Skip to main content

Quince in the Sunshine


I went to the showgrounds for the dog walk today, on the hunt for mushrooms, I did not find a single one which was more than averagely disappointing, but it was another magnificent day and Murp enjoyed chasing the rabbits. Busy working for much of the day but I did manage to process some plum wine. Also I have been listening to these girls thanks to my bro, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnQA-A2ZvE8 check them out.



And I have been processing quinces from my tree, so here are a couple of recipes.








Quince-essential Jelly



Quince



Water



White sugar



Wash the quinces and cut them in to 10cm pieces, put in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer to soft. Strain reserve the juice and discard the pulp. If you take the time to peel and core the quinces you could use the quince for something else, yet to be dreampt up, watch this space.



Put equal parts quince juice and sugar in a preserving pan and bring to a gentle boil. It will form a white froth on the top, this needs to be skimmed off regularly. When is it ready this is the million dollar question.



You can do a thing, put a plate in the fridge, once cold put a teaspoon of the jelly on it let it cool a bit and then give it a push with your finger, if it wrinkles it is ready. I do this sometimes but I tend to take a bit more of an organic approach, when the liquid has reduced by a third it seems to be ready. If you can be relaxed about making jelly, jam or sauce it does not really matter. Pour into sterilized jars and leave to cool. The good news is that you can consume  this immediately.







Pickled Quince



From Diana Henry’s Salt Sugar Smoke



600 ml Cider Vinegar



425g white sugar



6 cloves



6 juniper berries, I was out of stock so used 2 star anise



12 peppercorns



1 cinnamon stick



4 strips un-waxed lemon zest



1kg quinces







Put all the ingredients except the quince in a large pan and bring to a boil, simmer until sugar has dissolved and turn off, hold. Peel, halve and core the quinces then cut each half into four lengthways. Reheat the liquid and add the quince, simmer until just soft and the transfer quince slices into sterilized jars.  Boil the mixture until reduced to about 450ml, strain, remove the lemon and add the spices to the jars, top up with the liquid and seal.

Comments

  1. RebeccaApril 1, 2020 at 6:06 PM

    I have approx 1100 tonnes of juniper berries if you want some dropped off??!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The official blog launch, or is it lunch of entertaining!

Ok here is the thing, my key performance indicator, to use corporate wank language is how much fun I am having. I have had three rules for many years. 1. Don't hang out with shit people.  2. Avoid all things boring unless absolutely necessary.  3. Always have something to look forward too. (I stole this one off a friend)  in recent years I have added  4. Only stay in Hawera 1 weekend a month.  Oh how the mighty have fallen! (I ripped that line from Tom Waits) if you don't know who he is I am not surprised.   1. I now have a dog to hang out with for a month, His name is Murphy, and he is only borrowed.  2. All those jobs here in my house, like cleaning it, tedious shit like painting that window, weeding the garden properly, sorting the shed out, renovating my desk (an old table from Butcharts Bakery), even mowing the lawn, there it all is right there in front of me with all the time in the world to get on with it having ignored i...
22 comments
Read more

A quick soup, best I can do in a short timeframe

  Hot & Sour Soup 500g shark 1 packet mild Singapore laksa paste (I know I know I know, but sometimes needs must) 1 t salted shrimp 1 t tamarind 2 T of the oil leftover from spicy smoked mussels ½ an onion peeled and finely diced 4 cloves garlic peeled and finely diced 1 thumb ginger peeled and finely diced 2 silverbeet leaves or other leafy green 1 tin coconut cream 500 g fish stock 2 serves noodles I used ramen 1/4 cup fresh lime juice Fry the onion, garlic and ginger in the oil, add the spice paste, salted shrimp and tamarind stir it all around until it is cooked a bit then add the fish and cook for 5 minutes then add the stock and simmer for 10 minutes. When you are ready to serve it add the coconut cream, bring to boil again then add the noodles,  when boiling yet again add the silverbeet or greens. Once wilted turn off and add the lime juice.
Post a Comment
Read more

Give a cake a go day.

I received a delivery of jam, the fruit was left in the bowl at Kidsbarn for lockdown so Emma knocked up a batch of jam with it, I scored a bottle on the proviso it appeared on the blog so this is what I did.  I based in on a recipe from a book called Harbour Kitchens which was a fundraiser many years ago for the schools in Lyttleton. There is a classic recipe from the witt of Joe Bennett for fish and chips if you can get your hands on a copy.  This is an adaptation of the Lemon Yoghurt Cake by Jane Simmons. False Pretences Cake  Zest of 2 lemons 1 ¾ C sugar 2 eggs Juice of half a lemon 4/5 C of greek yoghurt Half a jar of orange, pineapple and kiwifruit or other jam ¾ C oil 2 1.2 C flour 2 large t baking powder  Line a largish tin with baking paper, I lined a smallish tin, then had too much mixture, so I lined another tin spooned the rest of the mix into that and it was too big! So I lifted it out and transferred to a loaf tin, what a palave...
Post a Comment
Read more