Variations on a theme: quince compote, jam, jelly and syrup

 

Quince is one of those almost-forgotten fruits that you usually do not come across at a supermarket. You may be lucky enough to find some at a farmer's market, but usually you either get them from a tree in your own back yard or from friends, who are usually happy to part with some of their bounty.
 

 

 

I fall into the second category. When we were in Piedmont a couple of week ends ago, we left with a large carton of produce that included four quinces. I had never cooked with them before and didn't even know whether they were ripe or not. I did some reading and learned that they are ripe when they turn a nice yellow hue and smell sweet and floral. Don't expect them to turn softer, however, because they stay rock hard even when they mature. Another handy piece of information I collected is that if you are using them to make preserves, they don't need to be fully ripe.
 

 

 

Something elso you probably already know about this fruit is that it cannot be consumed raw. Once it is cooked, however, it can be used in many ways: to accompany savory dishes (pork roast, game, blue cheese anybody?) or in desserts. They work well in pies and tarts, but you can also lightly poach them with vanilla or spices or cook them longer into a compote or jam like I did.

 

 

A fun fact: did you know that the word marmalade originally comes from the Portuguese word for quince - marmelo - as quince marmalade, very popular in Medieval England, was usually imported from Mediterranean countries and only actually started being made there much later, towards the Sixteenth century.

Anyway, after checking on my quinces daily for about ten days, I decided to make something with them. They may not have been fully ripe because they did smell floral, but only faintly. I wasn't too concerned really, since I was going to make a jam out of them.

 

 

 

I washed the fuzz on the skin off and started chopping and cleaning, which was probably the most strenuous part of the whole process. They are hard little suckers (mine were also all inhabited by a few wiggly creatures: let me just say the cleaning did not only involve the core and seeds).

After the lengthy operation there were still over two pounds of flesh from the four specimens, a little more than the amount indicated in Family Spice's recipe, which I followed as a guideline, although I decided to use less sugar than suggested because I don't like things that are overly sweet. I may even consider using less next time.

 

 

I then took the recipe a step further and made different variations on the theme by straining a little here, processing a little there and even adding some water. The last logical step would have been to make membrillo, the Spanish quince paste/cheese, by further straining the blended jam through a fine mesh sieve and then cooking and baking it until no moisture was left. But I was frankly a little tired  satisfied with what I had and decided to call it a day.

All natural, no-sugar peanut and pistachio butter cookies

 

 

I have been seeing recipes for these natural peanut butter cookies around for a while now. When I saw Monet post about them the other day, I knew my time had come. She has a beautiful baby daughter so I knew the recipe would be wholesome, but she is first and foremost a wonderful baker so I was certain these cookies would be really good besides being healthy.

 

That is a must in my book. My idea, and those of you who have been reading my blog for a while have heard me preach this before, is that if you are going to make a dessert or something sweet you might as well go the whole way and make something worth the calories you are ingesting. Otherwise, if you are on a health kick or trying to lose a few pounds, skip dessert altogether and have some fruit or yogurt instead.

 

 

 

 

 There are cases, however, when this does not apply, like feeding your kids afterschool snacks that are so good they won't really be able to tell they are naturally sweetened and full of wholesome ingredients.

 

So even though I still stand by my belief that a chocolate fudge cake should be a buttery, sweet, dense affair, if the result of a recipe is a lovely tasting cookie that satisfies a craving without going way overboard, why not?

 

  

 

  

With this batch of cookies I finished the jar of pistachio paste I told you about in my last post. I also used up that almost empty jar of peanut butter I had lying around for more time than I care to remember. It worked out perfectly, since I didn't have enough of either to make a whole batch of just one kind, and how do you split an egg in half?

 

Both cookies are delicious because they are so incredibly full of nutty flavor and they are just sweet enough, with that touch of salty that keeps you wanting more.

 

 

 

See how chewy these are on the inside? Mmmmmh...

 

 The peanut butter cookies are crumbly and dense, perfect to have with a cup of coffee or a big glass of milk. The pistachio cookies have a completely different texture, moist and chewy and rich. They are sweeter because I had added some sugar to the paste (ok, so there is a little sugar in the pistachio cookies, but if you want to make these 100% without sugar, pistachio butter would work just as well) and are fabulous with a cup of unsweetened tea in  my book. The different texture is the result of several factors: i) I used more pistachio paste than PB because I wanted to finish the jar, ii) the pistachio paste was not as dense as the PB, iii) the pistachio cookies baked as long as the others but they were a bit bigger in size.

 

To make the two different batches, I followed Monet's basic instructions but divided the egg mixture into two bowls. Then I added the different nut pastes into each and split the dry mixture between the two. It makes for a little extra work and more bowls to wash but this way you won't end up with a huge amount of cookies if you are making both. If making just one kind, use a whole cup of the nut butter of choice and use just one bowl for dry ingredients and one for wet ingredients.