Apple Jam with Caramel

Hmmmmm....
I'm not really sure what to do with this.
Any ideas?

I had some apples from Pendlebury Hill and some from the vacant house over the back
and really wanted to try this Christine Ferber recipe....
but it's kinda sticky, toffee'ish jam.
Not really "on your toast" kind of jam.

I suppose I could go jam drops or
warmed up on ice-cream.
What else?




Photos: May, 2011

Tomato Chilli Pickles

Our 2 tomato plants produced thousands of kilograms of fruit this season!
(Black Russian & Green Zebra).
As I write this, one week out from the beginning of winter, I have just
plucked the last tomatoes from the vine and it's STILL making flowers!
Psycho tomato.

Another Sally Wise recipe.
She's a pretty potent brew!
In the whizzer is a mix of garlic, ginger and mustard seeds.
It dissolved the little smelling hairs in my nose!

As an afternoon snack, I am a bit partial to cheese and bickies.
You can keep your fancy schmancy water crackers and stinky smelly cheeses,
give me good old Jatz crackers and cheddar cheese and some pickles and I'm happy.
I remember as a kid in the 70's when Mum and Dad had people drop by for drinks in the afternoon,
Mum always made a plate of Jatz and cheese and cocktail onions
- sometimes we even had the green cocktail onions - fancy.
Oh yeah - and stuffed pimento olives.
I can't buy Jatz down here in Victoria.
I can only get Savoys or Ritz (errr - shudder).
Anyway.....
these pickles are superb on my cheese and bickies.

Photos: March & May, 2011

Apple Cake

So, after I made the Green Apple Jelly, I had some mush leftover.
I don't like to waste stuff.

Those apples put so much time and energy into growing, it would seem cruel
just to throw them in the bin.
I went looking for a apple mush leftover cake recipe.

Now, if I was an experienced baker
- I would know there are basic rules for cake-making and I probably could have made up my own.
But I don't really have a clue
- so I put my trust in some random recipe from someone's blog and had a crack.
What I really liked about this recipe is that you cook the sultanas and currants in tea (I'm a big tea fan).

Well, well, well
- (3 holes in the ground - have you ever heard that before? A fellow I worked with used to say that)
I was pleasantly surprised.
It's a bee-yooo-tiful cake.
Made even more beautifuller by splitting it and putting
in a layer of Green Apple Jelly and cream.
(Tip-which everyone probably already knows except me
- wait til the cake is cool before you put the whipped cream on,
coz it melts - but geez it tastes good!).

Photos: Home - April, 2011

Green Apple Jelly

Lots of apples on the two trees at Pendlebury Hill.
And these are just the Granny Smiths - there are 5 other varieties.

I've never cooked with apples before - so this is my first go!
AND - I've never tasted Apple Jelly before.
Green Apple Jelly can be used in other jams as a pectin base for fruits
that don't have too much - like strawberries or cherries.
But I'm not too sure how much will end up in other jams coz it is
DE-LISH-US!
Why didn't anybody ever tell me how good Apple Jelly is?!!
And why don't you hear more about Apple Jelly?

It's super easy to make - and coz Christine Ferber is French it feels kinda fancy.

I'm so glad I lashed out and spent $8.95 for a confectionery thermometer coz without I would have taken the mixture off the stove too early - it took a good 5 minutes more than I would have given it to reach the correct temperature - that is, at which it would set.

It's the prettiest colour.
Like pink champagne.
I love it on toasted fruit muffins with salty butter.
Drool.

Photos: Home - April, 2011

Tomato Chutney

Lots of tomatoes in the garden in March.
Lots of recipes around for Tomato Chutney.
I chose this one from Sally Wise's book.



I had 2 kinds of tomatoes in the garden in 2011.
Black Russian.
Green Zebra.
The BR is a sweeter tomato and the GR is tangy -
so I went 2/3 to 1/3.
And I wasn't quite sure which apple would be the best cooking apple,
so I went 1 Granny Smith and 1 Golden Delicious (also from our own garden).




It was pretty easy to make - just chop it all out, shove it in a pot and boil it for 1 1/2 hours.
That's it.



You can eat this one straight away - you don't have to wait and let it cure.
It tastes pretty good.
I like to eat it on home-made hamburgers and steak sandwiches.



Home: Mar, 2011