Apple and Blackberry Jam

Following on nicely from last week's blackberry blogging - here is what happened to the blackberries!

Plenty left  so what better way to pass a wet Saturday afternoon than to make jam out of them?
 

My recipe is very simple:

• 1lb ( 500g) of chopped  peeled and cored apples
• 1lb (500g) of washed blackberries 
• 2lb ( Ikg) of sugar
• 1 small lemon
• 3floz ( 100ml) of water

Place all ingredients except the sugar into a large pan ( must be large, it will boil up a lot) and cook gently for 10-15 minutes or until the apple is soft. I tend to like chunky jam so I don't chop too finely so this stage can take a bit longer.

Whilst the fruit is cooking, prepare and sterilise the jars ( wash in hot soapy water, rinse well and place in oven heated to around 250f or 120 C until dry). Keep them warm until you need them.

Once the fruit has softened, add sugar, stir until dissolved and then boil rapidly until set point reached.*  Start testing after about 10 minutes. This jam cooks quickly.

Once set point is  reached remove from heat, stir and pour into the waiting jars. Seal immediately with a wax disk and tightly cover with a lid. Allow to cool and label ( I tend to skip that bit and can never remember what type of jam it is!)









 * to check for set point, stir jam and place a little on a cold plate. Once it has cooled prod  it gently  with your finger. If it is "done" the surface will wrinkle as you push. If it is still too runny continue to boil for another few minutes and try again.

Now that accounts for another lb of apples - just half a ton to go now!

Slow Cooker Chutney

I've been making chutney in the slow cooker ( crock pot) for years. Much much easier than the conventional method as you just throw everything in and forget about it for the day. No standing for ages stirring a large pan of boiling vinegar with streaming eyes and the smell filling the house.

Almost any recipe can be adapted - the secret is to reduce the amount of vinegar to just a 1/2 pint as it doesn't have to evaporate off.







 
So for my apple chutney you need the following:

• 3 lb cooking apples prepared weight
• 1 lb onions prepared weight
• 1 ½ lb brown sugar ( I use a dark one for the flavour and colour)
• ½ pint malt vinegar
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tsp dried ginger
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper or fresh/dried chillies
• 1 tsp cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 4 tsp sea salt

The recipe couldn't be easier.
Preheat the slow cooker for 20 minutes. I usually add the vinegar and sugar at this stage to let them warm through and melt the brown sugar as mine is usually rock hard!

Whilst the slow cooker is heating peel and chop the onions and apples. I use a food processor for the chopping bit.

Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker, stir well and cook on high for 10 hours or so or even overnight.

You may find that there is still a little too much liquid especially if the apples were juicy. Just boil off any excess for a few miutes in the conventional way.Put into warm jars whilst still warm and cover and seal. It is ready to use after a couple of months.

The slow cooker method allows the flavours to mingle during cooking for far longer than the conventional way and makes a delicious full flavoured chutney.

Other than the apples, onions, vinegar and sugar, all the other ingredients are optional and you can add, increase or leave out altogether depending on your own taste. I usually add more chilli  as we like it spicier.

Sloe Gin

At the white horse last week, the first sloes were ripe, very early for sloes and they are better after a frost but I couldn't resist picking some to top up the sloe gin stocks.

It didn't take long to pick the couple of handfuls needed leaving plenty on the blackthorns for another day. As usual we got the curious looks of other walkers but  unusually no one asked what we were picking.  Sloes are one of the great unrecognised hedgerow  fruits, not popular I guess as they are too bitter to eat raw. Leaves all the more for the rest of us then!

So home to make gin. I left them in a warm kitchen to ripen a little more before using and I could I guess have put them in the freezer for a little to simulate frost but I didn't bother this time.


  
  So for sloe gin:

• Bottle of gin - I use a mid quality gin, it isn't worth using the very expensive gins but the cheap "value" ones are harsh especially if you only plan to let it mature for a short time
• Sugar  - ordinary granulated is fine
• Sloes   

Firstly  empty the gin into a jug ( unless you have a suitable bottle already empty of course)
Rinse the sloes removing any stalks or leaves and prick each one with a skewer.

Pour the sugar into the bottle until it is 25-30% full. I like mine less sweet so I  use the lesser amount.

Add approximately a third of a bottle of sloes, I tend to be generous but it depends on how many you have

Top up with the gin, screw the lid back on tightly and shake well

Leave the bottle in a convenient place and shake regularly until all the sugar has dissolved. This may take a couple of days if you've used a lot of sugar.






Once all the sugar has dissolved the bottle can be put away to mature. How long you leave it is up to you. Around 3 months is the minimmum but the longer the better really. The bottle above is 4 years old and the bright pinky red drink has softened and mellowed like a tawny port.