Fresh quinces - what can I make?

[3littlefrogs]

Just that really. Bag of fresh quinces arriving shortly and I haven't a clue what to do with them, but don't want to seem ungrateful or wasteful.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[gemmiegoatlegs]

eat them with a runcible spoon?

[Donk]

Quince Jelly
Yum!

[vonsudenfed]

stew them - they take ages to cook, (an hour or more if I remember right) - and then add some apple towards the end, as it takes on the scent of the quinces really well.

Then just eat this with cream, or make into a crumble.

Or you can just leave them in a bowl on the kitchen table, and your house will smell lovely.

[MamaHobgoblin]

I usually forget to use them, but they perfume my fridge for months! They are lovely with apples in a pie or crumble. Think Nigella puts them in brandy for christmas with spices, but they'd have to be very pungent. Make Membrillo (sp?) and eat with hard cheese?

[3littlefrogs]

Ok - I have what seems to be the contents of a whole tree in my kitchen.

Half of them are greenish lemon shaped things, and half of them look like large yellow plums, but are definitely not plums. Are there different sorts of quince?

The person who gave them to me has gone on holiday.

I know i could google this but i am just leaving for work and will not be back tillafter about 8 pm.

Do I need to peel them or otherwise prepare them before cooking? Do they have seeds and do they need to be removed?

could i stew and freeze them?

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed....

[vonsudenfed]

Treat them just like an apple - peel, core and chop. But they take ages - much longer than an apple - to get soft.

And yes, you can stew and freeze them. Or make quince jelly/quince paste to go with cheese.

I haven't got time to type it up at the moment, but the best book is Jane Grigson's Fruit Book, which has loads of quince recipes. If you google her + quince recipe, you'll get a few. I found one for quince liqueur which looked nice.

As to whether there are different sorts, I have no idea. But if the yellow plummy ones are not hard, they are not quinces, which are like rocks in my experience.

And if you do want a recipe for something in particular, shout and I'll see what I can do.

[pooka]

My aunt made some fantastic quince gin. Takes a while to mature I believe, so delayed gratification but it was stupendous (and I hate gin).

[juliax3]

oh, i envy you! the lovely, lovely smell of quinces. i would also make jelly with it.

[3littlefrogs]

Here i am again - have been at work all week, so am now attempting to tackle the quinces. I have peeled and cored one....it was very hard...I am not sure that I can face peeling and coring the other 59. They have loads of seeds inside too.

Can I stew them whole??? I am really not a lazy person, but I have also got several kilos of apples to stew and freeze (and the earwigs inside my tee shirt, and the leaves in my hair) and I only have a couple of hours.

I had a teenager to help for all of 5 minutes, but he has got bored and gone off....