No doubt you have now witnessed the cooler air and shorter days as we hit the middle of Autumn. It is not too late to have a go at slow cooking some quinces for your residents, family, friends or self! We provide a simple recipe below and urge you to have a go. A small amount of preparation, pop them in the oven on low and forget about them for 6-8 hours, remove, a little more prep, serve warm or cold. Soft yet textured, this magical fruit turns from yellow to red, the taste sure to delight as it did our Melbourne masterclass participants.
We must not forget to celebrate our humble staples- cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and kale, these vegetables are at their best now. Try in a salad; such as an Autumn slaw, side dish; jazz up steamed broccoli with lemon butter and toasted almonds or take the traditional cauliflower cheese and fortify by opting the flour for ground oats or almonds and fortify the milk using skim milk powder; added protein, top with parmesan to add some bite. Use cauliflower and broccoli as the key component of a main course such as soup, curry, or in tarts etc.
Here at the Foundation we have been working on a dish featuring Cauliflower- try this easy to make Cauliflower cake, packed with flavour; a great light dinner served with salad and a hearty tomato sauce, or simply cut into squares and serve warm with sliced avocado as finger food.
Slow cooked Quinces
INGREDIENTS (for 50 serves)
- 4L water
- 6 cinnamon quills
- 4kg sugar
- 25 medium sized quinces (1/4 a serve)
- 8 lemons to juice (and adjust seasoning at end)
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 120c
- Place water and cinnamon into a large pot and bring to the boil, stir in sugar and simmer until dissolved, remove from heat.
- Peel the quinces, (but save the skins) and cut in half, leaving seeds inside.
- Place quinces closely together face down in gastronome trays and cover with the syrup and peelings.
- Press a piece of baking paper over the syrup, weight with a rack or similar to prevent the quinces from floating. Finish with a piece of foil and lid.
- Cook in the preheated oven for 6-8 hours or until a rich red colour.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- Place into the fridge overnight.
- The following day, carefully remove the quinces from the syrup and de-core.
- Strain that syrup and discard peelings and cinnamon quills.
- Check the consistency of the syrup, if not thick enough you will need to place syrup in a large pot and reduce to the required consistency.
- Finish with lemon juice.