Rose-Hip Jelly

Photo courtesy of Photography by Sadiq

Here's another foraged recipe made using rose-hips and apples or pears all of which grow in an abundance during autumn months. This recipe is a great way to use up foods that are most likely growing on your street or in the yard. However if you can't be bothered making jelly you can always pop into Kaffeine and buy a couple jars to get you through the winter.

1kg rose-hips
4kg quince pears or crab apples
1 lemon
Granulated sugar

Method:
Place rose-hips and pears or apples in a large pot and pour in water until fruit is just covered. Put pot over a high heat and bring to a simmer, once simmering leave to cook for 20 minutes. Line a large colander strainer with muslin cloth and place over a large bowl of pot. Once the fruit is mushy and has started to disintegrate pour the fruit into the strainer and leave uncovered to drain for 8 hours or over night.

Remove the muslin and strainer and discard the pulp, then measure the liquid: for every litre you will need 750g sugar. Place liquid  sugar and juice of lemon in a large pot and place over a high heat, bring to the boil then cook for 30-40 minutes. Place a small sauce in the fridge to cool completely as this will be used to test setting point of the jelly. To see if the jelly is ready, pour a tablespoon of jelly on cold saucer and place back in the fridge for one minute, then run your finger through the middle. If the jelly wrinkles and doesn't merge back together, the jelly is ready.

Pour into sterilised jars and screw on lids while still hot, leave jelly to set for 3 days before using.

Rose-Hip Sauce

Rose-hip berries look like cherry tomatoes but taste very similar to strawberries when cooked with a little sugar. They also contain a lot of grainy seeds which are edible but not very pleasant so I tend to sieve out the seeds and add a couple to the sauce at the end for contrast. Rose-hip sauce is lovely on ice cream or stirred into porridge, I even use it as a base for salad dressing. If stored in a cool, dark place unopened this sauce will last up to 3 months.

1kg rose-hip berries
500g sugar
1 lemon, juiced

METHOD:
Put rose-hips in a large heavy based saucepan add sugar, lemon juice and 200ml water. Place over a high heat and bring to the boil, cook for around 15 minutes until the flesh and seeds start to break up into a pulp. Remove from heat and pass rose-hips through fine sieve and pour into warm sterilised jars then screw on the lid tight and leave for a day before using.

Peche de Vigne Conserve

Recently I've been receiving blood peaches or peche de vigne from France, which has a red marbled flesh and more robust furry skin compared to regular peaches. The flesh is slightly floury and grainy in it raw state, almost like a pear. But when stewed properly they are vibrant and full of flavour, blood peaches make a great conserve which has less sugar but can be used as a spread or stirred into porridge or natural yoghurt. The best part is if prepared properly this conserve can be stored for up to a year in a cool, dark environment.

1kg blood peaches or peche de vigne
650g sugar
1 lemon, juiced

METHOD:
Slice peaches in half and remove the stone, then cut each half into quarters. Place cut peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle over sugar, cover bowl with cling film and leave to sit for 24 hours.
After 24 hours put peaches in a large sauce pan with lemon juice and place over high heat. Bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes, do not stir as this will break up the flesh. Turn the heat down to medium and cook for another 15 minutes.
While the conserve is still hot, carefully ladle into sterilised jars, making sure you get even amount of peach and liquid per jar. Screw on the lid while still hot and leave the conserve for at least 2 days before opening.

Damson Jam

The next three recipes on my blog are a bit of a autumnal plum special. Two of my favourite fruits are in season and they both happen to be plums damson and greengage. The harvest is very short on these kinds of plum so you'd better be quick and source them if want to make these recipes.

In another note, my lovely friend Etienne who has been taking all my pictures for this blog has had to stop due to his busy schedule on a fashion magazine and producing music. He's been getting up at the time rock stars go to bed to come take pictures at Kaffeine, for that I'm eternally grateful and happy. His skills, friendship and dedication has been amazing.

Sadiq, who originally put my blog together, encouraged me to write down all my recipes is back and he's taken a fresh batch of super lovely pictures for everyone's viewing pleasure. So expect to see some extra little features and a makeover shortly. In the mean time let's go bats over plums.

1.2kg damson plums, washed
1kg sugar
1 lemon

Method:
Put plums in a large heavy-based saucepan and place over a low-medium heat, stir every now and then so the plums don't burn to the bottom of the pan. Once the plums have started to break down and are lightly simmering, add the juice of the lemon and sugar. Turn up the heat to high, stir gently and leave to cook for about 25 minutes. Place a small saucer in the fridge to chill, you will need this to test setting point once jam is cooked. Stir the jam once in while to prevent burning, but try to resist the urge to continuously stir the jam as this will affect the setting. To test if the jam is ready, spoon a small amount onto the chilled saucer and leave in the fridge for 1 minute, then run your finger through the jam. If the jam wrinkles and doesn't merge back together then it's ready. Pour the jam through a fine sieve and using a wooden spoon push through the flesh and discard the stones. Then ladle the jam into sterilised jars and screw on the lids while still warm. Leave to set for a couple of days before using.

Carrot Marmalade

A revived version of one of my older recipes, like most things I cook over time evolution kicks in and I find ways to improve on the original. I first tasted this jam whist working in the Sahara, some of the local Berber people ate it on there version of a pan-cake. At first I wasn't sure what it was but after some miscommunication I learnt the vibrant orange colour came from carrots. Since I've developed my own version and has become a signature item on all the tables in Kaffeine.

1 kg peeled and grated carrots
3 un-waxed lemons
3 oranges
1 liter water
1 kg granulated sugar

METHOD:
Place the carrots and water into a large heavy based pot, using a peeler peel skin off the lemons and oranges, roughly slice peel and add to the pot. Over a strainer squeeze the juice out of the oranges and lemons and pour into pot.  Keeping the seeds and pith place in muslin cloth and tie into a tight bundle and lastly add to the carrot and citrus mixture. Place pot over a high heat and bring to a simmer, once simmering turn the heat down slightly and cooking for 1 hour.
After the hour is up remove the muslin bundle, add sugar and turn up the heat, once rapidly boiling cook marmalade for 20 minutes. To test if marmalade is ready place a tablespoon of jam on a cold plate and leave to cool for 1 minutes then run your finger through the middle of marmalade if the jam doesn't merge back together it is then ready. Carefully pour the marmalade into sterilized jars and cover with lids, leave marmalade to cool and set for a couple of days before using.