Chilly Zucchini n Swede Ferment

Lots ov zucs around at this time so decided to do a wild ferment this morning, mum also has some big swedes in her garden that I was freezing for her today so nicked a few bits for my ferment. Last night I made a zucchini slice for her n dad for their lunches, it looked good but I didn’t try it coz it had ham n cheese in it but they liked it. Making curried zuc soups later on as well……….

I grated a large zuc n a bit ov swede to this I added Puha (Sonchus oleraceus), chilly flakes, dried kelp (seaweed), mustard n sea salt.

I massaged all this togetha n stuffed it into a jar pushing down until liquid covered the vegetable matter n then I weighed it down with my pebbles. For the first few days I used extra weight ie here a smaller bottle with water in it that sits in tha bigger jar, once it settles more n I’m sure everything is gonna stay under liquid I remove extra weight n cover tha jar with a cloth just to stop insects havin a snak n I will let this sit checking for readiness in a coupler weeks.

I think this will be good on sourdough n farm fresh eggs I can’t wait until it is ready 🙂

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Stone fruit haul n first Blackberries for tha season

Well it is coming to tha end ov summer here in trouwunna/Tasmania not that there was much ov a summer but there has bin plenty ov yummy fruits around, this week I picked another big lot of tha prune plums n they are everywhere on my van dash drying plus I bought another lot of green gages from tha local market as well.

The green gage leathers turned out fantastic, they took awhile to dry because ov tha weather n they were real thick, I’m just letting them sit in tha sun 2day n I will roll n store them, tomorra I will put down anotha batch n unfortunately I think this will be tha last green gages unless I’m lucky that is, I love green gages.

I recon I have dried in end weight about 4kg ov plum leathers which is a lot ov fresh fruit because it at least halves in weight wen drying, so I will be enjoying plum leathers 4 months to come in tha tropics, n let me tell ya look out mangoes wen I get back up north, I didn’t do mango leathers up there last season but I will be doing a lot next season. I think it is my favorite way to preserve fruits now, no added sugar which is fantastic.

Along tha road on tha way back to my mums place between my grandfathers place n hers it is about a 35km stretch ov road n there is a lot ov what I pick each season on just this bit ov road.

I also picked a small basket ov white peaches tha last ov them I recon n I picked 2 punnets ov blackberries for a crumble, tha blackberries closer to mums are ripening now but further up the valley around where I used to live I still have a couple weeks before they are ready.

 

We have nearly eaten all tha peaces they are so sweet n don’t sit around for to long, I made a nice blackberry n green gage crumble last night that we all enjoyed n today I made sloe plum jam for tha first time.

I vaguely remember my grandmother talking about tha small very dry n tart plums on tha prickly bushes along tha sides ov tha roads here as we drove past them to go fishing a few times, I had tasted one n they were terrible so I never tried to cook with them n also there were so many other better or so I thought fruits around, until today.
I was checking out the pears to see if they were ready early but not yet n on tha way back to tha van I passed a bramble ov sloe plums they look amazing n I thought I have to try making jam out ov them. I have tried a friends sloe gin n it was to die for but I don’t drink that much so not really interested in making that but jam is another matter.

 

I picked a small basket just to try before picking heaps more, I pitted them this morning n cooked them just like any other dryer plum adding a bit of water to loosen them up. The color that developed was amazing maybe the prettiest deep burgundy red/purple I have ever seen. The jam turned out great n I had it on a proper rye sourdough just now with a cuppa tea, the bread is from Pigeon Whole Bakery in Hobart (best sourdough in tha country).

I will wait until they are a bit ripper before I pick tha next lot they recon if you leave them until tha first frost they loose some of there bitterness, I don’t think they are bitter it is more a dry tartness to me but I don’t think they were as ripe as they could have been n I want to see how much difference a couple ov weeks makes n then I will freeze them because I read something that says this helps fake a frost.

Oh n ya can see the sun dried plums in the picture above they still need a few days n then I will put them in a syrup.

Well thats it for now enjoy 🙂

 

Kraut n about n silly buggaz

So this week I got a batch ov green gage plum leathers down they r still drying I made them real thick, so am hoping tha sun stays out. I’ve also got a small amount ov prune plums drying they were a bit on tha green side n I wasn’t sure how they would work but they r sooooo good.

I am drying them in full sun n if you haven’t done it before it looks a bit worrying because they are virtually cooking then drying, it is very different than drying in the shade or a dehydrator, I have done it once before n I loved it, I will keep some just stored dried n I will like last time put some in jars, pour ova a sugar syrup n hot bath them for 20 minutes. They come out plump sweet n intense.

Mum had a couple cabbages in her garden that she said I could use so I made a chilly sauerkraut out ov one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First I chopped (this time finer than usual becoz I want it quicker) tha cabbage n then I layered the cabbage chilly flakes n salts into my jar, I used normal sea salt n my special salt you can add what ever you like to it.

In between layers I pounded the lot with my rolling pin, once I finished all the cabbage I pushed it all down under tha liquid, I then put my pebbles on top to hold the vegetable matter under the liquid then I put anotha weight on top ov the pebbles for good measure. In a few days I removed the extra weight leaving tha pebbles on top n I placed a lid loosely on tha jar, this will sit in a cupboard until ready maybe a couple weeks, I will keep checkin everything is under the liquid n 4 readiness some people like their kraut softer n more well done than othas, I like mine still a bit crunchy.

Oh n as you can see there my dad thought it would be funny to stick his mug in tha shot…. n I said if that has come out clearish I’m gonna put it in my blog! So I did, see that’s wot hapin when ya muck around. 🙂

I am going to do more plums soon, I will do a better blog on them when I do.

Elderberry n Apricot, chilly n yellow plum jam

Ok it wasn’t such a good day for slavin ova a hot stove all day but it had to be done becoz I couldn’t fit all tha fresh fruit in my mums freezer.
I started off by making my first batch ov elderberry (Sambucus nigra) vinegar, I hope it turns out nice.

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) Vinegar

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) Pulp

Next I made elderberry  jam, I luv elderberry jam n even though it isn’t an easy one to make I always try to make at least one batch a year if they are around.

First I like to freeze them it makes it easier to get tha berry off tha stems (which are slightly toxic) so once frozen gently tickle tha berries off tha stems put into a pot n add like a cup ov water to get them going, boil these until tender then let them cool down a bit I then push them through a sieve, I use a wooden spoon n then my fingers to get every last bit of flesh I can.

Put tha flesh back into tha pot, add lemon juice or blended pith n juice n bring it back up to a boil then add your sugar, I use 1/3kg raw sugar to 1kg fruit flesh.

It turned out nice n thick it is one ov those jams dat can be a bit runny if ya don’t get it rite.

Next I made apricot, chilly n yellow plum jam, I had some yellow plum pulp left ova from setting down a new lot ov leathers today so I added this to tha last ov tha apricots n for extra kick I added some chilly. All the fruits n 1 cup ov lemon juice were boiled then tha sugar added, again I use tha 1/3 to 1 amounts n then bottled when ready about 20 minutes hard boil.

The leathers got a good skin on them today as it is very hot here finally…..YAH!!! so I’m hoping to get these done by Sunday to set down a green gage leather Yummmmmmm 🙂