'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness'

[saucisson]

Recipe please Rik!!

[Rik vonTrense]

I followed the one for elderberry wine but just substituted sloes for the elderberries.

[jenny_haddow]

I could well be tempted into the world of wine making after reading some of your posts. The only home made wine I have drunk was in Saudi Arabia and that was enough to destroy your eyesight for life! Consequently I've steered clear, but may well give the sloes and medlars a shot.
Your description of sloe wine Rik has rather intrigued me, and I do have a vast amount of them just round the corner.

Cheers

Jen

[saucisson]

Thanks Rik, I'll be picking elderberries soon for just that purpose. Jenny, have you visited Spuddy's homebrew site? there are a few of us from here over there.

Dave

[jenny_haddow]

No I haven't, I'll have a shufti. There a lot of elderberries in front of the house too, might kick off with some of those, they look pretty ripe.

Jen

[jenny_haddow]

Here's a picture of the end result of my recent pickings. It includes bramble jelly, cucumber marmalade, plum jam, dumpsie dearie jam (plum,apple and pear), marrow and apple chutney (laced with malt whiskey, one of the best I've made), cucumber relish, and plum sauce. Apart from buying sugar and vinegar etc, all the fresh produce was either from the garden or the hedgerows.

Cheers

Jen

[jpj]

popping back to sloes: adding them to an apple wine gives a good fake rose

[vinner]

Jen:

I just got back fom a 4 day fishing and hunting trip to south Texas (and Mexico) and just picked up your thread. Your marrow and apple chutney.... is that beef marrow? I have never heard of it. Do you have a recipe to share?

Regarding limes, we grow small, sweetish limes (the best for both margaritas and key lime pies). They are called key lime trees or mexican limes. If you have the conditions to grow lemons by moving indoor to outdoor and back, then these limes would be ideal, as the root ball is considerbably smaller and thus better suited to pots.

[aris]

No, a Marrow in the UK is what you might call a zuchinni - or a very large one which has been let to grow. Some of mine were the size of watermelons this year

[Paul Kribs]

vinner

I believe the marrow that Jen refers to is similar to an oversized courgette/zucchini. I stand to be corrected if wrong.
When used whole, and with the seeds scraped out, it lends itself well to stuffing with a mixture of savoury minced meat and rice, and baked in foil in the oven until tender. Some people find it tasteless but I like it.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[vinner]

Thank you, Aris and Paul. I like the courgette/zuchini as well. Called calabasas in Mexico, they are hollowed out, reserving the flesh, and baked until soft. Onions, garlic and jalapenos are sauted in olive oil then corn fresh off the cob and the reserved flesh are added with a couple of diced ripe tomatoes until just soft, with a bit of chile powder, salt and pepper.

Minced cilantro are added off heat and the entirety is spooned onto the cooked calabasas. A bit of grated fresh mexican white cheese ( or parmesan) can be added, and pooped under the broiler until just melted.


Mmmm. Summer in San Miguel de Allende, right here in my kitchen.

[jenny_haddow]

Hi Vinner,

This is a picture of a marrow. I grew 6 courgette plants, each produced a vast crop, I must have cooked courgette a hundred ways this summer. I let some grow into larger fruit, which as you now know we call a marrow. This is one of the smaller ones. The larger ones I roast, steam, stuff,etc. and turn into chutney. (In WW2 we used to use them for jam as a substitute for fruit). The wine bottle and glass are placed to give you an idea of scale, not that I was drinking it of course! Another use is to cut the tops off and retain, scoop out the seeds pack the cavity with brown sugar and drizzle brandy in to soak the sugar. put the top back on and seal tightly. Put to one side for several weeks to turn into an interesting liquour.
Here's the picture followed by the recipe for marrow chutney. I made about 6 large jars and have been told not to give too much of it away by my OH.


Marrow Chutney.

3lbs peeled,seeded and diced marrow(you could use squash probably)
3lbs peeled, cored and diced apples
4oz chopped apricots
2oz ground almonds
8oz chopped onions
4 cloves crushed garlic
1tblsp chilli powder (adjust quantity to taste)
4oz sultanas (golden raisins)
4oz dark raisins
1 tblsp cinnamon powder
1 tblsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
3lb sugar
one and a quarter pints malt vinegar
4 tblsp whiskey.

Put the whole lot in a large pot, and cook it until it goes soft, thick and gloopy like jam. Slowly does it so as not to burn the bottom of the pot.
Pour into jars and seal. Best kept for a month or two before use to mature. Goes great with all that home cured ham.

Cheers

Jen

I'll look out for a lime plant to keep the lemon company.

[vinner]

Thank you, Jenny. Next year when my neighbors are again begging me to take some zucchinni off of their hands, I will give the chutney a go. I wish they would let me have some of the blossoms for stuffing and for soups!

The liquor sounds intereting as well. And by all means, sip on the Cotes du Rhone.

[welsh wizard]

If anyone lves in the Hereford area and wants a bucket or two of vics for nothing give me a shout.

Ref Sloes - if you are making sloe gin try not to pick them until after the first frost. You can also make a dam good Plum gin or Damson gin for that matter.

1) buy the cheapest gin you can find
2) half fill the bottle with plums or damsons or if using sloes, freeze them first and then add to the bottle. The temp of the gin hitting the sloes will make them burst so there is no need to prick them before hand.
3) put in sugar to taste (reduce if using plums or any sweet fruit). I find brown sugar to be far better than white.
4) Top up with the gin.

Leave for a month or two (minimum) giving it a good shake each day or two for the first week to a fortnight.

IF the gin is too sour, just add more sugar to taste.

[johnfb]

I'm sure I'm not alone in this, but I do get the greatest pleasure from spending half an hour in the garden and coming back with this lot.



It's that time of year when you can never find enough preserving jars to accomodate the bounty. So far I've made plum jam, dumpsie dearie jam(from Gloucestershire, it means windfalls), Chinese plum sauce, and a great chutney to includes the marrows that proliferate and which required a good shot of scotch whiskey, that's going to be a good one!
As there are just the two of us, I can see the family will be going home clutching jars of jam etc., but the satisfaction is all in the gathering and preserving don't you think?

Cheers

Jen

Jenny, as I am moving some threads into this section I came across this started by your good self.
My question is...howdo you make your chinese plum sauce, I buy quite a lot of this in the supermarket but would love to know how you make it and your chutneys too.

John