Jam is an underrated cooking ingredient for both sweet and savoury dishes
For instance, I always include a couple of teaspoons of bramble or red or blackcurrant jelly in any meat or game casserole. Similarly, a teaspoon of jelly stirred into gravy - whether beef or lamb, or game gravy - gives the flavour a subtle and necessary extra flavour.
And, as you will see from the following recipes, a pot of jam, and I suggest rhubarb and ginger, can form the basis for a delicious sauce to accompany roast game, lamb or ham or pork.
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Hide AdA jar of blackcurrant jam, with a few additions, can transform a cheese into a course - and for this I use a creamy cheese such as the superb Connage brie, or a goats cheese, or a strong cheddar, such as the Isle of Mull. And the Italians make crostata, a simple but excellent pastry and jam torte which can be eaten as a pud or as a breakfast substitute for toast - it knocks spots off croissants.
When I make crostata I include lemon rind in the pastry, which enhances the flavour of the jam. I use our 4 berry jam from my own jam range, but any strawberry or raspberry jam would do just as well. And on a final note about jam and cooking, the combination of jam and vanilla buttercream as a filling for a sponge cake is impossible to better.
• This article was first published in The Scotsman on October 09, 2010