Mincemeat

I have tomatoes coming out the ying-yang.  Even though I only planted 6 plants (4 regular and 2 cherry type) I have boxes of green tomatoes in the garage.  I picked and pulled out my tomatoes yesterday because they have been threatening frost for the last few days.  It went down to +3°C last night but since I am going visiting over the next few weeks, I decided it is time to put my yard and garden to bed.

So back to the tomatoes.  I have made spaghetti sauce and canned a number of red tomatoes but wanted to get rid of some of the green ones.

My sister-in-law, Barb sent me her recipe for mincemeat since I have an abundance of green tomatoes and apples.  I decided to give it a whirl since I love her mincemeat.  (I was lucky enough to have received a few jars from her last year.)

Ingredients

6 c chopped green tomatoes
6 c chopped apples (cored and peeled)
3 c raisins
1 c suet or butter
3/4 c vinegar
1 c mixed peel
4 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
3/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp salt

Core and chop tomatoes.  I used my food processor on pulse.

Place tomatoes in a large pot and cover with hot water.  Bring to a boil and the drain thoroughly.

Do that 3 times.

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Mix well and cook for an hour.

Fill sealers and process in hot water bath for  25 minutes.

I got 5 quarts of mincemeat.  Barb's was slightly browner in colour but I added a bit more tomatoes and apples since I had lots. 

 

Store until needed for pie, tarts or squares.  Last year I made some squares similar to matrimonial cake but used mincemeat instead of the date mixture.  They were very yummy.  ;)

 

Concord Grape Jam

We had lots of Concord-type grapes this year. 

 

 

They are highly scented when they are ripe and you can smell their wonderful scent whenever you walk by.

 

 

 

This year I have made grape juice and jelly and decided to try grape jam as well. My starting point was here  http://chefinyou.com/2011/10/concord-grapes-jam/  and then I made it my way.

Ingredients
16 c grapes
2 granny apples - peeled, cored and chopped
2 c homemade pectin
6 c sugar

Start by washing, sorting and removing grapes from their stems.  I found that 8 cups of grapes off the stem is about 3 1/2 pounds.



 

 

Squeeze the grapes out of their skins and set skins aside.  I didn't find that my hands got too discoloured. 

 

Here are the grapes without their skins.   Cook the grapes until soft.  Next time I would give them a quick buzz in the food processor to help break the grapes up.  I found I had to use a potato masher to help them along.

 

Pour cooked grapes into sieve to remove the seeds. 

 

Keep working the pulp until only seeds are left.  I have been adding chopped granny apples to most of my jams this year to help with the pectin.  I also add homemade pectin to all my jams.  Add grape pulp, skins, and rest into pot and cook until you reach the jam stage.

 

 

This recipe made 7 pints of lovely jam.  It was more work than jelly but now we can compare which we like better.  ;)

 



Cherry Berry Jam

Last year I checked out many different jam recipes.  I liked the idea of a mixture of fruit.  I didn't find one for exactly what I wanted, so I made one up.

Here is my recipe for Cherry Berry Jam

Ingredients

12 c cherries
4 c raspberries
4 c blackberries
4 Granny Smith apples
1/2 c lemon juice
1 c homemade pectin
10 c sugar

I use frozen fruit because these three do not ripen at the same time.  I bring out the needed fruit a day or two ahead and thaw it in the fridge before making the jam.  I use pitted cherries and squish them as I put them into the pot.  It serves two purposes - to check for missed pits and to make it easier for the cherries to break up during the jam process.  The first time I made cherry jam I didn't do this and had to try to squash the cherries with a potato masher part way through cooking.  It is easier to squish them before cooking than mash them while they are steaming hot.

 

The blackberries are a thornless variety that grow in our yard.  I don't know if we have two varieties but some of the berries grow much larger than the rest.  The small ones are also harder to pick as they don't release from the stem as easily as the larger ones. 

 

The raspberries here seem to have a better crop in late summer.  They do produce in the spring but the berries are small and dry out quickly.  In the latter part of August and on into September and even October - we have big, juicy berries. 

 

I peel, core and chopped the apples.  The apples not only add natural pectin but give little appley bits to add texture to the jam.  Some apples mush-up quite readily when you cook them, but grannies seem to hold their shape better. 

 

Mix all ingredients except the sugar in a large pot and cook until fruit in soft and breaking apart.  Add sugar and continue boiling and stirring until it reaches the jam stage.  (either 220°F on a candy thermometer or the cold saucer test)

 

Pour into sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes in hot water bath.  The recipe makes 10 - 11 pints.  Enjoy!  ;)

 

 



Spiced Plum Chutney

I was looking into making some spicy plum chutney for a friend.  I found these three recipes that looked interesting so I took what I liked and made up a recipe of my own.

http://localfoods.about.com/od/summer/r/PlumChutney.htm
http://www.food.com/recipe/plum-chutney-40244
http://www.food.com/recipe/spiced-plum-chutney-193167

I decided to use both my Italian plums and prune plums.

Italian plums are larger and have a more yellow coloured flesh than the prune plums.

 





Prune plums can be eaten quite green (my dad likes them this way) or you can wait until they are softer and the flesh is a little yellower.  They are usually the last plums ready but this year, one of the trees was ripe early so I used them in the chutney.

Ingredients

10 c plums - cut into pieces (I used prune plums and Italian plums)
4 apples - cored, peeled and chopped - (about 2 c)
1 onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 c golden raisins
2 c sugar
1 1/2 c vinegar
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp mustard seed
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes


Wash and pit plums.

 

Cut into pieces.  I ended up using 5 cups of Italian Plums.

 

 

Do the same with the prune plums. 

 

I again used 5 cups of cut-up prune plums. 

 

Peel, core and chop apples.  Chop onion and mince garlic.  Add raisins and rest of ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.  Stir often and let mixture cook and thicken.  It takes around an hour for this to happen.

 

Fill sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.  This recipe made 5 pints and 1 half pint.  You should allow chutney to sit for 4 to 6 weeks before eating it so the flavours can meld. 

 

 

 



Peach and Yellow Plum Chutney

We have an over-abundance of peaches this year.  We have 5 1/2 peach trees (one tree is almost dead) and we have peaches coming out the ying-yang.  The first year we were here, we got a grand total of 7 peaches.  Yes 7 peaches from 6 trees!  It got cool that spring when the peach trees were blooming and the flowers didn't set.

This spring we had lots of fruit so I started thinning the peach and apple trees.  You are to thin so the fruit doesn't touch when it is full grown.  I thinned out a lot of fruit but didn't get all the trees finished.  The tree below got missed.  There were tons of fruit and they were quite a bit smaller than on the trees I thinned.

 

 This tree was thinned - you can see most fruit are not touching each other.

 



 

 

 This is a later tree because although the peaches are quite red, they still are very hard.

 



We also have 2 yellow plum trees and the plums are just clumped together.  I was told that you don't have to thin plums as they self-thin and drop excess fruit.  WRONG!  Look at these plums.

 

 

  

 

Anyway, back to the chutney.  A friend asked me to make some chutney for her and upon doing some research, I found so many interesting recipes to choose from.  I got this one from my cookbook 250 Home Preserving Favorites by Yvonne Tremblay.  It looked tasty plus it used peaches and yellow plums.

 

 

Ingredients

 

4 c plums - chopped

3 c peaches - peeled and chopped

2 1/2 c sugar (the recipe asked for brown sugar but I read that the chutney would be a darker colour with it.  I decided to go with white sugar to help keep the lovely colours of the fruit)

1 c  diced yellow or red pepper (I used red for a contrasting colour)

1 c chopped onion

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 green or red hot chili pepper, minced or 1 tsp hot pepper flakes (I used red pepper flakes)

2/3 c vinegar

2 Tbsp grated ginger root

1 Tbsp grated lemon rind

2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp mustard seed

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

 

 

 Peel and chop peaches. 

 

 

 

Chop and pit plums.  Leave the peel on as it breaks down in cooking.  It also adds pectin to aid with the thickening of the chutney.

 

Mince garlic, chop onion and dice pepper.  Add to fruit in a large heavy-bottomed pot. 

 

 Grate lemon ring and ginger root.  Add to rest.

 

Add sugar, spices and vinegar to rest of ingredients.  Isn't it a lovely colour?  Stir often while bringing to a boil.  Reduce heat to a gentle boil.  Stir often while mixture cooks and thickens.  (about 45 - 60 minutes)  Ladle into sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.



 

 

The recipe is for 5 half-pints but I got 3 pints and 2 half-pints. (I used a bit more fruit and didn't measure the pepper or onion)  You are to store for at least a month so the flavours can meld.  It turned out to be a lovely colour and had a yummy aroma while cooking.  Enjoy!  ;) 

 

 



 





Bread and Butter Pickles

I went away for a week to visit my uncle who was in the hospital and when I returned I had 25 huge cukes ready.  Before I left, there were only a few flowers and no cukes yet - I guess they really took off in the hot weather.  I've been eating lots of Greek Salad since my cherry tomatoes are ready as well.  http://mountaingardengleanings.blogspot.ca/2011/09/greek-salad.html

Since there are so many all at once, it is a perfect opportunity to make some Bread and Butter Pickles.  I use the recipe from my old Purity Cookbook.

Ingredients - this is the original recipe, I myself don't use the peppers and use regular vinegar instead of wine vinegar. 

16 c cukes, washed and sliced
1/3 c pickling or coarse salt
several trays of ice cubes
6 medium onions
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
3 c white wine vinegar
5 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp celery seed
2 tbsp mustard seed

This time since I had so many cukes, I upped the recipe by an extra half. 

Wash and thinly slice cucumbers.  Some of them were too big to use the food processor so I sliced these by hand.

The smaller ones were sliced in the food processor - much quicker.



I slice the onions in the processor as well.  Quicker and no tears!

Get a large enough container or bowl to hold the cukes, onions and ice cubes.   Start with a layer of cucumbers.



Add a layer of onions (and peppers if using them).

Sprinkle on part of the salt.

Top with some of the ice cubes.

Continue with the layers until all vegetables and salt are used.  Top with more ice.  Let stand for 3 hours. 

You can see how much moisture has been released by the cukes by how the mixture has shrunk after the 3 hours.  Drain well and place in a large pot.

Mix the sugar, vinegar and spices and pour onto cukes.  Stir well and heat to just boiling.

You can see the pickles turning colours from the turmeric.  Remove from heat and fill hot sterilized jars.  Wipe rim and seal jar.

Store in a cool place for a month and then enjoy!  The original recipe makes about 8 pints.  I increased everything by half except was liberal with the cukes and got 14 pints.