#101TTDBNT: Number 7
101TTDBNT Number 7 - Dahn't Waste Nuffink
This season's Spiced Damson Chutney is sealed in jars. Call me fastidious... I remove each stone before cooking the fruit. Painstaking, I know, but I am left with one product which fits the discussion here.
A few years back this was my dessert offering for some dinner guests; Prune and Honey Cake with Pressed Apples and Mahlab Cherry Stone Ice Cream from David Everitt-Matthias' book 'Dessert'. It involved ordering and paying for supplies of those unusual, rather bitter cherry stones for the ice cream which I've identified with spray-painty rings below. Used sparingly to steep in the cream before churning, they counteract the rich fruity sweetness from other elements of the dish.
That recipe came to mind as I made my chutney. The resulting stones suddenly became precious things. I was soon to make an almond ice cream. Milk and cream were heated with ground almonds but the most rewarding flavour would come from the addition of a handful of kernels from my damson stones. Each one yielded a small nugget of bitter almonds. A careful hammer tap through a tea towel envelope on a wooden block anvil released the bounty.
It's not a huge victory in the fight against waste but it still makes good sense. Blanched apricot and plum kernels find their way into jams and nougatines. Or toast them and scatter on porridge and tagines. They don't just add flavour. You also have the satisfaction that a little trouble has produced a free ingredient.
Ah, just in case you were wondering... yes, I will hurry to publish #101TTDBNT: Number 7a. It will be aimed just at me and be called, "Stop using silly mock cockney titles right now... most unbecoming".