I visited a small strawberry farm in Benoni called Country Kitchen recently where you can go to pick your own strawberries. Summer fruit is coming in and some fresh ripe strawberries was just the motivation to get out from under lockdown.
The “farm” is housed under large constructed greeenhouses so it’s not the being in the fields kind of strawberry farm. However they have a coffee shop and deli (not halaal) and an area where kids can play, so it’s a nice few hours to take the kids for some strawberry picking. It costs R100 a kilo for the strawberries but entry is free.
The crop was a bit early and the strawberries were not that sweet. So rather than stubbornly try to plough through the sour batch I decided to try my hand at some homemade jam. The recipe below is sweet and spicy. I am thoroughly enjoying this flavour combination. The chilli adds a whole new dimension to my English Scones with tea. There are no preservatives so I suggest making a small batch which finishes quickly as it won’t keep as long as commercial jams. It’s inspired by Liz Bauer who I came across on Youtube.
Enjoy and let me know what think or tag me on social media if you try it.
Strawberry Chilli Jam
2 cups Strawberries chopped up
1 1/2 cup Sugar
3 or 4 small red chillies
Wash and cut the strawberries. Wash the chillies, separate from the seeds. Chop finely. Mix all ingredients in a saucepan cook the jam over low heat for 10-15 minutes. And that’s it. It’s that easy to make jam.
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