Giardiniera and Messy Cabbage!

Still on a mission to build my stock pile for The Fat Cat's first Sugar and Spice event I purchased some 8oz jars - twice the size of the chutney jars I've been filling. I was going to try and fill them with sauces, Puttanesca for example which is easy to throw together and never fails to impress. However, I am unsure as to how well puttanesca sauce will keep with no natural preservatives in the jar. The pickles and chutneys are obviously preserved using vinegar and copious amounts of sugar in some cases and I can rely on them to be good for 6 months to a year...plenty of time to get them nice and 'brewed' and also sold!!

So, what to put in the jars? Pickled asparagus was an idea - 'natures swizzle stick' perfect for cocktails. Do I know many cocktail drinkers? Well, yes, but none who would make them at home...cocktails are for special occasions or when we happen upon a nice cocktail bar! (Not an easy feat in Hull I can tell you!)



It was then I remembered an old favourite of mine from when I lived at home; pickled red cabbage. Ideal with potato ash or meat pies, great with steak and chunky chips - real comfort food! Plus I had nearly 3 litres of spiced vinegar left from the pickled onions so off I went to the grocers to pick up some red cabbages. I bought two because I had no idea how far they'd go and following a recipe guideline I'd found online I cut them into strips and layered them in a large dish with coarse salt. I guessed that this was to remove any excess moisture and low and behold, once left in the fridge overnight, there was some very purple water at the bottom of the dish! I'm hoping the salt also keeps the strips of cabbage crunchy once immersed in pickle. I prepare pickled onions in pretty much the same way - in a brine - and that is so that they remain crunchy!



The strips of cabbage were then drained and popped in the lovely 8oz hexagonal jars I had heated in the oven to sterilise and then covered in the vinegar! (I made sure I removed the chili seeds and peppers before covering the cabbage). Isn't it a delicious colour?? (you can also see a few of the honey chutney jars in the back ground.)





My next job was the Giardiniera - Italian Mixed Pickled Vegetables. Ideal for anti-pasti. I bought some cauliflower, carrot batons, green beans and mushrooms. These were cut into pieces which would fit into the 8oz jars (except the mushrooms which I left whole). All the vegetables were brought to the boil in the spiced vinegar I had left over from the pickled onions AND the pickled cabbage! I only boiled for 5 minutes, I wanted to keep the veg slightly crunchy. I then drained the veg to make it easier for me to divide it between the jars and for additional flavour I popped a peeled garlic clove in the bottom of each jar. The vegetables were crammed as tightly as I could into jars and covered in vinegar. Voila! Pickled vegetables!!! I shall be testing those out on my Polish friends as they are the experts apparently on pickled vegetables and they have already given me rave reviews of the Fiery Tomato Chutney!!!

Both of these jars will be fiery as well which is an interesting slant I think? The vinegar has been sat for a month already full of chilies and mustard seeds...I'll make sure that they are well labelled otherwise someone may get a very hot shock!!!

Sugar 'n' Spice...

Chutney world domination is one step closer!

We have scheduled our first pamper party / ladies shopping day at a local village hall! Three of us have got together to organise these events under the name 'Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice' with lots of lovely stalls and niceties for the locals so that we can sell our wares. We'll also be donating some of the proceeds to a local recipient - in this instance it will be the village school who will be our beneficiary. We have 13 stalls already confirmed ranging from homemade chocolates to personalised pottery to handbags and scarves all the way to THE FAT CAT Chutneys! There's going to be a raffle and teas and cakes...I'm really excited about the whole prospect and hope that the local community gets behind us! We'll obviously be doing the marketing and organisational side of things - so far we've got flyers to produce, leaflets, a facebook group (look out for that one!) and I'm going to try and contact a few local businesses. My background is not in marketing however - if anyone has any other promotional ideas I'd really be happy to hear them!

I had best get on, my stock pile is growing but if I'm to be ready for the event mid May then I am going to need to get the remainder of the stock done this week and next. I've found a few more exciting recipes - one for a Honey Chutney which requires no cooking! Perfect if I haven't got much time for all of the boiling and re-boiling! I think I'll be preparing that one this evening, it looks lovely! It will also give me a nice balance between the sweet and savoury chutneys that I have now in stock...although I think I'm going to need another tomato based one without as much (or any) chili in it as the Fiery Tomato Chutney has...it's mind blowing now it's had some time to settle in! I've also got some pickled vegetable ideas which I think will go down a storm with the local foodies...now all I need to do is source some freshly laid eggs for the pickled eggs.

It's all systems go!!

Let me begin with a confession – this is my third attempt at a food blog! I have recently been inspired though by a number of other food blogs which have put mine to shame so I’m hoping that third time is a charm and I may actually be able to produce something that looks half decent!

I’ve launched a business…”The Fat Cat” making chutneys, pickles and luxury sauces! I’ll be selling my wares at village fetes and hopefully at some evening parties run and hosted by friends! (In conjunction with two other friends who also have various items to sell). We haven’t got the ball rolling just yet – in fact I’m just testing out a number of chutney recipes and pickled onions. I’ve bought all of the jars so there’s no going back now! They are currently littering my house so I feel now that I have to fill them!

So far I’ve managed to successfully make Delia’s Chili Jam and a Spiced Apple Chutney…both were received well by the guinea pigs in my office. In fact I’ve had requests for more of the chili jam, although this won’t be coming for a while yet until I get the rest of the chutneys tried and tested. So world domination one chutney at a time!!!