Thermo Jams and Pickles Blitz the Fete

The taste of gourmet homemade jam or chutney is incomparable to any commercially produced product. Since getting the Thermomix I've dabbled with jams and savoury sauces. Previously, my sole speciality was  Homemade BBQ sauce.  I dabbled a bit with a few other onion sauces for a previous school fete. Such was the buzz of the 2013 jam stall at St Joseph's Bulli Easter Fair many were keen to help at this years stall. Plus there were a few people keen to see what the Thermo could do.


Superkylz and I have been trying new jam and relish recipes since getting our Thermomixes last year. Truly you can google any combination of jam or pickle and up comes a recipe eg Chilli Pumpkin Chutney. If you are really lucky add  "Thermomix recipe" to the search and someone will have converted a traditional recipe or added a modern version of an old one eg Beetroot and Orange Relish.

With the fete in mind I did up several bottles of summer BBQ condiments over Christmas - some for me and some for the fete- by the time of the Fete I had quite an assortment.

Some of the assortment of pickles, relishes and jams- I've impressed myself

Superkylz and her friends on the jam stall committee who also liked to cook took it a step further. They planned a Thermomix jam making night but who can resist blitzing up a few cocktails first.
So after a thirsty night making cocktails and jam they had some to take home and plenty to sell. This fuelled the fire of enthusiasm as the stall had around 400 jars of everything from dukkah to passata to sell on the day.

I think it was the "favourite" stall  at the fete with tasting samples adding to the interest and excitement.  The girls had bonded during their (Ahem) cooking nights  and word had got around that they had had a pretty good time preparing their wares for sale. No trouble getting volunteers for this stall.

Some of the the Jam Ladies having fun at the St Joseph's Bulli Fete

Lessons learnt when running the  homemade jams and preserves stall

• Save left over jam batches in small jars for tasters and samples. Come armed with bread, biscuits, spoons and little sticks for sampling. Watch the jars fly off the stall.
• Source some in-season produce eg passionfruit for Passionfruit Butter. 
• Watch your costs. Basil Pesto may seem like a good idea when Basil is in abundance but the cost of pine nuts and Parmesan will not provide a good return. Pear jam should be made when pears are cheap or in fruit.
• Savoury flavours are still popular and in demand. Zucchini Pickles, Red Onion relishes, chili sauces are popular as are home made passatas and pasta sauces. Cheese platter jams and jellies are popular.
• Print professional looking  labels with descriptions and ingredient lists. This can be done by a central coordinator. Don't forget one of the ingredients is "love" or "passion"
• Source medium sized jars and interesting looking jars (gift packs from Christmas) Soak off the labels as early as possible. 
• Cover the jams with fabric or fancy paper held on by elastic bands or curling ribbon. Brown paper and string gives a country look.
• Sugar free jam is not as popular as you would think but Watermelon Jam is a hit.
• Try a bit of "cross promotion" with the Morning Tea Stall.

The jam stall girls got away with charging $6 a jar or 4 for $20. Later as the smaller jars remained they still got a reasonable return when they reduced the prices.  Everything was sold.

Converting old recipes...I find I have more control using a cup to measure as I'm short. 
Here's my Homemade (Gourmet) BBQ Sauce converted for cooking in the Thermomix. 
1 cup of finely chopped onion (hand cut if you want it chunkier)
4Tbs brown sugar
2 tsp salt
2 pinches Cayenne pepper
2 tsp Mustard
2 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup Vinegar
1 cup Tomato Sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup pickles
Chop the onion, combine all ingredients. Cook for 40 minutes on Varoma Speed 1

Suggestion: If making the chunky version put it in jars for spooning on to steak and sausages - This chunky and  tasty sauce but can clog up in the bottle neck. If you blitz the onion it flows better from the bottle. If you like the thicker sauce use the basket on top of the Thermo to prevent spills and release some liquid. If you use the Measuring cup on the lid the sauce will be wetter but flows better from the bottle.
Makes: approx 3-4 small bottles or jars. Keep in fridge or pantry for 6 months (if it lasts that long).

Home Made BBQ Sauce

...and before you can take a picture it is devoured.

This week I've helped out Superkylz. A fulltime residential course plays havoc with the childcare arrangements. So up we stepped for mid-week sleepovers, school pick up and drop off (1 hour return each time.) Dad Dale had already set the bench mark with Thermomix Butter Chicken on Sunday night and Butter Chicken with Not Dogs the previous night.

Night one: Spaghetti Bolognaise - Easy peasy made during the day from  Everyday Cookbook recipe.  Miss India thought we'd be able to whip up the pasta from scratch  too but afterschool tap dance lessons and a visit to the local library coupled with the travel put paid to that. The good thing is that 1kg of mince makes plenty  of  leftovers for a savoury pie which will dazzle the man of the house at some later stage. I will of course whip up the pastry in the Thermo.

Thermo got a good workout that day with 40 second (choc chip) bikkies made for school lunches and a batch of Homemade Gourmet BBQ sauce made for the School Fete in two weeks. Cheese Scroll buns also supplemented the school lunches and after school snacks. (a variation on the Shrek bread recipe from the earlier blog)

Night Two: The kids made pizza. What's unhealthy about this? This fresh pizza dough whips up in seconds- the addition of a bit of garlic and rosemary make the base delicious. We chose to make two biscuit tray size pizzas. Miss India weighed and measured the dough ingredients.  Little Ariah rolled out the dough and spread the tomato and the two older children decorated the top. Their favourite things are sundried tomatoes, feta, ham and pineapple. A little pepperoni and hungarian salami complete the pizza. If we'd have had some left over capsicum, mushroom or chicken it would have been there too.

pat-a-cake pat-a-cake

adding the tomato paste

I'm a convert to "grating" my own cheese in the Thermo (5 seconds speed 5 ) Oh and it's so much tastier than the extruded grated stuff.  I buy  500g or 1kg size  Bega or Coon cheese on special and a 4-5cm piece easily does 3x round pizzas.   

Since buying my Thermo I've not eaten a single bought pizza.  Previously it was a fortnightly occurrence. I'd say this Thermo is paying for itself in savings - with ingredients costing no more than $10 I think I've saved at least $185 on pizza alone. #Thermomix pays for itself in no time

One thing I've noticed is that the children are more food aware now they are involved with Thermo cooking things from scratch. Superkylz is vegetarian so they enjoyed  a few things she doesn't usually cook for them.

Thanks to Thermo I survived the sleepovers and packing school lunches although don't start me on the "you can't have oranges for Munch and Crunch Nan " and the benefits? of "No Waste Wednesday".

 

With 1 lonely piece left I eyed it off for lunch, took the picture and Little Ariah snaffled it and ate it cold!!