Condiments

This is so easy! But does need a lot of time on the stove. I cooked mine for 3 hours until a beautiful ruby red colour.

Chop peal and de-seed the quinces. Pop in a pot with the water and sugar. Simmer for hours! About 3. The mixture to begin with will look like stewing apples, but as time goes on they turn a wonderful ruby red colour. This is a sign they're done.

But you have to be attentive, I burnt this batch and nearly ruined my favorite pot. I managed to salvage what was on top.

Interestingly quinces have a lot of tannins in them, which make them horrible to eat as is. But as they're cooked these tannins break down which becomes this ruby red. This is also an indication that the paste is ready.

Quince Paste

I've been enjoying this on simple rolled oats and yogurt.

The origonal recipe called for vanila (1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste) but I don't bake enough deserts right now to warrent having it about. So I subsituted it with star anise. It's still delicious.

Roughly chop the rhubarb and pop it in a pot along with peal star anise sugar and water. Put on a really low heat and simmer for 15-20min. The rhubarb will fall apart and almost disolve. 

It's got a wonderful acidic quality. You don't need much of it, but you'll want to conteract that acidity with sugar.

Rhubarb Compote

I've been experimenting with pickled things recently. Why? Because I freaking love pickles. And I want to understand the Harry Potter wizardary that goes into making them.

I can't give you precision measurements... why? becuase I was stupid and didn't measure them. This was an experiment. It worked. But out of the Beetroot, onion, radish, carrot, cucumber, zucchini. The Onion, Radish, and Cucumber were the best! They held their texture well. The zucchini was a bit soft and the carrot & beetroot were too firm.

I did try apple cider vinegar and a plain white vinegar. The apple cider clearly one. It added some depth and wasn't as harsh as a standard vinegar.

With cheese these pickles were a success!

Pickled Things

Cut off the green outer skin. Slice and salt, place in a container in the fridge overnight. Discard the watermelon tears and rinse of excess salt, dry them. 

On a low heat brine ingredients, dissolve the sugar, bring to a gentle simmer then turn off and let it all infuse. Cover your melons and allow to cool. Once cool pop them in the fridge and they'll be good for two months.

This recipe was sourced from Cornersmith Salds & Pickles. Its a great book with lots of great pickling info.

Condiments

Quince Paste

Rhubarb Compote

Pickled Things

Pickled Watermelons