Piccalilli Passion

I've always had a thing for piccalilli, actually I've always loved anything pickled....eating pickled onions straight from the jar probably has a lot to do with the stomach problems I put up with now!
Inspired by River Cottage & Pam-the jam-Corbin's recipe I battled all my pre-conceived ideas & thoughts of mustard yellow cauli, and flung everything possible into my first batch back in October. 
Such jewels!

Cauli (couldn't leave it out), purple sprouting broccoli,courgettes,

peppers, cucumber, tomato, radish, fennel salted & draining.

It's maturing nicely along side a batch of chilli-lilli made using some of my home-grown chillies.
I shall be tasting next week before our next Farmer's Market. If I can't speak you'll know it was a success!

Inner Peace?

I can't help finding a kind of inner peace as I stand by the cooker stirring. Watching for that magical moment when my ingredients find that moment of metamorphosis, the sugar solution turns into liquid crystal & all the fruit is suspended in it's sparkly glory. It makes me happy.

Of course it makes me even happier that people want to buy it too! But most of all it's the joy and enthusiasm that I see on people's faces when they taste it. I'm not saying that's it's MY jam in particular that brings the joy...it's just the taste! You can't even begin to compare the taste of homemade preserve with shop bought - even the high-end stuff. It's just too mass produced and too full of sugar.

I use less sugar than a recipe calls for and compensate with additional pectin when necessary. This means that the taste of the fruit comes out and the jam is a soft set. I firmly believe that we've forgotten what real jam should be like; it should ooze out of your scone under - or over depending on your preference, I'm an under personally - your clotted cream with a gentle squeeze.

Try this Strawberry Jam recipe. Trust me, you will not go back...

Strawberry Jam

800g fresh or frozen strawberries, hulled (900g unprepared)
1kg Jam Sugar* (has added pectin)
Knob of butter

Makes appox. 1.5 kg

Method
Add the strawberries to a large pan with the sugar (* I don't usually add all the sugar, I couldn't say exactly how much I add, it's a 'feeling' thing but it's about 3/4)
Heat gently whilst stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved. DO NOT BOIL YET!
Whilst stirring you may wish to crush some of the strawberries with a masher.
Add a knob of butter.
Keep stirring, increasing the heat to bring to a full rolling boil (jam rises in the pan and cannot be stirred down). Boil for 4 minutes only.
Remove from the heat & pot into warm sterilised jars & cover.

This recipe is equally as good for raspberries and loganberries.

Mmmmm jammy!

Its been a busy old weekend, but thanks to Himself acting as general gofer & Number 1 Chopper-Upper I managed twice as much magic as planned on Sunday. Chilli Jam, Carrot & Cardamom Marmalade, Pumpkin Chutney, Raspberry Jam, Loganberry Jam, Seville Orange and Sultana Whisky Marmalade & Spicy Carrot and Garlic Chutney all done before I ran out of jars!

Market Drayton Farmer's Market Christmas Extravaganza on 12th December is fast approaching and I have a freezer full of foraged summer fruit to transform into jewelled delights for eating pleasure!

Bring it on!

Wild cherries, cherry-plums & turning into my mother

My parents were, and still are, great foragers; I used to think they were slightly batty as they dragged us around the countryside, as children, looking for free stuff!. I guess it rubbed off more than I thought. Himself grew up in Somerset and was a great scrumper apparently...and he's still fab at jumping gates!
Shropshire & the West Midlands has bountiful hedgerows & I can't drive anywhere now without shouting out if I see fruit dangling, unharvested, by the side of the road. The shout is usually followed by a dreadful realisation that I have, indeed, turned into my mother. No bad thing really.


Having spent the best part of an hour, last weekend, pitting a good kilo of the last of the wild cherries and sharing the juice with my clothing & the rest of the room, I'm took a leaf out of Delia's book and cooked them for 20 minutes, left them to cool then got my hands in! Worked a treat.
 

Last few remaining kilos of cherry-plums

I've applied the same theory to the cherry-plums we found earlier this week but, as we'd nearly 16 kilos & there are not enough hours in the day to hand pick all those stones. They're going through the collander!.

Cooling, ready to be mashed!

 

Now, if I could only find a use for these left-overs!