Podcast "Empty Pleasures"

Driving on my usual weekly jaunt to Pine Bush, I am listening to National Radio's author interview for a recently released book on artificial and natural sweeteners (nutrasweet, stevia, saccharine) which makes for fascinating listening.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/twu/2011/04/30/artificial_sweeteners

Carolyn De La Pena has written 'Empty Pleasures'; it's a history of artifical sweeteners from aspartame to saccharin (a byproduct of the coal industry by the way!).

Behind the scenes at Lieven's

Seasonal winter soup ideas

Here are some great soup recipes that will keep you on budget, nourished and warm over winter.

You do need a blender or food processor though. I bought a blender at Countdown which still goes after four years, and you can perhaps pick up a blender or food processor cheaply at either Cash Converters or charity shops.

Here are broccoli and blue cheese, French onion and maple pumpkin.

Soup #1 Blue cheese and broccoli soup

Less than 30 minutes cooking time
Serves 4

350g broccoli, florets and stalks cut into small pieces
400ml vegetable stock
25g butter
1 onion, finely sliced
50g blue cheese, crumbled, or to taste
100ml double cream (I always keep long life cream in the pantry for occasions like this)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation method
For the soup, place the pieces of broccoli into a glass bowl. Pour over the vegetable stock.

Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the microwave.Cook on full power for four minutes, or until tender. Or, boil broccoli in a sauce pan until tender.

Meanwhile, heat a frying pan until hot then add the butter. When it starts to foam, add the diced onion and cook for one minute.

Transfer the cooked broccoli and stock to a food processor. Add the fried onion, blue cheese and cream and blend until smooth.

Transfer the blended mixture to a pan and bring gently to a simmer.

Season the soup with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.

Divide the soup equally among four warm bowls.Serve.

For more ompf! add some potatoes in the mix!
How? Boil three potatoes, chuck into the mix to blend with broccoli and onion.


Soup # 2 French onion soup

Clever little classy onion soup.Cheap, filling, easy to make, and heart warmingly good at any time of the year.

Less than 45-50 minutes cooking time
Serves 4


50g butter
1kg brown onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp thyme, picked leaves
3 tbsp dry sherry
beef stock fresh, cube or concentrate made up to 1.2 litres
1 baguette, sliced
1 garlic clove, halved
extra-virgin olive oil
100g tasty, grated

Preparation method
Heat the butter in a large pan and gently cook the onion and thyme until the onion is softened but not browned - about 20 minutes.

Increase the heat slightly and cook for 15 minutes, until the onion becomes dark golden, sticky and caramelised, stirring now and again to stop it catching.

Add the sherry and simmer for 2-3 minutes, then add the stock and bring to the boil. Season. Simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the bread, rub each slice with garlic, then drizzle with a little oil.

Sprinkle with the cheese and grill until golden and bubbling. Serve the soup with the cheese croutons on top.

Makes a perfect entree to a meaty meal.

Soup #3 Pumpkin soup

Less than 45 minutes - 1 hour cooking time
Serves 10+

For all you pumpkins out there.

1 pumpkin
1 onion
knob of butter
1 can of coconut milk
1.5 litres of vegetable stock ( 6 Oxo cubes in 1.5 litres of water)
Curry powder (Mild, medium or hot)
Maple Syrup

Preparation method
Chop and peel pumpkin into manageable size.

Soften pumpkin by either cooking or baking it.

Chuck a knob of butter in a large sauce, dice onions and soften them over medium heat.

Add can of coconut milk, and a tablespoon of curry powder to the sauce pan.

Now start adding pieces of pumpkin and with a hand blender begin processing the pieces of the pumpkin as you put them in, adding vegetable stock as required until there are no lumps left and the soup is nice and smooth.

Constantly taste to see whether the soups need more seasoning.

Add a squirt of maple syrup when serving the pumpkin soup. A dollop of sour cream goes well too.

To add more ompf! fry up some bacon and sprinkle over the top.



Four others to be added over the next months. They are:

Mushroom with zucchini
Potato and leek
Pea and ham
Carrot and coriander

Once I have trial and error'ed these, tested them again myself and written down each individual recipe, I will immediately update this blog with these new recipes, so you can keep taking it easy because I find that making soup is child's play and a lot of fun.Watch this space!

Bad jelly the witch elderberry jelly jam

Elderberry jelly jam ...Spike Milligan would have liked Lieven's elderberry jelly-jam I think.Made from the plumbest organically grown elderberries in Gibbston Valley, this jelly jam is guaranteed to liven up your mealtimes and keep you flu-free over this coming winter.


Excellent in sponges, self saucing and rolly polly puds.

Smear some on your pancakes, French toast and waffles with a dollop of cream.

For avo tea serve your warm doughy scones with a side of jelly jam and cream.

Or, spread on toast, Ryvita or bagels with cottage or cream cheese!

Stir under a spoonful of hot rice pudding, custard and in the morning porridge with full cream milk.

Best yet to come, use as a condiment for hot and cold venison, lamb, pork and beef.

Makes a great reduction for sauces too.

Thank you to all who are interested in my preserves. These have been selling like hotcakes at the Remarkable Markets and the market continues to grow, grow as well as help us,the cottage industries, grow, grow and grow each week.

Kiwifruit and elderberry fool

This recipe is usually made with gooseberry but go, replace the gooseberry with kiwifruit or grapes since we are coming up to harvest in Gibbston Valley soon. Gooseberry are not really a New Zealand fruit, what I am really sayingis they are not as abundant as in Germany and they are more difficult to get and expensive.

Enough for 6
450g Kiwifruit
Caster sugar to taste
300ml Double cream
Lieven's elderflower cordial or elderberry syrup

Peel kiwifruit put them into a stainless steel pan with a very little water and cook over a low heat until they are soft and squashy-approx 10 minutes.
Drain off any extra liquid and crush with a fork. Stir in the sugar, the amount you will need but you may actually not have to. Leave to cool, then refrigerate.
Whip cream to soft folds. Gently fold kiwifruit, or grapes into the cream. Spoon the fool into glasses and leave to settle. Trickle a teaspoon of elderflower cordial or elderberry syrup over each as you serve.

Apple jelly

Apple Jelly*** (See bottom)
Six jars, 1 cup, 250 ml, each

The guidelines I used were from the National Center for Food Preservation, and said to cook the apple jelly to 220ºF (104ºC), which will be the setting point, but I ended up cooking mine further. So it’s best to test your jelly by dropping a dab on a chilled plate, putting it in the freezer for a few minutes, then checking to see if the mixture has jelled by nudging it with your finger and seeing if it mounds and wrinkles. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can use this method to test your jelly.

One pound (450 g) of apples cooked will yield about 1 cup (250 ml) strained juice from the cooked apples. So if you have less apples, or you get a different yield (since all apples are different), you can use that as a guideline and add 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice per cup of strained apple juice.

8 pounds (3.75 kg) apples
10 cups (2.25l) water
6 cups (1 kg, 200g) sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoon Calvados, brandy, or Cognac

1. Rinse the apples and cut them coarsely into chunks, then put them and the cores and seeds, into a very large stockpot.

2. Add the water, cover, and bring to a boil. When bubbling, reduce the heat a bit, leave the lid askew, and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until the apples are tender and cooked through.

3. Line a mesh colander with a piece of muslin cloth or a few folds of cheesecloth (or use a jelly bag and stand) and set it over a deep bowl, then ladle the apples and the liquid into the colanders. (I used two lined colanders since it was quite a bit of apples.)

4. Let stand overnight (or at least three hours), and no matter how tempting, do not press down at any time on the apples to extract more juice or the jelly will get cloudy.

5. The next day, measure out the juice. (See Note below about the apples.) You should have 8 cups (2l). Pour it into a stockpot fitted with a candy thermometer, add the sugar and lemon juice, and bring to a boil. During cooking, if any white scum rises to the surface, skim it off.

6. Cook until the temperature reaches 220ºF (104ºC). At that point, turn off the heat and begin testing the jelly on a chilled plate in the freezer, using the method mentioned in the headnote. When it wrinkles and holds its shape, it’s done. If not, continue to cook and re-test it at intervals. This batch set at 230ºF (110ºC).

7. Remove from heat, stir in the liquor, and ladle into clean jars, then cap tightly.

*** I copied this verbatim in a hurry from David Lebovitz's website while making the perfect jelly using this recipe. To view, please go to www.davidlebovitz.com.

I accidentally pushed Publish (rather than Save as intended) and it went live before I had a chance to edit and reference appropriately and make my own comments.
Sorry didn't mean to mislead anyone.The label in the photo is my own and used for selling my apple jelly at the Remarkables Market 12 March.

Elderberry syrup as seen at Remarkable Markets

Lieven’s elderberry syrup is the latest mouth-watering delicacy to come out of Britta Lieven’s kitchen in Arrowtown. (Click on photos to enlarge!)
















The flowers of the elder tree are long gone and berries are ripening, almost ready for making an age old favourite - elderberry syrup.
Traditionally served with Swedish dessert, I served it with an English dessert sillebab served with kiwifruit and it was a hit the other night.

It's one of many natural healing herbs and this syrup guarantees not only to liven up your pantry but will help keep you flu-free over winter.

I am following David Lebovitz's recipe, author of The Sweet Life in Paris who sums this recipe up perfectly as Respect Your Elderberries.

Elderberry Syrup
Makes 1 quart (1l)
Make sure the cookware you’re using is non-reactive and your clothes are stain-friendly. If you use an aluminium pot, it’ll get stained and the next batch of mashed potatoes you make may come out pink. Ditto for spatulas and anything else to plan to use to stir the syrup while it’s cooking.

If you live somewhere where huckleberries are available, you could use them instead.

2-pounds (1kg) elderberries (see note below), woody stems removed and rinsed
4 cups (1l) water
2½ (500g) cups sugar
one nice-sized squirt of freshly-squeezed lemon juice

1. Take the elderberries off the stems using a fork or use a juicer.
Put the elderberries in a large, non-reactive pot with the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low boil and cook for 15-20 minutes, until tender and soft.

2. Pass through a food mill, then discard the skins.

3. Pour the juice back into the pot (I use a fine-mesh strainer again at this point, but I’m crazy…), add sugar, and cook at a low boil over moderate heat for 15 minutes, until the syrup has thickened. Add a spritz of lemon juice. Cool completely.

4. Pour into a bottle or jar and store in the refrigerator.

Note: Some varieties of elderberries are not meant for consumption and none should be eaten raw, especially the leaves. I remove all of the hard, woody stems as well before cooking. For more information, Cornell University’s Department of Horticulture has guidelines, noting the fruits are used in “…pies, jellies and jams.” If you’re unsure if your elderberries are edible, consult your local cooperative extension before consuming.

Splash over a bowl of fresh fruit salad and muesli.

Drizzle over waffles, pancakes, French toast, ice cream or custard.
Add as a condiment to hot or cold lamb for a tasty dinner.
As a winter warmer pour over steaming hot porridge with full cream milk.


Makes a perfect après ski soothing hot toddy or a cold Swedish Kir with a glass of white bubbly wine.