Crab Apple Jelly

It's that time of year again when we are having to harvest and preserve all our crops to see us through the winter. Crab apples are often left on trees and not used as they are small and very sharp tasting but it is very easy to turn them into a delicious jelly, jam or wine. We love their taste so much my husband bought me some trees as a gift a few years ago, so we can now harvest our own from the garden.

After harvesting, I usually wash and chop the apples in half to check they are good and not full of insects or rotten inside. Place all your apples into a large pan and add enough water to just reach the top of the apples, the juice of a lemon can be added to help prevent browning of the apples although it's not compulsory, then boil until the apples turn to a pulp.

I leave the cooked apple pulp mixture to cook slightly as it's much easier to get cooled apple into a jelly bag or muslin bag to strain and you are far less likely to burn yourself in the process.

The straining may take some time, maybe even a few hours and I usually tie my jelly bag onto the handle of the kitchen cupboard so that I can leave it and come back to it later. It is important not to squeeze the jelly bag if you would like clear jelly.

You may notice that I haven't given you exact weights and measurements so far... that's because the measurement that matters most is the ratio of sugar to strained liquid. Learning the basic rules like this mean you can make a little or as much jelly as you want, depending on your quantities of apples available.

Once your apple liquid has finished straining measure it and return it to the cooking pan, use a like for like ratio when you add your sugar. For example if you have a litre of liquid add 1 kilogram of sugar. Notice I've used both metric measurements here, if you are using imperial it would be the same ratio but in pints/pounds.

Apples have a high pectin content so it's not necessary to add any further pectin, bring your liquid and sugar to the boil stirring constantly. To check if your jelly will set a plate which has been in the freezer for a little while should help, spoon a little jelly onto the cold plate a leave it for a minute or two to cool. Once cooled, slide your finger through the jelly, it should wrinkle up if it's ready to jar up. If not boil a little longer until you have reached the wrinkle stage.

Pour into sterilised jars and leave to cool, I always find this jelly has a very firm set even though it looks like it will never set. This is one of my favourite jellies and tastes amazing on toast or scones.

Pumpkin pancakes / flatbread

I do not know what to call these really, but we thought we would try something new with some of our left over pumpkin purée from the Autumn harvests. Where I live potato cakes are something to make with your left over mash potato and a little flour, so I wondered what would happen if I replaced the potato with pumpkin purée instead... I have to say the result was very tasty.

 I have started with  200g of pumpkin purée and mixed in about 200g of all purpose flour and a small knob of butter. I have said about 200g of flour because sometimes you need to add a little more to be able to knead it like dough, as that's the consistency you are aiming for. Roll it out to about half a centimetre thick and cut into your preferred shapes.

I have cut them in rectangle shapes so that they fit neatly on a lightly oiled baking tray and cook them in the oven at 200C for about 10 to 15 mins.

That's about it... very simple and very tasty especially hot straight from the oven spread with melting butter. My husband and daughter like to cut their's open down the side like the pocket in pitta bread and spread the butter on the inside. They are also a handy size to put in the toaster and warm through.

But however you choose to eat them it's a very quick and easy way to use up some left overs and has a very intense pumpkin flavour.

Sweet Chilli Sauce

I have had a lot of people ask about my homemade sweet chilli sauce recipe so I thought I would write a quick post about it here. We love this sauce and it is so simple to make in just a matter of minutes, definitely worth making yourself.

As you can see in the photograph, it's a beautiful colour and has an amazing taste, a mixture of hot and sweet, a real treat for the senses. The whole recipe from start to finish only takes about 15-20 minutes.

Ingredients

• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 2-3 red chilli peppers
• 200ml water
• 200ml apple cider vinegar
• 200g sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2 level tablespoons cornflour

I usually de-seed my chilli peppers first and save the seeds for use later, then Put all the ingredients except the cornflour into either a food processor or use a hand blender on it until finely chopped and blended. We usually use 2 large chilli peppers and 2 large garlic cloves but this is all down to personal taste, If using smaller ones I sometimes add 3.

Next put it into a saucepan along with some of the chilli seeds, remember a lot of the heat comes from the seeds so add an amount you would be comfortable with, I usually add about half the seeds back in. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for a few minutes.

While this is simmering put the 2 level tablespoons of cornflour into a cup and mix with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Remove the pan from the heat temporarily and whisk in your cornflour mixture. This will help to thicken the sauce slightly and allow the chilli pieces to float in suspension throughout your sauce.

Return to the heat and simmer for a further few minutes, whisking continuously to help the cornflour to thicken.

All that's left to do is add to a sterilized bottle or jar and leave to cool... the sauce thickens more as it cools a bit like jam does.

This sauce can be used as a dipping sauce or on anything you choose, we love it so much I even add it to my salads and baked potatoes. It will keep for quite a while, although it's usually eaten quite quickly here. Everything seems to taste so much better if it's homemade... Do be careful though to wash your hands after preparing chilli peppers and try not to touch any sensitive parts like your eyes.

Why not have a go yourself and enjoy...

Homemade Granola

I have been wanting to make our own granola for a while now but kept putting it off for one reason or another, finally last month I took the plunge and loved it so much found myself wishing I had done it years ago. I wanted to make it wheat and sugar free, still be tasty and very heavy on the nuts, seeds and dried fruit. I went through a process of picking out which nuts and seeds would have the best health benefits for our family and gave the recipe a go.

First things first start mixing the main ingredients, I have used 400g of oats and 150g of honey this may seem like a lot but I have been making up a batch to last the week. I have chosen to use coconut oil in the recipe due to it's health benefits and lovely toasted coconut taste in the finished granola, melt about 75g of the oil and brush some on the baking tray  and pour the rest into the oats.

After mixing well, spread onto the baking tray or dish... the recipe needs to cook for about 25 to 30 minutes at 180 degrees centigrade but it will need stirring every 10 minutes to ensure even cooking. I usually put the nuts and seeds in half way through cooking while I am stirring as I don't like them too toasted.

I have used about 100g of mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, linseed/flax and sesame) and about 75g of mixed chopped nuts (brazil, almonds etc) and mixed them in to the granola after the first 10 minutes although it could all be done at the start to save time.

After it has finished cooking leave it to cool completely it will crisp up... at this point stir in about 75g of your chosen dried fruit. We have found the honey to be sweet enough without any other sugar. Once it has cooled it can be stored in a jar to keep it fresh.

This is absolutely delicious, such an easy recipe to make and really simple to customise to include your favourite things. Perfect for breakfast with milk, with yoghurt or just out of the jar as a snack.