I just make these products to pass the time I am at home most of the time minding a 2 year old I can pass on recipes etc if anyone is interested . I have only eaten cape gooseberry as a decoration an a desert plate they are a bit sour .but like everything home grown might be sweeter .tomatillo i have never tasted are they related to tomatoes and are they cherry tomato size or bigger

I've got four wine bottles of grape juice made from this autumn's grapes but the flavour isn't particularly wonderful and I'm scratching around for some innovative ways to improve it. Any ideas? If not, I'm afraid I may be consigning it to the kitchen sink. I put a crushed Campden tablet in each bottle to preserve it but the taste of it still lingers. Can't make up my mind to wait awhile in the hope it mellows, or just cut my losses.

Could you add some frozen fruit of a similar colour and make jam with it Primrose ?

Nemo they are the size of a med - large tomato. Cape gooseberries are only sour when under ripe.

Primrose
May I suggest you add some sugar and yeast and go head and ferment into wine? Grape juice from Chateau Latour doesn't taste all that good either - I've tried it!
John N

[quote="Primrose"]I've got four wine bottles of grape juice made from this autumn's grapes but the flavour isn't particularly wonderful and I'm scratching around for some innovative ways to improve it. /quote]

We've found a festive way of using some of this. Mixed with some orange juice, pineapple juice & mulled wine spices, it makes a pleasant cold non-alcoholic drink. I imagine it would be even nicer when it's heated to make a mulled punch, so that will be on the agenda over Christmas.

Hi all,

Does anyone have a nice easy recipe for blackberry jam?

Thanks!

hello
.the sugar company that supplies the preserving {sure set sugar}have recipies for jams jellies and marmalades thats the way its in ireland just write to them or e mail them looking for recipes for their products
this a basic recipe

1kg of fruit and 1 kg of preserving sugar{sure set sugar}
wash and drain the fruit ,then mash,crush or liquidise and place in a large saucepan
add the preserving sugar and heat stirring, until it is disolved, then bring to the boil and boil vigorously for 4 minuites.
pot and cover in the usual way

regards nemo

MICROWAVE JAM & MARMALADE

Jams & marmalades can be made easily in the microwave. A LARGE TALL SIDED bowl should be used and small quantities made at a time. Remember that when you add the sugar to the boiled fruit, the bulk will double up and rise as it boils. Recipes made in the microwave require less attention than ordinary methods and will not burn the bottom of the container. NEVER USE A SUGAR THERMOTER IN THE MICROWAVE OVEN.

If you like a chunky marmalade with lots of peel, it’s worth saving the skin from grapefruits, oranges, lemons or limes and keeping a few in the freezer so that you can chop them up and add extra peel to your marmalade mixture when you’re ready to make it.


Sterilising Jars
Kilner jars are not necessary. Empty commercial jars of jam or marmalade with screw-type lids are fine. Simply wash jars and lids in warm soapy water, rinse in clean warm water, and put the jars (not lids) in a warm oven for ten minutes to sterilise. Fill the jars whilst still warm, add lids lightly and screw down when product has cooled down slightly. If you put boiling hot jam into cold jars they run a high risk of cracking.


THREE FRUIT MARMALADE (Makes approx 5 lbs)
1 medium orange (preferably Seville but can use ordinary oranges )
1 medium grapefruit
2 medium lemons
850 ml (1 ½ pints) water
1 ½ kg (3lb) sugar (ordinary granulated is OK)

1. Thinly peel the rind off the fruit, cut into desired thickness. Halve fruit, squeeze juice and remove pips. Cut fruit residue into pieces. Tie fruit pieces into clean piece of muslin (or large cotton handkerchief) with pips. (The pips add extra pectin, which is a setting agent)
2. Place rind, juice & water into large bowl suitable for microwave use.. Add muslin bag with contents. Cover bowl with cling film. Don’t pierce film. Cook on HIGH for 18-20 mins until rind is soft. Remove muslin bag.
3. Sir in sugar. Heat on HIGH until sugar has dissolved, stirring regularly. Bring to boil.
4. Cook on HIGH for 35-45 mins until setting point is reached. (To check this, put a plate in fridge for 10 minutes to cool. Pour a small blob of the liquid onto plate & return to fridge for a couple of minutes.. If liquid starts to crinkle, setting point has been reached).
5. Allow to cool slightly before potting into washed warm dry jars.


GRAPEFRUIT MARMALADE
Use 2 grapefruit, 2 lemons , and proceed with recipe as above.

ORANGE MARMALADE (Seville or Ordinary)
Use 3 oranges, 1 lemon & proceed with recipe as above.

FOUR FRUIT CITRUS MARMALADE
Use 1 orange (any type), 1 grapefruit, 1 lemon, 1 lime & proceed as above.



LEMON MARMALADE

4 medium lemons
850 ml (1 ½ pints) water
1 ½ kg (3 lb) Sugar

Proceed as for 3 fruit marmalade.

STRAWBERRY, RASPERRY OR BLACKBERRY JAM (or combination of soft fruit such as BLACKBERRY, BLACKCURRENT, REDCURRANT, GOOSEBERRY ETC.)
1 lb soft fruit.
1 tablespoon lemon juice
12 oz sugar

1. Hull strawberries. Wash other fruit & put into 5 pint microwave-safe bowl with lemon juice.
2. Cook on HIGH for 4 –5 minutes or until fruit is soft. Add sugar & stir well.
3. Cook on HIGH 11 – 12 mins or until setting point is reached
4. Cool slightly before putting into clean warm jars.
5. Makes approx 1 lb.

PLUM JAM

2 lb of stoned plums
½ pint water
tablespoon Lemon Juice
2 lbs castor sugar (granulated is OK)

1. Place plums & water in large bowl. Cook on HIGH for 9 – 10 mins or until fruit is soft.
2. Add lemon juice & sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil and cook on HIGH until setting point is reach, 20 – 25 mins.
3. Allow to cool slightly before putting in clean warm jars
4. Makes approx 3 lb.

If making Damson jam, where stones are difficult to remove, cook the fruit and water until soft and remove all the stones before proceeding to add the lemon juice and sugar.

it looks like i will have a bumper crop of strawberries this year so going to have a go at making jam if any one has a good method to help me that would be great, i pickle my beetroots and will be freezing some of my peas ready for xmas dinner.

what a plank i didnt see the previous post

I also have a dryer to use this year, might start with my herbs. The rattatuille I bottled last year was delicious, have used it hot and it makes a nice pasta salad cold. The fruit in alcohol was good too, nice with icecream, mousse etc.

Hi Hannabuss, they are usually preserved in oil here is a link for you.

http://allthingssicilianandmore.blogspo ... erved.html

We freeze lots of fruit - we have too much to eat fresh - sometimes the fruit is left whole (gooseberries/blackcurrants etc) or chopped (plums etc.) but some fruit such as strawberries isn't good frozen this way so we make a compote and freeze that. This way we use less sugar than jams. Sometimes the compote is the cooked type and other times we just sprinkle sugar over the fruit and leave it to go syrupy and then freeze

ooooh Ratatouille! that may be my favourite thing ever, so easy to make something tasty out of it. I want to make jars of that, I saw a little gardener shop and delicatessen in Paris where they sold little packs to make tasty meals, like risotto with arborio rice, dried porcini mushrooms, a stock cube and herbs, I was thinking this year of making Christmas presents all like that, using preserves from the garden