Late Summer Harvesting

Sweetcorn and Cucumbers

I am watching and listening to ads on television and radio for ‘back to school’, with some dismay. It seems like only a couple of weeks since the holidays started, yet next week the children and the teachers will be back in the classroom. It still stirs painful memories for me.

This week I have been helping my daughter make Hot Sweet Cucumber Relish from a recipe I developed last year, and with little dumpy pickling cucumbers we have grown ourselves, as well as the peppers, apples, chillies. It has been described as ‘robust’. We like our pickles to have a bit of bite. I am not a big fan of cucumbers. However, with this pickle, I have been persuaded to put more effort into growing them. Last year I grew 1 plant in my poly tunnel which produced more than I could cope with. This year I put more plants outside and have had only a few fruits so far (Paris Pickling from the Real Seed catalogue). But, it has been a particularly cool summer. They might be more productive in a hotter year though, maybe next year I will dedicate an area in my poly tunnel for a cucumber plant or two. The fruit I’ve had have been excellent, just slow.

Hot Sweet Cucumber Relish

Ingredients

1 kg cucumbers ( 2 lb) – don’t let them get too big or they will be full of seeds

1 kg onions ( 2 lb)

1 cooking apple

600ml white vinegar (1 pint) – malt vinegar is fine and is cheaper and will give the ‘warm’colour.

3–4 red chillies(I have used Joe’s Long, use a medium hot chilli, but take care if for children)

500gm sugar ( 1 lb) – I used white sugar, but soft brown sugar will ‘warm’ the colour of the relish

2 tsp salt                                                          1 tsp allspice

½ tsp ground cloves                                        1 tsp turmeric

¼ tsp mustard powder                                                ¼ tsp ground mixed peppers (peppercorns, black, green, red)

Method

1.      Top and tail the cucumbers and remove the skin – cut into small cubes - ¼ cm- ish. If necessary, remove the seeds – if the seeds are still soft, you can leave them in.

2.      Peel the onions and chop finely – similar size to the cucumber.

3.      Peel and core the cooking apple and cut into fine slices.

4.      Cut the red chillies into small pieces – if you don’t want the relish to be too hot, leave the seeds out, or leave some of the seeds out. For a hotter relish add more chillies.

5.      Put the chopped cucumbers, onions, apples and chillies into a large pan or preserving pan with the vinegar and gently simmer until all the vegetables are cooked through(transparent) – approx. 30 mins.

6.      Prepare the jars/ bottles – wash well and sterilise – put in a warm oven - 100ºC for 15mins.

7.      Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

8.      Add the spices and salt to taste, add more salt if necessary.

9.      Simmer gently until the relish thickens – remember, when cool it will be thicker. Stir occasionally.

10.  Pour into the hot sterilised jars and seal immediately. Label.

My daughter thought she would make some changes to improve/enhance/give variety to the flavour. She added a red pepper(finely chopped), a chopped mango and szechuan spices. It looked and tasted brilliant but to her disappointment, it tasted much like the original. Although the flavour of cucumbers seems to be quite submissive it is, in fact quite dominant.

Being an ardent fan of pickles, chutneys and relishes I thought I would try pickling gherkins. I tried West Indian Gherkins from The real Seed Catalogue. These have produced very strong plants outdoors. They don’t need to have a climbing frame – are quite happy on the ground, though, I don’t think they have been happy with the very cool summer. They have produced fruit which are small and prickly and I’m really not sure how to go about pickling them. The ones I have harvested so far, have been about 2½ - 3cm long and full of seeds, with very little flesh. If anyone out there knows more about this fruit – how and when to harvest – how to grow to give the best pickling crop and how to pickle them – I would be grateful if you would get back to me.

This year I have grown two varieties of sweetcorn – Sweetie Pie from Dobies and Bloody Butcher from Premier Seeds – well, we always have to try out new(or very old) varieties to find out what works best in our, sometimes, challenging conditions, AND gives us the crops we can use productively. I am always guilty of growing stuff which I don’t want to eat and can’t give away, just because I want to try something new. But then again, we must try these crops out for their potential.

The Sweetie Pie sweetcorn is now ready and being harvested. Unlike some of my neighbours, my crop has not been attacked by birds, rats or mice which have caused havoc. But, the crop, although sweet and delicious is meagre – only one or maybe 2 cobs to each plant. Is this the cool year or poor growing conditions I could have improved?

I am freezing most of my crop for winter use – this is easy:

Freezing sweetcorn

Remove the outer leaves. Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels from the cob into a bowl. There is no need to blanche. Put into small, lidded, freezer-proof containers. Label and freeze. Keep the containers small as it is difficult to separate the vegetables, when frozen, into useable portions. Use and enjoy!

Sweetcorn Relish

6 corncobs – remove the kernels                 1 sweet red pepper – finely chopped

1 large onion – finely chopped                      3 large garlic cloves – finely chopped

1 – 2 fresh hot chilli peppers(keep the seeds in if you like it very hot)

500ml (1pint)white vinegar

250g (9oz) white sugar                                     1 –2 tsp salt ( to taste)

1 dsp. yellow mustard seed                             1 tsp mustard powder

½ tsp ground black pepper                              ½ tsp turmeric

1 Tblsp cornflour – blended with a little water

Method

·         Put the sugar and vinegar into a large pan over a low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

·         Add the onion, sweetcorn kernels, red pepper, chopped chilli and garlic and simmer gently until the vegetables are ‘transparent’ and cooked – 4 – 5 minutes.

·         Add the mustard seed and powder, turmeric, pepper and salt and cook for 10 -15mins.

·         Add the blended cornflour and stir in well.

·         Bring to the boil and boil for 4 – 5 minutes until the mixture stares to thicken.

·         Pot up in hot, sterilised jars. Cover and label.

Really, if you don’t grow all of the ingredients (peppers, etc) just buy them and make this relish, it is so worth it.

As I have said earlier in this blog, I have also grown, a newcomer for me – Bloody Butcher, so called because of the colour of the kernels – I believe they will be blood red. They are much taller and stronger than Sweetie Pie and are also several weeks later. The male flowers are, just now, maturing and the female cobs as well. I will have to wait for several more weeks to see how they pan out. I will let you know.

Tomato Moth, Tomato recipes and other thoughts

Tomato Moth, tomato Recipes and other thoughts

My tomatoes are just beginning to get into their stride now. I haven’t yet started to freeze them but, I am in the process of making a large pan of tomato and pepper chutney – see later. And yes, yes! I know I have written about tomatoes in several Blogs lately but, it is very topical right now.

I was talking to my plot neighbour this morning while I was tending to my tomatoes and I offered him some of mine, as I had noticed he wasn’t growing any, he declined. This wonderful gentleman has been growing on his allotment for many, many years and he harked back, sadly, to the days when tomatoes had some intense flavour. He said he had stopped growing them as they no longer seemed to have flavour but did have very thick skins. I am inclined to agree with him. This year, I am growing five different varieties – two of these which are large meaty toms and are good for cooking and freezing – Fantasio F1 and Alicante. They are both reliable and although they don’t have an outstanding flavour, I will forgive them.

The other three I grew as I was hoping to find flavour – Orange Banana (a largish, orange, oval tomato with a curl in its tail). It looks pretty especially sliced with red tomatoes and a sprinkle of chopped basil as a tomato salad. But, not a particularly impressive flavour; Yellow Centiflor – its trusses produce loads of small yellow tomatoes suitable for salads. I’m finding them a little troublesome as the plants are not particularly vigorous and the tomatoes trail on the ground making it difficult to keep them clean. Perhaps they would have been better in hanging baskets. I might have felt tempted to try this next year but, although they are pretty in a salad, they have little flavour.

I’m leaving the best until last – Sultana – a small, red, oval, salad tomato. I have quite enjoyed them and they really do look nice, whole, in a mixed salad.

Interestingly, my neighbour was also talking about how expensive it has become to work an allotment to keep it productive. The numbers of diseases and pests – I’ll include birds in this – has meant that we must spend more time and come up with more sophisticated methods of keeping the pests out – especially if we want to be organic. We have many more birds around, especially those fat, greedy pigeons. We seem to have viruses on plants that have not been seen before and we certainly have insect pests which are relatively new to us. My tomatoes are being eaten by caterpillars – some green and some pale brown. I saw these for the first time last year, an experience shared by another neighbour. While I don’t yet know how large they can grow, so far, I am picking up 3 – 4 cm long specimens.

My research came up three options

1.      Tomato Hornworms – caterpillars of the hawkmoth or hummingbird moth. That was really quite exciting. I would have allowed them to munch on my tomatoes just to see the adults – but no! They don’t have a horn and I just don’t see them growing to 4inches long – 10cms.

2.      Tomato Moth – Laconobia oleracea (which will also attack peppers and chrysanthemums apparently.

3.      Tuta Absoluta – South American Tomato Moth – neither the pictures of the moth nor the larvae nor the damage was similar to that I have found on my tomatoes – so!

While I might be wrong I am guessing it is the common or garden (no pun intended!) Tomato Moth. That said, I am finding both green and pale brown caterpillars so, there could be more than one guilty party here.

They are champions at hiding and are easiest found by the greenish lumps of poo you can find on the plant leaves. They will eat the leaves and the green or red tomatoes. I wouldn’t mind if they all ate one tomato, we could share, but no! They would rather eat chunks out of lots of tomatoes. They are not around in huge numbers and if you just check for them, pick them off and squash them every couple of days, you can prevent any serious damage. However, ignore them for a week or more and your crop will be devastated.

Please do get back to me if you have better or more information which I could share.

Using the harvest

I have noticed that my preserving pan, now many years old and well used is starting to stick – although is Teflon coated. The usual method for ‘seasoning’ pans (effectively making them non-stick) is to put some oil onto the pan and burn it on. This method has several dis-advantages, not least the smell and its tendency to set off all the smoke alarms in your house.

Try this method instead: Make sure the pan is well cleaned (if there are small pieces of burnt on food, remove them – if necessary by scraping or with sanding paper. Cover the bottom of the pan with a layer of salt. Place the pan over a hot flame and burn in the salt for 10 – 15 minutes. Remove the salt and wipe the inside of the pan. This should last for quite a while. The salt will not burn, will not smoke, no fumes! And, it works

Of all the chutneys I made last year, this was everyone’s favourite and disappeared very quickly. While I should have enough tomatoes to make a few more batches, I might just have to buy some peppers – how sad is that!

This chutney is quite sweet but you can make it spicier or hotter if you wish by the addition of more chillies and more spice.

Hot Spicy Roasted Pepper and Tomato Chutney

2 kg ripe tomatoes - peeled

4 large ripe sweet peppers – any shape will be good but use only red or yellow peppers

3 large onions – peeled and finely chopped

4 good sized garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed

3-4 hot red peppers (remove the seeds if you don’t want your chutney to be too hot)

1 tsp ground cinnamon,        1 tsp ground cloves,       ½ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp salt                                   700g (1½lb) sugar

850 ml vinegar (1½pt) – white vinegar is best but malt vinegar will also do

Method

·         Skin the tomatoes and chop – (skinning tomatoes can be done in several ways:

* – on a fork over a gas flame – great for a couple of tomatoes!

* - in a bowl with boiling water poured over – great for a handful or so.

* - For a large amount – cut out the core and put in the largest bowl which will fit in the micro wave. Microwave on full for 20 minutes, then, just lift off the skins. Chop roughly.

·         Put the peppers into a roasting tin in a hot oven 200°C or No 6 Gas for 30 mins or so. They should just start to brown or char. Leave them to cool.

·         Remove the skins and the seeds as far as possible then chop roughly.

·         Put the chopped tomatoes, chopped peppers, chopped onions, chopped garlic, vinegar and sugar into a preserving pan with the spices and seasonings.

·         Simmer slowly until the sugar has dissolved and the fruit/vegetables have softened.

·         Bring to the boil and cook, stirring frequently to ensure it does not stick and burn until it starts to turn thick.

·         Pot up in hot, sterilised jars. Cover and label.

Home made Tomato Ketchup

Every time I have made this recipe it has come out slightly differently – all acceptable and some outstanding, do give it a try.

2 kg ripe tomatoes ( 4½ lbs)                            2 – 3 fresh bay leaves – crushed

8ml white vinegar( 1 pt)                                  piece of cinnamon bark

190g white granulated sugar ( 6oz)                2 – 3 cloves garlic - crushed

1 Tblsp. salt                                                     2 – 3 red chillies ( dried or fresh)

¼ - ½ tsp ground allspice                                ¼ - ½ tsp ground cloves

Large pinch coarsely ground black pepper                                        

Method

1.      Wash and roughly cut the tomatoes and put in a preserving pan or large saucepan with the salt, bay leaves, cinnamon bark, crushed garlic cloves and vinegar (be fairly sparing with the salt at this stage – add more in the final stages as necessary).

2.      Add the chopped chillies. Take care with these, especially if the ketchup is for children ( I have used dried  Joe’s Long, grown indoors - which are medium heat)

3.      Bring to the boil then simmer gently until the tomatoes are thoroughly softened.

4.      In the meantime, sterilise the bottles or jars – keep hot in low oven.

5.      Remove the cinnamon bark and bay leaves then, sieve the tomato mixture through a coarse sieve – preferable nylon. Return the juice and pulp to a clean saucepan.

6.      Add sugar then ground allspice, ground cloves and black pepper gradually, tasting frequently to ensure the flavour is not too strong. Remember, when the ketchup is cold, the flavour will be somewhat milder. You may also want to add more salt if needed.

7.      Simmer the mixture until it starts to thicken. Don’t make it too thick at this stage as it thickens as it cools.

8.      Put the heated sterilised bottles/jars on a wooden surface and fill them with the ketchup while it is still very hot. Seal the jars immediately. This ketchup should keep safely for several months.

Freezing Tomatoes

Use normal-sized or large tomatoes.

Wash them and cut out the central cores.

Put them into the largest micro-wave proof bowl you have which will fit into your micro-wave oven.

Microwave on full power for 20 minutes.

Remove, allow to cool slightly and lift off the skins. Pour off the excess juice.

( my friend Philip, who gave me this method does not remove the juice. There is merit to both methods. For his – where the juice is included – the resultant pulp is less strong, is suitable for lots of recipes, including soup.

With my dryer method – it is more concentrated, the flavoursome juice has been lost, it is really too sharp and concentrated for soup but, is excellent for Italian dishes, it takes up less space in the freezer.

Put the skinned tomatoes back into the bowl and microwave on full power for a further 20  minutes.

Allow to cool. Pack into suitable, lidded, freezer containers (leave a space for expansion) and freeze.

An Abundance of Apples, A profusion of Pears

An abundance of apples, a profusion of pears

Goodness, the weeds are taking over and I normally pride myself on being reasonably in control of what is happening on my plot.

However, apart from the constant harvesting and preserving crops – now can I really complain about that? – though I do think I might have to compost some of my beans – really, if they are not picked the plants will stop producing so, if you can’t use them or give them away, put them in the compost. I think I will take them to Lawrence Weston Community Farm – they can sell them or give them to ‘Pig’. Actually she is a Gloucester Old Spot. She has been named ‘Jasmine’ by the children of the community but, to me, she is ‘Pig’. Now she has a rival. Not yet named but, for me, This one will be ‘Pig2’  Good grief, we are going to eat their babies and they don’t know that they have a name. They just know that I bring them goodies each time I visit – and Pig just loves over-ripe bananas. So, if you have them.......

My real excuse for my  poor performance on my plot is that my daughter was married last weekend and how excellent was that! But, making and decorating the cake, the build up to the big day, the guests, the celebrating over a long weekend was just brilliant though, it was, of course, time consuming. And! I would happily do it every weekend just to see everyone so happy again.

Back to my crops.

I still have most of a tree-full of plums to harvest and preserve- see my last blog. Tomatoes are only just getting into their stride; main-crop potatoes will need to be lifted in the next few weeks; raspberries and blackberries must be harvested and used every couple of days; chillies are ripening; herbs must be harvested and chopped for freezing; french beans and runner beans must be harvested and used or composted, just to keep the vines producing; courgettes must be picked and used every couple of days and – apples and pears are now ready for harvesting and preserving. As they are most urgent (apart from the continuing plum harvest and bean harvest ! ) they are the focus of my blog today.

I have a wonderful crab-apple tree (John Downey), which is now with me for three years – a mere youngster - had produced an amazingly luxuriant bloom in the spring. This has been followed up with a very heavy crop which, as I was dealing with other issues, has started to drop significantly. I have now got around to harvesting them and will take the windfalls to ‘Pig’ at the Community Farm in Lawrence Weston. The rest – a large bucketful will be turned into preserves.

This quantity gives me enough for two separate sessions, each requiring a couple of days (well! If I were a factory there would be no problem but, I just have my kitchen which now has all sorts of fruit and vegetables waiting to be dealt with in all corners.

Today, I’ve had delivered, a large consignment of glass jars with lids. While I have to use them occasionally, I just hate using old jars from coffee/honey/peanut-butter/supermarket jams. I know people mean well when they give them to me but, I really wish they would give me back the pots I give to them. That said, I’m not complaining – really! I would be in serious trouble if they didn’t.

Let’s look at what we can do with these amazing crops. I could not possibly, in my little blog, put multiple recipes for apple pies, apple/pear puddings, apple crumbles, pear tarts, etc. You can find these elsewhere. What I do want to provide is a range of recipes of preservation of this fruit. Do try these:

Recipes for Pears

Pear Chutney

1.4 kg (3lb) pears – slightly under-ripe and peeled, cored and chopped into chunks

450g (1lb) onions                                           2 cloves garlic – crushed

450g ( 1lb) under-ripe tomatoes – washed, core removed, skinned and sliced

225 g ( 8oz) raisins or sultanas                   700g (1½lb) sugar

2-3 hot chillies ( jalapenos, hot cayenne, etc)

2cm – (1”) cube of fresh ginger, finely chopped – or ½ tsp ground ginger

Chilli pepper to taste                                      1 lt (2pints) malt vinegar

Level dsp. Salt

·         Put the vegetables, chillies and spices into a preserving pan with the salt and vinegar.

·         Bring to the boil and simmer well until all of the ingredients have softened and blended.

·         Add the sugar and stir well over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

·         Bring to the boil and boil until the pulp has reduced and thickened.

·         Taste for seasoning and heat. If necessary add more salt and chilli pepper to give the heat that you want.

Spiced Pears

1.4kg (3lb) pears – slightly under-ripe

570ml (1 pint) – white vinegar                                    450g (1lb) sugar (granulated)

2 sticks of cinnamon broken into short pieces or a few pieces of cinnamon bark

 6 dried red chillies                                                       1 dsp. mixed  pepper corns

1 tsp. whole allspice                                                     1 tsp. whole cloves

½ tsp salt

·         Put the spices, salt, sugar and vinegar into a preserving pan.

·         Add the sugar and vinegar and, over a gentle heat, dissolve the sugar.

·         Bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes to release the flavours of the spices.

·         Wash, peel and core the pears then cut into thick slices.

·         Put the pear pieces into the vinegar mixture. Bring to the boil then simmer until the fruit is soft but, not breaking up- they should be slightly translucent.

·         Allow to cool slightly then pack the pears into hot sterilised jars. Pour the spiced vinegar over the pears (ensure any air bubbles are removed).

·          Add the spices to the jars and make sure a piece of cinnamon bark and a chilli or two is added to each jar).

·         Cover and label.

Excellent served with cold meats or roasted fowl or lamb( turkey at Christmas – yum!)

Making Jam and Jelly

Remember that hot jam or jelly is VERY hot, especially when the sugar has been added. Make sure it is out of reach or children and don’t be tempted to stick your finger in to taste it! If you are planning on making a lot of jams and jellies, it is probably worth your while investing in some proper equipment.

You can use a large saucepan but, a preserving pan provides the best shape for water to boil off quickly, thus reducing the chance of you preserve ‘catching’ and burning. A sugar thermometer helps to tell you when the setting point has been reached which removes the doubt from the ‘testing-on-a-plate’ method. Although, I always use the latter – when you think the jam/jelly has reduced significantly and you feel might be approaching ‘setting’, put a dessertspoonful on a plate or saucer and put in a cool place (not the fridge). If setting point has been reached the preserve will wrinkle up when pushed gently with a spoon or the tip of your finger.

You can make your own jelly bag from heavy muslin, cotton calico or other similar fabrics. Make sure the fabric is well scalded before adding the juice and that it is well secured to a ‘stand’ (upside down stool perhaps – perhaps you are handy with wood and can make your own) before pouring in the boiled fruit pulp. However, you can buy the jelly bags and stands ready made. If you choose to do so, buy one which is sturdy and safe.

The quantities I have given in the following recipes give a fairly high concentration of sugar. You can reduce the amount of sugar in jams and jellies to suit your taste. However, the less sugar in the preserve, the less likely it is to keep well. If you choose to do this, you can store the fruit in the freezer until you are going to make your preserve then, use quickly. Or you can store the preserve in the fridge for a few weeks.

Crab Apple Jelly                                                                
3 Kg. (6lb) crab apples                                                               
1½ litres (3pts.) water                                                               
Small handful cloves    or /and                                                  
a few pieces of cinnamon bark  

Method
1. Wash the crab apples, cut in two and put in the preserving pan with the water and your chosen spice.                                  
2. Simmer gently until all the fruit has softened and pulped. - about 30 mins.                                               
3. Put the pulp into the jelly bag over a suitable bowl.               
4. Leave until all the juice has drained from the bag - overnight. Don't squeeze the bag or your jelly will be cloudy, for little extra juice.                                           
5. Measure the juice and add sugar - for each 600ml (1 pint) add 450g (1lb) sugar                           
6.Add the juice and the sugar to a clean preserving pan and stir over a gentle heat until all the sugar has dissolved.
7. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until setting point has been reached.                                                      
 8. Pot up in hot sterilised jars, cover and label.                       
I like to use crab apple jelly as an accompaniment to roast meat dishes – especially with mint added with lamb dishes. When you are simmering the fruit in water at the beginning of the process – instead of adding spices add a fairly  generous handful of fresh mint and cook down in the first process.

If you have lots of cooking apples (this even works well with eating apples though, the texture and flavour are not so good) - Peel, core and slice the apples. Put into the microwave with a very little water and cook on full for 10 minutes or until the apple is pulped. Pack into freezer boxes and freeze for use in pies/puddings, etc. in the winter months. Or - Add a little sugar and pack into small freezer containers for use as apple sauce.

I have just bought a Kenwood Mini-chopper. This is seriously the business. It can reduce large bunches of herbs to ‘finely chopped’ in seconds. It can grind whole spices to ‘ground’ in seconds. It is easy to clean and easy to use and – NO! I’m not in their employ. Do buy one if you can afford it and would find it useful.

For more useful fruit recipes do keep watching.

I am now getting into my stride with tomato harvesting – and main-crop potatoes. Next Blog!

Sorry about my first version of this. Although the two recipes of blackberry and Apple jelly and Crab-Apple Jelly sat side-by-side on my original - when I published it, the text moved around and it made no sense. So, I've taken the Blackberry and apple jelly out. If you would like a recipe for this you can find it on the website.

A Plethora of Plums

A Plethora of Plums  

There is so much fruit this summer that I find I am spending much of my time on the allotment harvesting then having to spend several more hours each day dealing with it.

My tomatoes are just getting beyond the stage of picking what I can use each day for breakfast and lunch. Apples are ripening and starting to drop. My pear tree, producing for the first time (I’ve had it for three years), has lost a branch due to the weight of fruit, though the pears are not quite ripe yet so, I will have to prop up the other two branches.

My Victoria Plum tree (which I have also had for three years) is groaning under the weight of fruit. They, at least, have the manners to ripen in dribs-and-drabs so that I have a chance to deal with them. They are not necessarily ripe when they start to soften but should come away from the branch without tugging too hard. I did give a punnet of them to a friend who said that, regrettably, they were still a bit sour so, I guess I tugged too hard. Don’t let them stay on the tree too long or they will be attacked by wasps, birds, etc, or they will fall and be too bruised to use.

So far I have picked about 6 lb (3 kg) and it doesn’t seem to have made much of a dent in the crop.

What can we do with them?

With my first picking I have made jam. Try these:

Plum Jam

2.7 kg  (6lb) plums,       2.7 kg  (6lb) sugar,      900 ml (1.5 pints) water

·         Wash the plums then cut in half and remove the stones.

·         Put the plums and water into a preserving pan and cook over a low heat until the fruit is really soft and the liquid reduced – about 30 minutes.

·         Add the sugar and stir over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil and boil until setting point has been reached.

·         Pot up in hot sterilised jars. Cover and label.

Try this recipe from  -The Best-kept Secrets  of the Women’s Institute, Jams, Pickles and Chutneys by Midge Thomas –

Plum & Mulled Wine Jam

1.8 kg (4lb) red plums, halved and stoned

½ bottle red wine (whatever is cheap or on offer)

mulled wine spices, eg. cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves or your own choice

piece of orange zest without the pith

1.8 kg (4lb) sugar

·         Put the prepared plums and wine into a preserving pan.

·         Place the spices and zest in a spice ball or muslin bag and add to the pan. Cook gently for 15 – 20 minutes or until the skins are soft.

·         Remove the spice ball or bag and add the sugar, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for about 10 minutes or until setting point is reached. Remove any scum.

·         Pot into sterilised jars, cover and label.

( while this recipe specifies red plums, it should work just as well with any variety)

Damson Jam

Like greengages, damsons are a member of the plum family and damsons are mostly ready to harvest now. The jam is made in a similar way though it would be much too time consuming to remove the stones in the same way as for plum jam.

1.35kg  (3lb) damsons,          1.35kg (3lb) sugar,          500ml (1 pt) water

·         Wash the damsons and remove any stalks or leaves.

·         Put them, with the water, into a preserving pan and simmer gently until the fruit is really soft and the stones start to release from the fruit – about 30 minutes. Squash the fruit against the side of the pan to help push the stones out. Remove any stones which rise to the surface.

·         Add the sugar and stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved.

·         Bring to the boil then boil rapidly until setting point is reached. During the boiling, the stones will rise to the surface of the jam and you should be able to remove most of them. (If you wish to remove all of them pour the jam into a colander or coarse sieve and push it through. This will also remove the skins and give you a smoother jam. However, I prefer my jam with the ‘bits’ in and am happy to remove the odd stone when I am eating the jam. )

·         Pot up in hot sterilised pots, seal and label.

Freezing Plums

Plums can be frozen with or without sugar syrup.

·         To dry freeze them – wash, dry, cut in half and remove the stones then lay the fruit in a single layer, on a flat tray, on absorbent paper.  Place the tray in the freezer. On fast-freeze the fruit should be frozen overnight.

·         Pack into freezer containers or bags.

However, packed in a sugar syrup the fruit will keep longer

·         Wash, halve and stone the fruit

·         Pack into lidded freezer containers

·         Prepare a sugar syrup  - Dissolve 500g (1lb) sugar in 500 ml (1 pt) water over a low heat. Allow the syrup to cool, then chill before adding to the fruit. You will need approx. ¼ litre (½ pt) for each 500g ( lb)  of fruit.

·         Add the chilled syrup to the fruit but allow a little expansion room. Freeze.

Alternatively:

·         Poach the fruit gently in the syrup until soft. Pack with its syrup into freezer containers an cool thoroughly before freezing.

Plum Chutney

Plums lend themselves very readily to chutney and there are many, many recipes featuring them as a main ingredient.

I like my chutneys to be fruity and quite hot so this is my favourite recipe (that said, as with all of my chutney recipes, each time I make this it tastes slightly different from the previous batch)

1kg (2lb)plums – washed, halved and stoned

2 large cooking apples – peeled, cored and cut into chunks

3 large onions – peeled and chopped

3 large cloves of garlic

Two or three red chillies – thinly sliced (if fresh chillies are not ripe yet, dried ones will do – I use Joe’s Long as the flavour and heat is usually fairly reliable). Leave the seeds in if you like your chutney hot and add more if you wish.

350gm  (12oz) sugar
570ml (1pint) malt vinegar

25gm (1oz) salt

Spices – 2 tsp yellow mustard seeds (can be crushed), 3 tsp ground allspice, 1 tsp ground black pepper,

                a small cube of fresh ginger finely chopped( 1 tsp of ground ginger will do).

·         Place all the prepared ingredients in a preserving pan. Stir over a low heat until all of the sugar has dissolved.

·         Bring to the boil and simmer until the ingredients are soft  and the chutney is thick and pulpy.

·         Pot up into hot sterilised jars, cover and label.

·         Chutneys are best left for a few weeks before eating to allow the different flavours to blend well.

And, a couple of puddings using plums:

Cooking with Plums

Plum sponge pudding

500g  (1lb) ripe plums – washed, halved and stoned,   50gm  (2oz) sugar,   1 dsp water

For the sponge

75g ( 3oz) butter or margarine,    75g (3oz) castor sugar,    110g (4oz) SR flour

2 large eggs,      ¼ tsp baking powder.

·         Stew the plums with the sugar and water until lightly cooked. Cool.

·         Cream the butter and sugar and gradually beat in the lightly whisked eggs.

·         Sieve the baking powder and salt. Fold it into the creamed mixture.

·         Put the partially cooked plums in the bottom of a pie dish and cover with the cake mixture.

·         Bake in a moderate oven(180°C, no5 gas) for approx. 40 mins. Reduce the temperature slightly to prevent the cake mixture from burning, if necessary.

·         Serve with crème fraîche, cream or ice-cream.

Plum Pie

500g (1lb) ripe plums – washed, halved and stoned,      100g (4oz) sugar

Short crust pastry

175g (6oz) plain flour,  80g (3oz) margarine or butter,   pinch salt,    approx. 6 tsp cold water

·         Sieve the flour and salt.

·         Rub in the margarine until like fine breadcrumbs.

·         Add the water to ensure the mixture forms a firm dough – don’t make it too wet.

To make up the pie

·         Prepare the fruit and layer with the sugar in a pie dish. The dish should be well filled as it will reduce during cooking.

·         Roll out the pastry. Use a few slices from the side to line the edge of the pie dish the top the pie with the pastry. Seal the edges.

·         Bake in a hot oven (200°C, no 6 gas) until the pastry is golden/light brown, then reduce the temperature to ensure the fruit is cooked – approx 40 minutes in total.

·         Sprinkle the top with caster sugar and serve with custard or whipped cream.

Enjoy!