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Harvest time
Oct. 2nd, 2010 08:58 pmWe've had some hot sunny weather lately (with thunderstorms even!) - but there's something about the light that reminds you that it's really fall. Which always has me dreaming of cellar shelves full of home-canned produce...which in turn rather depresses me, since I don't have a cellar, and the horrible little green caterpillars have eaten most of what my garden has produced (not that that was enough, or suitable, for canning). Still - I have my CSA bounty! Which this week included peaches and prune plums. A couple weeks ago, I read an article in the NY Times Dining & Wine section about preserving fruit with alcohol, which had a tasty-looking recipe for Rumtopf, involving mixed berries, peaches and plums. Since I had 2/3 of the ingredients on hand, I decided to give it a try.
Of course, being me, I was worried that I didn't have enough. The recipe calls for 1 lb of peaches and nectarines, and 1 lb of plums, preferably assorted. As it turns out, I probably had 2 lbs of peaches, and at least 1-1/2 of plums - but of course I bought more. And blackberries and strawberries. So now I have 2 qts of rumtopf, 1 qt of brandied plums with vanilla and cinnamon, 1 qt of vanilla-bourbon peaches, and 1/2 pt of brandied figs (hey, they were just lying around in the refrigerator!) - the latter 2 recipes of My Own Invention, so we will see. Actually, we won't see until at least November, since things need to steep or macerate or whatever they do for a minimum of 3 weeks, preferably longer. No cooking involved - just put the fruit, with a fair amount of sugar and whatever seasonings you like, in a jar with a whole lot of alcohol. I figure the alcohol should kill any bad critters, but if not, at least I should die happy....
Of course, being me, I was worried that I didn't have enough. The recipe calls for 1 lb of peaches and nectarines, and 1 lb of plums, preferably assorted. As it turns out, I probably had 2 lbs of peaches, and at least 1-1/2 of plums - but of course I bought more. And blackberries and strawberries. So now I have 2 qts of rumtopf, 1 qt of brandied plums with vanilla and cinnamon, 1 qt of vanilla-bourbon peaches, and 1/2 pt of brandied figs (hey, they were just lying around in the refrigerator!) - the latter 2 recipes of My Own Invention, so we will see. Actually, we won't see until at least November, since things need to steep or macerate or whatever they do for a minimum of 3 weeks, preferably longer. No cooking involved - just put the fruit, with a fair amount of sugar and whatever seasonings you like, in a jar with a whole lot of alcohol. I figure the alcohol should kill any bad critters, but if not, at least I should die happy....
