Autumnal abundance is very satisfying but when you cannot eat your pickings fast enough you need to put produce by for the winter. An easy option is to freeze crops but I have a small freezer and prefer not to rely entirely on the freezer. So bottled tomatoes and chilli jam are a store cupboard staple for me.

I have a collection of preserving jars which I use for tomatoes, mostly the clip top type, these are excellent as there is no need to tighten the lid on a hot jar as with the screw top jars, heated air just hisses out. You do need to get hold of new rubber sealing rings if the existing ones looks at all worn, but a cheap rubber ring is a small price to pay for a litre or so lovely homegrown goodness ready to use in the middle of winter. My method is to peel and pack tomatoes into a clean jar pressing down so there is no air in the jar, or fill with a passata or sauce. I then put into an oven on the lowest setting for about an hour. When the contents are just showing a hint of bubbling it is hot enough and you can allow to cool, I have to nudge the setting of the oven up a tiny bit for 10-15 mins to reach the bubbling stage. Too hot too quickly and the tomatoes will boil with messy results. Once cool test that the lid is held on by a vacuum, unclip wire and lift by the glass lid, it should stay firmly in place.

Chilli jam is something I have a real taste for, it goes well with cheese on crackers and in sandwiches. Nigella Lawson has a good recipe based on jam sugar and peppers, but as I have a lot of apples I like to make an apple jelly which then has chilli added.

Basic jelly.
1.5kg – 2kg apples, chopped and put in a big pan, skins and cores included. Add just enough water to nearly cover the apple and simmer for an hour, mashing a few times to produce a smooth pulp.

When this has slightly cooled ladle into a jelly bag over a pan or jug. Do not press pulp but allow liquid to gravity drip for several hours, I find this produces a litre of clear apple liquor. If this liquor were to be heated up with 1 kg jam sugar or ordinary sugar plus a sachet of pectin it will set into an apple jelly on cooling, but I want to spice it up.

Chilli jelly
Get 6 or 7 jams jars clean and ready to fill, check lids, dry jars and lids in the oven.
Heat up the approximately 1 litre of apple liquor and add finely chopped chillies to taste, simmer for a few minutes to soften chillies. I used 12 fresh Aji Limon chillies and included seeds (about 100g), also a juice of half a lemon, some dried chilli powder can also be added now if desired. Next add the 1 kg sugar plus a sachet of pectin or 1 kg jam sugar. Heat and stir until sugar has dissolved and it is nearly boiling. Turn off heat and allow to cool somewhat before ladling into jars, it is very important that it is not put into jars very hot or all the chopped chilli will rise to the top. After about half an hour off the heat the side of the pan should be comfortable to touch and the jelly just beginning to thicken yet still be easy to pour and ladle, a jam funnel is very helpful or just transfer to a Pyrex jug then pour into jars. Tighten lids.

Another variation used the same basic quantities but started by frying in a large pan; 150 grams shallots, 150g red sweet pepper, 150g mixed red chilli (I included some habanero), 3 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp ginger until, all very finely chopped, fry for a few minutes until softened. Then add 2 tsp sesame oil and 2 tbsp fish sauce, and 50 ml wine vinegar.
Thereafter as before, to the shallot mixture in the pan add the 1 litre apple liquor and the 1kg sugar plus pectin, heat and jar once semi-cooled. This is a South East Asian inspired concoction, the fish sauce might sound a bit weird but it adds an umami yummyness, and the sweet peppers and shallot thicken and colour the jam nicely.