does anyone have any ideas for damsons plz

[northepaul]

If only you lived closer...I have been trying to get my hands on fresh damsons for years

[bluemoon]

Wine, wine, wine and if you've any left over more wine.

[jayjay giant]

Damson wine and damson gin.
You can't go wrong
JJ

[fran]

Agree completely. Drinking mine as we speak!

[Amberlilly]

Has anyone got a nice damson chutney recipe, not too complicated, i'm a simple girl!?

[slooky]

Not sure if the plums we had were a Damson but my Husband made Jam jars and jars of it. I made plum Vodka found a recipe on the internet. Basically plums in a kiln jar Vodka and a bit of sugar, put it in the airing cupboard for 3 months then strain into a bottle . It was lovely and made for a very merry xmas

[wellie]

Amberlilly,
Ooh! You must live 'over the bridge' from us then!!
I can offer you a Damson Chutney recipe, and it's divine. It comes from Sarah Raven's fantastic Garden Cookbook (ISNB 978-0-7475-8870-2) and it goes like this:

For 10-12 jars:
675g soft brown muscovado sugar
225g apples
900g damsons
850ml vinegar (cider or wine vinegar, or a mixture of dark brown malt and one of these)
450g raisins
2 onions
1 tblsp. sea salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
a few chillies, fresh or dried
15g ground allspice
15g ground ginger

Place the packets or bowl of sugar in a very low oven to warm up for about half an hour.

Peel, core and chop the apples. Add to the damsons in a large pan with the vinegar and all the remaining ingredients, except the sugar, and simmer until soft. (Stir the pan regularly to prevent the chutney sticking). Remove from the heat. After this you can don your rubber gloves and pick out the stones if you want to (!)

Add the warmed sugar, put back on the heat and stir constantly over a low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Simmer until the volume is sufficiently reduced to a thick mass. This may take some time and it will be necessary to stir it regularly to keep it from sticking. (Use a heat diffuser if necessary). The mixture will thicken even more when it is cold. but there should not be much excess liquid at the end of cooking time. Spoon into warm sterilised jars, seal and store for a month before use. This chutney keeps really well for up to 2 years.

Note from Wellie: I soaked my damsons in brandy, gin, vodka (not all at the same time or in the same pot, you understand?!) to make Damson Alcohol (no surprises there then!) and then afterwards, I used the alcohol-soaked damsons to make the chutney with. Clever? or Clever?