Tag: chutney

Preserved plums

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washed plums in an aluminium colander | H is for Home

 

Justin’s parents’ neighbours have a few different fruit trees in their garden. In the past couple of years, we’ve had some of the harvest. Last year we made spiced apple chutney, the year before apple cheese. This year, we picked almost 5 kilos of plums – the sweetest, ripest plums we’d ever tasted!

spiced plum chutney ingredients

We both ate half a dozen each in a couple of days but we would never be able to work our way through many before before they began to get over-ripe. I’d already made jars upon jars of fruit jam & jelly this year, so I turned half into spiced plum chutney and half into plum jam.

bottled spiced plum chutney

I used recipes from the good old Cordon Bleu Preserving recipe book for both.

stoning plums

The job of stoning was a monotonous, boring job but the resulting preserves were well worth the toil!

plums with spice mixture

When the chutney was cooking the house was filled with the most delicious smell – I wish I could bottle that alone!

Here’s the spiced plum chutney recipe:

1⅓kg/3lb plums
1tbs ground ginger
1tbs ground allspice
2tbs ground mustard seeds
2tbs dried chilli flakes
10 cloves
30g/1oz salt
425ml/¾pt white malt or white wine vinegar
450g/1lb soft brown sugar

  1. Wash & stone the plums and put them in a pan with the ginger, allspice, mustard seeds and chilli flakes
  2. Tie the cloves in a muslin bag and add to the pan
  3. Add the salt and 300ml/½pt of the vinegar
  4. Simmer gently until the plums are soft (about 3 hours)
  5. Put the sugar into a large measuring jug/basin with the remaining vinegar and leave to dissolve. Add to the plums when cooked
  6. Bring to the boil and allow to boil gently until thick (about another 2 hours)
  7. Pour into warm, sterilised jars and screw down immediately
  8. Leave for 4-5 weeks before using

softened plums in a saucepan

And here’s the jam recipe…

2.75kg/6lb plums
300ml/½pt water
3kg/6½lb granulated or preserving sugar

  1. Wash the plums, cut them in half and remove the stones
  2. Tie half the stones in muslin
  3. Place the fruit in a preserving pan with the water and cook gently until tender
  4. Add the sugar and heat gently until dissolved
  5. Add the bag of stones
  6. Boil rapidly for about 25 minutes or until the jam sets when tested
  7. Remove the bag of stones and pour the jam into warm, dry sterilised jars. Cover and tie down

plum jam boiling in a saucepan

It’s a deliciously sweet accompaniment to morning croissants.

croissant with plum jam

Gooseberry pickle

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Jars of home made gooseberry pickle | H is for Home

This year’s crop of gooseberries has been ever so slightly better than last year’s. We have a gooseberry bush in our back garden and another on our allotment, however both bushes seem to be afflicted by American gooseberry mildew. According to the RHS website, the fruit is still edible, each berry just needs to be given a good rubbing down and a wash – and the bushes need a good prune. It’s a good thing we didn’t have a bumper harvest then!

I went to my trusty vintage Cordon Bleu Preserving book to find some recipes that called for under-ripe (because, in all honesty, that’s what they were!) gooseberries. I found recipes for gooseberry jelly with elderflower, gooseberry jam, gooseberry ketchup, gooseberry pickle and gooseberry relish. The pickle recipe was the only one that specifically mentioned unripe berries.

The recipe in my book required 2 pints of gooseberries – a very strange measurement to use – I guess you just fill up a couple of pint glasses! I worked it out as being 2 pints = 1kg. I only managed a paltry 500g of gooseberries, so I’ve halved the recipe quantities here. The recipe also included cayenne pepper, but we didn’t have any to hand, so I substituted it with an equal quantity of paprika. Once made, the pickle needs to be jarred up and stored away for a good six months. I reckon it would serve as a great accompaniment to fish or cheese board – I’ll report back my findings in December!

Gooseberry pickle

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Ingredients
  

  • 500 g/1 pint gooseberries
  • 115 g/4oz demerara sugar
  • salt the book doesn't specify quantities so I added 5g/⅕oz
  • 570 ml/1 pint white wine vinegar
  • 7 g/¼oz mustard seeds
  • 85 g/3oz garlic
  • 170 g/6oz raisins
  • 7 g/¼oz ground paprika
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Instructions
 

  • Clean, top and tail the gooseberries and put them in a pan with the sugar, salt and half of the white wine vinegar
  • Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and cook until the gooseberries are tender
  • In a large heatproof bowl, bruise the mustard seeds, chop & crush the garlic and mix both with the raisins and paprika
  • Pour the boiling gooseberries over the mixture and add the other half of the cold vinegar
  • Stir before decanting into sterilised Kilner jars
  • Immediately screw down the jars and store for at least 6 months before use