I haven’t posted on my blog for ages, so long in fact that I’ve forgotten how. This morning I found myself eating marmalade straight from the jar with a spoon and savouring the flavours; a fresh citrus hit with a tangy aftertaste. I could smell the light scent of cardamon from the jar, but should it perhaps be stronger in the syrup? Savouring and ruminating. The overall result was a good one creating an instinctive response to down another spoonful. So it seemed a fitting time to share the recipe. I have deemed this preserve a success and love the idea that others will enjoy it too.

Last week my quest for new season citrus gave the perfect excuse, in case one were needed, to treck off to Monmouth to see what Munday & Jones, my favourite local greengrocers, had to offer. They did not disappoint with a crate of blood oranges and some super perky looking early Yorkshire rhubarb on sale, the colours of which were enough to instantly lift my heart, but then I am after all a fruit geek.

I decided to make a marmalade that is a variation on a previous recipe from 2011, pink grapefruit, rhubarb and cardamon marmalade, simply substituting blood oranges for the ruby grapefruit. Yorkshire rhubarb doesn’t come cheap, so this is a good recipe to make a small amount go a longer way. It also meant I had a few sticks left over to make an upside down polenta cake as well.

As I mentioned, I am still undecided whether the cardamon could do to have a bit more impact. I freshly ground the spice in a pestle and mortar, placing it pods and all in a muslin bag to macerate with the rhubarb. Perhaps the cardamon I have could be fresher, who knows? I might buy some new for next time I make this marmalade. But still, too much cardamon would not be good either. It is always a very exacting thing when using spices and herbs in preserves, but better to underdo than over. Of course the ideal is to get it bang on!

BLOOD ORANGE, RHUBARB AND CARDAMON MARMALADE

Makes approx 1.3kg (3lbs)

0.4Kg (1lb) rhubarb
1kg (2.2lbs) sugar
juice of 1 lemon
seeds from 14 cardamom pods, crushed
800g (1.75 lb ) blood oranges

Rinse the rhubarb stems and chop into 1cm (1/2 in) evenly sized pieces, slicing thicker stems lengthwise to make the pieces uniform. Place them in a bowl with the sugar and lemon juice. Tie the crushed cardamom seeds, pods and all, in a piece of muslin and push them inbetween the rhubarb, then cover with baking paper or clingfilm and leave overnight or for up to 24 hours, so the juices ooze out of the rhubarb and turn the sugar to syrup.
Wash the blood oranges and remove the peel with a sharp knife or potato peeler, leaving as much of the pith on the fruit as possible. Finely cut the peel into shreds. Squeeze the fruits, collecting the juice and tie the remaining pulp, pith and pips together in a muslin bundle. Place the shreds, juice and bundle in a pan, add 1.4ltr (2 1/2pt) water and simmer for 2 – 2 1/2 hours until the peel is cooked through and tender. Remove the muslin bundle and, when cool enough to handle, squeeze the juice from it back into the pan, then discard. Pour the peel through a sieve and collect and measure the liquid, adding more water if necessary to make it up to 1ltr (1 3/4 pts).
Prepare the jars and canner if you plan to hot water process the marmalade, otherwise, make sure your jars and lids are clean and place them in a warm oven to heat and sterilise. Place the cooked shreds, cooking liquid and the contents of the rhubarb bowl in a preserving pan and bring slowly to the boil, stirring to make sure all the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil and cook on a high heat until setting point is reached, that is when a small blob of the syrup on a cold plate quickly forms a skin when you run your finger across the surface. It took me 20-25 minutes for the marmalade to reach setting point at a fast rolling boil, showing 104C (220F) on a thermometer. Remove the cardamom bundle.
Fill the jars, leaving the appropriate amount of headroom for canning, and seal. Hot water process for 10 minutes, then remove from the canner, leave till cold and test that the lids are sealed. Label and store. Alternatively, without canning, top jars with sterilised lids or use traditional wax paper circles and cellophane with elastic bands to seal. This marmalade should store safely without canning, but hot water processing will make doubly sure that your jam will keep and store without a hitch.

Yes it has been a while since I last posted, so long in fact that I have forgotten how. But that doesn’t mean I’ve been idle. For anyone who doesn’t know already, I do post regularly on facebook so do feel free to like my page and then you can follow what I am up to.

The other day it became imperative that I defrost the freezer. I don’t like my freezer particularly as it is a dumping ground for things I tend to forget about, all the while it is costing money to run. But it does offer a convenient and practical option now and again and I daresay for some foods it is the best way to preserve them. I fill the freezer up with stuff as it is effortless to do so but I prefer bottles on shelves to a forgotten freezer-full, out of sight out of mind. The other day I realised the freezer was defrosting of its own accord, demanding some attention, so I gave it a good clear out, defrosted it, washed it down with bicarb then switched it on all ready to start the process again. There were luckily few casualties, I took the opportunity to edit down the contents, but 2 bags of cranberries, put away last Christmas (or could it have been the year before!) and some redcurrants from last summer had started to thaw so needed using up.

With an abundance of freshly picked summer fruits in urgent need of preserving, these blasts from the past were something I could do without, but there was no way I wanted them to go to waste either. The redcurrants went into a traubleskucha redcurrant cake courtesy of nadel & gabel. The cake was a big success; a light sponge base with a layer of tart redcurrants topped with a macaroon lid that cracked and splintered as the fork went in. I’ll be making that one again and perhaps will add some vanilla or almond extract to the sponge next time too. So highly recommended and you may still find some currants for sale, my local supermarket has them right now.

So that left the cranberries. In the UK, fresh cranberries are only for sale for 2 minutes round Christmas time. Last year Sainsburys sold Kent grown cranberries but only in selected Kent stores. Otherwise they are always imported. I’m sure I’ve seen them all year round for sale at the farm shop down the road that sells frozen fruits loose from big tubs, that you can buy by weight by the scoopful. I haven’t had cranberries enough to really develop a love for them .. till now anyway.

For inspiration I decided to refer back to one of my all time favourite books, an American book I have mentioned before, Fancy Pantry by Helen Witty (1986) and her recipe for baked cranberries with orange and cardamon is a triumph. You can eat it like jam or a compote, it is somewhere between the two, and it is the easiest preserve you will ever make, requiring no bringing to setting point. The flavour is fresh and amazing and even though it is out of season, I am wolfing it down and planning the next batch. Eat it as an accompaniment to savoury dishes too, in the same style as a traditional cranberry sauce. It isn’t overly sweet, it’s just right. The sugar content is not high enough to make a preserve that will keep, so best store in the fridge, if it lasts that long, or do what I do and water process (can / bottle) it so it will keep on the shelf for a year or more.

BAKED CRANBERRIES WITH ORANGE AND CARDAMON

Makes approx 5 x 250g (half pint) jars

600g (1lb 5oz) cranberries
1 large seedless orange
500g (1lb 2oz) white sugar
1/8 tsp ground cardamon (seeds removed from pods and freshly ground)
60ml (4 Tbsp) water

Pre-heat the oven to 175C /350F /Mk4. Spread the cranberries in a ovenproof glass dish (I used 2 square Pyrex baking dishes). Remove the peel from the orange and pull away and discard the pith from inside and any surrounding the flesh. Chop the orange and peel roughly and blitz it in a blender or food processor to make a pulpy puree.

Pour the puree, sugar, cardamon and water over the cranberries and mix everything together. Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Lower the temperature to 160C / 325F / Mk3, remove the foil and bake for a further 50-60 minutes, turning the mixture over with a spoon every 10-15 minutes. The cranberries will look slightly translucent and be surrounded by syrup.

Spoon the hot preserve into hot sterilised jars and seal, or alternatively process them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from water bath and leave till cold before testing the seals.

I’ve got 6 pages in Landlove magazine this month. The magazine isn’t available online so until it is off the newstands, you will have to buy a copy to read it. I’m really pleased with the feature and I think it captures the spirit of what preserving is all about for me.