Chevyman

Hi Rob,

Excellent. A white variety I assume?

Like the Dame, I'd be interested in learning about how you pressed the grapes and, also what sort of landspace the vines took up?

The best thing of all is that you'll know it's yours

On St Georges Day each year Mrs C and I always have a tipple of English wine; it gets bettter as time goes by

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

Rob Compton

Thanks Dame and Chevy!

No, it’s red/rose Chevy, I left it stewing for a few days after harvesting, before I pressed it, and it’s the grape skin that causes the colour change. Pressing is a bit of a problem – I used a masher such as you would mash potatoes with, but I suspect there was a bit of wastage. You can buy a press, but they cost hundreds of pounds, or it is possible to hire them from winemaking shops.

A tip to extract as much as possible is to put the remains of the crushed grapes into a round glass bowl, and press down hard with a round plate, then tip upside down (two person job!) to pour off the juice – needs to be done several times in conjunction with the mashing.

The filtering takes a long time too, as the filter keeps getting clogged – you have to encourage it by scraping it to keep the flow going.

I suppose the whole operation took around 90 minutes (the winemakers bible by the aptly named C J J Berry rather blithely says “when you have extracted the juice pour it into a demijohn”…!) It took us a while as it’s the first time we have attempted it, so a bit of trial and error took place! Anyway, it’s done now.

Chevy, the vine takes a space around 10 feet by 1 foot, against a fence – it hasn’t done much since it was planted around 8 to 10 years ago, and suddenly this year has come good. With vines, it’s all a matter of developing a good framework to carry the fruit, and the all important deep roots of course.

Dame, I think the wine will ferment for around 4 weeks or so, and then will need “racking” – siphoning from one vessel to another to get rid of the dregs, and this may need doing several times. It should clear by itself but if not there are fish innard or synthetic ways of doing this. Then bottled and kept for around 6 months or so if I can wait that long!

rgds
Rob

Chevyman

Thanks Rob. A red? Excellent. It might even keep longer; providing you can stand the wait

Maybe you might have to use "Finings" instead of/as well as racking; finings do leave a very clear result.

I'm not surprised to hear you've had physical problems with the pressing. The pressoirs used in Europe are huge.

I wonder if a 'potato ricer' might help? I have one which I use if I want very smooth mashed vegetables. Here's what they look like:-

Potato Ricer

As you can see they're full of holes and, due to the design, you can exert quite a bit of leverage.

There are heavier duty ones available.

The space taken up to produce the grapes is minimal really.

What an exciting project

I'm impressed

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

Dame Starry

Is that supposed to be funny?

I was thinking of a cheap juicer - it separates the juice from the pulp, but you can always mix it together again afterwards.

I don't drink, but even I think it's brilliant!

I'm off to do myself a roast dinner........I swear, if I eat any more chicken, I'm going to be clucking around the place!

DS x.

Chevyman

As if I'd bring mirth to this topic

Off you cluck then and bon appetit

Chevs x

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

Chevyman

You see what I mean

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

Rob Compton

Fantastic! I want one! That's my Christmas present list sorted in one go! I love the blokey with the hat, doing not-very-much except propping up the press!

Chevy - thanks for the potato ricer tip - not something I've come across before, but I assume there's a plunger inside to press down with. I'll take a look at the new Kitchen Shop that's opened in the town.

Re the juicer, I was thinking of getting one, with the current apple surplus, but still mulling over which one.

Hope the chicken was good, Dame! We had roast chicken yesterday, and with lovely crunchy roast potatoes, mmmm!

rgds
Rob

EHV_Emmetts

Does anyone know how to prevent rice and pasta from sticking together after they've been boiled? It's really infuriating because whatever I do I simply can not get this right - Grrr.

batman

A little bit of oil in the water prior to boiling works for me.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

Lord Brett

I often do that with pasta, though with rice I tend to pour some boiling water on after I've drained it.

Dame Starry

I know people who swear by putting some oil into the water when cooking pasta, but I don't seem to have a problem with it sticking together.
I always make sure that there is plenty of water in a very big pan and, before adding the dry pasta, it needs to be boiling very rapidly. As soon as the dry pasta is added to the water, I use a wooden spoon to 'agitate' it so that it doesn't stick to the bottom or itself. If you keep the water boiling rapidly all the time the pasta is cooking and keep the water topped up if necessary, it is constantly moving about in the water and doesn't seem to stick.
It should take 9-11minutes to cook depending on how you like it.

I do, however, pour boiling water over cooked rice while it's draining in a colander.

DS x.

Chevyman

Agreed. It's the release of starch which causes the sticking as the pasta cooks. If you add oil to water it floats to the top anyway?

I do what you do. Make sure the water is boiling before adding the pasta, agitate and stir from time to time. I often drizzle olive oil over the cooked pasta just before serving

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

Chevyman

I've found some wine presses which might be suitable Rob. I'll PM you the details.
The commercial ones cost from £400 upwards. The ones for home use are much cheaper but with any of them you'll have to mash the grapes first.

"Isinglas" is the stuff you need for fining

The potato ricer does indeed have a plunger which fits snugly inside the cylindrical section of the ricer. A decent kitchen shop should stock them

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

Dame Starry

Thanks, Rob, it was lovely - I just put a breast in the frying pan and worked the rest around that. I actually have the best part of a sliced, stuffed & cooked turkey in the freezer, but I do prefer chicken.

A CHEAT!

When I cook a chicken breast in a frying pan for a roast-dinner-for-one, I save the juices from the pan and the veg water (usually sprouts or cauliflower), pour them both into a small saucepan and bring to the boil - and add them to gravy granules! Have some boiling water handy just in case you need to 'top up'. Use a whisk as it has a tendency to go a bit lumpy otherwise.
I use Sainsbury's Beef Gravy Granules which have no additives and an excellent flavour - even with chicken juices.
It's a good cheat in general really - because you, invariably, have bits of meat and veggies in there, so everybody thinks you've made it from scratch!

DS x.

Dame Starry

I don't like those potato ricer things and I don't like the way Delia uses a whisk in her mashed potatoes either; I can't stand mash that smooth and starchy because it reminds me of packet potato which I don't like.

For me, it's not mash unless it's fairly firm with few small lumps!

...and don't even get me started on 'pommes puree' which obviously started out as a mistake in some chef's kitchen somewhere - probably Heston Bloominghell's! It's known in the Starry Kitchen as either 'pap-on-a-plate' or 'pommes potage' depending on the final consistency!

DS x.