Ingredients:
1 medium sized marrow - peeled, de-seeded and diced
3 limes - the juice and grated zest
4 oz root ginger - peeled and grated
1lb 8 oz granulated sugar
50 ml pectin
Method:
Place the prepared marrow, lime juice, zest and remaining rind in a pan, heat slowly, stirring occasionally, until the marrow is tender and becomes translucent - mine took around 30 minutes and I placed a lid on the pan to help to steam the marrow
Roughly mash the marrow with a potato masher
Add in the root ginger and sugar
Once the sugar has dissolved, bring up to the boil and cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently
Remove from the heat for a couple of minutes - remove the lime rinds from the mixture
Stir in the pectin, return to the heat and bring back up to the boil
Boil for 3-4 minutes and then check for a set on a cold plate - mine was fine at this point, but if still too runny then bring back up to the boil for a couple of minutes and then check again
Ladle into hot sterilised jars and seal immediately.
After preparation my diced marrow weighed around 1lb 8 oz before cooking.
This recipe made 5 small-medium sized jars.
Ingredients:
1 medium sized marrow - peeled, deseeded and diced
1 tbsp salt
1 medium sized onion - finely chopped
1 tsp sunflower oil
2 red chillies - finely chopped
3 tsp minced ginger
1 lb tomatoes - skinned, cored and roughly chopped
1 medium sized bramley apple - peeled, cored and diced
1 medium sized carrot - peeled and grated
8 oz light brown muscovado sugar
3 oz sultanas
2 tsp paprika
120 ml red wine vinegar
Method:
Place the peeled, deseeded and diced marrow in a large bowl, sprinkle the salt over the marrow, cover with a cloth and leave for at least 4 hours (could be left overnight)
Pour away the liquid and then rinse and drain the marrow, rinse and drain again to ensure the marrow is not salty
Place the onion and sunflower oil in a large pan and cook very gentle to soften, but do not brown (use a small amount of water if needed so that the onion does not stick or brown)
Add in the chillies and ginger and cook for a further minute
Stir in all the remaining ingredients and bring up to the boil
Turn down to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft and tender and there is no excess liquid - mine took about 1 1/2 hours
Ladle the chutney into hot sterilised jars and seal
The chutney will be best if left for at least 3 weeks to mellow before eating.
This recipe made 6 small jars
Thank you to my neighbour who provided the marrow and some of the tomatoes from his allotment.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb blackberries
1 medium to large bramley apple - peeled, cored and diced
juice of 1 lemon
300 ml water
8 oz sugar
35 ml Port
20 ml Pectin (which may not be required)
(Patience!)
Method:
Place the blackberries, apple and water into a large pan and bring up to the boil
Simmer slowly, stirring occasionally, until all the fruit has broken down - mine took about 30 minutes
Allow to cool slightly
The juice then needs to be slowly strained from the fruit. I used 2 paper coffee filters in a large fine sieve held over a large bowl. Leave to strain at least for 10 hours - I left mine for about 24 hours
Do not touch the fruit or 'encourage' the juice to come through as this could make the final jelly cloudy
Measure how much juice has been retrieved, for every 300ml of juice about 8oz of sugar is needed. Mine measured 320ml and I used just the 8oz of sugar so that it was not over-sweet.
Place the juice and sugar in a pan and slowly bring up to the boil
Add in the Port
Keep stirring the jelly and simmer for about 20 minutes
At this point check to see if the jelly will set by placing a small amount on a very cold plate (from the freezer). If it will set, then bottle immediately into warm sterilised jars.
If the jelly will not set, remove from the heat for a minute, then stir in 15-20 ml of pectin. Return to the heat, bring back to the boil for a couple of minutes and then re-test for a set.
Once the jelly has reached a setting point the bottling needs to be done quickly.
The recipe made 2 small jars.
Ingredients:
1 medium sized onion - finely sliced
1 tsp sunflower oil
1 1/2 lb tomatoes - skinned, cored and broken into pieces
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp minced ginger paste
1 red chilli - deseeded and finely chopped
7 oz light muscovado sugar
3 large red peppers - roasted and chopped
100 ml red wine vinegar
Method:
Soften the onions in the sunflower oil - do not let them brown (add a small amount of hot water if needed so that they do not stick or brown)
Add in the chilli, tomatoes, paprika and ginger and bring up to the boil
Stir in the roasted red pepper and sugar
When the sugar has completed dissolved add in the red wine vinegar
Bring back up to the boil and then simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has reduced and thicken. Mine took about 1 1/2 hours.
Spoon into sterilised jars and seal whilst still hot.
The chutney will be best if left for at least a couple of weeks to mellow.
This recipe made three small jars.
I skinned the tomatoes by scoring the skins with a knife and placing in boiling water for a minute. After a minute I removed them, left to cool slightly and then the skins peeled off easily. They could then be chopped with a knife, but I just tore them into pieces with my fingers.
As I did not have any fresh red peppers to roast I used 3 large peppers from a jar which were already roasted and skinned.
Ingredients:
4 red mirabella peppers - deseeded and finely chopped
10 red chillies - finely chopped (including the seeds and membrane for the heat)
150 ml red wine vinegar
150 ml white white vinegar
2 lb 4 oz granulated sugar
6 oz chopped tomatoes from a tin
125 ml pectin (I used half a bottle of Certo)
Method:
Place all the ingredients (except the pectin) into a large pan and slowly heat through to dissolve the sugar
Once dissolved, bring up to a rolling boil for 15 minutes
Remove from the heat for a minute before stirring in the pectin
Return to the heat, bring up to the boil again and boil for 5 minutes
To test if the jam will set place half a teaspoon of the mixture on to a cold plate - which should come out of the freezer - leave it for a few seconds and then gently push a finger through the jam, if the jam moves away and leaves an empty trail where it has been pushed it will set. (See original posting for Sweet Chilli Jam for full information/instructions).
Spoon jam into sterilised jars and seal whilst hot.
This recipe is slightly different to the original one as for this batch I wanted to make a much hotter jam.
This recipe made 7 small jars (3 jars were very small!)
I prefer to use small jars to medium or large as then only a small amount of the jam is open at any time and so it all remains fresh.
Ingredients:
1 medium sized courgette
1 large carrot
1 red chilli - finely chopped
1 tbsp sunflower oil
Method:
Using a julienne peeler or a spiralizer shred the courgette and the carrot
Place in a pan and coat with the oil
Stir in the chopped chilli
Cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the vegetables are tender - don't cook for too long or they will become too soft
Serves 2-3 as a vegetable side dish
I used a small metal julienne peeler
