Okay, that may have been a little misleading – I have two quinces. See them there, next to the apple [on the counter I cleaned just for you]?
I grew those beauties! And tonight they become quince compote. I’ll be serving them, Hungarian style, as the accompaniment to home made chicken schnitzel. No rice, no pasta, no potatoes – just schnitzel and quinces. The two flavours and textures compliment each other beautifully.
Okay, now for a mini cooking class, and for once I actually took pics as I prepared the quinces. I don’t know what’s the matter with me, such efficiency is not normal. 😉
1. First, peel your quince.
As you can see, I’m using a fairly heavy duty peeler.
That’s because raw quince is as hard to peel as pumpkin. Harder, actually, as you can’t afford to chop away half the fruit with the peel.
Do persevere though, and when you’re done, run the fruit under cold water as it browns very quickly once it’s naked.
2. Cutting, my way.
Like a pumpkin, raw quince is very dense, and the core is hard to get out, so this is my way of making life easier on myself.
Cut the quince in half as shown in the photo to the left.
Then cut it into quarters, and finally into eighths.
Again, as you cut, dunk the cut pieces into water.
3. Exit the core.
This cutting is like origami in reverse, but when you’re down to eighths, you can quite easily cut that section of core out using a sharp knife held at an angle.
Once the bits of core are out, you should be able to slice the remaining flesh quite easily.
I’m an impatient cook so I tend to slice the quince quite fine as it takes longer to cook than, say, an apple.
4. Into the pot.
Most recipes I found online called for insane amounts of sugar – i.e. 1 cup of sugar per 2 cups of liquid. I like to be able to taste the flavour of the quince, and I admit I don’t have a sweet tooth, so my version calls for about 3 cups of water to 1/2 a cup of sugar.
Using whichever set of ingredients you prefer, combine the sugar and water in a pot large enough to take the quinces and bring to the boil.
Pour the sliced quince into the sugar syrup. Jiggle the pot to get the quince settled into the syrup.
Bring the pot to the boil again, and then turn down to the gentlest simmer. Partially cover the pot with a lid – i.e. so the syrup doesn’t evaporate too quickly but steam can escape. Then simmer gently for about an hour until the quince are tender.
Tah Dah!
Because I didn’t use a lot of sugar, the quince haven’t gone that delicate shade of pink you’re supposed to get, but I think they taste better. 🙂
Serve hot with a meat [pork is lovely too], or allow to cool and have as a dessert with cream or ice-cream.
And now an apology. I know I’ve been slack lately, but I’ve been working hard trying to get myself some paid employment. I hope to have some news on that front later in the week. Until then, have a great weekend. 🙂
cheers
Meeks
April 11th, 2014 at 5:43 am
[…] of bloggers, some named below and others who also have a knack with good food such as Ardys, Meeks, roughseas, Marianne of East of Malaga and Sandra of Notes on A Spanish […]
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March 11th, 2014 at 1:38 pm
Now I’ve got find out when Quince is in season in this hemisphere and try your recipe. I know that a friend down in Virginia has Quince growing near her. Definitely discussing this when I visit later this month.
Yum!
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March 13th, 2014 at 8:00 am
They ripen in autumn down here so you may have to wait a few months but they’re definitely worth a try. 🙂
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March 11th, 2014 at 12:20 am
How nice it is to harvest your own fruit. I was so proud of my little crop of four lemons. Congratulations on your bumper crop!
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March 11th, 2014 at 11:28 am
lol – thanks Honie. I’m a very long way from self sufficient but I get a huge kick out of being able to put some home grown produce on the table. And it tastes so much better too. 😀
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March 10th, 2014 at 10:10 pm
Yum, yum. I like quinces, and I appreciate that they are only seasonally available. I will hunt them down in the Vic Market this week. It is a long time since I have cooked schnitzel, so it may be time for that too. One night’s dinner sorted. 🙂
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March 11th, 2014 at 11:26 am
-grin- Happy to be of service. 😀 I find I don’t mind cooking so much if I don’t have to think too hard about /what/ to cook!
Enjoy!
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March 10th, 2014 at 6:17 am
Quince and crispy crumby chicken, sounds delicious enough to dog my thoughts until I get around to finding quinces etc to execute the recipe myself.
Your kitchen bench got my attention also, not because it was cleared, nice basil too, but because it’s the same too as my old kitchen, so made me a little nostalgic.
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March 10th, 2014 at 11:00 am
Ah. 🙂 I must admit I really like my benchtop. It kind of reminds me of granite or marble or something, and it’s stood up to 9 years of wear and tear pretty well.
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March 10th, 2014 at 4:19 am
OMG, WordPress just let me comment on your blog! 😀 It’s the power of quince!
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March 10th, 2014 at 10:58 am
Yay! I don’t know what they’ve done, or not done, but it’s great to have you back. 🙂
Maybe in a year or two I’ll be able to look at my comments without having to go through the error console first. We live in hope.
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March 10th, 2014 at 4:19 am
Sounds yummy! 😀
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March 10th, 2014 at 10:56 am
🙂
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March 10th, 2014 at 1:21 am
Phew, big sigh of relief. I saw the title Ah Haz Quinces and thought you’d caught some unbearable disease for a minute. I was going to ask how long you’re in quarantine for.
Well done. They look to be a nice size and very healthy which is not something I usually say without getting slapped.
xxx Hugs Galore xxx
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March 10th, 2014 at 10:56 am
lmao – I wonder how many other people will now look at me sideways!
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March 10th, 2014 at 12:42 am
I have never eaten a quince. They look just like an apple. Is the taste comparable?
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March 10th, 2014 at 10:55 am
Mmm…quince has quite a distinctive flavour – maybe like a cross between an apple, a pear and something a little ‘spicier’? Really hard to describe.
A lot of deli’s here stock a kind of quince butter. There’s no butter in it, but the quince is boiled down until it has the consistency of very firm jelly. It’s delicious but I still prefer the freshly cooked fruit. 🙂
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March 10th, 2014 at 11:07 am
Sounds much healthier than actual butter!
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March 10th, 2014 at 5:38 pm
lol – so long as you don’t count the sugar!
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March 10th, 2014 at 12:21 am
I had friend in Waterloo with a quince tree but I moved before i could taste them. She loved them, too. I grew up using applesauce (no sugar) with chicken and pork.
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March 10th, 2014 at 10:52 am
Now that’s interesting. The apples I used are very tart so I’m guessing you would use one of the sweet varieties?
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March 10th, 2014 at 11:25 am
Yes, not the very tartest ones, as they tend not to soften when cooking as much either. But not the mushiest sweetest ones either. 🙂
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March 10th, 2014 at 5:40 pm
We’re coming into apple season here so I might try apple sauce with some royal galas. They’re sweet but not excessively. Thanks for the tip.
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March 9th, 2014 at 11:33 pm
Impressive! The kitchen bench that is. If yours is anything like mine it would have been as much effort to empty it as it would have been to do the cooking. 😉
Of course the quinces you grew are too (yay for home grown stuff), and the first thing I thought when I saw the finished product was, ‘mmmmm, with juicy pork’. Hope you enjoyed your dinner. 🙂
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March 9th, 2014 at 11:58 pm
-grin- My reputation is shot, isn’t it? Yes, that counter hasn’t looked that good in ages. 😀
And yes! Dinner was great if I do say so myself. I would have made pork to go with but didn’t have any in the freezer and I was too lazy to go out shopping.
With pork I tend to make quince [in season], Granny Smith apple sauce or morello cherry sauce. All three have a tart element to them that is perfect with pork.
Hmm…I do have some quince left. Maybe I’ll do some shopping tomorrow after all .:)
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March 9th, 2014 at 9:34 pm
What’s the Hungarian for “Nadzrowie!”? 🙂
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March 9th, 2014 at 11:53 pm
-blinks- does that mean quince in Polish? If so then the Hungarian is ‘birsalma’. I don’t know what the ‘birs’ part means but ‘alma’ means apple. 🙂
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March 10th, 2014 at 6:33 am
Erm… it’s Polish for “Cheers!/Good health!”, so, you know, I was sorting of… erm.. doesn’t matter 😉 🙂
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March 10th, 2014 at 11:01 am
-giggles- I got that totally wrong didn’t I? Szavos! 😀
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