THE CANNY COOK: Sweet chilli and ginger jam
- Makes 4 x 190ml jars £1.90* per jar
There are a couple of foodie gifts I tend to give on repeat. One is a bottle of really good extra virgin olive oil because it is so luxurious and I think people feel guilty splurging on it for themselves. The other, for anyone who doesn’t already own one, is a Microplane grater, as they are a game-changer in the kitchen.
This Christmas, though, I’m widening my repertoire. Spurred on by my need for a new chopping board, I’ve been doing a little window shopping. Borough Kitchen (boroughkitchen.com) has a beautiful collection of wooden boards that are certainly gift-worthy. Or for something more everyday I stumbled across Smidge boards (smidge.co.uk), which are made from recycled paper and focus on sustainability. They’re well priced, dishwasher safe, apparently kind to knives and, I think, a really practical option.
I’ll also be giving gift cards for Wylde Market (wylde.market), an online farmer’s market that champions small UK producers. There’s a weekly selection of fish, meat and dairy that can be ordered by Wednesday and delivered to your door on a Friday. It’s a brilliant idea and we should all be supporting artisan food producers.
For something a little more homespun, I’ll be making jars of sweet chilli and ginger jam. With a ribbon and a pretty label they make the perfect little gift.
300g mild red chillies, £3.54; 50g fresh root ginger, 27p
300ml cider vinegar, £1.30; 500g jam sugar, £2.50
METHOD
Trim the chillies of their stalks, then split them open and scoop out the seeds and white membrane using a teaspoon. Roughly chop the chillies and put in a food processor.
Use the teaspoon to peel the ginger, then roughly chop and put in the food processor. Add 2 peeled and chopped garlic cloves if you have them, too.
Pulse everything until quite finely chopped, then tip into a large, non-reactive pan with the jam sugar and vinegar. Set over a medium heat and warm gently until the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally.
Once the sugar is dissolved, bring to a brisk simmer and cook for 10 minutes, then lower the heat and cook gently for another 10-15 minutes until thickened. Take off the heat and stir in a good pinch of salt.
Meanwhile, sterilise 4 x 190ml jam jars and their lids.
Transfer the hot chilli jam to the sterilised jars, seal the lids and leave in a dark cupboard until ready to give out as presents.
Once opened store in the fridge and use within 2-3 weeks.
Do you have a great recipe for eating well and cutting food bills? Email editor@you.co.uk. If we print it here, we’ll send you a bottle of champagne
*This cost assumes you already have some basic store-cupboard ingredients. prices taken from Tesco and correct at time of going to press.
Illustrations: Ellie Allen-Eslor
