Award winning Preserves again

I still haven't tasted the Mango Chutney which won first prize!

Mulberry Jam

Janice arrived a few days ago with two little tubs of mulberries from her tree.  She exclaimed at my white broderie anglaise dress, but I assured her that I would be changing and wearing a pinny when I tackled the fruit.  We all know that mulberries give the most terrible of stains.

I popped them in the fridge promising myself to tackle them the following day.  Last year I had made some jelly with additional white currant juice.  This year I had turned down the offer of a few white currants from Penny in Warwick..of course I would not necessarily presume that I would be offered mulberries again.  At the market on Thursday the first of the cooking apples were on sale, so I bought a couple.  Mulberries give such a rich and strong flavour and are so precious that an addition of another fruit helps to make a few more jars, and gives a really good set.

I was about to freeze them that night, but remembered my revised thoughts on making jam straight away, so got on and cooked the fruit together with the whole apple chopped fine. 

Friday morning, I pushed the whole lot through a fine sieve, properly dressed with an apron.  This is therefore not a jelly...far too precious to loose out on the pulp, so I think this would be classed as a 'butter' as it is not as thick as a 'cheese', but I have not added any butter either.  Is it a jam with the pips strained out?  What I do know is that it is special and delicious, and the closed pots kept for a special pick me up in the middle of winter.  I got two medium jars and four small ones, and a little bit left over to have in yogurt.

As Penny visited on Monday, I gave her one small pot, and I think next year I will be saying yes to some white currants if there are any.  I found out that Mulberry Jam is a top favourite of Vicki in London, so one small pot will be going to her..Then there will be one medium jar for Janice and a small one for her daughter to take back to Uni.  So already all are spoken for with one medium and one small one to brighten up my winter.

Chutney Time

Its maybe a little early in the year for traditional chutney making to start.  Usually it gets under way when there is a glut of things in gardens for people to use which would be starting September.  I no longer have an allotment, but we have a great market and also very good local greengrocery shop: Joe Richards.  It is when I see some fruit or vegetables at their peek of perfection that I feel it is time to preserve.

It is Chutney Making time chez Mrs Mace, for two reasons:  there is very little chutney left, and the jam jar cupboard is full.  The only chutney I had to give to my friend Diane when she came up from Stratford was a jar of Mango which had only been make within a week.

Friday was a massive Chutney making day.

I had prepared all the vegetables for the Piccallili Thursday night, and first thing saw me chopping some lovely small green and very fresh courgettes that I had picked up from Joe Richards.

Then it was all the onions, garlic etc.  Spices mixed and the lovely Biona Organic Cider Vinegar and time stirring it all together on the hob.

Now I need to prepare the labels, for the Courgette Chutney, and the Piccallili  and put these away in the preserve cupboard.  I may just enter a jar from each of these for the Autumn Shows, it will be just perfectly matured by then.

Easy Mango Chutney Recipe

Everything is put into a large stainless steel preserving pan, and cooked together.

2Kg Large Mangoes, just ripe, peeled, stoned and cut into small pieces
1 small dried chillie, cut finely, if you want it hot you can add more.
1 long pointed sweet pepper, cut into fine strips
2 onions chopped small
4 cloves garlic, minced
80g fresh root ginger chopped into fine pieces
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp sea salt
400ml organic cider vinegar
320g white granulated sugar

The Mangoes were indeed magnificent, so many thanks to Neil and Team at the Fruit and Veggie Stall at Kenilworth Market.  So much firm, sweet flesh on these fragrant Mangoes would give a great preserve, however another few days, and they would have been too juicy for the chutney.

I started to grate the ginger, and could see that there were strong fibres, so decided to chop the rest finely, next time I would chop the whole lot.

The sweet pepper is to give the lovely contrast of red and mango, as I only wanted to put one of the small red chillies from the garden chopped fine.

Stir the whole over a gentle heat till the sugar dissolves,  bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, until it is thickish.  It took about 45 minutes once the heat was reduced.  It needs stirring with a wooden spatula to avoid it sticking, fairly regularly.

Put into clean hot jars, label, and store for a few weeks before using...the little extra in a dish left over after filling the jars, will used straight away of course!

Apricot Jam

Last Thursday Kenilworth Market had the first of the season's apricots.  I had bought a small punnet the previous week, so I knew they were coming.  I love Apricot Jam.  It is subtle, but rich in flavour at the same time.  Its the colour of sunshine.  

With nearly three pounds,  with a few taken out for a packed lunch on Friday, I set to preparing the fruit.  There was just one kilo of prepared fruit.  I make sure I cut any little blemishes off the skin, and the area around the stalk where there is a little dark mark.  Then I take the stones, placed in a plastic bag, and give them a gentle tap on the patio with a hammer through the plastic, until I feel they are just cracked, any more and you can make a much of the soft kernels.  Then separated from their hard shell, I pour the boiling water over the kernels  which makes taking off the skin really easy.

With lemon juice and a kilo of sugar, I got just two larger jars and four smaller ones.  These won't last long, so there will be further Friday Apricot Jam making sessions.

Blackcurrant and Apple Jam

I do have an assortment of sweet preserves in the cupboard, but we do have a 'picky' one in the house.  I've just found out that he does not really like jellies, or cheeses, but preserves with bits in them.  Therefore with the last of the blackcurrant jam finished, and since this preserve is to him, as marmalades are to me, I felt that I needed to use the remainder of the blackcurrants picked from the garden last summer.

As I rooted through the freezer, I came across a bottle of very carefully made crab apple juice also from last autumn, ready to make into a jelly, but bearing in mind my new found knowledge, thought about putting it together with the blackcurrants.  It was going to have to masquerade as Blackcurrant and Apple Jam.  Of course I had consulted various preserve books, and was most inspired by Basic Basics by Marguerite Patten. There is not one single picture in this book but the reasons why you do things are really well covered.  I keep going back to this book, which has grown to the top of my pile of preserving reference books.

Here is my recipe:

1.4Kg prepared blackcurrants, mine were the largest, ripest, juiciest ones which I have reserved for desserts!
800 ml water
850ml prepared crab apple juice
2 Kg sugar, a present from Diane

Following Mrs Patten's advice, I made sure the blackcurrants were gently poached until absolutely tender.  Then I added the juice, and sugar.  She gives a recipe using blackcurrants and chopped cooking apples.

Just to make sure it had the seal of approval, my dearly beloved had his first taste without the label on it...then I printed Blackcurrant and Apple Jam in bold for the labels, which is easily read first thing in the morning, when he does not wear his glasses, but in the small print I did say it was Crab Apple Jelly! The verdict:  "Really Lovely!"

Award Winning Marmalades

First Prize for the Lime Marmalade and second for the Pink Grapefruit Marmalade at the Kenilworth Horticultural Society Spring Show.