FIRST FRUITS OF THE YEAR

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 491, 19 November 1948, Page 26

FIRST FRUITS OF THE YEAR

HIS year let us make as great a point of bottling every fruit as we do of jam-making, so that we have real summer fruits to use for winter desserts. Now that we have plenty of the English preserving’ "skin" for sealing our jars, there will be no trouble about screw tops and rubbers. Any size or shape of jar or bottle will do, so long as it is sterilized, and not cracked or chipped in the rims. : Bottled Rhubarb Rhubarb is the first fruit of the year. Wipe fresh sticks with a damp cloth and trim off both ends. Cut into halfinch cubes, or leave in lengths to fit the jars. Pack in as closely as possible, fill up with cold syrup or water to cover. Tie the "skin" firmly over with the string soaked in cold water, which makes it tie tighter and more easily. Have the pieces of "skin" cut the right size for each iar beforehand. Place the jats in

deep vessel of cold water. In theory the jars should be completely covered with water; but I have bottled apricots successfully (with this "skin") in a preserving pan which was not deep enough to allow the big jars to be quite sub-merged-I made up for this by covering over the pan so as to keep in the steam. Set over low heat and bring the water SLOWLY to simmering point (165 de-grees)-taking 112 hours to do. this, It is this slow heating which causes all bacteria, moulds and yeasts tobe killed right through the contents of the jar, and also keeps the fruit a good colour. Simmering point is shown by small bubbles rising from the bottom of the vessel to the surface. Keep up the gentle boiling for 5 to 10 minutes for most fruits. Tomatoes and pears need 30 minutes. Lift out and stand to. cool on a wooden surface, out of a draught. The "skin" will be sucked down into a hollow as the jar cools, showing the pull of the vacuum. Store in a dry cool, dark place. You can wrap brown paper round to keep out the light. "Oven Method Fill the jars with rhubarb as before but don’t fill up with water. Cover each jar with a patty pan or saucer and have the oven at regulo 1 or 250 degrees. Leave in oven till rhubarb looks cooked -about % to % hour, depending on age and the size of the pieces. If the rhubarb sinks much in the jars you may fill them up from each other, but return them to the oven after filling so that the exposed tops are re-sterilized; leave for another 10 minutes. Black currants or loganberries are excellent preserved with rhubarb. Take from the oven one at a time, fill with boiling water or syrup, and tie down with the "skin" and string as quickly as possible. If you wish, you may put just a little water in each jar at the beginning. The Syrup A very heavy syrup is the cause of fruit rising in the jars. Allow ‘lb. sugar to a pint of water; put into a clean saucepan over low heat, stir till

sugar is dissolved, then bring to boil. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes, then cool, and strain through muslin to make really clear. Fruit may be bottled with or without sugar, but the flavour is better if done in syrup. Gooseberries | This is the second fruit of the year. They should certainly be bottled for winter use; they keep their shape and colour well if picked when mature but not ripe. Wash them after topping and tailing and bottle them either by the

water or the oven method as for rhubarb. Grade them so that the big ones are in one bottle and the little ones in another. Give the jars a tap on the bench now and again when filling, to, shake the berries down into place. Fruit Jelly Allow 2 level dessertspoons of pow-. dered gelatine to 1 pint of fruit puree, sweetened to taste. Make the puree by rubbing the fruits through in a sieve into a large bowl either with fresh fruit of heated bottled fruit. Gooseberries and rhubarb combined make a good jelly. Dissolve the gelatine in a little warmed fruit juice but don’t boil. Stir the dissolved gelatine into the warm puree, mixing thoroughly. Have a mould rinsed out with cold water, pour in the puree and leave to set. If you want a clear jelly, use the juice alone and allow an extra dessertspoon of gelatine. Serve the jelly with the fruit from which the juice was drained-also with ice cream, Rhubarb Charlotte Grease a pie-dish with butter and sprinkle the bottom and sides thickly with breadcrumbs. Or, you can line the dish with thin slices of bread and butter -hbut the crumbs make a nicer charlotte. Beat the stewed (or bottled) rhubarb-or gooseberries-to a pulp, and put a layer over the crumbs. Cover ‘with another layer of crumbs or slices,

and put another layer of fruit. Repeat till dish is full, having the top layer of breadcrumbs. Sprinkle a little sugar over, and dot with bits of butter. Bake about half an hour in fairly hot ovenregulo 6 or 425 degrees. Rhubarb Delight This is a favourite with children, and, having bottled rhubarb, you can serve it in winter too. Line a pie-plate with short pastry. Put in freshly cooked or bottled rhubarb. Warm a heaped tablespoon of golden syrup in a cup standing in a pot of boiling water so that it becomes "runny." Pour this over the fruit, and sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs. Cover with a very thin lid of pastry, flute the edges and bake in a fairly hot oven; regulo 7 or 8, or about 450 degrees.