Tag: Autumn


May
2020

Quince Salami

categories: Autumn, England, Quince

I bought a fresh quince to make the quince blancmange and then realised I did not need it.  So, what on earth was I to do with a quince?  I got out my recipe spreadsheet and searched for quince. In the end, I narrowed my search down to three things – Quince Salami, a Chocolate, Quince and Almond Tart, and a Chicken Liver Pate with Pickled Quince.  Turns out I had everything I needed for the quince salami already in the house.    Even with restrictions here easing a bit, we are still being told to stay at home as much as possible. So why go out to shop if you don’t have to?


Quince Salami 1

The Quince Salami is a version of the membrillo or quince paste that you would serve on a cheeseboard. What makes it a little more interesting is that you can add the same fruit and nuts that you would serve on your cheeseboard into the “salami”. The idea of it is that when you cut through your quince roll, the chunks of fruit and nuts resemble the flecks of fat and flavourings that you see in a regular salami. The resemblance would be even closer had my quince turned the dark red that some quinces do when they are cooked.

Quince Salami 2

The reason quince turn red when they cook is due to tannins in their flesh.  Mine did not have enough tannin so only turned an apricotty colour which was quite beautiful but not that red I was looking for.  It tasted so good though!  And is a really cute and different addition to a cheeseboard.

Quince Salami 3

I LOVED this with some blue cheese.  The sweet fruitiness of the salami with a hint of crunch coming from the almonds was perfect against the salty blueness of the gorgonzola.  I cannot wait to try this with some brie or Camembert when I venture out to the shops again!  The fruit I used were dried sour cherries and some dried apricots.

However, if you are not a cheese lover and / or have a sweet tooth, another way you can serve a quince salami is to roll it in some sugar, then slice finely and serve as a petit-four with coffee.  This is the serving suggestion in the recipe I used. I thought it was already sweet enough so took it in a more savoury direction.

The Recipe

The recipe for Quince Salami comes from the book Classic British Cooking by Sarah Edington. She traces the history of quince marmalade, upon which this is based to way back to Tudor times!  Here it is:

Would you prefer this as a sweet dish or as a cheeseboard accompaniment?

Have a great weekend everyone. Stay safe!

 

 

 

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May
2020

Quince Blancmange

categories: Desserts, Fruit

I’m fairly sure that Quince Blancmange was invented when someone put the names of the most old fashioned fruit and the most vintage of desserts through a random generator to see what came up.  It could have been worse.  We could have been eating Medlar Junkets.   or Whortleberry Possets.  BTW…just in case you are writing an academic history of quince blancmange don’t quote me on that origin story!  For everyone else?  That’s how it happened.  Other people will tell you that blancmange originated in the Middle Ages and used to contain chicken and other meaty treats.  That it moved from savoury to sweet in around 1600 and that the name is a portmanteau of the French words for white (blanc) and to eat (manger).  And I’m not saying that they are wrong.  “Quince” blancmange however?  Random name generator.  For sure.  100%.

Quince Blancmange1

Quince are one of the weirdest fruit around!  If you are not familiar with them, they are those bright yellow fruit that look like large misshapen pears that you might see in your greengrocer in autumn.  When you cut them open the flesh is white and so, so sour and a little bit bitter.  But when you cook them that flesh becomes a glorious deep pink to dark red and sweet.

And blancmange? Is pretty much jelly / jello with cream or milk mixed through it.  Who knew!

So, I bought a quince because I didn’t really read the recipe first and made the assumption that quince blancmange would contain quince.  I mean stands to reason right?

Hmmm….wrong.  The quince blancmange recipe uses the quince jelly you buy to eat with cheese.  Now, for some reason we had a shit ton of this in our fridge.  Well, one of them was Fig paste but for the purpose of the blancmange, it was all the same.  I have no idea why we had so much of this.  I suspect they came in hampers or were freebies with something because the only other time I have ever cooked quince was to make my own membrillo which is the proper name of Spanish Quince paste and we have been eating that.  Delicious too I might add!  If you do make it, a little splash of vanilla essence in the quince mix does not go astray.  Trust me on that one.

Quince Pastes

Quince blancmange is so easy to make.

First, tip your paste into a sauce pan, add water and melt that jelly down.  Taste.  Add sugar if needed, or if already very sweet a dash of lemon juice.  Add a splash of vanilla too.  Then, turn off the heat, allow to cool slightly and stir through the cream.  This looked so pretty as it made a beautiful marbled pattern.  It was very soothing moving the spoon through the swirls of colour…

Quince Blancmange 5

Then add some gelatine pour into the mould and you are done!

Print

Quince Blancmange

Quince Blancmange1
Print Recipe

A fruity dessert that tastes better than it looks!

  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Dessert

Ingredients

Scale
  • 200 grams Quince Jelly
  • 100 grams water (Plus moe for gelatime)
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 4 Gelatine leaves
  • Sugar, to taste
  • Lemon juice, to taste
  • 250 ml Cream
  • Berries to serve (Optionaal)

Instructions

  1. Add the quince jelly to the water in a small saucepan and simmer over medium heat until the jelly melts.
  2. Add the vanilla.
  3. Taste and add sugar and / or lemon juice to taste.
  4. Remove from heat. Stir through the cream.
  5. Soften the gelatine leaves in a little cool water, then removeand squeeze out the excess water. Stir the gelatine into the warm cream andquince mixture.
  6. Pour into a mould and chill until set.
  7. To serve, invert the mould and garnish with the berries.

If I did not now know this was quince flavoured I would not have guessed that was it was.  And I don’t think that was because of the figs because it did not taste overly figgy either.  It tasted generically fruity sweet.  The Quince Blancmange was much nicer to eat than it was to look at.  Because it looked revolting.  Really bad.  It reminded me of being back in school and seeing a picture of some lungs with all the arteries and veins running through it.

Spot the Difference

Quince Blancmange 8

So, not fail but not a total win.  I probably will not make this exact recipe again but I am definitely going to experiment with blancmange a bit more to try to bring out the actual flavour of the fruit.  I wonder if it would have been different if I had used fresh quince instead of the jelly?

Have a great week friends and stay safe!

 

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May
2020

10-Minute Autumn Salad

categories: Chestnuts, Salad, Vegetables

Autumn is truly here.  Most days are bright and sunny days but with a little chill in the air to let you know that winter is on its way.  The nights are getting cold and darkness is falling a little bit earlier each day. It is very pretty when I am out on my daily walk with the dogs.  And it is perfect weather for an Autumnal Salad.  

Autumn salad not only makes the use of one of my favourite autumn ingredients, chestnuts but the colours of the dish are meant to resemble the colours of autumn.

Autumnal Salad

One of the paradoxes of living in iso is that, just when I have more time to cook, half the time I can’t be bothered.  I feel like I can’t remember a time when I didn’t feel anxious or scared. And whilst I am trying to enjoy the pleasures of the little things such as the turning of the leaves, TBH, a lot of the time I just want to sleep and/or play mindless games on my phone.  Another weird thing is that I am sleeping more than ever but constantly feel tired.

Anyway, for the days when I am feeling blah, this salad is a lifesaver.  Not only does it only take around ten minutes to prepare but  Autumn Salad  looks so colourful and pretty, is healthy and can be varied to fit what you have in the fridge or what you feel like eating on the day!

Back in the days before the ‘rona I used to regularly stock up on little vacuum packets of roasted chestnuts from the Japanese department store Daiso.  I usually have a few of these in my pantry to make this salad and other things requiring chestnuts.  I used my last pack to make this one so, for future rounds, it looks like I will be roasting my own chestnuts!  Good thing they are in season!  This will take this recipe out of the 10-minute realm but it will be worth it!

Autumnal Salad2

The Recipe

The original recipe for the Autumn Salad comes from the May 2003 Delicious magazine.  The basic recipe is this:

Autumn Salad Recipe

However, the joy of this salad lies in the variations.

Make it vegetarian

  • Substitute the Proscuitto for Blue Cheese (This is my favourite). 
  • Throw in some chopped up pears if you like.  Fresh or dried, both a great!

Make it vegan

  • Substitute the Proscuitto for Roast Pumpkin or Sweet Potato

Autumnal Salad 4

You can serve this Autumn Salad on its own or for a larger meal, it is fabulous with a baked potato, loaded with butter and chives,

That’s me done for today.  Stay safe!

 

 

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