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Red currants

Monica Bhide

By Monica Bhide
in Cooking

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Stigand

Stigand

Posted
Posted

My favourite fruit.

They make good sorbet, although I'm afraid I don't have a recipe.

They are very good in porridge (in fact, I had redcurrants wwith porridge for breakfast this morning).

But best of all - mash them in in a bowl with milk and eat with a spoon. The sourness of the redcurrants curdles the milk (warning: this doesn't look very pretty, so perhaps is only for hardened redcurrant addicts :smile: ).

You can turn them into sauces for roast meat etc, but I think this is a bit of a waste. But then I am a very big redcurrant fan...

carswell

carswell

Posted
Posted

Jams and jellies. The high pectin content makes them a natural. If you can find some raspberries, strawberries and sour cherries, you have the makings for one of the best jams. Red currant jelly can add zing to many sauces and stews (rabbit, carrots, lardons, pearl onions and prunes stewed in beer is a fave) and it's one of the key ingredients in Cumberland sauce (which can also be made with the fruit, by the way).

Compote. Either alone or with raspberries and strawberries.

Red currant curd. For filling tarts and cakes.

Given your specialization, why not a chutney?

Two worthy ideas from Chez Panisse Fruits:

- Pickled currants, which also gives you a supply of red currant vinegar for use in dressings and sauces

- Frosted red currants, for decorating cakes, puddings and plated desserts (works best with currant clusters)

Monica Bhide

Monica Bhide

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Jams and jellies. The high pectin content makes them a natural. If you can find some raspberries, strawberries and sour cherries, you have the makings for one of the best jams. Red currant jelly can add zing to many sauces and stews (rabbit, carrots, lardons, pearl onions and prunes stewed in beer is a fave) and it's one of the key ingredients in Cumberland sauce (which can also be made with the fruit, by the way).

Compote. Either alone or with raspberries and strawberries.

Red currant curd. For filling tarts and cakes.

Given your specialization, why not a chutney?

Two worthy ideas from Chez Panisse Fruits:

- Pickled currants, which also gives you a supply of red currant vinegar for use in dressings and sauces

- Frosted red currants, for decorating cakes, puddings and plated desserts (works best with currant clusters)

Funny you should mention a chutney.. that is what I am experimenting with. I will post pics this afternoon

Monica Bhide

A Life of Spice

ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted

Red currants just came up on the Preserving Summer... thread.

QUOTE (trillium @ Jul 15 2004, 10:37 AM)

More on red currants, my German buddy stopped by and was eating the left over bits of red and black currant jellies sitting out in the kitchen. He's asked me to get him some red currants this weekend so he can make his grandmother's version of "red grits". I'm blanking on the actual German name for this. Anyway, for those that have too many currants, it might be something to check out.

regards,

trillium

QUOTE (ludja @ Jul 15 2004, 11:28 PM )

Maybe you're thinking of "Rote Grutze" (umlaut over the 'u') ?

A kind of pudding-like dish with red currants and raspberries? I think I have a recipe for this somewhere but can't remember where... That is a good idea for using red currants though for those lucky enough to have them!

As mentioned, I"ve heard of this for awhile but have never made it or eaten it... Since I couldn't find my recipe I looked around the web and there is a wide range of stuff--some of which doesn't sound too good (i.e. made w/pudding mix, etc). Here's one recipe that sounds closest to what I remember and might be good: german 'red grits' or rote grutze I think I'll start a separate thread on this to pan for more info.

My mom had some red currant bushes a while back and she she made some nice austrian bar cookies (or 'schnitten') with currants on top--- I have the recipe and can try to adapt it if anyone is interested. (Basically a cookie-like dough with red currants cooked with sugar and thickened on top. Then, this is baked w/sweetend meringue on top. (As I remember it was very good).

I definately second or third currant jelly (we made that too) -- very nice for Austrian style cookies for Christmas and also in between layers for some cakes.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

Pan

Pan

Posted
Posted

I like red currants (frutti di bosco in Italian) in macedonia di frutta. For a real treat, I sometimes got macedonia di frutta con gelato at my favorite bar on the Piazza del Campo in Siena. The fruit salad included red currants, blackberries, sliced apples, and a bunch of other things (I don't remember all of them, but I think there were some watermelon slices and a bit of citrus), and was topped by three scoops of whatever gelato flavors I asked for (probably chocolate, hazelnut, and vanilla some of the time). I Googled for recipes for macedonia di frutta, and the upshot seems to be that there is no one recipe. Just use a good mixture of fruits and combine them with whatever you like (some liqueur is sometimes but not always used).

Michael aka "Pan"

 

Monica Bhide

Monica Bhide

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Here is what I did

Slow simmered the currants with - water, turbinado sugar, star anise, cinnamon and a few large piece of ginger. The "chutney" cooked for about 2 hours on a low simmer. Just removed the cinnamon and anise and then pureed it....

I will post a pic shortly.. looks quite good and tastes yummy. I am now wondering if this will make a good marinade for my chicken

:smile:

Monica Bhide

A Life of Spice

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

Make a lovely DANISH dessert - Rodgrod (slash through both "o"s) - red fruit jelly.

Recipe adapted from Cooking with the Danes by Astrid Slebsager:

1lb red currants

1/2 lb raspberries

1/2 lb black currants

or use all red currants or any mix of currants, raspberries, strawberries

5-6 T sugar

Approx 1 1/2 pints water

2 1/2 to 3 T arrowroot (per pint of strained liquid) dissolved in a small amount of water.

Wash the berries and bring them to the boil with the sugar. Simmer until the berries break up. Sieve them through a fine strainer or cheesecloth. Measure the juice and add the required amount of arrowroot slurry. Return to the boil to thicken, pour into a bowl to set and serve cold with cream.

You can use cornstarch or potato starch in place of the arrowroot.

This is one of our favourite fruit desserts.

There is a somewhat different recipe for this in the June/July 2003 issue of Saveur.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted
They'd be great tossed into scones.

That sounds nice too; when I read it I also thought of opening a warm, plain scone, slathering with creme fraiche or such and sprinkling some red currants on top... (might need a little sugar too).

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

FaustianBargain

FaustianBargain

Posted
Posted

ahh..red currant..just read recently about 'cumberland sauce' that works well as accompaniment with almost all wild game dishes...it has a base of red currant jelly..usually goes with lemon and orange zest...and port...variations may occur but the red currant is the constant..it is named after the duke of cumberland..apparently, he was rather fond of game...nothing to add..just trivia that i am bursting to share.. :biggrin:

gingerly

gingerly

Posted
Posted
They'd be great tossed into scones.

That sounds nice too; when I read it I also thought of opening a warm, plain scone, slathering with creme fraiche or such and sprinkling some red currants on top... (might need a little sugar too).

made something close last week-a gooseberry and redcurrant cobbler.very pretty too!

jbonne

jbonne

Posted
Posted
A friend brought me THREE boxes of fresh red currants. They are gorgeous to look at and very sour to eat

What should I do with them?

Help!

dry them and put 'em in a salad. we did the latter part of this last night.

make pancakes.

use in a sauce with pork tenderloin/chicken breast, as suggested somewhere else in the thread, looks like.

and of course: preserves.

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