Green Tomato Relish

Recently one of my tomatoes was damaged in the wind, and I had a whole lot of green tomatoes.  This is also something that happens at the end of the season when the plants need to come out.  How to use them up?  Make a pickle, similar to the relishes used on hot dogs.  This is easy as anything to do.

The amount of capsicums you use can be varied, as also to onions.  If you want to keep it for  a long time leave out the garlic to avoid poisoning.  I used old pickle jars that I sterelised, but you can use canning jars also.

1 jar of cucumbers

I've gone pickle mad!  Here are two recipes for cucumbers when they are in abundance.  Seriously I think that my cucumber plants are in conspiracy.  I go out in the morning and the cucumbers are less than the length of my little finger, next day - enormous!  To use them up I keep my cucumber jars over winter and fill them up over summer.  These are refrigerator pickles, meaning they need to be kept in the fridge until used up.  - so don't make too many!

 

Bread and butter cucumbers is a simple and delicious recipe, you can make sliced cucumbers or spears, or if you have lots of tiny ones, leave them whole.  The fermented cucumber recipe is from my mother in law  (as remembered by Val!).  It originally comes from Ukraine. I now grow my own horseradish just for the leaves! 

 

Fermented food is very good for you, but MUST be eaten fairly quickly.  Unlike the bread and butter cucumbers, these will not keep for long as they contain garlic.  If garlic is not handled correctly it can cause botulism, not something anyone wants.  So, make them, leave them on the shelf for 2 days, open them and put them in the fridge, eat over the next 2 weeks.  Any longer and I would throw them out.  (or leave out the garlic!).  For a great article on these cucumbers read the interesting blog post here by FoodieUkraine.com. 

 

 

Pickled Yellow Pepper Rings

We went on a cruise across the south Pacific, and my husband had these in salads.  He loves them so I have been looking for a recipe, and found one at the National Centre for Home Food Preservation.  Its easy to do and works a treat.  You do need to preserve these, so you will need the right equipment.

Here is how they turned out:

Sylvia Heard's famous choko pickles.

Seriously, mum was famous for these pickles.  When I was young we had a choko vine, so we used those, and I vividly remember helping dad by picking them up off the ground and putting the chokos into buckets.  As mum got older she moved and simply bought her chokos.   Dad used to help mum make many bottles of these pickles, and later in life he helped by chopping the vegetables in a blender for mum to then cook.

Mums maiden name was Heard, her married name Clark, but I decided to call them after her maiden name.  She used to give them to everyone we knew in the neighborhood, and be asked if she had any extra often.    Be warned they are addictive.

There is only 15 minutes of cooking time but the pickles are made over two days.  On the first day its cutting and soaking.  The next day is cooking, making the pickle mixture, combine and cook.  Then bottle.

The   measurements are exactly as she gave them to me.

Mum and dad, taken around 1950

Ron and Sylvia Clark.

Green Mango Chutney

So, here is the thing, there a at least a million mango chutney recipies out there! 

The mango has to be green, but not rock-hard.  Fortunately my mangoes seem to work well as they are green but go a little soft.  You will just have to try them out for yourself to see what works for you.
Also, make one batch and see what you like about the spice, this can be adjusted to suite your own taste.

This is an Indian style chutney, there is also a Thai style that uses tamarind paste, I will post it later.

Warning:
Keep your hands wet when peeling, or put on rubber gloves so the sap of the mangoes does not affect your skin. The sap can be caustic.

 

 Green Mango Chutney

Rating : Moderate

Ingrediants

•  4 cups green (underipe)  mangoes, peeled, seeded, cut into strips or chunks
• 3 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 cups white or brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes - or fresh chilli to taste.
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 cardamom pods
• 4 cardamom seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 whole cloves
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 5 black peppercorns, crushed

  Method

1.  Place the mango into a large pot. Crush the ginger and garlic using a mortar and pestle until they become a smooth paste and add to the mangoes. Stir in the sugar, salt, chilli flakes, cumin, cardamom pods and seeds, cinnamon stick and cloves. Cover and leave to stand at room temperature overnight.
2. The next day, place the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Make sure your mangoes are cooked to your satisfaction at this stage, as once the vinegar is added they do not cook much more.
3. Stir in the vinegar and peppercorns and cook for 1 minute more. Cool before filling into sterilised jars.

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I have included another recipie that I have not yet tried, but it sounds great:

Grandma Sheldrake's mango chutney recipe.

It was a prize winner at the Sydney Royal Show for years.

MANGO CHUTNEY.

12 large green mangoes.

1 tablespoon ground ginger. 

500g brown sugar.

4 red chillies.

1 tablespoon salt.

1 tablespoon mustard.

1 cup treacle. 

500g pound chopped raisins or sultanas

1 large onion, chopped.

few pieces green ginger. 

750 ml mild vinegar.

Peel and slice mangoes and boil until soft in half the vinegar, together with other ingredients EXCEPT sugar.

Make a syrup with the sugar and rest of vinegar.

Add the mango and boil all till fully thickened.

Bottle when cold.

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Pear, Apple & Saffron chutney

Thanks to Gordon Ramsey for this one.  I have never seen chutney be devoured at our house before.  This recipie makes about 1 - 1/2 of those big jars you get Polish cucumbers in.  I don't know how long it lasts, as it goes in a couple of weeks at our house.  Once you make it, leave it for at least a week to mature.

Make sure the pears you use are very firm, not soft, and use the best quality saffron you can afford.  I am lucky enough to have some from Spain and some even better quality that my son bought me in Egypt.  The better the saffron, the more of an earthy quality the chutney seems to have.  Also, if you like your chutney hot, just throw in some dried chilli.  I find that Gordon Ramsay is brilliant at mixing spices, and that the mix in this is just right for Christmas.

This tastes wonderful with ham.

Pear, Apple and Saffron Chutney

Rating : Easy to Moderate

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g knob of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ –1 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste
250g light unrefined soft brown sugar
250ml white wine vinegar
4 firm pears (such as Williams), about 650g
1 small cooking apple, about 350g, peeled, cored and chopped
125g sultanas
2 pinches of saffron strands
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 small oranges
2 tomatoes, diced

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the onion and sweat for a few minutes with a touch of seasoning - to soften but not colour. Add the grated ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Sauté for another 1–2 minutes. Add the sugar and stir over a medium heat until it has dissolved, then add the wine vinegar.


Peel, core and chop the pears and apple. Add to the pan with the sultanas, saffron and orange zest and juice. Bring to the boil and boil steadily for about 15 minutes, until the liquid has reduced down to a syrupy consistency and is thick and lovely.


Add the diced tomatoes and cook for a few minutes, by which time the chutney should be well reduced and thickened. Taste and adjust the seasoning with a little salt and pepper.
While still hot, spoon the chutney into clean, sterilised jars and seal. Store in a cool, dark cupboard or the fridge and use within 6 months – the flavour will improve with time.

 

Strawberry Jam

I make this jam when strawberries are cheap, and usually small and not overly ripe.  You can easily upscale the recipie just using the same proportions of equal weight jam and sugar.  In fact, this recipie works for any kind of soft fruit jam (e.g. not a marmalade).

Make sure you sterilise the jars first, I usually put them through the dishwasher (including lids) at its highest temperature the day before, then warm them in the oven at its lowest while making the jam.


I usually make only this amount, and then make some other jam for variety.  4 punnets makes me 5 of those skinny bottles of jam. Plenty for this family.

For more tips check out this link to the ABC : http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s3750221.htm

Strawberry Jam

Rating : Moderate

1kg - (4 punnets) of strawberries
1kg white sugar
1 lemon.

Take the stalks off the strawberries, if they are very large, cut them to a smaller size.  Put into a large heavy pan with the juice of 1/2 a lemon.  If you think it needs a little water, add only 1/4 cup of water.   Slowly bring to the boil.  Boil the fruit until it passes the following pectin test:

Pectin test:

In a small glass place 1tablespoon of mentholated spirits (yes!). Then place a small teaspoon of the jam mixture into the spirits and let it cool. It is at the right stage when it balls up into a jelly. This means the pectin is right and the jam will set correctly. You can add a little more lemon juice if it is not working well. If it just will not set you can add a little jam setter pectin that is available from most supermarkets.

Once the correct pectin is reached, add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved.  You can tell the jam is completely ready once it is reduced and 'blobs' off the spoon.

Pour the jam (careful it is hot!) into the warm jars, right to the top.  Cover with a piece of celephane and leave to cool completely - overnight.  Then put the lid on once it is cold.

Store in cool dry place.

Enjoy.