MARROW/GINGER PRESERVE AND GREEN TOMATO MARMALADE

I've just checked in here and realised it's been 10 months since last post.  Where did that time go?  This is not good.  Did warn you I was rubbish, but I'm on an organising streak at the moment, so going to give it another go.

It's that time of year again for courgettes, marrows and tomatoes.  There has been a serious issue with blight this year, both in potatoes and tomatoes, which makes sense when you realise they are part of the same family.  I've been lucky so far in not getting either in my garden, but that doesn't mean that I won't. So with that in mind, here's a couple of preserves to make using green tomatoes and marrows. Both from the wonderful Preserving book by Oled Schwartz

The Book

Marrow and Ginger Preserve

1.5kg marrow, peeled, cored and cut into cubes

1kg preserving or granulated sugar

500ml of water

juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes

5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely shredded

grated lemon zest or lime zest from above

1tbsp of orange flower water (optional) ((I used a 1tbsp of orange essence))

1. Put the cubed marrow into a large pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 mins until marrow starts to soften.  Drain thoroughly.

2. Put all the remaining ingredients into a preserving pan.  Bring to the boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. 

3. Boil for a few minutes and then add the marrow.  Return to the boil and then reduce to simmer for approximately 2-2.5 hours until marrow translucent and syrup thick.

4. Place into sterilised jars and seal. 

It will be ready straight away, but improves with keeping.  Should make about 1.5kg of preserve and keeps for 2 years unopened. 

I only made half the quantity as I only had one marrow that was of average size.  I use it in cakes, on toast, in yogurt.  It's very sweet, but definitely an alternative to stuffed marrow. 🤣

Green Tomato and Orange Marmalade

4 large sweet oranges

2 lemons

1kg of green tomatoes

750ml of water

1kg of preserving or granulated sugar

1.5tbsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed (I have done this recipe without these in the past)

1. Cut the oranges into slices, remove the pips and set aside.

2. Squeeze the juice from the lemons and add the pips to the orange pips in a piece of muslin.

3. Put the tomatoes and the oranges through a food processor until finely chopped.  You can do this by hand; just made sure it is finely chopped. (I have done this when I didn't have a food processor)

4. Place the chopped tomato, orange, water and the muslin bag with the pips inside into a preserving pan.  Bring to the boil, reduce heat and then simmer for about 45 minutes until orange peel is soft.

5. Add the sugar and the lemon juice to the pan, stirring until sugar has dissolved.

6. Bring to the boil again and boil over a medium heat for approximately 30-35 mins, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thick and leaves a clear channel when a wooden spoon is drawn through. In other words, ensure there is no runny liquid.

7. Remove pan from heat, allow to cool a little, skim if necessary and remove the muslin bag of pips. Stir through the coriander seeds and ladle into hot sterilised jars and seal.

Should make approx 2kg of marmalade and will store for a year unopened.

Honestly, it is delicious.  Doesn't sound right, but it works.  I use it on toast like ordinary marmalade, but also as a filling for gram flour cake.  The earthiness of the gram flour with the slightly bitter marmalade is a great combination. 

I hope these are useful. xx

 A week of organising for me this week. I decided to set aside specific days for specific things so that, hopefully, I wouldn't forget anything.  Kept my trusty Hinch List book nearby so I could add if anything popped into my head.

Monday's are always a bit chaotic as I tend to do phone calls so I know they are done and my veg box is delivered meaning I clean out the fridge. Sorting the fridge is always a fun activity. Finding out what's leftover from last week, what veggies need using up, checking dates on things found at the back and giving everything a really good sort out and wash down.  Deodorised and cleaned out the overflow at the back of the fridge which was pretty gross 😂

I decided that a bit of garden every day would also be a good idea as I'm a tad behind on some areas including bulb planting. So I spent an hour outside de-weeding the woodland area, cutting back the nettles and raking the freshly dug bit so it was level. Never get rid of your nettles! Good for wildlife, young shoots are fantastic in soups and, when dried, make a brilliant tea. I got a tad muddy!!

Made the Christmas cake finally!! Been soaking for days, but as it was pretty much pure alcohol it was soaking in, it was fine. Trying a new recipe and if it tastes good, I'll post it up another time.

Dinner was a lentil and spinach flan/tart with parmesan and herb gluten free pastry. Recipe below.

Tuesday was garden day proper. Got all the bulbs planted in the woodland area; blue and white muscari, white narcissus and white alliums. I already have English bluebells and dwarf narcissus in there.  It's a patch of the garden I really want to concentrate on next year. Also lugged 5 x 40l of peat free compost up onto the lawn and raked thinly over the area where I want wildflowers. I didn't dig it over as there are already some wildflowers in there.  To be honest our grass is pretty patchy and full of moss, but I encourage the daisies and dandelions. I've already put in some bulbs and threw on some odds and ends of flower seed packets and I'll be scattering yellow rattle (controls grass), a couple of bags of beebombs,