Persimmon Jam

PERSIMMONS are a bit tricky.  They are not exactly chop or mash-able.  So, I put them in the blender and whiz them - but that introduces a few air bubbles into the puree.  It spreads really nicely on dehydrator sheets for fruit leather, though.  Since persimmon pulp is taking over my fridge, I decided to try making some jam out of the pulp - put it in the blender and ended up with a thick, persimmon-butter like jam.  It's so good - my taster says that he can't believe that there are no other spices added because the persimmon flavor is so rich and yet so subtle and complex.

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 cups of pureed persimmon pulp
• 3 cups of sugar
• pectin as directed by Pomona's Pectin

NOTES:
Heat up the puree in the pot before adding the sugar.  It helps if you thoroughly mix the pectin with the sugar, first.  However, since the persimmon is so thick - I found that the sugar and pectin didn't dissolve very well.  Next time, I will try reserving some of the puree mix the pectin and sugar in the blender before adding it to the rest of the pulp already hot in the pot.

YIELD:

• 11 - 8 oz jars persimmon jam
• 5 - 4 oz jars persimmon jam

Strawberry Jam, Redux

The strawberry jam I made in June was tasty but - it wasn't the deep ruby red color that I wanted.  I wasn't sure quite what happened there, til I came across this fantastic Bay Area Bites article on Strawberry Jam using directions based on a Helen Witty "Good Stuff Cookbook" recipe.

The basic premise is simple - macerate with sugar, capture the juices, simmer the juices to syrup, add berries, put in jars - voila! No pectin!

1. Weigh your strawbs, add the sugar and some lemon and let it macerate in a non-reactive container - overnight in the fridge of several hours on the counter at room temperature, stirring occasionally to get the sugar mixed in and dissolved.  
2. Heat in a pot and bring to a simmer for a couple minutes.
3. Return berries & juice to non-reactive container for a few more hours or overnight.
4. Sterilize your jars - I like to wash mine in hot water and keep the in the oven at 150 on a cookie sheet.
5. Strain the berries from the juice. 
6. Simmer the heck out of the juice until it starts turning into a syrup
7. Add the berries.  Mash if necessary (I sliced mine before macerating).
   
8. Simmer again until the berries are translucent and the jam thickens.
9. All usual tests for setting apply.
10. Put into hot sterilized jars, seal and lick all your spatulas, spoons and fingers before washing them.  OK, that last bit wsn't in the instructions but it happens.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 lbs berries
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 lemon, juiced

YIELD:
4 - 8 oz jars strawberry jam
2 - 4 oz jars strawberry jam

Green Zebra Tomato Jam

I got this idea from a recipe for Tomato Jam on paninis from a Portland newspaper - and sort of ran with it. You may not have Green Zebras on hand - but the fresh, ripe mellow flavor of green heirloom tomatoes is really good in this recipe.

• 2# of peeled, seeded & coarsely chopped tomatoes (drained - reserve the juice for bloody marys, for the love of mike!)
  
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 tsp fresh chopped thyme
• 1 tsp freshly ground white pepper
• 4 Tb sherry vinegar

Simmer til slightly thick - you still want to have some nice chunks of tomato - add a bit more sugar if it's not thickening up enough. It shouldn't be jammy sticky and thick - this is for savory sandwiches. Turns out this works really great on fried green tomato poboys.

YIELD:

8 - 4 oz jars

More Strawberries!

Oops, I did it again! Bought another flat of strawberries! This time, I managed to make up a big batch of delicious strawberry jam. It came out really fantastic! I can't wait for blueberries & cherries to come up!

YIELD:
8 c. strawberry jam in 8 and 12 oz jars

Peach Jam

YELLOW PEACH JAM: Ah, here we are at midnight again... I cut up 2 gallons of peaches and have made peach jam. This time, I did take the skins off, so had a pot of water boiling in front of the bigger pot for the peaches, and the peaches on a big commercial baking sheet on the edge of the sink with the cutting board and cutting bowl in the middle. For 2 hours, I listened to the Olympics and had 5-6 peaches in the hot water, skinned, pitted and mashed or chopped the others. I put the hot peaches under cold water and on the side of the tray nearest me.

Then, I let the whole pot simmer while I pressed a bag full of lemons from Regan's tree -- I got 3 cups of juice which I need for jelly and for spanakopita (among other things!). I strained the fruit and divided it -- 8 cups in each pot, reserving 8 cups of juice. I ended up putting about 1.5 c of juice back into the fruit after adding the pectin, lemon and sugar.

Before going to bed, simmered the juice I strained from the pulp with some dried chipotle peppers and am going to let it steep overnight for a smoky peach chipotle jelly. No pictures, and I hope to make it to the 5:45 swim tomorrow... I'll never make it to the Olympics, unless it is the preserving Olympics!

YIELD:
14 - 12 oz
1 - 4 oz

HOLY CHIPOTLE!

APRICOT-CHIPOTLE JAM is going to be a big hit. Small yield, but I'll do a batch of peach chipotle, too. I let the jam cool overnight on the stove with one chipotle pepper (it softened to about 3" in length).

This morning, I reheated it, added 1/2 c. lemon juice and 1/2 c. boiling water before adding the sugar and pectin to get it moving because it was very dense. I added the sugar and pectin, let it heat up and added a bit more water and boiled it to about 195 degrees. At this point, it tasted good but not too spicy -- smoky chipotle and a tiny bit of spice.

I simmered about 5 minutes more (hey, I'm on a schedule here, I gotta get to work!) and put it in the jars. I tasted it after I put it all in the jars and, let me tell you, that extra couple of minutes really added some zing!

It's not as spicy as the Plum Habanero Jelly, but it's got a bit of kick. I snipped up the chipotle pepper into 9 pieces into each of the jars to ensure a bit more zing.

YIELD:
5 - 8 oz jars
4 - 4 oz jars

I still have 3 cups of juice in the fridge, so plan to experiment a bit more. Apricot Chipotle sorbet, anyone?

Green with Envy

GREEN GAGE PLUM JAM: The Green Gage plums are so GOOD! I finished up the jam and added as little sugar as possible because they were so sweet:

YIELD:
6 - 8 oz jars
9 - 4 oz jars

3 c. puree for sorbet

JUICER: I did test out the new juicer -- I'm not sure it's the one for me. Bits of apricot went flying off into the pulp area from the spinning knife/strainer basket that are still quite juiceable. It did a great job on lemons, though, once I cut off the peel with my knife (didn't try it with peel on).

JAM: I got the apricot-chipotle jam started, but 2 tsp of powdered roasted chipotle pepper didn't add much flavor to 4 cups of fruit, so I put a whole chipotle pepper in the warm fruit over night to soften up and flavor it.

APPLES: The apples I got on Sunday from the lovely Larissa -- same place as the plums -- are all a nice light yellow outside and when I cut them open to try them in the juicer, they are a nice red-pink inside! I have never had red flesh apples before and these are beautiful and delicious.

Apricot Jam, pt 2

This round of apricot jam was much smaller apricots that were not entirely ripe, so I had to cook them a bit longer. Despite admonitions, I did scorch the bottom of sweetie's big pot, but since it is teflon and it was only fruit (no sugar) it came right off. I ended up with 24 cups (that's 1.5 gal) of apricot -- no added water or anything.

After it simmered quite a while, and made a gorgeous apricot tinted white foam on top of the pot, I divided the batch into 10 cups and 14 cups in two different pots, added the pectin to a mixture of unrefined cane sugar and demerara sugar -- the demerara gave the apricot jam a much darker orange color.

YIELD:

APRICOT JAM:
10 - 16 oz jars
8 - 8 oz jars
1 - 4 oz jar

Freecycle Apricots, Apricot Jam & Catnip Mystery Solved

FREECYCLE FRUIT: I put a call out on Freecycle and made contact with a woman with an apricot tree full of ripe apricots, falling to the ground. I made a quick trip over there and picked up 12# of very large, ripe, gorgeous apricots. She also offered quinces when they ripen in late August, and persimmons in the fall ("the squishy kind," she said). She has a small apple tree, so I'm going to check on that as well.

While I started prepping the apricots for jelly and jam - a neighbor came by, and we had a chat. I gave him a jar of plum jelly and he promised to bring me some Santa Rosa plums, and offered me picking privileges when his fig tree ripens in a month or so.

APRICOT CANNING GOODNESS: Last night, I made up:

YIELD:
1 - half gallon of vodka & 14 apricots for Apricot brandy
3 - 12 oz jars apricot jam
2 - 16 oz jars of apricot jam
5 - 16 oz jars of apricot jelly

This morning I set to simmer a big pot of apricot chutney using about 4# of apricots, and I have about 28 choice apricot halves which I am going to candy tomorrow, and then dip in chocolate. Hopefully my kitty/housesitter won't eat all of them while I am on vacation!

I love Freecycle. I love neighbors and neighborhoods with fruit trees.

GARDEN: This evening, I returned at the same time as a neigbor just to the other side -- offered her some volunteer tomato plants. I gave her the three I dug up and put in water last Thursday, and dug up 3 or 4 more. I apologized that they were volunteers so I couldn't tell her if they were cherry or regular tomatoes and she said, "That's the fun part -- it'll be a surprise!"

The baby basil sprouts are looking great. The catnip isn't looking so great - but I found out why: George. Here, I thought I had over fertilized it or under or over watered. I caught him bent over into the pot, cleaning the last leaves off the thing. He's pretty darned ferocious when it comes to catnip and feathery toys. He could totally kick Dobson's butt, and yet he's so gentle with him and often ends up losing tufts of fur in their wrestling matches.

Time to round up the kitties and bike to Berkeley for dinner with my sweetie. I promise a post on a recent rash of thefts in this neighborhood due to war and recession.