This week has been all about comfort food. The foods I find most comforting are those with smells and tastes that remind me of my childhood or those that evoke fond memories from holidays. When we were kids our grandmother used to make tomato jam and even though I hated tomoatoes, I loved her jam! And a few years ago (actually quite a few years ago!) I went to Canada for a holiday. It was winter and the scent of cinnamon and apples was everywhere and in everything. Since that holiday I have been obsessed with cinnamon! So the next 2 recipes are for Tomato Jam and Pear and Ginger Muffins (which have cinnamon in them - I'm also a big fan of ginger!)

This recipe comes courtesy of my good friend Maree.

Tomato Jam

1kg tomatoes
1½kg sugar
juice of 1½ lemons
Method:Chop the tomatoes: you can skin them first if you like, but the skin 'candies' in the mixture, and adds interest and flavour to the jam.Add the lemon juice and bring to the boil.Add the sugar and stir till dissolved.Boil fast till setting point is reached.

:

Ginger Pear Muffins

2 cups SR flour

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 tsps ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch each of ground nutmet, ground cloves

1 cup natural yoghurt

1/2 cup oil

3 tblsp golden syrup

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 cups diced pears

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

In a large bowl mix together flour, brown sugar and spices.

In a separate bowl mix together yoghurt, oil, syrup and egg.

Make a well in the centre of dry ingredients and add yoghurt misture. Stir to combine then fold in pears and walnuts.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans and bake at 180C for 20 minutes. Serve warm with butter.

OR

Top with ginger icing made from 1 1/2 cups icing sugar, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tbsp butter and boiling water to mix.

Long Weekend

It has been so good to enjoy three days away from work but unfortunately a good portion of it has been spent doing reports because it's that time of the year!

I did manage to take Dougal for a walk at the beach and we did manage to finish restoring my shabby old desk. I love it - especially the knobs - but I'm the only one! Someone else in this house is not so sure, but he is happy because I'm so happy!

I haven't really done any cooking this weekend because I have had to stay away from distractions, but my cousin in Vancouver is insisting I make her amazing brussel sprouts recipe. She guarantees even the most diehard brussel sprouts haters (of which I am one) will love it!!! I'm not so sure! Anyway, I may give it a go or I could get some of you to try it and let me know how it goes first!

Here's the recipe:

Josie's Amazing Brussel Sprouts

1 lb of brusssel sprouts

1/4 c of olive oil

4 slices of proscuitto (ask for it to be sliced about the same thickness as bacon) cut into small bite-size pieces

1/2 Cup of toasted/roasted pine nuts (do it yourself here)

padano cheese- shredded (romanno or parmisan would be fine as well)

Trim off the root ends of the b-sprouts and core.

Cut in half and slice thinly. (I cut the ends off... and slice the sprout finely all around and leave the core... it is faster that way).

Heat oil over medium heat and saute proscuitto pieces 2 to 3 minutes or until they start to crisp up.

Add the sprouts and saute for 3 minutes .

Cover, reduce to low heat, cook for another 2 minutes longer or until sprouts are tender crisp.

Put into serving dish.. add pine nuts and sprinkle with a tsp of the shredded cheese.

This is soooo good.!!

If you like garlic.. I have also sauted garlic clove with the prooscuitto to get the oil a bit garlicy.

Quince Jelly

I thought you would like to see the finished product.

I have to say it turned out pretty well and now I think I'm hooked on preserves! I think my next effort in this arena will be tomato jam. My sister and I used to love it when we were kids but you don't ever see it around anymore. She says you can tell how good a fete is by its tomato jam - well they're all failing miserably as I haven't seen any for years! So if anyone has a good tomato jam recipe ... please share!

Autumn and Quince

It is now official - Autumn is my favourite season! The trees are all turning to red and gold and the days are cool and sunny. It's my first Autumn in Tasmania and I think it's grand! Another bonus of this fine season is the Quince. A fruit I was familiar with in name only until my friend generously gave me a bag of this sweet smelling fruit that she had grown in her garden.

I was pretty excited about this as they sounded so exotic. But then I was faced with the challenge of what to do with them! I thought of making quince paste but apparently it is quite time consuming and difficult so I settled on quince jelly. The jelly is like a clear jam that you can have with crusty bread or with cheese like you would quince paste. I always get nervous when I cook something that requires excessive boiling but it really was a doddle!

Quince Jelly

4 Quince

2 lemons

2.5 l water

sugar

Remove the fur from the quince and pour the water into a large pot.

Thinly slice the peel of one lemon and add to the water. Squeeze lemons and add 1/2 cup of juice to the pot. Chop quinces adding everything to the pot including pips and cores.

Place the pan on high heat, bring to the boil, cover, then turn down the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Take off the lid and simmer for 15 mins until the juice turns pink.

Spread a muslin cloth over a colander and suspend over a deep pot. Pour the quinces and juice into the cloth and leave to drain over night.

Don't be tempted to press the quinces to extract more juice as this will turn your liquid cloudy. A good clear liquid is prized by jelly makers and this is obtained by leaving the juice to run its natural course!

Once all the liquid has been extracted measure the liquid then add it to a deep pot and set heat to high. When it comes to the boil add an equal amount of sugar (eg 500ml of juice will need 500g of sugar - you can make it slightly less if you prefer a tart jelly). Stir until disolved. Boil for about 25mins then spoon a small amount onto a saucer to see if the jelly is set. You will need to watch the pot as the vigorous boiling can rise and boil over.

Once the jelly has reached setting point, pour into sterilised jars, cover with a cloth and cool before sealing.