Spiced Red Plum and Redcurrent Relish

By Jove I do believe I have a little sunburn upon my arms. Sanding on a deck that is high in the sky, a quaint breeze hiding the true heat of the sun and before you know it, milky white skin has turned an un-attractive pink. Oops.

But we are enjoying the sunshine and the longer evenings, smelling of mown lawns and the approaching season. We set sail in a few weeks so I am busy coming up with menu plans, provisioning lists and ideas for rough weather cooking.

I’ve discovered a little beauty. I made it for a picnic the other day and if I make a few more jars then simple cheese and ham lunches in big seas will be easy to cobble together with a nice little home made touch and the crew will think I’m very brave and dedicated to their stomachs, working hard down below in my dark and dingy galley.  

I got the idea for the plum, red-current and chilli chutney from the Ottolenghi, 'The Cook Book' (brilliant for inspiration when cooking for lots of people), as an accompaniment to some lamb I was roasting for friends. The original recipe in the book called for rhubarb, which I couldn’t find here in France this time of year but it was easy to substitute the rhubarb for redcurrents. And as the recipe rightfully says, you can experiment with whatever fruits are in season and pair nicely with what you’re serving it with. A burst of spice and tart, this goes exceptionally well with a good, French tangy goats cheese, some warm fresh homemade spelt bread and a glass of rosé like you wouldn’t believe.

Do excuse me, my mouth is watering.

Also, it lasts so well in the fridge and the flavours improve with age (like me). I will certainly be making a batch or two for my ships stores. But will continue to pray for calm seas! 

For a fabulous jar of easy-to-make chutney you will need;

6-8 red plums

1 red chilli, halved and seeded

2 cinnamon sticks

1 star anise

100ml red wine vinegar

200g castor sugar

1 punnet of redcurrants removed from their stems

1 small knob of fresh ginger, peeled and very finely sliced and cut into wee strips

Method

• Stone and cut the plums into quarters and put in a heavy based saucepan with the redcurrants, cinnamon, star anise, ginger, vinegar and sugar. Stir and bring to the boil. Then turn down to a gentle simmer and whilst keeping an eye on it, stirring occasionally and enjoying the aroma, cook gently for 25 to 30 minutes or until the fruit has a jam-like consistency (pleasingly gooey). It may need more or less depending on your stove.

• When you have the desired consistency, remove the chilli and transfer to a jar and leave to cool. This will store in the fridge for 2-3 weeks (mine is still great or better after a month in the fridge but do keep an eye on it). Serve as you wish with a roast joint or with a cheeky little French cheese the next day on the beach with some homemade bread. They’ll love you for it.

See; dead easy! And dead great!

Thanks for reading, back soon with loads of pre-delivery cooking recipes and menu ideas for long passages at sea. See you then.

Cheers!

 

On a boat on the hard.... not my favourite thing.

Seriously Good Christmas Mincemeat

It hasn’t stopped raining now for 4 days. It’s playing havoc with my new running regime. Which is a shame.  And though the woods in our beautiful area here are full of mushrooms ripe for the picking, you can’t pick them in the rain so we sit and wait.

Instead today I made my Christmas mincemeat. A lovely Sunday activity. A good pot of coffee, Frank Sinatra on and away you go. I remember my Mum making the mincemeat when I was a kid; a sign indeed to begin growing in anticipatory excitement for that most brilliant time of year – Christmas. The smell of the fruit, nuts and mixed spice really get the festive juices flowing, that and the cake and the Christmas pudding mixtures. I can’t remember now which one my sisters and I had to have a turn stirring to make our Christmas wish. Small hands clutched around a wooden spoon, fighting against a quicksand of currents and brandy-dissolved brown sugar, tongue sticking out in closed-eye concentration on that most heartfelt wish.

I still do it. I still make my Christmas wish and I make it into the mincemeat for the mince-pies. I try to get the guys to have a Christmas wish too but so far they have refrained. Boys. I will leave the mincemeat out for a day in its bowl so that I can continue stirring it before I stuff it in jars and reckon they’ll probably have a little go when they don’t think anybody’s watching. But it’s a sweet little tradition and if you can get your kids to do all the weighing and stirring then making the Christmas mincemeat can be great fun to do together.

My recipe is a slightly less traditional one without the candied peel that I’m sorry to say, I’m not a huge fan of and I don’t know of many kids who are either. I don’t put anything weird in it, like dried pineapple that I have seen in some recipes, I stick to the traditional Christmas flavours. But I like mine a little less tart and a bit more ‘zesty’.

Also, in France it’s a little hard to come by all the usual and traditional ingredients like suet and Brambly apples. So I have devised my own child-friendly, French-a-fied recipe. And my mince pies are the best mince pies I have ever tasted…is that rude to say?

Maybe just try for yourself. If you’ve never been a huge fan of mince pies then I’ll give you my mincemeat recipe now and then my extra special and slightly different mince-pie recipe a little nearer Christmas. I reckon I could convert you into a mince pie lover. Now, that is a bold statement but I seem to be on a roll today so going with the flow, here it is, my Christmas mincemeat;

For about 4-5 medium jars worth you will need;

1 brambly apple or 2 granny smiths

150g currents

150g sultanas

150g dried cranberries

200g glacier cherries

50g pecan nut

50g walnuts

50g ground almonds

250g dark muscovado or natural molasses sugar

1 heaped tsp cinnamon

1 ½ tsp mixed spice

A quarter of a grated nutmeg (do not use ready grated, it tastes of dust)

Zest and juice of 1 large orange

Zest and juice of 1 large lemon or 2 small ones

300g suet or 150 g grated, frozen lard

100 ml whiskey or brandy

Method;

• Peel, core and grate the apples and set aside. They might go a little brown but that’s fine.

• I like to weigh all my currents, sultanas, cranberries and cherries out and then before I put them into the large mixing bowl I either give them a brief whizz in a blender or chop them roughly with a knife. This just breaks down the ingredients a bit allowing the flavours to mingle and mix a little better. Also this works better for mini-mince-pies. 

• Finely chop the nuts but don’t blitz to a powder, you want some texture. Add to the bowl of currents and cherries with the ground almonds.

• Add the sugar and spices, the orange and lemon zest and juices and then the grated apple.

• Now add the suet of you are using but if you can’t get hold of suet, use frozen lard. I chopped mine up into pieces with a heavy knife then put it into my mini blender with a tsp of ground almonds to coat the lard to stop it from sticking together. Or simply grate straight into the bowl.

• Pour in the brandy or whisky and now is the very satisfying part where you get to use your biggest spoon to mix it all up.

• Pass around the family so that each person gets a stir and makes a wish. Or leave on the side for 24 hours so that the older chaps can make their wishes in private.

When you’re ready to put the mincemeat into jars, put 5 jars through a dishwasher cycle to sterilize. When they are completely dry, fill each with the mincemeat, top with a circle of greaseproof and screw the lids on tightly. They should keep for up to 6 months but I have used a jar after a year and it was really good.

Oh I do get excited about Christmas. A little while to go yet I suppose. And besides in the mean time there are mushrooms to get excited about. I saw so many today on a little drive we went on through the woods. I hope those little umbrellas of tastiness are still there when it stops raining… will it stop raining?

I know, I’ll go make a little wish into the Christmas mincemeat now. That should do it.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers!

The Zest For A Long Walk

Ah, the joy of choosing the seats on an aeroplane in front of 2 energetic, restless-legged little girls. I’ll try to imagine I’m sitting in one of those massage chairs you get at selected hairdressers these days; it might be malfunctioning slightly but there’s something in it for me at least. Besides it’s only a 2 hour flight back to Nice from Standstead. I will live in hope that little ‘Polly’s’ technique improves or that she falls asleep very soon. George is fast asleep already. Even before the plane left the runway he was deep in the land of nod. Good for him though, he’s bouncing back and forth in tune to Polly’s little sister’s equally consistent leg-robatics and he’s blissfully unaware. Bless ‘im (said through slightly gritted teeth).

I love going home to the U.K. And I am little bit sad to be heading back to France. The reprieve from the heat was pretty good and all the usual things that come with staying in a real house like a whole big bathroom, a double bed, not having to share anything and everything with 7 other people. Pimms! And best of all, a real English country garden; chickens, geese and all.  On a walk this Saturday, I took pictures of sheep, cows, pigs, samphire, fields of corn, barley, cabbages and potatoes, butterflies, a bulging swarm of bees, oyster fishermen in old fishing boats and obviously the huge incentive; the pub we finally managed to drag our weary limbs into after we had trekked for 8 miles to get there. Good English pub following long muddy walk = low blood sugar, sore feet and guilt-free fish and chips all round please! Any sauces? All of them!

So back to France we go. My soul is soothed. (Though still taking a small beating from Miss little-pink-shoes behind me).

The boat is moving to Cogolin, near St Tropez and we’ll drive my little bashed up Reno Clio (the Rocket-Ship) to meet the boat and crew there. We’ll be at anchor for the next few weeks before heading to Barcelona for regatta number 3. I’m very excited about Barcelona. I’ve never been there but have heard so much about it. My Easy Jet ‘Traveller’ magazine is telling me to book tables at ‘Els Flogons de la Barceloneta’ for tapas, ‘Centonze’ for modern Catalan nosh and ‘Shunka’, for apparently the best of Barcelona’s Japanese food. No problems there, sounds good to me. I’m more than happy to try that lot out and if you have been and conquered Barcelona yourself, then any recommendations, food or otherwise will be gratefully received. Cheers!

Don’t worry folks, it’s not over yet.

I don’t have a recipe for you today I’m afraid. I almost made a stinging nettle risotto having trudged through a few miles of them, in a sort of ‘revenge’ meal with parmesan. But I was too tired and full from fish and chips. Terrific. What I will do though is tell you all about my favourite piece of kitchen equipment; my zester. Now do bear with me. You are about to be astonished at the way in which I will skilfully blend the topics ‘a trip to Suffolk’ and Barcelona in with ‘why you should buy a lemon zester’. Not everyone can find those sorts of hidden, literary connections you know. So moving smoothly on;

If you don’t have one, get one. The small grate on a box grater is rubbish, annoying, knuckle un-friendly and gives you silly little flecks of zest and the risk of too much pith which is bitter. A proper zester will fill you with joy at its perfect little curls of pure lemon zest. So pretty, so full of zing and…lemon. And why waste all the goodness in lemon zest? It’s full of incredibly healthy oils and vitamins. So if you are ever using the juice of a lemon, always zest it first. If you don’t want to use the zest for that exact dish then put it aside and use it for something else like in a salad or a salad dressing. Please never waste the perfectly good zest of any lemon or lime. Pop the zest in some olive oil, leave to infuse for a day or so and serve with pasta with lots of black pepper and bingo! An exceedingly light but tangy pasta to serve with a veal schnitzel or a lamb chop. I really won’t go on too much but need a garnish? Use your lemon zester! You can craft the most beautiful curls of pure lemon zest with a zester. You can’t with a box grater even if its one of those amazingly sharp, Japanese ones. A single curl of lemon zest perched on a small pillow of crème fraiche on a dainty smoked salmon canapé says so much don’t you think?

Lemon tart. The perfect example of why you should own a lemon zester. A lemon tart is only the best lemon tart when made with the finest and pithless-est zest. (Yes, that is a word). And you will achieve such culinary heights with your one and only - you’ve got it, Zester.

How would this dish have worked without perfect lemon zest?

I feel my work is done here. I’m sure you saw how that seamless bit of topic blending…blended.

I think we’re about to land so I will say goodbye for now and press the ‘save’ button. George has unfortunately been drawn reluctantly into an excitable game of peek-a-boo with Little Polly behind us which has brilliantly distracted her from kicking my chair. Thanks George. You’re forgiven from falling asleep earlier. And even though he is trying very hard to end the game with stern, manly face, he simply can’t ignore Polly and her little sisters’ enthusiasm for such a simple game.

 

Ah, to have such innocent zest for life.

(SEE! See what I did there?! Zest for life…Geddit?)

Save.

Samphire growing wild

Homemade Harissa!

I feel it is my duty, as well as a pleasure of course, to add to my must-pass-on recipes this Harissa paste. It isn’t my recipe and I take no credit for it, for it is my Fella, the First Mate aboard the good ship Mariquita, who makes it. I just use it copiously in my cooking and sneakily accept the credit then. I take it where I can get it.

The recipe was passed down from the last chef before me on Mariquita, Emily Kenyon who now lives in N.Z with her hubby Robyn and beautiful baby, Theo. So Thanks for this one Emily, it brings a lot of joy to the crew still.

It is a paste of rich, dark spice. It is a burst of mouth watering heat and exotic flavours, its… well it’s full of chilli and garlic. The crew like it so much they practically smear it onto their toast in the mornings. You can make it as hot as you like, if you're one of those, or use it in many a recipe for added spice and flavour. I find it makes great fajhitta’s when stir-fried with chicken and peppers and served with tortillas. Or mix in with cous-cous, chick-peas and dried apricots and serve with roast lamb. Basically it is a store cupboard must-have and lasts for ages.

                                 But do be aware. Like a woman in her thirties, it gets hotter with age.

You need to know that it took some gentle persuading to be allowed to give you this one. The recipe has been adapted and perfected by the Fella who takes huge pride and care when making it.So do take full advantage  of this rare and unexpected opportunity to spice up your store cupboard life!

Here it is boys and girls. I will say this only once;

For 3-4 jars worth, you will need;

50g whole coriander seeds

50g whole cumin seeds

30g whole caraway seeds

50g dried chillis

6 garlic cloves

3 tbsp Salt

Olive oil

Method

• Begin by soaking the chilli’s in a bowl of hot water till soft. (10-15 mins)

• Toast the coriander, cumin and caraway seeds in a large dry frying pan till they start to become very fragrant. About 2 minutes.

• Put the toasted seeds, garlic and the salt into a blender and pulse until well combined but don’t puree.

• When the chilli’s have softened add them to the mixture and adding a good glug of olive oil, about a cup, whizz again.

• Spoon into jars and add a dash of olive oil over the top so that it keeps before putting the lids on.

We went out for our first proper sail train today with about 10 very helpful extra training crew to put our numbers up to 22. Up went the main, the gaffed topsail, staysail, jib and even the jib top went up in stops. It was great to know that even though we haven’t done it since October of last year, it’s a bit like riding a bicycle, you never forget.

We’re out again tomorrow and I think I might have to tell you about racing and sandwiches. Sandwiches are a big and very important part of any race day to all those big, hungry, strong sailors out there. There is even a technique to eating French baguette sandwiches every day for a whole regatta without ripping the roof of your mouth to shreds.

So if your dying to know what that all important, baguette-eating mastery might be then tune in soon for your next addition of 33 Degrees. Cheers!