Melbourne Cup day; the day of the “race that stops a nation”. Or, in my case, the day of the “race that I am supremely indifferent to, but harbor considerable gratitude towards because of the public holiday that accompanies it”. I had arrived back from a wedding in the early hours of the morning, and instead of pouring myself into bed (which I can assure you was what I really wanted to do) I instead had to madly slice a few kilos of tomatoes and onions so that they could be tossed through with some salt and left overnight to draw out moisture. But it was all worth it when our Ploughman’s lunch came together later in the day! According to Wikipedia, a Ploughman’s lunch is traditional British fare, comprising of bread, butter, cheese and pickle (relish) at a minimum. It’s especially tops when the goodies are home made, which is what we were bringing together today – there really is nothing like freshly made bread. Hosted by two crazy friends who contributed smoked and tasty cheese, boiled eggs and home brewed lager and stout (and a hazelnut slice for afters), we were lucky enough to lure in two new friends for our feast, one of whom is passionate about making his own bread. We had French, Ciabatta and a wholewheat on offer and they were truly excellent.
Another crazy friend brought a whole ham and generous salad and a pumpkin bread for afters; Roger brought nothing. Bald people are like that sometimes. Please note: this is what happens when I am nagged to mention you on my blog. I was on relish duty (hence the grumpy produce-slicing of the night) and turned to my favourite recipe, which I had found some years back on the net – I have no idea where it is from anymore, so my apologies for the lack of acknowledgment.
Tomato Relish
2kg tomatoes, sliced
750gm onions, sliced
handful of salt
660gm sugar
1 1/2 tab curry powder
2 tab + 1 tsp mustard powder
1/4tsp + 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
850ml white vinegar
cornflour, to thicken
Place sliced tomatoes and onions in a bowl, sprinkle over salt, toss and leave overnight, covered, to draw out moisture. The next day, pour off the liquid in the bowl.
Place tomatoes and onions in a large pot, add vinegar and bring to the boil. Add sugar and boil rapidly for 5 minutes. Add the spices, stir and boil gently, uncovered, for 1 hour. Stir whenever you walk past.
To thicken the relish, make a slurry of cornflour and cold water. The amount you use really depends on how thick your relish already is at this point – I can use anything from a tablespoon to 5 or 6 tablespoons of cornflour. Add the cornflour slurry to the relish and stir until it thickens.
Once it cools, you can use it as is or blend briefly in a food processor if you prefer a more even texture.
The tomato relish was & is delicious. I think it would go really well with savoury french toast. All hail left-overs. Might try it out this Saturday for brekky.
We also had home-made iced tea on offer (for a non-alcohol option) – lemon flavoured or peach and raspberry. As well as home pickled vegetables – courteousy of my sister.
And I am sure Roger will mention that he did, in fact, bring a zucchini and aubergine relish, which he purchased at a farmers’ market (in Echuca I think). Ah, what people will do for a little publicity….
I do need to mention that the zucchini and aubergine chutney was purchased from an actual farmer – probably the only person who actually did anything remotely similar to ploughing on that day.