Red Currant & Lavender Jelly for the Easter Lamb

At Nashtown Castle our preserves, jellies and pickles are made seasonally with local seasonal produce where possible. They are home grown and home made. Here is our list of the preserves that are currently available.

Nashtown Castle Red Currant & Lavender Jelly for Easter

• Apple Jelly - made with apples from an old traditional Kilkenny orchard
• Apple & Lavender Jelly - made with our homegrown lavender
• Bitter Orange Marmalade - this is our only preserve that has no locally grown ingredients
• Cucumber Pickle - made with three varieties of cucumber, grown in our garden
• Gooseberry & Apple Jelly - has a subtle gooseberry flavour
• Pickled Red Cabbage - robust old fashioned pickle, made with our own red cabbage
• Pumpkin, Ginger & Orange Marmalade - more like a relish, delicious with cold meat
• Spicy Pumpkin Chutney - perfect with cold beef and a baked potato
• Red Currant and Lavender Jelly - to be eaten with the Easter roast lamb. Fresh mint will be difficult to find as Easter is so early this year, so here is a great alternative

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

Real Mint Sauce for Easter Lamb

Have you ever gone out to dinner, ordered lamb and mint sauce? The lamb was delicious, but the mint sauce was a disappointing nasty, vinegary mess, out of some mass produced jar - sadly, this is a common scenario for which there is absolutely no need.

Homemade Mint Sauce made from a mixture of Applemint and Spearmint.

Mint is one of the easiest herbs to grow in County Kilkenny, so much so, it can become a weed in the garden, if not kept under control. Spear Mint (Mentha Speicata) is used here, along with Apple Mint (Mentha Sauveolens), both can be grown in an old pot or bucket.

Mint Sauce is the simplest of sauces to make, there is no excuse for not giving it a go. It is a very good example of how one can be thrifty and still enjoy good food, by complimenting it with a quality sauce, at virtually no cost.

RECIPE
Pick a bunch of young sprigs of mint
Tear the leaves from the stems
Chop the leaves, finely
Place in bowl, cover with boiling water
Add teaspoon of sugar, vinegar to taste and a pinch of salt.
Leave to cool and serve.

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com