Mrs. sandbenders Quince Cheese recipe

[Macaroon]

Like you, I put mine in the dehydrator for a few hours; when it comes out I dust it lightly with gram flour which I mix with a small amount of cinnammon/allspice/turmeric/nutmeg/mace in any or all of their combinations.
I only use enough to impart a gentle flavour and I just do what I feel like each year without any method. I cut mine about two inches square and just use greaseproof paper interleaved with it, then into the old sugar bags which I keep for packaging small amounts of foraged goodies

 

[Toddy]

I hadn't thought of adding flour. Your spiced gram flour sounds good though; I think that'd go really well with the cotignac.
Somewhere I've a photo of the bowl of fruits too. Need to find it as well.

atb,
M

 

[Robson Valley]

cheese = an old word referring to the semisoft texture.

"Corned Beef." where's the corn? Old word referring to particle size, salt in this case.
Some how, in the Americas, 'corn' is a word which came to mean the different varieties of maize (flint, flour, dent, sweet & pop).

 

[Robson Valley]

Are quince better tasting when cooked?
A few of the city grocery stores have them from time to time.
I've bought them, didn't know what to expect for taste.

 

[Toddy]

In the UK corn was simply the grain. Didn't matter which really, just if it could be used for bread and beer, then it was the corn.

M

 

[Janne]

Are quince better tasting when cooked?
A few of the city grocery stores have them from time to time.
I've bought them, didn't know what to expect for taste.

Yes, they need to be cooked. Unless you let them go through "bletting" which is like an advanced ripening. In fact, beyond the ripening stage, they need to get close to the rotten stage.
Same with Medlars and some primitive varieties of Persimmons.
In the US you can get Quince cheese of the brand Goya.
It is kind of stuff the Hispanic people eat, not sure how or with though.

It is fantastic with well aged cheese. That is how I eat it.

Nicely aged Brie I eat with honey and gently roasted Walnuts.

 

[Toddy]

The little quince I used don't blet. They go brown and withered and shrivelled rather than soften into sweetness. There's only about a cm thickness of flesh on them around the central seed box….and there are dozens of slighter bigger than apple, but look very similar, seeds inside.
Lovely scent from them though, and it's a pretty bush when it's in bloom too.
Mine came as a cutting from an elderly neighbour's garden. Anne's has been growing for nearly fifty years and it's enormous
Now I'm sure that I like what I make from the fruits though, I know where I can get a huge harvest next year since she just leaves them to fall and rot.
I think we'll find somewhere suitable and scatter these seeds too. Hedge and fence lines strike me as a good place.
Decent foraging for the future methinks

M

 

[Macaroon]

Are quince better tasting when cooked?
A few of the city grocery stores have them from time to time.
I've bought them, didn't know what to expect for taste.

Raw, they serve as a beautifully-scented fruit that spread a wonderful aroma at your desk; we always had them all over the house, but especially on head-high shelves in the kitchen where they'd last through to March/April time, but NOT to eat.

Cooked, they are superb in almost any fashion you can cook fruit as a jam or jelly, and work extremely well with meat and game of all sorts. Combined with crab apples and other wild Autumnal fruits and berries they are the food of the Gods!

 

[Janne]

The little quince I used don't blet. They go brown and withered and shrivelled rather than soften into sweetness. There's only about a cm thickness of flesh on them around the central seed box….and there are dozens of slighter bigger than apple, but look very similar, seeds inside.
Lovely scent from them though, and it's a pretty bush when it's in bloom too.
Mine came as a cutting from an elderly neighbour's garden. Anne's has been growing for nearly fifty years and it's enormous
Now I'm sure that I like what I make from the fruits though, I know where I can get a huge harvest next year since she just leaves them to fall and rot.
I think we'll find somewhere suitable and scatter these seeds too. Hedge and fence lines strike me as a good place.
Decent foraging for the future methinks

M

Have you tried to surround them with hay and place in an box? Sounds like yours dry out.

On the farm my family used to own in Czech Rep there was a pear tree granddad took with him when he returned back home after WW1, he took it from Northern Italy.
The pears were uneatable unless they were bletted. Delicious after bletting.
Tree was removed by the ignorant new owners, I did not even manage to save any shoots for grafting.

 

[Toddy]

I have tried to keep the fruit sound as long as possible. They don't keep like pears, apples or root vegetables do. They don't blet like pears or medlars either. They just go brown, a dark rust brown, and become wizened. They keep their scent though.
It's the loveliest 'room freshener' and beats any pot pourri into a cocked hat They don't sweeten up as they age either.
Think of limes. They shrivel and dry and but still tasty in cooking. Same thing with the Japonica quince.

M

 

[Toddy]

I've been munching some of those wee offcuts from my cotignac….and I've had a thought, and it's a good one.
Macaroon ? how do you think it'd do as the filling in home made Jaffa Cakes ?
I think I'm gonna bake

M

 

[Macaroon]

I'm not much of a one for biscuits, Mary, but I do know what jaffa cakes are and I think that's an inspired idea; I reckon it'll work really well with some good quality chocolate...........

I'm sure I won't be alone in looking forward to hearing about your results!

 

[Toddy]

I don't have much of a sweet tooth, tbh, but I've gotten good at making a gluten free sponge for Son2 (gluten free, dairy free, egg free, yet it works ) but that's maybe why this stuff appeals so much; it's tangy, it's flavourful, and not just amorphous sweet jelly stuff. I think the combination of that with a good chocolate covering might work very well

While I mind, do any of the ladies who make it for you use honey instead of sugar?

M

 

[Macaroon]

Yep, two of them do and it works very well.

 

[Janne]

If you want to be fancy this X-mas, make a brie / Camembert baked in Filo pastry. But cut away some of the rind on the top, and place a chunk of the fruit "jam" on top.
This thread inspired me, and I did that last night!

 

[Robson Valley]

I tried that Camembert/apricot jam thing. 1/4" thick, as wide as the pan with a lump of Filo in the middle.
My brother's trick is to bake them from frozen. Cheese melts just enough not to be runny.

 

[British Red]

Which may well be true, here they are known as Bereczki Quince (Cydonia oblonga Bereczki), you can read about them here.

Sandbender hasn't been seen in a long time, but great posts deserve thanks, however belated.

Below is one of the many, maturing fruit, on my now 8' tall quince (Cydonia oblonga Vranja.)

Thank you old friend, we remember you as it grows each year.

 

[Macaroon]

I often wonder what became of Sandbender, a very interesting man........

 

[British Red]

I often wonder what became of Sandbender, a very interesting man........

He was. I hope he might see my thanks one day