Cooking with AH2: Preserves

[Glaucus]

What to do, while off injured? Make various preserves of course.

Now I am totally bored of tv, pc and getting sick of reading.
decide that after a year of very little cooking, be a good opportunity to get back in to it, and to do something I've wanted to do for ages, make and bottle my own preserves and sauces. So ordered 48 jars and 48 sauce bottles.

So far decided to make:
Onion marmalade
My BBQ sauce
Roasted pepper and chilli sauce
Maybe a lemon curd as never made anything like that before.

So if anyone has any awesome recipes then suggest away. Will update as and when I do stuff.

To start with Onion Marmalade(this one is from the River cottage handbook):

4kilos sliced onions
200ml olive oil
400g brown sugar
300g redcurrant jelly
600ml cider vinegar
100ml balsamic vinegar
salt+pepper

that's a lot of onions:

Part way through, what I imagine will be a very long sweating and caramelisation process.

been sweating down for about 30mins with a lid on, now loads of liquid in it.

So it's time to add the sugar and jelly

Been reducing down for about another 30mins

Time to add the vinegars

Been reducing for another 10-15mins, now ready to pot

Boil your jars and lids for 10minutes

Pot whilst jars and marmalade are still piping hot, this next stage shouldn't be needed for this recipe, but I will need to do it for the sauces, so i thought it can;t do any harm and will make sure there's nothing in the jars. Place the jars with lids only 1/2 on in a few cms of water place in a reasonably low heated oven for around 30-40minutes.

Was hoping to get 10 of each, but as you can see this only made 7.

 

[Gustov]

Impressive stuff! How does it taste in comparison to supermarket stuff?

 

[Captain_Slick]

But onion marmalade is disgusting.

 

[J1234]

Ginger chutney, chilli jam, beetroot and horseradish chutney, tomato ketchup, cranberry relish, lime pickle.

 

[SideWinder]

But onion marmalade is disgusting.

It's true. OP, make strawberry jam.

 

[Glaucus]

Impressive stuff! How does it taste in comparison to supermarket stuff?

I'll get back to you on that one, it's still in the oven, probably crack one open in a few weeks to see.

But onion marmalade is disgusting.

It's true. OP, make strawberry jam.

heathens, it's a mighty compliment to cheese and biscuits.

 

[glitch]

So if anyone has any awesome recipes then suggest away. Will update as and when I do stuff.

Mango chutney, piccalilli, chili jam and some pickled onions and/or shallots please!

Any chance of a small sample of your onion marmalade? More than willing to cover any P&P costs.

 

[PapaLazaru]

Looks good.

Made an apple and onion chutney last November. Still got two jars left and it is absolutely fine to eat and in fact is improving all the time.

Going to do a tomato and red pepper one before xmas and really fancy trying an onion, garlic and chilli relish.

*edit*

Would you be so kind as to link me to where you got your jars and stuff from?

 

[LeJosh]

Where did you order your jars?

 

[Glaucus]

Jars are from www.jamjarshop.com

 

[LeJosh]

Awesome! Been needing jars. I'm going to be doing the same over the winter period.

 

[dottty27]

can't wait for the BBQ sauce one

 

[HeadlessChicken]

The River Cottage hand books are utterly immense (the bread & preserves being my fave so far).

We made some of the onion marmalade a while a go. And dear lord; fresh home made bread, decent cheese and some onion marmalade = win.

 

[hood1971]

That looks moreish

Make this every in Autumn to give as xmas gifts. The first time I only made a few jars, but after trying one I immediately made a lot more. It is one of the best pickles I've ever tried.

Courgette and Red Pepper Pickle - Copied shamelessly from Delia

Makes four 171/2 fl oz (500 ml capacity) preserving jars

2 large red peppers
2 lb 8 oz (1.15 kg) courgettes (no need to peel)
12 oz (350 g) red onion (about 3 onions), peeled
1½ pints (850 ml) good-quality white wine vinegar
8 oz (225 g) demerara sugar
1 oz (25 g) mustard seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 rounded teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon ground mace
2 medium-sized red chillies, deseeded and thinly sliced
1½ oz (40 g) sea salt, lightly crushed

Method
Begin this the night before. First, deseed the peppers, cut out any pith and slice them into 2 inch (5 cm) strips. Next, trim and slice the courgettes into diagonal ½ inch (1 cm) slices. After that, halve the onions and cut them into 1/4 inch (5 mm) slices. Now pack the vegetables into a large colander in layers, sprinkling each layer with salt, put a dish underneath it to catch the juices and another with a weight on top, and leave them overnight. Next day, rinse the vegetables under cold, running water, really press them to get rid of any excess moisture, and pat them dry with a clean tea cloth. Then leave them spread out on the cloth for about 2 hours to thoroughly dry off. After that, place the vinegar, sugar and spices, including the chillies, in a saucepan and stir them together over a medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Let it all simmer for about 3 minutes and then add the vegetables, simmering for another 3 minutes. Then divide the pickle between the hot, sterilised jars (see below), packing it right up to the top. Swivel them to make sure the air is expelled and really press the vegetables down under the liquid before you place waxed discs on top. Then seal tightly with vinegar-proof lids, label the jars when cold and store the pickles in a cool, dry, dark place. They are supposed to be kept for 3 months to mellow before eating (if you are patient), but I've found them to be very good in about a month. To sterilise jars, wash the jars and lids in warm, soapy water, rinse well (again in warm water), then dry them thoroughly with a clean tea cloth, place them on a baking tray and pop them in a medium oven, gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C) for a minimum of 5 minutes. Add their contents while they are still hot.

 

[POB]

Do you have any wax seals on the jars? Or do the real lids cover it correctly?

 

[utajoker]

/awaits bbq sauce

 

[G|mp]

Sun dried tomatoes and roasted peppers is a good one.

I have a really good homemade BBQ sauce as well if you want that, it's more like a chinese BBQ sauce as it has soy and ginger involved.

Let me know if you want me to post that one

 

[Glaucus]

Do you have any wax seals on the jars? Or do the real lids cover it correctly?

The lids cover it correctly.

 

[G|mp]

The kids cover it correctly.

 

[Glaucus]

/awaits bbq sauce

BBQ sauce.
1 did 7 lots of this
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 onion diced
4 tbsp dark brown sugar
4tbsp vinegar (I used red wine, but cider and others would work)
4tbsp soy sauce
4tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp mushroom sauce (optional)

Sweat the onions down

Throw everything else in

Reduce down and taste, you may need to adjust sugar/vinegar

usually I would leave it like that, but this time I'm going to blend it for a smoother texture

Then bottle, didn't have any pans beg enough to boil sterilise, so these have been washed then placed in a warm oven before filling

Again back in the oven for about 30mins with lids only lose, as soon as they come out tight lids fully.

I love this bbq sauce, but I do want to make a honey and hickory flavoured one, but need to experiment with that, before doing anything this size.