Condiments and Preserves | Finding Feasts

Curried Green Tomatoes and Cranberry Relish

Curried Green Tomatoes and Cranberry Relish is a small batch recipe using green tomatoes. Yes, these are the very same green tomatoes from Bella’s neighbour… they seriously have lots of tomatoes!

I graciously received a large bowl of tomatoes last week and I chose to make a relish, although I’m not quite sure if I should call it a relish or a chutney? They seem to be the same… anyway, surprisingly, after a discussion with mum about my relish she tells me that it was a favourite recipe of grandpa’s and he made something almost identical whenever his veggie garden was flowing over with tomatoes. It just goes to show that flavour traits can run strong within families.

Bella made a Pickled Green Tomato with her stash and I also wanted something that could be served with nibbles since the Christmas season is fast coming up. It’s also the reason why I added cranberries to the recipe, just makes it a little more festive. Maybe I should call this a Christmas Relish, it certainly deserves a place on the dinner table.

Serve with any roast meat, on a sandwich using leftovers, or on your breakfast eggs… delicious!

Enjoy! Blondie

BlondieLeave a comment

Pickled Green Tomatoes

FinSki's_PIckled Toms Plants — Click on image for recipe

What’s would you make with green tomatoes?

For me it has to be pickled green tomatoes, just perfect with some sourdough bread, a strong cheese and your favourite glass of wine!

The photo you are looking at is of my neighbour’s (Denise) backyard fence which faces onto our carport entry.

Beginning of spring she planted a couple of grape tomato trees and they have GONE WILD! They are the most amazing looking plants which could almost have a starring role in a movie like ‘the attack of the killer tomato trees’ and to my luck they have decided to jump over the fence and grow on my side but hey not that I am complaining! I have already informed Denise that what is on my side is fair game so with bowl and scissors in hand off I went to pick these gorgeous little green plump babies.

About 20 years ago mum made a gorgeous green tomato pickle from her home grown tomatoes and I always promised myself that one day I would add this to my cooking repertoire so that one day was two weeks ago! I currently have them sitting in my fridge, developing their pickled flavour, ready for Christmas nibbles and drinks!

A huge thank you should go to Denise as well for allowing her green babies to grown on my side and for sharing them with me!

PIckled Green Tomatos — Click on image for recipe

BellaLeave a comment

Salted Caramel Sauce

Salted Caramel Sauce… You can’t beat a gorgeous caramel sauce to add a little indulgence to a dessert dish, throw in some Murray River Salt flakes (my preferred choice) and it’s transformed from normal to sublime!

This is another fabulous gift idea for Christmas, just make it a day or two prior to the day you will be handing it out.

Blondie 🙂

BlondieLeave a comment

Chai Spiced Cherry Compote in Port Syrup

Chai Spiced Cherry Compote in Port Syrup… Tis’ the season to be cherry!

Thanks to Bella’s parents, who went cherry picking near Orange over the weekend, we have mounds of these glorious red baubles. This means you will be seeing quite a few cherry recipes this year.

Using my Chai Whole Spice Mix (see below) I have made a delicious Chai Spiced Cherry Compote in Port Syrup that can be used in numerous ways. Have it drizzled over ice-cream, you can puree it and make it as a filling to use in your biscuits (use it instead of the prune jam in the Finnish Tarts – Joulutorttu) or put a couple of cherries with some syrup in the bottom of your champagne glass… it’s limitless!

Cheers… Blondie

BlondieLeave a comment

Smoked Mushroom Bruschetta w/ Wild Cherry Brandy Sauce

Wild Musrhoom Bruschetta — Click on image for recipe

As simple as this dish looks, this bruschetta mix was a whole weekend’s labour of LOVE! Yes it took me a whole weekend to do!

Let me explain…the mushroom bruschetta mix you are looking at comprises of oyster, swiss brown and shiitake mushrooms. They have all been lightly smoked using hickory chips, dehydrated overnight and re-hydrated prior to cooking.

This isn’t your average bruschetta mix, it’s what I will call heaven on sourdough, if there ever was such a thing!

So why all the effort? Mushrooms are yummy on their own, however I wanted to experiment and take them to the next level. Ever since I was a little girl I remember that mum would slow dry her slippery jacks or saffron’s in the oven overnight, the house would be filled with the most amazing aroma, the drying process would accentuate the flavour of the mushroom giving them a much richer and deeper flavour. Did I just sound like Manu from the Continental Stock commercial???

I know I sound like I am bragging but my efforts paid off! I cannot begin to explain the taste sensation. Smoking the mushrooms gave them that meaty, hearty taste without the meat!

Ohhhh and the tiny drizzle of Walsh’s Homemade Wild Cherry Brandy sauce took it to another dimension, honestly out of this world!

It took a whole weekend to cook but ohhh so worth it!

With love from a self-professed mushroom addict…a.k.a Bella

PS…a huge thank you to the ABC’s The Cook & the Chef for providing inspiration and base ideas for this recipe.

BellaLeave a comment

Joulutorttu – Finnish Prune Tarts

Finding Feasts - Finnish Prune Tarts - joulutorttu — Click image for recipe

One of the most traditional of traditions for a Finn is the making of joulutorttu – finnish prune tarts.

These are a labour of love if you choose to make your own jam and dough. The pastry needs to be made the day before and left overnight in the fridge. The Prunes in Port and Spice Syrup can be made weeks prior… just make sure you make enough so you can have them on ice cream!

You can use any jam of your choice but traditionally it’s a prune jam.

These are wonderful and festive, Christmas just isn’t Christmas till these come out.

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

Blondie 🙂

BlondieLeave a comment

Prunes in Port and Spice Syrup

Finding Feasts - Prunes in Spiced Port Syrup — Click image for recipe

Prunes in Port and Spice Syrup, Christmas is only 10 weeks away so Bella and I are going to start getting our traditional Finnish and Polish recipes together.

This one is in preparation for the Finnish prune tarts that are eaten at Christmas time, although I have done it slightly different to traditional recipes, in that I have added some traditional Christmas spices to the port.

Finnish Christmas’ are celebrated on the 24th of December (in case you were wondering, Santa generally sneaks into the house while we are all around the dinner table, or conveniently distracted by something amazing) with huge feasts of hams and other roast meats, casseroles and salads – mum does an incredible beetroot and herring salad that’s just so scrumptious and works perfectly with the heat of the Australian Christmas. There are also lots of sweet dishes eaten but the main two that we grew up with are gingerbread biscuits and Finnish prune tarts – joulutorttu.

This prune in port syrup recipe is for making the prune jam that goes into the centre of the tarts – the jam is normally made with just prunes, sugar and water then pushed through a sieve or blitzed in a processor till it’s to a jam consistency. I have decided to have the prunes soak in the port and spice syrup till I make the tarts, which will be in a couple of weeks… I was also craving the syrup, warmed up, on ice cream – a girls to satisfy her cravings!

Don’t be put off with the idea of prunes as once you have tried them this way there’s no going back…

Blondie 🙂

BlondieLeave a comment