Kumquats always make me think of places far, far, east – places I’ve never been. Chinese 5 spice powder, or some variation of it, is ubiquitous in that part of the world. Using that as a jumping off point, this is what I did:

Well actually, hold on, let’s back up. First, I climbed to the top of my larder, reached behind the skull and crossbones sign, careful not to disturb the trap, and pulled out my secret chile basket.

Yes peeps, this is my basket full-o’-hot-gold gathered from around the globe. There’s more underneath, but what you can see is Aleppo-style pepper from Turkey, white peppercorns from Kerala, New Mexican chile powder, the whole red chiles are from a particularly succulent bush from thine own garden, and, ok, there’s some real cinnamon from Sri Lanka on the side there. But, what you really want to know about is the two bags in the front, brought back by yours truly from Bhutan, where it’s called local pepper, but what’s otherwise known as Szechuan pepper.

Or you can omit it all together and you will still have a very lovely tasting chutney. You can just call it 4 Spice Kumquat Chutney and no one will be the wiser.

Let me start by saying these are refrigerator pickles, otherwise known as quick pickles, which means there is no canning or water boiling involved. Time saver!

Since they go straight in the fridge, I use Ball plastic lids but whatever lids you use, make sure they are non-reactive, meaning if they are metal they should be coated on the inside, like the regular mason flat lids.

My chervil exploded this year and I love it’s punchy anise flavor. Fennel fronds either from bronze fennel or from the top of finocchio would be equally as good. And of course you can never do a pickle wrong with dill.

Carrot Spears with Chervil

adapted from The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich

Ingredients

4 lbs. fresh carrots (no more than 4 to 5 inches long)
2 bunches chervil
8 garlic cloves (cut in half)
8 green chili peppers
2 teaspoons black peppercorns (lightly crushed)
2 tablespoons sea salt
4 cups white wine vinegar
4 cups water
1 cup sugar
4 quart jars (washed in hot soapy water)

Instructions

1. Trim and wash carrots. If they are thin, slice them in half lengthwise. If they are rather thick carrots, you my need to slice them in thirds lengthwise. Each slice should be less than 1/4 of an inch.

I used a mixture of orange and purple carrots, so my pickle turned a lovely shade of pink. Use any color carrots you choose.

2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Drop carrots in and blanch for 2 minutes (carrots should still be firm, but should pack slightly less of a crunch). Immerse carrots into ice cold water to cool.

3. Divide and pack carrots tightly into four quart jars. Add chervil equally to jars.

4. Place remaining ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil.

5. Take off heat and divide garlic and chili peppers equally into jars. Pour liquid over carrots and cap jars.

6. Let cool then place in fridge.

You should let them hang out for a couple of days before you indulge to let the flavors settle and mingle. These pickles will last in the fridge up to 3 months.

They are so good that eating them right out of the jar is pretty much how they are consumed around our place. But I imagine chopping a few up and adding to a salad would add the perfect amount of punch and crunch. The same goes for a bowl of steamed rice.

This weekend went by very fast! Up here in the southern Berkshires we had our first frost. The leaves have been whipping around and their colors… Oh my, their colors! I’m talking b-e-a-u-t-y folks.

And since we are talking about beautiful colors, this jelly holds one of the most beautiful colors I’ve yet witnessed in a jar.

Ruby red to be exact. But it’s not because of its color that I am writing to you about this, or because of its tingling flame-like heat (that pairs superbly with any cheese).

What I really love about this jelly is it tastes like October in a jar. That is if your October has that one farmer at last Saturday’s market with a table full of heirloom tomatoes spread out like an antiques collector displaying his wares.

That is if your October has your local farm stand or organic market with a last wooden barrel, or possibly two, whittled down to the bottom of this year’s plums and all the rest of them bulging to the brim with just picked apples. All types.

That is if your October’s garden not only has a bunch of root veggies waiting to be pulled from the ground quite expectantly, but also has in one corner a bevy of little hot chile plants that finally pulled through and have some red, purple & green orbs and trinkets hanging in its leaves just ready to be plucked.

You see, I’m not quite ready for the cinnamony, clove-scented stuff that winter is made of. I want more of this mixed up beautiful month. I want to make it last… and this my friends, is it.

Plum Hot Jelly!

Adapted from In Season: Cooking with Vegetables and Fruits by Sarah Raven

There are a couple of things that need to be said before we get on with this recipe. One is that In Season: Cooking with Vegetables and Fruits is a beauty of a book. Sarah is a master gardener and a masterful cook. It is a treasure of simple, delicious recipes organized by season. I know that is nothing new at the moment but this book is most definitely a cut above.

Second is that you need one of these: trust me. All that gorgeous fruit needs to be strained. There are other ways to drain jelly – if you have butter muslin or really good, tight weaved cheese-cloth and can devise a way to hang the filled pouch over a large bowl, then you are in business.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. tart or crab apples
2 lbs. any variety plums (I used a damson variety)
3/4 cup cider vinegar
approximately 8 cups sugar (I use raw)
chiles (I used 6 one-inch long hot firebird chiles, you can use 3 two-inch long Thai or cayenne, or even 3 jalapeno if you don’t like the bite too hot)
6 1/2-pint canning jars, or more smaller jars

yield: approximately 3 pints

Directions:

Day 1

1. Pit plums and coarsely chop unpeeled apples. Place them in a large non-reactive (no iron) preserving pan and 7 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add the cider vinegar and boil uncovered for 5 minutes.

2. While this is happening, take your jelly bag and boil for 10 minutes in a little pot all on its own.

3. Place the jelly bag on its holder set over a bowl and use a ladle to transfer the apple/plum mixture to the jelly bag.

4. Let the fruit drain on its own for 8 hours or overnight. Important: do not press the bag or you will have cloudy jelly. Depending on how large a bowl you used, you may need to do some transferring, so keep an eye on it.

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Day 2

1. Place 8 cups of sugar in a large bowl in a very low oven (about 120 degrees) for 30 minutes.

2. Place water-filled jars in your canning pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes to sterilize. Place 3 or even 4 small plates in the freezer to test set later on.

3. Cut chiles in half and slice very fine. You can leave the seeds in or out, depending on how hot you like your jelly.

4. Measure the jelly juice and for every 2 1/2 cups of juice, you’ll need 2 1/2 cups of sugar.

5. Pour juice and warmed sugar in preserving pot over low heat. Continue stirring until all the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has completely dissolved, add the chiles and turn the heat up to a vigorous boil.

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Important: do not stir. The key to successful jelly making is to get to the jelling point as quickly as possible to save as much of the fruity flavor. Over-cooking means lack of flavor. If you stir, you will most likely need to cook longer to get to the jelling point. Of course adjust the heat if you need to, but keep it at a strong boil.

6. You should come to the jelling point after 15-20 minutes of boiling. Check the set by placing 1 teaspoon of jelly on a frozen plate and placing plate back in freezer for one minute. Then slide your finger through jelly and it should wrinkle underneath your finger. You may need to try a couple of times. If you think you are getting close, turn the burner off while you do your testing.

7. Let jelly stand for 15 minutes and then give it a stir to distribute chiles evenly.

8. Place jelly in jars and process in a hot water bath for 5 minutes.

There you have it – October – all year long!
One last thing, cause I know you’ll all be askin’ about these very cute old fashion jars. Yes they are vintage jars, yes I used weck rubber rings, yes I am now addicted to eBay and… I owe it all to Marisa at food in jars and her fateful post.

I wanted to title this post ‘Fall!’ but as any good blogger knows if there’s a recipe in the post you gotta name the recipe in the title or your peeps will never know it’s there after the post disappears from your homepage, their feed, your Facebook timeline, etc.

Basically, I just want to say, fall is here!!! I really, really hope you can get out there and enjoy it. If it’s not fall where you live, then get out there and enjoy whatever season you’re in. And make something with whatever you gotz growing on in your neck of the earth, will ya? …Here let me try this again:

Fall

Blue Apple Jam With Fennel & Bay