Tuesday 4th September 2007

Welcome to my recipe book. I have posted recipes in my allotment news blog before, but of course these get lost in the midst of time so I thought I would start noting down my recipes. I will endevour to be as honest as possible, revealing disasters and successes and scoring the recipes. I will add piccies as I go also.

To begin, I have a glut of marrows and overgrown courgettes, so to get the ball rolling;

Marrow and Ginger Preserve (recipe adapted from one in 'Preserving' by Oded Schwartz)

1.5 kg Marrow, peeled, cored and cut into small dice
pinch of ground ginger
1 kg granulated sugar
500 ml of water
juice of 1 lemon
1 jar of stem ginger in syrup (as big or as small as you like, depends on what you can get and how much you like ginger, shredded into mini matchsticks)
3-4 strips of lemon rind, shredded finely

Prepare the marrow and put into a large pan with just enough water to cover it. Add a pinch or two of ground ginger, bring to the boil and cook for about 15 minutes until the marrow is tender. Drain and press gently to crush slightly and remove as much liquid as possible, without totally mashing the marrow.

Put all the other ingredients in a preserving pan, including the 500ml of water - this is not the water used to cook the marrow, and add the syrup from the ginger jar and slowely bring it to the boil, stirring constantly ensuring the sugar is totally dissolved. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes, then add the marrow. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and allow to cook for 2 hours until the marrow is translucent and has thickened. Remember to come back and stir regularly to prevent it catching and burning!

Once it is thick, pour into warm, sterile jars and seal immediately. Label when cold.

You can eat this jam as soon as it is cold, but it really does improve with keeping. The ginger really permeates and softens and it is sublime. Great over vanilla ice cream, on toast or best on hot buttered crumpets! 10/10!!


Apple and Garlic Jelly (give to me by my good mate, Doris Pinks)

I have a constant glut of apples thanks to the 2 huge trees on the allotment, several smaller ones in the garden, and the apple trees in the orchard at my inlaws. Doris passed me this recipe - she adds rosemary to hers but as I already have plenty of rosemary jelly, I made the simple version.

Bucket full of apples, coursely chopped
1 pint water
1Ib sugar for every pint of apple juice
1 lemon
2 heads of garlic - roughly 20 cloves

The day before, cook the apples and the lemon with the pint of water for about an hour to get maximum flavour and juice. Pour this gloop into a jelly bag or muslin supported in a seive or collander and allow to drop through for 24 hours. Do not be tempted to squeeze the bag as you will end up with a cloudy jelly.
The next day, for every pint of liquid, use a pound of sugar (my apples produced 3 pints of juice). Bring the juice to a rapid boil and cook for 10 minutes, then take off the heat and add the sugar, stirring constantly until it is completely dissolved. Put back on the heat and add the peeled garlic cloves. Bring to the boil and cook until setting point is reached. Add a knob of butter to break up any scum. Pour into warm, sterile jars, adding 3 or 4 cloves of garlic to each jar, then seal. Label when cold.

The smell in the kitchen was great and I imagine this will improve with time as the garlic flavour permeates through the jelly. Doris uses it over things like roast lamb. I am going to give it a try smeared over a chicken as I roast it. I imagine you could add minced or crushed garlic if you want an even stronger jelly or if you have lashings of garlic that you need to preserve. So far 10/10.