Wednesday 20 October 2010

A spicy September

As late summer rollerskates into early autumn, our mild September is, so far, a distinct improvement on August’s endless drizzle. But there is a definite autumnal feeling hanging in the air. The trees are starting to part grudgingly with the first of their leaves. And, just in time for the new school term, smooth, brown conkers are lining the floor under chestnut trees, ready to be stashed away by zealous would-be champs.

But a word of warning: these polished beauties are not the solid, soon-to-be-triumphant gems they might seem. A spokesman for The Campaign for Real Conkers has said that our wet August has made conkers fall before they’re fully ripened. Apparently, the ones that have already fallen are too soft for battle and a well-timed whack from a rival will result in their fragmentation. For any serious conker aficionados hoping to compete in the World Conker Championships on October 10th in Ashton, Northamptonshire, the experts advise using prized conkers from last year or foraging for a champion treasure in Wales or the south west of England, where the weather was better.

But the wet August wasn’t all bad for autumnal crops. If you haven’t already, it’s time to veer away from the the likes of New Zealand braeburns with their astronomic carbon footprint and resolutely choose British. Our combination of chilly winter, sunny spring and early summer has resulted in what is being hailed as the tastiest crop in years, even if they are a little smaller than usual. Try your local farmers' market and see what you can find.

If you grow your own tomatoes and are now left with a glut just as the salad season draws to a close, here’s an easy solution: tomato chilli jam. There’s no exact science to this recipe but mix a kilo or so of tomatoes, a few cloves of garlic and a couple of onions (all roughly chopped) with a substantial glug of cider vinegar, a squeeze of lime juice, a couple of finely chopped super spicy scotch bonnet chillies (remove the seeds if you don’t like too much heat) and a smorgasbord of warming herbs such as cumin, coriander, cloves and cinnamon and bring to the boil. After half an hour or so of intermittent stirring, add 100g of demerara sugar. Stir regularly for another 45 minutes and place in warmed, sterilized jars. Once it has cooled, put in the fridge where it will keep for a month or so. Delicious with cheese and the perfect alternative to a bottle of wine if you’re heading to friends for dinner.

Summer lingers longer in the forest

There’s good news and bad news – it’s started raining. That should come as no surprise for two reasons: believe it or not August is statistically one of the four wettest months of the year and, let’s be honest, this is Britain and it simply can’t stay that dry for that long!

Rain might be bad news if you’re planning a holiday day in the open air. Then again the forest isn’t exactly ‘open air’, there is stacks of shelter and you can find heaps to do without getting too wet. Actually being in the forest in the rain is rather wonderful. The rattle of rain in the leaves high above you followed by the gentle drip and soft thud of fat drops onto pine-needles is a glorious sound. Better still on these warm summer days a gentle mist floats above the forest floor off to the sides of the pathways and tracks. Best of all, because rain always comes to an end, you get that moment when the sun breaks through the cloud and lights up a forest glade. It’s all very magical and, if a shower or two is inevitable, I’d much rather be in amongst the trees than out on the beach!

The good news is that this steady rain will mean summer lingers longer in the woodlands. Big and tough old trees don’t mind it dry so much, they have deep roots and can drink from a long way below the surface. But dry spells stress out smaller plants and flowers which quickly flower and go to seed to preserve continuity of their next generation. After that they wither and die and the forest floor can look rather sad and sorry. But not this year.

The recent rains over these past couple of weeks have freshened up everything – we even have green grass again! Leaves that were decidedly thinking about changing colour have decided to hang on tightly to their branches for a little while longer. And the blackberries have plumped-up and hang fat, sweet and juicy on the briars – good for the birds and bees, and I always harvest my share too for making bramble jelly or blackberry jam. I made 4 pounds this weekend with a recipe made much more simple by the discovery of special jam sugar with added pectin on the supermarket shelf. Add about 250mls of water to 3 pounds of blackberries and gently simmer for about 10 minutes. Slowly stir in a whole bag of jam sugar and bring to a gently rolling boil for about 20 minutes, stirring regularly so it doesn’t catch. Allow to cool for a bit then pour into sterilised jam jars (you’ll need four). If you want to check that it’s setting put a teaspoon sized dollop on a plate you’ve cooled in the fridge. Leave it for one minute then push the edge with the spoon – it should start to crease.

With a stock of preserves in the larder all I need to do now is wait for the nights to draw in so I can sit next to the log burner in my cabin and enjoy toast and jam and tea! It looks like being a glorious autumn and there is no finer way to celebrate.

Forest Holidays sites are open all year round and there is still some availability for early autumn. As you can see above it looks like being an especially fine year to come and visit.