Produce

While I was away, the damsons on the trees around Pissou ripened enough to warrant a full on assault with some loppers and a collecting bag this morning! We quickly collected 3 kgs of fruit with more damsons set to ripen over the coming week or two.Tomorrow, I will be making marrow and damson jam which will be a first! However, this afternoon was chutney time. I made what seems to be a delicious River Cottage recipe for seasonal chutney in which I used half of the marrow that we took from the potager at the weekend, some windfall apples and some of the not yet ripe green cherry tomatoes also from the potager. The addition of some chilli flakes, ginger and a muslin bag spice mix of peppercorns, coriander seeds and cloves has given the mixture a warming 'zing'. I can't wait until it is ready to eat in a couple of months time.

Our neighbour Christine gave us one of her cucumbers and some tomatoes this afternoon. Andy chopped up the cucumber and pickled it in a jar with cider vinegar, a drop of sugar and a mixture of coriander seeds, black peppercorns, some dill and some brown mustard seeds. Should be nice in a week or two.