Simple Seville orange, ruby grapefruit and lemon marmalade recipe
When I was a decorator I’d often dream about decorating as it was an integral part of my life. I’d often wake exhausted in the morning having been ‘decorating’ all night. Decorating was the backbone to all these dreams overlaid with the classic dramas. Anxiety dreams – would I finish painting the room in the allotted time? Adventure dreams – scaling roofs and walls with a pot of paint and a brush. Travel dreams – decorating around the world. Even frightening dreams – decorating alone in a haunted house. The decorating...
read moreEasy Seville Orange Marmalade recipe
“I want to make a marmalade that looks pretty. Like this.” I pushed our copy of New British Classics by Gary Rhodes across the table. “It looks stunning but it would take hours to remove the pith and cut the peel that fine.” “Not if I poach the oranges à la Delia. I could probably scoop out the pith with a spoon.” I’d been researching making marmalade in depth. Having been brought up in a dark chunky marmalade household I’ve steadfastly continued with the tradition. Assuming that this is the best marmalade. Until last...
read moreRaspberry vinegar recipe
My friend Teresa introduced me to raspberry vinegar. She had made a dressing for a hot goat’s cheese salad using olive oil, raspberry vinegar and honey. It was out of this world – sweet yet tart. A raspberry lover’s dream dressing. The dressing had me searching the shops for raspberry vinegar the next day. As far as I remember it was quite expensive. And after an extended period of over indulgence in warm soft goat’s cheese salads it fell out of favour and got lost on the shelves in the larder. Following the success of the...
read moreSeville Orange and Quince Marmalade recipe
After discovering that Seville orange marmalade wiped quince marmalade off the map I was intrigued. I love the taste of quince jelly and quince marmalade might be good. I had 700g of quince pulp left over from making jelly. Rather than make Membrillo I thought I’d experiment with combining Seville oranges and quinces in a rich marmalade. As there was no recipe to tell me how to do this I had to invent my own. Quinces are harvested in September and Seville oranges appear in the shops in January in the UK. But with the help of a freezer you...
read moreUpdate on the pine needle vinegar
Unless you are a truly dedicated reader of the blog you will have forgotten Hunky, Nirvana and Anne. These were the names for the three different types of pine needle vinegar that we made back in November. Apparently a good pine needle vinegar can taste similar to balsamic vinegar. This vinegar has been maturing in the barn since then. Last night we decided to sample it so I pulled on my boots and searched the preserves shelves with a torch. The first we tried was Hunky. Aptly named as it took Danny a good ten minutes to open the metal...
read moreHot Spiced Cranberry and Apple Sauce recipe
When I worked out how much money I was making from the jars of cranberry and clementine sauce on my gate side stand I found that I was barely breaking even. Cranberries are expensive in the UK – as most of them are imported from America. I love the intensity of my quick cranberry sauce but surely I could come up with something a little bit different that would pad out the cranberries and make a delicious ‘have with anything’ thick fruity sauce. I don’t know which inspirational angels were floating in the kitchen but this sauce is a...
read moreHot apple and chilli jelly recipe
Danny doesn’t like things to be too hot but strangely the combination of sweet and heat in this jelly gets the thumbs up from him. Apple chilli jelly is brilliant with sausages, pork, lamb or any rich meat. Pork chops baked with a few tablespoons of this jelly are yummy. In fact it’s a very versatile preserve and well worth making. I’ve even added a little to winter salad dressings to give them a bit of a lift. The health benefits of eating chillies are amazing. I thought that I’d written up this recipe and spent ages looking for it...
read moreChristmas piccalilli recipe
For years I was tempted by the cheap jars of yellow piccalilli on the supermarket shelves. I’d take one head clearing taste and the jar would be put smartly at the back of the cupboard to wait until it was swept away in a hearty Spring clean. Last year we tasted Magic Cochin’s homemade piccalilli. It was everything that I’d imagined piccalilli could be and more. It is so good that they are only allowed a jar a month to salve that certain piccalilli yearning. And I’m ashamed to say I had two helpings from the January jar. This...
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