Slow Cooker- Preserves

If you have a look at my slow cooker page you’ll see that I don’t just cook dinners.

No, siree!

I have cooked (although not all blogged) cakes, mulled wine, rice pudding, Christmas pudding and preserves.The week before Christmas, Cat helped me make mincemeat to make mince pies with and on Christmas Eve we made a Christmas pudding.I won’t put the Christmas recipes here now, but I will share recipes for slow cooker preserves: Hedgerow jam, mango chutney, beetroot, date and orange preserve and tomato and garlic chutney.

Slow cooker mango chutney

3 firm mangoes

120ml/scant 1 cup light muscovado sugar

1 small red finger chilli or jalapeño chilli, split

2.5 cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 garlic, finely chopped

5 cardamom pods, bruised

1 bay leaf 1/2 tsp salt

1.Peel the mangoes and cut out the stone, then cut the flesh into small chinks or thin wedges.

2.Put the chopped mango in the ceramic coooking pot.Add the cider vinegar, stir briefly to combine, and cover the slow cooker with the lid.Switch to high and cook for about 2 hours, stirring the chutney halfway through the cooking time.

3.Stir the sugar, chilli, ginger, garlic, bruised cardamoms, bay leaf and salt into the mango mixture until the sugar has dissolved completely.

4.Cover and cook for 2 hours, then uncover and let the mixture cook for a further hour, or untl the chutney is reduced to a thick consistency and no excess liquid remains.Stir in the chutney every 15 minutes during the last hour.

5.Remove and discard the bay leaf and the chilli.Spoon the mango chutney into hot sterilised jars and seal.Store for 1 week before eating and use the mango chutney within 1 year.

Slow cooker beetroot, date and orange preserve

300ml/ 1/2 pint malt vinegar

200g granulated sugar

350g raw beetroot

350g eating apples

225g red onions, very finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

Finely grated rind of 2 oranges

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp salt

175g chopped dried dates

1. Put the vinegar and sugar in the ceramic pot.Cover with the lid and switch the slow cooker to high.Leave until steaming hot.

2. Meanwhile scrub or thinly peel the beetroot, then cut into 1cm pieces.peel, quarter and core the apples and cut into 1 cm pieces.

3. Stir the vinegar mixture with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved.Add the beetroot, apples, onions, garlic, orange rind, ground allspice and salt.Stir everything together, then re- cover  and cook for 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally until very tender.

4. Stir in the dates and cook for a further hour until the mixture is really thick.Stir once or twice during this time to prevent the chutney catching on the base of the ceramic cooking pot.

5. Spoon the chutney into warmed sterilised jars , and cover and seal.Store in a cool, dark place and open the beetroot, date and orange preserve within 5 months  of making.Refrigerate after opening and use within 1 month.

It’s nearing the end of July now and our weekly delivered fruit and veg box has lots of goodies asking to be turned into something yummy to be enjoyed in the coming months.This week I started to think about making oils, vinegars and chutneys which make great presents especially if you label and decorate the jars and pack them in a box or basket wrapped in ribbon.

Slow cooker tomato and garlic chutney

1 kg tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 cooking apples, about 500g, peeled, cored and chopped

2 red peppers, cored, deseeded and diced

75g sultanas

100 ml distilled malt vinegar

250g granulated sugar

6-8 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 cinnamon stick, halved

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon salt pepper

1.Put all the ingredients in the pot and mix together. Cover and cook on high for 6-8 hours or until thick and pulpy stirring once or twice.Warm 5 cleaned jars in the bottom of a low oven. Spoon in the chutney, place a waxed disc on top and leave to cool. Seal each jar with a screw top lid, then label.Store in cool place for up to 2 months. Once opened store in the fridge.

By the end of August blackberries, sloes and crab apples will be ready for picking.Sloes that aren’t quite ripe enough can be frozen first in the freezer before using in recipes.Remember never to pick fruits from the side of the road or where there is a high concentration of pollution.Gently wash the fruit and check over for insects before using.

Slow cooker hedgerow jam

1 kg cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped

500g granulated sugar

Grated rind of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

200g blackberries

50g elderberries

Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker pot, in the order listed.Cover with the lid and cook on high for 4-5 hours, stirring twice during cooking.By the end of the cooking time the fruit should be thick and pulpy. Warm for clean jars in the bottom of a low setting oven.Spoon in the jam, place a waxed disc over the top and allow to cool before covering with a cellophane jam pot cover and an elastic band, label and store for up to 2 months in the fridge.Due to the low sugar content this jam must be kept in the fridge.

I’m adding this to Chrissie of Mediocre Mum’s Slow Cooker Sunday which being hosted by The Boy And Me this week.

07. March 2011 by Aly Hodge
Categories: PRESERVES, SLOW COOKER, SLOW COOKING SUNDAY, VEGETARIAN | Tags: beetroot orange and date preserve, crock pot, hedgerow jam, mango chutney, preserves, SLOW COOKER, tomato and garlic chutney | 13 comments