Category: Storecupboard

Cherry Negroni soft set jam

take one part VBF (Very Best Friend), one part FCB (Favourite Cocktail Bar – and I have one downtown Bucharest replete with home-made syrups, fresh herbs and burly bartenders) , add two Negronis and mix gently with the latest gossip – Voila! “Negroni Night”!

Cherry Negroni jam may just be the pick-me-up you need after such a soirée; spread on toast and butter with a restorative coffee it is just perfect.

Ingredients for 5-6 200ml jars

  • 1.0kgs de-stoned sour cherries ( buy 1.2 kgs)
  • 300g thinly sliced oranges (approx 1 large orange) A food processor is useful for this
  • 450ml water to boil the orange slices in
  • 1 .0 kg fructose (regular sugar also works fine)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 200ml bitters/ vermouth such as Cinzano Rosso or Ramazotti

How To

  • The night before, macerate the cherries in the fructose and refrigerate. A minimum of 8 hours is good. If time is short then bring to a low boil and switch the heat off – leave to macerate 2 hours. This allows the sugar to permeate the fruit and prevent “floating fruit” in the finished jam.
  • Boil the orange slices in the water with the lid on (you need that cooking liquid)
  • Day two: Combine all ingredients in your jam pan and bring the fruit to a boil starting at a low heat first.
  • Large bubble stage: Boil at a medium heat – the fructose has a lower melting point than regular sugar so it can burn on the bottom of the pan. At first it will froth and the pectin will create a scum – skim off as much of the scum as you can. Let it boil away because magical things are happening as well as some evaporation of liquids. Approx 30-40 mins
  • Small bubble stage: Boil at the highest heat until the bubbles are smaller and the jam has changed in appearance and looks “glassy” (in fact its refractive index has changed! as has it’s moisture content) Approx 10-15 mins
  • Test the jam for a soft set: on a plate in the freezer – remember this is a soft set jam.. If you have a jam thermometer , the jam should reach 102C (104-105C for a hard set)
  • Now add the bitters and turn down to the lowest setting. Cook for 2-3 minutes just so any harshness from the alcohol disappears.
  • Pot it into hot jars sterilised in a solution of bicarbonate of soda, the lids too.
  • Turn the jars upside down to sterilise the airspace or water bath them or process them in your dishwasher on the hottest setting – as you prefer.

Orange and ginger marmalade (No Refined Sugar)

I make a batch of this every year for my friend Jeff. It is bright, it is sharp, it is bold, the ginger packs one hell of a punch and it is always comforting; Jeff’s special marmalade.

Marmalade making takes place in two stages – a boiling the fruit and macerating it in sugar syrup stage- and the actual boiling up into a set stage. Thus you can chop a longer process in two and make marmalade in the middle of the night, in the middle of summer and in the middle of a pandemic too.

I eat mine on toast, make upside down cakes with it and sneak it into the bottom of crème caramel moulds for a twist.

In this recipe I use fruit sugar, concentrated grape juice and more lemons to ensure a light marmalade and a perfect set. The amount of ginger is generous and roughly chopped as I generally find that there is no such thing as too much ginger but if you prefer things a little less head-on then grate the ginger and reduce the amount a little.

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Roast Tomato Chutney

A tomato chutney that does justice to the sun ripened tomatoes we know and love in this part of the world. Spiced with hot smoked paprika, coriander, a lot of fresh ginger and a few other treats too. Golden sultanas add more sweet and the sour is provided by apple vinegar. This version is made with grape juice concentrate and fruit sugar but regular sugar will work just fine.

Its brilliant with cheddar, adds zing to a ham sandwich and gives fried eggs a little “shakshuka” treatment.

Ingredients

This makes quite a lot of chutney 15-16 small jars but it is a good use of a glut of tomatoes and so far, a very popular chutney; it just seems wrong to give smaller quantities!

  • 2.5kgs of sun ripened tomatoes, halved, roasted until semi dried. Passed through a food mill to yield 1.5kg of tomato puree
  • 200g of organic tomato concentrate
  • 1 x 300g jar of organic sun dried tomatoes finely chopped or coarsely pulsed
  • 500g of white onions
  • 1 head of garlic – approx 8-12 cloves
  • 200g golden sultanas
  • 600g of grape juice concentrate and 400g fructose or 800g regular sugar
  • 600ml apple vinegar
  • 200g fresh ginger
  • Spices: 3tbsp ground coriander seeds, 2 tbsp hot smoked paprika, 2tbsp fennel seeds, 1 tbsp turmeric, 1 tbsp fenugreek, 1tsp ground cardamon, 3tbsp Nigella seeds, salt and pepper

How To

Making chutney is a slow affair and this is no exception. First roast the tomatoes very slowly so that they lose approx half their weight. I roast mine at 90C iin a convection oven. If you do not have a food mill then take out the seeds first. (A food mill makes like a lot easier as you simply pass the tomatoes through and a fine puree results)

Make a paste of the onions, garlic and ginger by processing in a blender with a couple of tablespoons of water.

Dry fry the paste together wth all the spices to fully develop the aromas

Now add all the wet ingredients, the sultanas and the sugar/ fructose and bring to the boil. Then turn down and simmer very very gently for 3-4 hours until reduced and thickened. Leave overnight or for 1 day in the fridge.

After one day bring to the boil again and pot in sterilised hot jars.