Herbs straight from the garden

This week here at Tynan’s we have used the last of our Elderflower Cordial , and we have had lovely compliments from our customers on how refreshing and delicious it was, so when we got a gift of a basket of ripe blackcurrants we turned it into beautiful blackcurrant cordial and we are now serving it complimentary to our customers.

At the moment our days in the shop are really busy and our evenings are spent gathering all our produce from our garden and tunnel. The reward for all our hard work is a fantastic array of mixed leaves, pak choi, 3 different varieties of fresh basil and an abundance of fresh parsley, thyme, sage. Time and time again we are complimented for the flavour of our soups and salads and I always tell people this is down to the fresh herbs, taken directly from the garden each morning.

Lime Pie

8oz Ginger Nut Biscuits, crushed

3oz Butter, melted

3 Large Egg Yolks

Zest of 3 Limes

1 Tin Condensed Milk

150ml Lime Juice

Preheat the oven 180° and line a loose bottomed 23cm flan tin with greaseproof paper.

Pour the melted butter over the crushed ginger nut biscuits and press firmly into the base of the tin, bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Place the egg yolks and lime zest into a bowl and using a mixer whisk until the egg has thickened usually about 5 minutes, add in the condensed milk and whisk for another 4 minutes, finally add in the lime juice and whisk for 1 minute to combine.

Pour the mixture over the biscuit base and bake in the oven for a further 30 minutes.

Savoury Scones

1lb Flour

1tsp Baking Powder

¼tsp Cayenne Pepper

4oz Butter

2oz Strong Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese, grated

8 Sundried Tomatoes, chopped

8 Black Olives, chopped

250ml Milk

1 Egg, beaten

Salt

Preheat the oven 180°. Add all the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl, chop up the butter and add to the bowl and using your fingertips rub it in until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Add in the egg and enough milk to moisten and mix together to form a soft dough.

Place the dough onto a floured board and roll out to 3cm thickness, cut out the scones and brush with some beaten egg and bake in the oven for 15 minutes

Blackcurrant Cordial

1lb Blackcurrants

9oz Castor Sugar

500ml Water

Juice of 1 Lemon

Put the blackcurrants, sugar and water into a saucepan and allow the sugar to dissolve over a low heat, stirring occasionally. As soon as the sugar dissolves bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and leave for about 10 minutes, add in the lemon juice and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

When the syrup has cooled pass it through a fine sieve or a piece of muslin and then pour into sterilised bottles.