The Prettiest Marmalade

When I think of marmalade I think back to being little, sat at the big wooden kitchen table in my parents house. It's morning, the fires burning, warming up cold fingers and toes and the smell of thickly cut toast is all through the house. My dad sits reading the paper, there's a huge mug of hot coffee to his right and in the middle of the table is an open jar of orange marmalade with a butter knife sticking out of it. 

As a child it was only strawberry jam that held a place in my heart, but as I've grown older marmalade has started to become more appealing.

So as a compromise I decided to make a sweeter marmalade, and if like me, you're more of a jam kind of gal I think you'll find this marmalade a rather nice surprise.

Pomegranate, Apple and Vanilla Marmalade

Ingredients

This recipe is quite small, making only two medium jars. Perfect if you're in need of a homemade birthday present and don't want to be eating left over marmalade for years!

3 Cooking apples

1 Lemon

1 Pomegranate

1lb Sugar

1 Vanilla pod

1 tsp Rose water

1) Righty ho, first things first, peel the apples... 

A little note: The small pretty knife in the picture is by Kuhn Rikon and comes in all different colours! Available in our shop! 

2) Now slice the apples into thin chunks and pop them into your favourite large pan!

A little note: If you want to invest in a large pan then Le Creuset or Kilner do some fabulous large Jam Pans. Or you could use a large casserole pan, and if Le Creuset pans are a little bit on the heavy side of life for you, Stellar do a lovely range in Easy Lift Cast Iron. 

3) This next part can take a while, but it's worth it when your don't have any of the nasty sour white pith! Cut the pomegranate in half and remove half to three quarters of those lovely dark pink seeds. (Save the seeds that are left because you'll need them in a moment!) I tend to use something small, like an olive or pickle fork.

4) Now then, add the seeds to the pan along with the juice of the lemon, as it combines with the bittersweet pomegranate and sour apples the smell will make your mouth water!

5) Throw in a few drops of Rose Water and then add enough water to cover all fruit. Now simply simmer until all apples and seeds are soft.

6) Once the fruit is mushy, strain it through muslin. If you leave it for a few hours or over night (and resist the urge to stir it around with a spoon!) the liquid will be a beautifully clear pink. However, if you're pushed for time you can always strain it quicker, it will be just as yummy and just as pink, but maybe just a little bit cloudy.

7) Cut the vanilla bean length ways and scrape out the seeds. Then cut the two halves of the vanilla pod into thinner strips.

8) Pour the liquid back into your pan and add the remaining pomegranate seeds and vanilla seeds. (Not the strips of vanilla pod though, hang on to them to use a little later.)

9) Stir in all the sugar, let it start to boil and then turn it down and simmer gently for about two hours. 

You'll see it reduce down and go all gooey and thick, mmmm! 

10) Now all you need to do is pour the yummy sweetness into jars.

A little note: Kilner jars work very well as they're airtight and look mighty pretty along your kitchen shelves!

 As a finishing touch you can push the strips of vanilla pod down into the marmalade and you'll see them along with the pomegranate seeds through the clear jelly. 

And boom! You're done! Enjoy spread onto homemade scones, sourdough bread, stirred into porridge or with a spoon straight from the jar!

Oh, just one more little thing! All that fruit you strained? The mushy apples and pomegranate? Why not make a cheeky crumble with it? All you need to do is stir a bit of sugar into the fruit and then spread it into the bottom of a small but slightly deep baking dish. Now sift 8oz of flour into a mixing bowl, rub in 4oz of butter and then stir in 2oz of sugar. Sprinkle the flour mixture all over the fruit and bake at about 180c until golden brown and the fruit begins to bubble through. 

And there you go, homemade marmalade and a lovely crumble, do I hear you say domestic goddess?! 

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie Fraser

The Best Orange Marmalade

Hi Guys
Okay so we were asked last week to make our favourite Marmalade recipe and write up how to make it.
I immediately started thinking about all sorts of exotic recipes. Like how about i cook it with star anise, chili, whisky, nutmeg or cloves. Even add beetroot, plums, blood oranges or carrot.
I went away trying to adapt and decide how i could make such an exotic marmalade, but my dreams were quickly shattered when I went home for the weekend.
My beautiful Irish mum is the BIGGEST fan of marmalade. Even would go so far as to claim, having tried every type of marmalade in the world. I spoke to her about all my ideas for this exotic marmalade i was going to make. However i was quickly corrected, and it was decided it was a classic homemade marmalade we were going to make.
Apparently there is nothing nicer.
So here is the recipe for a Seville orange marmalade, and it is terribly easy. The intensely sharp, bitter Seville oranges hold their own with the sweetness of the sugar and the fragrance of the orange peel.



Ingredients
-10 Seville oranges-2 lemons-1.5 litres water-2 kg sugar, 500g of which is preserving sugar
Method
Start by simmering the whole oranges and lemons, covered, in the given water until the skin is very soft; this takes between 40 minutes and two hours depending on the fruit. Use a smaller upturned saucepan lid that fits comfortably inside the preserving pan to keep the fruit immersed, but a plate with a weight on the top is a good alternative. Also piercing the oranges after about 20 minutes encourages immersion but rotate the fruit if not fully immersed.Next lift the soft fruit out into a colander over a bowl and leave to cool. Then tip the sugar into the hot orange water, stirring to dissolve. This takes several minutes but continue until the liquid is clear and no sugar catches on the bottom of your preserving pan.
Now you have to do one of the most time consuming parts of making your marmalade, but once its done its all very easy.
Firstly peel the skin of your oranges and lemons using a sharp turning knife, and then quarter the soft, cooled fruit and pile into a mixing bowl. Tip this debris into a fold of muslin and tie securely with white string and hang over the side of the pan. Slice the left over peel then into your preferred thickness... I always aim for something close to a matchstick. If you have a sharp knife this is very easy. Also do not worry about the thick pith left on your peel as this will melt to thicken the marmalade, and adds a nice bitterness.

Next stir the peel into the liquid. Bring the marmalade to simmer over your largest burner, stirring thoroughly and constantly with a long wooden spoon to avoid sticking points. Also if you use a decent preserving pan with a thick base, you get a very good even heat.Once the marmalade begins to simmer, increase the heat and boil hard, stirring occasionally, until setting point is reached. This varies depending on the fruit and may be as little as five minutes, but more likely to be 15 or even longer. Once it begins to look syrupy, test by placing a teaspoonful on a cold glass saucer that has been in the fridge or freezer. Once it has cooled then push with your finger. If it wrinkles it’s done.Lift out the muslin bag, suspend over the pan and squeeze as much juice out as possible. Stir again. Leave the marmalade to settle for five minutes. Stir again and pour, or ladle, the seemingly runny marmalade into hot, sterilised jam jars or kilner jars are even better.

Leave for five minutes then cover the top of the marmalade with wax disks and a lid, and then leave to cool. Rinse and dry the sticky jars, leave for 24 hours to set before storing.Then its ready to eat, and I promise it is so so much nicer than anything you would buy in the supermarket.
My mum certainly hasn't complained!

Everything you need to make this great marmalade is available from our shop in Cheltenham or online.

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Conrad Clarke

A Good Year For Cooking! Part 2

Things that you'll find in your cupboard...

Mixing bowls! Oh they do come in handy don't they? Get yourself a medium glass bowl for using as a ban marie when you need to melt chocolate.
Your main mixing bowl should be big enough so you can bake a large cake without whisking half of the mixture onto the floor! Mason Cash are my favourite, lovely traditional ceramic bowls and they're not too heavy.
It's also a good idea to have a melamine bowl. They can come in sets which is great because you get a range of useful sizes and there's lots of different colours to choose from. They're light and don't break if you drop them, great if you're baking with the kids!

Sieves are very humble in appearance and yet have the power to make your cake mixture lighter and your fruit puree smoother! You don't need anything too fancy, this stainless steel sieve by Paul Hargreaves will work wonders.

Everybody needs a good Colander. Use it to drain anything that takes your fancy, or place it over a pan of boiling water and use it to steam your veg! These stainless steel colanders are great for space saving as they can stack inside one another if you feel like you may need another size.

Measuring Jugs are not only for measuring! Oh ho no! They're great for mixing up liquids and having more control when pouring liquids into mixtures.

It's the new year, and as we all know, it's A Good Year For Cooking! So lets get back to baking good, homemade food from scratch. No more buying tasteless ready cooked meat balls or beefburgers, why not create you very own? A Mincer is what you need, allowing you to experiment with your own recipes for bolognese, re-design your mums lasagne and chase away any winter blues with warming home cooked shepards pie. This Cast Iron Mincer will clamp securely to your worktop and comes with three mincing discs of different sizes. It also has a sausage making attachment, for those days when only a sausage sandwich will do.

The good old Pestle and Mortar, great for when you feel like bashing herbs, crushing garlic, smashing spices and grinding things to make wonderful salsas and dips!
Kitcheners Tip: choose a design that you love and then use your pestle and mortar to serve your creations on the dinner table.

Take your home cooking to the next step and grab yourself a Pasta Machine. They're very simple to use and trust me, you'll never want to place a bag of dried pasta in your shopping trolley again. This one is my favourite! (Although you can choose from a great selection here http://www.kitchenercookware.com/)You can roll the pasta into thin sheets and then cut into spaghetti or tagliatelle, and a selection of additional attachments means you can make a variety of pasta dishes. The skies the limit!

All of the items mentioned above can be found in our shop and many on our website.

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/




Happy cooking!
 Millie Fraser

Feeling a little bit like Spring...

Brrr! It's time to start wishing away this frosty weather with thoughts of Spring, all the flowers waking up after the long sleep and the rabbits shaking off their winter coats.
We've been busy painting once again, Kitchener is all fresh with new paint ready for the year!

 

Emma Bridgewater, Hare 1/2 Pint mugs and Happiness Is A Bunny Rabbit Baby mugs.

 

Emma Bridgewater, Hens 1/2 Pint mugs  and eggcups

 

Emma Bridgewater, Flowers 1/2 Pint mugs

 

 Oooh new pretty cream shelves for Beautiful Bridgewater!

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie Fraser

 

 

 

Beautiful Bridgewater!

What a day! We've been busy bees decorating to make the new Emma Bridgewater stock look even prettier!

We chose a lovely Pale Sage Green for the back wall, to complement the new 'Zinnias' design which can be seen here on the 4 cup teapot. This design is perfect for a slightly understated Valentines present.

Get ready for Valentines with these classic gorgeous designs. Both the 'Sampler' and 'Pink Hearts' range would make beautiful gifts.

We chose Pale Cream for the fireplace, with a wonderfully distressed finish!

We'd love for you to pop in and see all our hard work! 

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie Fraser

A Good Year For Cooking!

Start the year right with the right tools for the job, and in this case the job is producing good food all year round. Cooking up all this marvellous food is going to be much easier when everything you need is to hand, that's why taking the time to stock your kitchen with all the essentials will make you a very happy cook indeed!

So, lets begin with the small basics, and what is the most humblest of them all if not the wooden spoon?
Wooden spoons are just great, aren't they? They have a way of making you feel like a true baker, whether you're folding in flour, creaming butter and sugar together or stirring thick winter soup.
Choose one with a long handle so not only can you use your favourite deep saucepan but you keep your hands away from any hot foods.
Unlike metal spoons they won't burn your hands, however they do need a little bit more love so do hand wash them.
Kitcheners tip: keep two wooden spoons, one for sweet baking and one for savoury. This way your cupcakes won't have an after taste of garlic!

Slotted Spoons are great for lifting foods out of liquid, allowing them to drain. Not just for peas and carrots!  Oh no! Slotted spoons are also great for lifting foods out of hot oil.

Ever burnt your hand trying to turn food in the oven? Or had to jump back a bit quick when food slipped back into the hot water? A good pair of Tongs may be in order! Grab and turn food quickly and easily, also great for avoiding dropping your friends spaghetti onto the floor...
Kitcheners tip: choose tongs with a silicone coating for extra grip, ones that lock are also great for space saving.

A Ladle is another favourite  not just for getting the soup to the cup but also great for getting the whisked eggs into the omelet pan and cake mix into cases.
Kitcheners tip: use your ladle when making pancakes, not only does it transport your batter to the pan but acts as a measure too, so each of your pancakes is the same size!

Out of all the whisks, if you only have one, let it be the Balloon Whisk. Why is that I hear you ask? Because they can whip cream like there's no tomorrow, turn egg whites into fluffy clouds and believe me, your meringue peaks will have never looked better.
Kitcheners tip: use your whisk when you want the smoothest and loveliest of sauces.

The Peeler is such a versatile little thing. My mother still uses a knife to peel potatoes and I followed suit, however since owning a peeler I can safely say that once you have one in your life, you will not want to be without it ever again. Ever. Use it for peeling all kinds of vegetables, make your salads look beautiful by slicing the carrots and cucumber into ribbons, slice courgette length ways for stir-fry's, create tiny curls of chocolate or shavings of cheese...I could go on.

Graters come in handy more often than you think. Great for hard cheeses, nutmeg and citrus zest. Choose a good flat grater such a Cuisipro, they're easy to clean and have a non-slip handle. They also come with a protective cover that's great for catching your nutmeg or cinnamon.

A good Pastry Brush makes good looking pastry. So why not skip the tiny wooden one with it's bristles that end up looking like hairs all over your pies, and instead grab a silicone brush. They're more hygienic as they can be washed much easier and the soft silicone won't mark the pastry when you're glazing.
However if like me, you do prefer a bristle brush, choose a high quality one with natural bristles that won't fall apart. This one by Rosle is great, it comes in different widths and the rounded edges makes for softer glazing.
Kitcheners tip: you can also use your brush to grease baking tins and dishes, no more oily hands!

Spatula's, get yourself a thin metal one for generously icing cakes. They're great for making your icing look professional without the need for a piping bag and gives cupcakes a wonderfully rustic aesthetic. Because of the nice rounded edge it's also great for removing biscuits from baking trays without any breakages! Never cry over a broken biscuit again!
A larger spatula is also a very handy idea for when you need to turn and shift food about, such as in a frying pan. If you choose a slotted one the oil can drip through.
Kitcheners tip: use a nylon spatula with non-stick pans to protect the non-stick coating.

A Fish Slice is rather like a large spatula with a solid head. It makes turning large pieces of meat, such as fish or chicken, easier as it slides nice and neatly underneath the food and can support the weight as you turn it over.
Kitcheners tip: whilst in a cooking frenzy don't grab your metal fish slice to use on your mushrooms in your non-stick frying pan! The metal will scratch the coating so always use your trusty spatula.

Stay tuned for the second part of A Good Year For Cooking! When we delve into what should be lurking in your cupboards...

All of the products mentioned above can be found in our shop, and many on our website! http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie Fraser