Lemon Barley Cordial

Lemon Barley Cordial

It's cold outside, the sky is grey and the streets are black from the rain. I love this time of year. OK so it's not as cold as Canada and not as romantic as London but Melbourne has its own winter charm. Unfortunately with the cooler weather comes colds and flu.

So here is the ultimate cold weather vitamin C boost for all those ill or just in need off a little TLC.

Gather your ingredients

1/2 cup barley

500ml water

300ml Lemon juice - about 6 lemons

The zest of one lemon - no pith please

250g/1cup caster sugar

Start Making

Pop the barley and lemon zest in a l litre pot with some water. Bring to the boil for 2 minutes, drain the barley and lemon zest then return to the pot and add the fresh 500ml water. Bring to the boil then simmer covered for about 45 minutes.

Drain the Barley mixture keep the water! Add the lemon juice and sugar to the barley water. Place over heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil for 2 minutes.

Pour into warm sterile bottle - I use a 750ml Passata bottle.

Serve

Dilute with hot or cold water. It's quite strong so a little goes a long way.

If the cold is bad or you just need a little extra TLC add a dram of whisky!

Lemon & Mandarin Marmalade

The lemon tree has a bumper crop this winter. So now I'll be a little lemoncentric on my posts for the next little while.

So let's begin our lemon festival with Lemon and Mandarin Marmalade

Lemon & Mandarin Marmalade

Gather your ingredients 
3 Mandarins
3 Lemons
400ml water
2 cups granulated sugar

The preparation - it takes a bit of time


Wash your mandarins and lemons to remove any pesticides, wax and in our case with home-grown produce any possum wee!

Carefully peel the mandarin and using either a knife or scissors slice into thin strips.

Carefully using a zester remove  the lemon rind being careful not to get any white pith (bitter ugh).
Use as much of the rind as you like.

Remove any seeds or pith from the lemon and mandarins. Either chop the lemon and mandarin slices or place in a food processor and whiz a bit. Place in a medium sized jam pot.


The Marmalade

Place the rind and water in a small pot and bring to the boil. Once boiling reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the cooked rind and water to the pot containing the citrus fruit. Bring up to the boil then boil gently for 20 minutes.

Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Bring to the boil, stir frequently until mixture reaches setting point (10-15 minutes). Pour into hot jars and seal.

Makes about 4 jars.

Confession - making marmalade is a labour of love for me. I hate it, I hate the smell, the taste and the preparation. However my family LOVES it and I love them. If I ever stop making it they'll know they're in trouble.