Ginger Wine - A Simple Recipe

Ginger Wine is a great herb drink which has been underrated for many a year. Having made many batches in the UK, I often forget how much I enjoyed this drink in the evening and not just in winter, but all year round. It is a fortified wine and not like ginger beer where the finished article only has its own alcohol content from fermenting.

This recipe has stuck in my mind for years I don't know exactly where I got it from but is was a learning curve to arrive at this particular recipe. You can of course customise it to you own taste.

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 litres water
• 1 1/2 kg sugar
• 1 lemon
• 50 g fresh ginger
• 1 tsp dried wine yeast
• 120 g chopped raisins or sultanas
• 1 bottle brandy (75 gm)

METHOD:

• Put the water, sugar, lemon zest and ginger that has been cut and crushed in a saucepan and boil. Leave on a low simmer for at least and hour.

• Leave it to cool after discarding any scum that forms on the top of the liquid.

• Stir in the wine yeast when tepid and place the saucepan lid on loosely and leave for 24 hours.

• Add lemon juice and raisins or sultanas to the liquid and transfer the mixture into a clean plastic container and cover with a lid loosely or a clean tea towel. This needs to be left in a warm place for 2-3 weeks and stirred every day.

• The brandy can now be added and left another couple of weeks without stirring.

• Place the container in a cool place for 24 hours then strain or siphon off the clear wine into wine or plastic lemonade bottles.

• Serve cool or with ice.

TIP:
You can serve this as a toddy by heating up the wine on a cold night (not too hot though as the alcohol will evaporate.)

Elder Flowers, Berries and Wood

When in the UK, elder flowers and elderberries were collected and mixed with other fruits to make wine. The berries given the body and the flowers the aroma. The results were good , but know I grow grapes to make wine I don't do it anymore. It does make a great contribution to many a good bottle of wine, but the elder is not confined to just a wine making ingredient. There is more to the elder than meets the eye.

The elder has around 30 species usually in the form of a shrub or small tree. Two of the species are a herbaceous plant and therefore it can be classified as a herb. It is native in mainly northern hemisphere temperate or subtropical regions.

The leaves range from 5 cm to 30 cm long with long serrated edges. They come in large clusters with small white or cream coloured flowers in late spring. Small black, blue or red berries take their place soon after. The flowers are used to produce elderflower wine as mentioned, even on a commercial scale in some countries. The herbs are also popular as ornamental features that are grown in many gardens.

Elderberry twigs can be hollowed and in places where maple tree grow traditionally been used as spiles to tap the trees for syrup. Rich in vitamin C, the berries are a very valuable food resource for many birds and humans alike. Many a time I have found dead elder wood a favourite place where the 'Jew's ear' edible mushroom grows.

Perhaps only watchmakers and repairers know this, but the wood is used from the Elder tree by watchmakers to clean their tools before they start working on the small parts of watches.

Steeped in history the elder tree warded off evil influences and gave protection from the evil witches. It is also traditional thinking that if an elder tree was chopped down the spirit of the 'Elder Mother' would come and take revenge. to avoid this revenge, the tree could be cut while singing or chanting a rhyme to the Elder Mother.

The elder and it's produce continue to give health benefits and would be a great addition to any garden. Not just for the the point of a pleasant sight of the flowers and subsequent berries both being used in the kitchen but it has very low maintenance and looks after itself.

Dandelion Wine - Herbs and Wine a Combination for Health

I am a great fan of making wine at home and my passion for herbs rides just as high. Wine and herbs just seem to go together, a natural partnership that also sounds good. The health benefits from both wine and herbs are proven beyond all doubt, so why, away from food recipes are there not more combinations of them to produce a healthy herb wine? Well I can address that now with this dandelion wine recipe, although essentially it is an orange, banana and dandelion wine.

There are many recipes that give for wines, however, herbs wine recipes are rare. The reason being that herbs alone cannot make wine, they are mainly used, if at all, for bouquet. In order for the fermentation to take place, you need other ingredients to perform this act, usually sugar based fruits, mostly with natural compounds that create a healthy fermentation, i.e. grapes, pears, apples, plums etc. Other fruits and vegetables that lack natural yeast may need the addition of cultured yeast.

This recipe is a favourite of mine; I used to make when living in Yorkshire in the later spring when the dandelions are at there best. The dandelions have to be picked on a warm sunny day at around midday when they are fully open and the dew have evaporated; this is when the dandelions’ flavour is at its peak.

It is very easy to make although unless you can get dried dandelions, you will have to wait until spring to start it.

You will need:

4 pints fresh dandelion flowers (yellow petal only)
3 lbs granulated sugar
Two slightly over ripe bananas
4 oranges
1-gallon water
Wine yeast and nutrient

Method:

Boil the 1 gallon of water and pour the over the flowers that should be in a plastic bucket. Make sure you pour directly onto the flowers to cool the water slightly before touching the plastic. Cover with cloth and leave to steep for two days. Pour the mixture back into a cooking pot or pan and bring to a boil.

Add the orange peelings from the four oranges without the white pith and continue boiling for a further ten minutes.

Strain through a clean cloth into a plastic bucket with the sugar and stir to dissolve.

Add the juice of the oranges when cooled then the yeast.

Pour the juice into a gallon demijohn and fit a fermentation lock. Keep in a warm place, e.g. airing cupboard and allow to ferment out completely.

Rack the wine, which means siphon off the wine leaving the sediment behind into another container. Clean out the demijohn and transfer the wine back in topping up with cooled boiled water. Store in a cool place and the wine will soon clear. Rack again and either store in bottles or the demijohn, topping up as before if needed.

You will now need a further six months to a year before it will be ready for drinking. It is a light wine full of flavour and the bananas give it the body unlike many other herb-based wines that don’t have this characteristic.

NOTE:
You can substitute other herbs in this recipe, or even a mixture of your favourite herbs; sage, mint, parsley and rosemary go well individually or as combinations.

One thing is for sure, you can't buy this in a supermarket and even if you could, your homemade version would be much, much better. You would also know that it is free of chemicals and preservatives and the nominal cost of producing it is an added bonus.