Winter Feasting (iii) A Feast Indeed! or How to eat Terrine: with lashings of Bread & Butter, Pickles, the like...

Besides the Terrines, how to satiate the stomachs of twenty-odd banqueters?

Game Terrine

The stoic winter staples: Puy Lentils, Cabbage and Bread.  These, and piles of Pickles and Jellies from the shed.  This finished with Baked Apples, and a variety of alcoholic fruit, again to be found in the shed-cum-pantry.  A moment to rejoice in that Summer-Autumn of perpetual preserving!

Redcurrant Jelly and Pickled Crabapples

Before dining: long milling over Mulled Cider.  The Cider, a dream, made by a friend and sweetened slightly in its flagon with the addition of Honey.  It was mulled with Quince, Allspice, Cinnamon, Cloves, Lemons.

The Lentils I failed, once again, to photograph in their steaming glory.  Simply: cooked the night before with Onions softened in Butter, Garlic Cloves in their skins, Thyme, Bay Leaves, Juniper and Water, flavoured nearing the end with Balsamic Vinegar, Red Wine, some Apple/Rosemary Jelly, a touch of Soy Sauce, Salt and Pepper.  They sat luxuriating in their sauce for a day, and were then heated up.

Sliced Terrine and Cabbage

The Cabbage was cooked in batches on the day, first with onions in Olive Oil, then slowly in a light, homemade Cider Vinegar, and masses of Caraway.  Reheated at the last minute, laid on Cabbage leaves and topped with roast Pumpkin Seeds.

An enormous Pumpkin

The enormous Pumpkin, was chopped into big beautiful chunks, and doused in a Marinade of Olive Oil, Chilli, Demarara Sugar (for lack of Maple Syrup), and a touch of Balsamic and Soy Sauce, and French coarse Sea Salt.  After about an hour of marinating it was roasted at high heat in the oven, and served hot.  The idea for the recipe (minus Soy and Balsamic) came from a fortnight spent in November back ‘midst the gales on Clare Island, a recipe for Pumpkin Crisps made with Uchiki Kuri.  I shall tell about the fortnight anon.

...chopped in big, beautiful chunks, sat in marinade

The Bread, all five loaves, were cooked as per the previous recipe.

Bread

Great sloshing bowls of Pickled Apples, Pickled Crabapples, Bar-Le-Duc Redcurrant Jelly and Rosemary Jelly were lain between bowls full of Butter.

Apples baked in Gin-soaked Bullace

Following on from that Baked Apples, stuffed with Figs (Norfolk Figs – oven dried) and Sultanas soaked in Quince Brandy.  Cooked in a bed of Gin-soaked Bullace, these the remnants from the Bullace Gin.  With those, to feed the multitude, Potted Brandy Figs, and a selection of post-Christmas chocolates of all varieties, Satsumas, and bowls of Hazelnuts and Walnuts (again from local gardens).

Potted Brandy Figs

Oh ‘twas a feast indeed…

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...breakfasting on leftovers

Chillies- Harissa, Zhoug, Chilli Jam... and Roasted Peppers

Utterly unseasonal with the skies outside sitting grey on the land, the land thick with fallen leaves.  Chillies ache of Summer heat, of Mediterranean, Asian, Caribbean flavours and sit strongly in contrast with an English Autumn. 

But, I have been meaning to write about these fiery fruits Summer long, and recently those friends in Kabul found themselves in the ‘midst of a Chilli glut and sent the following question:.  Is there any chance you know what type of chilis these are in the first photo? we're going to try doing osmething with them because we have too many and they'll go to waste but not sure if theyll make good chili powder or good pickles.

A succinct response from Tweeter @Rhizowen of Radix : pequin type C. annuum

Produce from a home in Kabul

So it was, yesterday I set to work with a pile of Chillies to try out some recipes:  Harissa, Zhoug, Chilli Jam.

Harissa 

Harissa is a Moroccan Chilli Paste.  Used in Tajines, Couscous, for marinades etc, it can also just be served as a spicy accompaniment to a meal.  There are a multitude of recipes, it can be raw or cooked, contain tomatoes, peppers or neither.  I briefly noted some Harissa recipes to accompany a Lamb and Fig Tagine here.  To my mind Harissa has to be very hot, very salty and full of Cumin.

Yesterday’s Recipe went thus:

Grill three small Red Peppers (or one large), twelve very small Plum Tomatoes (or equivalent), six cloves Garlic.  The Peppers should be turned, so they are charred on all sides, the Tomatoes just bursting and the Garlic's skin browning.  Meanwhile toast one and a bit tablespoons of Cumin Seed in a dry pan.  Peel the Peppers and remove seeds and stalks.  Pop the soft Garlic out of its skins.  Grind 2/3 of the Cumin in a Pestle and Mortar.  Blend Peppers, Tomatoes, Garlic.  Finely chop chillies (the amount of which has to be played about with to get the suitable heat).  I used two or three Scotch Bonnets and one long red Chilli. Put the whole lot, including the ground Cumin in a pan, bring to heat and simmer until nearly a dry paste.  Remove from heat and allow to cool, add remainder of whole toasted Cumin Seed, two teaspoons of Salt, douse with Olive Oil.  Stir the lot and taste, it should be very salty, slightly sweet, with a palpable texture.

Mine made yesterday was sublime.  Grilling or roasting the ingredients gives it a nutty sweet flavour behind the Chilli heat – I could eat it by the spoonful.  

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Zhoug

Zhoug is a Green Chilli and Coriander paste from Yemen.  I made it a couple of years ago on Clare Island according to a recipe I found I thinking The Gate vegetarian cookbook.  Or, perhaps Denis Cotter’s sumptuous Café Paradiso cookbooks.  Either way, I couldn’t find same online yesterday, so went for a mishmash.  

Toast one tsp Cumin, one tsp Coriander seed, one Cardamon pod, one tsp Caraway seed.  Grind with a few Peppercorns in Pestle and Mortar.  Add three cloves of Garlic, grind.  Add this blend to a large bunch of Coriander, roughly chopped, stalks and all, a few sprigs of Parsley, Two Chillies (or according to taste) and juice of one Lemon.  I used Red Chilies as had no Green to hand.  Blend the lot.  Return to Pestle and Mortar, grind again adding coarse Salt and Olive Oil to taste.  Eat immediately – I smothered this zesty Chilli Coriander paste on my poached eggs this morning – a great kickstart to the day!  Whilst best eaten with Flatbreads, Olives and Yogurts, Hummus and Falafel, drinking sweet shots of Coffee, this paste can also serve as a base for spicy green dishes. 

If you wish to keep the Zhoug, it is best kept short-term in the fridge or for larger amounts, frozen.  Otherwise, keeping salt and oil content high, pop in sterilised jars cover with a layer of Olive Oil, store in a cool, dark place, and it should keep several months.

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Chilli Jam

I had long planned to make a Chilli Jam recipe I had espied on An English Kitchen blog.  But, the day came and the recipe, blog, the lot, had vanished.  I was directed by a kindly Kentish Kitchen to another recipe here: Saladclub.  Altered it as is my tendency, and made Chilli Jam according to the following method:

Blend 1lb peeled Tomatoes, 3 Scotch Bonnets, 2 Red Chillis, 3 small red Peppers, 1 large Orange Pepper, 12 cloves Garlic, 4 in Ginger.  Put lot in Maslin pan, adding 4 tbsp Fish Sauce, 16oz Sugar, 300ml Red Wine Vinegar, and 1lb raw chopped Tomatoes.  Bring to boil, stirring occasionally.  When jammy pot in sterilised jars.

Mine is very hot indeed, you might want to reduce the Scotch Bonnets.  I am retaining half of the batch at that heat and adding another 1lb of Tomatoes to the rest to make a gentler jam.  But, delicious it is, sweet, with a thick jammy texture and the obvious Chilli kick.

A bite of sweet Chilli joy for coming winter days.

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Chillies can also be dried against a sunny wall or window, then kept in a jar for when needed.  When dry they can also be rehydrated in warm water.  

Another, and very luxurious way, of storing vegetables is in the Italian manner by roasting or grilling them and jarring in oil.  Courgettes, Aubergines, Peppers and Chillis store very well this way.  I made a pot of grilled Peppers this Summer – see the pictures below.

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N.B.  I have used Scotch Bonnets in these recipes, I was likely lured by their beauty.  They have a real biting heat that comes at the end of the mouthful.  If you find Chilli difficult  I would replace these with something milder.

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Rumour has it that the Kabul Kitchen might soon commence blogging its own cooking ventures... with a mere scrape of ingredients, how to live it up in an ex-pat kitchen in Kabul... I'll keep you posted.  - Indeed it has already, see: Kabul Kitchen - The unlikely adventures of a war photographer in Kabul with no weighing scales...

Blackberries - wi' Beetroot Relish, wi' Cinnamon Whisky, in Vinegar et cetera

Beetroot, Blackberry and Walnut Relish


Apparently nonsensical, it is often colours that define choices of food combinations.   Not quite for this reason alone, I decided to give a touch of the wild to a conventional Beetroot Relish, with the addition of Blackberries and Apples.   More likely, I based my choice on an only-part-forgotten Beetroot and Blackcurrant Relish espied once in the Riverford Cookbook, but the colour, as well as the gluts of berries nearing their end on plentiful briars outside the house, were certainly influential factors in the concoction of this recipe.


On cooking, my head was chiming with shouts of Chilli! Horseradish! Ginger!  But I forestalled such fervour, deciding that the addition of Blackberry was quite quirky enough. Indeed, on bringing a pot to dinner that evening,  there was already a raised eyebrow, a giggle, a sneer...


1/2lb Blackberries, 4 medium Beetroot, 1 Apple, 1 Onion, 100ml Apple Juice, 100ml Cider Vinegar, 100ml Balsamic Vinegar, 1tbsp Blackberry Jam (optional), 100g Sugar, Port (optional), handful Walnuts (optional).


Heat half the Blackberries in the Apple Juice, till cooked, strain and keep the juice.  Grate the apple into this juice, bring to simmer, stir in Jam, set aside.  Heat Vinegars with Sugar and add grated raw Beetroot and chopped Onion, turning so that all the ingredients are covered.  Add Apple and Blackberry Juice.  Stir.  Add slosh of Port rest of Blackberries and Walnuts, simmer a minute longer.  Press into hot sterilised jars, seal.  Leave for a month (although it is lovely immediately) and serve as a sweet/sharp addition to rich wintry meats.

Unlike the Bullace, Port and Walnut Jam, which is given edge by the tartness of the fruit, this is incredibly sweet.  In the future I would indeed add something fiery to lift it.  If making this yourself, why not slice in a Chilli with the Onion, or grate in some Horseradish...

Despite my convincing myself this is a Relish, it has turned out not unlike my Beetroot Pickle, I rather thought the Sugar and Jam would make it more of a spread - I understand a Relish to be something between a Pickle and a Chutney.  In future to make it more Relish-like I shall try cooking it for longer.

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Blackberry and Cinnanmon Whisky

I have had to turn my thoughts from simply: preserving, to: preserving in the most practical manner... So, despite enjoying the flamboyant, the flippant and the fun, I have started questioning what is really necessary.  It might seem odd that I am talking about practicality under the seemingly superfluous heading of Blackberry Whisky.  But, I am headily conscious of living in a chilly house, am predicting another icy winter, and know well that a nip of something sweet and strong is not only pleasant, but vital on those winter eves...

My recipe went thus:  Fill a very large bottle (1.5lt) to a third with Blackberries (about 250g), cover these in Sugar (about 250g), add 1 bottle cheap Whisky (1lt) and a splash of very good single malt.  I also added a Cinnamon stick.  Shake the lot, and leave in bottle, shaking on occasion, for three months. Strain through muslin, drink when necessary.  The addition of the Single Malt ( a tip for any impoverished Whisky-lover) is said, in a mere drop, to transfer the flavour of the malt to the cheaper stuff.

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Blackberry and Elderberry Vinegars

Another practicality is how can we make what we tend to buy.  So, vinegar-phile that I am, I was delighted when Carl Legge shared Sandor Ellix Katz's recipe for DIY Vinegar.  Having a so-far-successful Apple/Crabapple Vinegar on the go, I decided yesterday to try Blackberry Vinegar, Elderberry Vinegar and Quince Vinegar.  Rather than using the whole fruits, I have used the Apple and Quince skins and cores, potting and pasteurising the fruits themselves (see pic below).

Briefly: Fill a 2pt Mason Bowl with washed cores and skins of Apples and about 100g of Berries.  Cover with 1pt of 10% Sugar Solution at room temperature.  Place plate on top to keep fruit under liquid and cover with tea-towel.  Leave until starts fermenting, stirring on ocassion if deemed necessary.  After about a week of fermentation remove fruit.  Continue as before, when convincingly vinegar-like, strain and bottle - there's your Vinegar!  


For the Quince, I took the skins and cores of a pile of windfalls, fallen during last week's storms, and did as per Carl's recipe.  

Of course, I'm only at stage one, so will relate whether this method is succesful or not once I can confirm.  For further information, please refer to Carl's blog and Sandor's website.

Quince in Syrup - Elderberry and Apple Compote

Pickled Crab Apples - a flamboyant addition to the winter table

Fed up of endless yearly Jelly-Making…Indeed, does it not seem a pity to see the fruits thrown, only the liquid kept, not to mention the vast amounts of sugar demanded?  I was delighted to come across a recipe for pickling Crab Apples.  The idea came from quite one of my favourite forage books: Suzanne Beedell’s Pick Cook and Brew… I picked it up second-hand on the Charing Cross Road years ago, the name alone won me over, and at the time I thought it a gift suited to my father.  It has since been relinquished, and found a home in the cottage here as if meant to be. It's particularly appropriate, as the forager herself lived in North Norfolk - what she found in the seventies can likely still be found locally today.

So, amidst recipes and illustrations for Crab Apple Pudding, Crab Apple Wine…there I read: Crab Apple Pickle.  An incorrigible pickler, this could not fail to whet the appetite.

I altered her recipe to suit me, and pickled as follows:

Heat 750ml Cider Vinegar, 250ml Apple Juice, 600g Sugar in a pan stirring until sugar dissolves.  Add 1kg Crab Apples, washed, the blossom end removed, I chose to keep the stalks on an aesthetic whim.  The liquid should cover the Crab Apples.  Add 2in. grated Root Ginger, a few Cloves and Peppercorns, 3 All Spice, 3 Star Anise, 2 Cinnamon Sticks,1tbsp Mustard Seed, and her recipe also calls for garlic cloves wrapped in muslin, to be removed at the end.  (The terrible stench of pickled garlic made me think I would choose onions on another occasion).  Simmer until Crab Apples are tender.  Pot fruit in sterilised jars and reduce syrup if necessary.  Pour syrup over Apples, making sure they are well covered.  Seal immediately.  Leave a few months to mature before eating.

These beautiful pickled yellow fruits would look glorious adorning Beast and Fowl in winter months.  Try also on a Cheese Plate, with Pork, even Suckling Pig.  A sharp bite they make a statement both in taste and looks, cutting through fats and rich flavours… I cannot recommend enough for adding a touch of the ostentatious, the extraordinary, the medieval to a winter banquet.

For other alternate Crab Apple uses, see: Hedgerow Syrup and Carl Legge’s Blackberry Chutney.  Carl also has a recipe for DIY Cider Vinegar, hope maybe to get to that this afternoon..

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I also pickled some beautiful tiny Epicurean Apples.  These were windfalls, and have a great flavour, but are small enough to fit whole in pots.  I used this Recipe, which I used for the Pear windfalls of last year, only replacing the distilled vinegar with White Wine Vinegar and adding some All Spice.

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Follow this link for all the Chutney and Pickle Recipes on this blog.

Potted Figs, Bullace Jam, Pumpkin Chutney...perpetual preserving

Halved Figs to be macerated in Honey, Lemon and Vanilla.

The Figs have been wondrous this year, and indeed, it seems a pity to cook them at all, when, despite an impoverished summer they are sweet, soft and nearly-not-quite comparable with memories of those bursting, bulbous falling from the trees of the Andalusian countryside.  If your tree hasn't produced same sumptuous crop, do bear in mind, as far as I understand, that Fig Trees like stress and sun.  They are often put in pots or planted in amongst builders' rubble against a South-facing wall to encourage fruiting and ripeness.

But, we are unable to eat them all, and besides piling them into a Tagine, as I did last week, potting is an excellent way of preserving them.  That said, drying now comes to mind.  A solar-dehydrator would do the trick, as would a hot no-too-damp greenhouse, or strung up inside the car.  Whether our Figs are sweet enough to preserve successfully dried, and whether Autumnal Norfolk has enough heat, I don't know. (Do let me know of any of your own experiements...)

Potted Figs.  I posted the recipe here when enjoying last-years potted figs, and simply mention it again as it's the season and I've been taking great pleasure in doing so at the cottage.  On this occasion I replaced the Whisky with Brandy and for lack of Vanilla Pod I used good quality (Nielsen-Massey) Vanilla Extract.

As, it seems to be the season of perpetual preserving, do bear in mind that you can also pot Pears, Peaches, Apples along these lines.  In most cases I would take the precaution of pasteurising as well.  On another note, the tradition of Rumtopf offers a great way of preserving fruits for pudding.

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Bullace, Port and Walnut Jam

This recipe was shared by Jules Jackson of De-lish (@dehyphenlish).  It's so good that I was near' pouring scalding hot spoonfuls of the stuff down my throat...only some last hold on reason prevented me.

Place about 2kg of stoned Bullace (Plums, Damsons etc will do equally as well) in a bowl.  Cover with Port and leave to macerate overnight.  The following day bring to the boil.  Take off the heat and add 2kg of Sugar, stirring until dissolved.  Add 400g of Walnuts, halved or quartered as desired.  I also added a good slosh of Balsamic vinegar (red-wine vinegar would do equally) to give the jam a slightly sharp edge.  Bring to heat again and simmer hard until setting-point is reached.  Pot in warmed, sterilised jars.

Despite being called a "Jam", a touch tart, this is really more of a confiture, to be served with savouries, such as Cheeses, Pork and Game.  Mr Jackson resolutely sticks to the term "Jam" merely, I suspect, due to a certain pleasure in the mundanity of the word... Or, indeed, he simply prefers to spick with the Anglicised version. Either way, I am sure this would be quite as dreamy on toast, but, truth told, I'm not really one for spreading jam on toast, and much prefer the savoury combinations...

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Pumpkin and Apple Chutney

Again, it seems a pity to put a Pumpkin in chutney as they store so well as they are.  This chutney was really a result of half a Pumpkin sitting around not being eaten and the eternal Apple glut.  I have quite a variety of Apple Chutney recipes up my sleeve, but this is a blend of the quirky and the traditional.

Chop 2 Onions, half a small Pumpkin (Uchiki Kuri), 8 large Apples (peeled, cored), oh, I see, a handful of green tomatoes (optional!),  1 Chilli (more or less depending on heat) into small pieces.  Grate 2 in. Root Ginger.  Put the lot in a pan with 1lt Cider vinegar.  Bring to the boil then take off heat and add 400g Demarara Sugar, 1 tbsp Corinader Seed, 1 tbsp. black Peppercorns, 1tbsp Brown Mustard Seed, a handful yellow Sultanas, a pinch of salt.  Stir and bring once again to the boil.  Simmer gently for several hours, stirring to prevent sticking.  Once the mixture is considerably reduced and of a thick, sludgy consistency which holds a wooden-spoon upright, it is ready to be potted.  Pot in warmed, sterilised jars.
Leave several months to mature before eating.

Elderflower Champagne, Elderflower and Gooseberry Vodka, Pickled Gooseberries.

In an expression of culinary nous, the Elderflower and Gooseberry Seasons just overlap, offering myriad excuses to combine the tart berries with the diaphanous sweet-scented flowers.  Be it in an Elderflower and Gooseberry Fool, a Champagne, a Marmalade, or as here in Vodka.

Elderflowers are best picked on a bright early morning when the volatile oils are rising.  Choose unblemished flowers in blossom.  ‘tis the season, and the season is short, with the current heat and winds the flowers will soon be over.  So, on a spritely Sunday morning - to pick! 

A simple recipe for Elderflower Champagne, using the wild yeasts gathered on the blossom, tried and tested in several gallon quantities, by Christophe, brewer extraordinaire on Macalla Ecofarm, Clare Island, is the following:

5 heads of Elderflower (shaken for bugs) ; 1 Lemon (very finely sliced); 500g Sugar, 1 tbsp Cider Vinegar (White Wine if to hand), 5lt Water.

Put the lot in a fermenting bucket, stir, cover with a tea-towel, and leave to ferment stirring regularly to dissolve the sugar, for three to four days, depending on the rate of fermentation. Then bottle in sterilised screw-top bottles and keep for a month at least before drinking.

Put the lot in a fermenting bucket

A momentary panic set in here, when my own batch failed to start fermenting. Perhaps due to the temperature of this house, where even my Sourdough takes a full twenty-four hours as opposed to the usual ten.

The unsettling time is now over, a flash of sunshine had the brew in burgeoning effervescence.  And yesterday afternoon, smartly, for over fermenting in air can turn the drink acrid, the Champagne was strained through muslin and bottled using a siphon.  Already a glorious, if slightly sweet, sparkling Elderflower wine, the in-bottle fermentation will allow the flavour to mature and, I believe, ferment the remaining sugars.

A couple of litres was kept aside to ferment for Wine in an airlocked Demijohn... As I stacked the many bottles into the Shed, alongside the other pickles and preserves, and saw the Garden Shed/Pantry 'plenishing I was reminded of a Macalla Farm adage:   We may have holes in our clothes, but we are rich... 

 

Inspired by With Knife and Fork’s “Elderflower Rush”, and having picked a lot of gooseberries to encourage better fruiting, I decided to attempt Elderflower and Gooseberry Rush:

Elderflower and Gooseberry Vodka

Top and tail 200g Gooseberries and pierce.  Add these, 5 heads of Elderflower, 250g of Sugar and 70cl Vodka to a Demijohn.  Shake well to help dissolve sugar.  Store in a cool dark place, shaking regularly for the first month.  Strain and Bottle.  Mature in bottle for a further month.

Pickled Gooseberries

The River Cottage Preserves Handbook, a handy-sized guide to the multitudinous means of preserving, lured me, and with it in hand I soon found myself pickling the remaining Gooseberries.  Sadly, as is perhaps painfully evident as I write, I am far from adept at following recipes.  The Pickled Gooseberries turned out quite other to the gleaming tender pink/green berries I had envisaged bedecked in a rich gloopy coating of cinnamon-spiced vinegary syrup – No!  Mine were a rather watery hotchpotch of Gooseberry seeds and skin in various merging pallid tones.

"a rather watery hotchpotch of Gooseberry seeds and skin in various merging pallid tones"

From this description, I know you cannot but wish to get hold of my own variation on the recipe.  I thus include it herewith:

Top and tail 200g Gooseberries (pert, green).

Put 150ml Cider Vinegar and 150ml Cider, Cinnamon, Cloves, Root Ginger in a pan.  Boil. Simmer for 5 mins.  Leave to cool.  Once cool, strain and place Gooseberries and ¼ Red onion thinly sliced in the mixture, 2tsp Mustard Seeds and a Chilli.  Heat slowly without bringing to the boil (I fear I cooked my own too quick, encouraging the Gooseberries to fall to pieces). Simmer very very slowly until Gooseberries tender.  Strain, keeping liquid.  Pack fruits into warm, sterilised jars. Meanwhile add 200g sugar to liquid and reduce to a thick syrup. Cover the Gooseberries in Syrup.  Seal and keep for a month before eating, allowing the Gooseberries to fully pickle.

Prior to making, I had imagined the berries served with a Camembert or a Pyrenean Ewes Cheese. However, at the result, I think this would be more appropriate served with Mackerel in a pickled variation on the Maquereau aux Groseilles theme.

Pickled Beetroot, The Frugal Meal

This is a house of pickles.  Our breakfast, a poached local egg, (be it Chicken, Duck or even Turkey), a slice of Rye Sourdough and a Pickle of sorts, perhaps a spicy home-made Sauerkraut, Sweet Pickled Cucumbers, a briny Green Chilli… whatever sits beckoning on the dedicated shelf… an apparently frugal meal is in fact a feast.

Poached Turkey Egg on Sourdough with various Pickles

Gifted or gleaned the veg box is also often brimming. And fed up with several weeks of watching some once very fetching beetroot shrivelling, I decided yesterday to pickle them… in a month’s time these will provide a welcome variation on the breakfast table. 

Boil up: 50ml Apple Juice, 100ml Cider Vinegar, 100ml Balsamic Vinegar, 1/2tbsp Demerara Sugar, 6 peppercorns, 6 cloves, 1 tsp brown mustard seeds, I tsp coriander seed.

Add grated remains of 5 shrunken beets and ½ in. grated Root Ginger.  Bring to the boil again, then pot rapidly in sterilised jar with a pair of bay leaves, covered in the vinegar mix.  Allow at least a month to mature.

Eat Pickled Beetroot with: Goat's Cheese, serve with Mackerel to cut through the oil, with Pates and Rich Meats to give some bite or, simply, with a spoonful of yogurt on a bowl of Lentils.

This pickling Recipe can be used as a basis for pickling many a vegetable.  You might want to replace the Apple Juice with Orange or skip it all together, and although the Balsamic goes well with Beetroot, in a conventional pickle I would use a simpler Vinegar, such as Cider.

Other Pickle Recipes:  A Pickled Pear ; Pickled Gooseberries

 Le repas frugal, Pablo Picasso

Tomato Chilli Cinnamon Chutney, a note on experimentation.

With experimental preserving, the tendency is to concoct a certain food on one inspired day, to eat it several months later and in the mean time to have forgotten what impulsion gave rise to said concoction.

There is but one way:  A very meticulous method of noting down experiments and recipes (step 1) is imperative, to be  followed by a taking down of results: tasting notes/success or otherwise (step 2) in order that processes may be repeated, altered, improved etc…

All too oft’ I find myself wondering yet another time how on earth I had preserved a certain jar of tomatoes, or what quantities of salt I had used in that perfect sauerkraut.

There are many methods and each to his own, I love to write the recipe on the label of the jar, but 'tis utterly impractical, tending to have faded or run when eventually the preserve is tasted.

All this to say: 

On Clare Island, in the depths of the stores:  a small jar of last year’s Tomato Chilli Cinnamon Chutney.  An eccentric experiment, that had now had time to mature.

And what a chutney!  The sweetness of the Summer-ripened tomatoes was picked up by the Cinnamon and then, all at once, a sharp chilli bite… it spread thick like butter and deep rusty red, it was quite the marvel of the crowd.

For once, I had written the recipe down, and still had to hand the little book I had inscribed it in, here it is:

Tomato Chilli Cinnamon Chutney, an experiment.

3lb of the Tomato glut (eat your best and ripest raw and sweet, use the rest for chutney)

1 lb Onions

1 lb Demarara

1 pt Vinegar

3-6 Chillies (according to strength)

2-3 Sticks of Cinnamon (ground)

Bring the lot to the boil.

Reduce, simmering and stirring till thick and sludgy. (a spoon should stand up in it)

Pot in Sterilised Jars.

Allow to mature several months, then gorge with friends.

Chillies on Clare Island

Storing...

An art indeed in the post-modern, post-global, peak oil, food-insecure… era is the storing of foodstuffs in order to be able to provide in times of scarcity. Jo Newton of Irish Seed Savers teaching on Patrick Whitefield’s excellent Sustainable Land Use Course looked yesterday at the myriad methods of doing this, an enabling and empowering step towards self-sufficiency.   I offer a list here, and hope to cover most of the means of food storage in this blog over the seasons.

 In the GROUND

Recent harsh winters are making it harder to store in the ground, but many roots, such as Oca, Swede, Jerusalem Artichokes, Salsify and Parsnips will happily sit snug in the ground over winter – the only difficulty is in digging them.

 SILOS and CLAMPS

Both are traditional methods of food storage.  A SILO is a hole in the ground, aerated with straw, leaves and branches into which the roots are placed and then covered in earth.  While more suited to wet climates, a CLAMP is a pile of veg on the ground, similarly mixed with a material – nettle straw a traditional one for keeping off vermin, around which a trench is dug, the earth is used to cover the pile.  The terms are continue to be used in modern industrial agriculture, but the meanings are somewhat altered.

 STORING ROOTS and FRUITS
Otherwise, buckets or boxes in which particularly carrots, beetroots and celeriac are layered and covered with sand, peat, leaf mould, straw or sawdust, a slightly moist mulch to keep the veggies fresh, at a constant 4C or thereabouts to prevent roots shooting or freezing. 

  Apples and pears can be stored on palettes with air circling between them.  They keep better than roots due to their high level of acidity.

  Pumpkins and Squashes keep very well, and in warmer temperatures (up to 10C) provided they have been ripened off and their shells are hard.  Ripen off by leaving in direct sunlight, or using a cloche if necessary.

 Don’t keep anything showing signs of mould or rot as this will spread fast. 

 DRYING and DEHYDRATION

Windowsills, Dashboards and Airing Cupboards can be used for drying pulses, fruits, tomatoes…  hang your apple rings in the kitchen window.  Herbs are best dried away from direct sunlight in order to preserve their volatile oils.  In the case of wetter fruits and veggies a solar-dehydrator might be in order…

 SMOKING and CURING

Used for meats and fishes and often involving salt these are pre-freezer methods of storing… Gravadlax is one of my favourite and all-too-easy to do at home.  Recipe to be posted, one day.

 PASTEURISATION and STERILISATION

While Pasteurisation (see previous blog) happens at 72C for 20 minutes, Sterilisation happens over a longer period of time at 100C.

  FREEZING

While freezing is an exceptional means of conserving fresh vegetables without them losing any nutrients it demands much gas and electricity… commodities not to be reckoned on.

  LACTO-FERMENTATION

A no-energy means of preserving, a skill lost and returning to Europe with a new-found sense, see my many previous blogs on the subject.

  In SUGAR, In SALT, In BRINE, In VINEGAR, In ALCOHOL…

A myriad ideas and recipes to follow over the coming year.

A Pickled Pear

New Year’s Eve 2010 was a medieval expression of magnificence in the culinary quarters chez les gastronomes of Stanny House Farm… extravagant platter followed on headily from the previous and so on and so forth… I shall elaborate anon.  Let me simply whet the appetite by mentioning the fruit that accompanied the second dish (I can’t resist, ‘twas woodcock on toast) - a pickled pear.

Those of you not as yet convinced by the combination of fruits and meats have only to experience the dextrous combination of rich deeply flavoured woodcock and the sharp, biting sweetness of the pickled pear.

The pears were pickled in September.  They are small, of a variety to be confirmed, and provide in abundance in early September.  I used windfalls – the winds were thundering through the county this September, the windfalls filling my basket over and over. 

I first peeled the pears leaving them whole. 

Then:

Cook the whole pears in water with a little salt and sugar, until tender.

Remove.

Combine 1 lt Vinegar of choice (I suggest cider vinegar), 400g Sugar, Cloves, Peppercorns, Lemon Rind, Ground Ginger, chopped Root Ginger, Mustard Seed and Onion (I like to quarter shallots).

Bring to the boil.

Add the pears.

Bring to the boil again.

Repeat.

Pot in sterilised jars, covering in the vinegar and adding bay leaves.

Leave a few months to allow time to pickle.  Serve come winter with game, cheeses or cold meats.