Oh what a day of cooking it has been! I started out with the plan of making the game pie (which has actually turned out to be just Venison, as that's all I could get) and then for the rest of the day to be for applying for more jobs and general housework (oh what a bore). However this did not happen. I couldn't stop staring at all the apples filling up our fruit bowl. I've never made apple conserve before, and I had just bought some Kilner jars...hmmm...
Next thing you know it, I'm scanning through my copy of Larousse Gastronomique (my second love!) for that apple conserve recipe I saw (by the way, you may see many more recipes from that book, adapted or not, pop up on this blog). Now despite some of my apples being different varieties, and that I don't have the proper equipment such as preserving pan or tongs to pick up the boiling hot sterilised jar, it turned out...badly. Another thing you will notice, is that I didn't fill up the whole jar. I didn't have any smaller jars, so it had to be that one. This meant I had to refrigerate it straight away after it cooled, since there's such a big gap between jam and lid, there's more room for things to go wrong, such as discolouring and the vacuum not vacuuming properly! Well things did go wrong. Here's my result:
What went wrong
My jam is rock hard.
I think because I added a Monin ginger syrup to the sugar and apples, the syrup caramelised and hardened. Please, if anyone has any other ideas of why this could be, do tell! I have no idea how I will get this out of the jar now. Smash it?
Game Pie
I said to myself that I will only record recipes of my own in this blog, however I've realised that great recipes come from adapted recipes. This is why I've decided to share with you my outcome and opinion on the Game Pie recipe from Abel and Cole.
I'm very happy with the outcome. The sauce was lovely and rich; the venison melt in the mouth. I didn't make my own puff pastry as I know its a faff, and if Mary Berry is okay with using frozen, it's okay with me!
The only thing I would say about this recipe is that its rather long winded. It required you to brown the game beforehand, take it out, brown the mushrooms and bacon, then make the sauce in the same pan, re-add the game and simmer for half hour, assemble in the pie dish and then wait to cool, and then put in the oven. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I think that the venison and sauce could be made at the same time, and I don't think its necessary to allow it to cool before putting in the oven. I didn't bother as I got hungry!
Jess x
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