Mimosa Jam or three trips to the store later...

 I'm not sure if it's obvious, but I REALLY like making jam. I love pretty much the whole process from picking out the fruit to giving it away to my family and friends and all the steps between.

 This particular adventure came about because at Christmas time Rowen couldn't find any store bought Mimosa Jam for Baked Brie. I was too tired/busy then to attempt it but thought while I'm on vacation...

 So on Friday I sent MHM to the store for a bottle of inexpensive champagne only to realise our debit card was not working. Fine. Saturday after going to see Star Wars The Force Awakens (sooooooooooo good!) we stopped off at another store and picked up a bottle of Roget Spumante. Alright! now we're cooki...damn. No low sugar pectin. MHM ran off to yet another  store and bought me a jar of it. (And yes, I make so much jam we buy it in the big jar.)

 By this time, I wasn't feeling so super. My legs were giving me fits so I decided to have a bit of a lie down. I finally have a diagnosis for all the problems I had at the end of the year last year, Erythema Nodosum. which is inflammation of the fatty layer of the skin. Not as scary as some other choices I had for diagnosis (Lupus) but slower to heal than I want.

 So this morning...

Mimosa Jam
2 oranges peeled, reserve the peel from 1 of the oranges.
4 1/2 cups of orange juice preferably not from concentrate. (I would not bother with fresh squeezed since you are going to cook it.)
2 cups of inexpensive sparkling wine
3 cups of sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon butter
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons Low Sugar Pectin.

 Set up for however you wish to store the jam. I use small plastic containers. You can preserve it in jars if you wish.

 Mix  the 2 Tablespoons of sugar with the 4 Tablespoons of pectin and set aside.

 Using a spoon, scrape off all of the white pith from the orange peel. Then slice into fine slivers. Place the oranges in the blender with 1 cup of the juice and process briefly. We're going for seriously pulpy orange juice here.

 Pour the orange mixture into a large wide pan add the remaining juice, sparkling wine, peel, sugar, salt and butter. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and cook for 7 minutes. Watch carefully as this really liked to boil over. Towards the end of the cooking time begin skimming the foam from the top. You can discard it or save it to top ice cream, yogurt, pancakes etc. Or mix with ice and soda water to make the best fruit soda EVER.

 Stir in the sugar/pectin mixture. Return to a boil and cook for two minutes. Process how you see fit.


Oh my yum...

Although I think I may make a slightly  different version with more orange pulp and peel because I have all the ingredients, so why not?. I'll let you know.

*****Update*****

This is more like marmalade... 

Mimosa Marmalade or...Marmosa?

4 oranges peeled, reserve the peel from 3 of the oranges.*
1 1/2 cups of orange juice preferably not from concentrate. Plus more maybe a further 1 1/2 cups
2 cups of inexpensive sparkling wine
3 cups of sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon butter
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons Low Sugar Pectin


 Set up for however you wish to store the jam. I use small plastic containers. You can preserve it in jars if you wish.

 Mix  the 2 Tablespoons of sugar with the 4 Tablespoons of pectin and set aside.

  Using a spoon, scrape off all of the white pith from the orange peel. Then slice into fine slivers. *Why did I use three instead of all four? I got tired of scraping pith.

  Place the oranges in the blender with 1 cup of the juice and process briefly. We're going for seriously pulpy and slightly chunky orange juice here.


 Pour the orange mixture into a large wide pan add the remaining juice, sparkling wine, peel, sugar, salt and butter. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and cook for 7 minutes. For some reason this version did not try to boil over and there was absolutely no foam. I think I may have forgotten to add the butter to the first batch of jam.

 Stir in the sugar/pectin mixture. Return to a boil and cook for two minutes. Process how you see fit.

 Eat on toast.

Blueberry Orange Jam

3 Large Navel Oranges Zested, then peeled and roughly chopped
30 0z of fresh blueberries
Juice of half a lemon
5 cups of sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons low sugar pectin combined with
1/2 cup sugar

 In a large, wide saucepan combine orange zest, chopped oranges, the blueberries, 5 cups of sugar and the salt.
 Bring to a rolling boil over high heat then turn down to medium and let high simmer for 10 minutes. Stir frequently as it simmers mashing the blueberiies against the side of the pan to break them up.
 Once the beries are broken down and the jam is slightly thickened, turn the heat back up to high and bring everything to a rolling boil. Stir in the sugar/pectin mixture and bring back to a boil for 1 minute.

 Remove from heat and ladle into clean containers of your choice.

Pineapple Galangal (kinda like ginger) and Vanilla Jam

2 whole pineapples peeled cored and cut into chunks
4 cups sugar
Juice and zest from 1 large lemon
1 vanilla bean
1 inch chunk of galangal or ginger root
pinch salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons low sugar pectin

In a large non-reactive (glass, ceramic or stainless steel) bow mix together the pineapple chunks and 1/2 cup of sugar. Mix together and allow to sit at room temperature several hours or in the refrigerator overnight.
(Alternatively you can mix all 4 cups of the sugar in and allow to macerate in the fridge for up to five days.)
In a blender or food processor puree half of the pineapple with the vanilla bean and the galangal until the vanilla pod is thoroughly broken down. Pour into a wide shallow pan. Repeat the puree process with the other half of the pineapple. You can leave this half slightly chunky if you like. Pour into a wide shallow pan. Add the remaining 3 1/2 cups of sugar (Unless you did the fridge with all the sugar for a few days thing.) the juice and zest from a large lemon and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over high high heat.
Continue boiling for 8-12 minutes until mixture is thickened and pineapple is tender. Skim off any foam that rises to the top.*
Combine the half cup of sugar with the 3 tablespoons of low sugar pectin. It is important to use low sugar pectin in this recipe. There is not enough sugar in the recipe for regular pectin to work. Stir into the boiling pineapple mix and allow to cook 1-2 minutes more.
Remove from heat and place in containers of your choice.
I really do prefer the plastic ones to canning jars because I give away most of my jam. But this recipe is just fine for hot water canning or flip over canning.

*So I've skimmed off the foam should I just throw it away?
You can just toss it...However you can also:

Mix it with 2 cups of whipped cream or a can of coconut milk and freeze it for Fruity Ice Cream.

Same as above but in popsicle molds.

Mix it into a complimentary juice maybe add a dash of adult beverage for a refreshing mocktail or cocktail.

Use it as a topping for sundaes or waffles or pancakes.

Mix a 1/4 cup of it (or to taste) with ice and 12 ounces of seltzer water for the best fruit soda you'll ever have.

  

Hot jamn!

Jalalujah! Jalapeno Jam WIP

1 large red bell pepper seeded and diced fine
12 large green jalapenos* tops removed and cut in half
1 small onion finely diced
2 large clove of garlic minced
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
3 cups of sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon butter
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons low sugar pectin

*You can either seed and demembrane all, some or none of the jalapenos. I advise taking a thin slice from the top of the pepper to get a rough idea of heat. Mine were pretty spicy so I deseeded half of them. You can also reserve the seeds and once everything is combined and cooked together for a bit if you feel it isn't as spicy as you want you can chop it fine and toss some in.

 Place 8 of the jalapenos and 1 cup of the vinegar in a blender or food processor and puree. Set aside for a minute or two. Do not open the top as the jalapeno pepper and vinegar fumes can really do a number on your eyes and lungs.

 Cut the remaining 4 jalapenos into fine dice.

 In a large shallow pot combine the red pepper, diced jalapeno. onion, garlic, salt, pepper and butter. Carefully pour the jalapeno pepper and vinegar mixture into the pan. Use the remaining half cup of vinegar to swish out any remaining jalapeno pulp from the blender and pour into the pan. Add three cups of sugar and stir to combine.

 Bring to a boil over high heat skimming off and discarding any foam that comes to the top. Once the mixture reaches the boil set a timer and boil (watching carefully) for 10 minutes. (This is the stage you could add more of the reserved jalapeno seeds if you felt it needed more heat.)

 In the meantime mix together the 2 tablespoons of sugar and the 3 tablespoon of low sugar pectin together in a small dish and set aside. It is important to use Low Sugar Pectin otherwise the jam will not fully set.)
Once the mixture has boiled for 10 minutes stir in the 1/4 cup of vinegar and the sugar/pectin mixture. Boil for 1-2 minutes more.

 At this point you can use your favorite canning method to preserve it. Or like me you can let it cool just slightly and divide it into small plastic containers. That way you can give it away and not feel wistful at the loss of of your semi expensive canning jars. As we all know almost no one ever returns those things no matter how much you promise to refill them with more home made jam.

 This will be better as the flavors meld so if you can wait a day or two good on you. If you can't, well I understand.

Blackberry Jam

Makes about 8 half pint jars
2 quarts Blackberries rinsed
Sugar between 1 1/2 and 3 pounds depending on your liking
Pectin 2 packages or 3-4 tablespoons of bulk

Canning jars or freezer canning jars or leftover whipped cream cheese containers if you got 'em.

Making jam should be fun. NOT stressful, Not bothersome. Fun! If it's not fun for you, you should not make jam. Really.

That being said I am going to tell you how to easy can and seal your jam. A magic trick really. I don't sanitize my jars in boiling water and I don't use a hot water bath because that is too much trouble for me. However, I don't really have freezer/fridge room for freezer jam so shelf stable is important to me. If shelf stable is not important to you, or you just really like insane amounts of boiling water, by all means use whatever method works best for you.

You will need:
Glass canning jars with their rings and unused lids. (Used lids will not reseal) or whatever you want to put the jam in.
Canning funnel. If using metal you can sanitize it with the jars.
Ladle
Tongs
Scale
Metal or ceramic bowl  to soak the lids in.
Large wide pot to boil the jam in.
Blender, food processor or a food mill. ( I prefer the blender)
Mesh strainer if not using a food mill.
Cookie sheet.
Clean, lint free towels.
 A Jam recipe you like. I like my blackberry. 

When you are preserving something you want to keep shelf stable the very most important thing is clean. Clean utensils, clean work surface, clean hands, clean, clean clean.

First off turn your oven to 250. Line a cookie sheet with a clean lint free towel. Thoroughly wash your canning jars and rings in hot soapy water place the rings, ladle, tongs. (metal funnel) and jars right side up on the towel lined cookie sheet and place in the oven for at least one hour. This is a replacement for a boiling water bath to sanitize the jars. Do not skip or skimp on this step.

I want to note if you have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle you can use it for the initial wash but you still want to put the jars in the oven at 250 while preparing the jam. 

Take a amount to weigh the bowl you are using. It will come in handy when figuring out sugar ratios later.

Mix the pectin with 1/4 cup sugar and set aside.

Crush your blackberries in a blender or food processor (May take two to three batches.) Pour the puree into a metal strainer set over a bowl to catch the puree. Work the puree through the strainer by stirring and mashing until only the seeds and residual pulp are left in the strainer. Discard seeds and pulp. Weigh the puree (subtracting the bowl weight) Start with the puree weight (Mine was 3 lbs 6 oz) and divide it in half to get the initial amount of sugar to add. (In my case 1 lb 11 oz) Stir this into the puree and give it a taste. If it's sweet enough proceed to the cooking stage. If not. Add more sugar two ounces at a time until it is sweetened to your taste.

Place the canning lids (plastic funnel) in a bowl and cover with very hot water.

Pour the puree into a large, heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Watch it. Don't leave. If you have to leave turn it off. It burns quick, It burns hot. It burns high. No one wants that. So yeah, don't leave, turn it off if you have to. Stir it too.

Once it comes to a boil stir in the reserved sugar/pectin mix. Bring it back to a boil and boil hard for one minute. Turn off the heat.

Now here's the semi tricky part. After the jam has boiled for one minute you need to test it for "set" which is how thick your jam is. Pick up some of the hot jam (maybe a half teaspoon) on a metal spoon and put the spoon in the freezer. Wait a minute  then test it.  if it seems jammy enough you can start canning. More like ice cream topping? Needs another tablespoon or two of pectin and another minute at full high boil.

Once the jam is the way you like it.Take the jars and rings out of the oven. (Leave them on the cookie sheet) Turn off the jam. Place the canning funnel in the first jar you want to fill. Use a ladle to fill the jar to within 1/4 inch of the top. Do not overfill or the magic trick won't work. Remove the funnel, put it in the next jar, lather rinse repeat until you run out of jam or jars or both.

Carefully wipe the rims of the jars with a clean lint free damp towel. Place the lid on the jars then the rings. Working carefully and quickly use a dishtowel to tighten the rings of the jars then flip the jars upside down on the counter and allow them to cool for at least 45 minutes.

This is the magic trick (and as far as I know it ONLY works safely with jams and jellies.) The heat from the jam against the lid melts the sealing compound forming a tight seal while the cooling jam creates a vacuum. Once cooled flip them over and test the bouncer to be sure they are tightly sealed. I've never had one not seal but if you do, put the jam in the fridge. It'll be fine in there for six or so months. (Because it'll last six or so months ha ha)

Loosen or even remove the rings from the jars. Properly sealed lids don't need the rings to stay put. Tightened rings will also hide if something went wrong on a bacterial level. Bad stuff gives off gas which will pop the lids off giving you a good warning "Don't eat me!" So loose or no rings discard if lids pop on their own.

Now go enjoy your jam.

In your jammies...