Jams, Jellies, Preserves

[Mischka]

They have been broken.

The original site (Photobucket) where the images were stored/hosted no longer has them there.

This is why I advocate direct image uploads to Tomatoville, vs. linking. Once you upload an image to the server here, it's here to stay.

[Thomas]

Those recipes sound great from what I have read so far.

[Miss Sphinx]

Yellow Tomato Preserve
from "Preserving" by Oded Schwartz

2 lbs yellow tomatoes (slightly underripe)
2 lemons, thinly sliced into semicircles
1 lemongrass stalk, finely chopped (optional)
1/3 cup water
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar

Place all the ingredients in a noncorrosive saucepan (there is no need to chop the tomatoes). Bring slowly to a boil, then simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Return to a boil and boil steadily for 25 minutes, or until the jelling point is reached. Stir frequently to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Ladle the preserve into hot, sterilized jars, then seal.

Yield: 3 pints

[coronabarb]

Jam recipes here

[coronabarb]

Caramelized Onion Jam

4 heads garlic
1 tsp vegetable or olive oil
5 cups chopped sweet onions (1 1/2 lb)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper, white or black
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
6 cups sugar
1 pouch liquid pection (3 oz)

Remove papery outer skin from the garlic (do not peel or separate cloves). Cut top off garlic bulbs, brush or drizzle with oil, and wrap each bulb in foil. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes or until softened. Cool for 10 - 15 minutes (after 10 minutes, pull apart the cloves to allow for complete cooling).

In a large pot or Dutch oven, saute onions in butter for 30 - 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Squeeze softened garlic into pan. Stir in cider vinegar, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, ginger, and cloves. Bring to a rolling boil. Gradually add sugar, stirring constantly. Return to a boil for 3 minutes. Add pectin, bring to a full rolling boil, and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and let stand for 3 minutes. Skim off any foam. Pour hot mixture into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Put on lids and bands and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

[epiphanista]

Oh thank you, barb! That looks scrumptious! What do you personally use it on? Not that I can't invent uses of my own for it.

~epiphanista

[coronabarb]

Yummy on pork, chicken, fish...grilled cheese (and tomato) sandwiches. I'm adventurous...I might try it on pizza one of these days!

[Gardening Grammy]

I'd love to have this recipe if someone has it! Sounds yummy!

[piegirl]

In our family, we also called this tomato preserves and the recipe couldn't be simpler - equal parts blanched tomatoes-mash them up or cut up into smaller pieces and sugar. Add one very thinly sliced lemon (remove seeds). And you cook and you cook and you cook until the lemon looks opaque and the jam part is glossy looking and begins 'blurping'. They tend to be runny and one of the stickest substances known to man/woman kind! I wouldn't cook up more than six cups of toms and 6 cups of sugar at a time. They are abosolutely delicious! Piegirl

[Gardening Grammy]

Thanks for the quick reply piegirl! I think I'll try this as soon as I get some RED tomatoes. I have tons of GREEN ones, but no reds yet. I was late getting them planted.

Does this kinda sound like the recipe?

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cups tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 packages Pectin
• Rind of 1 lemon plus juice
• 7 cups sugar

Preparation:

Skin tomatoes and mince. Measure pulp, lemon juice, salt and lemon into large sauce pan; add pectin and bring to a boil. Add sugar and bring to a full, rolling boil for 4 minutes. Skim and pour into jars.

[PNW_D]

Here's the one I used in picture above .....

Old-Fashioned Tomato Marmalade from Put a Lid on It!

5 cups coarsely chopped peeled tomatoes (about 2 1/2 lb 2 kg)
(I used Andrey’s Orange-1 – lovely colour and very few seeds)
2 large oranges
1 lemon
4 cups granulated sugar

1. Place tomatoes in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan.
2. Halve and seed oranges and lemon. Finely chop fruit in food processor or blender and add to tomatoes. Bring mixture to a full boil over high heat. Slowly add sugar, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Return to a boil and boil rapidly until mixture will form a gel, about 1 hour, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
3. Ladle into sterilized jars and process as directed for Shorter Time Processing Procedure.

Makes about 6 cups (1.5 l).

Variation: Gingered Tomato Marmalade: Add 3 tbsp (45 ml) finely chopped peeled gingerroot during cooking. (I recall I used candied ginger) (and use organic citrus if possible)

[piegirl]

Mine is simply equal parts tomatoes and sugar plus the lemon - no pectin. PNW recipe is almost the same - I would like to try the orange along w/ the lemon. Piegirl

[Colorado_west]

I have made the tomato preserves, no pectin and used stick cinnamon and sliced lemon .Kerr . Book has one for green tomatoes and I tried that and it tasted fine but I sliced too thick but I tried to do thin Did not cook up and stayed sliced and I could not spread it. If I do again I will chop/grind the green ones.

[phreddy]

We made some similar. Used 'put a lid...' recipe, almost - didn't have oranges used a grapefruit. Terrific, really bitter (and sweet).
BTW our processor is only a hand type so we boiled it up as instruction then mashed the mixture, used processor for the peel.
Will try the orange one in due course.
Thanks for this thread.

[Blueaussi]

Intersting article at NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=113079746

Freezer Jam: A Baby Step To Canning

by Stephanie Stiavetti

For years I researched the art and craft of preserving summer fruit, but I could never bring myself to go ahead and try it myself. What if I did something wrong? What if my jars exploded in the heat? What if I hurt myself or someone I cared about?

These "what-ifs" kept me mired in doubt and dismay while many summers passed, taking their bounty of fresh fruit with them. When winter inevitably followed, I always regretted my fear of canning and planned a bevy of canning projects for the following year — which, of course, never happened.

Welcome to my vicious cycle. I have, however, broken through my preserving paranoia so that I can enjoy peaches, nectarines and strawberries all year long. I found a baby step on the road to heat-processed canning: freezer jam.

The first summer I made freezer jam, I enjoyed it so much that I preserved everything I could get my hands on. Peaches, plums, nectarines, blueberries, raspberries, you name it. I lined my freezer with row after row of colorful jars, many of which made their way home with friends after dinner parties and high-tea afternoons. Well into February I had fresh, homemade jam every morning to spread on my toast and mix into my homemade yogurt.

Making freezer jam follows the same process as heat canning, with one primary thing missing: heat. Since you store freezer jam below zero degrees, you don't need to bring the jars to a boil, which means you lessen the chances of accidental contamination or heat-related mishaps. These two risks prevented me — and many others, I've learned — from traditional canning, and I was overjoyed to find that I could make my own jam without the element of danger that goes along with sterilization and storing at room temperature.

Besides mollifying your canning phobia, there's another benefit to not boiling your jam. Uncooked fruit stays much fresher than cooked preserves, so when you crack open your treasure in mid-January, it will taste more like the fresh summer fruit you picked up from the farmers market. Some brands of pectin require that you use boiling water in the initial mix, but this short stint on the stove won't affect the flavor or texture of your fruit.

Most freezer jam recipes contain only three or four ingredients and require half an hour or less for preparation. It's a simple process: peel, chop, mix and freeze. The safety and simplicity of freezer jam makes it a perfect kitchen project for children, who love the idea that they made the tastiest part of their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Since I started making my own fruit preserves, I've also noticed that I spend less money on produce. Grocery stores and farmers market booths usually sell me their slightly bruised fruits for pennies on the dollar, and this substantially cheaper bounty lasts me all year long, shrinking both my summer and winter grocery budgets. For jam-making, get fruit that is as ripe as possible. Slightly bruised or dinged fruits are fine to use — in fact, this is what makes them cheaper — but you should remove any spots with a paring knife, taking care to remove any mold.

If you have children in the house, you might also notice yourself spending less on lunch fixings because decent store-bought jam demands a pretty penny these days. When I make freezer jam, the cost comes out to around 50 cents per 8-ounce container, and I have to say that the taste of homemade jam blows grocery store brands out of the water.

Making freezer jam is easy, but there are a few things you should keep in mind when you make your first few batches. Follow these tips to keep from repeating my mistakes.

Pectin is the fruit-derived gel that holds jam together and creates a thick consistency. It's important to buy a brand of pectin that is compatible with no-cook freezer jam. Read the instructions carefully, as recipes can (and will) vary from brand to brand. Different kinds of pectin call for different amounts of sugar, so read the directions or your jam won't set correctly. Freezer jams always run a touch thinner than heat-processed preserves, but they should still set to a nice, spreadable consistency. If you prefer a thicker jam, you can heat your fruit to a boil for two minutes before freezing.

When making the recipes below, I used Ball No-Cook Freezer Jam Pectin, with which I've always had good experiences. You can also use any number of other brands, and these days many kinds of pectin allow you to use alternative sweeteners such as honey or Splenda, which is good news for those avoiding refined sugar.

If you do decide to use granulated sugar, it's a good idea to use a superfine variety so that it will dissolve more easily into your fruit. Instead of spending extra money on a specialized product, make it yourself by pulsing regular sugar in a food processor five or six times. Be sure to measure your sugar before grinding it, as it will yield a greater amount once the granules are broken down, and adding extra sweetener may cause your jam to be too sweet.

While you can purchase special plastic containers made for storing jam in the freezer, it's not necessary. You can use whatever sealable plastic containers you have hiding in your cupboards, or you can use good, old-fashioned Mason jars. I usually go with the jars because the whole point of this exercise (for me, anyway) was to act as a precursor to heat canning, and nothing invokes the memory of my grandmother's summer jam more than cute, 8-ounce glass jars with a ribbon tied around the top.

If you decide to use Mason jars, a word of caution: Do not use glassware with "shoulders," or a curvature in the jar just beneath the lid. Instead, use straight-sided jars with a wide mouth. When you freeze liquids, they expand inside the container and push against any curves or shape differences. In the case of glass jars, this can cause breakage and a sticky, razor-sharp mess in your freezer.

After a summer of making freezer jam, I was finally comfortable enough with the process to attempt heat canning. My first batch of preserves, an elderberry-peach recipe that I made up on the fly, came out perfectly and completely free of mishap. While these days I'm much more comfortable with heat-processed canning, I still make freezer jam so that I can preserve the freshness of certain fruits that taste better uncooked. It is still a staple in my house.

**Because freezer jams are not sterilized, you cannot keep them at room temperature.**

Makes enough to fill five 8-ounce jars

~Strawberry-Nectarine Jam~

2 1/2 cups nectarines, peeled, pitted and chopped (about 2 1/2 pounds)

1 1/2 cups strawberries, cored and chopped finely (about 1 pound)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup sugar, ideally superfine

In a large bowl, crush nectarines with a potato masher until you have a chunky consistency. The goal is to release a small amount of liquid while keeping mostly good chunks of fruit pulp to give your jam a thicker texture. Add the strawberries and crush a little more, just enough for the strawberries to release some juice and mix with the nectarines. Add lemon juice and mix with a spoon for 30 seconds.

Prepare sugar and pectin according to package directions. They may call for you to add sugar directly to the fruit first, or you may need to add the sugar to the pectin before mixing both into the fruit at the same time. Regardless, make sure that when you add the pectin to the fruit, you stir constantly for at least 3 minutes. Pectin can create lumps in your jam if it's not carefully mixed in, and the only way to prevent this is by stirring relentlessly.

Fill clean jars with jam, leaving about 3/4-inch of headroom so that the jam has room to expand in the container. Store in the freezer for up to 6 months, or in the refrigerator for 1 week.

~Spiced Autumn Preserves~

1 1/2 cups apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 1/2 cups Asian apple pears, peeled, cored and chopped

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup plums, peeled and chopped

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 cups sugar, ideally superfine

In a large bowl, crush apples and pears with a potato masher until they are about halfway pulverized. You should still have soft chunks of fruit, but nothing larger than a half-inch. Using a spoon, stir in lemon juice until it is well combined.

In another bowl, gently crush plums until they have a similar texture to the apples and pears. Pour plums into apple mixture and stir well with a spoon. Mix in cinnamon and cloves, stirring until completely incorporated.

Prepare sugar and pectin according to the package directions. When you mix the pectin into the fruit, make sure to stir for at least 3 minutes. Lumps are a common pitfall for beginning jam makers, and vigorous stirring will prevent them from forming.

Fill jars with jam, making sure to leave 3/4-inch at the top so that it can expand. Store in the freezer for as long as 6 months. Once jam is defrosted, it will keep up to a week in the refrigerator.