Red star

I mean Resdstart ...

What a grey day! As Larry may accidentally have said ...

Blowing a hooly, which is normal as we could clearly see the mountains this morning, it is always a sign of rain / wind ...

Given that, there was not much wildlife around - although when I met the postwoman at the gate this morning there was a red kite not 10 meters above my head ... no camera with me though ... meh.

As promised yesterday, here is the foolproof recipe for chilli jam :


10 red peppers (I use Espelette but any will do),
12 red chillis,
10 cloves of garlic
400g tomatoes,
750g sugar (brown, light-brown or white),
200ml white wine vinegar,
30ml lime juice,
10ml Balsamic vinegar,
10ml Raspberry vinegar.


Blitz the tomatoes, chills, garlic and peppers in a liquidizer, add the vinegars and juice.
Put the sugar into a larger-than-you-need, heavy saucepan, add the blitzed mixture, boil gently, stirring all the time then keep at a rolling boil for about 45 minutes, when it starts getting a little more like treacle, continue for another ten minutes or so.
I put a saucer in the freezer and test the set with a small drop of the jam to test the set.
Cool slightly then put into sterilized jam jars, pop on the lids, screw tightly then turn them upside-down to cool - that's it.

The last batch I made, I used a mix of lime juice, rice vinegar, raspberry vinegar and balsamic (you can use any vinegar as long as the volume is 250ml)

I also used two teaspoonfuls of ‘Pimenton’ which is dried, smoked paprika – it’s what gives chorizo its kick, you could use a small lump of grated ginger.


If you boil for less, the jam is little runnier, more and it becomes more set.

Hope your Thursday is good :)