Monday 15 September 2014

More Preserving...

Welcome to Phyllis Weaving via here and Marilyn Stanton, Mary Walker and Barbara Grant from Bloglovin. Glad to have you all aboard the old Norfolk Express!

Last week, I decided to make a half batch of Pam's Piccalilli, see here for the recipe

I slightly altered the recipe to suit our own tastes.  For a half batch I used 7g of turmeric rather than 10g which I find makes the end result a little too dark. Also used 13g of mustard powder rather than the 10g. All in all, the same amount of these combined, just in different measurements! The final change is extra runny honey, 60g instead of 50g.

Unfortunately this time, I thought I would grind my own mustard seeds (white). Absolutely no taste, how weird. Luckily I had some ready made English mustard in the cupboard so used 4 tablespoons of that alongside the bland mustard powder. I was trying not to buy a tin of powder as it is quite expensive.

Anyhow, the taste just before bottling was as normal so hopefully, in 6 weeks time, it should be fine.
Another slight difference is once the vegetables are added, I then bring them to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Adding the vegetables makes the whole thing almost cold and I am always worried about botulism so like to heat it all again before filling my jars. I suppose, you could fill the cold jars with the veg and then they will heat up as the jars do but haven't tried this.

As it cooled I also noticed a few pale bits which on closer inspection, turned out to be not so finely ground mustard seed:( We ate the spare bit in the jar the next day, it was quite nice so a few weeks mellowing will make it as good as normal. By the way, the vegetables stay very crisp for a long time which is the other thing I like about this recipe.

Also had a go at making Frugal Queen's lentil soup, see here. Quite nice but we adjusted it slightly:)
A teaspoon of mild paprika was added as we only had ham rather than smoked bacon. Also added a good splodge of tomato purée and another stock cube. It lasted us 3 days so was very good value for money.

7 comments:

  1. I haven't made any type of chutney this year as I have so much left from last year! I've been making roasted vegetable sauce today though - I have no room left in the freezer, which is my preferred method of preserving it, so I've had to put it into jars.

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    1. Didn't make any new chutney last year as we thought we had enough, ran out hence making it this year. Just finished our last lot then that is it. Mincemeat next!

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  2. I am itching to do more preserves and pickles, but have to collect some more jars first.

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    1. Could always ask your neighbours if you know them well enough!

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  3. I've tried this recipe about 3 times now and my veg never stays crisp - how do you prepare yours and what veg do you use? Thanks.

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    1. Hi Sharon, first of all, it depends on how long you store it before eating as will get less crisp after several months. Secondly, use only fresh, crisp vegetables to begin with. Everything I use is as newly bought in or freshly picked where possible. The courgette I used wasn't as fresh as it could be and is soft but so far, it is the only one like that. I cut all my veg into small bite sized pieces, put them in a bowl, sprinkle with table salt, cover and leave overnight in a cool room, wouldn't use the fridge as it makes it smell! Next morning I put it all into a colander and rinse well, drain well and pat dry with a tea towel. Then I make the mustard sauce, put the veg in for just a few minutes to bring the whole pan up to temperature then fill my jars. This time around I used cauli, carrots, courgette, radish and a normal onion. In previous years I have also used french or runner beans, tomatillo or green tomatoes (outside only, chucked the middle bits away). Anything that is crisp to begin with. She says in her recipe to fill the jars with the veg then add the hot mustard sauce but as I mentioned above, I worry about botulism so always add the veg to the hot sauce and bring back up to temperature. Hope that helps.

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    2. Thank you very much - my husband loves piccalli so I'd really like to get it right!

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