Blackberry jelly

1kg blackberries
1kg preserving sugar
Juice of 3 large lemons

Method

1. Place the blackberries in a colander and rinse carefully under cold running water. Tip the fruit into a large, heavy-based pan or preserving pan. Add 400ml cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer, very gently, for about 20 minutes, until the fruit is soft and pulpy. Add the preserving sugar and lemon juice. Heat gently, stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved. This will take about 4-5 minutes. Meanwhile, place 2 or 3 small plates or saucers in the fridge to chill.
2. Remove the lid from the pan, bring the mixture to the boil and cook rapidly for 8 minutes. The heat should be sufficiently high so that the mixture bubbles vigorously, but is not so near the top of the pan that it might boil over.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and test to see if the syrup will set by spooning a little onto one of the chilled plates or saucers. Cool for a few seconds, then push the syrup with your finger tip. If it wrinkles slightly on the surface, it has reached setting point. If not, boil for a further 2 minutes and then test again. Repeat this process, if necessary, until setting point is reached.
4. Position a large metal sieve over a large mixing bowl. Fill the sieve carefully with some of the blackberry mixture. Using the back of a large, metal spoon, push the pulp through the sieve into the bowl. When you have extracted as much syrup as you can, discard the seedy pulp left in the sieve. Continue this process with the remaining mixture in the pan until it has all been strained through the sieve.
5. Ladle the strained syrup into clean, sterilised preserving jars (see cook's tips). Cover the surface of the jelly with waxed discs and seal the jar lids with rubber seals. If using jam jars, seal with jam pot covers. Label and store in a cool, dark place.

Rhubarb pudding

1lb rhubarb, peeled and chopped
2 eggs, whisked
4oz brown sugar
2oz plain flour
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1oz melted butter
1/2 pint milk

Method

- Beat 3oz of the sugar into the eggs.
- Add the flour and ginger, beating well.
- Add the butter and milk to form a batter.
- Put the rhubarb and the remaining sugar into a buttered ovenproof dish.
- Pour the batter over the rhubarb.
- Bake at 180 degrees centigrade until golden brown and firm to the touch.

Mrs Cornic's stuffed tomatoes

This recipe for tomates farcies works equally well for courgettes. Many thanks to Mael Cornic for passing on his mother's recipe. We use a lot of ras el hanout - you get a lot of stuffing from this mixture, so up to four tablespoonfuls of ras el hanout is not too much if it's a mildish mix. I know it sounds like too much. I think lamb mince would be a good substitute for the beef/sausage mixture if you didn't want to use pork.

Anyway:

You'll need biggish tomatoes. Cut the top (side opposed to that of the stem) and delicately empty the tomato using a spoon. Keep the flesh. Sprinkle the inside of the tom with salt turn over and leave to rest on a tray. You can also do the same with courgettes and peppers, if you want more variety (I must say the stuffed courgettes are my fave).

For the stuffing for ~8 stuffed veggies you'll need:

- 400g minced beef

- 400g sausagemeat

- 1 big onion, chopped finely

- 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

- 1 small can of tomato puree

- a bunch of parsley, chopped finely

- 1 egg

- salt, pepper, ras el hanout if you have otherwise cumin powder

- breadcrumbs

- vegetable stock

Fry all the meat separately (in butter, yum). In another pan, fry the garlic and onion gently - let to sweat properly. Then add the reserved tomato (and courgette) flesh that you've kept and let reduce. Add the cooked meat. Adjust the tomatoness with tomato puree. Finally crack an egg on top and mix rapidly - that'll bind the stuffing. Adjust seasoning and spice (ras el hanout ideally, cumin otherwise ; go easy on the cumin) and throw in the chopped bunch of parsley. Don't be afraid to turn your stuffing green.

Finally stuff your tomatoes (or other veggies) with that lot, leaving a little mound at the top. Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs. Do not cover the tops with the sliced off tomato top but simply lay them aside in the dish. Lay in an oven proof dish ; moisten the bottom of the dish with vegetable stock. Bung in a hot oven for 35-40 minutes (check that the stock is not drying up ; top up if necessary).

To serve, top the toms or other veggies with their sliced off tops over the breadcrumby bit which should have gone crunchy.