What have you made this year

[Harmonica]

Hi all,

Now that the harvest season is well and truly upon us i thought it would be interesting to see what foodstuffs people have been making and preserving.

This year i have made:-

Elderflower Champagne
Tomato Chutney
Bramble Jelly
Billberry Jam
Elderberry Jelly
Hawthorn Jelly
Apple Chutney (spiced and unspiced)
Damson Jelly
Damson Chutney and
Tomato ketchup
as well as pickling things like beetroot that were grown in my garden.

Isn't Autumn wonderful!

 

[John Fenna]

Bramble Vodka
Sloe Gin
Birch Sap Wine (just bottled it)
Bramble Jelly
Rosehip and Apple Jelly

 

[Mang]

Sloe gin (rude not with Sloe's the size of a balloon)
Blackberry cordial-not bad (actually my Elderflower cordial was mentioned in the current Bushcraft and Survival Skills Gilwell 24 feature as ''sensational''!!)
Several pickles
More nettle cordiall as per the thread I did on here
Working on some acorns at the moment, thread to follow

 

[Mesquite]

Not a lot this year apart from 20 jars of Damson jam.

 

[g4ghb]

funny, everything seems to involve vinegar

pickled onions
pickled shallots
pickled red cabbage
pickled eggs
pickled mushrooms
pickled cucumber
pickled cauliflower

(Reds) caramelised onion chutney
marrow chutney

and currently looking for other things to pickle / preserve

 

[Matthew.Passmore]

I have made -

Elderberry Wine,
Sloe Gin
Plum (Domestic) Gin.

not really into pickles and jams.

done plenty of baking.

spoons.
going to makes some beer soon.

 

[Toddy]

Apple and Rowan jelly,
Apple and Rosehip jelly
Blackcurrant jam and jelly and syrup
Raspberry jam and jelly and syrup
Strawberry jam
Rhubarb and ginger jam
Rhubarb and Strawberry jam
Dried apples, pears, strawberries and bananas
Fruit leathers, apples, pears, blackcurrant and apple
Dried chillies, onions, mushrooms,
Dandelion coffee
Ransom flower buds in olive oil
Pickled onions
Pickled cauliflower
Pickled home grown chillies
Chillies in oil
Elderflower syrup
Dried herbs......too many to write out, but my herb drawers contain a couple of hundred, everything from Meadowsweet to home grown Fennel seeds and assorted roots.
Sloe gin and whisky,
Meadowsweet tincture
Gale tincture
Dried about thirty different dye plants to use over Winter.
Gathered and am drying quinoa, and the oats/ wheat/ barley.

It's been a good year , and I haven't made acorn coffee yet and I have a stash of fruit still in the freezer for baking with later on. No chutney this year, still trying to get through last years glut.

I love hearing about what other folks make/ preserve, it's a way to keep it interesting and something new to try.
I meant to preserve stuff in syrup this year (Tengu had loganberries at the Moot) but didn't get round to it.
We did try the syrup dried apples and bananas though. Incredibly sweet and chewy, all eaten already.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Tony]

Ohh, you lot make me sick, i've done hardly anything this year, we've got quite a bit of stuff in but ended up running out of time and dehydrating it

We did make elderflower cordial and bake lots of things with foraged fruit in
pickled onions
Salsa
Chilli powder
Chillies in oil
Dried mushrooms, apple, pears, onions, peppers, tomatoes, pineapple, sweet potato and chilli

These lists are inspiring

 

[Toddy]

Hadn't thought of chilli powder............hmmm, just dried and whizzed the lot ?
Sounds much more useful that the dried ones .
I still have six bushes producing fruits in the greenhouse, supposedly they survive Winter if brought indoors. I was going to let them ripen off these last ones, and then pick the healthiest looking couple of plants, prune them really hard back and see if they survive on the back room windowsill.

Beginning to wish I'd made chutney too.

Harmonica, do you have a recipe for your ketchup ?
g4ghb.......the pickled red cabbage, does it work out like sauerkraut or more 'pickled' ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[g4ghb]

g4ghb.......the pickled red cabbage, does it work out like sauerkraut or more 'pickled' ?

definitely pickled Mary - crisp and crunchy

I'm interested in the chilli powder too Tony

 

[g4ghb]

I think a recipe exchange is in order.......

Intrigued with the chillies in oil too - do you dry them first?

 

[scrogger]

I am really only just getting into all this but up to now I have done:-

Plum Jam
Plum Vodka
Plum Gin
Raspberry Jam
Chilli sauce
Pickled Onions
Pickled Cabbage

To do list: Sloe Gin, Sloe vodka, Sloe whisky. Some for gifts.

Got a load of apples not thought of what to do with them. does anyone have any good recipes for some sort of spicey chutney. Also might have a crack at Apple and Rosehip jelly.

Have also just spotted a huge sweet chestnut tree !!!

 

[Nagual]

This year, I have mostly made:



a mess.



sad, but true.

 

[Mesquite]

I still have six bushes producing fruits in the greenhouse, supposedly they survive Winter if brought indoors. I was going to let them ripen off these last ones, and then pick the healthiest looking couple of plants, prune them really hard back and see if they survive on the back room windowsill.....

Depends on the variety as to which sort over winter the best. If you do try it make sure you reduce the rootball as well as pruning the plant back and frosts don't get to them.

If they do survive then you'll be in for an early harvest

 

[Toddy]

The issue with chillies in oil is that if there are any anaerobic bacteria on the surface, the oil won't kill them, indeed they can actually thrive. If you open a jar and it smells bad, dump it, that's botulism.

However, if they are given a soak in vinegar first, and then put straight into the oil without being rinsed or dried beyond a shake in a slotted spoon used to lift them out of the vinegar, they seem to be fine. The oil absorbs the flavour and is excellent in stir fries.
My chillies this year are Pretty in Purple, small marble sized ones that range from deep aubergine colour to bright orangey red. A nice size for in a jar, or quartered for into a hot salad or into the pan for cooking.

Dried chillies can be used the same way, though mostly they get used dried as a pickling spice.

HWMBLT likes pickled cabbage and sauerkraut........I confess a real treat is a wee tin of Chinese pickled cabbage from a Chinese supermarket......incredibly salty, crunchy, chewy green stuff

Thanks for the info on over Wintering the chilli plants

cheers,
Toddy

 

[addo]

Raspberry Wine
Birch sap wine
Sloe gin to do

Keeping it simple this year, time and all that.

 

[British Red]

All the normal chutneys, pickles and relishes

My own curry sauces and naan

soap of course (I owed Mr Fenna a trade )

Its time right now for puddings

and brandy butter

and sweets

and the obligatory cranberry sauce

Red

 

[g4ghb]

This is how I mine Mary

Ingredients:

• Red Cabbage
• Salt (cheap value type stuff)
• Spiced Vinegar

Method:

1. Remove the outer discoloured leaves from the cabbage.
2. Quarter and remove the tough inner stalk. Shred the cabbage finely, wash and drain well.
3. Layer in a basin with salt between layers, ending with a layer of salt.
4. Cover with cling film
5. Leave for 24 hours.
6. Wash in cold water and drain well.
7. Pack into clean,sterilised jars and pour in cold, spiced vinegar.

Note: Ready after 1 week but if you keep it longer than 10 – 12 weeks it will loose its crispness. You can use the same recipe for Pickled White Cabbage.


I tend to leave for a fortnight or two - generally cant wait any longer to be honest!

 

[Harmonica]

Toddy,

The ketchup recipe is Hugh Fernely-Whittonstall's from the BBC food website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/tomatoketchup_8882.shtml

Its pretty good (and makes a nice extra tomato hit ofr bolognaise) but you will use a huge amount of tomatos. I used over a kilos to make a small bottle! Great if you have too many tomotos and are sick of eating them though. I keep it in the fridge as there is not much vineger or other preservative. Seems to keep ok though and it could be frozen

 

[TallMikeM]

we're renovating the house at the moment, so for the first time in about 6 years we have virtually no preserved foods (too busy to gather and no kitchen to do it in). Just about found time to gather some sloes for gin and that's it. Still got about 20 bottles of elderberry wine I made earlier in the year to go, but other than that it's gonna be a shop bought winter in this house.

Next year, however, we should be down in Cornwall, so things will be different.