Surprisingly nice…

Now, I’m guessing that when most people think of courgettes, jam isn’t the first thing that springs to mind! It certainly wasn’t for me but, as I now have a freezer full of ratatouille and soup plus enough chutney to feed most of Wales, I thought I’d try something a bit different.

I’d heard of using marrows for jam so hoped that overgrown courgettes would work too. As I had no idea how much pectin (if any) courgettes contain, I hedged my bets and used half jam sugar and half granulated. The resulting jam was surprisingly nice with the ginger being the dominant flavour. So, before you think ‘courgette jam…yuk!’, why not give it a try……

Courgette and Ginger Jam

Makes approx. 4 small-medium jarfulls

• 1kg overgrown courgette (or marrow), peeled, deseeded and cut into 1cm dice (quantity refers to prepared weight)
• 500g granulated sugar
• 500g jam sugar (the stuff with added pectin)
• 75g crystallized ginger, finely chopped
• juice of 1 lemon

Place chopped courgette, ginger and sugar in a preserving pan and leave for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight if possible. Gently heat and stir well until all the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon juice and bring to a rolling boil. Test for set after approximately 25 minutes (my batch took a little over 30 minutes to reach setting point but this will vary depending on how watery your courgettes are). When setting point is reached, remove from heat and stir a few times then pour into hot sterilised jars and seal.

Whinberry Jam

Before I moved to Wales I’d never heard of whinberries but I’ve recently learned that they’re a type of bilberry that grows wild on the mountain sides around here. They’re also very tasty! Depending on where you live, you might know them as Bilberries or Whortleberries instead. If you’ve not encountered them before, they’re related to blueberries and have some similarities – although they’re smaller and I think they have a richer taste which reminds me a little of elderberry wine. A traditional way to use them in Wales is to make Whinberry Tart but, seeing as my pastry making skills leave a lot to be desired, I decided to make jam instead. Here’s my recipe:

Whinberry Jam

makes approx. 3 medium size jars

• 650g whinberries
• 500g granulated sugar
• juice of 1 lemon

First wash the berries, picking out any bits of stalk and discarding any over-ripe berries. Place the fruit in a pan over a low heat and gently crush the berries to release some juice. Add the lemon juice then simmer gently until the fruit is soft and squishy but with some still retaining their shape. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. The sugar will dissolve quicker if you’ve warmed it in a low oven beforehand. Once all the sugar has dissolved, bring to a boil and boil rapidly for 5 minutes. Test for set and, when ready,  pour into warm, sterilized jars and seal.

I’m quite taken with these little berries and hope to experiment with some more recipes in the next few weeks. As the season is fairly short, I’m thinking of bottling some or perhaps making whinberry muffins which can be frozen. If anyone has some recipes they’d like to share, please do!

Gooseberry Jam

Now that the soft fruit season is underway here in the UK, I thought it was time for a spot of jam-making….

Gooseberries are great for jam as they’re naturally high in pectin. The colour of the jam will vary depending on the ripeness of the gooseberries – early small, hard fruits will give a green jam whilst plump ripe fruits give a pinkish colour. The batch of jam pictured below is quite a dark pink due to the fact that I used unrefined granulated sugar – not for any particular reason, just because that’s what I had in the cupboard. Anyhow, on to the recipe…

Basic Gooseberry Jam Recipe

A quantity of gooseberries

An equal amount of granulated sugar

Water

Top and tail the gooseberries and place in a preserving pan or sturdy saucepan. Pour in enough water so that the gooseberries are not quite covered – if you prefer to measure, I usually use 500ml water for every kilo of gooseberries. Simmer the gooseberries for 10 – 15 minutes until they are soft and squidgy but still hold their shape. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. It helps if you gently warm the sugar in the oven prior to adding to the pan as it will dissolve quicker this way. Once the sugar has dissolved bring to a rolling boil and boil rapidly for 10 minutes. Test for setting point then pour into sterilized jars and seal.

The recipe can be adapted in a number of ways:

You could make strawberry and gooseberry jam by substituting half the gooseberries with strawberries although only add the strawberries to the pan once the gooseberries are almost soft.

To make elderflower and gooseberry jam tie up a few elderflower heads in a muslin square and simmer with the gooseberries. Remove before adding the sugar.

Some people like to add a little butter when they add the sugar.

Recipe: Rhubarb Jam

I’ve really been enjoying reading your comments in response to my little giveaway. It seems there are so many reasons to love spring – the flowers, the little lambs in the fields, the smells, the freshness, the sunshine, the longer days, the feeling of newness, the colours…. it’s all so wonderful! I also have a culinary reason to add to the list too as, for me, spring marks the start of the jam-making season and that’s definitely a cause for celebration! 

I’d been keeping an eager eye out for the arrival of English rhubarb at my greengrocer’s for a while now – I’d hoped to get hold of some of the early forced stuff but my grocer told me that the supermarkets pretty much have a monopoly on it and it’s very hard for independent sellers to get hold of any… so I waited…. then imported rhubarb began to fill the shelves and, although tempted, I waited….. then, finally, this week, my patience paid off and I was able to bring home a rather large bag of the stuff – I would have bought more (crumbles were beckoning) but it would have pretty much blown my food budget out the window, so I contented myself with enough for a batch of jam. I will definitely be going back for more though….

Rhubarb makes a wonderful jam – light and fruity and incredibly moorish. Some people regard it as a tricky jam to make, probably due to the fact that rhubarb is very low in pectin. However, if you’re worried about achieving a good set, you can always use jam sugar (the stuff with added pectin) and you shouldn’t have any difficulties. 

Here’s my recipe – you need to start this the night before you intend to make the jam:

Rhubarb Jam

Makes 6 x 225g jars

• 1kg rhubarb (trimmed weight), cut into chunks.
• 1 kg sugar (granulated or jam sugar)
• Juice of 1 large juicy orange 

In a large non-metallic basin, layer up the sugar then rhubarb, ending with a layer of sugar. Pour over the orange juice and leave overnight. 

When you are ready to make the jam, transfer the ingredients to a preserving pan or large saucepan and bring gently to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Boil rapidly and test the set after about 5 minutes. When ready, leave to stand for a few minutes then pour into warm sterilized jars and seal.

A seriously simple salmon dish and some thoughts on the visual nature of cooking….

I have quite a small budget with which to feed the three of us so we usually eat quite frugally. However, when it’s time for the monthly Farmers Market, I usually can’t resist all the wonderful produce on offer and splash out on a foodie treat for us. This month I was tempted by some beautiful hand-reared, RSPCA approved salmon from the fishmonger’s stall.  

Cooking is something that can stimulate all the senses and I particularly like the visual aspect of cooking. One of my favourite dishes to cook in summer, for instance, is ratatouille as I love the jumble of bright, contrasting colours in the pan – glossy red tomatoes, dark green courgettes and sunshine yellow peppers. I never see cooking as a chore – in fact, I find it quite a mediative process. I like to take time to admire the beauty of the fresh ingredients and to reflect upon nature’s bounty.  This salmon provided a perfect opportunity for such reflection. It was such a visual treat with its shimmering silver skin and vivid orange flesh. Beautiful! 

I always think that good quality food needs very little doing to it so I cooked the salmon quite simply, baking it in foil with a little welsh butter and some herbs. Here’s the recipe:

Salmon baked in Foil

Serves 2

• 2 portion sized salmon fillets 
• herbs (I like to use dill or rosemary)
• butter
• seasoning
• 2 large pieces of kitchen foil

Preheat oven to 180 / Gas Mark 4. Grease each piece of foil with a little butter. Place the salmon on top. Sprinkle with your choice of herbs, fresh or dry, then dot with butter. Bring the two side edges of the foil together and scrunch up to seal then curl up the end edges to make the parcel. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. I like to serve it with a green vegetable (sauteed curly kale in this instance) and either fluffy basmati rice or new potatoes.

Yum!

How to get 3 good meals from 1 chicken

For us, chicken is necessarily an occasional treat. A free-range bird from my butcher costs around £8 – 10, depending on size, so I can’t afford to buy it too often and, when I do, I need to make the most of it. In my books, that means getting at least 3 meals from one large chicken. And it’s not just about the money – I hate waste and feel that if an animal has been killed for our dinner, we should darn well eat every last scrap! So, here’s my favourite recipe for roast chicken and some ideas for the leftovers…..

Lemon, Garlic and Rosemary Roast Chicken

This is my favourite way to roast a chicken. The flavoured butter keeps the breast meat lovely and moist and it smells mouthwateringly good as it’s cooking!

• 1 large free-range chicken
• 150g butter
• 1 lemon
• 2 plump cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 heaped tsp dried rosemary or 2 tsp finely chopped fresh

Preheat the oven to 220˚C/200˚C(Fan)/Gas Mark 7. Weigh the chicken to calculate the cooking time (see below). Finely grate the lemon zest into a bowl and add the butter, garlic and rosemary. Mix well. Gently part the skin from the breast and push approximately three quarters of the flavoured butter under the skin, smoothing it out so that the breast is well covered. Cut the lemon in half and insert into the cavity. Smear the rest of the butter over the skin and slash the thighs to help the heat penetrate. Place the chicken in the pan and cook for 20 minutes per 500g plus 30 minutes. Allow the chicken to rest for 15 minutes before carving. 

Variation: Substitute the rosemary with a different herb – thyme, parsley or oregano also work well.

Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Bake

Serves 2 adults and 2 toddlers

I came up with this recipe with the baby in mind. She loves creamy food but I can sneak a bit of goodness in there too by adding mushrooms or broccoli to the sauce and topping with wholemeal breadcrumbs.

• cooked chicken, chopped up small
• 250g pasta
• 200g mushrooms, sliced
• 50g wholemeal breadcrumbs
• 25g butter
• 2 heaped tablespoons of flour
• 25g parmesan, finely grated plus extra for sprinkling
• 1 pint of milk
• a little freshly grated nutmeg
• seasoning

Preheat the oven to 200˚C/180˚C(Fan)/Gas Mark 6. Cook the pasta until al dente. While it’s cooking make the sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan then stir in the flour to form a thick paste. Cook for a minute then remove from the heat. Gradually add the milk, a little at a time, stirring well to keep the sauce nice and smooth. Heat gently until thickened, stirring well. Once the sauce has thickened, grate in a little nutmeg and stir in the parmesan. Taste and season with some freshly milled black pepper. Next, gently fry the mushrooms in a little butter until their juices start to run. Add to the sauce along with the chicken. Drain the pasta and tip into a large, fairly shallow ovenproof dish. Pour over the sauce and mix well. Top with the breadcrumbs and grate over a little parmesan. Pop in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

Variation: If you don’t like mushrooms, replace with some lightly steamed broccoli, cut up into small florets.

Chicken Stock

Makes approximately 1.4l

I make this after I’ve picked the carcass clean of meat and keep it in the fridge until I’m ready to use it in soup or a risotto. It also freezes very well so, even if you’re not planning anything requiring stock soon after the roast, it’s still worth making.

• 1 chicken carcass
• 2 onions, peeled and quartered
• 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 large leek, washed and roughly chopped
• sprig of thyme
• 3 bay leaves
• 10 peppercorns
• 2 litres of water

Put all the ingredients in the stock pot. Bring to simmering point and simmer very gently for 3 hours. Strain into a jug and keep in the fridge or freeze until required.

Chicken and Barley Soup

Serves 4

This is definitely not haute cuisine, in fact it’s what I’d call peasant food! Still, it’s hearty and wholesome and pretty tasty too!

• 1 quantity of homemade chicken stock
• 200g broth mix (pearl barley, lentils, split peas etc) or just plain pearl barley
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 sticks of celery, sliced

Soak the broth mix / pearl barley overnight in cold water. Heat a little oil or butter in a pan then add the onions, carrots and celery and cook gently for roughly 15 minutes until softened. Rinse the broth mix well then add to the vegetables. Pour over the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 45 minutes until the vegetables and pulses are tender.

Other ideas for leftover chicken

Hugh’s Chicken Croquettes

Chicken Pie 

Chicken Caesar Salad (replace the chicken breasts with chicken pickings)

I’d love to hear how other people use up their leftovers – I’m always keen to try out new recipes!

Recipe: Cawl Mamgu (Lamb Broth)

As I’m currently living in Wales, I like to cook traditional Welsh dishes from time to time. This is one of our favourites – Cawl Mamgu or Granny’s Broth – baby small is particularly fond of it! it’s simple and relatively cheap to make, tastes great and, provided you use water rather than stock, is suitable for older babies. If you’d like a bit of food history, please take a look here.

Serves 4

• 450g diced lamb
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 3 sticks of celery, chopped
• 1 swede, diced 
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 parsnip
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 leeks, thinly sliced
• fresh or dried thyme
• olive oil
• seasoning
• water or stock

Heat the oil in a frying pan then gently fry the onions and celery for 10 minutes. Add the carrots, parsnip and swede and cook until golden then transfer to a flame-proof casserole. Next brown the meat really well – this adds flavour and is particularly important if you’re using water rather than stock. Transfer the meat to the casserole and cover with water or stock. Deglaze the frying pan with a little water or stock and add this to the casserole. Add the thyme and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer as gently as possible for 2 hours. When the 2 hours are up, add the potatoes and leeks and cook for a further 20 – 30 minutes. Serve with crusty bread.

Blood, Guts and Testing my Mettle…

It’s easy to claim you can do something if you’re never put to the test. When we’ve seen things on telly about killing and preparing your own meat (River Cottage, Kill it, Cook it, Eat it etc) I’ve always maintained that, although I could never kill an animal, I’d have no problem preparing it for cooking. I’m not squeamish, and although I’ve never exactly relished the prospect of gutting an animal, I’ve believed myself to be capable of doing it. In fact, I believe it quite an important thing to do – for many people meat has become just something you can pick up from a supermarket, cellophane-wrapped and looking very un-animal like. It’s easy to forget where it actually comes from (see here if you don’t believe me!) – but when you pluck/skin/draw/gut your own, the fact that it was once a living creature is inescapable. Also, as we plan (one day) to have a smallholding, it’s important for me to be able to prepare and process our own meat as I see this as being integral to that sort of lifestyle (unless you’re vegetarian of course).

Anyhow, on with the story….

Last weekend we were kindly given a brace of pheasant. Both my husband and I are fond of game generally and pheasant is a particular favourite. However, when we’ve had pheasant before it’s come from the butchers or farmer’s market, ready for cooking. These pheasants were definitely not oven-ready. They were fully feathered and otherwise intact. Eek! We allowed the pheasants to hang for a week in our ‘game larder’ (otherwise known as the outside loo), and throughout the week I found my thoughts wandering nervously to the birds. The root of my anxiety lay in my lack of experience – I was worried about doing it all wrong. I should perhaps point out here that I also have a few unresolved moral issues with meat-eating – not enough to make me stop eating meat altogether, but I do limit the amount of meat we eat and only buy stuff that I know has been reared and slaughtered in as ethical and humane a manner as possible. Anyhow, because of these issues, it was vital that I made the most of our pheasants and didn’t end up with a big, inedible mess! My first task was to pluck the birds. My husband helped with this part and it turned out to be much easier than I’d been expecting and even a little enjoyable. Pheasants are beautiful creatures and I took time to admire the rich colouring of the cock pheasant and the delicate patterning of the hen’s feathers.

Once plucked, it was time to draw the birds. My husband resolutely refused to help with this part but, buoyed by the success of the plucking, I was feeling pretty confident. I’d read plenty of books which described how to draw the birds and had also researched it online. Everything I’d read made it seem easy…

It wasn’t.

I was expecting it to smell a bit, but was completely unprepared for the foulness of the stench – and even less prepared for my reaction to it. I gagged and had to run from the room, knowing that if I’d spent a moment longer there I would have been sick. I was completely ashamed of myself and close to tears. As already mentioned, it was really important to me to be able to do this. I felt like my body was letting me down – mentally, I was resolute that I could do it but my physical response seemed to be completely outside of my control. The thing that got me back in that room was respect for the pheasants. There was no way I could allow them to be wasted. I finished off the first bird, still struggling to keep my breakfast down, but by the time I got to the second, something had changed and suddenly the smell didn’t seem quite so bad. I’m not proud of my initial reaction but I am pleased that I managed to go back and finish what I’d started. I think it’s one of those things that after you’ve done it once, you can do it a thousand times. I’m certain that next time (and yes, there will be a next time ) I’ll be able to pluck and draw without any of the er… drama of my initial attempt – in fact, I’m quite looking forward to it! So, moving onto more pleasant pheasant territory – the cooking part. I suspected that our birds were quite mature – over a year – so thought it best to cook them slowly in a casserole rather than roast them and, with the continuing grey, dampness of the Welsh winter, a hearty stew seemed like a good idea anyhow! After looking through a few of my recipe books without finding precisely what I wanted, I decided to just make something up as I went along. I’m pleased to tell you that the resulting stew was delicious and adequate recompense for the unpleasantness of the drawing! Here’s my recipe:

Pheasant Casserole

• brace of pheasant, cut into quarters
• 250g thick-cut bacon, cut into chunks
• 250g mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 3 sticks of celery, sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 large onion,
• diced 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 400ml red wine
• 400ml stock (game, chicken or veg)
• generous sprinkling of dried thyme and parsley
• seasoning

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan, and gently sweat the onion, celery and carrots until starting to soften. Add the garlic, cook for a minute then transfer to a large, flameproof casserole. Next, turn up the heat and fry the bacon and mushrooms until nicely coloured. Add to the casserole. Next, brown the pheasant portions then add to the casserole. Pour the wine into the frying pan and allow it to bubble for a few moments whilst you scrape the pan to get all the lovely, tasty brown bits off. Pour into the casserole along with the hot stock. Add a sprinkling of herbs and season. Pop the lid on and cook in a low oven for 2 – 3 hours.

If I haven’t put you off pheasant for life, perhaps you might give it a try….

Recipe: Seville Orange Curd

Marmalade can be something of an acquired taste – not everyone likes it’s bitter tang. This recipe offers a sweeter, creamier alternative for putting those seasonal Seville oranges to good use. I urge you to give it a try – it’s quick and simple to make and it tastes divine.

The recipe is adapted from Pam Corbin’s wonderful recipe for Bramley Lemon Curd in the River Cottage Preserves book. 

Seville Orange Curd

Makes 3 x 225g jars

200ml Seville Orange juice (you need approximately 5 oranges)

zest of 3 Seville Oranges

125g unsalted butter

450g sugar (I used Tate and Lyle Organic Caster as that’s what I had in the pantry)

4 large eggs (to make 200ml of beaten egg)

Heat the butter, sugar, zest and orange juice in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until the butter has melted. Pour the beaten eggs through a sieve into the bowl. Stir every now and then until the mixture has thickened (this takes about 10 – 15 minutes), then pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal. The curd will keep for up to 4 weeks and needs to be kept in the fridge once opened. 

Comfort Food: Simple Fish Pie

All this cold weather we’ve been having has put me in ‘comfort food’ mode and I find few meals as comforting as a homemade fish pie. However, I’ve never been a great fan of potato topped fish pies, finding the combination of creamy potato with creamy fish just a bit too much. My recipe uses a pastry top instead and I think the flaky pastry provides a lovely contrast to the creaminess of the fish mixture. I don’t use any shellfish in my pie due to the fact that it’s not recommended for babies under 18 months, but some prawns or cockles would be a tasty addition.

Ingredients

500g fish, skinless and boneless (I used a mixture of cod, salmon and haddock)

400ml whole milk

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

25g butter

2 tbsp flour

handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 leek, finely sliced

nutmeg

250g puff pastry

Preheat the oven to 200˚C/Gas Mark 6. Put the fish, milk, peppercorns and bay leaves in a pan and bring to a simmer. Lightly poach the fish for a few minutes until it flakes easily. Remove the fish from the pan then pass the milk through a sieve to remove the bay leaves and peppercorns but reserve the liquid. Flake the fish into bite size pieces, checking for bones as you go. Melt the butter in the pan then add the flour to make a roux. Gradually add the reserved milk and cook until the sauce thickens. Grate in a little nutmeg to taste then add the fish, leeks and parsley and pour into a suitable ovenproof dish. Roll out the pastry, brush the edges of the dish with water then lay the pastry on top of it. Trim and decorate with the off-cuts, letting your imagination run away with you! Bake for 30 minutes, admire you masterpiece then tuck in!