RECIPE: PLUM JAM

This is the final segment of my STOP FOOD WASTE Campaign blogs. Every summer, Mr G makes plum jam from our own trees as well as any fruits that could be cheap in the market. There is a bit of work involved and it does get quite hot in the kitchen during the summer months here in Canberra as it gets up to the 36 to 40°C mark. But the taste of homemade jam beats any commercial ones and it makes the effort so worthwhile.

The measurements will get you approximately 6 jars and around 8 to 10 cups of jam. You can omit using the jam setter but it will make the cooking process just that tad bit longer. Mr G uses the same recipe to make raspberry jam.

Ingredients
2 kg firm PITTED/DESEEDED plums - see notes
2 kg white sugar
I packet jam setter

Method

Wash and dry 6 to 8 jam jars. Make sure that there are no labels still stuck on the jars. Set aside. Put 2 small plates in the freezer. Preheat oven to 150°C.

Cut plums in half. Remove and discard stones. Place plums in a large, heavy base pan and add 4 cups water. Bring slowly to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 to 30 minutes or until plums are very soft.

Meanwhile, place sugar in a deep baking dish and place in the oven, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until just warmed. Take the sugar out and turn the oven heat down to 100°C. Quickly place the jam jars in the oven (you don’t want your sugar to get cool whilst you are doing this) to sterilise them. You can leave them in the oven whilst you continue making the jam.

Add the warmed sugar to the pan of plums and stir constantly over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil 50-60 minutes or until the jam reaches setting point (see notes). Regularly skim off any scum that forms on the surface during cooking. Stir the mixture often, particularly toward the end of cooking time, to ensure the jam does not scorch on the base of the pan.

When the jam appears to be thick, test for setting (see notes). Ladle the jam into the sterilised jars and seal. Invert the jars for 2 minutes then turn upright and set aside to cool.

Notes:
• Choose good quality fruit - firm and just ripe, without blemishes or bruising.
• Make sure that the weight is the weight for the pitted fruit. You should buy about 3 kg of fruit to get 2 kg. If you use the un-pitted measurements as your starting measurement, your jam will be too sweet and it will caramelise in your jars.
• Use a new wooden spoon or a spoon that you can set aside to use only for jam making. If you have used the spoon to cook other food with, the taste may transfer to the jam – you wouldn’t want garlic or curry tasting jam!
• To test jam’s setting point, drop a teaspoon of jam onto a chilled saucer. Freeze for 2 minutes or until cooled to room temperature. Run your finger through the jam. If the surface wrinkles slightly and the jam stays in 2 separate portions, it is ready to bottle.


Our plum tree is already in bloom. Soon all these flowers will be fruit - yum, yum. The picture below is one of the varieties of plums we have in our garden. (Source: WIKIMEDIA)

RECIPE: ASIAN STYLE CUCUMBER AND PINEAPPLE SALAD

The last instalment on ways to use and serve pineapples as part of my STOP FOOD WASTE Campaign. Works well as an accompaniment to curries and spicy dishes. It helps to neutralise the heat from spices, especially chillies.

Ingredients
1 cucumber – quartered and sliced
¼ fresh pineapple or tinned pineapple pieces (juice drained if using tinned pineapple) – cut the same size as the cucumber
1 large red chilli or 2 to 3 bird’s eye chillies – sliced
1 small red onion – quartered and sliced finely
Sufficient white vinegar to cover the fruits
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
Lime juice – optional

Method
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Check seasoning and adjust to taste. Keep refrigerated until required. Will last a day or two in the fridge (if it survives that long from the initial meal!)

RECIPE: THAI STYLE PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE

Presentation is every thing for this easy to prepare dish. In my opinion, the casing of the pineapple not only adds to the aesthetics of the dish but also the flavour. This is another instalment of my STOP FOOD WASTE Campaign using pineapples.

Ingredients
1 pineapple – slice the pineapple lengthways (not half but more 1/3 to the top) to make a base and a lid. Cut 1 cup of the pineapple into cubes for the dish
4 tbsp peanut oil
4 cups cooked rice
1 cup diced ham
1 cup diced bacon
3 cloves – chopped
½ cup raisins or sultanas
3 tbsp curry powder
¼ cup chicken stock – I used ¼ tsp chicken stock powder diluted in ¼ cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste – I mix this into the cooked rice

Method
Heat oil in a wok and fry the garlic, ham and bacon until the bacon is golden. Then add all the ingredients except the rice and sultanas and cook for 2 mins. Next add the sultanas, mix well and add in the rice. Toss the rice well so it is well coated with all the ingredients.

Turn off the heat and fill the pineapple with the rice. Cover with the pineapple ‘lid’ and bake in a 140°C oven for 30 mins. Serve hot with a side dish of crushed peanuts.

FYI: If you don't eat pork, you could subsitute the bacon and ham with small prawns.

RECIPE: SOUR PRAWNS AND PINEAPPLE (GULAI UDANG DAN NENAS)

If your household is anything like mine, my kids go through fads – one day they like something, the next day it’s poisonous! So I have to come up with ideas to ‘trick’ them into eating things. My latest trickery is to do with pineapples.

It must be pineapple season up north in Queensland, as we can get them quite cheaply here in Canberra. Unfortunately, the kids seemed turn off already with pineapples, and I was going to make pineapple jam (for jam tarts). Unfortunately I am quite time poor at the moment. So, I had this dilemma of what to do with the couple of pineapples that Mr G bought last weekend.

So, in line with the STOP FOOD WASTE Campaign, I decided to use half the pineapple to make SOUR PRAWNS AND PINEAPPLE and the rest to make THAI STYLE PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE. I’ll post the recipe for the fried rice in the next few days.

One lesson to learn from going shopping, and any shopping – something is only cheap if you need it and are going to use it. The pineapples may have been cheap, but if they were commissioned to the bin, that would have defeated the purpose, wouldn’t it???

Ingredients
½ kg green prawns – shelled with heads and tails left intact
2 heaped tbsp tamarind mixed with ½ cup warm water – extract juice but do not discard the pulp
2 tbsp oil
1 cup water
¼ pineapple – cut into bite sized pieces
Salt
Sugar – optional
Grind the following with minimal water or oil
4 slices galangal/lengkuas
8 candlenuts (or substitute with macadamia nuts)
1 cm fresh turmeric or ½ tsp turmeric powder – fresh is nicer
1 tsp belachan
6 to 8 large red fresh chillies – halved and deseeded but you may leave some seeds intact if you want the dish to be a bit spicy
10 shallots or two large red onions

Method
Heat oil in a heavy pan (I used a clay pot) and fry the ground spices until aromatic (around 5 to 7 mins).

Add one cup of water and the pineapple and cook uncovered for 5 mins. Add the tamarind juice and simmer for 2 mins. In the mean time, extract another ½ cup of juice from the left over pulp and set aside.

Add in the prawns and salt and cook for 2 mins. Taste and if the dish is not sour enough (remember it should be sour), add more of the tamarind juice. Lift when the prawns are done and serve hot with rice.

RECIPE: STRAWBERRY COULIS

My apologies to anyone who may have left comments on my blog. I made changes to the blog yesterday but it all went haywire today. Thank god I had made a backup of my original blog. If you have posted comments, I ask that you please resubmit your comments and I will endeavour to answer them. Once again, apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Now that I have cleared up that issue, here’s my second contribution to the STOP FOOD WASTE CAMPAIGN. Enjoy.

Ingredients
75 g caster sugar
¼ cup water
150 g strawberries – hulled and halved
½ to 1 tsp Cointreau (Orange Liqueur) - optional

Method
In a blender, puree all the ingredients (except Cointreau). Pour into a small saucepan and on medium heat, boil the mixture until it slightly thickens. Remove from heat and add in the Cointreau (if using).

Cool and serve as a topping for ice cream, fruit salads or pancakes/crepes.

CAMPAIGN: STOP FOOD WASTE

I was recently contacted by NOTEBOOK, a well known Australian lifestyle magazine, to put up a post on curbing food wastage and any handy tips I may have (see its September edition article on FOOD WASTE). In support of this campaign, I will be dedicating this week’s postings on stopping food waste. My main focus will be on FRUITS.

I am sure that we have all been guilty of wasting food one way or another, usually unintendedly. I know I have been barred from going food shopping by Mr G as I always tend to buy more than we need, usually on those ‘I am gonna make this one day and therefore may need this item’ but the dish never eventuates and the item gets commissioned to the bin because the used by date has expired.

Anyway, I have developed my own ‘pantry system’ to ensure that this does not happen in my household anymore. Yes it may seem tedious, but it takes only 5 minutes of your time. Every month, I check the dates on the items in my pantry and make sure that those items that are nearing its expiration date are placed on the front row. Not only will you save unnecessary wastage, you will also save money and this could also help you in your weekly meal planning and grocery shopping.

During the summer seasons, when we and the neighbours (they make a good source of offloading any extra food, especially if they have teenagers!) get sick of eating the plums off our plum trees, Mr G makes his own plum jam and plum sauce. In fact, we still have a few jars of the jam left over from the previous batch. The jam is lovely as a spread for scones (try MR G’S FEATHERLITE SCONES) and I love pouring a few teaspoons of the plum sauce on vanilla ice cream. I will include the recipe for the PLUM JAM in the next few days.

Other fruits that work well as a sauce or coulis (a form of thick sauce made from puréed and strained vegetables or fruits) are raspberries and strawberries. I will include a simple STRAWBERRY COULIS recipe in the coming few days – ironically, I had some strawberries in the fridge that were slightly overripe and perfect for making coulis.



Another good fruit to ‘recycle’ when it is gone by its eating stage are bananas. Overripe bananas are great for making BANANA CAKE, BANANA MUFFINS and banana fritters. A popular Malaysian snack made from bananas is the Cekodok Pisang or FRIED MASHED BANANA BALLS. A great snack for the family. The recipe for this teatime treat is posted below.



The ways to stop food wastages are endless – you can use leftovers to create new exciting dishes that even the fussiest of eaters won’t know that it was yesterday’s meal. Any left over chicken from the yesterday’s roast can be made into a pasta bake, chicken pie, toppings for salads or as fillings for sandwiches. Chop it up and use it to make fried rice. Not only have you reused the chicken, any leftover rice is also used. According to the magazine[1], throwing out a kilo of white rice will waste around 2,385 litres of water that was used to grow that rice! That’s the water to fill nearly 0.6 percent of an average council or school swimming pool (assuming it takes 375,000 liters of water) for 1 kg of rice. With the cost of production rising faster for our farmers than farm gate prices, and water as a scarce and costly resource for the farmers, I believe we are morally obliged to curb our waste.

So in conjunction with the campaign by Notebook, I would like to spread this awareness and I am asking and therefore tagging my fellow blog friends to paste any recipes that utilise leftovers or any handy tips around the house to minimise food wastage or recycling kitchen waste. I also ask that they tag their friends to increase the awareness of this issue.

The rules are:
1. Tag five new blogs (if possible) to join this campaign.
2. In each tag, include the name of the owner of the blog and his/her link.
3. Post an article on the campaign – it can include anything from handy tips to curb food waste, recipes for leftovers, composting tips, opinions on food waste, etc.
4. Each ‘tagee’ has to show the ‘STOP FOOD WASTE’ poster and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the tag itself.
5. Show the link to ‘MY HOUSEHOLD CAPERS’ so everyone will know the origin of this tag.

To this cause, I would like to tag:
My Kitchen Snippets
Veg Inspirations
Tastes of India
Mexican American Border Cooking
Mommy’s Kitchen

PS: I have not tagged any of my Muslim blog friends because I know it is Ramadan now. However please feel free to join the cause and voice your opinion on this matter. Please paste the rules on your blog and spread the word.

Thanking you all in advance for your efforts – Here’s to stopping food waste!

DISCLOSURE: I have NOT BEEN PAID for this article.

[1] Notebook Magazine, September 2008, p 79

RECIPE: FRIED MASHED BANANA BALLS (CEKODOK PISANG)

A simple recipe to get rid of your overripe bananas without wasting it! My first contribution to the STOP FOOD WASTE Campaign.

Ingredients
4 to 5 large ripe bananas
3 to 5 tbsp sugar (depends on the sweetness of your bananas)
1/3 cup milk
1 ½ cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Oil for deep frying

Method
In a blender, blend the bananas, sugar and milk. Put into a bowl.

Gradually add in the flour that has been mixed with the baking powder. Mix well to make a very thick batter.

Heat oil in a wok. Using the tips of your fingers, drop in the dough, in the shape resembling golf balls. Cook on medium high heat (if the oil is not too hot, it will absorb the oil and your banana balls will be greasy. If the heat is too high, it will brown quickly on the outside and the inside could be uncooked.

Repeat the process until the dough is all used and serve hot with a cup of tea or coffee for a mid morning of afternoon tea snack.