In the kitchen...

We will all have different pictures in our minds of mothers in the kitchen. They might be of Mum cooking dinner at the same time as she listens to the stories from school or the times you came home on a cold day to a pot of steaming homemade soup.

How to freeze feijoas

It’s feijoa time again.  The ground under my tree is a mass of green fruit and those I’m not giving away are getting eaten raw, frozen or bottled.

It’s easy to freeze feijoas.  All you have to do is peel the skins off, cut the fruit in half (lengthwise or cross wise – it doesn’t matter) and put them into plastic containers and into the freezer.

Sometimes I freeze the feijoa halves by placing them on a large tray so that the pieces don’t touch each other. I freeze them in the tray and then I lift the frozen fruit off the tray and into a plastic bag or container and put them back into the freezer.  The benefit of this method is that you can take out just as many pieces as you want when you’re ready to eat them because they are ‘free-flow’.

If I have a bit more time, I will ‘bottle’ the feijoas.

Preserved feijoas in a jar

When I have a surplus of feijoas in the garden I eat them raw, make a feijoa crumble dessert, give them away or preserve them by freezing them or ‘bottling’ them.  To bottle them you only need fruit water and jars.  We used to put in loads of sugar into our bottled fruit.  It was supposed to help the fruit to keep well.

However as time as gone on we have realised that sugar is not good for us and we don’t actually need to add sugar to fruit when we cook it.

Back then too we used to be able to buy fruit cheaply by the case and store it in bottles for a year until the next season.  I can still see myself on a hot February day in the kitchen with a huge pile of fruit to prepare for ‘bottling’.

I can remember wondering why I was doing this crazy thing.  But it was good to be able to open a jar of plums or peaches in the middle of winter and make a tasty fruit-based dessert.

 Ingredients

Fresh feijoas
Water
Small glass jars with screw on lids

Method

1. Heat the oven to 150 degrees C
2. Put 3-4 clean glass jars and metal lids into the oven for 30 minutes to warm and sterilise the jars.
3. Peel feijoas and cut in half lengthways (these fit into the jars better). Alternatively, cut in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon
4. Put the feijoas into a saucepan with a small amount of water
5. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 1-2 minutes
6. Remove the hot jars and lids from the oven and place on the bench on a tea-towel or a wooden board. (This helps to stop them cracking when they come into cooler air)
7. Carefully scoop the cooked feijoas out of the pan and pour them into the jars
8. Top up the jars with boiling water if necessary
9. Wipe the top of the jars to remove any juice as this will stop the jars from sealing and hence stop the fruit from being preserved
10. Screw the lids on tightl
11. Leave to cool in a place where there are no draughts

Notes:

You can check if the lids are tight enough by pushing down in the centre of the lid. You should hear a slight pop.  If you hear a slight hiss instead, tighten the lid or it won’t seal.

I use small jars that have previously contained bought jam or chutneys (Yes – I do buy these items!) as they are a good size for my household.

If you have several people in your household who eat feijoas and you have a good supply, you may want to invest in traditional preserving jars with metal seals and lids

Raspberry flavoured jam

Some time ago Dianne asked about a Jam Aid she used to use to make jam with a raspberry flavour  but using green tomatoes instead of raspberries.

We didn’t find a recipe for Dianne at the time, though our research showed that there were lots of recipes around that made an artificial version of raspberry jam. …Read more

Sausage casserole

This dinner dish is a very tasty and filling way of serving sausages for dinner and especially good if your budget is a bit tight.  It was a regular – and a favourite on our menu when the children were young. It has the added bonus …Read more

« Previous Page — Next Page »