APPLE CHUTNEY

Apples being abundant at this period of the year and the sour ones make excellent chutney. Works wonderfully with pork or cheese.

The steam oven has a program for sterilizing your jars.
Important : the jars should never touch in the oven.
Use the perforated baking tray.

Apple Chutney

700 gm cooking apples,  peeled, cored and chopped
300 gm onions, chopped
1 lemon sliced
160 gm raisins
1 clove garlic, chopped
250 ml cider vinegar
200 gm dark brown sugar
1 inch of chopped ginger
1 stick of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp ground turmeric

Place the apples, onions, lemon, raisins, garlic, ginger and cinnamon in saucepan with the cider vinegar. Bring to the boil and leave to simmer for 15 minutes. Stir from time to time.

Stir in the sugar until it is completely dissolved and let cook gently for 30 minutes. Stir from time to time. The mixture should thicken if not cook for longer. Now, add the salt and turmeric.

Your jars can now be filled with the hot chutney and the lids closed.

The chutney should be placed in a dark cupboard for 3-4 weeks.

PRESERVING - PLUM AND GINGER CHUTNEY

September is a wonderful month for making jams, curds, chutneys and pickles. There is something special about giving away one of your homemade jams to a friend. Cooking is an art of love and should be shared.

The steam oven has a program for sterilising your jars.
Important : the jars should not touch each other
Use the perforated baking tray.

PLUM AND GINGER CHUTNEY

1 kg of plums
1 minced onion
2 cm of chopped ginger
2 clove
1 bay leaf
1 stick of cinnamon
1 tsp of hot red pepper powder
100 g of sugar
75 ml of cider vinegar

Wash the plums, cut in two and remove the stones. In a medium heavy-based pan add vinegar and sugar. Cook on medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Add the spices, the ginger, the onion and the plumes. Bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.


Pour the mixture into the jars that you have previously sterilised in the steam oven. Close the lids.
Now you can use the preserve program on the steam oven. Let jars cool down. Dry them and label.
Keep in a dark dry place for three weeks before tasting.

This chutney would be great with ham, roast port or grilled chicken. Once the jar is open keep in fridge.

STEAM OVEN COOKING : MY BEAUTIFUL CHICKEN

After playing with this oven for a few days I am amazed at the possibilities of what it can do. Plain old steaming, hot air and steaming combined, regular hot air, proofing, sterilization of jars, baking bread and yogurt making and I am sure there is more.

I'm kinda hooked on it now. Í have to tell you about my roast chicken. Something simple that most people enjoy yet, I never make just a roast chicken - I always feel I have to make it fancy in someway or another. So, for Sunday lunch I made a roast chicken. Actually, I should say the oven made the best roast chicken ever! All I did was to rub it with : 1 tbsp of sea salt, 1 tbsp of herbs de Provence, 1 tsp of pepper and 1 tbsp of dried sage. Then programed the oven for chicken added the weight and pushed start and it cooked it to perfection within one hour.

Steam oven cooking. Gratin dauphinois

All those beautiful blogs out there on baking, cupcakes, cake pops etc... to die for but not many on steam oven cooking. Doesn't sound that sexy, I know. But professionals have been using them for years. The results they say are healthier, more succulent. So, I am going to take the challenge and start using this oven that I've manage to ignore for so long.

Dear steam oven cooks, I am going to start with Gratin Dauphinois, a dish I've been making for years in a traditional oven, first demonstrated to me by an ex-french boyfriend's grandmother (I can make it now with my eyes closed, well it has been a long time) and a dish which is a huge success in our family.

It's was also valentine's day yesterday and I wanted to make this for my hubby in these cute little Le Creuset  casseroles

Ingredients:

1kg of potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

40 gms of grated emmentaler cheese

2 dl of cream

salt, pepper and nutmeg

Grease the pots with butter. Lay one layer of potatoes in the bottom, a pinch of salt and pepper and nutmeg and a sprinkle of cheese. Add a second layer of potatoes and repeat until full. Gently pour the cream into the pots. Sprinkle cheese on top.                                                                                                           

Place in oven for 45 mins 160C on position - hot air and steam.

THE RESULT 

                                                     

Could have eaten two pots of these with no problem and it was moister than the traditional method. A first success.