Wednesday 13 August 2008

Mint and apple conserve

Mint is very easy to grow. Sometimes it can be too easy to grow so make sure it doesn't take over the corner of your garden! If you have no garden, or not much of one, mint is the ideal crop to produce in pots. We actually grow ours in pots on the patio. You can grow it on window sills and in window boxes as well. The good think it that it is very hardy, and it grows quickly again once you have picked the leaves. I picked the mint in the picture above to use in a recipe for mint and apple conserve. Again, the apples were from a batch I had in the freezer. Cooking apples are best for this.


For this you need 1 kg of apples and a plateful of fresh mint leaves. Chop the apples and coarsely chop the mint and add both to the jam pan.

Add just enough water to cover the apple (not too much or else you'll spend ages boiling it off). Bring to boil and then add 1 kg sugar (same weight as apples). Stir and wait for the setting point to be reached (when a skin forms on the surface or on a sample taken from the pan). Then put into warm jars.

You should aim for this to be quite chunky so don't chop the apple too finely.


We made 8 jars on Sunday. This is something mainly to be used with meat, especially lamb. It's great with lamb bangers or burgers.

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