Orange Marmalade

 A few weeks ago we got given a box of Organic Oranges from a friend.  I was very happy with them and made lots of fresh orange juice for the girls.  I thought about making chocolate orange sticks with the peel but then I had a better idea to  make Orange Marmalade.  I have made it before with a friend but it turned out slightly too sour and didn’t really stiffen. So the aim this time was to make it a bit sweeter and to try and get it to set.  
It takes time and patience to make marmalade because the orange peel needs to cook for a while to soften and it also takes a lot of time to cut the peel into small strips. But it is well worth the work.

I used about 6 big oranges, I didn't weigh them but when making marmalade its good to use equal parts sugar to fruit. 

1 kilo of good quality oranges

1 kilo sugar 

1 lemon 

1 tsp of Agar agar (or any other thickener) 

First juice the oranges and save the liquid for later then scoop out the pulp, this can be cooked with the oranges for flavour.  

 Place the pulp in a muslin cloth and tie it into a bag with some cotton string.  Put the halved peels into a big pan with the pulp bag, and add 1 litre of water.  Bring it to the boil and let it simmer for 1 hour until the peels are soft but not too mushy. 

  Save the liquid by straining the oranges and lemon through a colander into a bowl and squeeze all the remaining water out by hand. With a spoon scoop out as much of the white pulp as possible and slice the peel into thin strips. 

   

   Once all the oranges are cut, add them to a big pan together with the juice and the liquid the peel was cooked in.  Then add the sugar and heat gently.  When the sugar has dissolved turn up the heat and boil for about 10-15 minutes.  It is important to do a set test; take the pan off the heat and place a spoonful of marmalade on a cold plate and wait to see if it sets, but if it hasn't, return it to the heat and test again until it does.  Let the marmalade sit in the pan for 5 -10 minutes before filling the jars. 

    

 It definitely turned out better than last time, it was sweet enough yet still had a that tangy citrus taste.  We have nearly eaten a whole pot and it tastes very good on toast.  
I also use this marmalade to make a very nice chocolate orange cake.

Being Busy

 It's that time of year again when there is an abundance of fruit, berries and vegetables. I have been very busy making jams and preserves with everything and anything I can find.  

We went berry picking in the forest the other day and came back with a kilo of blueberries and a kilo of blackberries. It is a joy to be able to go for a walk and come back with such delights.  I made more blueberry jam, and I picked some raspberries to go with blackberries and made a very delicious mixed berry jam.     

This year I have made all the favourite vegetable preserves from pickled gherkins, tomato chutney, sweet courgette relish, plum chutney and a special request from my big girl, piccalilli. All the recipes can be found under Preserves.  

Tomato Chutney

I have always wanted to make tomato chutney, but I have never had enough tomatoes. I only make preserves if there is an excess of something, otherwise we always try and eat everything fresh.    But this summer there was an overload of tomatoes, they seemed to be coming from everywhere, and with them I have made lots of tomato chutney. This is the recipe I used.  

Pickled Radishes

  A few weeks ago we were eating in a very good restaurant in Tallinn, Estonia, it's focus was in making local food using local ingredients.  We ate some really delicious food and one of the many things that  impressed me was the homemade pickled radishes.  When I got home I was inspired to make some using some of the many radishes over growing in our greenhouse. I looked in all my preserves books for a recipe but didn't find one, so I tried the internet and eventually found a few really simple recipes.  

Mince meat for mince Pies

Christmas is coming and for me the best things about christmas is eating yummy food.  I love the smells and warming tastes that christmas treats have to offer, like mince pies and hulled wine. Christmas is the only time of year I start to miss home and the English christmas, especially mince pies. 
Mince pies were traditionally made using a combination of minced meats, fruits and spices, the recipe was thought to be brought over from the middle east in the 13th century. New the minced meat is no longer used and they are made using dried fruit and spices however the name minced meat is still used. 
 I haven't be able to find them in Belgium so my desperation has led me to making them.  I found a few different recipes some from Nigella Lawson's Christmas cookbook.  but I couldn't find all the ingredients here, so I combined some of the recipes and added other thing where needed. Here is the recipe I ended up using for the mince meat.   

Beetroot relish

I just love beetroot, and in this country its really hard to find fresh beetroot. Maybe because people don't like it or maybe because its too much work to cook so no one buys it.   We have a lot in the garden and so I made some yummy relish.  This takes a long time to make and it is very messy but I think well worth the work as it tastes delicious. 

Plum Chutney

This is another one of Linda Browns great recipes for chutney.  Chutneys are an Indian side dish and the name comes from Chatni which means a strong, sweet relish. They first appeared in England in the seventeenth century and since then they have been adopted and changed. Indian chutney  differ from English ones in many ways.  First Indian chutney's are freshly prepared and don't contain vinegar or added sugar they are mostly runny and very Hot. In the west we make them as a preserve and they are sweet and sticky with a jam like consistency. But what they do have in common is, they are made from a combination of fruits and spices giving them a sweet and sour taste.

Pickled Gherkins

   Sweet and sour pickled Gherkins are really easy to make and there is no cooking involved.  This is a combination of different recipes I have used in the past, before I didn't use sugar and I found the gherkins too sour so I tried it with sugar. The sugar adds a nice sweet taste and also helps with the preserving process. 

Sweet Courgette Relish

 I have to start by saying this is not my own recipe, I got it out of a really great book called The Preserving Book by Lynda Brown.  I love this recipe for sweet courgette relish, I used it last year and it tastes delicious.  There are a lot of courgettes growing at the moment and on a hot day they grow really fast.  Not only are we eating them every day, I think I will be making a lot of this. 

 Here is the Recipe:

• Ingredients 

  900g courgettes  1 large Onion
  500ml cider vinegar
  350g sugar
  2 tsp mustard powder
  2tsp turmeric
  1tsp chilli powder
  2tsp cornflour
  2tsp coriander seeds

• Chop the courgette and onion as finely as possible. Put them into a heavy-based, stainless steel pan, and pour over the vinegar.

•  Mix well and place on a gentle heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for one hour.  Remember to open a window as the smell of vinegar can get a bit much.  
• The relish needs to thicken and should resemble burger relish you can buy. 
• When it is ready ladle into warm, sterilized jars with non-metallic vinegar-proof lids.   
• The vinegar makes it taste a bit tart just after being made so leave for a month to let the flavours mature and the sweetness come through. 

• This taste lovely with meat and also goes well with bread and cheese. So good luck and Enjoy. 

A Very Red Currant Cordial

 Home made cordials make the most of seasonal fruit and taste much better then those you can buy.  If like us you have too many redcurrants in your garden, then making cordial from them I think is the best and easiest thing to do. We really have a lot, I have already picked 2 1/2 kilo's of berries and there is still a lot more.   These berries are a good source of vitamin B1 and C, and are rich in iron, potassium, copper and manganese. The best way to get all the goodness out of these little berries is to eat them straight off the bush.  But we can't do that all year round so making a preserve is the next best thing. The best time to pick them is before they are too ripe to get more fruity flavour.

Here is how you can make your own redcurrant cordial in just 30 minutes.