Pineapple Ketchup & Sweet Potato Wedges

We spotted a recipe for Pineapple Ketchup (to go with sweet potato wedges) in the Waitrose Spring 2015 leaflet (the same one this Lemon & Pistachio Cake was in) and thought it would be a nice idea to give it a try.  Of course, we decided not to make the amount the recipe is for but, as it was a trial, we'd make half.

For the amount of ketchup we wanted to make, we needed -

1 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, finely sliced (we used frozen, chopped shallots - about 4 Tablespoons)

3cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 all spice berries
2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 small pineapple, peeled, core removed, flesh chopped
100ml cider vinegar
100ml pineapple juice
Lime juice (we used 45ml ready squeezed juice)
100g brown sugar
1 tbsp sundried tomato paste

Putting the olive oil in a saucepan, we heated it through and added the chopped, frozen shallots.  These were then cooked on a low heat for a couple of minutes (to de-frost them) then the heat was increased and they were cooked until they started to soften (about 5 minutes).

Adding the ginger, spices and garlic to the shallots, they were cooked for another 5 minutes.

Stirring in the pineapple, vinegar, juices, sugar and tomato paste, the heat was increased until the ingredients started to simmer.  We then reduced the heat and cooked for another 25-30 minutes when there was less moisture and the pineapple was starting to break down.

We turned off the heat and waited for about half an hour for the mix to cool when we used a stick blender to purée the ketchup.  Up to this point we felt it was pretty much like making a chutney.

The next step was to pour the ketchup into a sieve (placed over a bowl), using a spoon to push it through.

Finally the ketchup was 'bottled' in sterilised jam jars.  Not a huge amount but enough for a first try.

The Waitrose recipe says the ketchup can be kept for 3 months but, having tasted it, we don't think ours will last this long!

On another day, we got round to making the sweet potato wedges.  It was simple and the pictures below show this... 

Gather sweet potatoes and scrub them

Cut into wedges, toss in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, mix through 1 teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika (we used a little more than this)

Spread in a single layer onto a baking sheet (ours was preheated) and bake at 200C for 25-30 mins (depends on wedge size). 

Remove from oven

Sprinkle with chopped, fresh rosemary

The cooked wedges were then served with the previously made pineapple ketchup.  The dish was declared "lovely" by Sous Chef J.  The next batch of wedges and ketchup we make will both be larger!

Blackberry Chutney

It's been a bumper year for blackberries and we've harvested them for weeks.  To try a new 'take' on preserving them, we used a recipe found in a Kilner jar we'd bought earlier in the summer.

The recipe ingredients are -

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 cm root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 large red Chillies, finely chopped
1 lb blackberries
45g caster sugar
30ml red wine vinegar

We didn't have red chillies so used a whole, dried smoked chipotle chilli.  Also, we only had 11 oz of blackberries, so the ingredients we used to make our chutney were - a dessertspoonful of oil, 30g sugar, 2cm ginger, 20ml vinegar and a small red onion.

The blackberries were rinsed and drained.  Any stray tops or greenery were removed.

The oil was heated and the onion, ginger and chilli were added to the pan.  This was lightly fried for about 5 minutes until softened.

Next the blackberries were added and cooked gently until soft.

Adding the sugar and vinegar to the pan and the ingredients were mixed well.  The chutney was then brought to the boil and allowed
to simmer for 15-20 minutes until thickened.







Whilst it was still hot, the chutney was spooned into clean, sterilised jars.

This is a speedy and simple chutney to make (taking about 30 minutes to cook in total).   As an accompaniment for a mature cheddar cheese it makes a change from the usual chutneys we make.

It looks lovely in special pots and, presented like this, would make a great foody gift.

Slow Cooker Peach Jam

In the supermarket the other day there was an offer on punnets of peaches... we bought 2 for £3 and decided to give slow cooker jam making a go using them.
Ingredients we used were -

2 punnets of peaches, peeled, stoned and chopped
Juice of half a lemon (about 30ml)
1kg jam sugar (this has pectin already in it and should allow setting)

First, we took the peaches in turn and scored a cross, carefully, on the 'opposite end to the stalk'... actually, this was Sous Chef J's chore.  He did very well and managed to complete the scoring of all 14 of the peaches despite his initial dislike of their hairiness!

Whilst Sous Chef J was hard at work battling his sensory demons and scoring the peaches, I filled a large saucepan with water and brought it to the boil.  We then dropped half the scored peaches into the water and allowed them to bubble for a minute or so before carefully removing them with a slotted spoon. 

Whilst the first batch were cooling, we added the remaining peaches to the pan and repeated the boiling, removing and cooling.  Then, we carefully peeled the (now smooth) skin from the peaches.

Next, I was assigned the task of stone removal and Sous Chef J was 'chopper-upper'.  The halved and stoned peaches were placed in a pyrex dish and Sous Chef J carefully chopped the fruit into smaller pieces.

Having prepared the peaches, Sous Chef J busied himself with getting the juice out of half a lemon.  This came to about 30ml juice and was added to and mixed through the peaches. We put a sideplate in the fridge at this point, to chill for use later...

The peach and juice mix was placed in the slow cooker pot and the sugar was added before being stirred through.  Putting the cooker on low, we placed on the lid and left it for an hour.  After an hour, we stirred the mix and left it for a further hour.

After two hours on low, the sugar had dissolved and, as there was a rather uneven 'peach bit' size noted... so we got out the trusty potato masher and gave the pot a bit of a light bashing.  Probably not in the Mary Berry book of how to make jam but appears to have worked for us!

The slow cooker was then put to the high setting and the jam was left to bubble away with the lid ajar, filling the house with a lovely aroma, for another hour.  Stirring thoroughly and returning the lid to its jaunty angle, we left it again - for an hour.

Now was the time for the 'wrinkle test' to see if it was ready to set... so we retrieved the chilled plate from the fridge, dropped a little of the jam on, left it for the count of 30 and tried to push a finger through it... not a hint of a wrinkle.  So, the mix was stirred, the timer set, and we left it for a further 30 minutes.  Sous Chef J 'tested' the non-wrinkling jam and declared it "delish".

We sterilised some jam jars and their lids by running them through the dishwasher and then putting them in the washing up bowl and filling with boiling water just before we were ready to bottle up the jam.

Finally, after 2 hours on high, the jam wrinkled (very slightly) so was declared ready for bottling... we drained the jam jars (making sure not to touch the insides) and used a non-stick wide funnel to share the jam between the jars.

 We bought the peaches for £3 and the jam was £1.99.  The Kilner jars we used for the jam we were giving away were 75p each (250ml).  The ingredients yielded three 250ml Kilner jars, two 340g jars and one 454g jar plus a small left over "cook's reward" amount of about 100ml.  Approximately 2kg of jam for £5 of ingredients which is £2.50 a kilo (excluding electricity) - whereas the peach jams I found online were

about £5.90 a kilo. 

This made a 'soft set' jam (a bit like the consistency of mango chutney) and it was taste tested on a slice of gluten free seeded toast.  YUMMY!

Lemon and Lime Curd

We spotted some nets of lemons and limes that were reduced when we were at the supermarket during the week... and, being of a thrifty persuasion, decided to buy them to have a go at making curd.

Looking for a suitable recipe, we were confronted with all sorts of 'fussy' ones that, frankly, we just don't have the time or inclination for.  So we adapted an old recipe from a card in my recipe stash and were able to make use of the 4 eggs we had as well.

The ingredients we used were - 

3 lemons, zested (and juice of 2)

3 limes, zested and juiced
4 medium eggs, lightly beaten

135g unsalted butter, cubed

165g granulated sugar

We zested and juiced all the limes - zested all the lemons but only used the juice of two of them.






All the ingredients were placed in a heatproof bowl over a pan of just-simmering water... take care NOT to let the water touch the bowl or the egg will scramble.  Stir.


We made sure to keep the water in the pan at a low heat and stirred the ingredients until first the butter melted and then the sugar dissolved.  Keep stirring....

Finally, the curd mix was thick enough to cover the back of our wooden spoon.










The curd was poured (messily) into sterilised jars... we had done this by pouring boiling water, right up to the brim, and leaving them whilst the curd was cooking.









From the ingredients we used, we made about 700ml of curd.

Sous Chef J was on hand to assist with post-jar-filling 'tidying up'... and a fine job he did of it too!

The recipe we adapted says the curd will keep in the fridge for up to a month but, somehow, don't think ours will last that long...