Relishing the Summer

It has been a glorious couple of weeks. I have made the promised relish, only to realise when the windows were dripping with condensation that there is a reason that chutney, relish and jam making is usually confined to the autumn. Not only does it suspend the produce of summer in a jewelled loveliness, but it is also a way to keep warm and save you from putting on the heating as long as possible. In the middle of summer, however, it was stifling, but I bore with it as the benefits were worth it - and at least it was acclimatising me for my visit to Greece the next week.

Below is my version of Tomato and Pepper Relish  

Ingredients:

1.75kg ripe tomatoes (big juicy ones and small plum tomatoes about to turn)

1.25 kg red onions and shallots (this was just what I had available to use up)

4 medium sized peppers, red or yellow are best

25 g salt

250 g granulated sugar

450 ml white wine vinegar

1. Peel and chop the onions. De-seed and chop the peppers. Chop the tomatoes.

2. Mix the peppers, tomatoes and onions in a saucepan and add the vinegar, salt and sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer until mixture thickens in consistency (approximately 40 minutes).

3. Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal.

There are several ways to sterlise jars. The easiest is to half fill the jars with water and place in th microwave for about a minute, until boiling (don't put in the jar lids!) You could also pull them fresh from the dishwasher. That day, I washed them in hot soapy water, rinsed them in hot water and then put them in a pre-heated moderate oven for ten minutes - until completely dry. Be careful as they will be very hot whichever method you use, and should be filled as soon as you can with the hot mixture, which will continue the process.

The result of all of that simmering was divine, even without letting it mature for a month in a jar (which is recommended to let the flavours develop). I stored the jars and took the small white ramekin with me on a blackberry picking picnic with my friend the next day. We sat in the car in the pouring rain, slathering the relish onto hunks of the courgette slice I had made for the occassion - it was a favourite from my childhood and I had bought a stash or courgettes specifically to make this favourite tea-time treat. I include the recipe below:

Courgette/Zuchinni Slice (I grew up calling them zuchinni's and the name still sticks)

Ingredients:

5 eggs

150g (1 cup) self-raising flour (this time I used Dove's Gluten free for my friend, who is Coeliac, and it gave the same effect without changing the taste)
375g (about 3-4) courgettes, grated

1 large onion, finey chopped or grated

1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I used a light version)

60ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a deep pan - about 30 x 20cm.

2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the flour and beat until smooth, then add the courgette, onion, cheese and oil and stir to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through (check with a bambo skewer - it should come out clean in the same way as when you bake a cake).

3. Cut into squares.

You can add bacon, ham, or even a tin of salmon in step 2 for a meatier version as well.

We followed this tasty picnic with cupcakes - I prefer to use a Nigella recipe for the little cupcakes and top it with the Hummingbird Bakery's vanilla frosting and sparkly sprinkles. They are pictured below, but my icing isn't as cute as it usually is as it is as it was my first attempt at using a piping bag.

When we were satisfied and the rain had let up to just a drizzle, we got under way with our true purpose that day, and so braved the puddles, me in fit flops and my friend in golden pumps, to pick the plump and juicy blackberries that grew in abundance in the common. Our fingers searched for the large moist goodies, avoiding the brambles as best we could, trying to grab as delicately as we could, occassionaly losing the ripest ones amongst the thick foliage with the slightest bump. I ate nearly as many blackberries as went in my containers, ignoring the drizzling rain which suddenly pummeled down again, saturating us under our umbrellas, but we were oblivious until our containers where jammed full and our fingers were stained purple.

The gorgeous day was topped off with a gift from my friend of a large bag of apples, picked from her own tree, and an amazing recipe for Moist Apple Cake. As soon as I got home, I froze one container of blackberries to deal with later, and made an individual portion of blackberry and apple crumble in a small ramekin. I devoured it before even taking a photo as it was so utterly delicious. My blissful summer day had come to an end.