Preserving Know-how

Tis the season for these gorgeous fruits. Another example of our food that has a 4,000 year history that originated in the Far East. While some culinary traditions use apricots in savory dishes, Europeans and North Americans are more accustomed to sweeter applications. Last week, I made several batches of apricot recipes – jams, preserves and a most delicious salsa!

Some Thoughts About Jams and Preserves

Apricots are high in acidity but moderately low in pectin. These factors apply to approaches to jam-making.

Factor 1: Sugar

In France, apricot jam is the quintessential accompaniment to a warm, buttery croissant. And they like the jam tart. You will find recipes with as much as 50% sugar to fruit (sweet version) to very little sugar. The sweetness is a personal preference, but sugar is necessary for safe, long-term storage that preserves quality. I have settled on a 3:2 ratio (3 cups chopped fruit which is about 1 pound of whole apricots to 2 cups sugar). When not using commercial pectin, you can adjust your batch size. I used 6 cups prepared fruit to 4 cups sugar for most apricot jams and preserves.

Factor 2: Pectin

Even though apricots are low in pectin, I don’t recommend the use of commercial pectin even though there are recipes that use it. A longer cooking time softens the fruit making it into a lovely spreadable texture. To activate pectin, add lemon juice in a ratio of 1.5 teaspoons per cup of prepared chopped fruit. In most batches, this amounts to about 3-4 TBSP lemon juice. Lemon juice also enlivens the flavour. If you like, you can also add 1 grated Granny Smith apple which will boost the pectin and extend the volume.

Factor 3: Maceration

I recommend macerating the fruit-sugar mixture including lemon juice and grated apple if using. Let the mixture sit for 4 hours or covered in the fridge overnight. Maceration draws out the juices from the fruit, softens the cell walls and intensifies the flavour. It also speeds up the cooking time.

Factor 4: Cooking

As with any long-boil cooking method, you need to assess the set-point. This can be done using the wrinkle test by putting a teaspoon of cooked fruit on a frozen plate and run your finger across. If it wrinkles, it’s done. I also put my candy thermometer in the pot and use it as a general gauge. When the temperature is approaching 217 or so, I start to test the jam/preserve. The temperature of 220 is the set-point, but I never let it go that long or it will over cook during the processing period of 10 minutes in the water-bath or atmospheric steam canner adjusting for altitude and a 5 minute rest period.

Apricot jam or preserves welcome other flavours like vanilla or almond extracts, Amaretto or rum. Apricots enjoy the company of aromatic spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. I made one batch with steeped lavender. The add-ins, if any, are up to you.

We are right into the preserving season. How wonderful to be getting fresh Ontario fruit to work with. Enjoy your time in the kitchen!

Martha Rogers
Certified Master Food Preserver
preservingwithmartha@gmail.com
www.thevalleypreservery.ca

As you will recall, spring had a slow and cool start this year. The nights were chilly, but the warmth of the days brought forth flowers and perennial herbs. In the chill of early spring, my various mint plants were growing beautifully so I decided to get a head-start on some mint jelly. Every year I make a few batches of mint jelly to accompany lamb or fresh garden peas. It is also great in savoury thumb-print cookies. Sometimes I use peppermint, sometimes the more intense spearmint and sometimes a combination. This year I encountered a surprising and mysterious outcome when my mint jelly turned pink – bright pink!

If you make mint jelly, or any herb jelly for that matter, you know that when you steep the herbs in boiled water (as you would for a tea), the liquid turns sort of tea-like in colour. Most of the time my mint jelly, even the jelly I made later in the season from the same plants is a golden colour. But pink? How did that happen?

The only other time I have witnessed a tea-like liquid dramatically changing colour is when making rose petal jelly. When acid is added to the rose petal liquid, an instant transformation occurs changing the liquid to bright pink. Was there a similar reaction happening with the mint and why? With my researcher hat on, I took a dive into the literature. Here’s what I found.

Many plants, including roses, contain anthocyanins which are pigments found in many fruits, vegetables, and flowers. They are responsible for red, purple, blue (think blueberries, strawberries, black berries, or purple sage). They are powerful antioxidants and are pH sensitive so when exposed to acid, they turn pink/red; when exposed to a base, they turn blue. It turns out that mint plants contain anthocyanins that are visible in the stems and veins of the leaves, and which significantly accumulate during cold weather! 

It seems the mint jelly mystery has been solved. My eagerness to get started on mint jelly early in spring meant I was using “high octane” mint with lots of anthocyanins! Therefore, the first batch of jelly turned bright pink and the second batch, made a few weeks later, was its typical golden colour (no added food colouring in my kitchen although my husband continues to insist mint jelly should be green!). Pink or golden, mint jelly is great to have on hand.

Preserving, like nature itself, is always presenting mysteries. Pink mint jelly is one of those mysteries that can be understood and explained by chemistry!

Have you encountered this phenomenon? Share your experiences.

presrvingwithmartha@gmail.com

www.thevalleypreservery.ca

There is nothing like the beautiful flowers of the Scarlet Runner Bean plant. The beans climb around any trellis or arbour producing the flowers that are transformed into beans. To be honest, I grow these plants for the flowers, but the beans themselves are delicious in summer and dry beautifully for winter. They are also so much fun for children to plant.

The beans are rich in protein, high in fibre and add essential minerals to the diet. Scarlett Runner Beans can be eaten raw when very young, but they need to be cooked as they mature. When mid-size in summer, they can be cleaned, strings removed and cut diagonally into 2-inch pieces, then tossed into salted boiling water for three to four minutes depending on size. Drain and toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Simple and good.

As summer progresses the beans get quite large. I harvest them and remove the beans inside. These beans of a mottled dark and lighter pink can be dried for later use. I put them on my dehydrator trays to naturally dry in a dry and covered space. Once dry I store them in a mason jar.

Dried Scarlet Runner Beans should be soaked in water for 6 hours before use. They are unique because they retain their firmness as they are cooked turning creamy in texture but not disintegrating. Soaked, drained beans can be added to salad, stewed with tomatoes, added to chili, made into a vegetarian casserole, or used as a base for a bean salad.

Scarlet Runner Beans are beautiful, adorning any trellis, and are great in their young form but excellent dried and saved for the winter. There are many applications of their use, both raw, blanched, and cooked in stews, soups, salads, and casseroles. Try them if you don’t already have them in young garden.

Newsworthy

I recently bought the USDA Guide to Home Canning (2024). It is an excellent resource that is based on the most recent research related to high and low-acid canning. The book includes how-to’s and many recipes that are tested and dependable. This book is priced reasonably at $25.00 CDN and is available on Amazon. If you are looking for a great resource book, check it out.

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com

A steam juicer is a stacked cooking vessel that looks a bit intimidating but is very simple to use. The bottom chamber holds water, the middle chamber collects juice which then flows through a plastic tube, and the upper chamber holds the fruit and/or vegetables you are juicing. As the water boils, steam is created causing the fruit/vegetables to release juices. The juices then flow into the collecting chamber. The collected juice is ready for canning, freezing, and making into a jelly. And the residual pulp can be put through a food mill, sweetened, and dehydrated making great fruit leathers!

Preparing Fruit:

Wash all fruit. You don’t need to remove smaller stems, but in the case of apples/crab apples, it is best to remove the hairy end, so the littles hairs don’t end up in your juice. Large fruit can be quartered, but smaller fruit may be left whole or simply halved with pits removed. The upper chamber can be filled to the top as long as the lid fits firmly.

Boiling and Juicing:

Fill the lower chamber with water according to manufacturer’s instructions. It’s about 3 inches of water. Bring the juicer to the boil. In general, it takes one to two hours to extract the juice depending on the density of the fruit/vegetable. The process is complete when the juice coming out of the plastic tube diminishes and when the fruit appears pale and compressed. Most juicers have a metal clamp on the plastic tube that can be turned on and off when you are ready to put the juice into a heat proof container (8 cup Pyrex measuring cup for instance). I find the clamps get very hot, so I let gravity do the work. I place my Pyrex measuring cup on a cutting board sitting on a stool that is lower than the stove. I simply open the metal clamp and watch the juice come out. My method avoids burns but you do have to watch the pot!

Preventing Crystals

Some fruit and vegetables are prone to producing tartrate crystals which appear as sediment. Grapes are particularly inclined to do this. To ensure a clear juice, allow the juice to cool and place in the fridge overnight. The crystals will sink to the bottom. Decant the juice avoiding the sediment or pour juice through a dampened coffee filter.

Preserving Juices

Pasteurization: Even juices you will be immediately consuming should be pasteurized by heating the juice to 160F. This avoids risk of E-coli or salmonella that have been associated with extracted juices.

Freezing: Juices can be frozen. Ensure you use a freezer container and leave a 2 inch headspace for expansion.

Jelly-Making: The extracted juices can be used to make jelly. Use a reputable recipe to determine sugar, lemon juice, need for pectin and processing times.

Long-term Storage: Juices should be water-bath or atmospheric steam canner processed. For a 500 ml jar leave a ½ headspace. Process jars for 10 minutes adjusting for altitude. Rest for 5 minutes. Label and enjoy all winter long!

The steam juicer makes quick work of juicing almost any fruit and vegetables. Cherries, plums, apricots, peaches, blueberries, cranberries, apples, rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and the list goes on. Create your own preservative-free juices, jellies, and leathers. The steam juicer can also be used for steaming or blanching vegetables by removing the centre section of the appliance for this purpose.

preservingwithmartha@gmail.com