Grape Jam

Who would have thought I would one day be making jam out of grapes from my own backyard ! I managed to pick about 5 kilo from an unruly grape vine and it seems too much of a waste to give them all to the cows.

No idea of the variety but these were not tart. Only the purple grapes were used. The lucky cows (Scarry and Baby) were given all the green ones.

The actual act of cooking the jam is fast. It is the prep that takes a bit of work. First the skin has to be separated from each individual grape and then the seeds removed. I did all the prep work while watching TV at night.


It is a nice jam. Actually it tasted much like plum jam. Will I make it again....yes definitely....if I can gather enough grapes from the garden. It is worth the effort.

No pectin or setting agent is used as the jam sets beautifully with just the addition of some lemon juice.

Makes 1.6 Litre

Ingredients
2 kg 'purple' grapes
1 kg sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp vodka

Method
1. If you do not have a thermometer for testing the setting point, put 2 saucers into the freezer for use later to check the jam's setting point.

2. Remove any unwanted spoilt grapes. Rinse. Squeeze each grape individually between the thumb and index finger. Put the flesh and juice in one pot and the skin in the food processor.

Pop the flesh out.

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Homemade Golden Syrup

If you are somewhere in this world where golden syrup is not readily available, this homemade version is a good substitute. Of course in terms of fragrance, you can't beat the commercial ones.

I made this especially to make mooncake but with the price of a tin of golden syrup being so expensive nowadays, I have been using this for any baking or cooking that calls for golden syrup in lieu of the store ones.

It is not labour intensive even though it requires 45 minutes cooking, as once the caramel is done, the syrup is left alone to boil quietly. I did admit I stuffed up as I extended the time to 1 hour and the next day after cooling, the syrup was admittedly very hard. But no matter, I did another half a recipe, halved the cooking time, poured the 'hard' syrup in and the golden syrup came out as good as !



Ingredients
200g sugar
50g water

1 kg sugar
600g boiling water
2 slice lemon

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Salting Chicken Eggs with Brine solution

Having tried different methods, I find soaking the eggs in wet brine solution is by far the best and most sucessful. It is really easy as there is no cooking skill involved. All that is required is dissolve some salt in water and one month later.....viola salted eggs. Cost wise it is cheap....price of ordinary eggs and some salt.

As we don't eat a lot of salted eggs, I salt about 5 at a time in a small plastic container.To salt the eggs, use whatever available sized container you have as long as the eggs stay submerged by the brine.

This lot was actually salted for mooncakes but I haven't got around to making the mooncake yet (too busy playing armchair golf !). Thank goodness I don't adhere to a strict festive calender ! Hard boiled salted eggs goes well with rice porridge.



Ingredients
1 cup water to ¼ cup salt (ratio)
large chicken or duck eggs

plastic or glass container

½ tsp szechuan peppercorn per 1 cup water (optional)

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Mandarin Whisky Marmalade

Every year our small mandarin trees supply us with just enough fruit to eat but never in excess that we have to think of plan B. This year even though only one of the trees bore fruit, it was a good heavy crop. Time to try our hand at making marmalade.

Mr Redneck is the marmalade eater and he has declared this jam to be 'Good '. Man of few words ! A delicious spread on toast. Love the tang and bitter sweet taste of the marmalade. The mandarins from our tree are seedless and this conserve will set without pectin.

My pantry is bulging at the moment with preserves, relishes, chutneys, jams, jellies all made from homegrown produce squirrelled away to be eaten in the coming months.

Makes 5-6 cups

Ingredients
2kg mandarins
800g-1kg sugar
3 cups water
2 Tbsp whisky/brandy
1 lemon, juice and peel

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Apple Jelly

I have made jam heaps of times but not jelly. Jelly was always delegated to the too hard basket. Guess it is about time to tackle jelly since my 3 apple trees are bursting with fruits. Actually making jelly was very satisfying and easier than I thought once I figured out a place to hang the bag to catch the drips. One does need patience. Leave the bag in a corner out of the way and ignore it.

The apple jelly is delicious as jam on bread, scones and even pork dishes. Yoghurt ice cream is delicious with a dollop of apple jelly added to it. Or serve it as you would an ordinary jelly to kids.

Part 1 : Extracting Apple Juice

Extracts about 6-7 cups juice

Ingredients
2kg sweet eating apples
1.5 liter (6 cups) water
grated rind of 1 lemon

Bag for straining

Method
1. Wash and roughly chop apples to smaller pieces. No need to peel or core.

2. Add apples, water and grated lemon rind into the pressure cooker.

3. Pressure cook for 10 minutes until soft and mushy. (With a normal pot this will take 25-30 minutes on gentle simmer).

4. Pour the mushed fruits into the bag and hang to strain out the juice. Leave overnight. Do not squeeze or you will get cloudy jelly.

5. You will end up with 6-7 cups of the strained juice.

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Pininoa Tomato Sauce

Most tomato sauce recipes have a list of ingredients a mile long. Needless to say I was a bit sceptical when I saw this recipe with only five very basic ingredients. But I am game to try anything as I have tomatoes coming out of my ears.

Since the first pot, I have gone on to make 3 more batches. I love the shiny red colouring of this sauce. You can also add garlic, chilli or whatever you feel like to these base ingredients.


Makes about 750ml

Ingredients
2 kg ripe red tomatoes
400gm - 550gm sugar
½ Tbsp Salt
2 tsp ground Allspice
1½ - 2 cups vinegar

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Make your own Pure Vanilla Extract

It really is very simple to make your own pure vanilla extract and more cost effective. Vanilla extracts will keep indefinitely as long as they are stored in a cool dark place such as a pantry or cupboard. Extracts can be made from either Tahitian or Planifolia vanilla beans. Their aroma is quite distinct from each other.

Use these pure vanilla extracts in whatever recipes that calls for vanilla and you won't regret it. This will make the end result taste so much better.

It is quite neat watching little jars of newly made extract turn a darker shade of brown almost daily and the aroma is just divine.



Ingredients
3 vanilla beans
250ml vodka
bottle

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Kiwi Fruit Chutney

Way back in May, there was a special on kiwifruit for just 29cents a kilo. What a bargain ! It was a case of buy first, think later. With so many kiwifruits, it was as good a time as any to try out this chutney.

Leaving it 'brewing' in the dark cupboard for 5 months has paid dividends. This chutney definitely tasted much better left to aged for the longer period. It was lovely with cheese and crackers.

Makes 2 Litre

Ingredients
1kg kiwifruit
2 bananas
3 onions (460gm), chopped
1 cup raisins
1 cup (130g) brown sugar
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp crystallised ginger (chop)
1 tsp ground pepper
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp chilli powder or cayenne pepper
1 cup white vinegar
1 hot chilli (whole or chopped with seeds removed)

Method
1. Peel and slice kiwi fruit, onions and bananas.

2. Place all ingredients in a pressure cooker. Bring to pressure, reduce heat and cook for 30-40 minutes until soft and thick. If you find the mixture have not thicken, leave the lid off and boil for a few more minutes.

3. Pour into sterilised jars and seal. Leave in a cool dark place for at least 1 month before using to let it mature.

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3 minute Homemade Creamy Peanut Butter

Normally I am quite happy to buy my peanut butter from the supermarket and it never crossed my mind to make my own. But way back in July our supermarket decided to replace our favourite brand with one made in Australia and they pushed the price up as well.

That was it. I refuse to be dictated to, and be told what I can or cannot buy, or where from. I decided to make my own !


It was actually ridiculously easy provided you have a gadget similar to the famous Magic Bullet and you can have fresh peanut butter jelly sandwich in less than 3 minutes. The proof is in the video.

The texture was in fact much creamier and not as dry as the bought ones. And you can actually smell and taste the peanut. Once you have tried some homemade peanut butter, you won't want to go back to that tasteless storebought 'paste'. Plus you know exactly what ingredients has been used.

Yield : > ½ cup

Ingredients
150gm (1 cup) roasted peanuts
½ tsp peanut oil or onion oil
¼ tsp salt

Method
1. Place all the peanuts into cup of the bullet. Use the flat blade and process until the nuts are roughly broken up.

2. Add oil and salt. Change to the cross blade. Continue to pulse (shaking and scraping the sides of the container every now and then). As you process you will notice the mixture will become more liquid and oily. Process until you are happy with the texture.

Flat Blade...............Cross Blade

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Feijoa Sweet Fruit Chutney

I made this as I had to find a way of using up my feijoas or pineapple guava as they are known in California. Bags of the stuff is in the freezer waiting for me to make jam. I was going to use some up for ice cream but it has now become a precious commodity since Redneck quite like this chutney.

Feijoa being an aromatic fruit makes excellent chutneys.


We have the chutney on cold meat sandwiches and also use as a glaze or marinate for lamb dishes. For afternoon tea, Redneck has crackers and cheese with a dollop of chutney on top. If you are looking for ways of using up your feijoa this is worth making.

Makes 750 ml (3 cups)

Ingredients
250g feijoa pulp
125g onions, chopped
75g raisins
125g pitted dates, roughly chopped
125g brown sugar
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp grated ginger
½ tsp curry powder
¼ tsp chilli powder
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
1 cup malt vinegar
dash of pepper
1-2 hot chilli (whole or chopped with seeds removed)

Method
1. Put all ingredients in a pressure cooker. Bring to pressure, reduce heat and cook for 30-40 minutes. If you find the mixture have not thicken to the right consistency, boil for a few minutes with the lid off to thicken the chutney.

2. Pour into sterilised jars and seal. Leave in a cool dark place. Best to set it aside for 1 month to let the chutney mature and the flavour develop.

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Pickled Zucchini

I am in the pickling mode ! At the end of summer, fruits and vegetables are cheap, in abundance and this is as good a time as any to start preserving and storing it away for winter when out of season fresh produce becomes scarce and expensive.

Bottling has taken on a new popularity as people become more aware of food and health consequences of unknown food additives in store bought items.

A very easy pickle to make. It was the first time I was able to use the slicing blade that came with my food processor. Within a minute, all the zuchinnis were finely sliced and ready for action.

Redneck said the pickled zucchini reminded him of eating a MacDonald cheese burger. It has that same taste. Have the zucchinis with your cold meat sandwiches, on rolls or add to your salad.

Makes 3 jars (Craig jam jars)

Ingredients
800gm zucchini thinly sliced
¼ cup salt

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Preserved Peaches in Light Sugar Syrup

There was an abundance of peaches from my peach tree this year. Thought it was about time I tried my hand at preserving as Redneck will eat preserved peaches but not fresh ones !


I chose to preserve it in a light syrup as the Red Haven peach is quite a sweet fruit. The peaches are lovely eaten as is or with ice cream.


Makes 8 jars

peaches

Syrup
400g sugar
8 cups water

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