Recipe - Pineapple Jam

Hooray - It's pineapple season! 

I love pineapple - at the moment they are sweet, juicy and oh so delicious!! I never knew how to pick a good pineapple, people used to say to pull at one of the leaves and if it came easily it was ripe, but since meeting Sefo I have learnt that the nicest pineapple is just the one that is starting to turn yellow to red (for the big ones) and for the little ones when they turn from green to yellow ...

We bought a few of them and have enjoyed eating them for afternoon tea, and then Sefo asked me to make some jam - I've never made jam before (I have seen my mum do it many times, but never really learnt how!). So I Googled some recipes and found one that I have all the ingredients for...Sefo doesn't like sweet things much, so given how sweet the pineapples were, I decided to halve the sugar and see what happened! I only used one pineapple just in case everything when pear-shaped...I didn't want to waste too much!!

The recipe I used is from the website www.allrecipes.com - below is the modified version that I did...

Peeled pineapple,
 I don't have any picture of it grated
as my hands were too sticky!

Ingredients

·         1 medium pineapple

·         1 cup (250ml) water

·         1 cup sugar

·         2 tbsp lime juice

Preparation method

·          1.  Grate the flesh of the pineapple. There should be about 2 cups

This was just before I added the sugar, in
hindsight I should have waited a bit longer!

           2.  Put into a saucepan with water and cook for about half an hour until soft.  

             3. Add sugar and lime juice then cook until thick; about 45-60 minutes.

       4.  Spoon into sterilised jars and keep in fridge.

      




       I probably didn't cook it as long as I should have in step 2, so there are still some hard bits in it, and it didn't turn out as 'jammy' as I thought it would, just a bit like mashed stewed pineapple! But the flavour is really yummy - it's sweet but not too sweet (I'm very glad I didn't add the extra cup of sugar the original recipe called for, but if the pineapple wasn't as sweet then I probably would next time).

The finished product -
looks good enough to eat!

  

      Since making this, I spoke to my mum who looked in an old cookbook and found a recipe for pineapple and grapefruit marmalade - I think I'll try that next as we also have grapefruit in season here!

Mmmm....bon appetit! 

    

     

Recipe: Pancakes with Salted Caramel Sauce

...Nothing beats some yummy pancakes for breakfast, or for afternoon tea!

In Wallis I get to enjoy some long life milk (or powdered milk, the choice is mine!), one type of self-raising flour and one type of plain flour, one type of eggs (and they aren't free range)!...but despite that, the ingredients are still here which means I can still make pancakes!!

I have had a great pancake recipe for years - light, fluffy and oh-so-easy to make! I don't even remember who taught me! But it goes a little like this:

PANCAKES

The only milk and flour we have here!
The egg white is beaten in the cup.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1 egg, separated
• Milk

1. Combine flours into a large bowl. Add the egg yolk. Slowly add the milk, stirring vigorously until there are no lumps and the batter is the consistency that you like (some like thin pancakes, some like fat - i prefer relatively thin).
2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg while until peaks form.
3. Slowly fold egg whites into the pancake mixture taking care not to squish all the air.
4. Dollop/pour/spoon batter into a fry pan (i usually put some butter in it first), sometimes i make big pancakes and sometimes small - see how you feel on the day!
5. Once bubbles form, flip them over. Cook for the same time on the other side.
6. 6. Enjoy with maple syrup, fresh fruit, yoghurt...or try this salted caramel sauce!

SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

I first tried this sauce when I was 5 months pregnant, on holiday in Noumea, New Caledonia.  I ordered a crepe and thought I would try this sauce. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! This version isn't quite as good as what the shop gave me (perhaps it is because I am supposed to use heavy cream, but here in Wallis we only have long-life cream!), but despite that, this sauce is still pretty great! It's very very sweet so if you aren't a huge sweet tooth then just add a little to pancakes (or ice-cream) and I'm sure you will still enjoy it!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of cream
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/8th teaspoon on salt
• 1 tablespoon of butter (preferably salted)

1. Pour the sugar into a thick based, large saucepan and put on a medium heat. Don't do anything until you see the sugar melting at the edges.  Once it starts melting, slowly stir the sugar while it all melts.  It will form clumps and look like its not working, but just wait, it will all melt!

melting the sugar

sugar is melted

2.   Keep stirring until its all liquid and a dark copper colour (remember the old 1c piece...like that)! - it will smell a bit smokey which is fine. Once its the dark colour (but not burnt!) remove from the heat and quickly (and carefully as it will all bubble up) stir in about 1/4 of the cream.

3. Slowly add the remaining cream while you continue to stir. Once it's all in there, add the salt and butter and keept stirring until the butter has melted.

Adding cream

Adding butter and salt

4. Serve warm with pancakes (or ice-cream! or both!!)

Tip: This recipe should keep a few weeks in the fridge, just heat it up when you want to use some more!






Bon appetit!