The other day I was given a
lot of grapes. Now I can only eat so many and my bf wont eat many
either. So I wandered online looking for recipes to use them in. I was
looking to preserve them. There's really not many recipes out there for
grapes other than Concord and those kind. The grapes you get from the
store which is plentiful for me, I never see any canning recipes for. So
I gathered the few I did find and went into my kitchen to do what I do
best....play Mad Scientist.
I had two nice Honeycrisp apples
left I wanted to use up so I decide to add those and I'm glad. These
grapes really don't have much substance, there's more juice than pulp.
And I didn't want skins in this either, I don't like them. But once I
cooked up the grapes and apples they had a sickly pale beige color.
Yuck. And so I had some plums here yet and decided to add just one for
color and it worked. Its a nice rosy color now. But again I wanted more,
I wanted spice. So I added cinnamon. It was good but needed more so I
added orange zest.........okay NOW we're talking! Yum. But again I
wanted more so I added fresh ground black pepper....lets get this thing
spicier now. That gave it a little bit of heat, not alot. And finally I
decided to try an herb and I picked rosemary cuz I know its yummy with
orange.
This turned out really yummy. Even my bf tasted it and
said its really good. I picture this for the holidays for
entertaining........with some nice goat cheese or even a brie on
crackers. I have just a bit left chilling in the fridge now that I'm
hoping to snack on later. So for those interested , here's my recipe.
You could add more pepper if you want it hotter but since I wasn't sure
what would happen with cooking and canning, I didn't want to overwhelm
it. Right now it has a nice bite but something you don't notice right
away.
Rosemary Della Robbia Jam Makes 3 pts.
6c. assorted grapes off the stems
2 Honeycrisp apples, quartered, cored
1 Italian plum, pitted
1c. water
1 lg. orange
1tsp. cinnamon
1tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 4 in. long sprig of fresh rosemary
4 tb. low sugar pectin
1 1/2c. organic sugar
3 extra sprigs of rosemary about 2in. long each
Cook
grapes, apples and plum in the water till soft and skins are tender.
Cool a bit then run thru a food mill to remove skins. I used a plum to
add a better color. I was given a big batch of red and greens grapes and
the color was a pale pink beige and just didn't look too appetizing, so
I added the plum to give it more color.
Put juice and pulp back
in pan and heat. Add one tb. of zested orange peel, chopped fine and
the juice from the orange. Add the cinnamon and pepper and bring to a
boil.
Add pectin and stir in quickly. Let come back to a boil and boil for 1min. a boil you cannot stir down.
Add sugar and bring to a boil and let boil for 1min. with a boil you cannot stir down. Remove Rosemary from pot.
You
should have your jars hot and ready to go. In each jar put a piece of
Rosemary about 2in. long and pour hot jam over and seal. Water bath for
10 min. Turn off heat and let sit 5min. more then take out and let cool
on counter for 24 hrs. Check seals.
This has a sweet, orangey,
herby taste with a bit of heat you don't feel right away. It would be
yummy with cream cheese or goat cheese on crackers for the holidays.
This recipe came about by
accident but its a happy accident and may end up being one of my
favorites. I bought some plums and peaches last week. These are my
favorite fruit and I'm always tempted when they first show up in the
stores. I should know better. These fruits are smaller and often mealy
or sour. Sometimes they don't even have much taste. But I didn't want to
throw them out, so I decided to try to save them in a jam. They were
also very ripe which I think is what ended up making this a good jam.
I
also had a big bag of cherries that I pitted last yr. I remember
sitting on my back deck in the sun all day doing those. I forgot about
them till now. I don't want to lose them so I decided to toss some in
this jam. It was a good idea. The combo of fruit tho was very tart. I
didn't want to just add sugar tho, I wanted more flavor. So I taste
tested some fruit with honey in a sm. dish. Good idea!
The honey
enhanced the peaches so they tasted more peachy. I wanted more tho. So I
added a touch of vanilla to it and found that the cherries tasted more
cherry like too. I often add a touch of vanilla to the end of my jams. I
find it mellows the flavors. You could can these in smaller jars. I
just used the pts. because it was all I had here right now that I had
lids for. But honestly the cherries stay whole and I think smaller jars
would just end up with all cherries . The cherries do make this a
nice rosy colored jam.
Honeyed Fruit Preserves Makes 4 pts.
5c. of juicy peaches, plums and cherries, must be very ripe
Juice of one lemon
1 tsp. butter
1 box of low sugar pectin
1c. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla
At this point I hope you have your jars ready and the water bath canner boiling.
Peel
peaches and plums, remove pits and cut into chunks. Rather than add
juice to this recipe as Ball suggests, I suggest using very ripe fruit
so it makes its own juices. Pit cherries if they are fresh. I had frozen
ones ready to use. I used about 3c. peaches and plums, 2c. cherries for
this recipe. Mix together in a lg. pot and turn on heat.
Add lemon juice and stir. Add
pectin and stir well. Bring to a hard rolling boil you cant stir down.
When you reach that point add the honey and stir well. Bring back to a
boil and boil 2-3 min. Skim foam if it appears. Add vanilla and stir
well. Take off the heat. Fill jars, wiping rims well and top with lids.
Water bath 10 min. Let sit in water bath canner for 5min. more to ensure
a good seal. Remove and put on a towel on your counter to cool. Check
seals and store.
Don't panic when you see how
loose it is after canning. I was afraid perhaps the pectin wasn't enough
because it actually was more watery after canning than before. But I do
know many times it takes some time to jell........sometimes up to two
wks. So I let these cool overnight on the counter and this morning they
are fine. So give it time if you see that with yours.
