There could be plums...

It might have seemed an odd concept to be selling plum produce on Apple Day last week.  But you see, even though the apple harvest has been the worst in fifteen years, it has been a very good year for plums.  And I am very impressed by our local independent greengrocers who have introduced a pick and mix approach.  You can end up with a assortment of plums, purple, golden and blue, with even the odd damson and greengage sneaking in: a bursting bagful of luscious jewel coloured fruit.

For the plum mincemeat recipe, I needed russet which again both Broadway Fruiterer and the Clock Tower Stores in Crouch End were able to provide.  This is the first of three recipes which honour three long standing divas of the kitchen: Pam the Jam from River Cottage, Delia and Mary Berry.  I had a slight problem with marketing my chutney as 'Delia's Plum Chutney' since several people asked me, if I was Delia. My mother always used to say Delia was my father's other woman, so you can see how monumentally she featured in my family life.  Mary Berry, precise,pleasant and seriously picky, is now a legend due to the Great Bake-Off.

Anyhow here's the recipes.

Delia's Plum Chutney

Since this comes from an old cookbook with a youthful page-boyed Delia on the cover, here's the original.  She attributes the recipe to an unknown great-grandmother, all part of its mysterious provenance.

Pam Corbin's Plum Mincemeat
1 kg plums
zest and juice of 2-3 oranges
500g Russet apples, peeled, cored and chopped 
200g currants
200g raisins
200g sultanas
100g orange marmalade
250g demerara sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 nutmeg, freshly grated
50ml ginger cordial, optional
100g chopped walnuts
50ml brandy or sloe gin

Makes 4 x 450g jars


Stone the plums, and cook them with the orange juice until tender. Blend in an electric processor or push through a sieve - you should end up with around 700ml plum puree.

Put into a large bowl with all of the other ingredients except the brandy or sloe gin. Cover and leave to stand overnight or for 12 hours.

Bake in a large baking dish for 2 to 21/2 hours at 130 deg C or Gas Mark 1/2. Remove from the oven, stir in the brandy or sloe gin, then pot into warm, sterilised jars, making sure there are no air pockets.

Store in a dry, dark place ready for Christmas. Use within 12 months


From Pam Corbin's Rivercottage Preserves Book, and published on www.jamjarshop.com

The final recipe follows on from the previous because let's face it, why make mince pies when you can buy them so cheap?  (No! No! No!) But if fiddling with pastry cases is too much then use the mincemeat to make Mary Berry's mincemeat loaf cake.  

Mary Berry covers all bases here by calling her recipe a loaf cake, a good tip because if the cake is too dry, stick some butter on it and call it a loaf!  She also reckons the ingredients will produce two cakes, but I found they turned out rather small. This is certainly because they didn't rise and you might want to add teaspoon of baking soda, when you sieve the dry ingredients.

I would also suggest committing to baking one cake and use a larger tin.

Mary Berry's Mincemeat Loaf Cakes

MAKES 2 LOAF CAKES

• 150g soft butter
• 150g light muscovado sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 225g self-raising flour

• 225g mincemeat
• 100g currants
• 100g sultanas
• 50g blanched split almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Grease two 450g loaf tins (top measurement 17cm x 11cm) and line with baking parchment. 
2. 
   
3. Measure all the ingredients, except for the almonds, into a large bowl and beat well until thoroughly blended. Turn into the prepared loaf tins and level out evenly. Arrange the almonds on top of each cake mixture.
4. 
   
5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1¼ hours or until the cakes are golden brown, firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
6. 
   
7. Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then loosen the sides with a small palette knife, turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool. 
8. 
   

TIP Making 2 loaf cakes at a time means you have one for now and one to freeze – often a life-saver when friends arrive without warning.

PREPARING AHEAD The cakes will keep for up to one week if wrapped tightly in clingfilm and stored in an airtight container. Or wrap the cakes and freeze for up to 2 months.

First published in YOU, Mail on Sunday

End of season tomato chutney

I mentioned earlier how I had made Nigel Slater's mixed tomato chutney, a combination of green and red tomatoes.  This weekend I cleared the last of the tomato plants from my own garden and the tyre garden I helped create at our local community centre.  With the recent sunny weather, a few of the most recalcitrant tomatoes managed to ripen nicely.  The community garden tomatoes had self-seeded from interesting varieties, which included some black tomatoes.  This all made for an interesting mix of colours and sweet and sour flavours.  On the down side, the ripe tomatoes rather had a tendency to burst, which meant it was impossible to scald them to remove the skins.  Never mind, this is a rustic chutney.

Ingredients
900g tomatoes, green and red
350g onions
90g raisins
250g light muscovado sugar
300ml white wine vinegar
1 medium sized, hot red chilli
1tsp of sald
2tsp of yellow mustard seeds (for my recipe I used brown)

Yield: I made twice the amount above and made just over 12 x 8oz jars of chutney. 

Cut up the tomatoes without peeling. 

Put the green fruit together with the peeled and roughly chopped onions, into a large stainless steel or enamelled pan, with the raisins, sugar, chilli, salt, mustard seeds and vinegar.

Bring to boil, turn down the heat, and leave to simmer for an one hour, giving an occasional stir to reduce the risk of the chutney sticking.

Note after about 25 minutes, add the ripe tomatoes and continue to simmer. until thick and golden brown.  Remove the bag of chillies.

Spoon into sterilised jars, and seal.