Good Old Fashion Jam Drops

with home made Plum Jam . . .

and a sneaky peak at my New Kitchen 

Plum Jam

2 kg Plums

250 ml water

1 tab lemon juice

1 1/2   kg sugar

Wash the plums then quarter and stone them.  Place plums, water and lemon juice in a large heavy based saucepan.  Bring it to the boil on a medium heat and cook until the fruit is soft, approximately 15 minutes.

Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Continue boiling for approx 15 - 20 minute or until a little will set on a chilled saucer.

Remove from heat, allow to settle then bottle and seal.

Jam Drops 

½ cup Sugar

125 gm Butter

2  eggs

2 cups SR Flour

1 teasp Vanilla

pinch of salt

Jam (Plum, Apricot, Raspberry, Strawberry, Gooseberry etc…)

 Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla.

Gradually add sifted flour and salt to make a stiff dough.

Roll into balls, place on greased oven tray.

Push thumb into center to make a small indent and fill with your chosen variety of Jam

Bake in moderate, quick oven until just brown.

If your too cool for Jam (like a certain teenage son of mine) this mixture is a good basic biscuit mixture. Just add a handful of choc chips, walnuts, peanuts or dried fruit, roll out, flatten and bake as above. 

 Quick and Easy to make, and great to freeze for Lunchboxes.

As for 'The Kitchen' well after a 4 month extension/renovation it is finally finished... (breathing a huge sigh of relief), before and after shots will be released soon,  just awaiting a few finishing touches and a dabble of clutter. 
It's so good to be back in the Kitchen baking again! 

I pickled the Cucs!

In my last post some of you suggested that I pickle my excess cucumbers, so that's just what I did, with a few other fresh ingredients from the garden.

Pickled Cucumbers

also known as Bread & Butter Cucumbers,  they are so delicious you'll want to have them on the table with every meal. 

I used 6 medium size cucumbers

2 onions

1/2 red capsicum

1/3 cup salt

4 cups cider vinegar

1 1/4 cup of sugar

1 teasp ground turmeric

2 teasp mustard seeds

2 teasp chopped dill

2 teasp celery seeds

Slice the cucumbers, onion and capsicum and mix together in a large bowl, sprinkle with salt.  Cover and let stand for about 4 hours.  

In a large saucepan combine the rest of the ingredients.

No celery seeds in my cupboard so I used the next best thing, the celery flowers straight from the veggie garden...(they would have been seeds one day had I had left them to mature!!)

Bring to the boil then add the well drained cucumber mixture. Bring back to the boil then remove from heat. With a slotted spoon ladle the pickles into wide mouthed sterilized jars.  Seal and water bath. 

Enjoy. . . or give to the neighbours for Christmas. . .

Devon Sandwiches

Did you ever get Devon Sandwiches in your lunchbox when you were growing up?
You may also know this meat product as Luncheon  or Veal German. 

It's a real family favourite around here, it's cheap, it's tasty and it lasts forever....God knows what it's made with though, you always hear all these awful stories about what goes in it, not to mention all the preservatives.

Here's a nice homemade version of Devon, it's a much healthier alternative, it's quite simple and it's fun to make.  

If your not a fan of the commercially made product then you must try this sometime, I'm sure you'll be impressed.  

Homemade Devon Sausage

1/2 cup chopped onion

 1 x tab chopped capsicum

2 x tab butter

2 x eggs, beaten

1/3 cup tomato juice 

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 teasp salt

1/4 teasp dry mustard

750gm minced beef

250gm minced pork

Cook the onion and capsicum in butter until soft but not brown.  Combine with all the other ingredients in a food processor until well mixed and mushy.

Set out a sheet of tin foil and roll the mixture into a sausage, secure the ends. 

Bake at 180 degrees for approx 1 1/2 hours.  Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.  

When cooled, store in the fridge, slice as needed.  Can be eaten like a meatloaf with a fresh crisp salad or steamed veggies or enjoyed at it's best on a freshly made sandwich.  Like any standard cooked meat, it will only keep in the fridge for a couple of days, but it does freeze well.  Sliced or left whole.
Also a handy little sausage to take all wrapped up to a picnic...

Devon Cheese & Tomato toasties...

My all time favourite, Devon and Tomato sauce.....

Saving for a rainy day!

Freezer Preserving

I picked up loads of specials at my local fruit and veg market last week. 

Anything with a price tag of $1.99 usually very quickly gets my attention, I just can't go past a $2 Bargain!!

4 cobs of Corn $1.99

1kg bag of Beans $1.99

1 Bag approx 1 &1/2 kg Broccoli $1.99

and 1/2 kg Button Squash, you guessed it $1.99
Not to forget the big bag of Beetroot also $1.99.

A bag of each was purchased for the week plus an extra bag for the freezer . My local f&v market is a good 1/2 an hour drive so I don't always get there as regularly as I should. My backyard vegetable garden provides us with some great tasty crunchy afternoon snacks and plenty of fresh salads but as much as I would love to grow all my vegetables for the table, I would need to have a good couple of acres of  progressively grown veg to keep us all going all year round. Not to mention an electric fence to keep out the pack of veggie gobbling children. 

By keeping a stockpile of frozen fresh vegetables, it means I can enjoy a good variety when I need it and when bought on special it means that I am not paying a fortune for frozen packets from the super market.

To freezer preserve your veggies, you need to blanch them first, I usually pop mine into a pot of boiling water for about 2 - 3 minutes.

You can find more info on blanching here and a time table for the different vegetables if you wish to be a bit more precise.

Once blanched, remove from water and dry on paper towel or draining rack.

Divide into portion sizes and place in freezer bags

Remove as much air as you can and tightly seal the bags

Stack neatly into your freezer.

When your ready for Dinner, simply remove the bag from the freezer and place in a saucepan or steamer and cook as you would with your fresh Vegetables.

Remember to save your blanching water, which has now transformed into a tasty Vegetable Stock, cool it and drink it as a multi vitamin boost or freeze it to add to your next soup or casserole.

Freezer preserving is a great way to save money and keep your favourite prepared foods for times when you just can't provide them fresh. 

Happy Preserving!

More freezer tips, recipes and links

Cook your own Beets

 For some strange reason I just can't seem to get enough Beetroot at the moment !! 

 When I found a 2kg bag of fresh local grown beets at the market for just a $1.99, they were bought home and pickled up within the hour. I had bought a few fresh beets here and there in the past, sometimes they were roasted and sometimes added to a salad but I  had never cooked and pickled them before, I was surprised just how simple it actually was and how delicious!!

 The beets were boiled up until they were tender, this took about   3/4 of an hour or so . . .

While they were cooking I boiled up 2 cups of white vinegar, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 doz cloves and peppercorns, a couple of bay leaves and a dash of cinnamon. 

  When the beetroot were cooked, I removed the skins and sliced them up, stacked them into some sterilized jars, poured over the strained vinegar solution, capped them off and popped them into a water bath.  I adapted this recipe from a few on line recipes, my mothers preserving wisdom and my own sense of common knowledge, it tastes terrific so far, and I presume like most preserves they will get even better with age? 

YUM!  A slice or two of this stuff on a big fat hamburger makes it just so extra tasty and juicy and have you ever tried beetroot, rocket and fetta? A great easy salad to take to your next BBQ.

There'll be no cans of Beetroot stored away in our pantry anymore, you'll only find it hidden away with the jam at the back of the home preserves cabinet!

My Garden Beetroot should be ready in another couple of months, Half of this lot will be eaten raw, grated with sandwiches and salads and the other half I might just Pickle . . .
Are you a Beetroot Lover?

Dried Fig Jam

Five times so far this month I have purchased  Fresh Strawberries in the hope of making up a nice big Yummy batch of Strawberry Jam,  an absolute favourite in this house.  Five times this month they have been eaten before I have even thought about reaching into the  cupboard for my preserving pan!

With no Jam left in the fridge, no strawberries left in the basket and me needing to fill a desire to preserve, I remembered the dried figs sitting at the back of the cupboard. So, Dried Fig Jam it is then!! 

Dried Fig Jam Recipe

Not the childrens favourite on hot buttered toast but It does go down quite nicely served as an after dinner treat with a slices of ripe Brie and  fresh Pear . . . 

Next on the Preserving List . . .

SWEET MUSTARD PICKLES

1 x cauliflower

250gm beans

2 x cucumbers

1/4  x capsicum

1/2 kg onions

Salt

Wash Cauliflower and divide into flowerettes

Slice and dice beans, cucumbers and capsicum

Peel and dice onions

Place together in a large pan and sprinkle with salt 

and leave stand for 24 hours

Wash in Cold Water, drain 
 Add 1x litre of Vinegar and bring to the boil
Mix together 1/2 cup Sugar
2 x tab Flour
2 x teasp ground Mustard
plus a handful of Mustard seeds
1 x teasp Curry powder
1 x teasp Turmeric

Add a little water to make a smooth paste and stir through 

Boil for about 15 minutes.  Bottle & Seal

Tip of the Day: Always wear gloves when grating Fresh Turmeric!

Getting into the Quince of things....

With  all the pictures of fresh Quinces growing, Quince picking and Quince cooking splashed across some of my favourite southern blogs, you can imagine how excited I was when I got my hands on some of these at my local market, it was a straight ahead trip into the Kitchen to play...

On the Menu: QUINCE PASTE

How much fun was this to make!

Peel, Core and Chop up about 1 and 1/2 kg of Quince

add 1/2 cup of Water, bring to the boil then simmer for approx 1/2 an hour until the quince becomes soft and tender.  Then blend the mixture until smooth and mushy. 

Add 800gm of Sugar and stir on a low heat until sugar is dissolved.  Reduce heat to very low and cook for approx 4 - 5 hours. I used a simmer mat to keep a more consistent low heat and reduce the chance of my paste burning, it's also a good idea to use a heavy based pan. 

 Keep stirring occasionally. I was prepping up some other preserves in the kitchen at this time so I managed to keep a good eye on it and stirred about every 15 minutes or so...

it was very interesting to see it slowly change colour

 there is  apparently a scientific acid/pigment/chemical reason for this, but I am not going to go into that today . . .

and finally about  4 - 5 hours later you get this

A nice and thick paste that leaves the side of the pan and is a rich ruby red in colour.

Pour it into some greased molds and let sit for about 6 hours or until set.

I have always had a love of quince paste with a nice Brie or Camembert . . . usually it's one of Maggie's, but

this weekend when I head off to celebrate my Mothers 70th Birthday,  we will be enjoying a local Witches Falls Merlot,

 a nice King Island Brie and Gooseberry Jam Quince Paste!

Obsessed with Citrus

SO I've been thinking about what I can do 
with some of my Citrus,

once it all survives, matures, flowers, fruits and ripens!

Freshly eaten is BEST, Juice is GOOD, Marmalade is YUMMY, Cake is quite a TREAT and then I thought of  LEMONADE!!!


Homemade Lemonade Syrup
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 cup lemon juice (approx 4 or 5 lemons)
1 lemon for rind

Peel rind from lemon with a vegetable peeler

Boil the water, sugar and lemon rind for approx 5 minutes
Add the lemon juice
Let cool and strain into bottles . . .
Serve with Ice Cold water or Soda Water 

  Yep! It's that easy... I tested out this recipe today, it's good, I have a few years yet to perfect it! I remember having lemonade once at a market many years ago, it was very lemony, not as sweet as this one but I can't find any recipes that differ to much from this.
 I guess I could just add more lemon juice!
 Anyone got any great (easy) lemonade recipes or tips they would like to share?

Marmalade

It's way to early to have anything else On My Mind this morning.....

I have made myself a nice cup of tea and some toast with my favourite homemade  Marmalade.....

I promised to send this recipe to Mrs Moo, so here it is:

Sweet Orange Marmalade

 4 oranges

Juice of 2 lemons

4 cups water

4 cups sugar

Cut the Oranges and lemon in half and squeeze out the juice. 

Keep the pips and tie them in a muslin bag.

Thinly or coarsely (depending on how chunky you like your Marmalade) chop the skins

Put the cut oranges, juice and bag of pips and water into a saucepan, bring slowly to the boil and simmer gently for approx 2 hours or until the skins are tender. 

 Add sugar and stir until it dissolves, remove bag of pips and boil rapidly for approx 15 - 20 minutes or until a little will set on a chilled saucer.

Remove from heat, allow to settle then bottle and seal. 

I think I did pretty a pretty good job with this considering it was my first ever batch. With citrus season just around the corner, I am looking forward to trying a few other variations to this recipe this year.

 Anybody got any hot tips for making a Good Marmalade?

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