How to make delicious marmalade, a really simple method.

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To make 6 or so jars of marmalade use about 6 seville oranges.

Quarter the fruit, remove pips and reserve them.

Slice the fruit, I like big rough cut pieces of peel in my marmalade but this is a matter of preference and you may like a fine cut finish.

Weigh the sliced fruit, to every 500g add half a litre of water.  Mix it well and leave to soak for 24 hours in a covered bowl, in a cool place.

Take a large saucepan or better still a preserving pan, rub with lemon, this preserves the colour of the oranges.

Tie the pips in a piece of muslin and add to the pan of fruit, bring to the boil and then simmer until the fruit is tender and can be easily squashed between your fingers, this make take up to 3 hours.

Add 500g of sugar for every 500g of fruit, stir well and bring back to a boil, boil rapidly until the marmalade begins to look transparent.  Do a wrinkle test on a saucer.  Turn off heat and pot into clean, sterilised jars.

Place a wax paper disc on top of each one and then seal with a lid.

The taste of Italy brings winter cheer

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Apart from brief glimpses of sunshine with sub-zero temperatures, November has been cold, winter has officially arrived. We need food to sustain and tempt us but comfort food does not have to be heavy and dull. It should contain a range of subtle flavours but plenty of carbohydrates to keep us going.

Seeking inspiration, I visited the Canteen Deli in Rock Street, Brighton. More of a food emporium, it is stocked from floor to ceiling with mouth-watering goodies. I bought some strong white flour to make my focaccia and some beautiful yellow polenta flour. Eaten throughout the Italian Alpine region, polenta is well-suited to cold climates. The only difficulty in cooking it is that you have to stand over the pot stirring continuously. It is well worth the effort because polenta takes on all the flavours added to it, soaking them up like a sponge and giving out in the eating.

Potato gnocchi, delicious little dumplings, have the same quality. The bitter/crisp taste of chicory is a perfect contrast to the doughiness of the main dish and compliments the flavours in the sauce. This is a menu inspired by Italy and adapted to a cold British winter.

 

 

Fish Friday Supper Pop UP 23rd August

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Hi Fish Lovers

Take a look at the menu for our next Fish Friday Supper in our beautiful professional kitchen in Kings Mews Hove…. hurry and book your place now

£32 for a four course fish supper including a welcome drink

Smoked paprika and pollok croquetas – green onion aioli

Home cured beetroot gravad lax – mustard cream – soda bread

Hake baked in yogurt – sumac – garlic – sweet potato red onion cake

Meringue – praline cream – roast apricot

Dinner party menu to impress friends

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Since the beginning of time people have seen ‘the dinner party’ as a means of making social connection and impressing their friends. Perhaps this is why those three little words sound so intriguing and have formed the basis of many a good situation comedy. Countless dramatic set-pieces have also been played  out around the dinner table.

It wasn’t always all pomp and ceremony though and there is an acknowledgement that times have moved on. The term dinner party had once been associated with protocol and occasion rather than the food itself. One can’t imagine this omission in Italy or France where a passion for food was matched by the menu.

However, that’s all in the past. The new decade means there is no longer need for silver cake baskets, pickle forks or chafing dishes! Many people are now acutely aware of what good food is all about; this is reflected in our restaurants, the media and through demand for a broad range of food in the shops. So, create your own inspired menu for you to cook with some friends and foodies!

A new beginning. Same fresh approach!

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Just a quick post to let everyone know that Plum Catering, is now ‘The Perfect Plum.’

The new website is now live… a teensy bit of construction remains, but a whole new look – highlighting our new kitchen location in Hove, new menus and offerings like classes, pop-ups, fundraisers and adventure weekends.

We’re anxious to get any feedback, so please drop us a message via the contact page and let us know what you think!

Thanks everyone…
(and please spread the word!)

Hoping to post more delicious recipes and ideas on the blog in the very near, so check back soon.