Preserving the summer to eat in the winter.

A few weeks ago I ranted about the fact that we do not need fresh strawberries on our Christmas dinner tables. Much better, I suggested, to make jam. In a very rare display of following my own advice I have been producing preserves with any fruit that croses my path. It started with some raspberries from the kitchen gardener and then came the visit to my mother in Devon.
My mum hails from the Northeast and whilst living in the South for 55 years has softened the accent it has not changed that region's unending ability to understate almost anything.
So, when we arrived and were told to pick the remainder of the blackcurrants, redcurrants and goosberries left in the garden, I felt a slight feeling of diquiet. "There can't be very many left" she asserted.
A few hours later and having avoided the wasps and the rather agressive gooseberry thorns I returned to the kitchen with4lbs of blackcurrants, over 3lbs of gooseberries and just under 2lbs of redcurrants.
On our return to Corner Cottage I set to with the fruit and some sugar. We now have four jars of gooseberry jam, 9 jars of blackcurrant jam and 2 jars of redcurrant jelly. Adding this haul of conserves to a couple of jars of raspberry jam made earlier in the summer and we are set until next summer arrives.

The joy of the summer holiday

One of the great joys of being a teacher is the summer holidays. They are not quite as long as they seemed when we were young but they do provide a proper break from the battle to educate. One of the nicest aspects of this time off is the fact that it provides the opportunity to take lunch rather than grabbing lunch.  For the beautiful wife an I this is often some homemade bread and a lump of pate or maybe some cheese. This is sometimes accompanied with a salad or two and followed by fruit. There is no better way to use up cold cuts from a roast or any over left overs than an idle lunch which is not limited by time. We have been working hard in the garden at Corner Cottage during the last few weeks so lunch has been taken at any time from 11.45 to 3pm.
A few days ago I made the following recipe for lunch. It's based on an idea from the food phenomenon that is Rick Stien.
Take five or six ripe tomatoes and cut them in half. Place them on a baking sheet and smear some finely chopped garlic on the cut side of the toms. Season them well and pop them in a low to medium oven and allow them to dry in the heat. After about an hour they should look like jelly when gently squeezed with a pair of tongs. (Do not do this with your fingers, the juice of the tomatoes will be hotter than the sun!) Take the toms out of the oven and allow them to cool a little. Take a sheet of puff pastry and roll it to the same size as a heavy baking sheet. Cut a magin around the outside of the pastry without cutting completely through the pastry. Place all of the toms on the inner area of the the pastry and sprinkle over a blue crumbly cheese. Bake in a medium oven until the pastry is cooked and the cheese is all melted. Cut up into "hungry man" slices and serve with salad.