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Brooksie's Dill Pickles Brooksie's Dill Pickles Brine 1 Quart White Vinegar 3 Quart DISTILLED Water 1 scant cup salt Cucumbers Fresh Dill Tabasco Peppers Garlic Many times the dill will be ready in your garden before the cucumbers. In that case you may preserve the dill by breaking into 2 inch pieces and putting into large jar and pouring mixed brine solution on it until covered. Keep this jar in a dark place and when the cucumbers are ready use the dill AND the brine, but remove the dill from the brine before boiling. There you go simple and easy. You will notice that the cucumbers are never blanched or par boiled, etc. The beans should not be either, although I have noticed that they really take 4 to 6 weeks, just a little longer than the cukes. Incidentally, the dill will keep until after the nuclear war (when there will be a great shortage of dill pickles and Mama's to make them) as long as it is kept in the dark 1 qt White Vinegar 3 qt DISTILLED Water 1 scant cup salt Cucumbers Fresh Dill Tabasco Peppers Garlic 1)Sterilize jars and pack into each jar beans or cucumbers (standing end on end) along with one large clove garlic, one tabasco or other small hot pepper, 1 dill stalk top 2)Heat brine to boiling and pour over cucumbers in jars. 3)Seal and Invert Jars until cool 4)Ready to eat in three or 4 weeks Keywords: Side, Kosher, Easy, Vegetables ( RG961 )

Crepes - Jambon cru aux champignons Serves 6 as Main Dishor 12 as Appetizer. This crepe recipe features the standard white flour batter. It brings forward the salty goodness of cured ham, complimented by fresh mushrooms and simple bechamel. Comfort food. 250 g flour type 55 or US all purpose 2 eggs 50 cl milk 50 cl water butter for the crepe pan For the crepe stuffing: 25 g butter 3 thick slices of cured ham, jambon de savoie, parma, etc. 250 g white mushrroms (champignons de Paris) For the Bechamel: 40 g flour type fluide 45 or US all pupose 40 g butter 40 cl milk nutmeg salt fresh ground black pepper 1) Make the batter. Sift the flour into a bowl. put the eggs into a well inthe center of the flour, and incorporate into the flour. Add the milk and the water a little at a time, whisking constantly until it is smooth and liquidy. Add salt and pepper. Set aside to rest for at least 2 hours. 2) During that time, prepare the bechamel. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour all at once and incorporate into melted butter, stir constantly over medium low heat for 5 minutes, without coloring. Add the milk all at once and stir in, bring back to a simmer. Add the m\nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Keep warm. 3) Sliver the ham finely. Slice the mushrooms thin, and saute them in the 25 grams of butter. Add the ham to and toss with the mushrooms briefly, and fold the mixure into the bechamel. Rectify the seasoning. Set aside. 4) Heat a serving platter in the oven to keep the crepes warm once you've assembled them (90C/200F). Cook the crepes by thinly spreading the batter over the surface of a hot buttered crepe pan. (throw away or eat the first one because the first one is always a little strange). Once it's brown underneath, spread the filling in the center of the crepe, and roll it up. Place the assembled crepes on the serving platter and keep warm until you serve them Keywords: Appetizer, Brunch, Main Dish, Lunch, Easy, Dinner, Pork, French ( RG947 )

Crepes - Jambon cru aux champignons Serves 6 as Main Dishor 12 as Appetizer. This crepe recipe features the standard white flour batter. It brings forward the salty goodness of cured ham, complimented by fresh mushrooms and simple bechamel. Comfort food. 250 g flour type 55 or US all purpose 2 eggs 50 cl milk 50 cl water butter for the crepe pan For the crepe stuffing: 25 g butter 3 thick slices of cured ham, jambon de savoie, parma, etc. 250 g white mushrroms (champignons de Paris) For the Bechamel: 40 g flour type fluide 45 or US all pupose 40 g butter 40 cl milk nutmeg salt fresh ground black pepper 1) Make the batter. Sift the flour into a bowl. put the eggs into a well inthe center of the flour, and incorporate into the flour. Add the milk and the water a little at a time, whisking constantly until it is smooth and liquidy. Add salt and pepper. Set aside to rest for at least 2 hours. 2) During that time, prepare the bechamel. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour all at once and incorporate into melted butter, stir constantly over medium low heat for 5 minutes, without coloring. Add the milk all at once and stir in, bring back to a simmer. Add the m\nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Keep warm. 3) Sliver the ham finely. Slice the mushrooms thin, and saute them in the 25 grams of butter. Add the ham to and toss with the mushrooms briefly, and fold the mixure into the bechamel. Rectify the seasoning. Set aside. 4) Heat a serving platter in the oven to keep the crepes warm once you've assembled them (90C/200F). Cook the crepes by thinly spreading the batter over the surface of a hot buttered crepe pan. (throw away or eat the first one because the first one is always a little strange). Once it's brown underneath, spread the filling in the center of the crepe, and roll it up. Place the assembled crepes on the serving platter and keep warm until you serve them Keywords: Appetizer, Brunch, Main Dish, Lunch, Easy, Dinner, Pork, French ( RG947 )

Made my first pot of Jambalaya in a cast iron dutch oven. After watching the All American Festival show on food network. Didn`t like the way the rice cooked what type of rice do you use for this dish. I thought the rest was good, but the rice didn`t puff up and split like they talked about. Charlie

Dr.Katy Dalal has come out with Jamva Chaloji - 2, a sequel to 'Jamva Chaloji' ("Lets Feast") the excellent book of basic Parsi recipes she compiled quite a few years ago. The first book, published by Vakils in Bombay, is in its third printing and along with the Penguin book on Parsi cooking, it could be seen as the standard reference book to Parsi daily cooking. So this book is very welcome and all the more so because in it Dr.Dalal has decided to focus on all the rarer recipes, the ones cooked for obscure festivals or by Parsis in the villages of the Gujarat and Maharashtra coasts they used to live in, but which are now being forgotten as their children move to the cities and have no time for elaborate rituals. Dr.Dalal is an archaeologist by training, before she became known as a cook, so she's by far the best person to do this work. Its a fascinating book to read, and a delightful one too, since she's interwoven the recipes with her own memories of visits to the villages as a young girl, and in particular of her great-grandmother Soonamai whose recipes and cooking practices are evidently still her inspiration. There are all the recipes which coulod probably only be made in the village - like tadi-nu-batervo or mutton cooked in toddy (fermented date palm sap). Toddyn is highly perishable, so you probably won't be able to get it in Bombay. I've certainly never come across it, though you do get neera, the sweet, unfermented version and perhaps the solution would be to buy this and let it ferment. (Episure, do you think this would work? And do you know of any other way to get toddy in Bombay?). The book also benefits from Dr.Dalal's obviously excellent connections in the Parsi community - she can track down the one agiary (fire temple) in Bombay (Mehella Patel Agiary behind Novelty Cinema in Grant Road) whose head priest has a wife who is the last person to make muktad-nu-bhatiyu which, as far as I can make out (Dalal is not always entirely clear and while its not a problem, the book could have done with just a bit more editing, that's the only criticism I could make), is an elaborate package of different dishes including chicken, fish roe, a spicy omelette and other things. Or if you want vasanoo, a heavy Parsi sweet made of some 32 different ingredients that few people have the patience to make these days, she tells you the exact family to go to in Cushrow Bagh, one of the main Parsi colonies, who still make and supply it to others. A lot of these recipes are obviously quite difficult or labour intensive which is why they aren't made these days, and Dalal doesn't hide that. Sometimes one can think of other reasons why they aren't made like her recipe for eeda-pak or egg halwa the ingredient list for which starts with 50 egg yolks, 500 gms almonds bioled and skinned, 150 gms pistachios, boiled and skinned (almonds and pistachios to be fried and ground), 100 gms charoli, 100 gms white pumpkin seeds.... Dalal obviously knows this is going to be a hard sell since she writes "This is one of the most delicious sweets I have ever eaten and I request all my readers to make it at least once in their lifetime..." Yes, well one can see why you're not likely to be able to eat this in more than one lifetime! Still, Dalal's pleading for such recipes is quite persuasive and while I don't think I'll be running out to buy 50 eggs anytime soon, I can certainly see myself making other recipes like Soonamai's special cucumbers stuffed with mince, or bhaji-ma-sookka-dana (dried green peas cooked in spinach) or gamti-amlette (country omelette - a typical spicy, had fried Indian one, but with pieces of green mango added) or papau-ma-gos (mutton in papaya gravy) or maybe even kolmi, sekti-i-sing, ne-kacchi-keri-ne-kohru-nu-dohru (prawn, drumstick, raw mango and pumpkin gravy). And even otherwise, there's still the pleasure of just reading Jamva-Chaloji-2! Vikram

i for one love the pickle & cole slaw that you get with a sandwich. however, a girlfriend of mine who used to work at a diner, said to NEVER eat them. i didn't ask for the details but i got the feeling it wasn't pretty. sometimes i take her advice, sometimes i throw caution to the wind. i think it depends on what the pickle looks like. if it's nice and green and crisp, i will eat it. if it's limp and doesn't look fresh then i pass. you can't go wrong with diner coleslaw so i always eat that. your thoughts?

The menu at Spamjam is definitely one of a kind: There is a Spam hero sandwich, Spam club sandwich, Spam spaghetti, Spam macaroni, Spam potato chowder, bean soup with Spam, Spam Caesar salad, Spam poppers and Spam meals with rice for the Filipino palate.

Shorshe bate Macch – Mustard Fish This recipe is from The Beginner's Guide to Regional Indian Cooking in th eCGI ¼ cup black mustard seeds ¼ cup white mustard seeds A touch of garlic (Not traditional but the Chef loves it so we added it!) 4 fillets white fish (small Tilapia fillets) 1 tsp turmeric salt to taste Mustard oil to panfry the fish 2 Serrano green chilies, slit Soak mustard seeds (I use 50% black and 50% white) in water for 10-15 minutes. In a blender, grind mustard seeds and garlic with enough water. Start with a relatively less water and slowly keep adding water as needed. The final consistency will be a bit more liquid than Dijon mustard. Make sure that there are no whole seeds left over. In my blender, this process takes about 10 minutes. This will be your gravy. Don't forget to add a bit of salt and mix some more. Set aside. Marinate fish fillets with the turmeric and the salt. Heat a shallow pan with a little bit of mustard oil, over medium high heat. When oil starts to smoke, add in the fish pieces so they are in a single layer. After a minute or so, turn them over, and cook until brown. Remove from heat. In the same oil add the mustard paste. Add some slit green chilies for some heat. Cook the mustard paste until it starts boiling and then add the fish. Simmer for another 3 – 5 minutes. Serve hot. Keywords: Main Dish, Fish, Indian, eGCI ( RG884 )

Shorshe bate Macch – Mustard Fish This recipe is from The Beginner's Guide to Regional Indian Cooking in th eCGI ¼ cup black mustard seeds ¼ cup white mustard seeds A touch of garlic (Not traditional but the Chef loves it so we added it!) 4 fillets white fish (small Tilapia fillets) 1 tsp turmeric salt to taste Mustard oil to panfry the fish 2 Serrano green chilies, slit Soak mustard seeds (I use 50% black and 50% white) in water for 10-15 minutes. In a blender, grind mustard seeds and garlic with enough water. Start with a relatively less water and slowly keep adding water as needed. The final consistency will be a bit more liquid than Dijon mustard. Make sure that there are no whole seeds left over. In my blender, this process takes about 10 minutes. This will be your gravy. Don't forget to add a bit of salt and mix some more. Set aside. Marinate fish fillets with the turmeric and the salt. Heat a shallow pan with a little bit of mustard oil, over medium high heat. When oil starts to smoke, add in the fish pieces so they are in a single layer. After a minute or so, turn them over, and cook until brown. Remove from heat. In the same oil add the mustard paste. Add some slit green chilies for some heat. Cook the mustard paste until it starts boiling and then add the fish. Simmer for another 3 – 5 minutes. Serve hot. Keywords: Main Dish, Fish, Indian, eGCI ( RG884 )

"Curry leaf and gongura pickles are great with steamed rice alone.. or with anything else. " I was surifng through old threads on egullet and found this statement in one of Suvirs posts. 1. What is Gongura? I recetly read aout it somewere else as well, How does oe make it and does anbod know if it is available in Bombay. 2. Are either of these pickles available in Bomby? Rushina

Banana Jam This recipe is adapted from Catherine Plagemann's book Fine Preserving. She says it is of Indian origin. Other appropriate spices (cardamom, cinnamon, etc.) can be added. Plagemann says 8 bananas will yield 7 8-oz glasses, but I've always ended up with less. 8 ripe, mashed bananas 3 medium lemons 3 c sugar 3 c water 1 inch square piece of ginger, peeled cloves to taste (3 is a good number) 1. Make a simple syrup by boiling sugar and water for ten minutes in a 4 quart saucepan, or larger pan. 2. Zest the lemons and juice them while the syrup is boiling. 3. Mix lemon zest, juice, bananas, ginger and cloves in a medium bowl. 4. Stir banana mixture into simple syrup, and simmer 30-45 minutes. The jam will be a pale yellow mush, no need to test for jelling. Keywords: Condiment, Fruit ( RG868 )

Banana Jam This recipe is adapted from Catherine Plagemann's book Fine Preserving. She says it is of Indian origin. Other appropriate spices (cardamom, cinnamon, etc.) can be added. Plagemann says 8 bananas will yield 7 8-oz glasses, but I've always ended up with less. 8 ripe, mashed bananas 3 medium lemons 3 c sugar 3 c water 1 inch square piece of ginger, peeled cloves to taste (3 is a good number) 1. Make a simple syrup by boiling sugar and water for ten minutes in a 4 quart saucepan, or larger pan. 2. Zest the lemons and juice them while the syrup is boiling. 3. Mix lemon zest, juice, bananas, ginger and cloves in a medium bowl. 4. Stir banana mixture into simple syrup, and simmer 30-45 minutes. The jam will be a pale yellow mush, no need to test for jelling. Keywords: Condiment, Fruit ( RG868 )

I was really fascinated by your essay about Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee in the book and specifically about the funny/sad dilemma of the English coffee grower who is literally sitting on a mountain of the best coffee in the world but would not sell a pound of it since he cannot dictate his price. Are there any new developments with this individual? Is he still growing and storing his coffee? Is there anywhere in Houston you go to for great Cabrito? Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge with us. Elie

for pho fanatics: i've been to pho houses in which the only herb you're given is basil, and to ones in which you're instead given cilantro, and also to places that give you both. is there some sort of regional or traditional variation at work here? or is this a case of things changing as pho leaves vietnam and comes to the u.s? furthermore, at the vietnamese restaurant we had dinner in last night there was a bit of a commotion when the young woman at the table next to ours asked the waiter for plum sauce to go with her pho. he recoiled in horror and said that plum sauce would not go well with pho. due to a language barrier (he's vietnamese, she's a young anglo-american) it wasn't clear for a while as to whether he thought he was being asked his opinion on compatability or refusing to bring the offending plum sauce. since i'd overheard her complaining to her companion that she'd mistakenly laced her broth with too much hot sauce i attempted to intervene and suggested she amend matters with the provided hoisin sauce instead. at this point she informed us all (much to the waiter's consternation) that in d.c she was used to eating pho with plum sauce. eventually, a more english-fluent member of the staff was summoned, some plum sauce was procured and everyone, except possibly the original waiter, was happy. now, i'm no authority on pho or vietnamese cuisine in general. all i know is what i've eaten in a variety of establishments in los angeles. i've never encountered plum sauce as a condiment for pho before. is this yet another regional variation or is it perhaps the case that the restaurants in d.c referred to may have been pan-asian restaurants that happened to have plum sauce on the table as well? i suppose it is also possible she only mentioned the d.c thing to not seem foolish. anyone?

Recently, I've taken a liking to Korean "Jelly" teas, in particular "Citron" tea, or Yujacha as it is called in Korean. This is stuff that has the consistency of and looks just like very runny marmalade, with thin slices of citrus peel in it. You add a spoonfull of it to about 12oz of hot water and stir. Very sweet. It also works really well as a sweetener for regular black or herbal tea. You can buy it in Korean supermarkets. http://store.yahoo.com/enjoyingtea/cihotea5.html http://www.kgrocer.com/index.asp?PageActio...PROD&ProdID=538 They also have other types of jellified teas as well: Omija (1) http://www.kgrocer.com/index.asp?PageActio...PROD&ProdID=409 Omija (2) http://www.kgrocer.com/index.asp?PageActio...PROD&ProdID=410 Jujube http://www.kgrocer.com/index.asp?PageActio...PROD&ProdID=537 Ume http://www.kgrocer.com/index.asp?PageActio...PROD&ProdID=539 Ginger http://www.kgrocer.com/index.asp?PageActio...PROD&ProdID=542 Plum Honey http://www.kgrocer.com/index.asp?PageActio...PROD&ProdID=543 Red Ginseng Honey http://www.kgrocer.com/index.asp?PageActio...PROD&ProdID=544 Information about Korean Teas: http://english.tour2korea.com/food/about/b...ddt/ddt_tea.asp

I LOVE pickled ginger. In fact, in some instances, moreso than sushi or sashimi itself. When I was first introduced to sushi, it was my least favorite part of a sushi meal. Now it's the opposite. Besides sushi/sashimi, what other uses for pickled ginger are there? And how do you make your own? What goes in the pickling solution? Fresh pickled ginger (not premade) is undyed and a pale beige in color, whereas the premade version is a slight tawny pink. Any suggestions? Soba

Mustard Glaze for ham 1/2 c brown sugar 2 T orange juice 2 tsp dry mustard or honey mustard Mix all the ingredients, baste ham during last 45 minutes of baking Keywords: Easy, Pork ( RG787 )

Mustard Glaze for ham 1/2 c brown sugar 2 T orange juice 2 tsp dry mustard or honey mustard Mix all the ingredients, baste ham during last 45 minutes of baking Keywords: Easy, Pork ( RG787 )

We have threads in the Louisiana Forum on Tasso, Gumbo, Turducken, Andouille, and many other forms of food that are (or used to be, anyway) fairly unique to the Bayou State. Right now there is a foodblog being penned by Ronnie Suburban that has some excellent photos of the mise en place involved in cooking Gumbo. One of the pm's that I recieve here at Louisiana Central is "Where do I get great Jambalaya when I am visiting your wonderful and exotic homeland" (in truth, no one has ever phrased it quite like that, but I am still waiting ). I would like to hear where you think the best is (both here in Louisiana and where you live) and if you would like to share a recipe or two, that would be great. My favorite is at Coop's Place. A dive of a bar and restaurant on Decatur St. in New Orleans. It is chock full of ham, shrimp, sausage, and comes in a nice but not too wet rice and tomato mix. I really love it. And the best part of this particular dish of Jambalaya is that being bar food, it is really cheap. My kids love this place ("Dad, that guy is wasted!") and it is the center of many of the more eccentric organized events in the French Quarter. Truly a local joint. I highly reccomend it. So let's hear it. Jambalaya For Everybody!!

K. and I wandered into Jamie Kennedy's Wine Bar on Saturday afternoon. It's newly opened and quite undiscovered as yet. This will change--fast! We sat and grazed our way through seven of the dozen or so "tapas-style" selections with wine pairings that happened to be on the menu that day. We emerged onto the street a few hours later, a bit high on the food and the vino, with big grins on our faces. It's a neat space, very welcoming and informal. Lots of wood with cool stools around the open kitchen space and long bar, with only a handful of tables. The wall of preserves in mason jars works as design and is great fun as well. No reservations--just show up any time between 11 and 11 and order as few or as many of the tasting portions as you can handle. The prices are incredibly reasonable for the quality and size of the portions. This is hearty comfort food, (soups, braises, bread pudding) prepared with flair. It's all about flavour, folks. Don't expect a formal presentation of amuse, aps, mains and deserts. The concept is pick and choose. If you want more, just keep ordering, in any order that strikes your fancy. More on the menu and wine list when I have more time. The message now is--go and experience great value for money before this place is discovered by the foodies and the social x-rays and the line-ups form. As of this past Saturday afternoon, you could waltz right in and have the undivided attention of the friendly staff with Jamie ever present in the background, getting things up and running.

This thread was inspired by a current similar one on the India board, thanks to Mongo Jones. Ketchup is generally associated with hamburgers, fast food, and as a camouflage for other culinary atrocities. The highest per capita use of ketchup (as well as Jell-o) in the US is in Salt lake City, and I won't further elaborate on the relevance of that. Like Mongo Jones' aunt in New Delhi, my wife had an honored place for ketchup in her pantry long before she left Shanghai. I think she considers jumbo bottles of Heinz ketchup as much a "find" as the 50-lb. bags of Calrose rice at Costco. She uses it some obvious ways, such as a base for the peculiar Shanghainese "Russian" (luosang) soup, and for the sauce that accompanies her version of "squirrel" fish. It's also used to give color while toning down the heat of some Sichuan style chili-based dishes for the Shanghainese palate, and I'm sure she sneaks it into some other sauces and bastes that are not obviously tomato-ey. The touch of sweetness (a hallmark of Shanghai cuisine generally) in ketchup seems to make it a good fit for her cooking. Does any one else want to 'fess up on their use of ketchup in Chinese food or their knowledge on the use of the noble condiment in other regional Chinese cuisines?

I recently acquired some fig preserves from Italy. Besides the obvious-spread it on some toasted bread- does anyone have some suggestions for its use? The first thing I did with it was spread it on some crostini with some chevre and topped it with some toasted chopped walnuts-a drizzle of Italian acacia honey. Yum. Any other ideas?

What has anyone heard about this place? Its supposed to be opening shortly. Apparently its in the former location of Irving on Irving. Andy Nusser from Babbo is the new Chef De Cuisine. Its at 17th and Irving, 52 Irving Place.

Please post your questions here. Autumn and Festive Preserves Author: Jack Lang (Jackal10) Jack's first course on preservation can be found here. The introduction to that course contains some scientific background to preservation and should be read in conjunction with this course. Now the end of the growing season is here and Xmas approaches it is time to make the last preserves of the year. Here we will look at Apple Jelly Green Tomato Chutney Damson Gin Mincemeat Xmas pudding Quince comforts (contignac) Pamelas: Candied orange and grapefruit peel Apple Jelly and variations Apples have lots of pectin, so apple jelly is easy, and a basis for many other flavours. It is made much like the Redcurrant jelly in the previous preserves section. It can be made from windfalls, or from crab apples. I make it from the apples that get left on the tops of the trees that we could not reach to pick, and that then fall off in their own good time. I know I should prune out these top branches, but then I would not get the apples for apple jelly Small jars of jelly make nice presents or shop goods. 6lbs/3kgs apples 3pts/2.5l water 3lbs/1.5kg sugar Chop up the apples and discard the bad bits, but keep the pips and cores – they contain the most pectin. For 6 lbs/3kg of apples add 3pts/2.5l water, and simmer for an about an hour Pass though a jelly bag, or a coffee filter, or a double thickness of muslin in a sieve Resist the temptation to squeeze or force it through Measure the juice. Allow 1lb/500g of sugar to each pint/750cl of juice Boil until setting point is reached (221F) Skim and bottle. When cold, label and store in the usual dark cold place. Variations Everything except the spices are added after the sugar has dissolved and show in the final jelly: Spiced apple jelly: Add cloves to the apple when you boil them. You can add them to the juice which gives a brighter flavour, but they then need straining out You can use other spices, such as pumpkin pie spices, or ginger, or lemon peel. Mint Jelly: Add chopped mint to the juice. Some like to add some vinegar as well. Other herbs: Parsley, thyme, rosemary (strain out the bits), tarragon, lavendar etc Rose Petal: Makes a lovely rose petal jam, Use fresh red rose petals from a fragrant variety. Wash well, and add 1 cup of petals after the sugar has been dissolved. You can increase the rose flavour with rose germanium leaves or with rose water. Gold leaf spangles: Add pieces of gold leaf, or a liqueur like Goldwasser that contains them. Flavour with cinnamon or aniseed.. Hot Chilli: Add chopped hot chillis: 12 chillis are about as much as even serious chilli heads can stand. Green Pepper: Add chopped green peppers, and green food colouring Green Tomato Chutney At the end of the tomato growing season there are always green tomatoes left, as well as the odd straggler or misshapen fruit. Those that don’t get fried make magnificent chutneys and pickles. They are pretty tough and make a good sweet pickle: 3lb/1kilo small green tomatoes 1pt/750mls vinegar 2 lb sugar flavouring: 1tsp vanilla or q tsp ground cinnamon If you want to peel them put the tomatoes in boiling salted water for 10 mins, refresh under cold water and peel. I don’t bother. Put the peeled green tomatoes with the sugar, vinegar and flavouring into a non-corrosive saucepan and boil for 5 mins. Pack into jars, and seal with non-metallic lids. You can pickle them just like the cucumber recipe given in the first lesson, except they take at least 3 weeks to mature. A good chutney is mellow from long cooking and maturing. It is quite different from Indian style chutneys, although the origin may have been Anglo-Indian. This style is deep brown. long simmered, ends up like a like a brown sauce with texture. Essential with cold meats, pork pies, or with cheese for a sandwich or ploughman’s lunch. 4lb/2 kilo green tomatoes, chopped up roughly 1lb/500g windfall apples, after peeling and coring 1/2lb/250g small raisins or sultanas 1 lb/300g brown sugar 1lb/500g shallots or onions, chopped 1/2 pt/375ml vinegar 1/2oz/25g fresh ginger, chopped. ½ oz/25g salt Spices and chillis to taste (2 chillis, 2 bay leaves, tsp mustard seed, tsp black pepper) Put the spices in a muslin wrap. Chop up everything small, except the raisins or sultanas. Put it all to simmer on a very low heat for a very long time (6-8 hours), until it is thick, and apart from the raisins, although there are chunks, the origin of each is not really discernable. The bag of spices is on the left. Remove the spices, bottle with a non-metallic lid (because of the vinegar) and seal. Leave to mature for at least a month. Variations: For a lighter chutney use white sugar and vinegar. If you want it sharper, add some of the vinegar towards the end of the cooking period. You can make it with almost any fruits or vegetables such as windfall apples, or marrow, plums or winter squashes that did not quite grow right Damson Gin Fruits in alcohol are a wonderful and easy dual preserve. Not only do you get the delicious liqueur, but also the preserved fruit. This recipe is a more delicate version of sloe gin, made with sloes (wild plums), but also just as traditional. First pick the damsons 1lb/500g damson plums, I bottle (70cl) full strength gin, as the water in the fruit will dilute it 8oz/250g sugar (more or less to taste) Freeze the damsons. This is a short cut and the object is to crack the fruit so that the gin penetrates You can hear the fruit crack when you pour on the gin. Freezing is much easier than the traditional method of pricking each fruit with a silver bodkin. Put into a jar and shake. The sugar will dissolve slowly, and the gin takes on a wonderful pink colour and fruit flavour. After 24 hours Put the jar somewhere (under the bed is traditional) where you see it from time to time and give it a shake occasionally. After a month it is ready. You can leave it, or strain the liqueur, and bottle it back into the original gin bottle, relabelled. It improves in the bottle if allowed to do so without being drunk. If you manage to leave it, it will gradually mature to a rich brown and full flavour. This is from 3 years ago. The fruit can be added in moderation to an adult fruit salad, or pureed and set with a little gelatine into an amazing jelly. Variations: You can add almond essence or lemon peel Many fruits can be preserved in alcohol this way, for example Peaches in Brandy, Cherries in Brandy or Rum. We covered Rumtopf in the last lesson. Mincemeat Ahh mince pies! I don’t know why more people don’t make their own mincemeat, as it is so easy and so much better than shop-bought. Making mince pies with home made micemeat to the sound of the carol service broadcast from King’s College marks the start of the festivities for me Mincemeat originally was a way of preserving meat for the winter, with lots of spices, dried fruit, alcohol and sugar. The meat was used as a pie filling, or part of a porridge or stuffed into a sausage skin for a pudding After a while people noticed it tasted even better if they left out the meat, except for some fat to melt and give richness and unctuousness. A few people still include neck meat or kidney, but mostly out of tradition rather than taste On the other hand if you can get real kidney suet from your butcher and shred your own, your mince meat will be all the better and more authentic Otherwise you will have to make do with the packet stuff. If you don’t eat meat then butter is better than the dubious (and often stale) hydrogenated fats that pass for some vegetable suets. 1lb/500g each of cooking apples, weighed after peeling, coring and chopping Use a firm apple like Granny Smith. currants seedless raisins sultanas brown sugar finely chopped suet 1/2lb/250g chopped mixed candied peel, glace cherries etc grated rind and juice of 2 lemons 2 oz chopped almonds (optional) ½ tsp ground sweet mixed spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves – as for pumpkin pie) 1/2pt+ 1 glass rum or brandy. (Not optional!) Mix it all together. Pack into jars. Seal. Drink the spare glass of rum or brandy. Leave for a month before using as a pie or tart filling. One jar nicely fills an 8 inch pie dish. Also great as a filling for baked apples. Will keep a year, but may dry out a little. Revive by stirring in another glass of spirits, Xmas pudding George I (sometimes called “The Pudding King”) ate this Christmas pudding at 6pm on December 25th 1714. These puddings may originally have been a thick spiced porridge version of the mincemeat above, called frumenty, sometimes cooked as a pudding in a sausage skin. In the sixteenth century people discovered that they were better if they boiled the ingredients in a bag (“bag pudding”), they preferred the texture given by eggs, breadcrumbs and flour, rather than oatmeal. The original would have been the traditional cannonball shape from being boiled in a floured cloth, often in the wash-day copper. Once boiled, they will keep for up to a year in a cool dry place.. 1 1/2lb/750g eggs, weighed in their shells 1lb/500g each of dried plums (prunes) seedless raisins mixed peel currants sultanas flour brown sugar breadcrumbs 1 tsp mixed spice ½ nutmeg, grated ½ tsp salt Juice and grated rind of a lemon Large glass of brandy ½ pint milk. Mix all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the centre and mix in the wet ingredients. “a stir and a wish” Let stand, covered in a cool place for 12 hours. Put into basins or a floured cloth. Boil for 8 hours. A half lemon in the water helps preserve aluminium pans. When cold recover with clean silicone paper and muslin Store cool and dry. Before serving boil again for 2 hours. Dress with a sprig of holly Take to table flaming: pour over a ladleful of flaming rum or brandy (care). Serve with brandy butter (Hard sauce), cream, or rum custard or all of them. My variation: Omit the flour. This gives a lighter pudding Replace the milk with Guinness. Drink the rest of the bottle. Wartime versions used carrots to add some sweetness and bulk instead of some of the sugar, which was in short supply. Versions which omit the alcohol should be ignored. These make puddings which are mostly fruit, held together with a little pudding stuff. You can increase the breadcrumbs and flour if you want to economise, or like more stodge. Left-over Christmas pudding is great fried with bacon and eggs next morning. Traditions Many traditions and superstitions are associated with Christmas pudding. When mixing you should invite the family for “a stir and a wish” They were the original “Plum-duff” of naval catering, and dried plums are, at least to me, an essential ingredient and link with tradition. Traditionally they were made by “Stir-up Sunday”, the last Sunday before Advent, which is around the end of November, so that they have time to mature before Christmas day. It is called “Stir-up Sunday” because the Collect begins “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people”, reminding the faithful that it is time to make puddings The old game of Snapdragon puts raisins or currants around the flaming pudding, the dare is to snatch one from the flames (take care!). There is a reference from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass where Alice meets the fanciful Looking-Glass insects. One of them is the Snap-dragon-fly, with a body made of plum-pudding, its wings of holly-leaves and its head a raisin burning in brandy. It lives on frumenty and mince pie, and nests in a Christmas box. It is traditional to hide a silver three-penny bit or other silver coin in the pudding. Whoever gets it, according to tradition, will receive wealth and riches in the coming year, or in other traditions are made king or queen for the day. This is part of an older and wider lore, such as the bean in the French Three kings cake, or in the Greek Vasilopita cake for St Basils (New Years Day). Originally the coin was in the Twelfth night cake The coin stood for riches. Other symbols and their objects were A bean for King A pea for Queen A clove for Knave A twig for the Fool A rag for the Maid One theory is that these traditions, together with the yule log, the holly and mistletoe, are the last remnants of the pagan traditions of the winter solstice festival of Saturnalia, taken over in the Christian tradition by Christmas. The king, chosen by the bean or the coin, is the Lord of Misrule and rules over the Revels for the day. There is deep symbolism and ancient magic here. The health police remind us that there is a remote chance of someone choking on the small coin in their food, so warn people to be on the look out for it, and check for the very young or old. Polish and wash or boil the coin well before adding to the pudding. Make sure the coin is real silver – modern nickel coins (like nickels and dimes) leave a nasty taste. Real silver (pre-1920) English three-penny bits are still available, for example on ebay or at coin dealers for modest prices if they are not in mint condition. I just purchased some Victorian 1887 ones for about 50c each . Others replace the coin with a silver charm. You can bribe youngsters to return it by offering a reward. Other places have their own traditional preserved foods or rich matured breads and cakes for Xmas: Speculoos (spiced cookies) in Belgium, Stollen in Germany, Vasilopeta and Chridstopsomo in Greece, panetonni and panforte in Italy, Turron in Spain, Medivnyk Honey Cake in Ukraine, not forgetting all the preserved ginger, gingerbreads, hams, game pies, and turkeys raised for the season. Quince comforts/Quince Cheese/Contignac/ Dulce de Membrillo Quince paste, known by different names in different places Depending how much you reduce and dry it it can be variously Butter, Cheese, Leather or Comfits. Comfits are an old name for a fruit jelly, served after dinner. 2lbs/1 Kg quinces About 1lb/500g sugar Pick the quinces Quinces are as hard as iron when raw. Some recipes suggest stewing them, but I find baking them for an hour or so easiest Let them cool, and remove most of the skin and bones – the pips, stalk and any hard bits. Puree and sieve. This stuff is tough to sieve and sticks to everything. It is easier when the puree is warm. Add an equal weight of sugar, and simmer, stirring frequently. It will get much looser at first, then stiffer as it dries. Take care, as it bubbles like molten lava, and spits. When you can see the bottom of the pan when you draw a line it is stiff enough. Pour into an oiled tin, or a tin lined with silicone paper, and let it set. You can now dry it in the sun, or in a barely warm oven. Turn it over after a day or so so it dries evenly. Traditionally these cheeses were wrapped in Bay leaves and muslin, and served with cheese. To make comfits cut it into ½ inch/ 1cm cubes and roll in sugar. Keep either loosely wrapped in the fridge, or in a closed tin in sugar. Variations: Add spices, such as cinnamon Use other fruit, such as apple or Damson Pamelas: Candied grapefruit peel Making true glace fruit is a long business, and there is little advantage in making it yourself. However here is a quick version, adapted from a recipe originally by the Troisgros Freres. 6 Grapefruits (about 2kg or 4lbs), preferably unwaxed 1lb 6oz/600g sugar Cut off the top and bottom of the grapefruit. Cut into quarters. Cut off 2/3rds of the flesh from each quarter and any seeds. You can eat it for breakfast. Cut each quarter into 4 sticks, (some orange crept in there) Put them in a saucepan and cover them with cold water. Bring it to the boil. Strain off the water. Repeat this four times to remove the bitterness. The fifth time don’t add the water but add the sugar instead. Bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat very slowly uncovered for 50 to 60 minutes or until the syrup has evaporated and peel is transparent and tender. If you cook too fast the syrup will evaporate before the slices are cooked. Spread the slices out to dry on a rack, and when cold roll in sugar. Damson comfits and Pamelas Variations: For true indulgence dip into good chocolate. You can do the same with other citrus fruits. Orange peel needs rather longer than grapefruit. Please post your questions here.

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