Preserves on Parade

Preserved pears today 

Spicy pear and dried apricot chutney with ginger, chilli and lime.  Pickled pears in a sugar and vinegar mix with garlic, chilli, peppercorns and dried rosemary.  OH arrived home, said the house smelt lovely and went looking for goodies.  He wasn’t best pleased when I said they had to mature, the chutney needed 2 months and the pickles were being saved for the end of the year for eating with cold meats and cheese so hands off   

Elder daughter has started a very simple preserve system, with the simple slicing of a couple of red onions plonked in a jar of cider vinegar for a day or so!

They really do taste fabulous, and will have lost the sharpness of a raw onion but don't last long as they get too soft! So, for a week or so, there's a great additive to a sandwich or a salad for very little outlay!

Got my preserving year off to a start.

Eggs that were a freebie from work (reduced but not sold) with some white malt vinegar, dried chillies and peppercorns.  OH likes his pickled eggs to have a kick. Now got to hide them somewhere he won’t find them for a few weeks until they mature 

The small jar has a bit of scrunched up cling film on the top as it isn’t full and I needed to keep the eggs submerged.

Green garlic from the plot made into garlic butter.  It was overwintered stuff that got bad rust and did not split into cloves.  I chopped it up and blended it with oil and parsley. Then added butter, made into rolls and once set in the fridge, I cut it into rounds and froze it. This is it just about to go back in the freezer. It smells wonderful