We love Carnival of Flowers time in Toowoomba. Our public gardens are incredible and so many beautiful private gardens are also open for a short time to visitors. For us Carnival is all about the Geham Arts, Craft & Garden Show held the first weekend of Carnival from 21-22 September 2019. If you need to stock up on any of our family favourites or if you’d just like to have a taste of our regional flavours just make the short 20 minute drive Geham State School. There are plenty of quality handmade local stalls to entice and intrigue!
The ancient fruit of figs, once enjoyed by Queen Cleopatra, are finally back in season for 2019. The variety, that I have selected for this year’s batch of Caramelised Fig Jam, is known as Black Genoa and comes from Warwick, Queensland. Black Genoas have a dark purple skin, white flesh with red and white seeds. While I turned most of the figs into jam, some fresh ones ended up, not surprisingly, on a weekend cheese platter. Like Cleopatra, I cannot resist their unique flavour and enticing dusty sweet honey aroma. I so look forward to sharing this prize winning jam with you.
As you can see most of my products have sold out or are low in stock thanks to a spike in demand over the Christmas period for gift hampers and online orders. Very grateful for the local support. So, it’s back to the kitchen and given apricots are in season this jam will be a priority along with the ever popular family favourite spicy tomato relish. You know its summer when mangoes hit the supermarkets so a few small batches of our award winning muddled mango chutney and balsamic onion marmalade will also be on the stove. However, given these flavours mature in the jar these two lines won’t be ready for another four weeks. Hope you won’t mind the wait! Prudence x
I seem to only make small batches of Ruby Raspberry Jam on a Tuesday. So let’s make it a Ruby Raspberry kinda Tuesday! Today was all about ensuring those fiery red flecks don’t disappear during the cook. The longer you cook raspberries the more the seed colour disappears so a maximum of 14 minutes of a rolling boil is all this jam needs. As one of our most popular jams, raspberry jam will definitely be on our stall at the upcoming Handmade Under the Stars evening. Featuring only quality local artisan products the evening is one not to be missed particularly if you’re thinking about unique Christmas gifts or Christmas dinner delights. Handmade Under the Stars is an indoor event held at Cobb & Co Museum on Thursday 23 November from 4pm. Perhaps I’ll see you there. Prudence x
Our Poppy loved this rich tomato sauce. In fact his great-great-grandmother used to make this one and we are lucky enough to still have the original recipe. Using vine ripened glass house tomatoes (only the best) this sauce sings with the big taste of tomatoes which have been tempered with just the right amount of spice including paprika and a sprinkle of allspice. If you ever get an opportunity to make a tomato sauce and you like it thick like me make sure you can stand your spoon up in it when cold and then it will make for a great stubborn bottle shake! Happy cooking Prudence x
This is a shot of figs caramelising on the stove just before the pectin rises. Oh the drama! Figs have so much pectin that you don’t need to add any more. I slow cook this jam for about 90 minutes on the stove to bring out the toffee notes and to caramelise those little pieces of ginger that become so soft and sticky. Cannot wait to add a spoon or two of fig jam to our cheese platter tonight! What’s on your cheese platter?
It’s time to get serious about the ‘Flavour & Fire’ Murphys Creek Chilli Festival on Saturday 14 October 2018 which is only a few minutes down the road from us in Toowoomba. So today has been all about cutting and chopping two of my favourite red chillies – red habanero and long red chillies for our Tijuana Tears Hot Sauce. Featuring roasted mustard seeds, fresh lime and garlic we also include a little smokey paprika just to keep things interesting. This one is cooked using the slow reduction method to ensure you get the most flavour and we don’t add any water just deliciously tangy apple cider vinegar and virgin olive oil. If you want to try a hot sauce with a punchy hit of flavour that’s doesn’t have any gums or thickeners give this one a go – Tijuana Tears Hot Sauce!
Rich purple crimson beetroots from the beautiful fertile Lockyer Valley have taken over my kitchen this week. Teamed with toasted mustard seeds, orange rind, spices and red wine vinegar, all our beetroot is peeled to ensure a tangy flavour without that earthy after taste. And that’s a lot of peeling with 12 kgs making up this morning’s small handmade batch. Our relish can be tossed through a salad, enjoyed on that next Aussie beef burger, or paired with cheese, fish or pork & fennel sausages. And with all those wonderful health benefits associated with beetroot you can even just enjoy it spoon by spoon straight out of the jar.
Mango chutney is on my stove this week and the aroma is so enticing on this wintery August morning in Toowoomba. In addition to mangoes, I include nine spices to infuse overnight into granny smith apples, sultanas, garlic and fresh ginger. Soaking the fruit overnight also ensures that the fruit doesn’t break down during the long cooking process. It’s very sticky chutney, i.e. it burns so easily, so it requires a lot of attention over the three hours it takes to reduce down to a thick condiment. We think this chutney is pretty special and so did the judges at the EKKA in 2017 where it was awarded first prize. From my warm kitchen and pantry to yours. Prudence x
We did it again! Awarded first prize at the 2018 Queensland Royal Show (EKKA) for our variety pack of four preserves under a Cottage Industry. Judged on presentation, appearance and of course taste. Here are our little sweeties . . . Limited quantities available so don’t wait too long to order. Our caramelised fig jam also got a mention and received third place under the jam category. We reckon that’s pretty sweet!
