Saturday, 10 August 2019

A very windy Saturday

BBC news this morning says a million people were without power during the night. We seem to have been quite lucky here. Very wet on and off and very windy but we appear to have survived unscathed.

Today I am off out with my dad to the garden centre, and then fr lunch We don't need anything but we need something to do which isn't too taxing but he finds interesting.

If there are any plums left on his tree then i am going to collect a bucketful. I am planning plum and ginger jam and a Chinese plum sauce. I do enjoy making preserves, even if they arent good for me to eat.

The lady who made my sofa covers came to fit them mid week. Sadly they didn't fit so she took them away again and will be back in a month. I have the seat cushions and back cushions in a lovely new hard wearing blue fabric. The rest is still the cream fabric of the sofa but its a start!

Hope the weather improves tomorrow as we are mixing concrete for garden work there is a ton each of sand and gravel and 200kg of cement I guess we are doing quite a lot!

These are the recipes I have been given:
Chinese Plum Sauce Prep Time 10 mins Cook Time 40 mins Total Time 50 mins   Chinese plum sauce is the perfect recipe to preserve summer plums into a lightly sweet, lightly tart, and lightly spiced condiment that has many uses.  Yield: roughly 1 cup of sauce* Course: Condiment Cuisine: Asian, Chinese Keyword: jam, plums, preserving Servings: 8 (2 Tbsp) servings Author: Sarah | Curious Cuisiniere Ingredients 1 lb plums, pitted and chopped ¼ c apple cider vinegar ½ c brown sugar 1 Tbsp soy sauce 1 ½ Tbsp fresh ginger, minced 1 clove garlic, minced ½ star anise 1/8 tsp dried chile flakes Instructions Combine pitted and chopped plums with the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until the plum skins are very soft, 20 min. Remove the pan from the heat and remove the half star anise. Puree the mixture with a stick blender until smooth. (Or, let the mixture cool slightly and transfer it to a blender and blend until smooth). Return the mixture to the heat and bring it to a hard simmer over medium high heat, stirring often to prevent sticking. Cooking until the sauce is thick and jammy, roughly 20 minutes.* Remove from heat and let cool if refrigerating for up to 3 weeks. If canning your sauce, can while the sauce is hot using the boiling water canning method.  Recipe Notes *Actual cook time and yield will vary depending on the juiciness of your plums and your desired thickness for your sauce.

Read more at Curious Cuisiniere: Chinese Plum Sauce https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/chinese-plum-sauce/



and this one. Which is plum chutney even thought i thought we decided on plum and ginger jam. Never mind


Plum chutney
This is Pam Corbin's (or "Pam the Jam" as we call her around these parts) recipe for plum chutney, and the perfect way to preserve some of the summer glut into the winter. It's delicious with cold meats. Makes 10-11 340g jars.

1kg plums, quartered and stoned
1.5kg apples or pears or a mixture, peeled, cored and diced
500g shallots
250g stoned prunes, roughly chopped
500g soft light brown sugar
600ml cider vinegar or white-wine vinegar
2 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)
Salt
For the spice bag
50g fresh root ginger, bruised
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns

Make your spice bag by tying up the spices in a 20cm square of muslin. Put this into a preserving pan with all the other ingredients and bring slowly to the boil, stirring occasionally. This will take a while, but don't hurry it.

Let the mixture simmer, uncovered, for 2½-3 hours. Keep an eye on it and stir regularly to ensure it doesn't burn. It's ready when it's thick and glossy, rich in colour and well reduced, but still with chunks of fruit discernible. It is thick enough if, when you draw a wooden spoon through, the chutney parts to reveal the pan's base for a few seconds.

Pot the chutney while warm in warm, sterilised jars. Pack down with the back of a spoon to remove any air pockets. Seal with vinegar-proof lids. Store in a cool, dark place and leave for a couple of months to mature before using. Use within two years.

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