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16 October 2005: Quinces poached in muscat and spices 
The first dish inspired by my EBBP parcel! I bought quinces at the market on the weekend, and when I was browsing through my recipe books for a new way to cook them, I came across this one in Nigella Lawson's How to Eat. It's got muscat, winter spices, and bay leaves - everything I could desire. I served them in a puddle of their sticky syrup, with mascarpone on the side, and they were divine.
Peel, quarter and core the quinces. Drop each finished quarter into a bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon juice to stop them turning brown while you attend to the rest. Reserve the peels and cores. In a large saucepan, combine the muscat, water, sugar and spices, and bring to a simmer to dissolve the sugar. Place the peel and cores into an ovenproof dish, then add the drained quince quarters, and tip the sugar syrup over the top. Cover the dish with a lid or some securely attached aluminium foil, and cook at 160 C for about two and a half hours. Remove the dish from the oven, and allow the quinces to cool. Then remove the quinces to a bowl, and strain the remaining syrup through a sieve into a saucepan. Bring the syrup to a simmer, and reduce it until it is quite thick (but remember that it will thicken further on cooling). Tip the syrup over the quinces, and serve, with Mascarpone, creme fraiche, or ice-cream. Serves 6 to 8. Comments (7) | Permalink 12 October 2005: Damn you, An Post 
Or possibly, Damn you, Royal Mail. Because one of you, or possibly both of you, took Nathalie's gorgeous Euro Blogging by Post parcel and smooshed it rather thoroughly. I was a bit concerned when I picked up the parcel where it was resting outside my door - there was a little tiny cut in the postpak, surrounded by a reddish stain. I hoped that there had only been a minor breakage, but when I opened it up, I discovered a serious degree of carnage. My parcel had, indeed, gone postal. I don't want to go into distressing detail, but suffice to say that most of Nathalie's lovely gifts were irretrievable. I managed to extract her letter and make out what I had lost. The sweet-smelling but sticky substance filling the parcel turned out to be a combination of Hackney honey and jam from a local traditional preserves company. I loved Nathalie's description of the honey: "from bees that fly around my neighbourhood, doubtless ingesting copious quantities of pollution, spray-paint and dope that they then create honey out of!" Next up from the bottom of the parcel was an item which selflessly sacrificed itself to the honey-jam puddle to protect the rest of the contents from harm. A bushy bunch of dried bay leaves, brought back from a friend's garden in Greece (I think? Bit of a jammy stain on the letter...). Even covered with jam, they smelled delicious and savoury, making me think of autumn stews. Finally, resting on top of the bay leaves, I found a block of Brighton's best chocolate, Montezuma's dark - I've really missed this since I left the UK, so it was a thrill to see some (and, yes, to taste it very shortly afterwards). And a wee pack of green tea (see photo above), with a lovely subtle fragrance. I'm sorry that rough handling in the post led to the destruction of honey, jam and bay leaves - but have been inspired by the chocolate and the green tea, and the smell of the leaves. Resulting recipe/s coming very soon! Thanks, Nathalie, for a lovely parcel from my erstwhile home! Comments (0) | Permalink |
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