Mint Jelly

This summer I have a mountain of mint in my garden, taking over about a quarter of the space I have! I planted a sprig left from a supermarket pot a couple of years ago and it has thrived so that it's now about 100 times the size it was to start with. It is luscious and fragrant and just begging me to use it, so I made it into a jelly that I can store and use all year through.

Mint jelly is just to die for if spread on lamb chops before grilling them. The flavour permeates the meat, tenderising it as it cooks so the result is not just flavoursome, but succulent and tender at the same time.

When making mint jelly, use tart apples like Granny Smiths or Bramleys. The tarter the apple, the more pectin it has. If you are using home picked apples, picking early in the season is best, and smaller apples will have proportionately more pectin as well. Don’t peel or core the apples as most of the pectin is found in the core, and almost all the rest is found in the peel.

Ingredients:
1.8-2 kg tart apples, unpeeled, chopped into big pieces, including the cores.
375-400ml fresh mint leaves, chopped and lightly packed.
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
500ml water
500ml white wine vinegar
875-1000ml sugar ( about 220ml for each 250ml of juice).

Method:
Combine the apple pieces with lemon zest, lemon juice, water and mint in a large pan. Bring to the boil and reduce the heat to a simmer for 20 minutes, or until the apples are soft. Add the vinegar and return to the boil. Simmer covered for another 5 minutes. Use a potato masher to mash the apple pieces to the consistency of thin apple sauce.

Spoon the apple flesh into a clean tea towel in a colander or large strainer over a large bowl. Leave to strain for several hours. Most cooks say not to squeeze, but I do squeeze very carefully to get the last of the juice out of the apple mash without getting any of the pulp in the syrup. Note, if your apple mash is too thick you can add about 100-125ml more water to it. You should have between 1000-1250ml of resulting juice.

Measure the juice, then pour into a large pot. Add the sugar ( about 220ml for each 250ml of juice) and heat gently, stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves and does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Bring to the boil and continue to boil for about 10-15 minutes, using a metal spoon to skim off the surface scum. Continue to boil until a jam thermometer shows that the temperature has reached 105°C or 220-222°F, not quite at the thread stage. Additional time needed for cooking can be anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour or longer, depending on the amount of water, sugar, and apple pectin in the mix.

If you don’t have a jam thermometer, test by putting a small amount of jelly (half a teaspoon) on a chilled plate (chill the plate in the freezer in preparation for testing). Allow the jelly to cool a few seconds, then push it with your fingertip. If it wrinkles, it’s ready.

Pour the jelly into sterilised jars almost to the top of the jar and seal. This makes about 8 x 100ml jars.

September Fruit and Vegetables

September this year has been a fickle month of misty mornings, an inordinate amount of rain that has come late in the season, which can’t be making the farmers very happy, cool breezes that have turned into gales and the leaves have seemed to turn to the russet tones of autumn earlier than normal.

We spent the first part of this month on the Isle of Mann with friends, which has made me a bit late in posting my normal suggestions for the month, but better late than not at all.

Where fruit and vegetables are concerned, September is the end of summer rather than the beginning of autumn. It’s still quite hot in southern Europe, even if the weather here in the UK is beginning to get a bit nippy.

This month is the best for tomatoes, with UK farms producing their best long-ripened varieties, often selling them at a premium low price because of the end of summer glut. If you like to make tomato preserves and sauces for storage, this is the time to buy. Local farmers’ markets may have plenty to offer, perhaps not as perfect as the EU would expect, but still perfectly good for cooking. Perhaps the best to use for sauces, and even for chutneys too, are the small cherry tomatoes because the skins give such a good colour to the resultant product. Tomatoes are also great roasted, sun-dried or dried overnight in a very low-heat oven, or in salads and soups. Consider making ketchup too.

The same end of summer abundance makes this the time to eat and cook all the soft fruits you can: peaches, nectarines, plums, damsons, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. For UK fruit there is nothing better than Scottish raspberries, considered by many to be the finest in the world.

The first UK pears should also be coming on to the market now, and the first Cox apples as well. Until they arrive, the fruit to look for are the melons from France, and figs and grapes from the Mediterranean. However, if you are impatient for the British Cox’s season to start, there are other varieties available. The best places to look for them are at farmers’ markets as these apples will come from small growers who don’t usually sell through the big supermarkets.

The end of summer theme follows through with vegetables: courgettes and marrows, peppers, beetroot, aubergines, fennel, garlic, carrots and the last of the sweetcorn for the year. There is certainly no shortage of good things to cook and serve at your table.

You’ll also start to see the first arrivals of squash in all sorts of varieties. Experiment with them in soups, stews and curries, roast them in olive oil or try stuffing them with rice or forcemeat. Don’t forget the last of the summer beans and the new season leeks, which will be coming into the shops this month.

Most of all, remember to look for a group of edibles that are not only world-class, but free: wild mushrooms, that is if you are a seasoned forager; if not, find someone who is to teach you or buy a reliable guide book for proper identification. But beware: some mushrooms can cause illness and occasionally death!

The season for wild mushrooms is dependent on weather conditions, but the message is clear: you should eat these delectable morsels every chance you get. Even though they are not for me, as I am allergic to mushrooms, I hate to spoil the fun for others who love them, so here’s the deal...

Some supermarkets keep them, but the prices are astronomical and quality that varies greatly. The much better option is to collect them yourself; they may be closer to your home than you realise. There are so many varieties, so I won’t go into much detail about habitat, but generally speaking woodlands is where you will find them. One exception: common field mushrooms, which can grow in open grassland.

The best know varieties found in the UK are ceps, or penny buns, chanterelles, which usually begin earlier than others, and oyster mushrooms, but you may find dozens of other varieties. Once you get the fungi-foraging bug and the taste for these delicacies, it bites hard and tends to last a lifetime. For now, even if you don't get to search for them yourself, buy wild mushrooms from a reputable supplier and enjoy preparing these seasonal splendours.

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