Plum & Apple Chutney - maybe a little early

So, we got back from our holiday in Alnwick yesterday to find lots of ripe plums and cooking apples. I know it's August, but the combination of the cold winter, lots of rain and then plenty of sunshine has super-charged the ripening of our fruit. I've added a picture of the plums, not that you don't know what a plum is, more I am really pleased about this year's harvest.

Also in the garden we have damsons that a little tart at the moment and some ready to eat blackberries.

With all of this fruit, we couldn't let it go to waste so we decided to make some chutney. This morning I spent some time searching the Internet for some interesting recipes and happened upon a couple, one from Pam Corbin via Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and the other on the bbcgoodfood website. I've ended up blending the two together due to the availability of the other ingredients in our larder.

The recipe that I've gone for in the end is

1kg plums, quartered and stoned
1.5kg apples, peeled, cored and diced
500g onions
100g stoned prunes, roughly chopped
100g raisins
500g dark muscovado sugar
450ml cider vinegar or white-wine vinegar
Salt
For the spice bag
3 star anise
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp smoked cracked black pepper
1 cinnamon stick

Once everything had been prepared, I put all of the ingredients into the largest pan that we have (note to self - stop being so frugal and buy a preserving pan!), brought to the boil and now it's on simmer.

It's been on simmer for the past hour and a quarter. This blog is taking a little bit longer to write as I need to keep nipping off to stir the pan to prevent it from sticking on the bottom. It's reducing quite nicely at the moment.

Whilst it's cooking I'd like to mention Harrison & Dunn our local hardware shop in south Lincolnshire. So traditional that I think that this is the closest that they've got to an Internet presence (I can't find any others), but they have everything you could ever need! What size of preserving jar do you need? Do you need any muslin, replacement jar seals, wax discs? You name, they've got it! Sorry, got to go and give it another stir...

I'll add to this post once I've started to fill the preserving jars with the chutney.

Now all done. Ladled into sterilised jars and put away for a couple of months or so...

Curing bacon

My interest in curing, smoking, preserving  and pickling foods began a few years ago. Various events along the way such as eating cured brisket in North Carolina at the Country Boy BBQ, regularly popping up to our local farm shop to buy various items and a couple of attempts at Gravadlax fed (awful pun I know) this interest. So where could I start without burning holes in the bottom of large pans or setting fire to the house by building a cold smoker that becomes a hot smoker? The answer seemed to be to try and cure some bacon.

First attempt:

After reading up about the quantities of salt, sugar and saltpetre (seemingly known as Prague Powder) that needed to be carefully blended I opted for the easy way out by buying ready mixed cure from Amazon Bacon Cure . I bought a cheap piece of belly pork and rubbed the required amount of cure into it before placing it in a sealed container and then putting it in the fridge. There it stayed for five days (couldn't wait any longer!). During this time the curing process was clearly in action as fluid was collecting in the bottom of the container. 

After the five days the 'bacon' was removed from the container, washed to remove any residues of the cure and patted dry. It was then sliced before being dry fried - no oils used at all. The slices were flipped regularly to prevent burning, 'flipped regularly' is a euphemism for manically turning the slices over every 15 seconds or so as I didn't want to see my first bacon get burned to a cinder!!

So how did it taste? Just like I remember bacon as a child, slightly salty and wonderful to eat. I know that it seems de rigeur to have a photo on a page such as this but suffice to say that the remaining slices of bacon didn't last long enough to pose.

Second attempt:

The whole process was repeated, but this time it was only left for four days to cure so that I could taste the difference of the effect of different cure lengths. The result was a sweeter less salty version. I think that the kids preferred this but personally I prefer it slightly saltier.

The next attempt will use a six day curing period, let's see how this affects the taste.

Hot smoked salmon - Part 1

We're on holiday in Alnwick at the moment and last Saturday we went to the market in the town. There was a fishmonger selling Hot Smoked Salmon. Had to try some, it was delicious. I asked the fishmonger for the recipe and this is what I can remember 

1. Place salmon fillets in brine (I assume 80%) for 10 minutes

2. Cure overnight in brown sugar

3. Dry

4. Cold smoke overnight

5. Hot smoke (don't know for how long)

6. Finish off by cooking in the oven (again don't know for how long)

If I get to trying to cook some Hot Smoked Salmon then I'll post my findings here. If in the meantime anyone knows more details or has a proven process then I would welcome your experience.