The Cottage Smallholder

 Hi Janet,

You could use them to make your own pectin & save it for jam making later.

I like using them to make apple & rosemary jelly as I love it on toast as well as alongside roast lamb. Crab apples are good for this too.

My apple trees are weighed down with fruit this year (I have both eating & cooking apples). I intend to make my own cider vinegar this year; I haven't tried doing it before but the good stuff costs so much once I have paid the delivery charge.

I am a bit worried as to how I am going to extract all the juice without buying a press (too expensive). Any ideas would be welcome............... 

I usually put some sprigs of rosemary in with the apples when I cook them down, then add a small fresh sprig at the point when I pot up the jelly at the end, just to make it look more attractive. 

I love rosemary, I have two huge bushes of it. Have you tried it with fish? When I cook whole trout I put a long sprig inside it & brush the skin with olive oil. cook in the oven or on the BBQ. The rosemary gives it a special flavour. I learnt to cook it this way in Italy many years ago & it is still my favourite. Just add fresh lemon juice as you eat it. 

  Hi Janet,

I have prepared boneless pieces of salmon with branches of rosemary & slices of lemon. Cook them in the oven or on the BBQ, wrapping them in foil first. I keep a few sprigs in a jar of olive oil to use for recipes like this; the oil becomes scented with the herb so is very useful in marinades or for painting over meat, fish & vegetables.

So tasty......  

Have a great weekend

Mackerel is good cooked on the BBQ & eaten with a gooseberry sauce or pieces of cooked rhubarb. Both cut through the taste of the oily-tasting fish.  Personally I would prefer to eat mackerel raw (as in sushi) but you can only do this if you can guarantee it is sparklingly fresh.....hard to do unless you live by the sea.