Crab apple jelly

Over the last month or so I've been given large quantities of gathered fruit. It has been wonderful to receive, quinces, figs, feijoas, granny smith apples and on a chance conversation, a huge bag of freshly picked crab apples.
I was so pleased to receive the latter as I have never made crab apple jelly before and have longed to make some. In the past I have been put off making any sort of jelly as I had been told it could be a long tricky business waiting for the liquid to drip through a muslin, while hoping that the jelly did not became opaque in the process and of course finally set as it should.
My generous donor assured me that all you needed was a very large new Chux type cloth ( a trip to buy muslin was not required) and a really big pot (I used my preserving pan).
I used Mrs Google to find a local recipe and discovered this good one from Jonny Schwass, the well known chef from Canterbury. You can find it here on the RNZ website.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/collections/recipes/crab-apple-jelly

The recipe is so easy, but do allow a day to get it all done!! I was so thrilled with the result, the man of the house has eaten nearly a whole jar in less than a week! I will also look for recipes where my crab apple jelly can be used as a glaze etc.

It took a while to remove all the stalks!

Dripping nicely

The final result

Apples, plums, peaches and pioneer women

I can't help myself, I hate to see something nice wasted and if I can make something out of nothing I will give it a go. It is in my DNA and for those of you who knew my Mother well, you would entirely understand what I mean. I love to give gifts from my garden produce and cooking labours and I am always equally happy to receive them in return! This week has been full of funny little incidences that have resulted in such fabulous tasty gifts.
My sister-in-law gave me a jar labelled Free Plum jam, I thought it was a type of plum until it clicked! Silly me. She is a woman clearly in sync with my values and knew we would enjoy such a lovely 'free' tangy spread on our breakfast toast. Fabulous!
Chatting at the gate with my neighbour I noted her lovely little apple tree (once laden with large red apples) was now completely bare of fruit. The previous season I had carte blanche to help myself while minding the chooks and said the apples made a beautiful Tarte Tatin. My neighbour said for such a small tree that must have harvested at least 30 apples. Later in the day a bag full of the same beautiful cooking apples appeared at my door. I made a 'cheats' Tarte Tatin, baked in my small enamel dish. Fabulous!

'cheats' Tarte Tatin

Which leads me to another delight.
It can be said I am a very observant dog walker, mainly on the lookout for wild looking young frisky dogs who can make our dowager one very nervous and unfriendly. It was during one of these walks I noted a tree dropping peaches all over a steep grassy bank near the footpath. Not something you see much nowadays. Looking up, the tree was laden and I assumed someone would soon be picking them. Not so, and on a another daily circuit I could not help myself and quickly filled a bag of the windfalls to take home. Once all the bruised and grubby bits were chopped away and stones removed, a little raw sugar added, they boiled into two cups of delicious stewed peaches. One cup for Peach muffins, one cup drizzled with runny cream for dessert. Fabulous!

And to finish my funny week of tasty gifts, the last bits of harvest from my carrot and beetroot crop (pathetic due to lack of moisture) were roasted with balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, tossed with wild rocket and cherry tomatoes. It had to be one of the tastiest lunches I have made for myself in a while.

A few weeks ago during a discussion with a friend with an interest in Numerology, I was told I have had many incarnations - I am sure one of them was a Pioneer woman, always providing a meal for her family the best way she can!

Fruity Tea Loaf

I was lucky enough to meet Julie Le Clerc recently which gave me the opportunity to say how much I enjoyed her recipes and confessing (really hope I did not gush too much!) that I owned a number of her wonderful books. All of them are well used which is not always the case with cooking books. I have a number of favourite recipes and this Fruity Tea Loaf post today is one of them. It is so simple to make and the result is always the same - a lovely moist fruit loaf - delicious buttered but also fine on its own. I like to bite into the chunky, slightly sour bits of apricot and the sweet soft sultanas (the child in me I guess). 

I remember my mother used to make lovely fruit loaves with whatever dried fruit she had in her cupboard, always soaking the fruit in hot water, but this loaf has that extra special touch with the nice herbal tea flavour. I use a Lemon and Ginger herbal tea but it would be interesting to play around with other flavours. It is ideal for feeding a crowd as it makes a large loaf. When wanting to share the loaf I have spread the mixture into two smaller tins (with the cooking time altered), but whatever size you make it never seems to last long.... lovely with a morning cup of tea or as a supper snack with a coffee.

Fruity Tea Loaf – Julie Le Clerc

From  - Made by Hand – Pub 2010

(Gluten free flour and baking powder can be used and self-raising flour is fine as well)

100g dried apricots – coarsely chopped

100g dried pitted dates – coarsely chopped

100g sultanas

50g raisins

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup boiling hot fruit herbal tea infusion

1 small egg lightly beaten

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

Found a nifty way to keep my page open on my book stand

Combine dried fruit and sugar in a bowl. Add hot tea, stir and leave for 30 minutes for the fruit to soften and the liquid to cool.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 1.5 litre capacity loaf tin with baking paper, leaving an overhang on all sides.

Stir beaten egg and vanilla into dried fruit mixture. Sift flour and baking powder into bowl and stir gently to combine with the fruit mixture.

Spoon the mixture into prepared loaf tin. 

Bake for one hour and 10 minutes, or until loaf tests cooked when skewer is inserted in to the centre and comes out moist but clean.

Cool in tin for 15 minutes, then remove the loaf to a wire rack to cool completely.

Waiting for the tea to brew