Real lime marmalade is golden yellow - it's official!
To take a break from knitting I have made some summer marmalade, using anything but oranges, because Seville oranges are only available early in the new year.
The dark red one the left is grapefruit and red gooseberry. Finally I have found the ideal use for the gooseberries I grow at the allotment. I was thinking of digging out the gooseberry bush, but the flavour of this marmalade is so good that the bush has had a reprieve. This batch has turned out a bit runny for my liking, a bit too much like French jam, but having discovered a great taste, I am going to have to work on the recipe.
On the right is grapefruit and plum, made with plums from a tree in the garden outside my husband's work. I haven't quite made my mind up about the flavour yet. Perhaps it needs to mature in the jar for a few days.
As for the one in the middle, I'm borderline ecstatic. It is a combination of lime and kiwi fruit. The fruit took hours to prepare, because limes have thin, hard skin so the shreds are an awful fuss, and all the kiwi seeds needed to be cut out to prevent the marmalade taking on the appearance of frog spawn. During cooking the limes change to a sludgy pond weed colour and look as appetising as cabbage soup. The magic happens after the sugar is added and the temperature is raised to reach setting point. The colour is gorgeous, showing how the bright green stuff in the shops is full of colouring. As for the taste, it was just what I was aiming for.
Now I have to see if I can master lemons. They have never lived up to my expectations.
Lovely! Kiwi and plum sounds interesting. Do you wing it or go by a recipe book? I suspect the colouring is added to make it look appetising in shops, not to mention all the other additives and flavourings that you don't need when doing it yourself. HRH has been pickling gherkins. Then we cut the calabrese heads and he froze the florets, saving the water for Stilton and broccoli soup which we will have for our tea. I love it when finally things are growing and you eat your own produce. Also being inventive is fun! So this afternoon I was hunting buried treasure . . . yarrrrr, patayterz! ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Kerry! All my own inventions, so it's a thrill when one turns out exactly as I'd hoped for.
DeleteIf it decides to stop raining I should be digging up a few spuds tomorrow. The badgers have trashed a few, the blighters, but there are still plenty left.
Well done with all the green stuff. I've never had any success with broccoli. It's lovely when it's really fresh.
Well raspberries to Gordon Ramsay - we have a super marmalade chef here! Can't believe how wet and windy it has been! Looking at the radar I think you may have had a bit of a thunderstorm! Or in your area. I looked on Lightening maps and I seem to have slept through some this morning. Unheard of! Finally my fears and sleeping with one ear open have eased. Or else I'm going deaf in my old age! Hope you managed a few spuddies. I know we do have badgers around - we caught one on wildlife cam when we first came here, but s/he/they haven't messed with our veggie patch yet.
ReplyDeleteThe very thought of Gordon Ramsay making marmalade... just think of the swearing if it didn't set.
DeleteYou are out of date on the weather already. We're baking!
It certainly was hot this morning, managed to hose out the duck houses, they dried and I raced to get the bedding in as the rain was approaching. It looked thundery, but we had a few spits. So humid! I may have accidentally hosed myself on purpose! LOL!
DeleteHi Muv, I can image that marmalade that looks like toad scum is not what you want :-) It does sound delicious. I can't wait to hear about the lemon marmalade. I could probably handle making that. Take care.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrée! I'll let you know how I do with lemons. I tried years ago, and labelled it "lemon disaster". My husband used it up over the years in a fruit loaf recipe that called for marmalade. Waste not, want not!
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