Cara Cara Orange Jam

Ingredients:
8 cups supremed Cara Cara segments
4 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 box liquid pectin (3 oz., one of the little packets in the box)
1/4 cup lemon juice (I used bottled)
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier
zest of 2 Cara Cara oranges


Directions:
Prep jars/lids for canning. Add the orange segments into a large, heavy bottomed pan. Add the sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring and carefully to avoid splashing, break up the segments, occasionally. Boil until it begins to reduce and thicken. Stir in the pectin, Grand Marnier and lemon juice. Continue cooking at a low (rolling) boil for 5-10 minutes or until it looks jammy. Fill the jars leaving 1/4 inch headroom. Process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Yield: 5-6 8-oz jars. I ended up with 5 8-oz, 1 4-oz and a couple of spoonfuls

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Here is a bunch of other canning books and equipment I find useful.

My thoughts:

Today was a busy citrus day at the Rappaport house. I made this jam and marmalade for the first time. I had many pounds of citrus I wanted to use up and marmalade is a lot of fiddly work. I can't imagine doing two batches of that in one day unless a. I suddenly became very, very quick at it or b. someone was paying me. So I started to think of something citrus-y I could make that would be a little less time consuming. Don't get me wrong, it takes a long time to supreme so many oranges but at least I didn't have a peel to worry about and the actual cooking of the jam was quick and easy. I honestly I have never seen a recipe for citrus jam before but I didn't see any reason why it would work or be perfectly tasty. Sort of a marmalade without the candied peel. As it turns out, it makes a lovely jam, freshly orange scented and not as sweet as jelly would have been. The segments almost caramelize and really pop. Since Cara Caras are pink inside, the jam is a pretty orangish rose color. It is yummy on bread etc but I am already thinking of ways to use it in new recipes that need a bit of citrus.

I did "cheat" and added some liquid pectin despite oranges being pretty high in pectin. Cara Caras are seedless and I didn't want to add any bitterness from the peel to the jam. I knew it would easily set up with just a bit of pectin and it did.

Peach Glazed Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb mini meatballs*
8 oz peach jam
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup bourbon
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon ground galangal
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon mace
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
The easiest way: Dump all of the ingredients in a 4 quart slow cooker. Stir. Then cook on low for 4-6 hrs or high for 2-3. Stir again.

The slightly less easy way: Saute the shallots and garlic in a bit of oil. Add the meatballs and warm through. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Pour over the meatballs and heat through.


*Make your own or cheat and use some from Ikea's frozen section. Both work just fine.

My thoughts:

Who doesn't like a meatball? No one I'd care to know. Especially tiny sized ones, the huge meatballs I occasionally encounter can be a bit off putting with their heft. But mini meatballs are a delight and can easily work at dinner time (along side some vegetables and rice) or as an appetizer. For this recipe I used a whole jar of my yummy homemade peach-ginger jam but I think a good quality store bought brand would work just as well. I don't like sweet-sweet foods so the remaining ingredients were savory for the most part.

Kiwi-Mango Jam

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups sugar
4 cups cubed kiwi
2 cups cubed mango (about 3 large mangos)
juice and zest of 1 lime
juice and zest of one lemon
1 box liquid pectin (6 oz, 2 packets)

Directions:
Prep jars/lids. Set aside. Place the sugar, juice/zest, kiwi and mango in a pot. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 15 minutes. Stir in both packets of the pectin. Boil for 1 minute. Ladle into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can.

My thoughts:

It is that time in the winter when I am really craving something fresh and summery. Luckily I have few qualms about buying non-local produce in the winter because nothing is growing locally. Normally, I'd make jam with fruit I picked myself but hey, buying some truly lush kiwi and mangos was easy and made for a satisfying quick project. A little bit of sunshine in January if you will. Mango is a fairly low acid fruit so I added citrus just to make sure the acidity was at a safe level for boiling water canning. I also think it helped the jam maintain an attractive color, kiwi tends to turn sort of yellowish when cooked.

Jammy Oatmeal Streusel Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup white peach & fresh ginger jam
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg

streusel:
1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon roasted ginger powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line or grease and flour one 12 well muffin tin. Use a fork to mix together the streusel topping in a small bowl. In a large bowl, mix together the oatmeal, egg, oil, buttermilk, and sugar. After it is thoroughly mixed, add in the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir to combine. Fill each well in the muffin tin 1/2 of the way. Add a tablespoon of peach jam to the middle of each muffin. Top with remaining batter. Sprinkle with streusel. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the center muffin comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, serve.

My thoughts:

The best part about canning is knowing that you will have a the chance to have a taste of summer during the long, cold winter. Let me tell you, a bite of peach was exactly what I needed when I came back from our two week Caribbean foray and was faced with Baltimore winter. These muffins are a bit more tedious to make than most (the streusel) but it is well worth it. The streusel is crisp and crumbly and makes the muffins a lot more festive than they'd be without it. The jam adds a fruity punch but take care to center it in the batter or it will run and possibly scorch or cause the muffin to break in half when you try and eat it.

Black Mission Fig Jam

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lb Black Mission Figs, quartered & stems removed
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice*
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon bergamot extract

Directions:
Prep jars/lids. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon juice and figs. Bring to a simmer and let it cook for a hour, stirring occasionally and mashing up any big bits. Add the halfway point add the extract. Ladle into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Seal. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Yield: about 4 8-oz jars

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Or check out this online guide.



*I used bottled lemon juice instead of fresh because figs are a low acid fruit and I wanted to make sure that the acid content was high enough to safely use the hot water method. The acidity of fresh lemons can vary but the acidity of bottled lemon juice is constant.

My thoughts:

I am really into figs this year. We planted two fig trees this year and while I don't expect too much of a harvest from them right away, I've been practicing making things with figs lately. I've noticed that Black Mission figs are the most common variety found in grocery stores around here. I actually made two different types of fig jam using two different varieties but since Black Mission will probably be the easiest to find, I thought I'd share this recipe first.

I'm excited about this jam because it was the first one I made without using commercial pectin. I had noticed that the Black Mission figs thickened well when heated while making a different recipe so instead of adding pectin, I just kept cooking the fruit until it turned jammy. It took less time than I thought and honestly didn't require too much hands on time which I appreciated. I added bergamot extract (if you are unfamiliar with bergamot, it is a dominant flavor in Earl Grey tea) which added a slightly bitter citrus note that tempered the figs sweetness. Orange or lemon extract could be substituted for the bergamot if necessary but honestly, it is bergamot extract is well worth seeking out.

Seedless Blackberry Vanilla Bean Jam

Ingredients:
8-10 cups whole, picked over blackberries
4 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 box liquid pectin (3 oz., one of the little packets in the box)
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest of one lemon
3 vanilla beans, scraped


Directions:
Mash the berries through a sieve (use a whisk to get more juice out) or a food mill to remove the seeds. It should yield about 6 cups of pulpy berries. Add the sugar, vanilla bean scrapings and blackberries to a large pot. Tie the vanilla beans together with kitchen twine and attach them to the side of the pan or cut them up and stuff them into a tea ball. Allow to the beans to float in the pan. Prep jars/lids for canning. Bring to a boil. Boil for about 10-15 minutes. Stir in the pectin and lemon juice. Continue cooking at a low (rolling) boil for 5 minutes. Discard the beans. Fill the jars leaving 1/4 inch headroom. Process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes.


Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Here is a bunch of other canning books and equipment I find useful.


Yield: about 7 8-oz jars (I ended up with 3 pint jars and 8 4-oz jars)

My thoughts:

I made this a little earlier in the summer but just opened a jar of it for the first time yesterday. I love the combination of blackberry and vanilla so I was extra interested to see if my jam experiment worked and I was excited to see that it had. I would say the jam is 70% blackberry-y and 30% vanilla-y, which I think is the perfect ratio.

Normally, I don't bother removing the seeds from jam but blackberry seeds are pretty big. I actually sort of like the seeds when I am eating a berry fresh from the bush but in jam, they sort of just make everything crunchy and stick in your teeth. It only took a few minutes to run it through the food mill. I had my husband do it while we watched British television on DVD. Alternately, I think you could mash them through a mesh strainer but that would take quite a bit more muscle. If you don't mind some seeds, de-seeding 50-70% of the berries and leaving the rest whole is another option. So, go hunt down some late summer blackberries and make this jam!

White Peach & Fresh Ginger Jam

Ingredients:
8 cups finely diced white peaches
6 cups sugar
1/4 cup bourbon (optional)
1/4 cup bottled lemon juice*
1 6 oz box liquid pectin (2 packets)
2 inch chunk ginger, peeled

Directions:
Add the sugar and peaches to a large pot. Prep jars/lids for canning. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Stab the ginger a few times with the tip of a knife. Add the lemon juice, bourbon and ginger. Boil for 15 minutes or until thickened. Carefully mash, using a potato masher, any remaining large chunks. Add the pectin (both packets!). Continue cooking at a low (rolling) boil for 5 minutes. Remove the ginger. Fill the jars. Wipe off the lip and sea Process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Yield: about



Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Or check out this online guide.



*I used bottled lemon juice instead of fresh because peaches, especially white peaches, are a low acid fruit and not every lemon has the same acid level. It is important to add an acid to low acid fruits so it is safe to water can.

My thoughts:

What is better than a fresh, in season peach? We went to a pick your own place and while Matt did most of the picking (peach fuzz makes my skin itch) we ended up with more than enough peaches to eat out of hand and to make some jam. Peaches, especially white peaches, are a low pectin, low acid fruit so even with the added pectin it is a softer jam and you need to make sure to add acid (lemon juice) to make it safe for water canning. But neither takes away from the wonderful flavor of this jam. It is as close to biting into a peach as you can come without actually eating the peach. The ginger adds a background note of spice that really accentuates the peachiness. I can't wait to have it on toast, swirled into yogurt or baked into pastries.

Mint-Infused Blueberry-Lime Jam

Ingredients:
1 bunch fresh mint
8-10 cups whole, picked over blueberries*
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 box liquid pectin (6 oz., 2 little packets)
juice and zest of 2 limes


Directions:
Lightly bruise the mint and stuff as much as you can into a tea ball. Set aside. Pour the berries into a bowl. Mash with a potato masher. Measure it out. It should yield about 6 cups of mashed berries. Add the sugar and blueberries to a large pot. Prep jars/lids for canning. Bring the sugar and blueberries to a boil. Add the lime juice, zest and the tea ball. Clip the tea ball to the side of the pot if possible. Boil for about 10-15 minutes, it should start to look a little thick. Add the pectin (both packets!). Continue cooking at a low (rolling) boil for 5 minutes. Remove the tea ball. Fill the jars. Process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Yield: about 6 8-oz jars (I ended up with six and a teeny tiny bit left over but the other batch of jam I made using the same amount of berries yielded 7 8-oz jars)


*I made two batches of jam and one batch only needed 8 cups of fresh berries and the second batch needed about 10. I think it depends on the size of the berries.

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Or check out this online guide.

My thoughts:

Jam! This was my first attempt at canning jam. I've made freezer jam in the past but never the fully cooked and jarred variety. I am happy to say it came out very well! I read up on the ratios needed for proper jam making and then just sort of winged it. Honestly, the hardest part was tracking down the liquid pectin. The jars all sealed and the jam set up into the perfect consistency. I think technically, you only need to boil it after the pectin is added for one minute but I did it for longer to try and get the most flavor out of the mint.

I love blueberry and lime together and the mint adds a herbal flavor that doesn't scream "MINT" but which adds savoriness and depth to the jam. Matt had some on a biscuit and nearly swooned. It is just that good. Not too sweet and the lime and mint keep it from being your typical blueberry jam.


Quick tip:
I put the mint in a tea ball because I didn't want bits of leaves in my jam. When it comes out of the pot the tea ball will be covered in jam. I just plopped the whole thing (closed, mint still inside) in a bowl of water and let it sit overnight. The next day, most of the jam had dissolved and it was easy to open and clean it.

Sweet Cherry Lime (Freezer) Jam

Ingredients:
4 cups halved cherries
zest and juice from 2 limes
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 packet (45 grams) no cook freezer jam pectin

Directions:
Whisk together the sugar and pectin in a small bowl. In another bowl, mash the cherries with a potato masher. When well mashed, add the lime juice and zest. Stir. Sprinkle with the sugar/pectin mixture. Stir to combine. Pour into 4-5 8 oz jars. Ball makes some great plastic freezer jam jars I highly recommend. They have a fill line about 3/4 inch down. Don't over fill. Use the jam within a month or freeze up to 1 year.

My thoughts:

It has been a long time since I last made freezer jam. Too long. I like it because it is near instant gratification. No cooking, just mashing and then you have jam. Plus it uses a lot less sugar than traditionally canned jam because you don't need the sugar to act as a preservative. It is just the beginning of cherry season here and I've been trying to make the most of it. Every year I wish I had a cherry pitter. Once the season rolls around it is too late to order one and have it arrive in time and when cherries aren't in season, I think of other ways to spend my money. I've found that simply pulling the cherries in half with my hands is the more efficient (if slightly messy) route to pit-free cherries. For some reason I had been cutting them with a knife and it took forever. I've heard about methods involving a paper clip or toothpick but pulling them apart has been resulting in two perfect halves so I am loath to try something new. And it makes me feel super strong.

Anyway! We were talking about how we don't have a Sonic (even though we get the commercials occasionally) anywhere with in several hours. I've never been to one but I have heard so many people going on about the cherry limeade, I feel like I have. So when I decided to make cherry jam, I thought to throw in some lime. I am glad I did. It is a delightful combination as it keeps the sweet cherries from being too sweet. Plus I think the natural pectin in the limes help it gel.

Kiwi (Freezer) Jam

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 lb kiwi, peeled
45g packet of freezer jam pectin*

Directions:
In a medium bowl, use a potato masher (or a spoon) to mash the kiwifruit. Add the sugar and pectin. Stir (or whisk if it is liquid enough) for 3 minutes. Pour into 4-5 clean 8 oz jars, leave 1/2 inch of space at the top. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes then serve, refrigerate (up to 3 weeks), or freeze (up to one year).



*You cannot substitute regular pectin for this. Look for freezer jam pectin in the canning or baking isle at your local store. May only be available during the canning season, ask for it.

My thoughts:

If you've been reading this for a while, you know I am a little leery about canning. I made some lovely refrigerator pickles last August (a jar of which is still crisp and edible in my fridge by the way!) that didn't require any scary canning methods. I've been dying to make jam but was still a little scared about attempting traditional canning. What if I made a mistake and ruined the jam or worse-what if I made a 12 jars and didn't like it? So you can imagine my excitement when I was offered a set of Ball freezer jam jars and pectin. I loved it! In less than 15 minutes we made yummy kiwi jam. We had so many kiwi in the fridge that I wanted to use them up before they went bad. I couldn't find directions for a kiwi freezer jam so I just used all the kiwi we had, guessed how much sugar, used a whole packet of the pectin and it came out wonderfully. I am now a freezer jam devotee. Freezer jam is great because it uses about a 1/3 of the sugar as "regular" homemade jam or jelly. Traditional jam recipes often call for more cups of sugar than fruit! I also love that you don't have to cook it (or freeze it for that matter, despite the name), and you can eat it within 30 minutes of canning. Ball makes a set of reusable plastic freezer jam jars (perfect if you are actually going to freeze the jam-safer than glass if the jam expands more than you expect) that comes with directions and a sample of the pectin. And to head off some future emails: freezer jam pectin is vegan, as is regular fruit pectin.