Devine Cherry Jam

After a recent visit to a cherry orchard to pick sweet and juicy cherries I had the inspiration to make jam.  In my hunt for jam recipes in a slow cooker I came across a handy slow cooker recipe App for iPads 'Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes'. I think I will be trialling a few more of their creations.

Cherry Jam

Ingredients
2 lb (approx 1kg) cherries
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp pectin, powder

Method
1. Remove the pits from the cherries. Combine cherries, sugar, lemon juice and salt in the slow cooker. Stir, then let stand for 15 minutes to dissolve the sugar.

2. Stir in the pectin. Cover and cook on LOW for 2-1⁄2 hours, stirring twice during cooking.

3. Remove the lid, turn the cooker to HIGH, and cook for 2 to 3 hours longer, until the jam thickens.

4. Ladle the warm jam into clean spring-top glass jars. Let stand until cool. Serve. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 months, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Summer in a jar ... Apricot jam!

Picking apricots from my grandma's tree is at the heart of my childhood summertime memories. There will never be anything more delicious than those golden treasures eaten straight from the tree and warmed by the sun, best enjoyed while still in amongst the leaves and perched on a ladder; all that sticky juice making a glorious mess of one's fingers! What fun times!

Well, happily, this summer I have once again been able to recapture some of that magic, picking apricots from grandma's tree and enjoying the bounty. To top it all off, some of the apricots could be spared for jam (although this is second best to the fruit in its natural state!) and the slow cooker was put to good use for this task. Making jam in the slow cooker is easy and fuss free.

I cut the apricots in half, filling up the slow cooker almost to the top and poured in about half a kilo of sugar. This is less than the standard kilo-for-kilo fruit and sugar ratio, but I don't like my jam so sweet. This jam, however, is best kept in the fridge because the higher quantity of sugar in the traditional recipes will better preserve the final product. I didn't on this occasion, but you can also add a squeeze of lemon juice if you like. I stirred the sugar in to help it dissolve and left the slow cooker to do its work.

The slow cooker was kept on overnight and in the final few hours the lid was taken off to let the jammy mixture reduce and thicken.

To add the thoroughly pleasurable nature of this enterprise, at the end of it all I made a batch of scones, a pot of tea and I even got to use my jar 'bonnets', which were a very thoughtful Christmas gift. How I love summer ... and apricots!

Festive Mango Chutney

I love to look through my Christmas cookbooks at this time of year - there are parties to plan for, there is baking to do and there are gifts that can be made. It is all so much fun!

The three slow cookers each have a copy of Nigella's Christmas cookbook and it was when I was flicking through this (again!), that I was inspired to make some chutney. Nigella's gorgeous Christmas chutney is packed full of flavours that are fitting for a winter wonderland where chestnuts roast on open fires. It made me wonder what flavours would best suit an Australian Christmas. The mangos and apricots in the fruit bowl provided the answer. Here's how I made my festive mango chutney...

First, in a frying pan on a low heat with a splash of olive oil, I sautéed:

- two finely diced onions;
- two seeded sliced red chillis;
- three crushed cloves of garlic;
- a bunch of chopped coriander;
- a teaspoon each of ground garam masala, coriander, ground cloves and cumin.

Into the pre-heated slow cooker, went:

- two chopped mangoes;
- four chopped apricots;
- two peeled, diced apples;
- two chopped tomatoes;
- some crushed ginger;
- some chilli flakes;
- a cinnamon quill;
- two tablespoons of brown sugar;
- some salt;
- about three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar; and
- the sautéed onion mixture.

While I went out for some Christmas shopping and a family lunch, the chutney was bubbling away on low. When I came home, I used a potato masher to give the chutney the consistency I was after and then took off the lid and put the slow cooker on high for about an hour to reduce some of the excess liquid.

I got to fill up four generous jars for my efforts and enjoy a lovely sense of satisfaction to see my wrapped jars all lined up on the bench! I can't wait for the Christmas ham to be cut and to enjoy some with my chutney and rye. Merry Christmas!

Bill's Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding

I love Bill Granger recipes and this one is delicious! It's easy to do in the slow cooker and takes no time at all to prepare. The quantities I have listed here will serve 4 people.

Pudding Ingredients

1/2 cup Plain Flour
1 Pinch of Salt
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 teaspoons Baking powder
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
250 ml Milk
85 g unsalted Butter melted
2 Eggs lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Double cream or ice cream to serve

Topping

3/4 cup soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

250 ml boiling water

I put cooking spray on the base of my slow cooker pot which made it easier to serve. Sift the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and cocoa powder into a bowl. Add the milk, butter, egg and vanilla extract and mix with beaters until combined. Pour all ingredients into the slow cooker.

For the topping, stir the brown sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl to combine, then sprinkle it over the pudding batter. Pour boiling water carefully over the pudding. Turn the slow cooker onto high and cook for around 1.5-2 hours. Serve with cream or ice cream.

Source:  http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/shows/bills-food/