This month has seen an unseasonable amount of blackberries, wild plums, sloes and blackcurrants. Not to mention runner beans, beets, onions, squash, garlic, lettuce, peppers and chilli.

Not only do we have to manage our own over-production, we also try to resist (and in my case, fail) the produce at the end of other peoples’ drives and tracks. It’s all too much! This is why my shelves are groaning with jams and chutneys and the freezer is full of berries and vegetables! Here are a few ideas of what to do with the glut (and it frequently strikes me as obscene, compared with what we are watching in Gaza and other parts of the world).

I’ve picked loads of sloes and wild damsons. Later in the year (when I have accumulated a few large bottles) I will make sloe gin and damson vodka. Putting the fruit in the freezer now really helps to break down the fruit when macerated with sugar and spirits, which I usually do in late October.

Apple and Blackberry Muffins

Heat oven to 210C
300g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1 tsp salt
130g butter
100g sugar of your choice
50g honey or maple syrup
2 eggs – beaten
130g plain live yogurt
80ml milk of your choice
chopped fruit – I used apples and blackberries – about 210g

Beat the butter till soft and creamy then add the sugar and maple syrup, then the beaten eggs then the yogurt and milk. Then fold in all the dry ingredients. Finally, add the chopped fruit and mix till evenly distributed. Then add a dessert-spoon full into muffin cases. Sprinkle a mixture of brown sugar, oats and flaked almonds on top if you wish. Put in the hot oven and bake for 7 minutes to help them rise beautifully, then turn oven down to 190 and bake for another 10 minutes or so. Use your discretion when you take them out.

This is the best recipe I’ve found for muffins – it uses a ‘batter’ base which makes them incredibly light and gorgeous.

Picalilli

Chop whatever vegetables you like into small-ish dice. I used courgette, onion, carrot, runner beans, corn-on-the-cob, apple, chilli pepper, green tomatoes
For every 500g of vegetables, combine 2tbsp dry English mustard, 30g ground turmeric, 750ml vinegar (preferably not the brown malted stuff), 100g sugar. Then to your own taste, add mustard seed, onion seed, cumin seed, chilli flakes.
Put the vegetables in a large deep saucepan, add the dry ingredients that are mixed with the vinegar then add the sugar. Mix thoroughly then bring to a slow boil and cook for 10 minutes stirring regularly. Take off the heat and allow to cool before bottling and securing with waxed paper circles and a lid when cold. (do it before and condensation will form inside the lid and the tops are more likely to go mouldy when storing).
There really is no exact measurement required, just ensure you have vegetables that are mixed in colour but chopped in a uniform size. Then mix the spices, sugar and liquid together – sufficient to just cover the vegetables once they are in the saucepan. Remember more juice will form as the vegetables cook so don’t put in too much liquid at the start. You can always add more later.

Aubergine pickle (Brinjal)

You can find my recipe for Brinjal via this link to another page on this blog

You can find other recipes for preserving, fermenting etc here