Posted by foodonastump on Wed, Aug 20, 08 at 11:29 Every Christmas my aunts send "Quittenspeck" which would literally translate to Quince Bacon. It looks similar to the paste recipes, but here are the notes that my mom has from when she made "a good batch" with my grandmother in 1971: Approx 5 pds of quince and 1 pd. of sugar Quarter, peel and core the fruit Cook peels and cores in a bit of water until soft, strain Cook the fruit in the juice until soft (about 20 min.), puree Measuring equal weights of puree and sugar, stir in sugar until well dissolved. Boil, stirring constantly, until the puree starts to stiffen. Pour into glass or china platter to about 1/2" thick, chill, cut into desired shapes, roll in sugar. Store between wax paper layers.

Seaglassgirl: Quince grow really well here in the central valley, so they aren't hard to find at the farmers' markets. Quince MUST be cooked to be eatable; raw they are tasteless and extremely tart; once cooked they are ambrosia. sorellina: no I haven't made them all, but I'm working on it. QUINCE, GINGER, AND PECAN CONSERVE In this recipe we slowly "double-cook" the quince, which prevents the fruit from crystallizing and heightens the pinkish- orange color it turns when cooked. 1/2 cup pecans 3 medium quinces (about 1 1/2 pounds total) a 1-inch piece fresh gingerroot 1 3/4 cups sugar 3 cups water 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon salt Preheat oven to 350F. On a baking sheet in middle of oven toast pecans in one layer until golden, about 10 minutes, and when cool coarsely chop. Peel, quarter, and core quinces. Cut quarters lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices and cut each slice crosswise into 6 pieces. Peel gingerroot and cut into fine julienne strips. In a 3-quart heavy saucepan bring quince, gingerroot, and all remaining ingredients except pecans to a boil. Simmer mixture, covered, stirring occasionally, 2 1/2 hours (quince will be deep pinkish orange). Cool mixture in pan, covered, at room temperature at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. Return pan to heat and simmer mixture, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Stir in pecans and transfer conserve to a bowl to cool completely. (Conserve keeps, covered and chilled, 1 month.) Serve conserve with meats, cheeses, and crackers. Makes about 2 cups.  Gourmet January 1998 Epicurious Food © 2000 CondéNet Inc. All rights reserved. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Quince Jelly scented with Vanilla Makes about 4 to 5 8-oz jars 4 lbs. quinces, cut into pieces 1 vanilla bean sugar 2 Tbsp. lemon juice Place the quince pieces and the vanilla bean in your preserving pot and add enough water to completely cover them. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes, until the quinces are very soft. Mash the quince pulp with a potato masher and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Remove the vanilla bean. Transfer the mixture to a dampened jelly bag or a colander lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth. Let the juice drip through overnight. The next day, measure the juice; there should be about 4 cups. Discard the pulp. Prepare the preserving jars. In your preserving pot, combine the quince juice and 3/4 cup of sugar for each 1 cup of juice. Add the lemon juice. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil rapidly, stirring often, for about 20-25 minutes, or until the jelly tests done. Stir more often towards the end of the cooking time to prevent scorching. Remove from the heat, stir and skim off foam if necessary. Pour the jelly into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Wipe the rims clean. Seal according to manufacture's directions. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes. NOTE: If you cannot use a vanilla bean, substitute 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract, adding it just before the jelly is poured into the jars. Joyce >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Subject: baked quinces Hello, I was skimming the web for a recipe for quince jam and came across your site, which I think is great, and no fruit deserves one more. Someone was enquiring after recipes for baked quinces, and I reproduce below a recipe from Claudia Roden's 'Mediterranean Cookery', which is very simple and nice, but I also often bake quinces just as an alternative to poaching or stewing them, because they need less watching and get lovely caramelised edges. I peel, core and quarter four or so quinces, and cut the quarters in half. I put these in a baking dish, pour over about a cup of water and sprinkle over 6-8 tablespoons sugar, cover the dish with foil and put into a moderate oven. Once the quinces soften and release some juice (after an hour or so) I remove the foil and let them cook until they're a good deep colour (probably another hour or two - I don't count, you can tell this is a weekend dish). If the edges are browning too much, you can loosely cover again with foil, turn the oven down a bit or turn over the darker pieces. Warm or cold, these are lovely with yoghurt - I eat them like this for breakfast and feel like a queen. Adding vanilla (a piece of split pod is best) to the poaching or baking liquid also enhances its aromatic quality, and once quinces are cooked, you can use them in most recipes in place of apples or pears. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cranberry-Quince Chutney Yields: 4 cups One 12-ounce pkg. cranberries, thawed 1 c. chopped onion 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1 c. orange juice 1/4 c. apple-cider vinegar 1 Tbsp. minced garlic 4 quinces, peeled and chopped 1/2 c. dried currants 2 Tbsp. chopped crystallized ginger 1/4 c. honey 1 tsp. grated lemon rind 1. In a 4-quart saucepan, combine cranberries, onion, brown sugar, 1/2 cup orange juice, vinegar, and garlic. Bring to a boil over high heat and cover. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 2. Stir in quinces, currants, remaining 1/2 cup orange juice, and ginger. Cover and cook until quinces are fork-tender  30 to 40 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in honey and lemon rind. Let cool 15 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container and store, refrigerated, up to 1 week. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I think this is from Daisy Duckworth Mostarda di Venezia: 1.8 kg quinces 1 bottle white wine 1 unwaxed lemon, grated rind juice of, suger (1-1.2 kg) 8 tablespoons English mustard flour, 250g candied peel chopped into small cubes.(not horrible cheap sticky stuff, but delicious dryish whole peels, try your nearest italian deli.) Roughly chop quinces, add to the wine, lemon rind and juice, boil for 40 minutes. Sieve the mixture, or put through a food mill, weigh, add the same weight of sugar. Return to the pan, mix the mustard to a paste with a little hot water, add to the puree, along with 1 teaspoon salt and the candied peel. Cook gently until the mostarda is dense and deeper coloured - about 20-30 minutes, stirring a lot. Pot in jars in the usual way, leave a month or two, then enjoy with any cold meat. (from How to Eat by Nigella Lawson, also a big quince fan.)

Some fruit more heavily than others. My grandmother had a very productive strain of C.japonica. I used to eat those exquisitely sour fruits when I was a kid. Have seen claims that you could substitute Chaenomeles fruit for Cydonia in any quince marmalade recipe. Think I have cored and cooked them, similarly to Cydonia quince fruits, and they're good...albeit a lot smaller.

I don't know the name(s) of ours; they were bought at different times but look like they're all the same kind. They could be the variety you describe: the fruit corresponds, but I haven't seen our trees getting big, though one will have to pruned lower this year. I don't know if they've just grown slowly (no water or fertilizer) or if they naturally stay the size of a large shrub. They seem to want to develop a shrubby habit. Ours fruited heavily this year. Up to this year we've left most of the fruit on the tree. On the other hand I've never had our soil tested for its mineral content. The clay, once adequately amended with organic matter, seems to be good for a lot of plants. I take note of your comments about potassium. N.B. we had just the first tree for a while and it did fruit, so I take it it's not a self-sterile kind. By the way, you mentioned in another thread that the during the process of decomposition organic matter in the soil will consume nitrogen, making it desirable to add nitrogen for the plants growing there. Does it make a difference if the organic matter was collected while still alive (hay, pruned live twigs and canes) or had died (dead leaves and organic detritus)? Seems I read something about this once.