Red Currant Glaze for Ham

You could make this with cranberry sauce, or even a tart raspberry sauce, but I liked it with the Red Currant Syrup I made earlier this year. This was excellent on smoked ham.

1 cup Red Currant Syrup
1 large shallot, peeled
2 tsp Dijon mustard, or to taste
1 Tbsp cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a blender and whiz until well blended. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator for  up to several days (it improves after sitting for a day or so, as the flavors more fully blend).

Use to glaze ham as it bakes, and/or as a sauce at the table. Bring to room temperature before serving at the table.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups of glaze.

White Currant Sorbet

We got just enough fruit off our white current bush this year to make this sorbet. It was experimental, and I was pleased with the result. The full depth of the currant flavor really comes through. It also comes out a lovely hue - not only are white currants actually a pale peach color when ripe, but the fruit takes on some of the color of the seeds as it cooks.

I used my ice cream maker for this (1.5 qt), but you can also make sorbet without one: freeze the fruit mixture for several hours in a baking pan or other shallow dish, then pry it out in chunks and run it through the food processor just before serving to get the texture right.

4 cups stemmed and washed white currants
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups white sugar

Fresh white currants, washed and ready

Combine all ingredients in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the skins separate from the fruit. Put the mixture through a food mill or press it through a sieve to remove the seeds and skins.

Simmering

Chill the currant mixture until cold in the refrigerator, then either put it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions or freeze.

Serves about 6.

Raspberry-White Currant Syrup

I was inspired by the red currant syrup, which has proven to be a huge hit at our house with a spoonful or two in a tall glass of seltzer during the recent heat wave. This version uses the slightly sweeter white currants plus raspberries that are coming in thick and fast in our garden right now.  It's delicious!

4 cups white currants, stemmed and washed
4 cups raspberries
2 cups white sugar
Splash of water

Place the currants, raspberries sugar, and water in a Dutch oven or similar large pan.  Cook over medium heat until the currant skins start to separate from the fruit and it gets pretty soupy.  (Keep cooking it longer if you desire a thicker end product.)  Strain the syrup through a fine sieve into a bowl, then use the back of a spoon to mash and press as much of the remaining flesh and liquid through the sieve as you can. Scrape the bottom of the sieve periodically to get the nice, thick, pectin-rich gel that collects there.  When you're done, pour the syrup into a jar(s).  This is suitable for canning (5 minutes for half pint jars, 10 minutes for pint jars), or just keep it in the fridge.

Makes about 5-6 cups.

Red Currant Syrup

We had a nice crop of red currants on our two bushes this year.  I turned about a quart of them into this tasty syrup, which is good mixed with seltzer or in cocktails.  Cook it a bit longer and you'll get sauce instead of syrup; a bit past that and it'll be more like jelly.

1 quart stemmed red currants

2 cups sugar

Splash of water

Place the currants, sugar, and water in a Dutch oven or similar large pan.  Cook over medium heat until the currant skins start to separate from the fruit and it gets pretty soupy.  (As mentioned above, keep cooking it longer if you desire a thicken end product.)  Strain the syrup through a fine sieve into a bowl, then use the back of a spoon to mash and press as much of the remaining flesh and liquid through the sieve as you can.  When you're done, pour the syrup into a jar(s).  This is suitable for canning (5 minutes for half pint jars, 10 minutes for pint jars), or just keep it in the fridge.

Makes about 1 quart.

Peaches

Clarkdale Fruit Farms has its first peaches of the season available - check them out at the Greenfield Farmers Market tomorrow. The farm stand should be open soon, too.

And speaking of local fruit, there are lots of berries in season right now, too. My husband and son just went down to Nourse Farms in Whately this morning and came home with strawberries (!), red raspberries, black raspberries, three kinds of currants, and two kinds of gooseberries. They had blueberries for picking and for sale as well - we didn't get any because our own bushes are still producing.

All this fruit is fantastic fresh, but we were also eager to get some more into the freezer for use in smoothies and popsicles, which we go through at quite a rate at this time of year.