Ovingdean is situated between Rottingdean to the East and Roedean to the West - an exceedingly pretty little village and home to the delightful St Wulfran's Church which dates from the 11th century and is one of the oldest buildings in the City of Brighton and Hove.
More about St Wulfran's here
This was not our first visit here but was the first time we have found the Church open and it was worth the wait! There are some pictures to look at further down.
After a good look round the Church we wandered as we usually do around the graveyard and this one does not disappoint. It's beautifully kept and features some very handsome statuary and graves dating back to the 17th century.
George was getting bored by now so it was time to go apple hunting. We took the path alongside the now derelict Bulstrode's Farm and found plenty of apples and in very little time, but plenty of nettle stings, we had a large bag full.
Home then and straight into the business of cooking the apples to make our locally famous Chilli Jelly. The apples provide a good neutral base in which to suspend either prettily cut fresh chillies or swirls of extra hot chilli flakes. I'm going to use the fresh chillies give to us by a friend who grows them in his garden.
This is how I do it.
In a large preserving pan place 3 - 4lbs of apples. Cover with water and set to cook on a medium heat. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat and allow to simmer until the apples are mush. This takes around two hours. We really want to extract maximum flavour and juice from the apples.
When the apples are fully cooked I set up a rig to strain the cooked juice and separate it from the mush. To make crystal clear jelly the liquid needs to drip through a piece of muslin. Cookbooks make this sound a lot more difficult that it needs to be. I have in the past used a tea towel inside a sieve, a sieve lined with kitchen paper or muslin or very fine netting - any of these will do. The object is to separate the liquid from the mush. In order for the jelly to be absolutely clear never press the apple mush through the sieve or fabric - this will make it cloudy. It has to be left to drip away quietly and thoroughly - set it up and check only that it's not overflowing. Have another pan ready to decant juice into if needs be. If you can leave it to drip overnight so much the better. When it's all done dispose of the leftover mush.
Now all of the liquid in your preserving pan must be set onto a simmer or slow boil to reduce by half. When this is done, measure the volume of liquid you have left and for every pint you will need 1 lb of sugar. Now reduce it again, once more over a lowish heat, until it is again reduced by half. By now the juice will look good and rich - not at all watery.
Remove from heat and add the sugar, stirring it in slowly and gently. Dissolve over a very low heat. When the sugar is completely dissolved ensure that everything you're going to need is at hand. Jars should be sterilised and on a low heat in the oven. Lids ready, chilli flakes or chopped/sliced fresh chillies to hand.
Raise the heat underneath the pan until you reach a rolling boil. At this point add the chillies. It's almost impossible to give quantities - we like it fairly hot so I'd use around 2 dessertspoons of hot chilli flakes or up to 10 fresh chillies.
It's very useful to have a jam thermometer to hand - it will tell you exactly what heat you're looking for to achieve setting point. If you don't have one then you have to check and keep checking. Have several saucers in the fridge and to test for setting point put a spoonful of jelly onto the saucer, allow to cool and push with your finger. If it wrinkles then setting point has been reached. Take care not to cook too much longer after this point - it's easy to go past it and be left with a sticky sugary mess that's not much use for anything and certainly can't be called jam or jelly!
In order for the chillies to appear suspended in the jelly it may need to cool a little in the pan before putting in jars. You'll be able to tell quite easily when this point is.
Ladle your jelly into warmed jars and seal immediately. If it does appear that the chillies are floating to the top turn the jars upside down (Carefully! They're hot!) for a minute or so, then upend to the correct position.
This jelly keeps well - I've got jars from two and three years ago and it only improves with age. Once people taste this it's going to be hard for you to hold on to any for yourself! It's delicious with cheese, excellent with cold meats and a wonderful addition to gravies or marinades.
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