poaching Quince

[NoName]

Close to my basecamp and secret shelter (oops gave that away) there are some abandonded fruit trees, one of them had mysterious Pears...
Every year the tree was full of pears, full in its prime it has lots to give.
Then my mother (once on a visit to my base camp) told me it were Quince.
After four years (!) I decided to look up the jam recipe and make it.

So I collected them this weekend and left lots of them on the tree

then
Per 1,4 kilogram Quince
1 kg Sugar
1 liter water
(no pectine cause there is lots of them in these from nature)
1 lemon
remove velvet and core
boil (with skin!) 60 minutes until nice reddish pink
Luckily I never sold my Henckels Kitchen knife because there pears are tougher then any fruit I know.

A etherical flavour developed in the kitchen!
when I tasted it I was a moment in Heaven. They are wonderful!

I just wanted to share this with you boys and girls, more people who knew of this?

 

[Goatboy]

Looks good. I'm lucky like you in that there's an old lady in the village who doesn't crop her trees and lets some of us do it. (She always gets loads back once processed.)
Use them a lot in Middle Eastern cooking where they really fit in well. Though lovely with a roast too. Also make a very nice gin or vodka liquor.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[NoName]

thanks Goatboy!
good advice too Would be a very nice aroma for a liquor hehe very distinct.
nice lady in the village, so kind give some back

the trees are of some fellow somewhere in Germany who I saw once in 4 years and never visits. But I have send him my thanks. Glad still because 99,9 percent of the land has a use, owner or some rights and stuff, which makes wilder places so rich, adventurous. The wildlife there is also happy. No chemicals, over mowing or grazing and stuff.

 

[Macaroon]

Well done sir! I've always held that the scent of quince is one of the very greatest of nature's gifts; when I was a child at home we'd have whole quince all over the house right the way through the Winter and the smell would last right through to Easter time. We'd make jam, as you have, and also a much more astringent preserve to go with game meats. This less sweet version was also used when making gravy to accompany anything very rich.

I've never tried Quince gin, G'boy, but I'm off to get a couple of bottles tomorrow and give it a try.............should make a nice change from my Damson gin!

 

[NoName]

thank you for your comment and info Macaroon!
so nice to read this
England, Wales and Scotland are still rich in their old country traditions, that is a reason I am on this forum

 

[sandbender]

The great thing about Quince is that it will almost never rot, it keeps for months.

In traditional Saxon houses in Transylvania (one of my children's grandparents is a Transylvanian Saxon) there was a shelf running around the kitchen wall just below the ceiling, each year quince would be arranged around the length of that shelf where it would sit through all the winter months providing a needed dose of vit c (and a pleasing aroma).

Mrs Sandbender makes Quince cheese each Christmas, a kind of semi solid block of condensed fruit that is used in cakes or given to kids with their honey cakes at Christmas time.

I promised someone here that I'd photograph the quince cheese making process and post it here, so well reminded, thanks.

 

[NoName]

Sandbender
That is great info. Thanks for sharing.
All the best from across the Channel

 

[sandbender]

Sandbender
That is great info. Thanks for sharing.
All the best from across the Channel

No worries. I'm on the same side of the Channel as you.

 

[British Red]

The great thing about Quince is that it will almost never rot, it keeps for months.

In traditional Saxon houses in Transylvania (one of my children's grandparents is a Transylvanian Saxon) there was a shelf running around the kitchen wall just below the ceiling, each year quince would be arranged around the length of that shelf where it would sit through all the winter months providing a needed dose of vit c (and a pleasing aroma).

Mrs Sandbender makes Quince cheese each Christmas, a kind of semi solid block of condensed fruit that is used in cakes or given to kids with their honey cakes at Christmas time.

I promised someone here that I'd photograph the quince cheese making process and post it here, so well reminded, thanks.

Who are you calling "someone"?

Guess what my darling wife has ordered for me this dormant tree season

So all quince recipes will be stored for a year or two, but...wait for it....we will harvest medlars this year!

 

[British Red]

remove velvet and core

May not translate but what do you mean by velvet please?

 

[sandbender]

Who are you calling "someone"?

Guess what my darling wife has ordered for me this dormant tree season

So all quince recipes will be stored for a year or two, but...wait for it....we will harvest medlars this year!

Mmmm Medlars, the photo tutorial I promised you will be up sometime in December.

 

[British Red]

Thank you sir!

You are directly responsible for our latest tree purchase you know

I am looking forward to medlars - I've never had one

 

[sandbender]

"...You are directly responsible for our latest tree purchase you know ..."

They are a very versatile fruit I think you'll both be pleased.

So readers here can have an idea of what quinze cheese looks like here is a pic of some quince cheese embedded in honeycake,

 

[British Red]

That looks amazing

 

[Macaroon]

May not translate but what do you mean by velvet please?

The true Quince, as opposed to Japonica, developes a soft sort of fuzz all over the outside as it ripens, it just needs a wipe over with a tea towel or suchlike and it disappears.

I can't remember if they used to do that back in the day, but I don't generally bother and have come to no harm from it

 

[WoodGnome]

Guess what my darling wife has ordered for me this dormant tree season

So all quince recipes will be stored for a year or two, but...wait for it....we will harvest medlars this year!

Hear, hear... didn't we have a wee talk about quince trees not being in your orchard (yet) earlier this year and now you're getting one? That rocks! I hardly know any fruit in the northern part of the world that is as versatile as quince in processing.

 

[British Red]

The true Quince, as opposed to Japonica, developes a soft sort of fuzz all over the outside as it ripens, it just needs a wipe over with a tea towel or suchlike and it disappears.

I can't remember if they used to do that back in the day, but I don't generally bother and have come to no harm from it

Awesome, thank you!

 

[British Red]

Hear, hear... didn't we have a wee talk about quince trees not being in your orchard (yet) earlier this year and now you're getting one? That rocks! I hardly know any fruit in the northern part of the world that is as versatile as quince in processing.

Indeed we did. Looking forward to it immensely. I hope it will complete the trio with medlar and mulberry!

 

[Tommyd345]

My mum makes quince jelly. Goes excellent with any meal that involves meat, or potatoes, or veg of some kind. So basically any meal!

 

[WoodGnome]

Indeed we did. Looking forward to it immensely. I hope it will complete the trio with medlar and mulberry!

Sounds great. Here are two recipe's my gran had for quince:

Quince Jelly

Ingredients:
2 kg quince
40 ml lemon juice
1 small organic lemon
jam sugar 1:1 (l:kg)
1.5 l water

Procedure:
1. Wipe the quinces with a kitchen towel. Wash them, then cut out the stem and the blossom remains.
2. Dice the quinces with peel and core, then put them into a pot with the 1.5 l of water add the lemon juice and let it all cook for ~40-50 minutes (till it's all soft). (Make sure you use a pot in which all of the diced quinces are covered by the water.)
3. Put a wet cloth strainer into a large sieve and pour the juice into it. Make sure you press it all out.
4. Put 1l of the juice into a pot with 1 kg of jam sugar and heat it while stirring all the time(!). Cook it at a rolling boil for 4-5 minutes (stirring).
5. Pour the jelly into jars, turn them upside down and let them rest like that for five minutes.

If kept dark and cool the jelly can last up to 3 years (if not eaten ).

Quince Liqueur

Ingredients:

500 g quince
0.25 l water
0.125 l spirit of wine
1l corn schnapps per 1l juice
300 g icing sugar
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
2g gelatin powder

Procedure:

1. Wash the quinces and wipe off the fluff.
2. Mince them.
3. Gently cook the puree with the water for about 45 minutes. Then let it cool down.
4. Dissolve the gelatin in some warm water, then - together with the wine spirit - mix it into the puree.
5. Let it rest for 24 hours, then put the puree into a cloth strainer and press all of the juice out.
6. Put the schnapps (1l per 1l juice), the cinnamon stick, the sugar and the cloves in, stir and let it rest for two months in a rum pot or something similar.
7. Fill the liqueur into bottles and enjoy.

May you quince lovers have fun with the recipes.