Rosehip, Hibiscus & Currant Pie Or Cake Filling

Ingredients

1 1/2 c water
3 rosehips
1/2 c brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 herbal tea bags
1 c currant jelly
1 tb lemon juice
1 1/2 ts butter
1/2 ts flour

Instructions

Boil the water, cinnamon, and herbal tea until the water is reduced to one cup. Remove the cinnamon and herbal tea and add the brown sugar, lemon juice, and rosehips, and simmer briskly (medium heat) until the water is just above the rosehips. Then, add the currant jelly, and stir till it is all dissolved; continue simmering for five minutes, stirring all the while and watching carefully for scorching. Blend butter and flour thoroughly, and stir into the currant jelly mixture until it is thickened. Take the mixture off the heat; it is ready to use.

Note#1 : If you want to avoid the extra butter, blend the flour with a tablespoon or more of water; you want to suspend the flour in the water, not have a batter. Take the currant mixture off the heat, stir in the flour mixture all at once and thoroughly, and then return it to the heat to thicken.

Note #2: omit the butter and flour, and perhaps add a chopped apple, some raisins, etc, for a healthful fruit stew.

Nyani-Iisha F. Martin nfmartin@fas.harvard.edu rec.food.cooking