Making Jellies

Jellies - not the wobbly ones we had when we were kids - and what happened to them anyway? Do children these days still have jelly? What about Blancmange? Perhaps the jellies are still going, but as an adult I have moved on....lots of things are like that. Pogo sticks, roller skates and other dangerously innocuous children's toys that didn't hurt me when I was younger... I also heard that jellies aren't as nice as they used to be because of all the preservatives and other additions they are now laced with - sherbet lemons aren't the same either - The best jellies are those made with real fruit and not much else....

Anyway, I digress - how easy it is to go off on a tangent and allow ones thoughts to wander into areas not contemplated at the outset - oh oh.....

Jellies - not the wobbly ones but the preserves - are jams without the bits. This can be incredibly useful for quick preserving or for retaining the integrity of the taste without the texture which may not be required. Sometimes too, the fruit can be overly tough skinned (some plums, damsons, apples, gooseberries, currants), over pipped (raspberries, gooseberries) or stoned (apricots, peaches, plums etc.)

Jellies are also incredibly easy to produce.

This is a general recipe, for which only two real items of equipment are required - a large, good, robust pan and a jelly bag or muslin cloth. Jelly bags and stands are relatively cheap and available at most kitchen stores....like THIS ONE

There is also one absolutely useful tip that should not be ignored - but that comes later dear reader, so you must read on...

Another great thing about making jelly is that it happens in three distinct stages thereby not taking up a whole half day if you don't want to do it all in one - you can spread it over a day or two. You could even freeze the results after the second stage if you absolutely have to, if time constraints make finishing it all off difficult.

Stage One

Choosing your fruit needs to take into account the amount of pectin that fruit contains - it is the pectin that enables the jam to reach a setting point. Apples contain pectin and are therefore used in many jelly recipes - especially with soft fruits like blackberries, but any search on the net will determine the fruits which are high in pectin and those which are not, for example, orange flesh is low in pectin but the skin, pith and pips are high, so when we make marmalade we use the pips and pith during part of the process to extract the pectin required to give the jam its lovely jammy consistency.

Pectin added sugars are available and, of course, I use this in my Kelly's Chili Jelly recipe HERE This enables you to make pure fruit jams and jellies if you want to.

However, once you have chosen your fruit just chop it up roughly (if necessary) and put it all in your large pan with around 600 mils of water per kilogramme of fruit and boil it all until it is soft.

Stage Two

Set up your jelly bag or muslin sheet and put all the fruit into it  and allow it all to drip into a container large enough to take it about a litre and a half of liquid.

Now here is the one tip you must NOT ignore:

Do NOT squeeze the fruit, allow it to drip slowly, at its own pace. This way you will make a clear jelly, any pressure will result in a cloudy finished product. What we want is a sparklingly clean and clear final result so allow it to drip over night if possible. 

Using the jelly bag...

Stage Three

Measure your clean, clear liquid and then pour it into your large pan again. Once it has begun to warm up add three quarters of the amount of your measured liquid and stir in until dissolved. So if you had one litre of fluid, add 750 grams of sugar. Liquid weights and solid weights are the same here so weight equals volume. If you have an odd amount add a little liquid to bring it up to an easy calculation. Simple. 

Now bring it all to a rollicking, rolling boil and keep this going until setting point. 

I have written about this before HERE. 

Once it has set, pour it into sterilised jars as HERE 

you can make jellies from most things but this time of year with so many apples around I make Herby apple jelly with Bramley apples and either rosemary, sage or thyme chopped very very finely and added late in the boling process. Having added a lot of the herb during stage one, the flavour is mostly there anyway, this final addition looks nice and adds some last minute flavour hits. Try it with any meat dish, in casseroles, curries,  with mackerel and with cheese it's delicious.

Alternatively take a kilo of chopped apples, a kilo of blackberries and use the entire process above to make a wonderfully tangy jelly suitable for toast, sandwiches and scones....it is fun and it helps preserve summer for use in the winter....what could be better than a taste of summer days on a cold, wet January teatime?

Setting Point

I often talk about this when making jams and jellies, so I thought I would post it separately to ease the finding of it for everyone.

Take out the dish from the freezer and drop some liquid from the pot onto it. Push the liquid with your finger. If it wrinkles, setting point is reached and you can remove the pan from the heat.

You will get some notice; the liquid becomes gloopier, thicker and has a different smell, but keep your eyes on it, it can catch quickly and burn on the bottom of the pan, spoiling the taste. If not reached boil for a few more minutes and test again.

Once setting point is achieved, remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool down for 10 - 15 minutes. This is to allow the peel to be evenly distributed throughout the mix. If not allowed to cool it will all float to the top of the jars - aesthetically unpleasing...

Jar it up and seal the jars as detailed previously HERE.

Summer, the First Time

Kite Flying....

It's not often you can look back on a summer and think "well that was a great one", but with the help of my Grandchildren, my wife's wonderful family and the brilliant long summer sunshine, I can this year. We've had barbecues, walks, outdoor charity events, kite flying, long evenings with friends around the chimenea, languid conversations over bottles of wine, birthdays, guitars, Harvey's local Ale, Shakespeare outside Scotney House and much, much more. 

And now, as the summer officially comes to an end, it's time to reap the benefits -  the fruits and the produce of the year's growing season and also to review the photographs and the memories produced by the long evenings and hot days. 

There was a series of articles in the press recently about children and the amount of daily activity they were getting; only about 50% of the children surveyed were active for at least an hour every day. How can this be? It's not that I don't believe the surveys - although these must necessarily be taken with a huge pinch of salt - but that children are inactive; they are always running around - aren't they? Or are our children now spending so much time on their iPads, iPhones, x-boxes and computers that exercise is becoming a thing that only previous generations (previous to technology) took part in?

When I spend time with my Grandchildren, or indeed my friends,  I want to get them outdoors - into the fields, the woods and the parks - I can't wait to show them stuff. Just this month my Sister in Law's children were holding grass snakes, learning the names of trees and getting to grips with making grass scream. My grandson Eli was watching his Dad run round the park with a kite because their was no wind and then he helped me pick a pound or two of blackberries. This is his first "real" summer - Summer The First Time - he's only two, but he loved it. 

Park Pickings...

Let's get the children out, it doesn't matter if it's raining - there are raincoats and wellies - there is so much to do and see, even in the winter evenings when it's dark and dreary it can be fun outside looking at stars and planets, having bonfires and jacket potatoes, campfires and chestnuts. Who doesn't love the sight of toddlers splashing in puddles - what  larks Pip, what larks.   

This time of year though there are fruits to be picked, wild or at your local Pick Your Own. Blackberries, raspberries, apples and plums are all ready to use in jams, pies and puddings - but not to forget the chutneys, alcoholic beverages and pickles that can also be put away for later use.  

Keep reading my blog and I will try to share some of the stuff that I've discovered and made. It's fun, it's active and it's healthy. 

Kelly's Chili Jelly

It's another easy one....four ingredients, a few minutes to prepare and less than 20 minutes to cook. Now, to be fair, I was put onto this recipe by a special friend of mine, Jan Berry who is a mine of information about jams, jellies and chutneys and she has pinched this one from Nigella Lawson who pinched it from...well, and so it goes on - there isn't much that new around anymore. 

Here are the ingredients:

1 KG of Jam Sugar (sugar with added pectin)

600 mils of Cider Vinegar

150 grams of Sweet Peppers

150 grams of Chilies

I prefer cider vinegar as it has more depth and I don't actually put in 150 grams of chilies because I love this chutney on cheese and half and half can be quite hot! Adapt to your own taste - as long as you have 300 grams in total it's fine. Also use red, yellow or orange peppers and chilies - not green - green chutney just looks weird!

So blitz the peppers and chilies in a food processor until it is finely pureed but still with small flecks in it. I actually de-seed mine first, which is a bit of extra work, but it does stop the conspicuous white seeds from appearing beacon like in the jam.

In a large pan warm the cider vinegar, add the jam sugar and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Add the processed pepper/chili mix and bring to a rolling, rollicking boil. Time this boil for 8 to 10 minutes and then remove from the heat. Let the mix cool a little and stir well to evenly distribute the flecks of pepper and chili. Pour into clean, steralised jars and seal well. If the flecks still insist in floating upwards, just keep turning the jars over until the jam has cooled enough to suspend the particles evenly.

You can use this jam as a sweet chili sauce for oriental and asian meals, it goes great with cold meats and fish and it is a great compliment to a nicely matured cheddar and other cheeses of your choice.

It's also another great Christmas present!