I've just started reading a book I'd been given a couple of years ago on the fine art of preserving. It's called ... wait for it ... Preserved. And it's really rather wonderful, covering everything from dried morels to biltong to sloe gin.
I'm a fairly accomplished jam, chutney and lemon curd maker, but I've been itching to branch out into more adventurous territory. For instance I am terribly jealous of Allotment Lady's adventures with a dehydrator and am now wondering if I can pick one up cheaply on eBay or even on Freecycle. It seems like a great way of handling summer gluts of tomatoes and so on, and great fun too.
In the meantime I've started slowly with a couple of recipes that looked fairly simple - preserved lemons and roasted pickled peppers (I can't link to the actual recipes but this should take you to reasonable equivalents). The jars are now sitting in my pantry looking pretty while I impatiently wait for a month to be up, by which time they'll be ready to eat. The preserved lemons will be good for giving as gifts and are great in North African dishes such as slow roast lamb, and the peppers will make for great antipasti, popping in warm salads and on top of pizzas. Yum.
Unfortunately neither were made from homemade produce, but I am planning to use up a glut of homegrown blackcurrants currently languishing in my freezer with a big batch of heavenly blackcurrant jam. If that doesn't get your taste buds buzzing, nothing will.
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