This is a selection of the produce I collected from the garden whilst getting the beds ready for planting. The satisfaction of being able to put together a box of produce from plants that had been forgotten was motivating, spurring me on to get the ground ready for planting. I am beginning to see why so many people are passionate about this whole gardening/simple living thing. I even posted this photo on my Facebook page to my friends because I was so pleased with myself (what a dag, hey?).
The passionfruit vines hanging from the gum trees have a ton of fruit on them so I decided to make cordial and still leave some passionfruit for eating. My kids love spooning the flesh out and eating them as they are. They don't last long in the fruit bowl.
Passionfruit Cordial
This is a favourite of my husbands and very simple to make.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups passionfruit pulp
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
Method:
Place lemon, sugar and water in saucepan on low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil and then simmer until thickens slightly, approx 5 mins. Add passionfruit pulp and simmer for further 5-10 mins.
Let the mixture cool, and then sieve into a jug to remove the seeds. Then put it in a bottle and place in the fridge to keep. I prefer to use a glass bottle but plastic would be fine also. The mixture is very concentrated and sweet so you only need a little mixed with water. This quantity should make up 4-5 litres of cordial.
Any further suggestions on what I can do with so many passionfruit? I am thinking a passionfruit slice may be the next venture.
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The cherry tomatoes are from the vines which seem to pop up wherever they please. I think we planted some once and the birds have spread them everywhere.
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| The camphor laurel tree caught this bale of mulch during the last flood...more cherry tomatoes! |
The tomato vines on the ground where they are supposed to be (haha) have just got a touch of frost so I am harvesting the fruit while I can. Together with the few chillies and spring onions, I was inspired to make tomato relish.
Cherry Tomato Relish
To be completely honest with you, I have never made relish before. It is not something I eat a lot of but my husband likes it and I recently bought some for a chicken pasta recipe which was delicious...so why not use my own next time? I wasn't even sure if cherry tomatoes were suitable for a relish because of the amount of skin you would end up with versus large tomatoes. I Googled and found this Donna Hay recipe at Eat Little Bird (which is a fabulous blog with tons of beautifully presented recipes).
I varied the recipe slightly to include my chillies and spring onions (because I wanted to use as much of my own produce as possible of course), which I added to the red onions and garlic.
As for looking jammy, well my second confession is I have never made jam before either ( I know, sheltered life, right?), so I just waited for this mixture to thicken a little, and whilst it appeared runny when I poured it into the jars, it did thicken in the fridge.
Do you make relish with cherry tomatoes? I would love to hear some variations to this recipe or any other specialties to be made from cherry tomatoes. There are still bucket loads to harvest.
Cheers
Tanya
