addition to fruit salads, green salads, herb butters, fruit drinks, sorbets. It can also be used in egg dishes, custards, soups and casseroles. It works well in stuffing's for poultry, lamb or pork. Its subtle flavour is a perfect for sauces and marinades for fish. Lemon balm and chervil are also good combination.

If you wish to grow lemon balm we had great success with an indoor plant. As an indoor plant, lemon balm offers a light lemon refreshing, uplifting scent to your home year round. Be sure to keep it in a sunny location, and don't let it go dry. To insure an even and regular supply of moisture, consider providing a wicking system for your plant. Use a quality prepared potting soil, and select a pot that's on the small side, five inches or less. Potted lemon balm does better when kept a bit crowded. If your plant starts to get leggy, it needs more sun.

Harvesting and Drying Lemon Balm
This resilient herb can be harvested throughout the summer months by snipping or pinching. It grows back quickly and tolerates heavy harvesting well.

Stephen Sharp
www.FloridaHerbHouse.com
www.SharpWebLabs.com