Well, its become a bit of a tradition for me to do a few recipes at this time of year. A combination of longer evenings, excess produce, upcoming gift giving all spur me to "preserve".
Its not really bushcraft but I know a lot of us grow toms and chillis so this might be helpful to some
This is one of my favourites - Thai sweet chilli sauce - a great dipping sauce or use as a condiment on meet or with cheese.
The Ingredients
1 Kg of peeled chopped de-seeded tomatoes (you can used tinned but I end up with loads this time of year)
A head of garlic
8 large red chillies (avoid scotch bonnets or nagas - medium hot like tabasco is my favourite but milder is great)
About two table spoons of grated fresh ginger (a piece the size of three fingers)
4 Tbs of Nam Pla (Thai fish sauce - available in all supermarkets)
600g of unrefined sugar
200ml or vinegar (I like red wine vinegar for this but any works)
Preparing a puree
First put your tomatoes in a blender (after peeling, deseeding and rough chopping)
Then take a sharp knife and peel your ginger. It should be juicy and moist not hard and woody.
Grate or finely chop the ginger
Take the garlic and peel all the cloves. Put the garlic and ginger in the blender
Take the tops and tails off your chillis
Roughly chop the chillis - seeds and all!
Add the chilli to the blender
Pour four tablespoons of fish sauce into the blender
Blitz the contents of the blender to a puree
Put the puree in a large stainless pan and add 600g of raw sugar and 200ml of vinegar
Stir the ingredeints well. You'll notice the colour darken a bit
Cooking
Bring the contents of the pan to the boil stirring gently
Lower to a simmer. A small froth or scum will form - skim this off and discard
Maintain the simmer stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes put 6 half pint jars in the oven to warm for another 15 minutes - keep stirring and skimming the sauce
When the jars are hot, fill them with the hot suace (a jam funnel is a great help).
Take care - hot jar...hot sauce..burnt fingers!
Seal the jars firmly and wait for the lids to "ping"
This sauce is hotter than the commercial stuff so adjust to your taste. Leave for a month to mature - be ready for Christmas in plenty of time and will keep for at least six months
Plenty more recipes for preserving "excess veg" if anyone wants them...as this weeks output shows
Red
Its not really bushcraft but I know a lot of us grow toms and chillis so this might be helpful to some
This is one of my favourites - Thai sweet chilli sauce - a great dipping sauce or use as a condiment on meet or with cheese.
The Ingredients
1 Kg of peeled chopped de-seeded tomatoes (you can used tinned but I end up with loads this time of year)
A head of garlic
8 large red chillies (avoid scotch bonnets or nagas - medium hot like tabasco is my favourite but milder is great)
About two table spoons of grated fresh ginger (a piece the size of three fingers)
4 Tbs of Nam Pla (Thai fish sauce - available in all supermarkets)
600g of unrefined sugar
200ml or vinegar (I like red wine vinegar for this but any works)
Preparing a puree
First put your tomatoes in a blender (after peeling, deseeding and rough chopping)
Then take a sharp knife and peel your ginger. It should be juicy and moist not hard and woody.
Grate or finely chop the ginger
Take the garlic and peel all the cloves. Put the garlic and ginger in the blender
Take the tops and tails off your chillis
Roughly chop the chillis - seeds and all!
Add the chilli to the blender
Pour four tablespoons of fish sauce into the blender
Blitz the contents of the blender to a puree
Put the puree in a large stainless pan and add 600g of raw sugar and 200ml of vinegar
Stir the ingredeints well. You'll notice the colour darken a bit
Cooking
Bring the contents of the pan to the boil stirring gently
Lower to a simmer. A small froth or scum will form - skim this off and discard
Maintain the simmer stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes put 6 half pint jars in the oven to warm for another 15 minutes - keep stirring and skimming the sauce
When the jars are hot, fill them with the hot suace (a jam funnel is a great help).
Take care - hot jar...hot sauce..burnt fingers!
Seal the jars firmly and wait for the lids to "ping"
This sauce is hotter than the commercial stuff so adjust to your taste. Leave for a month to mature - be ready for Christmas in plenty of time and will keep for at least six months
Plenty more recipes for preserving "excess veg" if anyone wants them...as this weeks output shows
Red
