Now that its late summer we have an abundance of local fruit to be picked
Late summer brings with it the start of an abundance of locally grown fruit.
Bramley apples are already being harvested, eating apples are very close to being ready, hedgerows are filled with a particularly fine blackberry crop and some varieties of plums are ripe for the picking. A neighbour dropped off a bucket of Victoria plums the other day and, after giving myself hives by eating too many, I poached some to store in a Kilner jar to add to oats, yoghurt or a sneaky bowl of ice-cream. Rather than make jam, I decided to preserve the rest in an Asian style sauce. Fry an onion and ginger in oil then add the plums, aromatics, sugar, vinegar, soy and honey. Boil to a thick confection then blend and pass through a sieve. Store in sterilised jam jars and use with duck, chicken, beef and vegetable dishes when you want a nice fruity kick.
Collar of bacon is a traditional cut from the shoulder. It’s not as lean as gammon but has a lot of flavour and should be cheaper. Ask your butcher to source it for you or just substitute gammon in the recipe. The collar is braised in cider and then finished off by being roasted with a good layer of the plum sauce. The cooking juices from the bacon are used to cook rice to accompany the whole thing. Any leftovers would make a great salad.
Plums and blackberries go beautifully together. The blackberry crop is prolific this year and the recipe here is for a torta with the two fruits. The plums are gently poached then poked into a cake batter with buttermilk added, with the berries. You’re left with some poaching liquid from the plums and I’ve added a recipe for a plum martini to use it up. If you want to opt out of alcohol use it like a cordial with some sparkling water. A couple of years ago I collaborated with Basalt Distillery in Bushmills to produce a gin, followed by a blackberry and honey rum. At this time of year I need to pick 20 kilos of blackberries to infuse in rum alongside local raw honey from the Mournes. It’s a labour of love and brings me back to childhood picking and ending up with scrapes and purple fingers. Fortunately you’ll only need 125g for the torta recipe. Although while they’re here pick them while you can, freeze and bring them out to brighten up a dull November day…