Jam Tart (one of Each)

Look what I found in my local supermarket, £2 a pack, I don’t think I’ll be buying any.

Over the last week, I have picked 4kg of Blackberries for various projects and all for free, I’ve got most of them on my morning dog walks, while they are chasing rabbits.

So at £2 for 227g that lot would have cost me about £35.

So where have they gone. Well 2kg went into  Blackberry and Apple Jam, recipe courtesy of the British Women's Institute, 550g into Blackberry Whisky (Thanks Alys Fowler) and about 200g into Mixed fruit Liqueur along with Blackcurrants, Strawberries and Raspberries. The rest are either residing in the freezer for winter consumption or in crumble.

However I still need about 2kg for wine, so I need to wait for some more berries to ripen then I’m off again.

The jam was from an old recipe, 4lb berries, 2lb Bramley Apples (peeled cored and cubed) 6lb Sugar and about half a pint of water.  

Using half the water, soften the berries on a low heat, then roughly mash. Use the rest of the water with the apples, doing the same, when they are soft puree them.

Add the pureed apple to the softened berries and mix together.

Take off the heat add sugar, and dissolve. Return to heat and boil until setting point is reached.

Bottle into sterilized jars

Next item on the agenda was a vegetable tart using puff pastry.

I use frozen puff pastry, I did try to make my own but it took forever and I wasn’t really satisfied with the results. So now I just pick up a pack of frozen (or fresh, whichever is cheaper) at the supermarket when I stock up on bulk items and promotions.

While the pastry is defrosting (if appropriate) fry some quartered mushrooms and onions in a little oil with garlic to taste. When starting to soften drain and reserve.

So having defrosted the pastry put it on a baking sheet with a low lip, then roll it out using the lip as a thickness guide. You want it about 2-3mm thick.

Next score a line around the pastry, about 25mm in from the edge all the way round. This will rise whilst the middle will not.

 Coat the surface with oil and add your fried veg mix, top with some chopped sun-dried tomatoes and pieces of roasted pepper.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees C, and place the tray in the middle of the oven, after about 10 mins the edge will start to rise,

Sprinkle grated cheese over the veg and cook for about 20 mins more, or until it looks like this

Enjoy.