Harvest time? Reap the rewards for months with these recipes for pickles and jams.
Sweet and hot tomato chilli jam
Eat this with everything from cheese on toast to ramen soup.
Sweet chilli chicken wings
Kimchi
This is a staple food in Korea.
Kimchi fried rice with a fried egg
Pickled beetroot
Almost all vegetables can be pickled with a spiced vinegar brine, and the sugar and salt contents can be adapted according to how naturally sweet the produce is. You can peel, slice, dice, cut, disc, baton or grate your vegetables as you wish.
Roast butternut, pickled beetroot, feta and puy lentil salad
Pickled cherries
Pickled fruits can be added to sweet or savoury dishes alike. In desserts, they take the sweet edge off a dish; in savouries, you get the sweetness from the fruit and sharpness from the vinegar. Fruit pickles generally don’t keep as well as vegetable ones, so store in the fridge to preserve them better.
Pickled cherry and matcha friands
Raspberry and elderflower jam
Don’t overcook your jam if you like a softer texture.
Raspberry jam and peanut butter brownies
Blackberry and apple chutney
Chicken liver with pâté chutney and brioche toast
Preserving know-how
Sterilising jars
Wash jars and lids in hot soapy water, then rinse in hot water and drip-dry upside down. Next, place them right-side up in a 100C/80C fan/gas 1⁄4 oven for at least 20 minutes before you start cooking. For jam and chutneys, fill hot jars straight from the oven. For pickling, cool sterilised jars before filling. You can also put your jars and lids in a dishwasher; however, they will need to be rinsed with hot water afterwards as dishwasher rinse aid can leave a residue that can act as a possible contaminant.
The wrinkle test
Timings for jam differ, depending on the fruit pectin levels, the pan you are using, the heat source and even the room temperature – so use your eyes and instinct to make a judgment. I find the wrinkle test the most reliable way to tell if jam is at the desired set. Before cooking place several small saucers in the freezer. When ready to test, remove the pan from the heat, take one of the saucers from the freezer, drop a quarter teaspoon of jam on to it and place in the fridge for 1 minute (this mimics the cooling process). Remove the saucer and gently push the jam. There should be a hard or soft wrinkle on the surface for a hard or soft set. Not all fruits will ever make it to a hard set, creating an obvious wrinkle. So with a soft set, scoop it up with the forefinger and allow it to drip off – you want a slow drip. If not at the desired set, return to the heat and test again until it is.
Now buy the book
Our recipes are from The Modern Preserver’s Kitchen by Kylee Newton, which will be published on 30 September by Quadrille, price £22. To preorder a copy for £18.70 until 3 October, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193. Free UK delivery on orders over £20.
