Our middle tree, with the dual purpose apples, is ripe.
I had a go at making some Apple Soup, using the automatic Cream Soup function on my CookExpert (CE).
I'd seen a recipe on the French CE fb group, where the maker just put a load of cored but unpeeled apples in to the CE, ran the programme, and had a good result.
There are two soup settings on the CE. In English, they are Puree and Creamed. I wasn't sure which one the User had, I knew the original word was "Veloute", but I wasn't sure which of the two programmes that matched.
I looked online at the French CE website, and thought it might be Puree because that was in the same place in the menu. However, something just didn't feel right, so I looked more carefully and saw that the little symbols were different. The French CE has the options in a different order to the British CE.
It worked quite well. The pulpy result was very sharp, and I've got lots of jars in the fridge.
I then decided to try a second version, which peeled the apples and added sugar and a little water. I thought it might come out like the Heinz baby apples that I loved as a kid. My mum used to serve it as apple sauce with pork, I'd just open a tin and eat it.
They use a form of brown sugar, and I wasn't sure which one. I ended up using muscovado, mainly because that was the first one in the cupboard. It turned the resulting mixture an unappetising dark brown, and it was a bit oversweet and caramelly.
Over the course of the next few days, I ate loads of it with Yoghurt. A bit of each, which worked well.
I decided I'd try again (another time) with unpeeled apples and a smaller amount of sugar, and I'll use Golden Granulated next time.
I'll let you know how it turns out
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Then the chillis were ripe.
I had a go with the Ball Jam and Jelly Maker I bought some years ago (immediately after regretting selling my rarely used Tefal Jam maker). It was the first time I had used the jam maker. The jam isn't long lasting, it has to be kept in a fridge (or it has to be waterbath preserved), but its easy to do.
I used their recipe for a Chilli Jam, . It had red peppers in it, which I can't eat, so I substituted apples.
The result was OK actually. It didn't set, my fault I think, but it was like a sweet chilli sauce.
I joined the Ball Jam and Jelly Maker FB group. Searching for recipes, I found a lady from the UK was asking about a recipe for Chilli Jam that had come with her Aldi version. She'd lost her recipe book, and really wanted it as she had tried many recipes and that one was the best. I commented on the post to see if she had ever got the recipe. She confirmed she had, and very kindly sent me the recipe.
So,. I had a go at that last night. I really should have cut down the quantities, but I didn't. Again, I substituted peeled and cored apples for the red pepper, and I reduced the amount of apple I put in (because the 1.6kg of peppers had to be deseeded). This recipe also called for a tin of cherry tomatoes, and that really appealed to me.
It used a lot of chillis, and it included the seeds. The chillis, garlic and ginger, and the apples all had to be blitzed before adding to the cooker. It made my eyes water a little, and I might wear my onion goggles (if I can find them) before trying again.
The finished results looked like vomit, because the apple pieces were still too big. I dug out the hand blender, and blended it, and it improved thngs no end. I put quite a lot into jars, and then I sloshed the rest into a big bowl. I had lots of it with sausages for dinner, and it was really quite pleasant. This one set properly.
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| Chilli Apple and Cherry Tomato Jam |
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| Sweet Chilli and Apple Sauce |
I loved the fact that I had two completely different products.
I'd be happy to make both of them again, but I'd reduce the quantities significantly. I only need a couple of jars.
The Jam maker is still sitting on the worktop. I ordered a recipe book from Amazon, which is aimed at these types of auto jam makers. It gets good reviews, but it wasn't possible to "look inside".
Maybe it will inspire me to make some more.
