i made quince paste!

everyone who cooks

has that giant stack of recipes

somewhere - in a binder,

a notebook, a file on the computer,

in their minds - titled

some variation of,

to make, some day.

while this is certainly true

for me, i have about five or six

that have stayed at the very

top of the list for years,

seemingly always edged

out by another recipe

or simply, because

it's the wrong season.

but somehow,

over the past week

(and this one that i'm

going to tell you about today,

a little longer ago),

i've made my way through

four of them.

yes, four, after years of waiting.

i can't believe it either.

i'm not sure if i just

got it together or

it was the pressure (um, inspiration)

of this blog, but somehow,

i did it. i can attest that three

were a huge success. the other

one? we're having tonight

for dinner, so i'll let you

know soon.

first up?

obviously, quince paste,

also known as membrillo.

i had my first bite

of manchego and membrillo

years ago at a press party in

california. the combination -

hard salty cheese

on top of the orange fruity paste -

and i became fast friends,

mostly because all the other

passed options were

filled with meat or

wrapped with bacon.

after that, quince paste

sort of floated in and out

of my life, sometimes popping

up on cheese and dessert plates,

or on delicious crostinis.

somewhere along the way,

i looked it up,

found this recipe that

looked simple enough

and made a mental note.

but that was out.

this year, larry and i welcomed

in the new year at home

and to celebrate, i made us

a cheese plate. after picking

out the cheeses,

my eyes fell upon the pricey

quince paste.

we had had a rough week

and i decided to splurge.

it was so worth it and

absolutely the best

thing for a cheese plate,

which, um, hello?

of course it was.

but really, the sweet, firm

almost gumdrop-like

paste was delicious

next to the soft

and firm cheeses alike.

this is not just a

manchego condiment.

but we had a lot

left over and i was determined

for it not to go to waste.

true inspiration came

the next time i was making

turkey burgers. i usually stuff

them with boursin and then

never know what to put

on top. i've tried lots of condiments

to not so favorable results and just

dry, which is also not

ideal.

i cut very thin slices and placed

them on top of the patty.

it was amazing and i was so

happy to have solved

my always-forget dilemma.

only problem?

there was no way that i

was spending $7.99 again.

so i revisited the recipe,

but then realized that directions

meant very little

without quince,

the apple-looking fruit that

is used as the base.

so i put the recipe

again to the back of my mind.

then, months later,

larry was meeting

friends for dinner and i decided

to stop at a different

grocery store to pick up a few things.

right there, quince for just $1.99 a pound.

i remembered two pounds

and grabbed four, hoping

my memory was not failing me.

it didn't and when i got home

and consulted the recipe,

i was relieved to note that the only

other things i needed

were sugar and water,

two items that are always

easy to come by in this house.

the proccess looked easy.

i just had to set the quince in

the oven to bake for two hours,

peel them, puree them,

then stir the puree together

with sugar until firm,

pour into a mold, wrap

and wait.

in theory, it's that easy.

but i think quince are typically

available in the fall

and that is probably the best

time to make this dish

if you are, like me,

in a kitchen without

an air conditioner.

once they were peeled

and pureed, they were supposed

to go through a strainer.

i started to, but i quickly realized

i wasn't going to make it

through all the batches

with my sanity still in tact

and that the texture was smooth

enough for me. so i stirred

the one strained bowlful

back into the rest of it and

crossed my fingers that it

would balance everything out.

i tasted the pale beige mixture

just before simmering and it

looked and tasted like baby food,

nothing like the silky paste

i've enjoyed in the past.

i set the timer for 25 minutes,

turned on the burner

and started simmering.

when you're alone and stuck

with a mind-numbing task,

you need to make deals with yourself

to get through.

so, i promised myself

i wouldn't look at the clock for at least 10

minutes. instead, i would carefully

examine the puree, watching

for color or texture differences

and think about how at least when

you make risotto, the constant stirring

is broken up by occasionally adding

broth to the pan. soon, i knew it hadn't

been 10 minutes, but i had to look.

23:39.

oh no.

so i made a decision that i was

early enough in the process that i could

stop stirring for the 15 seconds

that it would take for me to run

and turn on the cd player

in the living room,

taking my chances with whatever

disc was inside.

the five indigo girls songs that

followed made the entire situation

so much more manageable.

in between closer to fine

and least complicated,

i was actually able to ignore

how hot i was and appreciate

that after about 10 minutes of

stirring, the puree had deepened

in color a bit,

and with 5 minutes more,

the texture had changed considerably.

(my neighbors, on the other hand,

probably were not so happy.)

the recipe had read to stir for 25 minutes,

or until it is thickened and the mixture

pulls away from the pan.

with about 3 or 4 minutes left,

the texture did change,

but not quite like the directions had said.

so i kept stirring

and after 25 minutes were

up, i held on for two extra minutes,

before deciding that i had

probably put in

several minutes of overtime.

i quickly poured the paste

into the readied loaf pan

(i don't have a terrine).

once cool, i wrapped it up

and stuck it in the fridge.

it no longer looked like

baby food, i thought -

much more membrillo-like.

it wasn't until the next day

that i realized i don't very often

put out cheese plates

and that it might be quite

a while until i actually

would need or even use the paste.

thank goodness the recipe says

that you have three months.

it took a while, but i made

the turkey burgers and while

i worried that the paste was

too firm thanks to the

overzealous cooking,

once put on the hot burger,

it softened.

and oddly enough,

we ended up with a few

cheeses recently,

and i was very excited

to pull out the loaf and cut

off another slice.

just as the purchased

membrillo was

8 months earlier,

this one was a delicious

sweet foil for the

rich cheeses.

i still have a bunch

left - i'm formulating

plans. but i'm so glad

that i finally got my

act together and made

a batch. now that i did

it, i have no idea

why it took me so long.

quince paste (membrillo)

adapted from gourmet magazine

with the exception of straining, i followed this recipe exactly. i wanted to use less sugar, but i was too afraid that the mixture wouldn't gel. so i used almost all of it all - and while it's a bit of a sweet food on its own, that's not usually how you eat it. with cheese or on a turkey burger, it's exactly right. if you have help - someone else to take turns stirring or to help you pour into the terrine, you'll be happy - but if not, go for it anyway. i did it alone and lived to tell the tale. just have good music on standby.

4 medium quinces (about 2 pounds total)

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup water

2 to 3 cups sugar

heat oven to 350˚f. lightly oil a 1 quart terrine or loaf pan.

wash quinces; dry well. place quinces in a heatproof baking dish. cover tightly with foil and bake 2 hours or until quince can be pierced easily with a fork. transfer quince to a rack until cool enough to handle. using sharp knife, peel, core and cut them.

in food processor, puree pulp with 1/4 cup water. blend until smooth adding extra 1/4 cup water, if necessary (note, this took me the full 1/2 cup water). you can strain it here into a bowl if you want, i didn't.

measure puree. measure out an equal amounto of sugar (example: if you have 2 1/2 cups of puree, use 2 1/2 cups of sugar). i had about 2 2/3 cups of puree and i used just under that amount of sugar (about 2 1/2 cups).

add puree and sugar to a heavy three quart saucepot. heat over medium-high heat for 25 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the mixture is thickened, changes color and pulls away from the pan. immediately turn off the heat, pour the puree into the greased pan and use an offset spatula to smooth down the top. loosely cover with plastic wrap and chill 4 hours, or until firm.

run knife around mold and invert onto plate. use, or wrap well: wrap in wax paper, then in plastic wrap and chill. it will keep for up to three months.