Tuesday, February 03, 2015

“The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook.” ― Julia Child


So today was spent pretty much the same as yesterday, melting in the kitchen!
Sue sent me the recipe she used for plum sauce

Plum Sauce
1.8kg plums, de stoned and quartered
1 sml onion chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic chopped
Put all of this into a blender of food processor and blend until smooth.
Put into a large pot and add:
3 1/2 cups of sugar
2 cups of cider vinegar
1 tblspn ground ginger
1 tblspn mustard powder
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tspn red pepper flakes (I used chilli flakes)
1/2 tspn ground cloves
Bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 90 minutes
 
Pour into sterilised bottles.



I made another batch of pepper relish

Had a sort out of the cupboard and ditched some really old stuff , a beetroot relish that no-one liked
In this cupboard is last years bread & butter pickles and bean relishes and what I did this week.

In another cupboard are some that are a few years old but still good

...and (l-r)marmalade, plum jam & strawberry jam

How cute is this?

So for dinner tonight I made a stir fry, a great way to use some of those veggies and it's quick, after a long day for the both of us, quick is good and it's tasty to boot
Peas, sugarsnaps and ONE chilli, trust me it's all you need!

Finely sliced veggies

 Some left over beef

I used a mix of Peanut & Sesame oils and flavoured with Sweet chilli & soy sauce

I added some of these at the end

Chuck it all in the pan, stir it, add the noodles last minute

...and serve. Delish!

Because Joe had spent the best part of the day clearing and tidying the barn we had a drink up there this evening and played a couple of games of darts.




Lord Muck


Joe beat me good and proper at around the clock 1-bullseye
 
But I beat him at 101 finishing on a double 3! Woohoo!

Enjoy you day or evening where ever you are
xxx

11 comments:

  1. That quote got me, lol! You have been busy want to come here and do my preserves?!!!

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    Replies
    1. Maybe when I've finished mine luv, be about some time in the next millennia lol

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  2. Those labels look great, will make some next time I do some preserving. We are on a roll for sure now.

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  3. It's hard for me to get my head around the fact that you don't process any of your preserves-and it keeps from year to year. It is so weird that N.Z., Australia and U.K don't generally process and everyone in N. America is obsessive about processing. You guys are all still healthy and walking around (lol) and it's so much less work!! I love the labels you have made, I've bookmarked the site and the stir fry looks delish!!

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    Replies
    1. Not sure what you mean by processing? The jars are sterilised first, I wash mine then put into a medium hot oven for about 30 mins, or wash in a hot dishwasher with out detergent. Hot stuff goes into hot jars, lids on and they seal. Done :D We ain't dead yet hahaha what on earth do you do?

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    2. Just looked up on the internet, blimey what a palaver lol sound to me they just want you buying no doubt ans expensive canner lol

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  4. You can hot water bath process the jars or bottles. I use a baby bottle steriliser for the sauce/cordial bottles then bring to the boil then process for about 15 minutes. Takes all the air out of the bottle which is the hidden something that reduces the storage time on the pantry shelf. I then keep on Pantry shelf rather than in the fridge. No need for a canner. You need a canner though if using veggies. However I am going to invest in a larger preserver similar to a Hot water urn but not quite the same where you can process the bottles by bulk. I put up bottled apple sauce, bottled plums, bottled clementines, bottled pears, mulled pears, Roast tomato pasta sauce in bulk (there are other things as well) so that I know what is in the food and have always got something to hand in the pantry. Frees up more space in the freezer for things like meat. I have done Chinese Plum Sauce before on a regular basis and use it as one of the sauces I use on home cooked rack of ribs. Delicious.

    Pattypan

    x

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    Replies
    1. Wow sounds like you're busy in your kitchen. Thanks for explaining the process, the water bath method is used here too, I've done it before but found it really made no difference to the method I was already using. Most people here I know do it similar to me, same with bottling peaches say, I've not know of anyone having problems either. As long as all processes work at least we won't die lol :D

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  5. This all looks so much fun Sue. You have put me to shame will now tackle the excess plums I have and make something constructive with them.....

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    Replies
    1. I've done nothing today! My feet ache from standing the last two days. I'll carry on on Firday, I've got craft tomorrow x

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