They have a smallish guava tree at their place which produces so many little fruits, it was incredible. They were covering the ground turning it red. So me being me thought I have to do something with all these little fruits, and not let them go to waste. I had never seen the fruit before much less cooked with it, however that didn't stop me collecting a bowl full. It even started to rain when I was collecting them, and I thought maybe this is a sign that these berry's are poisonous and I shouldn't be cooking them, however I persisted and collected a bowl full. When Tracy (my sister in law) got home, she saw the bowl of guavas sitting in the sink soaking and pulled out another two bags from the freezer that she too had collected, as she doesn't like seeing things go to waste either. So we had a mission, to cook something out of these little fruits. Good old google to the rescue - we discovered the different things you can do with them. In the end we decided to make a Jelly, which is much like a jam, but doesn't have the pulp of the fruit - you make it using the liquids.
We needed some mesh to strain it so we set out to a little kitchen shop in Ponsonby called Milly's, its jam packed full with kitchenware's and has every possible kitchen gadget you could ever want to get your hands on. Tracy brought the mesh and the beautiful colander you see in the photos, as well as some awesome gadgets that I will show you in other posts. I ended up buying the cute little jars that I haven't been able to find in Oz, needless to say we were two very happy girls leaving Milly's. If you're ever in Auckland check them out, you're sure to leave with a smile on your dial!
Guava Jelly
1.5 kg guavas
1/2 cup water
2 cups of sugar (amount depends on the amount of juice)
half a lemon
Place the guavas and water into a big saucepan, and boil until the fruit becomes soft and begins to break apart. Remove from the heat, and strain through a piece of mesh for 24 hours.
For every cup of liquid that you get from the guavas, use a cup of sugar. We had 2 cups of juice so used two cups of sugar. Place the sugar and juice into a saucepan and boil for approximately 20 minutes or until the jelly sets when you put a small amount on a plate. Just before you remove it squeeze half a lemon into the mixture.
Pour into some sterilised jars and seal.
Looks delicious.. Never seen guava so small.... The guava we are used to eating is almost the size of on orange with a green outer flesh and pink center.
ReplyDeleteHi Mr and Mrs P,
ReplyDeleteYeah I had never seen such small ones, I had to google to see if my brother was right when he told me they where guavas. They aren't the easiest things to eating as they have a few really hard seeds in them, they are tasty though, but better when cooked I feel. When they are cooking the aroma is magnificent, its intoxicating.
The big pink-fleshed kind (Psidium guajava) is a different species. Here in Hawaii we call these little guys "strawberry guava" and they can be red or yellow. They are Psidium cattleianum.
ReplyDeleteHi Christie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for you message thats really interesting. There called Strawberry guava in NZ to, but thats all I knew. Do the yellow ones taste the same as the red? I am in love with the smell once they are cooked its amazing. I have never seen them in australia but I will have to keep an eye out now I know about them.
Thanks again,
Sophia