little gems

There will not be any photos here for a couple of weeks I’m afraid, as my camera is on hols with my daughter in Mexico…

God-it seems strange not having any photos to post.

I haven’t been harvesting much apart from the courgettes. That’s all really. BLOODY COURGETTES. Can you tell I’m getting a wee bit tired of them?

We have had them roasted, barbecued, a sort of omelette thing y with cheese, chips and in a last ditch attempt to use them up; chutney. I have made three jars of each of these recipes and next on my list is some courgette jam..

Notes: needs three months to mature and lastly.

Please don’t hold me responsible if your home smells like a chip shop!
*Tips for making Chutney*
The method varies a little but mostly it simply requires preparing the ingredients and cooking till thick. This can take some considerable time, in the region of an hour or even longer.

To check that it is ready, pull a wooden spoon across the surface of the pan; it should leave a trail in the mixture.

When ready, pot in warmed jars. Put wax circles on immediately after wiping off any spills. Cover when completely cold.

A word of warning, cellophane covers obtained for jam-making are not suitable as they do not prevent the vinegar from evaporating thus allowing the chutney to dry out. Beware also of metal lids with no coating. I use jars with vinegar-proof lids which I’ve collected by buying commercial products with a vinegar content. Even these deteriorate over time as the acid breaks through the coating and attacks the metal.

*Courgette chutney*
1 ½ pounds Courgettes; thickly sliced
2 tablespoon Salt
8 ounce Chopped onion
3 Cloves garlic; chopped
12 ounce Muscovado sugar
1 ½ pint Red wine vinegar
8 ounce Raisins
1 tablespoon Coriander seed; lightly crushed
2 tablespoon Brown mustard seeds
1 tablespoon Fresh root ginger; peeled and chopped
2Dried chillies

Sprinkle the courgettes with half the salt and leave to drain in a colander overnight. Next day, rinse, drain and pat dry.(I cut the courgettes a bit smaller at this stage - they tend not to break up during cooking). Put into a heavy pan with the onion, garlic, remaining salt, sugar, vinegar and cook gently for about 15 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the vegetables have softened. Add the raisins, spices, ginger and chillies, stir well and cook at a steady simmer for another 25 minutes or until mixture is thick, stirring frequently. (I tend to cook it longer than that) Take it out and stir half way through the cooling time. Put into warm dry jars. Makes 3 medium 1lb jars.
Serve this chutney with cold lamb, or with a lamb curry. It also makes a good glaze for roast shoulder of lamb,. Just spoon over the roast about 20 mins before the end of cooking time.

*Courgette Chutney #2*
Ingredients
4 lb courgettes
2lb 8oz onions
2lb 8oz brown sugar
Large piece of fresh ginger
1/2 tspn pepper
2 pints malt vinegar
2 heads of garlic
2lb 8oz tomatoes
1 tspn cayenne pepper
2 tspn salt
Method
Chop all the vegetables, add vinegar, sugar and spices and bring slowly to the boil, stirring now and again. If the courgettes have a tough skin, you can peel them and compost the skins.
Simmer for about two hours (don’t forget to stir as it will stick) until thick.

Pour into heated jars and seal.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 at 11:25 pm and is filed under In the kitchen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.