Classic Mint Jelly

This is a late winter-early spring preserve for us; Granny Smith apples grown in the next shire are still plentiful and cheap, our friends and neighbours are swapping lemons for broccoli, and we have lots of fresh mint.

The recipe is from this book which I bought at a clearance sale a while ago. It's a clearly written book, with a good collection of basic preserves and detailed advice about how to troubleshoot.

~Classic Mint Jelly~
1.6kg green apples
5 cups water
1 cup chopped fresh mint
1 cup lemon juice
about 1kg sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint, extra

Cut the apples into chunks (do not remove skin or seeds) and place in a heavy based stock pan with the mint, lemon juice (I left pulp and seeds in this), and water. Slowly bring to the boil, then simmer until the apple is very soft. Stir to squash lumps. When it is mushy, allow to cool a little.

To make a "jelly bag", place a large clean piece of muslin or thin cotton (I used old sheeting) in a bowl and pour boiling water over it. Line a large seive with the wet fabric and place over another large bowl. Gently pour in the apple mixture and allow it to drain into the bowl.

When the pulp has drained most of the liquid, tie the corners of the fabric together, poke a long wooden spoon under the tied corners, and lift the "bag" out of the seive. Place a bowl inside a clean bucket and position the spoon so that it is across the top of the bucket - allowing the bag to hang freely from the spoon and drip into the bowl below.

Or if you own a jelly bag, simply use this to drain the liquid from the pulp.
Allow the bag to drain overnight and do not squeeze or force liquid out. If you do, the jelly will be cloudy. Our liquid looked cloudy, but it cleared on boiling. Store the drained liquid in the fridge overnight.

When you are ready to boil up, place 2 small plates in the freezer. Sterilise your jam jars. I wash them in hot soapy water then place in a 110 C oven for around 20 min. I pour boiling water over the clean lids just before sealing.

Discard the pulp from the bag. Measure the final amount of liquid. We had 1.75L. Pour the liquid into a large heavy based pan, and add 1 cup sugar to every cup of liquid. Heat gently, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring to the boil and boil steadily for around 15 minutes, stirring often and skimming any scum from the surface.

Test for the setting point by pouring a spoonful onto one of the chilled plates. A skin will form on the surface - setting point is reached when the jelly wrinkles as you push your finger through it. When it is setting as you want, remove from heat and stir through the extra mint. Allow it to continue cooling a little and keep stirring every few minutes - when the mint leaves stay suspended in the jelly, instead of floating to the top, it is ready to pour into jars.

Pour boiling water over any of the equipment you use to transfer the jelly from the saucepan to the sterilised jars. Fill the jars to leave 1/2cm space at the top. Seal the jars immediately and turn upside down for 2 minutes. Invert and allow to cool.

Store in a cool dry place for 6-12 months. Refridgerate after opening.

Pumpkin, Leek, Mint & Spinach Tart

This is several evolutions from the original recipe, which involved ricotta and far less veges. Mint works so well with both spinach and roast pumpkin.

T scored this recipe a 9.5 but D said it was minus 1000. I liked it, so poor old D will have to suffer again.


~Pumpkin, Leek, Mint & Spinach Tart~
6 sheets filo or 2 sheets puff pastry, or some alternate base, like coca flatbread
800g butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut in 1.5cm dice
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
about 10 baby leeks (1cm diameter, 10cm length), cut into 2cm pieces
salt and pepper
200g fetta, crumbled
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups firmly packed, chopped spinach or silverbeet
2 tab finely chopped mint
2 tab grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Combine pumpkin, garlic, leeks, olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake for about 20 min or until pumpkin is browned. In the last 5 min of cooking, make space for the spinach on the tray; pile it on and loosely cover with alfoil to allow it to steam and wilt slightly. Remove veges from oven and cool slightly.

Lay the base on a flat tray and curl the edges up to hold the filling. If using filo, spray with olive oil between layers. Bake for a few minutes to help cook the base.

Combine the eggs with 2/3 of the fetta and spread over the base.

Layer the spinach over the egg mixture. Sprinkle over the mint. Arrange pumpkin and leeks on top, then crumble over the remaining fetta and sprinkle with parmesan.

Reduce heat to 170 degrees and bake for about 20 minutes or until egg mixture is set and all is golden brown.

This would work well as a cocas/pizza topping.