Hi Pickles.. I bought a bottle of DYC spiced vinegar last week - it's pale and seems a lot weaker in flavour then previously.. I've wondered about making my own vinegar - do you use leftover wine as a base for making vinegar? Would you share your recipe please.. thanks.. One of the Homegrown books published by NZ Gardener has a recipe for apple cider vinegar - when I have enough apples from our trees, I'll make that.. it sounded good - would be lovely to have my own vinegar.
Hi Melford.. That sounds delicious.. can just imagine it with antipasto platters and summer barbecues.. yum!
pickles7,
Oct 11, 9:36pm
juliewn I have a thread on the progress of my cider vinegar. so far it has been very easy. I can remember as a child buying cider vinegar from a orchard in Tauranga. I am thinking back 45 years , they probably made it on the orchard. It had slime in it, mum just scooped that out. No health department back then, we all survived.The worst part of this vinegar that is being sold now, is the chances of spoilage once some one adds more water, weakening it further.We had a tin of beetroot go off ,in the fridge. first time I have ever had that happen. I put that down to the weaker vinegar. Manufacturers will have to add less water, put the prices up. Never ends. Made complaints to three firms in one week.I intend to brew other fruits this year, to make vinegar out of.I will just do small lots of, blackberry, peach, nectarine, apricot, may be strawberry and anything else I can get my hands on .
juliewn,
Oct 14, 5:04am
You're welcome Loopydog.. Most mincemeat recipes have suet/shreddo or other fats in them - I've adapted my recipe over the years so that it is fruit filled and very tasty - and no fat included. Cheers.. Julie
pauline64,
Oct 14, 5:25am
juliewn does your mincemeat have any liquid to keep it moist? My recipe has orange & lemon juice as well as brandy.
juliewn,
Oct 14, 6:07am
Hi Pauline.. there's no liquid added, though juice does come from the apples.. it makes a nice textured filling for delicious Christmas Mince Tarts..
demsey,
Oct 15, 11:04pm
any recipes using honey instead of sugar? ...
juliewn,
Oct 16, 4:28am
Hi Demsey.. you can replace the sugar in any of the above recipes, to suit your taste.. Some types of honey tend to be sweeter than sugar, so try a little less honey - ie - if the recipe needs 1 cup sugar, try 2/3 or3/4 of a cup of honey - or even 1/2 a cup of honey initially - and check that the result is to your taste before adding more honey if necessary. Also - for preserving fruit, you can use boiling water, without any sweetening (sugar or honey) at all. I hope this is of help - please ask if we can help further.. Cheers.. Julie
demsey,
Oct 17, 1:22pm
thanks Julie -thats exactly what I wanted-i already bottlefeijoas in plain water.
friend21,
Oct 17, 8:51pm
A good link A good link is http://www.homecanning.com/can/ This is the home page of a company that makes and sells pickling jars etc. They have good recipes, clear instructions + they answered a question of mine in 48hrs.
juliewn,
Oct 18, 4:47am
You're welcome Demsey.. enjoy your goodies.. Hi Friend.. that's a great site.. thanks for posting the link.. great too that they answered so quickly for you..
friend21,
Oct 18, 5:33am
Dont forget you library The first time I did some pickling was last Friday. Apart from the web page I found a wealth of info at my local library. One of the best books was the complete book of small-batch preserving. I liked it because preserving not just covered canning (some of the recipes are for 4 x 250 ml jars). It also covered freezing and keeping things in the fridge. It also has the latest saftey info.
juliewn,
Oct 18, 6:17am
Hi Pickles.. Thanks for the info re vinegars.. an orchard not far from here makes their own apple cider vinegar - and sells it in 2 litre bottles.. it has a lovely deep honey colour.. I'd guess that the slime in the bottles back then would probably be the 'mother'.. The vinegars from other fruits sound great too.. a recipe was posted on here not long ago for raspberry vinegar.. am planning to make some this summer - lots of flowers on my raspberry plants.. yum in about 6-8 weeks time!
This is Taurushat's recipe:
"500g raspberries (I use frozen ones), 2 cups white-wine vinegar, 2 cups caster sugar Place raspberries in a food processor and crush. Pour crushed berries into a non-porous bowl filled with white-wine vinegar, cover, and leave overnight. Then Pour mixture through a sieve, making sure to extract as much juice as possible with the back of a spoon, into a sterilised preserving jar. Add sugar and stir until well combined. Seal and refrigerate."
timetable,
Oct 25, 1:38am
Sweet fruit relish: 2lb tomatoes, 1 and a half pound of sugar, 3 large chopped onions, 1Tlb of whole cloves wrapped and tied in a piece of muslin, 3 cups sultana's, 2 lrg chopped granny smith apples, 1 Tlb of plain salt, 2 pints malt vinager.Skin the tomatoes, chop roughly, place in pot with the rest of the ingreds, bring to the boil and then simmer for 2 and a half hours or until thick.add marbles to help the mix move around while simmering.stir and watch it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.jar up when cold
juliewn,
Oct 31, 5:04am
Hi Timetable.. I've not heard of adding marbles before.. how do they work?? Thanks for your help..
fishheadsoup,
Oct 31, 2:08pm
wow keep this rolling! you are all inspiring me!! but could any1 tell me where you can find cheap vegies/fruit for chutneys etc cause the prices are still quite expensive at the moment!! thanks
friend21,
Nov 1, 2:20am
Try Raeward Fresh Try Raeward Fresh. There is one near the airport, on Ferry Road and at Tower Junction. About a month ago I picked up some cheap very small beetroot which I pickled and I a couple of days ago I got some onions which I am canning now. Back to it.
friend21,
Nov 1, 5:26am
Help Have just found that I have enough extra pickle liquid to fill a jar, but not enough onions to fill the jar. I ran the extra jar (with no onions) through the boiling etc. In a few weeks will it be ok to open the jar and use the liquid to pickel some more onions. The seal on the jar looks great at this stage.
friend21,
Nov 1, 5:33am
Ideas I am very new to pickling. I started about a month ago. I know how to use jams, however it would be great to have ideas of how and when to use the potions and pickles etc that you post on this thread. Ps. I come from a non pickling backgroung.
juliewn,
Nov 2, 5:22am
Hi Friend.. yes it will be fine to use the extra pickling liquid you've bottled - just bring it to the boil again and proceed with the recipe.. I do this also when I'm preserving fruit - I bottle any juice left over - and use it to add to fresh fruit salads; to place some in a glass and add lemonade to; add to non-alcoholic punch; or use in place of milk in any baking - this is particularly good with muffins.. yum!
juliewn,
Nov 2, 5:25am
ps.. Your suggestion of adding a note at the end of recipes regarding how the goodies can be served is a great idea.. I always think that when reading through cooking books - or anywhere recipes are included. I'll add a note in the next few days of how the recipes I've posted can be used - hope it's of help.. Cheers.. Julie
juliewn,
Nov 2, 7:26am
For Moochootoo..
pickles7,
Nov 3, 3:10pm
...juliewn... You could probably flavour vinegar, with whatever you like. I am making vinegars from wines, made with the different fruits. I will be experimenting a bit as the 23 liters of cider has turned out great so far. It is a matter of aging it now. Like wise to my wine vinegar, that is easy to get too and the flavour is as good as the raw cider vinegar I add. My starter for both came from raw cider vinegar as not all wild yeasts will turn all the alcohol into vinegar, some will die, leaving a very low % of acetic acid, unfit for pickling food with. That was the biggest problem years back, also too much alcohol, creates a different problem.
245sam,
Nov 5, 12:28am
x1
Digby Law's APRICOT CHUTNEY "Terrific with cheese or in sandwiches" - Digby Law
3 Kg apricots 1 Kg onions 750g sugar 2 tsp salt 1 tsp each of whole cloves, black peppercorns, ground mace & curry powder 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 4 cups malt vinegar
Remove the stones and coarsely chop the apricots. Finely chop the onions. Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan and boil slowly for 1 hour, stirring often, especially towards the end of cooking time. Pour into hot, clean jars and seal. Makes about 3.5 litres. :-))
juliewn,
Nov 5, 4:49am
Hi Pickles.. thanks for your note about vinegars.. your creations sound just delicious.. you must be thrilled with your vinegars..
Hi Shirley.. how are you? I hope all is well for you there..
I just saw the thread where your recipe is very popular - it sounds delicious..
Take care.. :-)
escambo,
Nov 15, 5:47pm
Would someone please help me locate 1-liter Mason or Agee jars in the Wellington area?I need the old 92-mm-diameter ones that used the gold Perfit lid bands.I've looked in Briscoe's, New World, The Warehouse, Woolworth's, Pak 'N Save -- to no avail.
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