Cooked quince…

We will have organic quince at the markets now through mid-January.  Quince seem to draw as much curiosity as they do confusion; however, they are a wonderful side dish during this time of year because they pair nicely with so many things.  Marsha makes wonderful cooked quince that we have enjoyed with both Thanksgiving turkey and with Christmas prime rib.  She shared her recipe below…

Cooked Quince with Raisins

4 quince
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
10 whole cloves
1 crystallized or regular piece of ginger (cut into small pieces)
1/2 cup raisins

Rinse off the quince, it isn’t necessary to peel them. If they are too hard to cut through raw, put them in a pot of water and allow them to simmer on low heat covered for 25 minutes to soften them up. Allow them to cool a bit before cutting, and then you can cut into bite size pieces and remove the seeds, like you would with an apple.  Put them in a pot and squeeze half of a lemon over them, and then cut up the juiced lemon half and add the rind to the pot. Add the sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Cook over a low heat for another 20 minutes or so. When quince are done cooking they turn a pinkish, cranberry color and you can add the raisins if you like.