Recipes for August and September

As this is our last foray into the kitchen for the BGI I thought I'd reprise earlier thoughts on seasonal eatings and a reminder that if you are without a garden, which soon tells you what's good to eat now, and are ever unsure of what's seasonal in the shops then this website is great - Eat the Seasons.

August and September are wonderful months for fruit with the late raspberries in full swing, blackberries ready to be foraged and the early apples, damsons, plums and pears all starting to fall into our baskets. You may even have some strawberries, currants and blueberries still around early in August if you're really lucky. Courgettes, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, beetroot, beans and even sweetcorn will all be coming in from the plot too so it's no wonder I seem to spend a lot of this season in the kitchen peeling, chopping and drying fruit and veggies as well as making pie fillings for the freezer and jams, pickles and chutneys for the store cupboard. As the nights draw in, winter is never far from our thoughts but with a bit of careful planning you can still be enjoying home-grown or locally produced food long into the dark days of December and beyond.

One of our favourite chutney recipes uses up lots of the apples and onions that abound in our house in September and whilst it does include bought-in ingredients the reception it gets when we include it in family members' Christmas hampers makes it well worth buying in a few extra things. It's great in sandwiches and with veggie pies or pasties as well as cheese and biccies. Rumour has it it's pretty good with cold meats too but we wouldn't know about that! As usual this recipe has been tweaked from one I discovered in a book some time ago so don't be shy about changing things to suit your taste-buds.

Apple and Sultana Chutney

Makes approx. 8lbs

• 4lbs apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 4 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1.5 pints vinegar (I use half cider vinegar and half malt vinegar)
• 1lb sultanas
• 1tbsp ground ginger
• 14 grinds salt (about 1.5 tsps I think)
• 2lbs sugar (I use about 70% demerara and 30% golden granulated)

Don't forget you'll need to sterilise about 8-10 1lb jam jars - or more smaller ones if you prefer. I usually wash the jars in warm soapy water, rinse them and then dry them in a low oven for about 10-15 minutes before the chutney's ready. A quick way to sterilise the lids is to put them in a bowl and pour boiling hot water on them - watch your fingers though - I use a fork to fish them out again!

Put the apples, onions, garlic, lemon juice, mustard seeds and 1 pint of the vinegar into a large heavy pan - a proper Maslin pan is a great investment buy and I wouldn't be without mine now but a big stewpan can do the job if you stir everything carefully - it's just a bit tall for me to ladle the mix out of.

Bring the mix to the boil and simmer for 1 hour. Add the sultanas, ginger, salt, sugar and the rest of the vinegar to the pan and simmer until thick and ‘gloopy'. Carefully pour into the clean hot jars. I use a ladle and a jam funnel for this bit. Screw the lids on and label.

Store for about 6-8 weeks to allow the flavours to develop. I have to put ‘not before' dates on my labels to stop Jim'll raiding the stores too early!

Enjoy!

Mixed Berry Muffins

My final recipe is a sweet treat that looks to become a favourite in this house - Mixed Berry Muffins. These came about because our little blueberry bushes didn't produce quite enough for a batch of traditional blueberry muffins but I'd promised Jim'll I'd give them a try.

To make 24 smallish muffins or about 18 regular sized ones
Oven GM6/200c/400f

• 300g/10oz self raising flour
• 100g/4oz golden granulated sugar
• 4tsp baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 120ml/8tbsp butter/veg margarine, melted
• 300ml/12floz milk/soya drink
• a couple of pinches of cinnamon
• 250g/8oz mixed berries (for the last batch I used blueberries, chopped raspberries, white currants and chopped strawberries)

Either put muffin cases into two 12-hole muffin trays or grease and flour the holes. Sift the the flour, cinnamon and baking powder into a bowl, add the sugar and set to one side.

In another bowl beat the eggs and add the milk and melted butter and mix together until blended. With a large metal spoon, stir both mixtures together just until the flour is moistened, not until smooth.

Fold in the berries. Spoon the batter into the cases/holes leaving enough room for the batter to rise.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until well risen and firm to touch. Cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before turning out.

Now these were rather nice still warm with a little bit of vanilla ice cream - or if you have more patience than we do, they can be left to cool completely and make a great addition to lunch boxes or picnics!

I hope you've enjoyed our brief visits to the kitchen and remember, if you have the chance please try local and seasonal and if you are lucky enough to have a glut - don't forget it's good to share.

Bye all
Tanya

Chutney photos (c) Tanya Butchers 2010

Store upboard photo (c) Ted Marynicz 2010