First preserve for 2012

This week at the market, there was a pyramid of apricots, golden in the low sun, brought in from somewhere south of the Tropic of Capricorn.  They were firm and not too ripe, just right for preserving. With 3Kg of fruit, I delved through my various books for interesting recipes, but decided to use a well tried recipe, which entails cracking the stones, to extract some of the almonds. This adds a real depth of flavour as if amaretto had been added to the conserve. 

I must also write down the necessity for seeking out all those tiny bits of kernel which fly across the kitchen  and bury themselves behind pots and under units!!  Tomorrow I shall design a label and get the jars ready for the first share out of the year 2012.  I potted a variety of jar sizes. 

Just because I haven't been posting....

....does not mean that I haven't been busy.  In fact quite the opposite.....

The small flurry in October and early November of preserving, was due to preparing preserves which will be 'exquistly' matured and ready to eat for Christmas.  I made the cranberry chutney exactly two months before Christmas. As usual for me, I just had to tweak the recipe from Sensational Preserves, and replaced the raisins with dried cranberries, so this is a doubly cranberried preserve: fresh and dried!

By special request I made Pineapple Preserve.  I need to work on this a little longer as it took nearly five lemons, I think there may be something in pineapple which hinders the set!  Anyway it tastes wonderful, and is excellent with yogurt, on pancakes, with home made rice pudding etc.  Hubby is onto his second jar!  I guess than you could even stir some into into Christmas left over meats, with some soy, chilli, spring onions,  etc. and have some tangy sweet and sour dish for a warm supper.

I made this preserve with Keith in mind, as he is not so keen on marmalade.  Well I do have a pineapple and lemon marmalade recipe which I shall try next.  Just after I made the conserve, Keith let me know that he really loved the lime marmalade, he said either his taste buds were changing, or mine was just not as bitter as shop bought!

Penny, who is a wonderful source and generous contributor to my stash of 'exotic' fruits, brought me some medlars, and when approximately half were 'bleated', I decided to make a jelly....

This is a fruit which has been grown for centuries and is returning to favour, and goes well with the rich dishes over Christmas.  When I tasted the juice, I felt it a little bland, so added some Rosemary and Thyme.  I had great fun trying to get the sprigs to remain suspended in the jars....

The Beetroot Chutney which has already gone out, is a Wow with most.  This is a recipe I have worked on for a few years now, and baking the beetroot in the oven means that all the juices are concentrated in the preserve. 

More pear chutneys, some with or without walnuts, and some without any salt at all for one of the club, together with all the other jars, are now ready to go out.  Some of the preserves are made in such small batches, sometimes there is not sufficient for everyone to get one of all of them.  I am beginning to understand the various special likes and dislikes in the group, and make sure that each gets lovely choices each time. 

December will be doubled up, so that you can have a really nice choice to enjoy over the festive period, or else give away as presents.  As usual return of jars is appreciated, but if they go as gifts, then that will be alright! 

May the jam and relishes enrich the dishes you serve, and have a Merry Christmas.

Blackberry and Crab Apple Jelly

It was bring and buy at the Kenilworth Gardening Club this week, and knowing my love of preserving, I was 'pressured' into buying a bag of crab apples.  Together with all this year's meagre pickings of blackberries from the freezer, with equal weights of each of these fruit I thought of making a tasty jelly suitable to have with meats, or as a sweet spread for bread,scones etc.

I washed all the apples and cut off the stalks, and worked out my quantities and the ratios etc.  After gentle cooking, it was time to drain off the juices.  Normally I drape some muslin over a colander, but this time with about three kilos of fruit, I needed to improvise.

The fruit in the muslin hung from the big preserving spoon resting on rungs of the clothes airer, to give the required height above the bowl.  I made up 10x 240g jars of jelly.

Quince Butter

Last Week I thought I would have a go at preserving some of the fruit which Penny has grown.  The fruit was really hard, and by the time I had prepared the fruit for cooking, I had blisters!  I just cut them into quarters, and removed the stalk and blossom end, since I was going to be sieving the whole lot.

The fruit turns brown really quickly, and I used some lemon juice, but later read up that since the fruit turns pink in the heat, the browning is of no consequence.  I had some 'apple stock' and also added this to the pan in place of some of the water.  I sieved the fruit plump, to get 2 pints of puree, and with 1.5 pints sugar, got 5 jars of something between a quince butter and quince cheese.

Since this was called a 'butter', and the recipe called for a knob of butter to disperse the scum, I added a small piece, and was amazed by how quickly the bubbles around the very small piece, about a level teaspoon dispersed.  The yield was 5 jars of 240g.  Penny has kindly offered a few more of her choice tree ripened quinces, so I shall have another go at preserving them in some other format. 

For next year I have sourced some small wide necked jars for 'cheeses', which will be better as the cheeses can be unmoulded onto a seving dish. 

Pawpaw Compote

It must be this heat thing....it feels strange for England. Its really hot but the days are not long, about 12 hours of daylight, and a little like deja vue I am getting a strange feeling. Sound seems to travel differently in the heat too, and one can hear the dogs barking. It feels as if I am back in Mauritius.



Maybe it is this that drew me to three pawpaws in Sainsbury's, as I remembered the deliciously delicate pawpaw jam which sat in a bowl in my mother's big fridge waiting to be spooned onto pain maison. As soon as I had landed, I was on the look out for the fragrant sun ripened fruit in the garden, and I would get cooking on the outside back veranda.....


We never had a recipe, and never added as much sugar as normal jam. This was more a 'compote', sweetened fruit which would keep long enough in a bowl. I would add a couple of small Rodrigues limes, and of course vanilla, which my dad said my Grandmere always insisted on. I added a normal lime and one vanilla pod, and half the weight of sugar to prepared fruit. I love the tiny vanilla seeds black against the rich colour, after a few days the vanilla will infuse the preserve. It is also lovely spooned onto plain yogurt.



I called Vita to come and have some special coffee and walnut cake and scones make with gluten free flour and we sat in the gazebo sampling the small pot. Delicious, and just right on plain sweet scones.


I looked through some of my books and as usual found Jane Grigson's Fruit book useful. What a coincidence that she quoted a passage about a pawpaw tree from a love story set in Mauritius written in 1787: Paul and Virginie, by Bernadin de Saint-Pierre,

Sunday preserving of figs and limes

Yesterday I got a sudden craving for figs....fig jam was one of my father's favourites. I think he must have got a taste for them when he went up Italy during World War II. I just wish he was still around so that I could get to the bottom of this.

I've never made fig jam before, and am nearly at the bottom of the jar bought in Leamington a few weeks ago. I got to the fruit shop just as it was closing, and bought back 10 fruits.



I found a recipe for fresh fruit jam on the Waitrose site, but adapted it by adding a little chopped apple. I had thought it would have cooked into the sauce of the figs, but it kept its shape. As I use it for a topping for yogurt etc., and this batch will be just for me.....I do not think it is a nice variation.



As I used the purple figs the jam is a wonderful rich red colour. I used the juice and finely grated peel of a lemon. The fresh fig flavour comes through perfectly.

The jam my father liked was green, so should I come across green figs I shall make a 100% fig conserve.

At Tesco's they had a special offer on organic limes, and as I had been thinking of trying my hand at Lime Marmalade I got a couple of bags.

As they need so very long initial cooking, I decided to use the pressure cooker to cook the peel. After cooling, and all the peel was cut up and the pulp sieved, I use the preserving pan to boil the marmalade. I thought it going to be a nice bright green colour...it is a little subdued, but I can't use that term to describe this zingy marmalade. 1.5 lbs limes gave 5 235g net and 2 350g net jars.

Damson Preserves

Preserving the damsons so kindly sent by one of my husband's colleagues ... nearly ended in tears. Luckily I had decided to tackle them in two batches, as the first ended in the green bin. Working very late one evening, I thought that I had turned off the gas, but the next morning I realised my error....as I had covered the preserving pan, and the gas was very low, and the pan bottom very thick, there was no lasting harm done.

With the second half I made Damson Cheese, and some chutney.

For the cheese1.4Kg damsons gave 0.75 litre puree after sieving, and with careful evaportion gave 3 x 220 g jars of cheese.

With 1.2Kg damsons, onions, apples, dates, cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt, mustard seeds, ground ginger, and cloves, I made 6 jars of Chutney each 220g net.