The last of the summer produce and Christmas gifts

In my previous post 2013 A Year of Progression . I promised to catch up on a long over due post.

This year (as I may have mentioned once or 300 times) I attempted to grow some salad, herbs and vegetables. I was ridiculously proud when (most) of them grew into things I could actually eat and cook with. Simple things really are great.
I had quite a few tomato plants and with the mild weather they soldiered on into October. When they stopped ripening I was left with green tomatoes.




This brought back memories of my nan's green tomato chutney. She had the greenest fingers and could bring a twig back from the dead so her tomato plants each year were impressive. Unfortunately this was one of her recipes I haven't been able to find, so I relied upon Lisa Faulkner who has a recipe in her book Recipes from my Mother to my Daughter which seemed quite similar. She only said to cook it for a few minutes but I decided to boil it down for much longer in the traditional manner of making chutney as I don't like the taste of raw onion and I was worried about whether it would be preserved enough to last.
Combined in a box with some oat cakes from a James Martin recipe and some fabulous cheese I bought at my mums local deli it made a perfect present for my friend who always loved my nan's green tomato chutney.
After it was cooked I also blended some to a fine purée and found it made an excellent alternative to tomato ketchup.




Recipe
Finely chop 750g green tomatoes, 500g cooking apple and 750g onions.
Boil them in a large pan with 600ml malt vinegar and 750g soft brown sugar for about an hour. In a small bowl mix 25g fresh ginger, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tbsp of salt, 3tbsp corn flour and freshly ground black pepper. Add to the mixture and continue to boil until it is thick and glossy and has the texture of chutney. Pour into sterilised jars and seal.

Sweet Chilli Jam

The second thing I made was some sweet chilli jam. This is absolutely delicious and can be served as a chutney (e.g. with cheese or cooked meats) or used as a stir fry sauce or dipping sauce.

It's very easy to make. It's just all wizzed up in a food processor and then cooked for a long while until it's thick and sticky.

How hot the end result is depends on the heat in the chillies so taste a little piece first and select the strength of chilli depending on your taste or the taste of whoever it's for.

Here is the full recipe.

Ingredients

8 red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
10 red chillies, roughly chopped
Finger sized piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
8 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
400g tin of tomatoes
750g caster sugar
250ml red wine vinegar
Tip the peppers, chillies (with seeds), ginger and garlic into a food processor, then whizz until very finely chopped. Pour into a heavy-bottomed pan with the tomatoes, sugar and vinegar, then bring everything to the boil. Skim off any scum that comes to the surface, then turn the heat down to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally. Once the jam is becoming sticky (1-2 hours depending on the size of the pan), continue cooking for 10-15 mins more, stirring frequently so that it doesn't catch and burn. It should now look like thick, bubbling lava. Cool slightly, transfer to sterilised jars, then leave to cool completely. Keeps well in a cool, dark cupboard - refrigerate once opened.

Adapted from a Good Food recipe



#letsmakechristmas

Onion Marmalade

On Saturday I spent the morning making chutney's and promised to post the recipes, so here goes the first, onion marmalade aka caramelised onion chutney. It really is worth the patience needed to caramelise the onions as the result is simply yummy! It is fab as a chutney with cheese or cooked meats or in sandwiches. I would also recommend using it to make a sauce next time you have a steak. Cook the steak and whilst it is resting deglaze the pan with a splash of red wine add a spoonful of the chutney, a splash of balsamic vinegar and maybe a few fresh thyme leaves. Perfect speedy sauce!

The original recipe uses red onions and far more alcohol and vinegar, but I use less liquid and normal onions as they are cheaper and the end result doesn't seem to suffer any detriment to flavour. I also add the sugar at the same time as the liquid otherwise caramelising the onions in the sugar causes havoc with the pan and is a nightmare to clean.

This will make about 4 jam jars.

Here is a photo of the chutney before the lid is on.









And the final product ready for wrapping.









Here is the full recipe

Ingredients
2kg onions
4 garlic cloves
4 tbsps olive oil
A knob of butter
140g caster sugar
A bunch of fresh thyme leaves
250ml red wine
200ml red wine vinegar

Quarter and thinly slice the onions, then crush the garlic. Melt the butter with the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a high heat. Tip in the onions and garlic and give them a good stir and reduce the heat slightly. Cook uncovered for 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a little water or more oil if they start to stick.. The onions are ready when all their juices have evaporated, they're really soft and sticky and smell of sugar caramelising. Slow cooking is the secret of really soft and sticky onions, so don't rush this part.

Add the sugar and thyme and pour in the wine and vinegar and simmer everything, still uncovered, over a high heat for 25-30 minutes, stirring every so often until the onions are a deep mahogany colour and the liquid almost all reduced. It's done when drawing a spoon across the bottom of the pan clears a path. Leave the onions to cool slightly in the pan, then scoop into sterilised jars and seal. Can be eaten straight away, but keeps well in the fridge.

Adapted from a recipe from Good Food








#letsmakechristmas

Apple and Blackberry Jam

This morning before work I decided to make some jam. Some of the blackberries and apples I picked at the weekend hadn't made their way into my freezer yet and I wanted to use them before they went off. It's so simple to make jam and much tastier than jam from the supermarket. I tend to add apple to any jam I make as if you ate buying the fruit it is cheaper and it's also higher in pectin so helps the jam to set. This jam has 2 cups of blackberries to 1 cup of peeled diced apple and 1 cup of jam sugar (you could also use granulated sugar and some pectin) plus a squeeze of lemon juice.










I make my jam in my bread maker as its so easy. You just chuck it all in and leave it for about 90 mins, but it is equally possible to do it in a pan. Once completed put the jam into sterilised jars.

Here is the finished article. Perfect with homemade bread.