I was all in a pickle yesterday. Much of this weekend, in fact, was spent pickling and making chutneys and generally presiding over bubbling pots filled with vinegary, sugary, fruity combinations. The house has been filled with a very strong vinegar smell for days - the poor kitten keeps sneezing and seems to have trouble opening her eyes in the face of such a pungent smell, and the lad isn't enjoying it much more. I actually love the smell of vinegar - the harshness and eye-watering smell are part of its charm for me. It's a comforting smell I think - bringing with it the promise of a pantry filled with preserves.
So anyway. As I've mentioned previously, the poor old tomatoes are having a hard time coming ripe. And the weather has become increasing miserable so my hopes for a few more lovely red toms are growing dim. We've also had horribly strong winds which have blown some of the plants over and now the slugs are having a field day with low-lying tomatoes. I see no good reason why the slugs should profit from the garden when we could instead, so yesterday I had a big cull and picked some of the plants bare - green, yellow and red tomatoes were all thrown in together. Some of the nearly ripe ones are now basking in the watery sun on the window-sill, in the hope that they'll get there yet, but more green specimens were turned into my great-great grandmother's green tomato chutney. Their overripe buddies were made into my own concoction, which we shall now know as spiced tomato relish, and several of the giant courgettes still languishing in the fridge have become autumn harvest pickle (care of a modified Alison Holst recipe). They do look rather pretty, I think. I have absolutely no room in the house to store so many jars of pickle, but at least we won't need to buy any for quite some time.
Oh, and I also made the top tier of the wedding cake yesterday. It is a changed recipe and it looks ok (she says with only a shred of confidence). I think I'm going to extract a core sample from each cake before icing though - just to be sure they are cooked. So. One tier down, two to go. The fruit for the middle layer is soaking now and I hope to get them all done this week. Then it's time to start mentally preparing for the icing process. Gird your loins folks...expect culinary disaster tales to be posted here soon!
Jess's Great Great Grandmother's Green Tomato Pickle
(Grandma calls it pickle, I think it's a chutney, but in the interests of historical accuracy, I call the recipe a pickle!)
Now. If you're not imperially inclined, and you don't have a pot the size of a witch's cauldron (I did not) then I provide for your pickling pleasure, a translated, halved, metric version! If you want to make the quantities my Grandma gave me, double the metric version.
1.5kg green tomatoes
750g onions
750g sugar
1/2 tsp mixed spice (I also added 1/2 tsp ground allspice because I love it)
1/2 tsp cayenne (or chilli flakes in my case)
1/2 tsp ginger (which I've just realised I forgot to put in mine)
1 tbsp salt (not iodised if you can avoid it - better for preserving apparently)
black pepper
500ml malt vinegar (I used a special pickling vinegar which is basically spiced malt vinegar. I suspect cider vinegar would also work)
Mix everything together in a large pot, bring to the boil then reduce to a fast simmer for 2 hours. Watch it for the last half hour as this has a tendency to catch on the pot. Pour into sterilised jars and seal with boiled lids (to sterilise jars - wash them thoroughly then heat in an oven to 100degC for about 10 mins; bring the cleaned lids to a boil in a pot of water then use a cloth to help you very carefully screw them on the full jars. The seals will click down after an hour or so. If they don't seal properly then you should refrigerate and use that jar the soonest).
Jess's Sweet and Spicy Tomato Relish
4 cups ripe tomatoes (skinned)
2 peppers (I used one red and one green but I suspect it should be all red or yellow)
1-2 pears or apples (I used pears)
1 chilli
1-2 onions (I used red for the colour)
3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp fresh ginger, roughly chopped
3/4 cup dried fruit (I used a mixture of currants, raisins and sultanas because my house currently holds the world's supply of these three things, but dates would also be nice, or any one of the three I used)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp each (although I seldom measure and tend to be heavy handed with spices, so it's likely these were closer to 1/2 tsp each) cinnamon, cumin and allspice
Process the skinned tomatoes until mostly all chopped up (I like my relish quite fine textured, but as you like). Pour toms into pot, then blitz the peppers, pears, chilli, onion, garlic, ginger and dried fruit in processor until finely chopped. Add to the tomatoes, then add to the whole mixture the vinegar, sugars and spices. Stir and bring to a boil then simmer for 45-60 mins or until thick and shiny. Bottle as described above.
So anyway. As I've mentioned previously, the poor old tomatoes are having a hard time coming ripe. And the weather has become increasing miserable so my hopes for a few more lovely red toms are growing dim. We've also had horribly strong winds which have blown some of the plants over and now the slugs are having a field day with low-lying tomatoes. I see no good reason why the slugs should profit from the garden when we could instead, so yesterday I had a big cull and picked some of the plants bare - green, yellow and red tomatoes were all thrown in together. Some of the nearly ripe ones are now basking in the watery sun on the window-sill, in the hope that they'll get there yet, but more green specimens were turned into my great-great grandmother's green tomato chutney. Their overripe buddies were made into my own concoction, which we shall now know as spiced tomato relish, and several of the giant courgettes still languishing in the fridge have become autumn harvest pickle (care of a modified Alison Holst recipe). They do look rather pretty, I think. I have absolutely no room in the house to store so many jars of pickle, but at least we won't need to buy any for quite some time.
 |
| Left: Green tomato chutney, Rear: Autumn Harvest Pickle, Front and Right: Spicy tomato relish |
Oh, and I also made the top tier of the wedding cake yesterday. It is a changed recipe and it looks ok (she says with only a shred of confidence). I think I'm going to extract a core sample from each cake before icing though - just to be sure they are cooked. So. One tier down, two to go. The fruit for the middle layer is soaking now and I hope to get them all done this week. Then it's time to start mentally preparing for the icing process. Gird your loins folks...expect culinary disaster tales to be posted here soon!
Jess's Great Great Grandmother's Green Tomato Pickle
(Grandma calls it pickle, I think it's a chutney, but in the interests of historical accuracy, I call the recipe a pickle!)
6 lb tomatoes (green ones ) 3 lb onions 3 lb sugar, 1 1/2 teasp mixed spice
1/4 teasp cayenne pepper, 2 tablesp salt, 1 1/2 pepper, 1 1/2 teasp ginger 1 quart vinegar
Boil 2 hours.
Now. If you're not imperially inclined, and you don't have a pot the size of a witch's cauldron (I did not) then I provide for your pickling pleasure, a translated, halved, metric version! If you want to make the quantities my Grandma gave me, double the metric version.
1.5kg green tomatoes
750g onions
750g sugar
1/2 tsp mixed spice (I also added 1/2 tsp ground allspice because I love it)
1/2 tsp cayenne (or chilli flakes in my case)
1/2 tsp ginger (which I've just realised I forgot to put in mine)
1 tbsp salt (not iodised if you can avoid it - better for preserving apparently)
black pepper
500ml malt vinegar (I used a special pickling vinegar which is basically spiced malt vinegar. I suspect cider vinegar would also work)
Mix everything together in a large pot, bring to the boil then reduce to a fast simmer for 2 hours. Watch it for the last half hour as this has a tendency to catch on the pot. Pour into sterilised jars and seal with boiled lids (to sterilise jars - wash them thoroughly then heat in an oven to 100degC for about 10 mins; bring the cleaned lids to a boil in a pot of water then use a cloth to help you very carefully screw them on the full jars. The seals will click down after an hour or so. If they don't seal properly then you should refrigerate and use that jar the soonest).
Jess's Sweet and Spicy Tomato Relish
4 cups ripe tomatoes (skinned)
2 peppers (I used one red and one green but I suspect it should be all red or yellow)
1-2 pears or apples (I used pears)
1 chilli
1-2 onions (I used red for the colour)
3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp fresh ginger, roughly chopped
3/4 cup dried fruit (I used a mixture of currants, raisins and sultanas because my house currently holds the world's supply of these three things, but dates would also be nice, or any one of the three I used)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp each (although I seldom measure and tend to be heavy handed with spices, so it's likely these were closer to 1/2 tsp each) cinnamon, cumin and allspice
Process the skinned tomatoes until mostly all chopped up (I like my relish quite fine textured, but as you like). Pour toms into pot, then blitz the peppers, pears, chilli, onion, garlic, ginger and dried fruit in processor until finely chopped. Add to the tomatoes, then add to the whole mixture the vinegar, sugars and spices. Stir and bring to a boil then simmer for 45-60 mins or until thick and shiny. Bottle as described above.
