What to do with Red Currants?

So many currants, I'm the only one in the house that likes them straight off the bush and I can only eat so many. The chickens like em but they have plenty of other goodies to eat and I'd like some ideas for how others use them since I really do adore them. I've made delicious jelly, frozen them and thrown in smoothies, tasty brandy cordial, what else?

Oh, red currants are amazing. I love their taste too! Once I did a jam of them, but I heard that relish is also very delicious. They are also good to add them to desserts and some meats. There are many recipies on the Internet with the use of red currants! However, jam is reccommendable!

We buy dried black currants and they taste kind of like raisins.  I wonder if you can dry red currants and if they'd be tasty?  Then they could go in granola and be a nibbly snack anytime.

Wine?

Thank you all for the ideas - I can't believe I didn't think of wine! Definitely going to try that. I will have to dry some just to find out how they taste like that and relish, hmm, a chutney type would be super yummy. Yay, I love this forum!

I think they're great in salads because they're SO pretty.  The flavor is dispersed so tart is balanced with bitter, etc.

They're also great in muffins and pancakes.

John S
PDX OR

How are they dried? They sound like a perfect zinger to add to oatmeal ,cookies and pemican.

John Saltveit wrote:I think they're great in salads because they're SO pretty.  The flavor is dispersed so tart is balanced with bitter, etc.

John S
PDX OR

I put some in my salad tonight, which I hadn't thought to do before. Tossed with feta and balsamic, it reminded me of pomegranate--SO delicious!
Thanks for the suggestion!

William- You're right. They're great in oatmeal.  The tart flavor and red color perfectly complements the sturdy blandness of oats.
John S
PDX OR

My daughter loves lemonade/squash made from redcurrant cordial (of course without the brandy). Cordial made of half currant juice and half sugar by weight keeps at least a year. We use a steam juicer for making jellies and cordial, so we don't have to deal with the seeds.

Wine.  We used some that were frozen.  I read that the black currants make a better wine than grapes.  We will try it when they come in season.

I don't think it's possible to have too much red current jelly.

I'm jealous.  I haven't had any luck getting them to survive, let alone flourish, down here in Arizona.

We have a sirop that is named 'Groseille' after the French for red currants. Its delicious with ice-cream.
In the Netherlands they have a jenever ( just Gin ) with red currants named bessenjenever.
I prefer to make a jenever with black currant. Just put an amount of black currants under a neutral-tasting jenever or gin or alcohol with some sugar ( as much as you like ) . Put in the kitchen, preferably in the sun, let it gather momentum for 6 months. Call the AA before opening. Contain you're alcohol intake. I am not joking.

One of my earliest memories is of my mother making a red current sorbet from berries freshly picked from the garden.

dirk maes wrote:We have a sirop that is named 'Groseille' after the French for red currants. Its delicious with ice-cream.
In the Netherlands they have a jenever ( just Gin ) with red currants named bessenjenever.
I prefer to make a jenever with black currant. Just put an amount of black currants under a neutral-tasting jenever or gin or alcohol with some sugar ( as much as you like ) . Put in the kitchen, preferably in the sun, let it gather momentum for 6 months. Call the AA before opening. Contain you're alcohol intake. I am not joking.

I must try these! I make several fruit/alcohol extracts each year. My favorite is cherry or blackberry brandy and I've done currants, gooseberries and elderberries in vodka. My German friend here shared a recipe for a quince liqueur that she makes with Everclear (100 proof grain alcohol). I added cinnamon and that was darn good and oh so potent. Used it for hot spiked tea last winter. Now I'll definitely have to try currants with gin. Yummmm!

Better use alcohol. Its neutral in taste. You can put some blackberry leaves in too.

Blackcurrants i mean.

I have used this berry whisky recipe to take advantage of the mulberries in my yard when I reach that point of no longer knowing what to do with them. I've tried it with a few types of berries and it's not let me down yet, plus it's a bit different from the usual cordials. makes interesting cocktails with herbs and stuff too. https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/blackberry-whisky

Tereza Okava wrote:I have used this berry whisky recipe to take advantage of the mulberries in my yard when I reach that point of no longer knowing what to do with them. I've tried it with a few types of berries and it's not let me down yet, plus it's a bit different from the usual cordials. makes interesting cocktails with herbs and stuff too. https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/blackberry-whisky

Totally doing this when the blackberries get ripe and I'm going to try a small currant batch tonight too.
I literally laughed out loud at this quote from the page you shared: "Do use cheap whisky for this recipe as there is a special pit in hell for those who drink good whisky in any way other than on its own." True true, I love a nice hot toddy on a cold winter's night and generally use a cheapy whisky I would never drink neat.

dirk maes wrote:...
In the Netherlands they have a jenever ( just Gin ) with red currants named bessenjenever...
Put in the kitchen, preferably in the sun, let it gather momentum for 6 months...

Oh my goodness, thank you for suggesting gin, Dirk.
It perfectly compliments the red currants, giving an amazing flavor of intense red currant so unlike how the vodka infusion turned out. I would never have thought of using gin as a base and it tastes simply amazing.