Spiced Strawberry- Banana Jam

I am not a jam person. But I just had to try and make this once. I tried adding spices like cinnamon and dried red chilly flakes to cut the sugariness of the jam. Worked well. I didn't even bother spreading it on a toast. Simply took a spoonful (or two... or three...) and licked it off watching tv. I shouldn't have added the banana at all though. It has a really strong flavour and even a little goes a long way. Banana lovers may make this jam using just banana.

400 grams of small strawberries, washed, patted dry, chopped

100 grams of banana chopped
350 grams of castor sugar
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

Cinnamon 2 tsp, 3 Cloves, Red chilly flakes 3 tsp

Place the strawberries, lemon juice, zest and sugar in a large saucepan. Heat over low heat and simmer gently until the sugar dissolves.
Boil the jam jar for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Turn the heat up to medium-high and boil the mixture rapidly for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the spices (powder the cloves)
Place a tsp of jam in the fridge and after 20 minutes wrinkle the surface using your fingers .If the jam doesn't wrinkle the first time but sticks to your finger like a thick liquid rather than jam, keep boiling it for another 5 to 10 minutes and then test again. If jam is ready then remove the saucepan from heat and let it sit for 10 minutes or until the edges of the jam sets slightly. Pour jam into a warm jam jar till the brim (warming will ensure moisture is not present) and then let it cool completely before sealing.

Keep refrigerated.

I do not know how long this will keep. A month maybe. We'll find out. It's been about 20 days and the jam is stil fine. Maybe it'll last longer.

Experiment with spices you like. Add dry ginger powder if you like.

Honey- Mustard and Ginger Roast Chicken

Another weekend has just gone by. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly these two precious days zoom past. After a long time I cooked on a Saturday evening on the insistence of my husband. This recipe has a preparation time of less than 15 minutes. The rest one hour your oven does the work for you. So you effectively need 15 minutes of your time on this.



Lets Go:
You'll need a whole chicken (this one was about 1.2 kilos) with skin on of course.
Wash chicken well, specially the cavity.
Rub the chicken with 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. You may replace red wine vinegar with 1/2 tbsp Soy sauce. They taste different but both work.
Keep in refrigerator for atleast 1 hour.
Take chicken out and dunk the following in the cavity: a whole pod of garlic, 4- cloves, one onion skin on.
Now grate some ginger all over the chicken. Rub enough butter to thinly cover the chicken. Tie chicken legs and wings to keep the whole chicken together. Use normal thread soaked in water.

Place chicken in an Oven at 170 degrees and rost for 30 minutes with the bottom (tummy) side up. After 30 minutes turn it over so that the chicken's back is on the exposed side. Roast for another 15 minutes at 170 degrees. Nor mix 1 tbsp of honey , 1/2 tbsp of mustard, 1/2 tbsp melted butter and mixed herbs. Rub all over chicken. Roast again for an0ther 15 minutes. The chicken is done when a knife is easily inserted in the thickest part of chicken and juices run clear.

Your Honey-Mustard and Ginger Roast Chicken is ready. Collect all the liquids that collect in the pan. Put heat on and reduce the liquids a little. Gravy is ready. Serve it along side with Roast chicken.