Rosemaries Jam--- This jam is never the same twice... but its always delicious... Yields some nice Syrup, too! The recipe takes several hours, but not of your time, just of the stoves time. Your total time is only about 15 minutes. (think soup) The kinds of fruit you add can be modified, but not the apples. Apples make the pectin that makes the consistency right, so they cant be left out... Also, blueberries are very overpowering, and if you put in even a few, the flavor becomes blueberry jam... which, if you like blueberry jam, is fine, but if you dont, leave them out. (I leave them out) Other than that, you can use any combination of berries... I love strawberries, so I always use more of those, but sometimes go a different way. This most recent time, these are the fruits I used... Four granny smith apples, chopped tiny (as small as you can chop them) Two quarts Strawberries, hulled, and cut down to about the size of rasberries. Two small containers blackberries Two small containers rasberries The juice of one lemon The juice of one half orange In a very large pot (lidded) put the apples Add the juice of the lemon and the orange* Start cooking over very low heat. Add the rest of the fruit, and cook, slowly. Stir frequently. Every time you stir it, you will taste it. You dont have to, but you will. ;-) The apples will turn to mush and the berries will start to fall apart. Continue to cook for several hours, over very low heat. If you put the lid on (which I recommend) keep an eye on it. It can bubble up tremendously and make an awful mess. ;-) As it becomes mushy, taste it. Depending on the sweetness of the berries, you may not need to add any sweetener at all. Sweeten to taste with honey. This most recent time, I added about 1/4 cup of honey. You can also add sugar, or add nothing. At the height of the season when berries are at their best, you dont need any sweetener at all. Continue to cook. When the shape of all the fruit is gone, and you cant tell which were which kinds of berries going in, turn the heat off, and transfer the jam into a large bowl for cooling. It may be too liquidy, dont worry... As it cools, it thickens. a frothy film may rise to the top of the bowl, if it does, just scoop it off and discard After the jam has completely cooled, give it a stir. Make sure its completely cooled. If it is still too liquidy, take a strainer (not a colander, a tiny holed strainer) and pour the entire jam into it over another bowl. At times I have had to strain about half of the liquid off to leave the jam spreadable. Other times, it is just perfect before straining. It really depends on the berries used, the size of the orange, etc. Leave the jam in the strainer in the bowl and let it strain until the jam is the consistency you want. (it will thicken a little more in the fridge, but not much) Save the liquid in the bowl for a great all fruit syrup that you can use for pancakes, or add to yogurt or ice cream... This jam CAN be jarred, but I never bother, as it is so easy to make, I just make it about every two weeks. It never lasts. Again, You can use whatever berries you want. Remember that blue berries overpower. And you cannot leave out the apples or the lemon/orange or it wont thicken. *(the acid from the lemon helps the apples turn to pectin, the juice of the orange sweetens the sourness of the lemon, you can use only the orange, in which case use a whole orange... it will be sweeter, but wont get as thick) (you can also grate the white part of the peel of either lemons or oranges, but I dont do that... if I do, Ill let you know if it works better) Anyway, thats a lot of writing.. ;-) Let me know how it turns out!!!
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 15:40:59 +0000
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