As the seasons change ever rapidly from Autumn to Winter, it's time to make sure all that is harvestable is harvested. Tracy Dix of Sock 'N' Soul HQ tells us about what she does with her crop of crabapples to make sure she gets the most out of them!. Over to Tracy.........
My precioussssss...
First things first, pluck the sharp little nippers, boil them vigorously until they're reduced to a pulp, squeeze them within an inch of their lives, force them to keep company with some unrefined sugar, then seal them in airtight jars so that other nasties don't make them turn bad until I decide I have use for them.
Yes! Crabapple season is upon us once again. I love their pretty red blushes, but don't be fooled by that, as they may be small but they are hard and sharp to taste. It's been some weeks since I inflicted such violence on the defenceless-looking little things, but the late warm weather might mean there are a few more clinging to the trees. I saw some yesterday and even if there aren't any where you are, there should be plenty on the ground and isn't a generous windfall the stuff that dreams are made of?
I used to make crabapple jelly. The gelling of the hot, sweet, concentrated juice as it cools on a porcelain surface is very satisfying. Unfortunately, my endeavours with jelly making include not having jars ready at the right moment. There I was with crabapple jelly setting perfectly in my saucepan on my first attempt but no jars. In desperation, I tried to blitz it in vain hope that it would set again when my jars were finally ready, causing my cousin (domestic goddess who used make wonderful rum and plum jam when she lived in Bonn) to exclaim in horror, "YOU BLENDED IT????!!! You'll destroy all the natural pectin, you silly girl!!!". Thank goodness the web allows me to ask foolish questions without risking a proper earful from the family. The fact that I can't remember what happened in the end must mean it wasn't too bad, probably ended up with jellied blobs in a jar or something like that.
That's one crabby looking tree...
This year, I started crabbing nice and early and found two yummy-looking recipes to try for
crabapple marmalade and
crabapple cake. I've often heard people say that they can't go picking wild food because they live in a city, but, that simply isn't true. Many plants you're likely to come across in the UK are edible but there are obviously a couple of important rules to remember:
- DON'T pick anything which you cannot identify; and
- DON'T eat anything which you cannot identify and therefore don't know is safe to eat!
Having written about Renaissance food and my personal experiences disprove what other urbanites say about wild food shortages in cities. I live in a city but there are two heavily wooded areas within walking distance, with an abundance of brambles, mushrooms (if you know enough about them), plum, elder and cherry trees and the crabapples feature on my walking routes to work and play. I've used the crabapples from these trees for quite a few years now, been told by well-meaning passers-by that they'll make me ill while hundreds of them get mushed to the ground because no one else ever picks them....such a shame.
Scrumping those lovely li'l crabbies
The recipes I've linked to are very straightforward, but here are some pictures and a summary to help. Make sure you get your sterilised jars ready at the same time as the crabapple marmalade. I microwaved the jars because I am lazy about anything that doesn't smell or taste nice, but being a little paranoid, I microwaved them twice with a little cooling time in-between. So far so good.
Wash apples, boil 1kg crabs with 200g sugar, cinnamon stick and 2 cloves until they go soft.
Put everything through a sieve to remove the bits, and this is what you get.
Add 250g sugar, simmer for 7-10 minutes.
I used the crabapple marmalade in crabapple cake instead of following the original recipe too, because I find coring tiny little crabbies too fiddly. You could substitute them with apples, or do as I did and it ends up as something best described as a jam strudel. All good either way.
The pastry is made by mixing:
- 200g melted butter
- 200g sour cream
- 350g all-purpose/plain flour
- half tsp salt
Cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 30 mins. Then, either halve the dough and roll each portion to the dimensions of your baking tray, or, roll the whole lot so it'll fit over your baking tray twice - depending on how much surface space you've got.
This is half of it rolled out. The pastry is soft but pretty easy to handle.
Lay a half section on a lightly floured baking tray, spread the crabapple marmalade over it generously (this is my way or the highway...read: follow the link above if you're using chunks of crabbies)
Like so.
Lay the other section over the top, then press the edges together. I crimped, again, because I'm a little paranoid and because this is a liquid filling. I forked the surface lightly becasue that's what you do, even though the recipe doesn't call for it.
My grandmother always said that wrinkles give character...
They've come a long way from those little nippers to this big crusty pastry.
Comments
Post new comment