Quince Preserves Food

QUINCE PRESERVES

Steps:

• Bring quinces, 1/2 cup sugar, and the water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer gently until quinces are tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer quinces to a plate to cool. Reserve cooking liquid.
• Coarsely chop quinces, and return to pot (including seeds, cores, skins). Bring to a boil. Slowly stir in remaining 5 cups sugar and the lemon juice. Cook, stirring, until preserves are thick, orange, and register 220 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 25 minutes. Pass through a fine-mesh sieve; discard solids. Let cool.

SERRANO CHIPS WITH QUINCE PRESERVES AND MANCHEGO

Steps:

• Cut ham into 32 (3- by 2- by 2-inch) triangles. Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then fry ham in 4 batches, turning occasionally, until crisp and a shade darker, about 1 minute. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
• Using a cheese plane or vegetable peeler, shave 32 small pieces of cheese from wedge. (Each piece should be about 1 inch square.) Top each ham chip with 1/8 teaspoon quince preserves, then press cheese squares into preserves.
• *Available at specialty foods shops.
• **Available at The Spanish Table (206-682-2827; spanishtable.com).

QUINCE PRESERVES IN SYRUP

Steps:

• Have a large bowl of acidulated cold water ready (add about 1 tablespoon lemon juice to a half gallon of water). Peel and core the quinces. Slice the fruit into pieces not more than 1/4 inch thick. The shape of the slices is up to you: julienned, half crescents, small chunks. Any shape will work so long as no part of it is thicker than a quarter of an inch. As you work, drop the prepared slices of quince fruit into the bowl of acidulated water. About the color: Raw quince flesh is pale, like an apple or pear. If exposed to air it will oxidize to an unfortunate brown color. The soak in acidulated water minimizes that. The beautiful deep rosy color that is such an important part of quince recipes develops during cooking.
• Once all of the fruit is prepped, drain it in a colander and then transfer it to a large, non-reactive pot : no aluminum, copper, or non-enameled cast iron, which could cause discoloration of the final product. Stainless steel, heat-proof glass, or enameled pots are fine. Add 2 cups sugar, remaining tablespoon of lemon juice, and the water. Note that although I much prefer fresh lemon juice for most recipes, for canning recipes it is better to use bottled lemon juice. The reason is that commercially bottled lemon juice has a more consistent acidity level than freshly squeezed, and the acidity is important for safely preserving the fruit.
• Bring the ingredients to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the quince pieces are soft and blush colored and the liquid has reduced by at least half. This will take about 1 hour.
• Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked quince to clean 1/2 pint or pint canning jars. It is not necessary to sterilize the jars for this recipe. Pack the fruit in, leaving 1 inch of head space.
• Ladle the cooking liquid over the fruit pieces in the jars. The fruit should be completely immersed in the syrup, but there should still be 1/2 inch of head space between the food and the rims of the jars. Gently press down on the fruit with the back of a spoon to remove any air bubbles.
• Wipe the rims of the jars clean and screw on the canning lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Adjust the canning time if you live at a high altitude .

QUINCE PRESERVES - GREEK SPOON SWEET

Steps:

• Wash them well with soap and water. Without letting them dry, place them on a pan that you have covered with a clean tea towel. Then place the pan in a preheated 160°C /320°F oven for 15 minutes.
• Quince is a hard fruit so you will need a really sharp peeler and knife to cut it.
• Remove the skin of the quinces using a vegetable peeler. Cut them in half, and then each piece in half again. Cut and discard the center containing the seeds.
• There are two ways to cut quince for making a spoon sweet. One is to cut it with a knife into small strips of about ¾ of an inch long and ⅓ of an inch thick (1 ½cm long and ½ cm thick). Some pieces won't look much like strips but that's okay. And the other way which is widely used around Greece is to cut it with a box grater using the larger grating holes. You can use whatever way is easier for you. The results will be more or less the same. Using the knife method, you will get chunkier uneven pieces while using the box grater will give a smoother even texture to the final result. The softness or crispness of the fruit will depend more on the cooking time and not so much on the size the fruit is cut.
• Add the quince pieces to a large cooking pot. It's okay if they have gotten dark in color by the time you finished preparing them. Cooking them will fix this.
• Add 150 ml of water to the pot as well. Bring to a boil over high heat. Then reduce heat to medium-low and put the lid on the pot. Let simmer this way until the fruit has gotten completely soft. It takes approximately 45 minutes, but this will depend also on how ripe the quinces are, and how strong the heat of your kitchen stove is. So keep an eye on, especially towards the last minutes of cooking to make sure there is enough moisture within the pot so the fruit won't stick at the bottom. If needed, add a splash more water.Note: To properly tenderize quince you need to let it steam cook that's why it is cooked completely covered and with just enough water in the pot to create the desired moisture.
• Once the fruit is cooked and softened, add the sugar to the pot, along with 300 ml of water, the lemon juice, and the lemon geranium leaves if you are using them (see post above for alternative flavorings).
• Simmer over medium heat partly covered for about 30 to 40 minutes. Until the syrup looks nice and thick. To check if the syrup is at the right consistency, take a little plate and add a spoonful of the spoon-sweet to it. Within minutes, it will cool down to room temperature and you'll be able to see how thick the syrup is. It shouldn't be too runny just nice and thick. The texture of a spoon-sweet is a tad runnier than that of a jam and the syrup should be just enough to cover the fruit.
• Transfer the preserves to the sterilized jars while it's still hot, leaving ¼ of an inch (½ cm) space from the lid. Then flip the jars upside down to airlock and let them cool down like this at room temperature. Store in a dark cupboard for up to 1 year or in the fridge. Note that the fruit tends to get harder when refrigerated.

QUINCE JELLY

Steps:

• Put the quince and lemon peel and juice in a large, deep saucepan. Cover with water (you'll need about 3.2 litres) and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 hr 30 mins until the quince is very soft.
• Line a colander with muslin cloth, and put over a very large saucepan or heatproof bowl. Tip the quince into the lined colander, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to strain for 4-8 hrs until all the juice has dripped out. Discard the pulp, then measure out the strained juice and transfer to a large, deep saucepan (the jelly will bubble up high as it cooks). Add 500g sugar for every 600ml juice.
• Bring to the boil over a low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a rapid bubble and cook until the temperature reaches 105C on a sugar thermometer. Remove from the heat and stir in the orange blossom water, if using. Ladle into hot sterilised jars and seal. Will keep in a cool, dark place for up to a year.

QUINCE PRESERVE

Steps:

• Wash the quinces and rub off the gray down that covers them. Cut them in half and cut away the black ends, but do not remove the cores and pips, because these produce the jelly. You will need a large, strong knife and plenty of force to cut them: They are very hard. Put them in a pan with water barely to cover them and the lemon juice. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-45 minutes, or until they are just tender. The time varies. It depends on the size and degree of maturity of the fruit. Lift them out carefully with a slotted spoon, and when they are cold enough to handle, quarter them, peel them, core them, and cut them into small slices.
• Add sugar to the water left in the pan. Bring to the boil, and simmer until the syrup is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Return the quince pieces to the pan and cook for 20-30 minutes, until they are soft. The syrup keeps them firm. Pour into clean glass jars, and let the jam cool before closing.
• Variation
• For quince cheese, mash the cooked quinces in the pan with a potato masher or a wooden spoon.