Fruit Peel Vinegar
Not sure what to do with leftover fruit peel? We have just the remedy in a delicious fruit peel vinegar. This makes an amazing set of gifts if poured into pretty bottles and a perfect base for a salad dressing.
Ingredients
500 grams of fruit peelings, a mix of apple, pear, pineapple, melon or anything else you have to hand, cut into small pieces
80 grams of sugar
140 millilitres of vinegar, containing a live mother, either homemade or shop-bought
Method
Place the fruit peel and sugar in a clean 2-litre jar, then add enough water to cover the peel. Add the vinegar and drape a square of muslin over the top of the jar.
Stir the mixture with a clean spoon once a day for 7 days, by which point the fruit skins will start to ferment. Leave the fruit to 5 to 7 more days, stirring every now and then. Small bubbles should appear in the liquid.
After these 2 weeks, put a fine sieve over a large jug and strain the liquid. Put the liquid (and the mother) back into the jar, cover the top with the muslin and leave it to ferment into vinegar.
Taste the vinegar for acidity after 4 weeks (it could take up to 3 months to fully convert). Once tart enough, strain out the 'mother' and bottle the vinegar, you can use the mother again and again.
The vinegar can age in a cool dark place and the taste will change and become mellower. This will be a delicious base for a salad dressing.
Recipe provided by Mark Breen of Seasonal Kitchen.
