Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Eating and Drinking => Cooking, Storing and Preserving => Topic started by: blackhobbescat on October 07, 2007, 21:37

Title: Quince
Post by: blackhobbescat on October 07, 2007, 21:37
Made some quince jam the other day, and it is fantastic! Just got to find other people who also think that as I'm not sure I can get through it all myself! :lol:
Title: Quince
Post by: WG. on October 07, 2007, 21:55
How about posting the recipe please?  :D
Title: Quince
Post by: blackhobbescat on October 08, 2007, 07:26
It's a really old recipe from one of my mother-in-law's cook books.  Therefore it is in pounds etc.

4lbs Quince
4lbs Sugar
2 pints water
lemon juice (optional)

Peel and core the quince, then chop into small chunks.

Boil the peel and quince until soft, then strain (reserving the liquid).

Then boil gently the cubes of quince until soft.

Add sugar and lemon juice (if using) bring to the boil slowly, then boil moderately fast until it turn a pinky colour, and will set on a cold plate.

Then put it in your jars etc.

Can heartily recommend it.
Title: Quince
Post by: EzLou on October 09, 2007, 07:47
Congratulations - I'm even more impressed since I tried to make quince jelly with my urbam scrumped quinces.

I followed the recope [silver spoon cook book] and it did reach the nice setting on a plate stage - but was still runny off the spoon. The book said it would reach a stage where it dropped off the spoon in blobs. So I Left it.

We are still chipping it off the pan.
Title: Quince
Post by: jacnal on October 10, 2007, 12:42
I got a bagful of quince from a neighbour who's sick of them - her tree is still soooo overloaded with the fruit, she says I can pick as much as I want as many times as I please  :shock: . Says she's made umpteen jarfulls and there's still plenty and she's fed up of doing it.

Anyway, there I was thinking it was a pear tree, but no, quince! I learn something everyday, lol.

Sooo, I got this carrier bag full - about 5 kilos worth, and will be making the jelly. They smell devine!

Now, me being a greedy so and so, I'll pick more today  :oops: . What else, apart from Jelly can I make with them?
Title: Quince
Post by: muntjac on October 10, 2007, 12:48
mix them with other fruits .they are tart so any sweet fruit will do brambles  raspberies even pears etc
Title: Quince
Post by: milkman on October 10, 2007, 13:43
pls see my pic in the album - do you think I have enough to give some to:-

mother-in-law
2 x sisters
local WI

and still have some left over for myself to make jelly / paste with?  :)
Title: Quince
Post by: jacnal on October 10, 2007, 14:10
That's quite a good amount there Milkman! Your tree is fairly small compared to my neighbour's, so imagine the amount of quince from her, lol! I'll perhaps take a foto...

Are you a memner of the WI Mm? I'd like to join, but been putting off, and interested to know if one has to pay membership fee? If so, how much? Been putting off emailing them for a while  :oops:
Title: Quince
Post by: milkman on October 10, 2007, 14:16
no but mother-in-law is and we also have a regular customer in our shop who is.
Title: Quince
Post by: jacnal on October 10, 2007, 15:26
Thanks Milkman.

Guys, I'm just peeling, coring chopping the quince, and some of them have brown flesh, but not soft or rotten etc. Do I take these brown bits off, or just include in the recipe?

Also... once I've boiled the flesh and the peeling,  strained, removed the peeling, and left the flesh to boil some more.. is this flesh to be left as part of the jelly? Do the little gritty bits dissolve eventually?

And this is for Munty - I've some bramble, and want to make a mixed quince, pear, old apple and bramble jelly - will I need to strain the end result, what with bramble seeds and stuff?
Title: Quince
Post by: muntjac on October 10, 2007, 15:36
if its jelly eyh but if ya like the seeds in id leave it  the brown bits are bruises cut em out
Title: Quince
Post by: jacnal on October 10, 2007, 17:51
Thanks Munty. Another question...  What do you do with the pieces of quince if you leave them? Do you pulverise? They are still as I put them in when I started, and mushy if mushed, but not doing so on their own. I suppose I can just sieve the thing and be done with it?

Quince is definitely quite labour intensive. Doubt I'll be getting more in a hurry  :(
Title: Quince
Post by: muntjac on October 10, 2007, 18:47
mush em when cooked  :wink:
Title: Quince
Post by: jacnal on October 10, 2007, 19:02
Quote from: "muntjac"
mush em when cooked  :wink:


I tried and gave up - too messy, plus at the time I wasn't sure that was what I was supposed to do  :lol:

I sieved the blackberry and quince jelly into jars (at least a litre and a half of the stuff  :wink: ), and not to waste the flesh, I added another litre and a half of water, boiled it, and it's now cooling so I can bottle and either drink as juice (still too sweet, so will need diluting), or do something else with it - perhaps mix with apple juice for an *exotic* taste? Could make wine, but not set up for that yet  :cry:  

Now... this jelly, do I eat it spread in bread, like jam, or is there another way of eating bramble and quince jelly? Being a foreigner isn't very good - I'm all ignorant, lol, and I'm jumping into the deep end and all that, but I love it!
Title: Quince
Post by: muntjac on October 10, 2007, 19:05
if it tastes as good as it should i should think it may have trouble getting to the bread or  crackers or rice pudding :lol:  :lol:
Title: Quince
Post by: jacnal on October 10, 2007, 19:18
Quote from: "muntjac"
if it tastes as good as it should i should think it may have trouble getting to the bread or  crackers or rice pudding :lol:  :lol:


It tastes superb. Wish I was having guestes tinite - the whole flat smells heavenly. Quince does smell really good, I must say. I went through quite a bit while peeling and chopping as well  :oops: . I think I made it too sweet though, but used the measurements given above. Maybe next time I'll alter the amount of sugar.
So, is that how it's eaten - spread like jam/marmalade or added to porridge/yoghurt/rice pud etc? Could it be a condiment to some sort of meat as well?
Title: Quince
Post by: muntjac on October 10, 2007, 19:20
you could try it with turkey instead of cranberies .buts its sweetness may be a no no .try it with chicken next tiem ya having some ,
it can be used i reckon instead of mango in curries .sweet n sours etc
Title: Quince
Post by: jacnal on October 10, 2007, 19:24
Cheers Munty!

And to you too, Blackhobbescat for the thread and the recipe!
Title: Quince
Post by: itsonlyme on October 10, 2007, 20:24
You could also try making wine when you're fed up with quince jam/jelly.