Al's roasted vegetable pot pie

Use whatever veggies you fancy.  As long as they roast, they can be used.  It would be lovely with some chunks of chicken or other leftover meat.  You don't need anything else on the side; it is filling and absolutely delicious.

This was made for a friend with food allergies/intolerances, hence the lack of things like mushrooms and garlic, but it is very adaptable.

You could use roasted veg leftovers for a Meatless Monday Meal!  Just cut out the first stage.  Leftover gravy doesn't happen very often but, if you had some, use that!

Ingredients to serve 2
one small sweet potato
one carrot
half a smallish leek
one parsnip
one medium onion
some veg oil for baking

for the sauce
Marigold vegetable bouillon*
some thickening granules
a dollop of soft cheese (Morrisons value)
a pinch of mixed herbs

for the pastry
140g plain flour (I used savers as I always do nowadays)
pinch of salt
35g Trex (it needed to be vegetarian - I gather lard makes the best pastry!)
35g butter
a little milk for glazing

Method
Put the oil in a roasting dish and pop into the oven.  Heat the oven to around 180C

While the oven is heating, peel and chunk the carrot and pop into the roasting dish, stir in the oil and roast the carrot for about 30 mins because carrot takes longer to roast that the other veg.
The chunks are to your own liking.  Mine weren't too big.

Peel and chunk the other veg.  Keep the parsnip and sweet potato in water until ready to roast.
Pop the veg in the roasting dish with the carrot.  Stir well until they are all covered with oil and put back in the oven for another 20 to 30 mins until they are all soft.

Then make the pastry.  Rub the fat into the flour and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs.  Add three tbsp very cold water and mix gently until it comes together.  Shape into a ball, wrap and pop it into the fridge for half an hour.

Make the sauce by adding water to a good tbsp Marigold powder in a sauce pan, bring to a simmer, add some thickening granules until it is the thickness you want, then add some soft cheese.  The idea is to get something you can pour over the vegetables, cover with pastry and bake!  Too thin and it will make the pastry wet, too thick and it will be dry and unappetising.  The vegetables do absorb some of the sauce.  I didn't add salt as the stock is well seasoned.

When the vegetables are cooked, spoon them into a couple of oven proof individual dishes (or you can make one larger pie)  Mine were oval, as you can see in the photo, but use whatever you have really!
Pour over the gravy.
Roll out the chilled pastry and cut to the size you need.  I used a third dish as a template so the top fitted exactly.
Top the veg/sauce with the pastry.  Cut a criss cross in the middle and brush over some milk.  I used not to bother but it does make the pastry look tastier.  However, I resent using a whole egg when just a bit is needed so milk it has to be!

Put the dishes on a baking sheet (in case of spills) and bake in the oven at between 180 and 200 C until the sauce is bubbling and the pastry is cooked and a 'golden' brown.  Mine took 40 mins.

I served them in the dishes they were baked in, on a plate.  Nothing else needed.  They were delicious and filling and dead easy!



* Marigold bouillon powder is not cheap, there's no denying that.  However, it is tasty and you can use just what you want rather than having to chop up a stock cube or a stock pot.  I reckon it is better value in the longer term.  Not using it would be penny wise, pound foolish for me!
However, any stock can be used in this recipe.  It's the taste for the sauce that is important.

Frugal leftovers: tattie scones

So super frugal it's incredible.  Left over mash, some plain flour, a bit of butter and maybe some seasonings if your mash wasn't already seasoned.

I had mash leftover from making the fish pie (see precious entry).  It was rather nice mash so I didn't want to just chuck it.

From Google Images

I first had tattie scones when we lived in Belfast for four years in the 60s.  Then I enjoyed them when visiting my in-laws who were Scottish.  Home made and wonderful.  So when I wanted to use up this mash, that's what I turned to.

You need some cold mashed potato.  Then add flour in the ration 1 part flour to five parts mash and add very soft butter in the ration 1 part butter to ten parts mash.  Sounds more complicated than it really is.  Weigh your flour and divide it by 5 for the flour and divide it by 10 for the butter.

Bung it all in a bowl and mush it together to a sort of very soft 'dough'.  Add any seasonings you want.  I just added a grating of pepper because the mash had already been seasoned and the butter adds some more salt, of course.  What you're going to do is roll out lumps of it to circles about 3 to 5 mms thick, and cut into quarters.  I had 160g mash and the mixture made two circles cut into eight tattie scones.

Melt a bit of butter in the pan and carefully lay in the scones (they are soft and need careful handling).  Fry on one side until brown, then turn and ditto on the other side.

Not my photo but just how mine looked.

Eat while hot and crispy.  Gorgeous.  I had a poached egg on top of the three pieces I had for breakfast and I don't know when I enjoyed a breakfast more!

I'm unsure if they freeze or not so I am trying it out with the remaining five.  Wrap individually in easy-leave or similar, lay them in some sort of rigid container and freeze.  I suspect I will reheat in a pan but without adding any more butter.  I'll let you know!

Leftover turkey curry

Another very rambly idea . . . I'm useless at writing out concise recipes, there's too many ifs, buts and maybes!  I hope it makes sense.
If you can follow it, this makes a very tasty way of using up those turkey leftovers.  It's very, very adaptable and could use a lot more veg and less meat and still be tasty.  It is from the idea, start, taste and add school of cooking!  As most of it is Christmas leftovers and cupboard stuff, it is a surprisingly frugal outcome for such 'rich' ingredients

Ingredients (variable, depending on what you've got, sorry)

• half a big onion, chopped
• a dollop of butter
• a squeeze of garlic puree
• some curry paste - I used Patak's balti paste because that's what I had in the fridge but different pastes will give you a different end flavour (obviously)
• leftover Christmas veg.  I had some parsnips, some sprouts and some potato
• some mango chutney, chopped into bits if it has pieces in (must put mango chutney on the shopping list now)
• some coconut milk - I have some coconut milk powder and I mixed it into a liquid with some water.
• some mango powder because I have some.  It adds a bit of citrussy/sour flavour and balances the mango chutney very nicely.  It's very optional and I used it because I had it, not because the dish would be ruined if I didn't add it!
• some creme fraiche - it would have been yogurt but I had used up the yogurt so I used up the creme fraiche instead.  It was half fat.
• some chunks of left over turkey, both brown and white meat - brown has so much flavour and a great texture and is not to be sniffed at!  I used my eyes to judge how much.  I also added a bit of leftover ham too.
• a sprinkle of salt
• a squidge of chilli puree - because I wanted a bit more heat.  I don't like very hot curries but I like a bit of tingle on the tongue!
• a ladle of turkey stock because it looked a bit solid and I had the last remains of the carcass simmering on the hob as I made the curry!  Water or other stock would be fine
• and lastly . . .  a good splash of cream because I had some and it needed using

so - a luxury leftover curry

Method
Saute the onion gently in the butter until it is lovely and soft and turning golden but not catching.
Add the garlic puree and give it a few more minutes.  Keep it very low.
Then add the curry paste, stir it well and leave it on very low to smurge together and develop flavour.

(I was doing other things at the same time so there was a lot of 'leave it on the lowest possible heat' stuff going on which works really well with curries as the flavours develop)

Add the cooked vegetables and mix well.  Add the mango chutney.  Add the coconut milk, the mango powder, the creme fraiche, the meat, salt and chilli puree.  Mix it all together gently and well.  If it is thick, add some stock or some water.

Keeping it on low, simmer it, stirring occasionally, for a little while.  Add cream if you have it and fancy it.

It was dead easy and knock-out delicious!

Waste not, want not: crispy butternut squash skins

After roasting a butternut squash and scooping out the flesh, don't throw the skins away, do this while the oven is still on.

Spray oil over both sides of the skin.  Sprinkle with a little salt and maybe a spice too.
Place on a sheet of parchment in a roasting dish, spread out.

Bake in a medium oven until the skins are going crispy and starting to char.  Eat while still hot.  Mmmmmmm.

(Don't forget to wipe the skin well before you start roasting!)

Waste not, want not: spiced butternut squash seeds

Before roasting!

I roasted a butternut squash to make soup.  I didn't feel like throwing the seeds away so this is what I did with them.

Ingredients:
butternut squash seeds, washed and with the stringy yellow threads removed, then patted dry on a towel.
A little oil
a pinch of salt
a pinch of garam masala

Method.
When you already have the oven on . . .
Pop the cleaned and dried seeds in a small bowl.  Add the oil, salt and spice and mix it well.
Lay some parchment on an oven tray.  Spread the oiled and seasoned seeds on the tray, separating them so that they are not all clumped together.
Roast in an oven at around 200C (Fan 180) for around 20 mins or until browning and 'crunchy'.

Allow to cool a bit before indulging in these flavoursome, crunchy, delicious snacky things that would have otherwise been thrown away.

I wonder if one can do the same with melon seeds.  Must Google!

Waste not, want not: tomato and mascarpone soup

Nice and creamy.  Very tomatoey.  Uses up leftover bits that would be thrown away otherwise.  And - you know - tomato soup.  Scrummy.

What's not to like?

I had:

• three bought tomatoes that were definitely too squidgy to eat raw.

  

  Not at all like these!

• several home grown tomatoes, tiny little ones, that have been ripening on the window ledge and were ditto. The last of the crop, in fact.  I guess it must have amounted to seven or eight normal sized tomatoes.  Alternatively you could use a can of chopped tomatoes but then it wouldn't be using leftovers quite so much.
• about a third of a little jar of tomato and marscapone stir in pasta sauce (great value from Aldi).

They went together so this is what I did in my conventional 'let's make soup' way.

Ingredients to make two big bowlfuls or three smaller bowlfuls
one onion, peeled and chopped
a bit of butter
Squidge of garlic
the tomatoes, chopped
the last third of a jar of tomato and masarpone sauce
a vegetable stock pot
some pepper
a pinch of sugar
boiling water
salt if needed

Method
The Thermione way
Saute the onion in the butter for 5 mins/ speed 1 or 2
Add the remaining ingredients apart from the salt.  Take the water up to the 1 litre mark
Cook at Varoma, speed 2, 15 minutes.
Zizz at 10 for 1 minute
Check seasonings and add salt if necessary.  I added just a pinch.
Bring back to boiling and serve.

The normal way
Saute the onion in the butter for 5 mins in a saucepan
Add the remaining ingredients apart from the salt.  Add enough water so that there's about a litre altogether.
Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 15 mins.
Blend well with a stick blender or in a blender
Check seasonings and add salt if necessary.  I added just a pinch.
Bring back to boiling and serve.

You could add favourite herbs.  Basil is supposed to go well but I'm not terribly fond of basil.
If it's a bit 'thin', add some instant mash.
It could be served with a dollop of cream or creme fraiche and you could add a bit more mascarpone, if you had some.
This freezes well.

Leftovers: banana and honey smoothie

Amounts are somewhat vague.

Ingredients:
About 200 mls milk.  I used skimmed.
1 soft banana - great for using up an old banana
2 good dollops of natural yogurt
a squidge of honey - I suppose it must have been about a tbsp
a pinch of cinnamon.

Method
Put all the ingredients in a jug and zizz with a stick blender until smooth and gorgeous.
Pout into a long glass and drink!

Nothing new but I loved it so thought I would share.

Leftovers: roast beef soup

On Sunday I slow roasted a small joint of beef over half a carrot, half and onion and some celery with half a stock cube and a good splash of water.

After the beef was cooked and the stock strained off, I popped the veg in a pot and on Monday I made roast beef soup.

It was dead easy.  Just put the vegetables, a handful of lentils and some water in Thermione, boiled it all up for 15 mins and then zizzed it smooth.
If I had used a saucepan I would have simmered it for 15  mins and then zizzed it with a stick blender.

It was delicious - thick and beefy and very comforting.

Thought I would share that with you!

Recipe: Left over veg and chick pea curry

What do you do when you don't fancy soup or casserole or gardener's pie but you have a pile of scrappy veg that need using up or you'll have to chuck them . . .?

I had chick peas, passata (from last year) and tomato in the freezer and everything else in the storecupboard.

Cbick pea and vegetable curry

Ingredients (but these could be variable depending on what you have and all amounts are variable - this is very definitely an idea, not a recipe).

1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp chilli paste or very lazy chilli (or to taste)
2 tsp sun dried tomato paste (because I had it and it needed using up - could be tomato puree)
a good pinch each of ground coriander, cumin and cinnamon
Some garam masala (to taste)

A selection of veg.  I used onion, carrot, cauliflower, celery, red, yellow and orange pepper, mushrooms and tinned potatoes (I love potatoes in curry) all chopped to sort of bite sized bits, not too big and not too small.

Butter (I don't keep ghee in store) or oil

Chick peas (from a tin or soaked and pre cooked.

Chopped tomatoes or passata

Marigold vegetable bouillon.

A bit of frozen (or fresh) spinach if you like (I did)

Method
Melt some butter in a large pan.  Toss in the onion, celery, cauliflower - in fact, any of the veg that might need a little longer cooking.  Stir well to coat with the butter and saute gently for a while, uintil softening and releasing that aroma.  Stir from time to time.  Then add the middly cooking veg, such as the peppers, stir and continue saute-ing.

While this is going on, combine the spices in a bowl.

Turn up the heat, add the spice paste and stir well.  Allow to cook out until it smells 'done', stirring continuously to avoid catching.

Add the 'short cook' veg (such as mushrooms or the cooked potatoes) and mix in well.  Then add the chopped tomatoes/passata, some vegetable bouillon, some salt and pepper and the chick peas.  Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring and check the seasoning, adding whatever you think is needed.

Allow to simmer, uncovered, so that it thickens, stirring now and again to avoid sticking.  Keep tasting (because it is nice)!  Add water if needed or cover, if it's thickening too quickly.

When it is done, allow to cool, place in a bowl you can cover and pop in the fridge until the next day so the flavours develop.

Reheat to piping hot, check seasoning and add the spinach.  If you like, add some yogurt or cream or even some coconut milk.

Serve with rice or a naan or something similar with natural yogurt to dollop on top and a chutney on the side.

It was very delicious.  I had it with lentil and potato dhal (see other recipe), basmati rice, natural yogurt and mango chutney.  Very tasty, very filling and there's plenty left over for another day.

Recipe: savoury rice, aka 'sort of risotto': leftovers and frugal

Leftovers were ham, onion, baby corn, wine, dripping
The rest were storecupboard ingredients

Savoury rice/sort of risotto

Ingredients to make a very good single portion
some turkey dripping (or oil of some kind)
half a small onion, finely sliced
3 baby corn, chunked
1/4 yellow or red pepper (I used yellow)
2 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
Some cooked meat (I used ham but any would do), cubed
a squidge of garlic puree and same of chilli puree
a splash of white wine (optional but it * does * taste nice)
half a pork stock cube dissolved in about 300 mls water (I'd have used turkey stock but it all got used)
about 40 to 50g rice - two handfuls.  I used ordinary long grained rice but other kinds would be fine, just not pudding rice.
pepper (no salt because of the stock cube)
pinch dried mustard

Method
Melt the dripping, add the onion, corn and pepper and saute, stirring at times, until softening.  Add the ham and the mushrooms and saute for a short time longer.
Add the garlic, mustard and chilli and stir in.
Add a good splash of white wine and sizzle for a minute, stirring well.
Add some of the pork stock with some black pepper, bring to a gentle boil, stir and leave for five minutes.  Then check, add more stock if needed, stir well and leave for another five minutes.
Repeat until the rice is just about cooked.  Taste and season, if needed.

I then leave it for several hours, for the flavours to develop.
Reheat to piping hot, add some grated cheese if wanted (I won't be) and enjoy.

You can use any meat (or pulses) and many other veg - just adjust the stock to match.  I used what I had and what needed using up.  Amd that's the end of the Christmas ham!!

Recipe: cheese, ham and potato bake: leftovers

Hmm - well, I don't think I could call this frugal in any way, nor is it particularly 'healthy', but it does use up leftovers and it's totally scrummy. Great for a wet, cold and windy day.
The leftovers in this case were the ham, the cheese and the cream.  Amounts are just to common sense really, they're not that crucial..

Cheese, Ham and Potato Bake

Baking in Handy Andy . . .

and on the plate. 

Ingredients: (to serve two)
one large cooked  potato (I jacketed it in Handy Andy (my halogen oven) until it was just soft, then took off the skin), sliced
half a small onion, thinly sliced
one or two mushrooms, finely chopped
some cooked ham, shredded or cut into strips
some cream, either single or double (I used double because that's what I had)
some salt and pepper
some finely grated cheddar
some dots of butter

Method.
Soften the onion and mushroom in a little butter
Grease an ovenproof dish with butter or oil.
Layer some of the sliced potato to cover the bottom of the dish.  Sprinkle over a little salt and pepper.
Spread the onion and mushroom over the potato, then do the same with the ham.
Pour over some cream and then add some grated cheese.
Add another later of potato, salt and pepper, then spread over the rest of the grated cheese, pour over some more cream and finally dot the top with butter.

I cooked this in my halogen oven on 160C for about 40 mins and served it with steamed sprouts and broccoli.  Very tasty and I had some for dinner and the rest will do for this evening.

You could make it with leftover veg, leftover turkey, lots of stuff.  And you could use milk instead of cream (wouldn't be so gorgeous though).

Recipe: cream of tomato and lentil soup: frugal: leftovers

OK, I have to confess, it's not all leftovers in the sense that I could save the ingredients for something else and the pasata is from tomatoes grown in the garden last summer and frozen (doesn't it seem a long time ago now?) so has a really good flavour but it's all pretty frugal and it's delicious.  There's nothing new or original about it, like most of my recipes, but never mind.  I'm not aiming to make a fortune, just to share my own simple ideas!

It's small amounts because I didn't want to make much but, looking at it, it's going to do two good portions.

Edited to add a photo of lunch.

And very delicious it was too.

Ingredients
about 150 mls pasata (or you could use chopped tomatoes and some tomato puree for the intense flavour)
about 150 mls good turkey stock (or other stock, but I had turkey stock to use up, hence the name)
about 3 inches of leek
one small carrot
one half rib celery
one small potato
some turkey dripping (or other oil/butter)
a little squidge of garlic puree
1 tbsp red lentils
some dried mixed herbs
water

milk/cream to slacken after blending
salt/pepper to taste

Method (conventional)
Peel/chop into dice the leek, carrot, celery, potato.
Melt the fat in a saucepan, tip in the chopped veg and saute gently for about ten mins.  Then add the garlic and give it another minute.
Add the pasata, stock, lentils, herbs and some water to just cover.
Cover, bring to a gentle boil and simmer until all the veg and the lentils are soft.
Puree to a smooth texture or just mash for a rougher texture.

Taste and season.  I didn't add any salt or pepper and it tastes really good and fresh but that's probably the turkey stock and the pasata, both of which were good and strong.  With other ingredients it might need a bit: it is all down to individual taste really.

It will be very thick so just before eating, slacken with some milk or a mixture of milk and cream and bring back to just under a boil.  In its thickened state it would also be nice as a pasta sauce, perhaps with some shreds of cooked meat.

Method (for Thermione)
Cut the carrot, celery and leek into chunks and place in the bowl.
Add the turkey dripping.  Chop on 6 for about 5 seconds.  Push the vegetables down the side.
Cook at 90, speed 3-4, 10 mins, adding the squidge of garlic after 9 minutes through the lid.

Push the veg down again and add the potato cut into dice, the turkey stock, the pasata, the lentils, the herbs and enough water to just cover.
Cook at Varoma heat, 15 mins, speed 2.   Check by mashing a chunk of potato.  If it's a bit hard, cook for another few minutes.

Allow to cool for a short time, then blend on speed 8 for 25 seconds or so, until the desired texture.  Taste and season as above.

If possible, keep it in the bowl and just before eating add the milk or milk/cream and reheat, spoon stir until it reaches 90 before serving.

Recipe: ham, turkey and vegetables in a creamy sauce: some leftovers

As Diane said the other day, this is hardly a recipe because I'm not giving amounts, but it is really delicious so I am sharing.

Ingredients:
butter
turkey dripping
leek, sliced
red pepper, chunks
baby corn, chunks,
chestnut mushrooms, sliced
chunks of cooked ham and cooked turkey (white and brown meat)
turkey stock
plain flour
marigold stock powder
cream
grated cheddar (I would have used Stilton but didn't have any)
seasonings
mixed dried herbs
pinch mustard powder

(It looks a long list but basically, whatever veg you have plus other bits and bobs!  Leftover sprouts would be good.)

Method
Place a little turkey dripping and butter in a saucepan and melt.  Add the leek, red pepper and baby corn and saute gently on a low heat for quite a while until it's all soft and smelling wonderful.
Add some plain flour and stir in well, continue to fry for a short time, stirring.
Add the turkey stock and stir well as it comes to a boil and thickens.
Add some cream, seasonings, marigold stock powder, mustard powder and grated and continue to stir until it is all incorporated.  You should have a thick-ish sauce.  It it's too thin, mix some more flour with some butter to make a beurre manie (imagine the accent at the end, please) and add it bit by bit, stirring, until it is the thickness you want
Add the ham and turkey and very carefully stir it in.  Reheat, check seasonings and adjust if needed and it's ready.

I'm using it to make a pie with a puff pastry topping but it would be lovely with rice, pasta, creamy mash, etc.  You could add roasted chestnuts to the mix too or a bit of cranberry sauce.  Mmmmm

Recipe: Christmas ice cream: leftovers, therefore frugal

It has to be frugal as it's using all leftovers which otherwise might (possibly) be thrown out, but you could make it from scratch.  I don't advise it, not with mince pie and Christmas pud involved and it wouldn't be at all frugal!

Christmas Ice Cream
Ingredients:
Leftover custard (mine was 'real' custard, made in Thermione), chilled
More or less two thirds of an equivalent amount of double cream, chilled - I don't think the exact measures matter all that much.
One mince pie, crumbled
A bit of Christmas pud, crumbled or finely chopped, if rather solid

Method.
Mix well the cold custard with the cream.  Pour into a freezer container, wrap and freeze for four hours until foing solid.
Place contents into a blender (I used Thermione) and zizz well.  This breaks up the ice crystals that otherwise form.
Replace in container, wrap  and freeze for another four hours or so.
Zizz again.
Before freezing for a final time, stir in the pud and the mince pie bits.
Wrap and freeze.
Half an hour before eating, take out of the freezer to soften slightly - it makes it easier to scoop and serve.

It's REALLY nice.  Worth a try!
I'm not sure how nice it would be with an instant custard but I'm sure it wouldn't be nasty at all.

Recipe: bubble and squeak cakes: frugal

These are frugal because they are made with leftovers (mostly) and they are delicious.  Filling too.

Ingredients
Leftover Christmas vegetables, mashed together.  Some must be potato.  (I quickly microwaved a potato because I didn't have quite enough.  I had potato, sprouts, carrots, parsnip and sweet potato.)
2 rashers streaky bacon, very finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
some turkey dripping (or melted butter)
Some plain flour, seasoned with salt and dried mixed herbs
(optional - some grated cheese: I didn't use this but it would be tasty)
Seasonings of choice (salt, pepper, etc)

Method:
Gently saute the bacon and onion until soft.  Use a little dripping to start it off but you don't need much as the bacon releases fat quickly.
Add the bacon and onion to the mashed vegetables and stir well.  As some seasonings (salt/pepper)
Add some turkey dripping (which stays soft, even in the fridge, so no need to melt) or some melted butter and mix in well.  This moistens the mixture.
Form into patties, roll in the seasoned flour and place on a plate (I used easy leave to separate the layers), cover and place in the fridge until needed.

Heat some oil (or more dripping) in a large pan and fry the patties until browned on both sides.  Enjoy!

There are lots of variations.  For example, I did um and ah about adding some turkey bits and some cranberry sauce but didn't in the end: we had that separately.  As already mentioned, you could add grated cheese to the mix - that would be scrummy.

And they freeze well!

Melba toast

Not exactly a recipe really, frugal in one sense and decidedly unfrugal in another sense!!

I had quite a lot of bread left over this week.  I had intended to freeze some but didn't get round to it and I don't need breadcrumbs.

I very thinly sliced the bread (it was plaited loaves and firm enough to slice really very thinly indeed) and laid each slice on a baking sheet lined with one of my faithful teflon sheets.  i then popped it into the non-fan part of my oven set on the very lowest heat I possibly could.  The intention was to take itn out before I went to bed but - ooops - I was so sleepy I forgot!  However, being the lowest possible heat, no harm was done except to the electricity bill and I have no idea whatsoever how much electricity my oven uses at its very lowest setting, not a clue!
However, when I woke this morning and was lying in bed reading, it suddenly came back to me and for a moment I panicked before realising that it had to be OK or there would be, at the very least, a bad burning pong over the house!

You know what - they're absolutely delicious!  Light and crunchy all the way through and just very lightly coloured to a sort of beige.  However, I do need to try and work out how much the electricity was - any ideas how I can?

Fruit salad jam: a recipe to avoid waste

The background story is on my other blog, 'Diary of a Teacher' (do go and read).  Suffice it to say I had a lot of fruit left over after making fruit salad at school so I made jam.

This is the recipe.

Fruit salad jam

Ingredients:
apples (eating)
bananas
pears
kiwi fruits
oranges
plums (not part of the original salad but the other day they were reduced in Morrisons and I know why now - they were never going to ripen.  Not good for snacking, great for jamming because they're moderately high in pectin so that's what I used them for!)
water
preserving sugar (or ordinary granulated) - see below for amount.
possibly some lemon juice

Method
All the fruit had been prepared for fruit salad beforehand which was nice and saved a lot of time for me.

Pile all the fruit in a maslin pan, add some water (I added enough so that the fruit was 2/3 covered - it wasn't a lot).  Bring to a simmer and cook for a while until; the fruit is mushy and soft.  It took about 30 mins as it was a very gentle simmer.

Then push the lot through a mouli or a fine sieve.  The mouli allowed a few kiwi seeds through which looks very nice.  A sieve would give a much smoother texture and no little black specks.

Weigh the sieved fruit and return to the wiped-around maslin pan.  For each kilo of gloopy fruit, add around 65-70% of preserving sugar.  My fruit came to just under 1.5 kilos and I added 1 kilo of sugar.  All the fruit was sweet so I wasn't going for the weight for weight method.

Stir well and leave for the sugar to dissolve in the warm fruit.  I left mine overnight at this point as I was feeling rather tired by then.

Before boiling put two saucers in the fridge (if you check for set this way - I always do), wash the jam jars and place on a tray in a warm oven

Heat the fruit/sugar mixture to a rolling boil, stirring often.  It's pretty gloopy so take care with hot jam spitting.  After boiling for five minutes, take the pan off the heat and check for set.  If it hasn't reached setting point, boil for another five minutes, remove from heat and check again.  I had decided that if it hadn't set after three checks I would add lemon juice but I didn't need to.  It was nicely set at the third check.

After setting, spoon off any scum (there wasn't any this time), ladle into hot jars and seal.  Allow to cool, label and store in a dark place until needed.

It does taste good and I've called it fruit salad jam.