How to make your own Quince Paste "Membrillo"

Dear Readers, Please allow me to introduce a fellow foodie and good friend, Mr. Paul S. who every Winter provides us with a welcome gift of his Quince Paste, and then little batches sometimes come our way during the year as well, proving that it keeps refrigerated in the tropics very well.  He has been doing this for a few years now, that I know of. The quality is always exceptional and as I have plenty for our use and don't need to make any more, I have asked Paul to be  a guest writer on my blog this week. I have complete faith in this recipe and he enjoys writing about food as well.

(Paul). As an avid follower of Pauline's blog, I am honoured to be invited to be her guest on the Happy Retirees Kitchen blogspot. Towards the end of each autumn I search the markets and greengrocers for one of my favourite fruits, one in short supply in the tropics - the humble quince. I first came upon quince paste on a cheese platter, a "Maggie Beer" product that was perfect with King Island Brie!  Subsequently, in Spain, I found large blocks of the same "membrillo", which they used to sweeten stews and curries. I love it on a cracker with any soft cheese, any blue cheese, any cheese in fact.

Below is a photo of crates of quinces taken by Paul at a market in Fes in Northern Morocco where he and Mrs. S were on holiday last year. Morocco is truly quince land.

This is a very simple recipe, but not an easy one to make. Quinces are initially extremely hard, so peeling and coring the yellow fruit are a chore. As the peeled fruit discolours easily, keep your sliced quinces in water. The fruit has to be softened by boiling - it is rock hard to begin with! Once the sugar is added, the mixture requires regular stirring for around three hours! You keep stirring until the thick mixture is a deep red in colour, and all the water has been evaporated.

Quince paste makes a welcome gift, as Mrs. HRK can attest!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

8 quinces (peeled, cored, and chopped)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup of water
5 cups of sugar

Method:

Place the chopped quinces, water and lemon juice in a large heavy based saucepan/pot. Place on high heat to steam the fruit. When the quinces are soft, use a stick blender to blitz to a slurry. Add the sugar and start stirring, continuing regularly to ensure the sweet mixture does not stick to the bottom.

After the quinces have turned to the bright red colour, pour the mixture into a cake tin or similar, cool, and then refrigerate into a firm block which, kept in the fridge, will provide for 12 months of cheese platters.

Photo 1: The quinces have softened, the blender has liquefied the fruit, and the sugar has been added.

Photo 2: After an hour of stirring, the mixture has started to gain colour around the edges and base.

Photo 3: The beautiful red colour has finally arrived, after all that interminable stirring

Photo 4: In a cake tin or mould, your quince paste is ready to cool and refrigerate

If you have read to the end of Paul's quince cooking journey, and I thank him for doing this, I have to tell you it's been an interesting few days.

 This post for me will always be tinged with a little shock and drama. As I was almost finished loading this story and ready to post at 5 pm on Saturday, Mr. HRK appeared at the door holding his hand upright, rather pale, and said "I've hurt myself and it's serious." I had heard him using the table saw in his shed but that happens frequently as he is a DIY kind of guy. You never know how you are going to react in this situation do you? However I managed to dial 000, the ambulance paramedics came, he was taken to hospital emergency,  and by the time I was allowed to see him, two fingers on his left hand, index and third finger had been cleaned and bandaged up, and he had charmed all the nurses.

 He had surgery on his hand Sunday morning,  and recovered well. He has managed to damage the bone on his index finger and that finger has now been amputated to just above the knuckle and the finger next to it is damaged but just has to heal. After all these years of his constructing so many projects in his shed using a variety of equipment, this shows it can happen to anyone. He is home now, and life will be pretty quiet for him now for a while as his hand heals. It could have been a lot worse. The paramedics and the staff of the Mackay Base Hospital have been absolutely wonderful and we are so thankful for that. It's life in the slow lane now for us for a while.

Thanks for dropping by,

Pauline

Honey-Cinnamon Roasted Quinces

Ripening quinces

Slow roasted quinces ready to eat

Click here for recipe:

Quinces.  This recipe for slow roasted quinces has resulted in 6 delectable soft fleshed fruit, and a uniquely flavoured, sweet pink syrup which can be stored for a couple weeks in the fridge. It is adapted from Matthew's recipe  in the latest edition of Feast magazine, where he grows his own quinces in Tasmania.

This is warm comfort food on a cool Autumn night. It's May, and I've only just discovered quinces for the first time at the supermarket, thanks to a tip off from our friend Paul, and marvel at the transformation which takes place in the kitchen when they are baked or poached. The flesh of this yellow and knobbly fruit changes within a few hours to a deep ruby red colour, with an intense, Middle Eastern flavour, filling the kitchen with an intoxicating fragrance. After all, this fruit originated from exotic Persia (Iran) in the Middle East, and belongs to the same family as the Rose, the Rosaceae family, being also related to apples and pears. That is some pedigree.The Portuguese for quince is marmello,which evolved into the word marmalade in the English and French language.