Apple Butter

From 'Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables' - another use of the windfall apple pile, another dairy-based misnomer. But it is nice. Spread on bread, it makes me think of hot cross buns.

2.75 kg (6 lb) apples
1.15 l (2 pints) water
1.15 l (2 pints) dry cider
sugar
5 ml (1 tsp) ground cloves
5 ml (1 tsp) ground cinnamon

Wash and core the apples, discarding any bad bits. Peel them incompletely - I decided it best to leave about 1/8 of the peel per apple. Simmer the fruit in the water and cider until pulpy. Liquidize to make smooth pulp. Measure 350 g (12 oz) sugar for each 450 g (1 lb) pulp.

Return the pulp to the clean pan and simmer until the excess water has evaporated and the pulp is thick. Add the sugar and spices and boil, stirring frequently, until all the excess liquid has evaporated. It should be creamy. Pour into hot jars, seal at once, and store in the fridge when cool.

Pickled apples

Curious about apple pickling, since I had a suitable large jar from S's lupins, and obviously lots of apples. I liked the sound of the spices in this recipe.

700 g apples (approx. 4 med-large apples)
500 ml white wine or cider vinegar
120 g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
10 cm Carolina allspice bark or cinnamon stick (used cinnamon
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 whole cloves
½ tsp Szechuan peppercorns or black peppercorns (used black pepper)
1 star anise
Few sprigs of lemon thyme (used dried bayleaves)

Dissolve the sugar and salt in the vinegar in a pan over a medium heat. Add the spices, simmer for 15 min, then turn off the heat. Core, peel and thinly slice two apples as the pickling liquid cools. Place the slices in a large lidded jar and just cover the apples with spicy vinegar. Repeat with the rest of the apples. Eat within 10 days or so, or longer if the apples retain a good texture.

Spiced apple muffins with walnut streusel topping

Muffins for our new upstairs neighbours, in the hope we can start our neighbourhood sweetly. Using apples and walnuts from our garden. And a Delia recipe I've never actually tried before.

(makes 12 muffins, or one large cake)

For the muffins:
12 oz (350 g) apples (weight after peeling and coring), chopped into ½ inch (1 cm) cubes
3 oz (75 g) sugar
6 fl oz (175 ml) milk (used yoghurt mixed with water, as we never have milk)
4 oz (110 g) butter
10 oz (275 g) plain flour
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp baking powder
½ level tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
½ whole nutmeg, grated
2 large eggs

For the walnut streusel topping:
2 oz (50 g) walnuts, roughly chopped
3 oz (75 g) flour
3 oz (75 g) sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 oz (25 g) butter

Heat the oven to 190C. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a gentle heat. Put the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and grated nutmeg in a bowl and mix with a fork.

In another large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and milk together, then whisk in the melted butter. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined, folding in the apple at the end. Spoon into muffin cups.

To make the topping, mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, then rub the butter in with your fingers.Add in the nuts and 1 tbsp cold water, and press loosely together. Press the topping on top of the muffins, then bake for about 30 min, until done.

Mixed spice

Mixed spice, which I always have to remember not to confuse with allspice, is apparently distinctly British. Therefore, if I want to use it here, I have to mix it up myself.

1 tbsp ground allspice
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp mace (or use more nutmeg)
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger

Grind all the spices and mix together.

Berbere lentils

I've made berbere lentils before, but at the weekend was browsing my precious weeks-old Guardian Weekend (that Y shepherded carefully over from Beccles for me), and found someone professing this berbere lentils recipe (that I had noticed then forgotten about previously) to be the best thing. And I had exactly the 250 g of red lentils it called for, so off we went.

2 medium onions, chopped
sesame oil (untoasted) or peanut oil, for frying
2–3 garlic cloves, chopped
250g red lentils
2 tbsp berbere spice mix (recipe below)
400g tin chopped tomatoes
400ml water
salt and black pepper

For berbere spice mix:
2 cloves
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cayenne
2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp each of ground allspice, black pepper, ground cardamom, and ground nutmeg

To make the berbere, toast the cloves with the fenugreek, cumin and coriander. Grind and then mix with the cayenne, paprika, salt, black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, turmeric and allspice.

Fry the onions. When softened, add the garlic, lentils and berbere. Mix, then add the tomatoes and water. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary.


Pretty good. Was a bit salty - I've reduced the salt a little above (as well as tweaking spice levels to my taste).Very similar to the recipe I tried before (except a bit saltier).

Mulled wine / goodbye Boston

The clock is ticking through our final week in Boston. Doesn't quite seem real... Yesterday we had a birthday / christmas / solstice / goodbye / freeloading party - I guess things started to feel more real... Lots of friends came by to say goodbye and help us out by taking some of our stuff away (I was taken aback by the attendance, given the time of year). Seb rolled out his pretzel factory for one last time in Boston, and I kept a pan of mulled wine going on the hob all afternoon / evening.

The mulled wine is made the same way I used to make it as an undergrad, and ever since - lots of Christmassy memories. I am in the less-is-more camp when it comes to alcohol levels: I like to add orange juice rather than spirits. The orange juice provides sufficient sweetness for me, but in you like it sweeter you can add honey or have it nearby so people can add some to suit themselves.

I can't imagine there'll be much more cooking this Christmas - everything is in boxes and we have hardly any food left. So I suppose this is it.

(makes ~20 servings)

~ 2 bottles red wine (not the cheapest, but not the best either)
1.5 litres fresh orange juice
1 medium-large orange, sliced
2 cinnamon sticks
8-10 cloves
~5 whole green cardamom pods (optional; allspice / nutmeg might also be good)
honey on the side

Pour the wine into a large saucepan and add the orange juice. Add a bit at a time and taste in between until you get a wine-juice balance you like. Add the sliced orange, cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom to the pan and heat over a low heat until it is just below a simmer. Keep the heat really low, so the mulled wine stays warm but does not boil. Ideally keep like this for ~30 min before ladling out the first serving. You can keep it going (below boiling) a few hours, and you can top up the liquid a couple of times before the spices lose their power.

Hot toddy

This was cobbled together from the contents of my cupboards, on a snowy Saturday evening. The ginger wine is unorthodox but it seemed appropriately warming; I used bitter orange instead of lemon because it's what I had, also because I thought it might be good.

(makes two)

~1/2 cup whiskey
~1/2 cup ginger wine
juice of one seville orange and ~5 strips of zest
1/2 tsp honey
~1/2 cup hot water
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 green cardamom pod

Put all ingredients in a small pan. Heat very gently until almost boiling. Strain through a sieve into a jug, pour into small mugs and sip.

Pickled quinces

The last blast of the harvesting season came via M from LUrC. L was kind enough to collect ~15 lb of quinces for her and me to share. She arrived at my place last night with a backpack rammed with quinces. As soon as she walked past me into the apartment I got a waft of their wonderful smell. We spent the evening chopping, chatting, listening to the radio, eating yellow potatoes and pickled green tomatoes, and making beautiful quince preserves. We made half of them into membrillo, and sliced half of what was left thinly to make quinces in syrup and the rest in chunks to make these pickled quinces. The pickled quince recipe we used is here - L looked it up and said she didn't find anything on American sites (perhaps quinces are not common / not commonly used here?), and she consequently got a bit confused about metric measurements...

(we doubled the recipe below to get four large jars)

250 ml cider vinegar
750 ml water
200 g sugar
4 strips lemon zest
6 cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
1 star anise
2 (or 350g) quince, peeled, cut into eighths

Put all the ingredients except the quince into a large saucepan, bring to a simmer, then add the peeled, cored, halved and eighthed quinces, then turn down to a gentle heat and leave to cook for 20-25 minutes until tender.

Gently lift the quince pieces out of the liquid with a slotted spoon and put them into sterilised jars. Pour over the liquor, seal and cool. They will keep for a few weeks.

Spiced quince in syrup

Another thing I'd had hanging around in the fridge for too long was a couple of quinces. I love quinces, but it always takes a bit of activation energy to get through the prep: those cores are HARD. Worth it though. I noticed this recipe and it was simple enough to spur me to put those quinces into syrup (I accidentally made it even simpler, to no ill effect).

2 quinces
300 ml water
125 g brown sugar (or white)
5 green cardamom pods
1 clove
small piece of star anise (1/6 of a star)
1 cinnamon stick
2-3 strips of lemon rind
2 tbsp honey

Peel and core the quinces, and slice thinly. I had ~250 g quince when prepped. Put the quince slices in a pan with all the other ingredients, bring to the boil and simmer for ~20 min, until the quinces are softened but not falling apart. Remove spices if you like (if not then be careful not to crunch them by accident when eating the quince), transfer quince slices and liquid into a sterile, wide-mouthed jar, cover and let cool. Keep in the fridge (unless you feel like water bath processing them) for 2-3 weeks at least (if they last that long).


These are really delicious - the quince taste, spices and brown sugar balance out really beautifully to make a very fragrant, lovely snack... yup, I have been snacking these straight out of the jar with a teaspoon.

Butternut butter

I saw this butter recipe and it sounded super simple. Pumpkin season is upon us ('Pumped for Pumpkin at Dunkin'')- two butternut squashes in the CSA last weekend to emphasise the point. Right now I am into it; I'm sure the novelty will wear off eventually... Anyway, I gave the recipe a shot, with mixed results, but whatever I'll eat it.

1 small-medium butternut squash (~800g)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
60 ml water
35 g brown sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/8 tsp ground cloves*
1/4 tsp ground allspice*
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg*
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon*
1/2 tsp ground ginger*

Heat oven to 350F. Cut the squash in half lengthways, deseed and place cut side down on a lightly oiled baking tray. Bake for 60-90 min, until soft when poked. Let cool until handleable, then remove the skin and put the flesh into a blender. Add the remaining ingredients and whizz until smooth. Transfer to a pan and simmer gently, covered, for ~20 min until thick.

*all together = pumpkin spice


This tastes great but the texture didn't work for me - perhaps I should have roasted the squash longer; perhaps the other way up; perhaps add more water... It was very thick all the way through, and basically set in the fridge, and was kinda lumpy - not silky smooth like pumpkin butter I've eaten before (make sure to use actual blender not stick one).

Pumpkin in June (M's birthday): Pumpkin muffins

I defrosted a cup of pumpkin puree to use for M's birthday pumpkin granola, and since I had half a cup left over I decided I may as well make something else pumpkinny too. Muffins seemed like a straightforward option, and this recipe looked irresistible. I have made pumpkin muffin type things a couple of times before, but neither were quite right, and besides I wanted to try these ones.

(half the quantities below made 9 small muffins)

1 3/4 cups plain flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves (left this out)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup fake milk
1/2 cup veg oil
2 tbsp molasses
1/2 cup raisins (or cranberries, or walnuts, or pecans, or some combination of all of those)

Heat oven to 400F. Prepare a muffin tin. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a bowl with a fork. In a separate bowl, beat together pumpkin, fake milk, oil, and molasses. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake for ~20 min, until they are lightly browned on top and a skewer comes out clean.

Hot cross tart (little marmalade tart with tahini-almond crust)

Easter. This weekend feels strange. These last couple of days have really felt like Spring. But it is not a long weekend here - think those extra holiday days really make the end of Winter feel real.

I didn't feel like making hot cross buns this year, much though I love them. But, still racked by guilt at the vast quantity of marmalade I've made over the last couple of months and the slow rate at which we seem to be eating it, I'd got into the idea of baking with marmalade, and had noted this recipe as a potential way to do it.

I figured that since orange zest / candied peel is one important component of a hot cross bun, perhaps if I added all the hot cross bun spices (cloves, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg) and made the topping into a cross shape it would feel festive? My usual favourite (slightly weird) way to eat marmalade is layered with tahini, either on toast or just off a teaspoon. So couldn't resist putting tahini in the pastry.

Makes a little (6 inch diameter) tart.

50g ground almonds
65g plain flour
75g light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cloves, ground
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
pinch salt
25g tahini
25g mild-flavoured olive oil (plus 1 tbsp)
1 tsp almond milk
100g marmalade

Mix almonds, flour, sugar, ground spices and salt in a bowl with a fork. Add oil, tahini and milk (withholding the last tbsp oil to see if you need it), then mix up into a dough (it will be a little crumbly), adding that last tbsp of oil if the dough doesn't come together. Break off a 25g piece and wrap in cling film. Press the rest into a greased 6 inch cake tin with a removable base, making a firmly-pressed, even layer with a slight lip at the edge. Put the ball and the tin in the fridge for 30 min. In the meantime heat the oven to 340F.

When ready to bake, spread the marmalade out from the middle of the tart, leaving a gap of about half an inch at the edge. Use the remaining dough ball to make a cross on top. Bake for 30 min / until the edges and top are golden brown. Let sit on a wire rack for 5 min, then remove from the tin and let cool completely.


I really like this: like a cross between a jam tart and a biscuit; crunchy, crumbly and gooey in all the right places; sweet yet not too sweet yet also sharp; bold flavours that go well together. S says the marmalade is too bitter. I think it is good. A little divisive...

The more I eat of this, the more I love it: it is getting better as it sits in a box for a few days - the marmalade-y bits are deliciously gooey, while the outer pastry remains crunchy. Although I think this may be a child only I could ever love - the tahini-marmalade-spice combo is very much tailored to my own weird tastes.

Bavarian sweet mustard

We made this at Carly's to go with pretzels. Took quite a lot of grinding with pestle and mortar - might have been easier with a spice grinder to hand...

250g split yellow mustard seeds
50g brown mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cloves
generous pinch of salt
200g sugar
350ml cider vinegar

Lightly crush the brown mustard seeds in a mortar; should remain very coarse. Put yellow and brown mustard seeds, cloves and salt in a bowl.

In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the sugar and let it caramelise. Stir constantly, so sugar will not burn; the colour should be a nice dark brown. Once the sugar has caramelised, slowly add the vinegar and allow the caramel to dissolve.

Pour the vinegar into the bowl with the mustard and spices and stir quickly. You may use the blender to achieve a finer texture, but it should remain grainy, not smooth. If the mixture is too thick, simply add more vinegar.

Pour the hot mustard into sterilised jars and seal them. The mustard will need to mature for 5 to 6 weeks (preferably in the fridge or a cool cellar). By then, all the bitterness will have disappeared. Always stir before using, as some dark liquid may collect at the bottom of the jar.

Pumpkin chocolate cake-cookies

I've been getting through about three squashes a week recently, pumpkin/squash are great stuff. I'd rarely baked with pumpkin before I moved here, but I am fully converted now.

These are partly for the harvest festival we are having at the garden today, and partly for our friend G, whose birthday is on Thursday and we spent the day with yesterday, and who fortuitously loves pumpkin anything (and also dislikes chocolate, I remembered too late - but it was OK, turns out he likes chocolate chips).

I wanted to make pumpkin cookies, and considered a bunch of recipes before settling on this one. I think my original vision was something a bit more cookie-ish - these are quite cake-y - but they taste great so it's OK.

(makes about two dozen large cookies)

2 cups plain flour
1 1/3 cups oats
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 2/3 cups sugar (mixture of brown sugar and granulated)
2/3 cup veg oil
2 tbsp carob molasses
1 cup cooked pureed pumpkin (about 1 smallish acorn squash)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp ground linseed
1/2 cup plain chocolate chunks

Heat oven to 350F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

Mix together flour, oats, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices.

In a separate bowl, mix together sugars, oil, molasses, pumpkin, vanilla and linseed. Add dry ingredients to wet in 3 batches, folding to combine. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

Drop by tablespoons onto greased baking sheets. They don’t spread very much so they can be placed only an inch apart. Flatten the tops of the cookies with a fork or with your fingers. Bake for 16 minutes at 350F.

Remove from oven and move to a wire rack to cool. These taste best when they’ve had some time to cool and set. They taste even better the next day.


Definitely a hit with everyone who ate them, although I think the GF ones I made at the same time went down better!

Spiced carrot muffins

I woke up this morning wanting carrot cake. And we actually had some carrots in the fridge, so it seemed like a realistic desire to fulfill. I haven't made carrot cake in ages (my go-to is the Delia recipe), but didn't really feel like the whole, cakey, sugary shebang, so decided to go for lots of spices, adapting this recipe, instead.

(makes 12)

1 1/4 cups wholemeal flour
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 5 1/2 tbsp boiling water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup veg oil
1 1/3 cups almond milk mixed with 1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/3 cup golden raisins mixed with a little flour
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups grated carrot

Heat the oven to 375F. Prepare muffin tins.

Mix the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt in a large bowl with a fork.

In a separate bowl, beat together the linseed mixture, sugar, oil, milk mixture and vanilla. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in the raisins, pecans and carrot in the final strokes.

Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes until lightly browned and a skewer comes out clean.

Carrot Jam (and Mrs. Beeton)

I have been reading Kathryn Hughes' biography of Mrs. Beeton.  I'm enjoying it: finding it quite thought-provoking.  Mrs. Beeton died at age 29 (my age now), after compiling the 'Book of Household Management...' by collecting recipes from all different sources.  I guess it is something I can relate to, with the kitchen viewpoint on Victorian England at once fascinating and sobering.

Flicking through the Guardian website last weekend, I came across HFW's recipes for vegetable jams, referencing Mrs. Beeton.  I was intrigued by the jam recipes - I made a tomato chilli jam not long ago and really liked it - and the reference coincidence made me think I should really try (at least) one.


Carrot jam 

(Makes about three 450g jars).

1kg carrots, peeled and grated
Finely grated rind and strained juice of 2 lemons
Finely grated rind and strained juice of 1 orange
900g granulated sugar
2-3 cinnamon sticks
6 cloves
1 tsp grated nutmeg

Put the carrots, juices, zest and sugar into a preserving pan, and stir. Tie the cinnamon and cloves into a small circle of muslin, tie with kitchen string and place in the middle of the carrots. Leave overnight to macerate.

Pour over about 900ml water, add the nutmeg, warm and stir until any sugar crystals have dissolved. Bring to the boil. Boil until it reaches its setting point, about 30-40 minutes; test to see if it's ready using a chilled saucer.

Carefully fish out the spice bag. Cool for 10 minutes, then pour into warm, sterilised jars and cover with lids or waxed paper discs and cellophane covers while still hot. Store in a cool, dry place and use within one year.

Notes:
It took a long time to reach set point - at least an hour - basically boiled it dry.  Perhaps more like crystallised grated carrot.  Smelled good while cooking, will have to see how it tastes...  Got my eye on the courgette one next.

The taste is good but the texture is off: should have stopped cooking it earlier. Have seen recipes since with addition of bitter almonds rather than the spices used here, I think that would work well (and would contribute to the faux-apricot effect - apparently carrot jam was conceived as a cheapo pretend apricot jam).

Baked quince with anise

Saw some quinces at the market so of course had to buy them... then figure out what to do with them.  They didn't ripen up very well and I had to cut off quite a lot of brown, but there was some good flesh there and Google led me to this Nigel Slater / Guardian recipe, full of sweetness and aromatics.

4 heaped tbsp sugar
500ml water
4 cloves
2 star anise
4 smallish quinces
½ a lemon
4 tbsp maple syrup

Put the sugar and water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the cloves and star anise. Peel and halve the quinces and rub them with lemon to stop them browning.

Lower the quinces into the sugar syrup and let them simmer till tender. They may be ready in 25 minutes or perhaps take a little longer, depending on their size and ripeness.

Set the oven at 180C/350F/gas mark 5. When they are tender to the point of a knife, lift the quinces out and put them in a shallow baking dish or roasting tin. Take 150ml of the cooking liquid, add the maple syrup and, together with the aromatics, pour over the quinces.

Bake for 30 minute or so till very soft and tender. Serve with their cooking juices.