I love this time of year when the hedgerows are beginning to fill up with wild blackberries. We grow our own in our garden as well.
This is the perfect time of year to make beautiful jams and baked treats with all of the bounty. Cooking apples are coming into their own as well. Combining the two into a fabulously tasty jam just makes sense.
We grow some really lovely cooking apples here in the UK. They are called Bramley Apples and they are the UK's favourite cooking apple.
Large, flattish, green in appearance, sometimes with a bit of a red flush, its flesh is white, juicy and quite acidic which makes them perfect for cooking with.
They turn into a frothy pulp when cooked, which makes them perfect for pies, cakes, applesauce and jams.
I think nature is so wonderful. Ofttimes you will find that fruits and vegetables which naturally have a great flavour affinity for being combined with each other happen to ripen at the same time.
I only made half the recipe today as there are only two of us in this house and one of us isn't supposed to eat jam. I also have to apologise for my lack of jars.
I have found myself in the unfortunate position of not having any empty jars, so a leftover takeaway tray has had to suffice.
I know you will forgive me for such a poor presentation, especially if you make this jam and then taste how delicious it is!
Oh, I had great plans in my head for how I was going to show this to you, but alas . . . even the best of plans go astray!
Don't let my failing in presentation put you off from making this delicious jam! It truly is fabulous, and such an easy make.
Just equal quantities of cooking apple and blackberries. Make sure you pick and clean the blackberries well. If you are using wild ones, soak them for a bit in salt water to draw any worms and grubs out.
Just fill a large bowl with tepid water and add two heaped TBS of salt. Carefully dump in the berries and then let them sit for about 10 minutes or so. Swish them around for a bit to draw out any stubborn ones.
The grubs will die and float to the top. You may not find any, but it is worth the extra effort to flush them out.
Discard any debris or grubs, drain the berries and then continue with the recipe. You will want to do this about an hour prior to starting your jam.
Jam sugar is a type of sugar which has had pectin added to it to aid in the quick setting up of jams and the preservation of their colour.
I believe in North America it is called Gelling Sugar. Essentially it is sugar with pectin and citric acid added.
Without it you would have to boil your fruit for a much longer time in order for it to set properly. It is doable, but using jam sugar shortens the cook time immensely, and ensures a perfect finish.
As you can see this is lovely and thick, and my husband says it is really delicious!
I had huge plans to bake some fresh scones to showcase it as well, but I spent most of today upgrading my phone so you will have to make do with buttered toast . . .
I actually made the jam yesterday . . . it is lovely and thick today . . .
Perfect. Not too sweet and just a bit tart from the cooking apples . . .
Toast and jam is one of my favourite things, or at least it used to be before I became a Diabetic. Now it is just a delicious dream, and a once in a blue moon tiny taste.
Apple & Blackberry Jam
Yield: Makes 6 (1 cup/240ml) jars
This is the best time of the year for making this delicious jam. with local cooking apples ready for the picking and the hedgerows filling up with wild blackberries. Its a lovely time of year.
ingredients:
- 500g fresh blackberries (a generous pound)
- 500g cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks (a generous pound)
- 100ml water (3 1/2 ounces)
- the juice of one small lemon
- 1 KG jam sugar (5 1/4 cups)
instructions:
How to cook Apple & Blackberry Jam
- Put the blackberries, apples, water and lemon juice into a large saucepan or preserving kettle over medium heat. Bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, then add the sugar. Bring back to the boil and then boil, stirring for 10 minutes, until the sugar is well dissolved and the jam holds its shape when spooned onto a cold plate. Spoon into clean and sterile jars and seal according to the manufacturers instructions. Store in a cool dark place. Refrigerate once opened.
I've been meaning to ask you. What do you think of me letting you know on Sundays about my planned recipes for the week?
I thought that if I did that then you could make sure you had in the main ingredients you might need to make them. Or would you rather it be a big surprise?
It also helps me in the planning of my week as well. Do tell as I really value your opinion. This page is as much yours as it is mine!
I received some beautiful Lemon Sole Fillets recently from Seafresh, the online fish monger. I adore sole. It is one of my favourite cuts of fish. It is so delicate and has such a beautiful flavour. The sole from Seafresh is especially tasty. Lemon sole is a wonderfully tasty alternative to Dover Sole, which is of course the King of Soles! I find it just as enjoyable in my opinion!
The Lemon sole was part of a beautiful box of fish I received last week from Seafresh Quality Foods.
Seafresh sells quality fish, seafood,
poultry and meat. I have been very impressed with both
their product and their delivery service in the past! There was absolutely nothing
that I could fault with any of it, and I still cannot. Feel free to read about my experience here.
The Lemon Sole comes in a 1KG package, skin on, with there being 4 to 5 fillets per package. I skinned it, which is very easily done. I am not a person who is that fond of eating fish skin, but some people love it. If you are like me you can find a video on how to do that here.
A sharp knife is all you need. Of course you can also cook it with the skin on. Its all a matter of preference.
I wanted to give it a very simple treatment of cooking today. Nothing fancy as I really wanted to highlight the delicate flavours of this beautiful fish.
Back in Canada I used to be able to buy bread crumbed fillets of sole from time to time and they were gorgeous. There is something incredibly delicious about mixing those two completely different textures . . . the soft perfectly cooked and delicately flavoured fish . . . crisp buttery bread crumbs . . . sigh . . .
Today I opted to make the crisp buttery breadcrumbs a separate entity on their own . . . a garnish of sorts . . . but no less delightful or tasty. Just crumb a thick slice of bread into coarse crumbs and then fry them in butter until lovely and crisp . . . and golden brown . . .
I treated the fish with a very light hand. I seasoned it simply with fine sea salt and coarse black pepper and then I dusted it very lightly with some plain flour . . .
I then pan fried it until it was golden on both sides in a mix of olive oil and butter . . . it doesn't take very long . . .
Two minutes per side does the job. There is nothing worse than dried out, over-cooked fish. These were . . . dare I say it . . . pure perfection.
I served each fillet with a sprinkle of those buttery crisp bread crumbs and some wedges of lemon for squeezing . . .
Accompanied with an assortment of fresh garden vegetables . . .
Runner Beans from our own garden, and some fresh carrots dressed with dill butter . . . and for Todd a serving of brown rice on the side . . .
This was a beautiful meal . . . it really was the perfect way to begin our week.
The fish would have been beautiful all on its own without the crumbs . . . but those crumbs added a really delicious touch that we both enjoyed very much. A little bit of something you love really does you a world of good.
Fillet of Sole with Crispy Fresh Bread Crumbs
Yield: 4
Delicately flavoured and perfectly cooked fillet of sole, topped with crisp buttery fresh bread crumbs. I served with wedges of lemon. Perfection.
ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds of sole or other mild flavoured fish, skinned
- 70g plain flour (1/2 cup)
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 TBS olive oil
- 3 TBS butter
- 2 large slice of stale bread, made into coarse crumbs
- 2 lemons quartered
instructions:
How to cook Fillet of Sole with Crispy Fresh Bread Crumbs
- I like to make the bread crumbs first as the fish cooks quite quickly. Its nice to have the bread crumbs all ready to go. Melt 2 TBS of butter in a large skillet. Once it begins to foam, tip in the bread crumbs. Cook stirring and tossing together in the butter until golden brown. Tip out onto a place lined with paper towels. Set aside and keep warm. Wipe out the skillet.
- Season the fish fillets with salt and black pepper. Dust with flour lightly, shaking off any excess. If the fillets are very thin, you can sandwich two together into one fat fillet prior to seasoning and dusting.
- Heat the olive oil along with 1 TBS of butter in the skillet over medium high heat until the butter begins to foam, swirling them to mix together. Add the fish fillets, presentation side down. Cook quickly, browning on both sides and allowing no more than 2 minutes per side. Place onto a heated serving platter, scatter the crispy bread crumbs over top and garnish with lemon wedges. Serve immediately.
We really have been spoiled lately with the opportunity to eat some lovely fish. Fish is so good for you and we both love it.
At the weekend Todd had an additional treat of a Prawn Mayonnaise Sandwich using some of the Cooked Salad Prawns from Seafresh. He was in Prawn Sandwich Heaven. The prawns were firm, pink and juicy. I thawed some of them and then mixed them with some good mayo and bit of sour cream, finely chopped celery, salt, pepper and some chopped fresh dill. He thoroughly enjoyed it. Its not every day I make him this kind of a sandwich, so it was a real treat! These lovely cooked prawns are also very good in salads!
A few things about Seafresh:
- Same Day dispatch on orders received before 1 PM.
- All packages are carefully hand packed.
- Free delivery on orders above £50, £8 on orders below that amount.
- Responsibly and sustainably sourced.
- Air Blast Frozen at source within 4 hours of being caught.
- Wide variety to choose from.
Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Note - Although I was gifted with product free of charge for the purposes of review, I was not required to write a positive review in exchange, nor would my integrity allow me to recommend anything if I did not truly like it. Any and all my opinions are my own entirely.
Up tomorrow: Blackberry & Apple Jam
This Pasta with Chicken Broth, Butter & Cheese that I am sharing with you today is a beautiful example of simple and uncomplicated foods. Food done well and put together in a most delicious way.
These are my favourie kinds of recipes. I just love them. Its how I like to cook most of the time. I am so done with complications in my life, let alone in my food.
There are several things that I always keep in my larder. One of them is a variety of pasta shapes, from the always popular spaghetti right on down to rice shaped orzo.
I love pasta, and would eat it in any way shape or form. My husband, however . . . is not so sure! More for me!
He does always eat whatever I put in front of him. He is a fan of pinching the pennies, and so he didn't complain overly much when I served him this.
Plus there was still some Baby Sticky Toffee Pudding Cakes, leftover from the other day for afters. Who can complain about that!
Another thing I always keep in my store cupboard is a variety of stock cubes and gel pots. Chicken, vegetable, beef, ham, lamb, etc.
Stock and pasta are the basis of this very simple and yet delicious dish in which pasta is quite simply cooked in a quantity of stock . . . It doesn't get much easier than this.
Cooking the pasta in the stock infuses it with lots of flavour. The starch from the pasta actually serves to thicken the stock somewhat into a sauce,
A miracle of chemistry.
The knob of butter added at the end doesn't hurt either . . . . just sayin' You will hear no complaints from me.
Butter, pasta, cheese . . . all weaknesses.
This is one dish where you want to cook the pasta at a slow simmer. To boil it in the stock would mean that too much of the stock would evaporate.
You want to keep as much of the stock in the pot as possible for that sauce. A low simmer does the trick perfectly.
As you can see, I had plenty of stock left to ladle over the cooked pasta for the sauce. You don't want it to be overly soupy, but neither do you want it to be dry.
I used a very small elbow macaroni for this today, but any small pasta shape works well. Ditali, orzo, any small pasta shape.
You want ideally one that will cook in less then 10 minutes. So make sure you check the package for a cook time.
If you use a good stock you shouldn't need any seasoning, other than coarse black pepper. The stock should be salty enough.
Do make sure you use a quality stock however. Most of the flavour of the dish will becoming from that.
Me, I always like a good grinding of black pepper on everything. My father is the same. He loves a good lot of pepper on everything.
So much so that I am often aghast at just how much he uses and I wonder at how he can taste anything beyond pepper!
Garnished with some freshly grated Parmesan Cheese and a sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley this was a real treat for me.
Comfort in a bowl . . . it doesn't get much better than this. Some hot buttered toast on the side goes very well.
Yield: 2
Pasta with Chicken Broth, Butter & Cheese
This is essentially comfort food. Quick to make and very simple. We enjoy it with slices of hot buttered toast.
ingredients:
- 950ml chicken broth (4 cups)
- 230g small pasta shapes (small macaroni, small shells, orzo, ditali, stilleti, etc.) (2 cups)
- 30g butter (1/4 cup)
- 50g finely grated Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup)
- coarse pepper
- chopped fresh parsley or basil
instructions:
How to cook Pasta with Chicken Broth, Butter & Cheese
- Put the chicken stock into a large heavy based saucepan. Bring to the boil and then stir in the pasta. Reduce immediately to a low simmer. Cook as per pasta package instructions, stirring frequently to prevent it from sticking. Don't be tempted to boil it as you will most definitely run out of stock. This is meant to be cooked at a very slow simmer. Once the pasta is cooked, remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Grind some pepper into the pot and stir.
- Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the pasta to two heated bowls. Ladle any stock left in the saucepan over each, dividing it equally. Sprinkle each with half the cheese and a spoonful of chopped herbs. Serve immediately.
It is the simple meals like this that I enjoy most of all. I have never made it for any more than two people, but if I was going to do so, I would cook it in separate pots. This really is a delicious doddle!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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