Sorry for the lack of post last week; I spent Saturday on a 20 mile bike ride (and fell off, and I still have impressive scabs to show for it) and Sunday cooking for the people who accompanied on the bike ride.

There’s been a lot of cycling recently – I’ve even worked up the nerve to cycle to and from work now – because tomorrow I’m heading off on a cycling holiday. Well, cycling and railway. York-Edinburgh, train. Edinburgh-Falkirk, train. Falkirk-Glasgow, bike. Glasgow-Oban, train. Oban-Mull, ferry. Round mull, bike. Mull-Oban, ferry. Oban-York, train. I get back next Friday! I’m really not ready for a 30 something mile ride from Falkirk to Glasgow, but I’ve not really got a choice, and it’s along a canal so it should be fairly flat.  If we get to Glasgow in time, we’ll be going to the Hunterian.Going to play it by ear in Mull, I think – I’m not sure I’l be up to much more cycling!

Anywa, that’s what I’ll be doing. I’ve never been to Soctland before, so it’s quite exciting. Unfortunately, I’m missing the bulk of the York Food Festival, which ranks as probably my favourite York festival (even beating the Roman festival, but that’s partly because the Roman festival gets much less funding!). Which leads me quite nicely into Foody Friday, I think!

I offer you a couple of good, appley jams this week. Apple is good for jam, because the skin and core contain plenty of pectin so it makes it easier to set.

Apple Ginger Jam

Ingredients

550g cooking apples
2 tbs water
450g or 2 cups of sugar
4 tablespoons chopped preserved ginger with 3 teaspoons of syrup from the jar (or 1 1/2ox fresh ginger bruised in muslin and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper)

Equipment

Sharp knife
Preserving Pan
Sieve
Wooden Spoon
Cold plate
Hot jam jars
(muslin bag and rolling pin, if you’re using fresh ginger)

Instructions

Wash and chop the apples. Leave the skin on, the pips in, and the core where it is. We need these bits for the pectin.

Chop your preserving ginger. The finer you chop it the more even the flavour. Prepare to get sticky with the syrup! If you’re using fresh ginger, cut it into rough chunks and put it in the muslin bag. Bash it with a rolling pin.

Put in the pan with the water. Simmer until you have a puree.

Scoop out of the pan and rub it through the sieve. It’ll puree down further and hopefully get the skin and pips and so on out. It’s worth doing a couple of times, emptying the sieve of stuff that won’t go through between tries.

Put it back on to simmer again, adding the sugar and stirring until it dissolves.

Add the chopped ginger and the syrup. Stir to distribute evenly. If you’re using fresh, keep it in the bag, and add the cayenne pepper straight into the jam. Make sure the ginger bag is thoroughly doused in the apple paste.

Boil like mad until it starts setting. Do the cold plate test when you think you’re done, and put in the hot jars.

This jam is great if you like something a little less sweet for breakfast, but also goes very well with pork instead of the usual apple sauce!

Apple Damson Jam

Ingredients

500g cooking apples
675g damsons
150 to 225 ml water
1 kg sugar

Equipment

Sharp Knife
Muslin Bag
Preserving Pan
Cold plate
Hot jam jars
Slotted spoon

Instructions

Peel, core, and cut the apples into small pieces. Put the skin and core into the muslin bag.

Put the apples and damsons into the pan with the water and simmer. If the damsons are particularly hard, add a bit more water.

When the fruit has turned to pulp, and the damson skins soft, use the slotted spoon to fish out the damson stones. This is a long and awkward process, but trust me, trying to stone the damsons uncooked is longer and more awkward!

Add the sugar and keep simmering until it’s dissolved. Then whack up the heat and boil.

Cold plate test, hot jam jars, and use on thick slabs of toast or in sponge cakes. This recipe also works well with plums, which are slightly easier to identify if you’re not used to harvesting from hedgerows. Or buy in shops.