SPICY WILD PLUM SAUCE AND PLUM MARMALADE WITH A ZING

This spicy and sweet plum sauce will taste wonderful with cheese, in stir fries, with pork etc. My son has it for breakfast on his toast!
I made it from wild yellow plums, but any type will do well.

2 kg plums, stoned and quartered
750 g apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1 cm chunks
1 medium onion, any colour
4 cloves of garlic, minced (I used my homegrown!)
2,5 dl white wine vinegar
2,5 dl white malt vinegar
2,5 dl balsamic vinegar
500 g dark muscovado sugar
2 cm piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into fine splinters
2 long red chillies
2-4 dried red chillies, crumbled
2 teaspoons of ground Chinese 5-spice
1 stick of cinnamon broken into pieces

You will need approximately 5 x 550 ml glass jars, sterilized and warm.

Use a big pan. Put all ingredients in it.

Cook at a steady boil for 1-1 1/2 hours. When it is ready , it will still be runny - remember it is a sauce - but it will become firmer, it will set more while cooling.
Bottle in the jars. Makes approx 2 3/4 litres.

PLUM MARMALADE WITH A ZING

This marmalade/jam should be cooked from a mix of ripe and unripe plums to get enough pectin to set it.
Will make about 1 1/2 kg of marmalade/jam.

1 1/2 kg plums, stoned and quarted (keep the stones)
2 dl water
12 dl (1 kg) sugar
1 lemon, in wedges
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod, halve it and scrape out the seeds
2 star aniseed's
4 x 550 ml jars, sterilized and warm

Put the stones in a fabric parcel.
Gently boil the plums, lemon wedges and the stone parcel with the water for 30 minuter - with the lid on,
Remove the stone parcel and the lemon wedges, add the sugar, a little at a time until it is totally dissolved. Add the spices and boil rapidly without lid for 15 minutes. Pour the marmalade/jam into the jars, put the lids on immediately. Store in a cool place.