Blackberry Ice Lollies

We love making popsicles /ice lollies. The kids get involved and it's a great way to get certain fruits into them that they might otherwise not try.

For a truly budget popsicle, try using the juice left over from tinned fruit. Or incorporating that in the mix! But if you are a good foragers, there's no reason to stop there. We get tons of brambles in the autumn and often have a few old bananas lying around that want using up!

Ingredients:

200g blackberries
banana
1 freshly pealed and chopped apple (or an orange, melon, whatever you have)

Method:

Place the food processor or a blender with a metal blade.

 Whizz.

Pour into molds and freeze overnight.

Layered Ice Lollies

We sometimes do it in 2 steps to get a layered effect!

Hot pink layer - was cranberry juice whizzed with raspberries and gooseberries
White layer - double cream beaten with mascarpone cheese and 100g icing sugar. Clearly not a budget choice but we had leftovers from Burns Night cranachan which needed using up! Any ice cream could be substituted.
Purple layer - see the above recipe with brambles

Three layers' origins

Nettle quiche

Quiche is one of those meals which is so good for you - full of eggs, milk and dark green veg. Why not do it with nettles when you cannot really tell what the dark green veg is?

For the pie crust - this is my great grandma's recipe:

6 in double or 8 or 9 inch single:
1 1/3 cup Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Crisco/Trex/hydrogenated sunflower oil in butter like form
3 tbsp Ice Water

10-inch single:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup crisco/trex
4 Tablespoons ice water

10-inch double:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup crisco/trex
6 Tablespoons ice water

Mix flour with salt. Cut 1/2 Crisco into flour mixture until it looks like cornmeal.  Cut in second half until mixture resembles size of peas. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Chill 30 min then roll out and line pie dish(es).

For the quiche's filling:
clove garlic
1/2 onion or green pepper
any mushrooms, courgettes or tomatoes that need using up - these make a nice moist topper
a few handfuls of nettles- try for mostly leaves rather than stems
a few handfuls of grated cheese - cheddar, parmesan, mozzarella, feta, or combination
2-4 eggs depending on whether you're doing a 6 inch, 8 inch or 9 inch quiche
250 ml of milk

Saute garlic and onion/pepper till soft. Add nettles and cook till a healthy green color. Add grated cheese. Place in pastry, leaving room for egg mixture.

Combine eggs and milk. Pour over and give a bit of a stir. Place any leftover cheese gratings then mushrooms/courgettes/tomato slices on top.

Bake at 180 C/350F for 40-65 min or till golden brown with a non-liquidy centre.

Note: I tend to make three or four small quiches in Pyrex lids or 6 inch crumble dishes and freeze any leftovers for other days!