Pressure cooker poached quince - delightfully fudgy and exotic

A few days ago, hubby came home with two gorgeously voluptuous, golden and deliciously fragrant, huge quince.  He found them at our local ethnic shop and they are certainly a whole other story to our native English quinces!

I pondered, for a while, what to do with these two lovelies.  Hubby was keen to make a small batch jam with them, but I realised that he wouldn't have a chance to do that in the foreseeable future, purely from a time restriction point of view.  I have baked with our little English quinces in the past and wanted to do something different to that, so decided to just go ahead and plain old poach them.  We love poached pears, so I knew I was onto a good bet.

Some time last year, hubby made some wine with our home grown rhubarb.  He still has several bottles in the shed and when I was pondering what to include in the simple syrup, I was initially intending to include Marsala wine.  Right up until he cracked open a bottle of his rhubarb wine and I had a little taste.  Wow.  LOTS of alcohol, but behind that there's a lovely flavour.  Not particularly rhubarb, but a lovely flavour nonetheless.  So that was the wine component sorted.

As for additional flavours, well I knew that green cardamom was a definite.  I liked the slightly exotic, middle eastern kind of vibe that would fit well with the quince.  I was pondering other, similar, spices when I suddenly remembered the pomegranate molasses I had in the cupboard.  That would continue the theme perfectly!

The quince can be quite a challenge to peel and core - I recommend having both a sharp peeler and knife!  Just take your time and make sure not to let either gadget slip, as the fruit will change colour to a rich amber without the addition of your blood to help it on its way!

Make sure to put the peeled and cored pieces into some acidulated water, to prevent them discolouring.  I simply filled a bowl with cold water and added half a lemon's worth or slices and juice.  Cut each quince into quarters.  Two quarters makes for a perfect dessert serving, accompanied by some cream or Greek yoghurt.

Once the fruit is prepared, combine all the other ingredients in the pressure cooker.  Once they are nicely mixed and the sugar has dissolved, add the quince pieces and on goes the lid.

Bring the pressure cooker up to pressure and cook for around 20 minutes if the quince is quite ripe, slightly longer if it appears to be a little under-ripe.

At the end of the cooking time, I removed the quince pieces and the cardamom pods and boiled the remaining liquor until it had taken on a lovely syrupy sheen and had reduced by a little more than half.  Taste it as it reduces, then you'll know when to stop concentrating the flavours.  Pour the syrup on top of the fruit and cardamom and leave to cool.  The cardamom will continue to infuse into the syrup until such time as you are ready to serve.

I served ours with a spoonful of Greek yoghurt and it was utterly divine.  The fruit takes on a beautiful deep amber colour and has the consistency of a good clotted cream fudge, but with a slight graininess that is reminiscent of pears.  The flavour is just so good.  Intensely fruity, with a slight toffeeness and that gorgeous botanical, floral bouquet.  My son described it well, in that it tastes like Witch Hazel smells.

I've got one half quince left, which I'm intending on including in some chocolate fruit baskets for a sweet choice as part of an afternoon tea.  If it works well, I'll add it on to the blog!

PRESSURE COOKER POACHED QUINCE   (serves 4)

Ingredients :

2 large ripe quinces, peeled, cored and quartered
250ml sweet white wine
500ml warm water
40g granulated sugar
5 whole cardamom pods
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses.

Method :

Having peeled, cored and quartered the quinces, make sure to place them into acidulated water as you go, so as to prevent them from discolouring.

Mix all the remaining ingredients together in the pressure cooker, ensuring that the sugar has all dissolved.

Add the quince and place the lid onto the pressure cooker.

Bring up to pressure, then reduce the heat to just enough to keep the pressure constant.

Cook for some 20 minutes for ripe fruit, slightly longer for fruit that is not so ripe.

De-pressurise the cooker gently and remove the lid.

Test the fruit, which should be soft but still holding together.

Remove the fruit using a slotted spoon and place into a bowl.  Remove the cardamom pods and include them in the bowl with the fruit.

Bring the cooking liquor up to a lively boil and cook until it is reduced by at least half and becomes syrupy.  Taste the liquor before you begin to reduce it, then as it reduces, so that you will be able to choose when to stop the reduction.

Pour the syrup over the fruit and spice and leave to cool.  The cardamom will continue to infuse the syrup with flavour, so it is up to you when you decide to remove the pods.

Serve at room temperature, with cream or Greek yoghurt.

Printable version

Spiced Blackberry and Apple Lattice Pie

First of all, a very belated happy Christmas and a happy new year to you all!

I do apologise for being so belated and missing out on posting seasonal goodies, but I've been laid up with a sad case of cellulitis which led to an additional case of gout, in my left leg and ankle.  Not surprisingly, I've done quite a bit of staring at the same four walls from the dubious comfort of my bed, whilst hoping that the painkillers will work for a bit longer.

I'm not quite back on two feet yet - let's say it's one and a half feet, currently - but I do have a nice backlog of yummy things that we ate before I succumbed, to pass on to you.

So, initially, let's go a bit random for Rhubarb & Ginger and talk about dessert pies.  Well, to be specific, a spiced blackberry and apple lattice pie of much loveliness.

The very best time to be making this pie is in the Autumn, when the blackberry vines are laden with fat fruits.  However, as we now have the convenience of that wonder of the kitchen, the freezer, those fat fruits can be picked and frozen so that you can enjoy this pie whenever you so please.

Blackberries freeze incredibly easily and defrost really well, so you've no excuse.  Come next autumn, send the entire family out with a plastic container to go and seek blackberry loveliness.  Of course, the other advantage to freezing blackberries is that it will kill any wigglies that may be residing in your fat fruits.  A quick and gentle wash before you freeze them (laid out in one layer on a baking tray is the best way.  You can decant them into a freezer box once frozen and that way, they don't stick together) and a bit of an inspection once defrosted and said wigglies will be a thing of the past.

My blackberries came from my Aunty Joyce's garden and are enormous!  They definitely needed making into a pie, so as to maintain their shape and integrity.  It would have been criminal to have mushed them into a coulis or some such.

It was only as I was making the pastry, that I suddenly thought about the spicing aspect.  After all, I would spice an apple pie - and having made spiced blackberry compote before, I knew everything was compatible.  I think it gave an interesting edge to the fruity flavours that made the pie taste especially home made - which is very satisfying.

Now, as regards any Cook's Tips, the main one I have for you is not to skip the microwaving of the apple pieces.  You see, the apple - particularly if it is a Braeburn - will take a lot longer than the blackberries to cook and you don't want rock hard apple beside soft blackberries.  However, the good thing about Braeburns is that they don't dissolve to mush.  If you don't have a microwave (and I know not everyone does), then put the apple into a pan with a tablespoonful of water and cook on a medium heat until softened.  After that, treat them like the microwaved versions.

Naturally, you don't HAVE to make the top of your pie latticed - you could just lay a piece of pastry across and create a normal type of pie if you don't have the time or inclination to do the latticing.  However, it isn't difficult and - so long as the fruit is cool - only takes a few minutes longer.  It does look good, too!

Likewise, the almond pastry is not essential either, but it does go so well with the fruit and the almonds give the pastry a lovely sandiness that texturally is interesting on the tongue.  However, if you want to make an ordinary sweet shortcrust, who am I to say you nay?

Whatever way you make this pie, the combination of the spices, apples and blackberries are just incredibly homey and scrumptious.  I doubt you'll have much left!

SPICED BLACKBERRY AND APPLE LATTICE PIE    (serves up to 6)

Ingredients :

165g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
25g ground almonds
55g sugar, plus 3 tbsp for the fruit, plus a little for sprinkling
120g chilled unsalted butter, cubed
2 medium eggs, used individually
2-3 Braeburn apples
A good quantity (as many as will fit!) of blackberries
1 tsp ground cinnamon
half a tsp grated nutmeg
quarter of a tsp ground cardamom.

Method :

1.  Make the pastry by stirring the almonds into the flour and adding the sugar.  Stir through.  Rub the butter into the mixture until you have what look like breadcrumbs.

2.  Add one egg - bit by bit - until you have a soft not sticky, dough.  You may not need the whole egg for this.

3.  Form the pastry into a disc, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge to rest for at least 3 hours.

4.  Cut the pastry into two sections - a third and two thirds.  Using the two thirds, roll out and line the pie dish with the pastry, making sure you have no air bubbles.

5.  Line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans, then bake at 180degC/350deg F/Gas 4 for 20 mins, then remove the baking beans and bake again for 10 mins until the pastry is dry and sandy.

6.  In the meantime, sort the blackberries.  You want to remove any that might have mildew or damaged areas.  Peel the apples and cut into small chunks and place in a bowl, then microwave until they are softened and just beginning to break down.  Leave to cool a little.

7.  Once cooled, add the blackberries.  Add the spices and sugar (use your intuition as to how much sugar you will need.  If the apples and blackberries are particularly tart, add a bit more) and toss gently to coat evenly.

8.  Tip the spicy fruit into the part baked pastry, along with any juice.

9.  Roll out the one third piece of pastry and cut long thin strips.

10.  Using the second egg, egg wash around the edge of the part baked pastry, then lay the strips on top of the fruit, interweaving them as a lattice and press down on the ends to "glue" them to the part baked pastry and trim off the excess.

11.  Give the lattice a good egg wash and sprinkle with a little sugar.

12.  Bake at the same temperature as earlier, for 25-30 mins until the pastry is golden, cooked through and the fruit is softly cooked.

13.  Leave the pie to cool until just warm, then serve.

Printable version

Chilled Spiced Satsuma & Cranberry Soup for the New Covent Garden Soup Company

 

Last week, I had an email inviting me to devise a soup for the New Covent Garden Soup Company's "Soup of the Month" competition, for Christmas.

Now I know that it's currently June and you really don't want to be hearing about Christmas and I sympathise, I really do.  You should know, however, that it takes New Covent Garden a fair old while to get the processing sorted out for a new soup, so they needed to start early!

Immediately upon hearing that it was to be a Christmas soup, I started to think about what flavours and smells say "Christmas" to you - even in the middle of June.  I asked on Twitter and I asked the family, but in the end, I went with my own definition of what smells and tastes like Christmas to me.

First on the list was Satsumas.  No matter when I break into a Satsuma or a Clementine, be it summer or winter, it immediately says "Christmas".  I've even been know to go into the living room where son & heir has been munching on a Satsuma and say "smells like Christmas in here!".

Second on the list was Cloves.  Now for all that I hate the little misbegotten spawn of the devil - sorry, was that a bit strong? *chuckle* - their aroma is just redolent of shiny baubles, robins wearing santa hats and tinsel.  Every year, we make two or three satsumas studded with cloves and tied with a ribbon, to go on the Christmas tree - so I guess it isn't hard to see where the connection is!

Thirdly, is Cinnamon.  Not necessarily the ground cinnamon, but cinnamon sticks.  They have an earthier aroma than the ground version, I think.  Again, we tie a few of those onto the Christmas tree each year.

Thinking on, I suppose I could have come over all Great British Menu and gone into the garden for some Douglas Fir needles - but (probably thankfully), I didn't think of that at the time.  I was aiming for a light dessert soup that would be suitable for those who just don't fancy a big dessert after their Christmas dinner - or any big dinner, come to that!

Beautiful little cranberry jewels!

I tossed around various combinations to go with the citrus - things like chestnut, figs, dates, chocolate, rum, brandy - but nothing really "clicked", until I hit upon the cranberries.  I remembered how the cranberries kind of dissolved when I cooked Red Cabbage and Cranberries and that made sense as far as the texture of the soup was concerned.  I needed something to give the soup body and flavour - and they seemed perfect.

After that, it was just a matter of deciding upon the spicing.  Cloves and cinnamon were a shoe-in, but after that we went through the entire gamut of spices that we had in the cupboard and rejected the like of star anise, nutmeg and mixed spice, in favour of green cardamom.  The selection process was fairly scientific - we had the plain soup in front of us and could have a wee taste or a big sniff, then sniff the spice in its jar - and from that, it would tell you whether it would go or not.  The cardamom, with its citrussy notes, was just perfect.

Yesterday morning, hubby and I set to in our test kitchen.  Okay, it's the ordinary kitchen - but for the purpose, it became a test kitchen, alright?  It felt important, that way.

Without cream - so that you can see the segment pieces

We halved and squashed an inordinate amount of citrus fruit, cooked cranberries, dibbled in jars of sweet stuff, sieved, stirred, tasted, cooled, heated, stirred a bit more, zested, grated, tasted again, counted whole spices, stirred some more, heated a bit again, did lots more tasting (we went through an awful lot of teaspoons) - and left it to infuse.

Two hours later, we had the most fabulous, refreshing yet rich, zestily citrus, fruitily cranberry, beautifully spiced soup.  I spent a frustrating few minutes unzipping some more citrus segments from their pith - and the soup went into the fridge to chill.

I was a bit concerned that the chilling might kill off some of the spicing, but no - when it came out and was dressed with its celebratory swirl of whipped cream and the shreds of zest, it both looked beautiful and tasted amazing.

Everyone loved the soup.  When I asked son & heir what he thought, completely unbidden, he said "tastes like Christmas".  Ha!  Mission accomplished, I thought! I'm not sure what degree of Vitamin C remains after the cooking process is done, but between the citrus fruit and the cranberries, surely there has to be a fair amount.

Mixed 50:50 with Shiraz and warmed - gorgeous!

Then, however, we got to thinking (as we often do) about what else we could use the soup for.  Hubby immediately came up with the idea of mixing it 50:50 with a red wine and heating it through to create a mulled wine.  We tried it out - and boy, was it good!  We used a Shiraz and they combined beautifully.  I could just imagine going out Christmas carol singing and coming back to a steaming glass of "warms the cockles of your heart" and could feel a rousing chorus of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" all ready to burst into life.

Next up was my idea of using it as the base for a jelly.  Heat it through, add some gelatine, pour into a jelly mould, chill and eat for dessert, or at a summer High Tea!  So it's not just a Christmas soup!

In fact, with my next suggestion, it very definitely found its place as an "anytime" soup, as it occurred to me that if you reduced it down by half in a saucepan, it would make a fabulous jus to pair up with poached pears.

The possibilities are endless!

Now - I've a favour to ask of you.  If you can bear it, could you go along to the New Covent Garden Soup Company's website and register, then vote for my soup?  ~looks appealing, with puppy dog eyes and everything~  I'll be your best pal, honest!

SPICED SATSUMA AND CRANBERRY SOUP  (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

1.5kg satsumas

1 orange

75g cranberries, to make 1.5 dessertspoons of cranberry puree

2 tsp syrup from stem ginger jar

2 tsp runny honey

2 green cardamom, unbroken

3 cloves

a thumb-sized piece of Cinnamon bark 

Method :

1.  Place the cranberries into a small saucepan with a touch of water & cook on a medium heat to soften, until easily squashed with the back of a spoon.  Set aside and allow to cool slightly.

2.  Separate out 3 satsumas and reserve.  Juice the remainder through a sieve, into a bowl (to make a minimum of 400ml).

3.  Take the orange and with a zester, cut sufficient long strips of zest for decoration and reserve.  Using a microplane grater, grate the remainder of the zest finely and reserve.  Juice the orange through a sieve into the satsuma juice in the bowl.

4.  Press the cranberries through a sieve into another bowl, to remove large pips and most of the skin.  You’ll need to scrape the puree from the underside of the sieve.

5.  Add cranberry puree to the satsuma juice by degrees, tasting as you go, to ensure the cranberries don’t overpower the citrus.  Once you are happy with the balance, transfer to the small saucepan and begin to warm through on a low heat.

6.  Add the ginger syrup, honey, spices and 1.5 teaspoons of the fine grated orange zest and stir to combine.  Allow the liquid to warm through until steaming, but do not simmer or boil.  Once steaming, cover with a lid and remove from the heat.

7. Allow the spices to infuse for 2 hours, then pick them out and discard.

8.  Taking the reserved satsumas, peel and segment them.  Then remove the pith from around each segment and, breaking each segment into pieces, add the flesh to the cooled liquid.

9.  Place into the fridge to chill and serve in glass bowls with a swirl of whipped cream and the shreds of zest to decorate.

Printable version
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Chicken & Cauliflower Curry

The recipe for this curry was entitled "North Indian Chicken Curry" by Anjum Anand, however, as I have no idea whether the inclusion of some cauliflower still renders it qualifying for the term "North Indian", I've left it off of the title.

I had had a break from making curries and we'd been sampling hubby's curry making skills (which are legendary).  However, I'd found myself hankering for another go, particularly a go where you build the curry flavour from scratch - as opposed to making use of a jar of curry paste.  The one challenge I had was to ensure the curry had a "curry" flavour - as opposed to being just a highly spiced casserole.

This curry certainly met that challenge and was downright jolly successful.  I served it with plain basmati rice, some Peshwari naans and a home-made raita.  I found the raita went together with the curry perfectly - the combined flavours were gorgeous and I'd definitely make a raita to go with it again.  Oh, and don't be scared of the four garlic cloves - you don't notice them!

So, here's the recipe :

CHICKEN & CAULIFLOWER CURRY

Ingredients :

4 tbsp oil
2 cloves
1 stick cinnamon, or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 green cardamom pods
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium onion, chopped
1.5 tbsp grated ginger
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
0.5 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp ground coriander
0.5 tsp chilli powder
4-5 tbsp tomato passata
500g chicken breast, diced large
5-6 cauliflower florets, sliced
1 handful coriander leaves, chopped.

Method :

1.  Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan until it is quite hot, but not smoking.  Add the cloves, cinnamon (if a stick), cardamom pods and cumin seeds and fry for about 20 seconds until aromatic.

2.  Add the onion and cook for around 10 minutes until golden brown, stirring often to prevent it burning.  Stir in the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, for 40 seconds before adding a pinch of salt and the ground spices (included cinnamon, if the ground variety) and stir for 15 seconds or so.

3.  Pour in the tomatoes and cook over a medium heat for around 10 minutes or until the liquid in the pan has dried off and the oil leaves the side of the dry masala.

4.  Add the chicken and brown (or white!) over a medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.  Add the cauliflower and stir to make sure it is covered in sauce.  Add enough water to almost cover the chicken, bring to the boil and then cook over a low heat until the chicken is cooked through.  I cooked it with a lid for around half the cooking time, to ensure that the chicken and cauliflower cooked, then turned the heat up and reduced the sauce until it reached the consistency we prefer.  The slower it cooks, the better it tastes - so try not to rush it!

5.  Once you're happy with the consistency and the chicken and cauliflower are cooked and tender, mix in the coriander leaves and serve.

Delicious!