Pickle your fancy

"Oh enough already!" That was my initial thought when George called to let me know he had a box of tomatoes waiting for me. George is one of my favourite veggie growers. Here is the entrance to his store.




But then I realised you can you ever have enough pasta sauce tucked away for the winter. And seeing I finally had my hands on a copy of A Year In A Bottle, the wonderful book on preserving by Sally Wise, I thought I might as well go for another 20 kilos.

If you've ever thought about putting away food as jam, preserves or even freezing, this book is for definitely for you. This book is beautifully written with easy to follow instructions and plenty of recipes. Sally lives in Tasmania and this book is also peppered with tales of her own, from adventures with her grandparents as a child to picking fruit with her own children.

Pasta sauce not withstanding, it was a recipe for tomato chili pickle that caught my eye. With 20 cloves of garlic, loads of olive oil and a mountain of cumin, cooking this pickle filled the house with the most irresistible spicy fug.

If by any chance you still have a couple of kilos of tomatoes lying around I thoroughly recommend you cook up a batch. It's super easy and super delicious. Here is the recipe:


Tomato Chili Pickles from A Year in Bottle by Sally Wise

1.5 tbs yellow mustard seeds
1.5 cups white or cider vinegar
2.5cm piece of fresh ginger peeled
20 cloves of garlic
1.5 cups olive oil
250g large red chilies, finely chopped
2kg tomatoes
1.5 tbs ground turmeric
4 tbs ground cumin
1.25 cups sugar
1 tbs salt

Combine mustard seeds and vinegar in a bowl and set aside to soak for at least 30 minutes. Transfer to a food processor, add ginger and garlic and blend until well pureed.

Heat oil in a large saucepan, add chilies and tomatoes and saute slowly for a few minutes. Add mustard seed and vinegar mixture, turmeric, cumin, sugar and salt. Simmer for at least three hours or until thickened.

Pour into sterilised bottles and seal. Store in a cool dry and dark place for two weeks to allow flavours to develop before eating.

Makes approx 1.25 litres.


Jars, jars and more jars...


I do love jars. Vintage jars in particular. And making so much jam and preserves I'm always on the look out for interesting new jars. I do like the Fowlers but have had two shatter in the preserving process this season so I'm dubious about buying more second hand ones.
I found a great source for jars here. Anything that I can order in the mail and get delivered to my door works for me. I bought some Weck jars that I have coveted for some time, and Ball wide mouth mason jars and sweet little jam jars.

I've also been using the Bormioli that Steve recommend, which are by far the easiest to use. You can find those at any local hardware or kitchen store.

I'm yet to find proper instructions for the Ball jars, as the lid comes apart, and I'm not sure why. But I gave it a go and it appears to have worked. But it's the Weck jars, oh my, with their lovely simple shape and glass lids, that I love. Straight out of a Toast catalogue. A bit scary to use. Not for the preserving novice.

I've put tomato passata in each one. They seem okay but we'll see how we go. If I ever suddenly drop off the blogosphere, you'll know it's likely to be due to botulism and preserving gone wrong!
I'm slowly working my way through boxes of produce. Pears, peaches, plums and tomatoes. Hopefully there will be room on the table real soon. Just need to find somewhere to keep all those jars.

A gift




Three hours a day. That is how long we spend in the car each day driving Elsa to and from school. About 200km. So today, when a friend offered to do the school run both ways it felt like a gift. A most precious gift of three hours and half a tank of petrol.

It's only lunch time and already Hugo and I seem to have done so much. But a walk in the paddock with Mabel* in the early autumn sunshine was a highlight. Hugo found an enormous pine cone and hauled it home to decorate.

Now, tomatoes are simmering for pasta sauce, the bread dough is rising, child and puppy are sleeping. And I still have all afternoon to do things. I think we'll bake some biscuits. To give to my friend when she drops off Elsa. To say thanks for the gift.

What would you do with an extra three hours in your day?

* despite graduating from puppy school last night, shall now be known as Cujo