Text 10861, 77 rader
Skriven 2008-07-20 22:31:04 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
Ärende: Mixed Summer Fruit Jam
==============================
I have this love/hate relationship with canning.

On the one hand, I love it. I love making pickles, jams, jellies, 
and more all through the growing season - my wife and I start 
putting up jars of stuff with the very first rhubarb stalks in 
the spring, and we don't stop until the last of the tomatoes are 
harvested in October. I make double and triple batches of baked 
beans just to be able to can off eight or ten pints for days when 
we want beans but don't want to spend a day waiting for them. My 
canning kettle stays handy on the bottom shelf of my rollaway cart
 year-round so it's at my fingertips when needed, and my pressure 
canners are atop the fridge, ready at a moment's notice to put 
something by.

On the other hand, my kitchen isn't air-conditioned and we're in 
the midst of a mid-July heat wave. And yet, here I am, fruit 
cooking on the stove, the canning kettle boiling away, and the 
temperature in the kitchen coming up close to 90F even with fans 
in the window and it being 8:00 at night. There's nothing I can do 
about it; the fruit is ripe and has to be processed, and I can't 
let it stand around until the heat breaks. So I wait until after 
dark when it's a little cooler outside and sip iced tea as the 
preserves simmer, and retreat every now and then for short breaks 
in the haven of my air-conditioned living room.

One of the supermarkets in my town marks down produce as it starts 
to get less than perfect. I always check the markdown bin when I go 
there because I regularly get some great deals, especially on fruit 
destined for jellys, jams, or juicing. Cosmetic flaws, bruises, and 
overripe spots don't bother me that much when all I'm going to do is 
cut the stuff up into the kettle anyway.

And so, today I came home with some slightly underripe strawberries 
(high in pectin) and an assortment of nectarines, yellow peaches, 
white peaches, and limes, all for about 39 cents a pound.

Mixed Summer Fruit Jam

Strawberries
Peaches
Nectarines
1 lime
Sugar

Hull and slice strawberries; scald peaches and nectarines and 
then plunge into cool water to loosen their skins; skin and stone 
the fruit and cut into chunks. Prepare a total of 8 cups of fruit. 
Place cut fruit into a large heavy Dutch oven. Add the juice, pulp, 
and zest from the lime.

Bring to a simmer over medium low heat, then gradually stir in 6 
generous cups of sugar. Continue cooking and stirring until sugar 
dissolves. Allow to cook, uncovered, over medium low heat, stirring
 occasionally. Simmering jam will foam up - keep an eye on it and 
stir down the foam if it looks like the pot will boil over.

Continue cooking until temperature reaches the jelly point, 220F. 
Test the jam by dropping a little bit onto a cold plate and chilling 
for a few minutes in the fridge; if the jam on the plate wrinkles 
when pushed with your finger, it's ready.

Turn off heat and allow the foam to settle. Skim off the foam with 
a spoon, then ladle the jam into jars, cap, and process in a boiling 
water bath 10 minutes to seal.

Makes about 9 half-pints.

http://davescupboard.blogspot.com/2008/07/mixed-summer-fruit-jam.html

---
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Restaurant Reviews; If I post it here in NCE, you'll find it 
blogged with photos at Dave's Cupboard.

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(The extra shelf in Dave's Cupboard.
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