It’s coming to the end of summer now, so am dealing with a glut of veg in various departments; mostly tomatoes and scallopini. I froze some more green beans and decided to put the rest in jars:
I’ve now pulled out all the tomato plants, so first of all I made passata (recipe from Cuisine magazine). The chocolate is supposed to make it taste richer:
2kg chopped tomatoes, 10g 70% chocolate, 3/4 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp sugar.
Put everything into a pan and boil steadily for an hour until thick. Pass through a sieve and bottle.
Then to use the green tomatoes, I made green tomato chutney (also from Cuisine magazine):
- 2 teaspoons green cardamom pods
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 5cm piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2kg green (unripe) tomatoes, chopped and cores discarded
- 2 green apples, peeled, cored and chopped
- 1¼ cups brown sugar
- 1 cup raisins
- 1¼ cups cider vinegar
Crush the cardamom to release the seeds. Discard the pods and lightly crush the seeds. Toast the cardamom seeds for 30 seconds in a frying pan until fragrant.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer for 45 minutes until very thick. Remove the cinnamon sticks. Bottle while hot. Makes 1 litre.
And last but not least is marrow & ginger jam. This was to use up a couple of head-sized scallopini which grew without us noticing. This is Sally’s Nan’s recipe. The marrow acts as a filler and the flavour comes from the ginger and lemons.
- 3lb marrow (after peeling and removing seeds)
- Finely-grated peel and juice of 2 large lemons
- 1 1/2 oz root ginger
- 3lb granulated sugar
- 1/2 oz butter (Nan specified English or Welsh but I’m sure NZ butter will be just as good!)
Cut marrow into small cubes and steam gently for 20 minutes. Turn into bowl and add lemon peel and juice, giner (tied in muslin bag) and sugar. Cover bowl and leave to stand 24 hours.
Transfer to large saucepan and heat slowly, stirring all the time, until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Boil steadily for 30 to 45 minutes (or until marrow is almost transparent and syrup is thick).
Stir in butter to disperse scum. Remove ginger. Pot and cover jam. Make about 5lb.
