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Preserving Recipes

Preserving Recipes/ Spring

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco De Mayo

May is the month of celebrations around the world. In England, the Maypole, in France, Labour Day on May 1st, in North America, Mother’s Day. In Mexico, the Cinco de Mayo celebration on the 5th of May. Let’s take a trip to Mexico from a preserver’s perspective!

In 1862, the Mexican army, which was poorly armed, but determined, successfully defeated the well-armed French army and its colonial objectives. The “Cinco de Mayo” holiday celebrates Mexican culture, heritage, and pride. As with every celebration, food is always a central feature!

If we were celebrating in Mexico, we would be eating  Elotes or street corn which is grilled corn on the cob loaded with spicy crema(a bit like sour cream), cilantro and cotijo cheese (similar to feta). A squeeze of lime and yum! Tacos (meat, fish, or shrimp), enchiladas, tostados, and burritos, and always topped with pico de gallo (fresh tomato salsa), salsa verde, and fresh vegetables like shaved radish, cabbage and jalapeno. For the festivities, a sweet ending of churo (deep fried batter with cinnamon sugar) or something made with Dulce de Leche which literally means sweet milk – condensed milk that is slowly cooked into a caramel sauce. Let the party begin!

In anticipation of the preserving season, and if you want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo or just have a Mexican supper, there are some ideas. Wait to do the Elotes until our corn is ready. But honestly, the grilled and loaded corn is delicious! Mexicans almost always use corn tortillas rather than wheat. Corn tortillas are available at FreshCo, Baked and Pickled in Collingwood or occasionally at other grocery stores. If you are planning your preserving schedule, how about making a simple salsa such as the “House Salsa” from Bernardin. A very easy, don’t peel the tomatoes salsa that is flavourful and a great substitute for pico de gallo. Or, what about a Salsa Verde with tomatillos (always available at FreshCo or grown in our area)? I like the recipe from Ball which makes 6, 250ml  jars of sauce that is great with taco chips or as a base for enchiladas or burritos.

Roasted Salsa Verde (based on the Ball recipe)

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Celebrate May with a little trip to Mexico and join the country as it celebrates. It’s good fun to introduce different foods and cultures to the family. It’s also great to anticipate what you would like to preserve this coming season! Buen provecho!

Ingredients

  • 2 kg of tomatillos with their outer husks removed
  • 2 medium onions cut into 8 wedges
  • 2 jalapeno peppers
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • ½ cup lime juice
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • 2 tsp salt (pickling)
  • 1 tsp pepper

Instructions

1

Roast the first 4 ingredients in a 450-degree oven for 15 minutes. Position the tomatillos with the stem side down. The onion should be soft. Let cool until veggies can be handled. Then remove stems and seeds from peppers and tomatillos. Process all in a food processor or blender. Pour into a Dutch oven and add remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer.

2

Ladle into hot 250 ml jars leaving a ½ inch headspace. Clean rims, apply lids and rings to finger-tip tight.

3

Process in a water-bath or atmospheric steam canner for 20 minutes adjusting for altitude. Let rest for 5 minutes. Remove, cool, label and store for up to 18 months as long as the seal remains in tack.

Preserving Recipes/ Spring

A Spring Fling

There is nothing like the lift spring brings to the spirit! Throughout the ages, across cultures and faiths spring has been celebrated with rituals and culinary traditions. Our ancient ancestors celebrated two seasons: dark and light. Spring, of course, leads us into lightness. At Stonehenge or at the ancient Mayan pyramids, the vernal equinox was and is still honoured. Whether you are celebrating Easter, Passover, spring Ramadan or nature’s journey into light, food is central to our rituals.

Eggs are very much part of meals that celebrate spring. They symbolize birth and renewal. Think about the Easter eggs, Ukrainian exquisitely painted eggs (Pysanky), Bosnia’s Festival of scrambled eggs, sweet Italian Easter bread with a coloured egg baked into it, a hard-boiled egg at the seder table, herbed eggs at the Nowruz meal in Iran or red dyed eggs at the Greek Easter table. There are countless examples of the symbolic importance of eggs in celebrating spring.

While eggs represent new life, fruit represents plenty, sweetness, health, and prosperity and is often served at spring celebratory meals. Chaat masala with fruit at the Iftar meal, dried fruits in Hot Cross Buns or other Easter breads, Haroset at the seder meal, or citrus fruit in southern European countries. In Canada, the sweetness of fruit is often provided by maple syrup our quintessential spring treat.

I’ve been planning my Easter meal and thinking about what I can use from my pantry and freezer. I’m slow braising lamb shanks (thanks to the Black Family Market), creamed Swiss chard with shallots from my garden which I froze, mashed potatoes also from my garden and stored in the garage. For dessert, I’m going simple with a maple syrup-based sauté of pears I canned in Fall. This recipe is a riff on one created by Canadian Trish Magwood.

In whatever way you bring in spring, enjoy our entry into light and celebrate rebirth, renewal and the bounty of nature and our pantries.

Maple Syrup Caramelized Pears on Ice Cream

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Ingredients

  • Yield 4 so double if you like
  • 2 TBSP butter
  • 2 TBSP maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 pieces star anise
  • 2 cardamon pods
  • 4 inch stick cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 2 TBSP brown sugar
  • 4 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 500 ml jar of preserved pears
  • High quality vanilla ice cream (Chapmans)

Instructions

1

Drain the pears. If they are in half, cut lengthwise. Try to create equally sized very thick slices (imagine a small pear cut into quarters).

2

In a medium sized sauté pan add butter, maple syrup, vanilla, spices and let them simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes. Add brown sugar and lemon juice and mix in. Add the pears and simmer until they are warm and the sauce is syrupy.

3

Server warm pears over ice cream. The spices infuse a deep rich flavour to the syrup that coats the pears and spills over onto the ice cream. Yum!

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

www.thevalleypreservery.ca

Preserving Recipes/ Winter

Cheater’s Guide to Marmalade

January is all about citrus and citrus is all about marmalade. Marmalade is defined as a jelly with citrus rind suspended throughout giving a bitter contrast to the sweet jelly. The first commercial production of marmalade is reported to have been in Scotland in 1797. Thus, launched marmalade into a breakfast staple in the United Kingdom and around the world.

I love marmalade and have made many recipes over the years. But marmalade can be onerous to make. My friend makes a marvelous Seville marmalade, but it is a three-day process. Even using a regular long-boil method, marmalade can take four or five hours to make. So, I set out to make great time-efficient marmalade. Yup, I mean using pectin!

I confess to feeling like a bit of a cheater in choosing pectin, but the results helped to assuage my guilt. I found recipes from SureJel, Certo, Pomona all of which had good reviews. I chose to use a recipe from Bernardin online and have made several batches with great success. The quicker cooking time makes for a bright flavour and the rind has been beautifully suspended. You can modify the recipe using the citrus you like as long as the cooked volume is 4 cups.

Orange – Lemon Marmalade

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Serves: Yield 6 – 7 cups

Through the centuries, marmalade has played a central role as a breakfast condiment and has been useful in baking, glazing meats and simply as a mid-day treat with tea. For those who love marmalade but are wary of the time it takes to make, try following the “cheaters” guide for a great product in half the time! Bring on the scones!

Ingredients

  • 4 oranges, washed and scrubbed to remove wax
  • 2 large lemons, washed and scrubbed
  • 2.5 cups water
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda which softens the rind reducing cooking time
  • 6.5 cups sugar
  • 1 pkg regular pectin (I used Certo)

Instructions

1

With a vegetable peeler, remove the rind from all fruit trying not to get the white pith. Using a sharp knife, cut the rind into very thin slivers. Put the rind into the water with the baking soda and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 20 minutes.

2

Remove the white pith from all fruit. Over a bowl, cut away the segments of the fruit so that the segments and good flesh fall into the bowl. Squeeze the juice from the fruit. Remove seeds and membranes. Once all the fruit is done, add it to the rind mixture and cook for about 10 minutes. Pour this mixture into a heat proof large measuring cup. There should be 4 cups. If you are short, add the juice of one or two oranges. If you have more than 4 cups, remove some of the juice to get the volume to 4 cups.

3

In a large pot, stir the pectin into the 4 cups of citrus mixture. Bring to a strong boil.

4

Add sugar all at once and bring back to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for one minute. Turn off heat and let rest for 5 minutes. Skim.

5

Ladle into clean, hot 250 ml jars leaving ¼ inch headspace. Clean rims of jars. Affix lids and rings to finger-tip tight. Process jars in a water bath or atmospheric steam canner for 10 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before removing jars from canner and placing on a heatproof surface to cool completely. When cool, check seals, label, and store. Any unsealed jars can be refrigerated and eaten!

Preserving Recipes/ Winter

Festive Pairing

Recently I have made several batches of Pear and Cranberry Jam. It helps that Foodland had an amazing sale of wonderful pears and I used frozen cranberries which worked very well. The pear and cranberry combination creates a nice balance of sweet-tart and texture. It is a versatile jam being equally good on a scone or as an accompaniment on a cheese tray.

Pear and cranberry jam is a modern recipe concoction, riffing on traditional cranberry sauce. It appears in many reputable preserving books, often being called “Festive Jam”, “Holiday Jam” or “Christmas Jam”. Sometimes, citrus is added like orange or lemon. The cranberries, high in pectin, provide the gelling agent eliminating the use of commercial pectin. Pears offer up sweetness as a counterpoint to the tartness of the cranberries. This is a fabulous jam to have on hand for the holidays or to give as gifts to friends and family.

Cranberries have been a staple for the holidays for centuries, but the addition of pears is a modern and delicious addition to a holiday favorite.

Happy Holidays!

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

Pear and Cranberry Jam (Festive Jam)

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Yield 6 250 ml jars

Ingredients

  • 6 cups cranberries fresh or frozen
  • 3 cups chopped peeled, cored, and diced ripe pears
  • 1 tsp grated lemon or orange zest
  • 2 TBSP lemon or orange juice
  • 4.5 cups sugar

Instructions

1

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Cook stirring often for about 15 minutes until the cranberries have popped and the fruit is well combined. Then add the sugar, stirring until incorporated. Bring the mixture back to a boil. Boil rapidly until the gel point is reached which should be about 15 minutes. I often use my immersion blender to whiz the jam at about the 15-minute mark. It will make it easier to assess the set point. I put soup spoons in the freezer so they are very cold and then test the jam. If the jam “sheets” on the spoon, not dripping, it is ready. I also turn the spoon over and run my finger along the backside. When the jam is set, you will see a track left by your finger.

2

Ladle into clean, hot 250 ml jars leaving a ¼ inch headspace. Clean the rims and affix lids and rings to finger-tip tight. Process jars in a boiling water bath or atmospheric steam canner for 10 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes. Allow processed jars to sit undisturbed on a heat proof surface for 24 hours. Check seals, label, and store.

Fall/ Preserving Recipes

Apple Tart with Crumb Topping

Apple Crumble

Apple Tart with Crumb Topping (9 inch tart pan with removable sides)

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Ingredients

  • Pate Brisee (use about half and freeze the other half)
  • 2.5 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup cold butter, unsalted, cut in cubes
  • ½ cup ice water
  • Apple Mixture
  • 4 cups evenly sliced apples such as Spy or Cortland
  • 1 TBSP lemon juice
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1.5 tsp instant Clearjel or Flour
  • ¼ tsp each of cinnamon and allspice
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • Crumb Topping
  • ¾ cup organic or GF flour
  • Scant ½ cup granulated sugar
  • Scant ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • 1 stick unsalted butter diced

Instructions

1

Method

2

To be honest, I use my food processor but keep it light. Don’t over process pastry! Mix flour and salt in the food processor or bowl. Drop butter into the bowl and do a few quick on-off cycles to blend in butter. Or cute it in using a pastry cutter. The butter should be like small peas. Make ice water up to ½ cup. Start by adding ¼ cup gradually mixing the flour-butter mixture. If the dough is too dry, add more water up to ½ cup. If you are using a food processor, the dough will start to come together as if it is beginning to make a ball. Dump the pastry onto a flour dusted surface and lightly bring it together into two discs. For the disc you are using, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for an hour before rolling out. Freeze the other disc for future use.

3

Note: While pastry is not as sensitive to humidity as meringues, it still is somewhat sensitive. So, if you are making the pastry on a hot humid or rainy day, you will likely need less water.

4

Apple Mixture

5

4 cups evenly sliced apples such as Spy or Cortland

6

1 TBSP lemon juice

7

¼ cup sugar

8

1.5 tsp instant Clearjel or Flour

9

¼ tsp each of cinnamon and allspice

10

Pinch of nutmeg

11

Prepare apples and combine the rest of the ingredients.

12

Crumb Topping

13

¾ cup organic or GF flour

14

Scant ½ cup granulated sugar

15

Scant ½ cup packed brown sugar

16

¼ tsp salt

17

½ cup rolled oats

18

1 stick unsalted butter diced

19

Combine all ingredients, cutting in butter to create a mealy texture.

20

Put it all together

21

Roll out pate brisee to fill a 9 inch tart pan. Run the rolling pin across the top of the tart pan to create a neat top. Cool tart shell in fridge for ½ hr.

22

Pour apple mixture into the cooled tart shell evening it out across the tart.

23

Sprinkle crumble across the apples.

24

Bake in a 425 oven on the bottom shelf for 15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 375 and continue baking for 30 minutes.

25

Bring to room temperature or slightly warm. Serve with ice cream or aged cheddar cheese.

26

Note: this recipe can be doubled to create a 10-inch deepdish apple pie with crumb topping.

27

I have also made the apple-crumb mixture as an apple crisp without the pastry and it’s fantastic.

Fall/ Preserving Recipes

Apple Jelly Three Ways

Apple Jelly 3 Ways

Whether you have apple trees on your property, participate in a gleaning program or buy them at the local markets, Fall is apple time! Apples are perfect for jelly making because they are high in pectin which means they set up without the use of commercial pectin. Jellies are great with peanut butter (ultimate PB&J), but they are also wonderful for glazing tarts or meats. It’s always handy to have some on hand and they make super gifts.

From the National Centre for Home Food Preservation, here are three apply jelly variations.

Plain or spiced Apple Jelly

6 lbs apples washed, stems and tails removed and chopped (don’t peel or core)

4 cups water

(for a spiced version, add a cinnamon stick during the cooking time)

Apple- Cranberry Jelly

3.5 lbs apples prepared as above

½ lb cranberries

4 cups water

Apple-Blueberry Jelly

3.5 lbs apples prepared as above

½ lb blueberries

4 cups water

Step 1: Extract the Juice

Add fruit and water in a large heavy bottomed pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes until apples are soft. Pour into a dampened jelly bag or cheesecloth lined sieve allowing the juices to gently release into a bowl. Don’t press or squeeze as it will result in mirky jelly. For each recipe, the extracted juice should measure 4 cups.

Step 2: Make the Jelly

To the 4 cups of juice, add 2 TBSP bottled lemon juice and three cups of sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil rapidly and cook stirring often until the jelly sets which will take 15 to 20 minutes. Check the set using the wrinkle test placing a tsp of jelly on a frozen plate and then draw your finger through the jelly. If it wrinkles it is done. Skim as necessary.

Step 3: Can the Jelly

Once the jelly reaches the set point, fill hot jars leaving a ¼ inch headspace. Clean jar rims. Affix lids and rings and tighten to ‘finger-tip tight’. Process jars in a water bath or atmospheric steam canner for 10 minutes adjusting for altitude. Let the jars rest for 5 minutes before removing to a heat proof surface. Leave to cool down for 24 hours. Check seals, label, and store. Yield is about 4 250ml jars.

Step 4: Optional Uses of Pulp

Put the pulp from the jelly bag through a food mill to remove seeds and skins. This will create an apple sauce which can be frozen for use in baking or simply eaten. The apple sauce can also be dehydrated to make delicious and nutritious fruit leathers. Dehydrate at 125 for 10 to 12 hrs.

Apple jellies three ways! Simple, versatile and a great way to preserve this wonderful Fall fruit.

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

 

Preserving Recipes

Apple Chutney with Raisins and Ginger (adapted from Canadian Living)

Chutney

Apple Chutney with Raisins and Ginger (adapted from Canadian Living)

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Ingredients

  • (yield 9 250 ml cups)
  • 4 lbs apples (I used Spy, Cortland & Delicious to get good flavour and keep some apples firm)
  • 3 cups sweet onions chopped
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 1 cup raisins (mix of sultana and golden)
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1.5 cups granulated sugar
  • 7 tsp pickling salt
  • 2 TBSP grated or finely chopped fresh ginger
  • 4 tsp ground coriander
  • ¾ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ¾ tsp ground cardamon
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves

Instructions

1

Put vinegar into large pot and then prepare the apples to keep them from oxidizing. Add all ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring regularly, for about 25 minutes until the apples are soft and the liquid has somewhat evaporated.

2

Ladle into hot canning jars leaving a ½ inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles. Clean rims, affix lids and rings to finger-tip tight. Process in a boiling water-bath or atmospheric steam canner for 15 minutes. Rest jars for 5 minutes before removing to a heat-proof surface.

Fall/ Preserving Recipes

Chutney

Chutney

Around 500 AD, chutney was created in India. Its name comes from the Hindi word “chatni” meaning lick. Early chutney was made from fresh ingredients using a mortar and pestle, in a similar way we would make basil pesto. As preserving methods evolved, in the 17th century the East India Company was exporting chutney to Portugal, England and beyond. Like any great food idea, chutney found its way around the world being customized by the cultures of various global communities.

Today, fresh chutney is prepared as a condiment frequently served with samosas. Preserved chutney is characterized by slow cooking of fruits, vegetables, spices, vinegar, and sugar. Chutney can be mild or highly spiced. It is excellent with curry, beside meats or even as a spread on a sandwich. The aroma of chutney cooking is amazing. Recently I made a tomato-apple chutney which sounds odd, but it was a wonderful combination of fruit with a sweet spicy and mild taste profile (Canadian Living). Today I made an apple chutney with loads of spice and quite a lot of heat. From fresh to preserved, chutney is an excellent condiment to accompany many foods.

Fresh Mint and Cilantro Chutney (Recipe below)

Please click to view Apple Chutney with Raisins and Ginger Recipe (adapted from Canadian Living) 

Three cheers to chutney – fresh, sweet, spicy, mild or hot!

Preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

Fresh Mint and Cilantro Chutney

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Ingredients

  • 2 cups cilantro 1 cup mint
  • ½ roasted poblano or serrano pepper chopped
  • 1TBSP roasted and chopped cashews or peanuts
  • 1 TBSP lemon juice
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • Salt to taste
  • Note: If too thick, add up to ¼ cup water

Instructions

1

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until a pesto-like consistency. Refrigerate and/or freeze.

Fall/ Preserving Recipes

The Grape Harvest

The Grape Harvest

Nothing says approaching autumn more than grapes. We are so fortunate to live in an area where there are lots of wild grapes as well as other domesticated varieties like Concord and Coronation. Wild grapes can be found along riverbanks, beside ponds and growing up trees with their long tendrils. They are edible but eaten off the vine back a mean bitter punch, so they are best used for juicing rather than eating. Whether using foraged wild grapes or domesticated grapes, both are wonderful to preserve as juice or jelly.

Extracting juice: Steam juicers make quick work of extracting juice from fruits including grapes. But if you don’t have one, no problem. For a typical jelly batch, 3.5 lbs of grapes, washed and removed from stems will yield 10 cups of grapes. In a large pot, crush grapes with 1 cup of water and cook gently for 10 minutes. Pour the mash into a dampened jelly bag or cheesecloth lined sieve and allow the juice to naturally drip out (no squeezing!). In about 2 hours, you will have about 4 cups of juice. No interest in extracting your own juice? You can also buy it locally. Check with http://fiddleheadnursery.ca

Grapes are one of the few fruits (technically a berry) that has a natural abundance of tartaric acid. The acid binds with naturally occurring potassium forming crystals that sink to the bottom of the container. You might have seen this phenomenon in a glass of red wine. To ensure the juice you process is clear, it’s recommended that you extract the juice and let it sit refrigerated for at least 2 days. Pour the juice through a dampened jelly bag avoiding the last bits of the juice. Juice can be processed for long-term storage or frozen.

Grape jelly is the quintessential match for peanut butter in the iconic PB&J. The jelly is great with cheese or melted and used as a glaze on seared duck breast. It is also useful in baking like adding a dollop into a muffin mix before baking, topping a thumbprint cookie, or spreading over a genoise cake and rolled into a “Jelly Roll”.

The grape harvest is upon us. Gather up the family and forage along the riversides, collect grapes from friends or purchase them locally. Grapes are a gift of nature with endless possible uses.

Martha Rogers

Grape Jelly

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Ingredients

  • 4 cups of grape juice
  • 1 package pectin crystals
  • 5 cups sugar

Instructions

1

Mix the pectin into the juice and bring to a hard boil. Add the sugar all at once. Bring back to boil and boil hard 1 minute. Ladle into hot 250ml Mason jars. For long-term storage, process the jars in a water-bath or steam canner for 10 minutes. Allow to rest 5 minutes before removing from the canner. For short-term storage, simply allow the jars to cool, label and store in the fridge for up to 3 months. This makes about 7 jars.

Fall/ Preserving Recipes

Plum Crazy

Damson Plum Jam

In my view all the best fruits arrive in Fall. Plums are one of them. I frequent Oaklane Orchards in the Town of Blue Mountains for Fall fruit including plums. They grow three varieties: Damson, Mount Royal and Italian. Each variety has a unique flavour profile and different uses. I like the Italian variety for baking such as in plum tarts or cakes. Mount Royal are sweetish and are very nice for canning or eating. And then, the great Damson plums!

Damson plums are a beautiful purple with green inside. They are quite tart but are amazing for jams due to the sweet-tart profile and very high pectin levels. As their name suggests, they originated in the Damascus, were exported to England by the Romans, and then introduced to North America. The plums were used for cooking and preserving but also for dyeing (take note) and to produce alcohol. Damson plums are very hard to find. They are not commercially grown in large quantities. So, when you find a source, grab the opportunity!

I’ve recently made plum and crab-apple jam (delicious), plum jam with Grand Marnier, straight-up plum, and Damson plum for those who love the tartness of this jam.

How about a quick scone, thick slice of sour dough bread, or toasted English muffin with butter and a tart Damson plum jam? It is a treat to have this jam on hand.

Damson Plum Jam

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Serves: About 6 - 250ml jars

Note: Wear gloves. These plums weren’t used for dyeing for no reason!!!

Ingredients

  • 5 cups chopped, washed, pitted plums (about 2.5 lbs)
  • ¾ cup water
  • 3 cups sugar (add a bit more if you like it sweeter)

Instructions

1

Add the plums and water to a large saucepan or Dutch oven and bring to a boil stirring often.

2

Simmer the fruit for 5 minutes.

3

Then add sugar and stir until it is dissolved.

4

Bring to a boil and cook until it reaches the gel point at about 218 degrees on a candy thermometer. Or watch the jam closely and it will start to thicken, and the foam will subside indicating the gel point is near.

5

Take a spoon from the freezer and test the set – the jam will sheet the spoon. Because of high pectin levels, this jam sets quickly.

6

Check at 15 minutes and go from there.

7

Once set, ladle into hot 250 ml jars leaving a ¼ inch headspace.

8

Clean rims. Affix lids and rings to finger-tip tight.

9

Process in a water bath or steam canner for 10 minutes adjusting for altitude. Let rest five minutes.

10

Remove from canner to heat-proof surface and cool completely.

11

Check seals, label, and store.