Grape Jam- it’s not jelly!

I am well acquainted with grape jelly.  It’s my favourite fall treat and so easy to make, especially with a steam juicer which saves hours of work.  This year, I was determined to make grape jam.  But i was not prepared to spend hours « peeling » grapes.  I was very pleased to find a recipe for roasted seedless grape jam on the Food in Jars website- thank you Alex Jones!

Two varieties of grapes were combined to make the jam: beautiful blue Concord grapes and champagne « like » grapes.  Actually, any two or three types of grapes can be combined- I think they add depth of flavour to the mix.  As long as they are seedless…

This recipe makes 6 x 250 ml jars.

Ingredients

3 lbs        seedless red grapes (or 1/2 red and 1/2 another grape) after picking through

1/4 cup    honey

2 cups     sugar

1/2          Lemon, juiced (2 tbsp bottled lemon juice)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Wash, pick over and stem the grapes.  Toss the grapes with the honey and spread them in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Roast for 25-30 minutes, until the grapes begin to give up their juice and the skins wrinkle.

Once cool enough to handle, put the grapes into a large measuring cup and blend with a stick blender to your desired consistency.  Mine is relatively smooth, with a few chunky bits.  You should have about 4 cups of grape purée.

Place the purée, sugar, and lemon juice in a heavy-bottomed pot.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cook, stirring frequently, until the jam passes the plate test or reaches 220 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove the jam from the heat and let it sit a few minutes.  Skim off any foam from the top of the jam.  Funnel into prepared canning jars.  Wipe the rims, apply the lids and bands and process in a steam canner for 10 minutes.  At the 10 minute mark, turn off the stove, remove the lid carefully and let the jars sit for approximately 15 minutes.  Remove from the canner and let the jars sit for 24 hours before labelling, cleaning and checking the seals.

Enjoy!

Tomato Soup Concentrate

 This is a recipe from Marisa McClennan.  It is intended for making tomato soup- just add milk and heat up but I use it as a thick tomato sauce to add to my vegetable soups, pot roasts, etc.

Makes 5 litre jars

Ingredients:

15 lbs    tomatoes

2 cups     diced onions

2 tbsps    granulated garlic

1 tbsp    dried Italian seasoning

1 tbsp    salt, plus more to taste

2 1/2 tsps    citric acid

Directions:

Wash the tomatoes and cut them into quarters.   Heap the chopped tomatoes into a large pot and add the diced onions.

Add about a cup of water to the bottom of the pot to prevent scorching.  Place the pot on the stove and bring to a boil.

Cook, stirring occasionally for about an hour, until the tomatoes have lost their structural integrity and the pot contains nothing but super saucy tomatoes.

Remove the pot from the stove.  Fit the food mill with its finest screen and position over a large heatproof bowl.

Working in batches, start pushing the cooked tomatoes and onions through the food mill.  You will probably need to stop three or four times to empty out the bowl into a clean pot.

Once all the tomatoes are milled, add the granulated garlic and Italian seasoning.  Set the pot on the stove and bring to a low boil.

Cook for one to three hours, until the soup concentrate has reduced by at least 1/3 and hopefully a bit more.

When you are pleased with the consistency, stir in the salt.  Begin with a tablespoon. Taste and add more as needed.

Divide the citric acid between five one liter jars.  Funnel the finished soup concentrate into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, process in a boiling water bath for 45 minutes.  When the time is up, remove the jars and set them on a folded kitchen towel.  Let sit overnight.  

Sweet & Hot Cuke Relish

 This started with a recipe for Classic hot dog relish BUT there was not enough syrup to cover the relish once they were packed into the jars.  SO, what to do?  Well, I had a lot of syrup leftover from making candied jalapeños (Cowboy candy) and thought I would add it to this recipe.  Removed all the jar lids and poured the contents into the canning pot and added 2 cups of syrup from the first paragraph of the directions for  candied jalapeños recipe.

Here is the original recipe- don’t forget to follow the link to the additional syrup.

To make 7 x 250ml jars

Ingredients

4 cups    finely chopped cucumbers

2 lrg        green bell peppers

2 lrg         onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 tbsp       Kosher salt

1 cup        Cider vinegar

1/2 tsp       Celery seed

1/2 tsp.     Ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp.     Ground black pepper

1/2 cup.    Honey

Directions

Wash the cucumbers.  Slice off the stem ends, cut in half lengthwise and scoop our the seeds if they are large,  Finely chop the cucumbers- they should be minces, not puréed.

Slice of the stem of the green peppers. Cut them in half lengthwise, remove any white pith and seeds then finely chop.  Do the same for the onions.  

Combine the cucumbers, sweet peppers and onions in a large bowl.  Add the salt and mix well.  Cover the bowl and leave in the refrigerator overnight for 8 to 12 hours.  Put the vegetables in a finely meshed sieve and drain for a few minutes.  Rinse them with cold water and drain again for a few minutes.  

In a large pot, add the cider vinegar, the spices and honey and two cups of jalapeño syrup (see note above) - bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.  Stir to dissolve the honey.  Once it is boiling, add the vegetables and bring back to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Spoon relish into clean, hot canning jars by using a slotted spoon to place the vegetable mixture into the jars to within 1/2 inch of the rim- top up with the hot syrup.  Remove air bubbles if there are any.

Wipe the rims, screw on the two-piece lids and place in the steam canner for 10 minutes (start timing when it reached the proper steam temperature.  After 10 minutes, remove the canner lid carefully and let the jars sit for about 10 minutes.

Wait at least one week before serving to allow the flavours to develop.

Peach Salsa

 Based on Marisa McClennan’s recipe, this peach salsa is a mild one w'ith just enough heat to make it a salsa.  Hey, could can always add more.  There are no tomatoes in this one, which is my preference.  You can use this salsa to top your tacos, and also your BBQ’ed chicken or enjoy with tortilla chips.

To make 4 500ml jars.

Ingredients

6 cups.        peeled, pitted and chopped peaches (about 4 lbs)

1 1/2 cups   Finely chopped onion (1 large)

1 1/2 cups   White vinegar

1 cup            chopped, sweet red pepper (1 large)

3/4 cup         granulated sugar

1                   Finely chopped jalapeño pepper 

1                   Finely chopped poblano pepper (or other mild pepper)

3 cloves        Garlic

1 tsp              Ground cumin

1/4 tsp           Cayenne Pepper

Directions

To peel the peaches, prepare a pot of boiling water.  Add the peaches to the boiling water and remove them to a bowl of cold water after about 1-2 minutes.  You should be able to rub off the peach skins quite easily.

To keep peaches from browning, place them in the vinegar called for in the recipe as they are chopped.  

Add the onions, peppers, garlic, sugar and spices to the vinegar and peaches, in a large pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for about 10 minutes, until the salsa no longer looks watery.  Taste and add additional jalapeño, vinegar, sugar if necessary.

Ladle the hot salsa into the prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Wipe the rims, apply the lids and bands and place in a steam (or water bath) canner for 15 minutes.  When the time is up, turn off the heat, carefully remove the canner lid and let the jars sit in the canner for about five minutes.  This will help prevent the salsa from reacting to the rapid temperature change and bubbling out of the jars.

Enjoy!

Traditional Strawberry Jam

 Many of my friends prefer traditional strawberry jam- just plain Jane strawberries, sugar and a little bit of pectin- no vanilla, no chocolate, no other berries. This recipe is for you guys!

My recipe is based on Marisa McClennan’s, which is a basic jam not much different from your grandmother’s.

To make approximately eight 250ml jars.

Ingredients

10 cups    chopped strawberries, macerated overnight in two cups of sugar

7 cups.     Sugar (2 cups are macerating the strawberries, plus five for cooking

2.              Lemons, zested and juiced (about 2 tbsp of lemon juice)

1 box.       Liquid pectin (2 packets) Note: I used 2 tbsp of bulk pectin powder, added with the sugar at cooking time)

Directions

Put macerated berries, 5 cups sugar (included the bulk pectin if you are using instead of the liquid pectin) in a large pot and cook over medium high heat for about fifteen minutes.  Boil the fruit down until it begins to look syrup-y.  Use an immersion blender to purée about half the jam- carefully you don’t want the hot jam to splash you.

Add the liquid pectin, if using, at this point.  There will be foam on top of the jam.  Skim the foam with a large metal spoon.  Let boil for about ten minutes more.  I use a thermometer to ensure the boil reaches 220 degrees.  You can also place small plates in the freezer at the beginning of the cook and checking for gelling that way.

Fill the jars, wipe the rims with a cloth dipped in boiling water.  Top with flat lids and screw rings.  Place the jars in the steam canner.  When the dial is in the green zone, start timing ten minutes.  When the time is up, carefully remove the lid but leave the jars in the pot for about five minutes.  This will help prevent temperature shock.

Enjoy!

Try something new- Josta Berry Jam

 Josta berries are a cross between gooseberries and black currants.  They start out looking like a gooseberry and, by the time they are fully ripe, they look like a black currant.  This fruit is full of pectin and will gel quite readily.  

Lucky for me, I have quite a few bushes of Josta berries in my garden.  Pick in the morning and jam in the afternoon- nice…

This recipe is from Mother Earth News.  

For approximately three 250-ml jars.

Ingredients

4 cups    josta berries, stemmed

2-4 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup   Lime juice

Directions

Wash and stem the Josta berries and bring to a simmer in a large pot with 1/4 cup of lime juice.  After the berries begin to release their juice, add the sugar and cook for a few minutes before tasting to check for sweetness.  Add more sugar if needed and continue to cook until the jam gels on a cold place or until a thermometer reads 220 degrees

Pour into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch head space, wipe rims and place flat lids and rings onto the jars.  Place in a steam canner for 10 minutes.  At the end of the ten minutes, carefully remove the lid from the pot, turn off the heat and let the jars sit for approximately 15 minutes.  Then remove from the pot and let sit overnight.

Red Currant Jelly

This jelly is pure gold- hand picked from my garden and canned within the hour!  Perfect… well, almost.  This week I tried out a couple of recipes.  The first batch resulted in a soft gel, perfect for a syrup on pancakes or waffles, a baste on a pork roast, the finishing touch to a fruit pie.  The second batch came out as a more “solid” jelly and that’s the one I will go with.

This is a recipe from Cathy Barrow’s Mrs Wheelbarrow’s Practical Pantry, one of my go-to canning books.

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Red currants are blessed with lots of natural pectin so you should only need to add sugar and lemon juice to the mix.

For approximately 3 x 250 ml jars

Ingredients:

2 lbs           red currants (about 2 hours of picking)

1/2 cup       water

2 1/2 cups  granulated sugar

Directions

Gently rinse the berries and ensure the stems are plucked from the berries.  Add the berries and 1/2 cup of water to a 3 QT pan.  Bring to a boil, then mash the currants with a potato masher to release some of the juices.  Remove from heat and cool for 30 minutes.

Ladle the fruit into a jelly bag or cheesecloth lined colander and set over a catch bowl.  Let drip for four hours.  Do not squeeze the bag or your jelly will be cloudy.  Cloudy is fine if you favour flavour over a clear jelly.

Measure the juice and measure out an equal amount of sugar.  Pour the juice into the preserving pan and bring to a strong boil.  Add the sugar and lemon juice, start stirring.  Keep stirring while it gets to a boil that cannot be stirred down and boil hard for five minutes.  Turn down the heat and continue to stir.  The jelly should begin to get slightly.  The temperature should read 220 degrees about this time.  If not, keep heating until it reaches 220 degrees.

Ladle the jelly into the warm jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Wipe the rims of the jars.  Place the lids and rings on the jars.  Process in a steamer canner (or water bath canner) for ten minutes.

Spicy Thai Squid Salad

This recipe is inspired by one I found on the New York Times Cooking website.  It was a hit at the last family dinner.  I served it as an appie, in shot glasses.  


To make eight “apple” servings

Rhubarb Chutney

 What to do with all that spring rhubarb?  I’ve made rhubarb-strawberry jam and rhubarb relish in the last few years.  Time to find something new- Rhubarb chutney.  This recipe is based on one from a New York Times Héritage Cookbook recipe.  It would be a great addition to a charcuterie board or served with a roast pork.

Rhubarb can be incredibly “brown”- lol.  To add more colour, I infused the vinegar with a handful of bright red hibiscus petals and replaced the raisins with dried cranberries -  the result was not bright red, but better than “boring” brown.  Here is the recipe.

Makes approximately 12 x 250 ml jars.

Ingredients

8 cups    sliced rhubarb

6 cups    sliced onions

2 cups    dried cranberries (or 2 cups raisins)

7 cups    light brown sugar.

1/4 cup    approx. dried hibiscus petals (optional, for better colour)

4 cups    apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp    salt

2 tsp      cinnamon

2 tsp      ground ginger

1 tsp      ground cloves

1/8 tsp    cayenne pepper (you can add more cayenne to add heat)

Directions:

Warm the apple cider vinegar and gently stir in the hibiscus petals.  Turn off the heat and allow to sit for about 15 minutes.  Strain out the petals.

Combine all the other ingredients (including the strained vinegar) in a heavy kettle.  Bring to a boil and simmer gently until slightly thickened- about 45 minutes- less if you want to maintain some of its texture.  Stir frequently to prevent sticking.  

When the texture pleases you, give it a taste.  Add more cayenne or other spices if you wish.

Pour into the cleaned canning jars and process in a steam canner for ten minutes.

Cooking Class - Thai - Fishcakes with Spicy Cucumber Relish

I love making fish cakes, shrimp cakes- all kings of tasty “cakes”.  These Thai fishcakes are quick and easy to make and they are so delicious.  Served with the spicy cucumber relish- Thai heaven!

This is a Gordon Ramsay recipe.  He recommends eating the fish cakes “freshly made” as they do not reheat well.

What Phil (learning to cook) and I (always learning new food “tricks” and happy to teach):

-    Read the recipe through before you prepare the mise en place; read it again.  We forgot to add the Thai red curry paste to the fish mixture. Our sample tasted great, but a little bland.  We double checked the recipe and sure enough had forgotten the curry paste.  Since we hadn’t yet made the fish cakes, it was easy to add to the mixture.

-    We simmered the cucumber relish dressing too long and ended up with very little liquid for a dressing.  It was worth making a new batch.

 To make approximately 10 cakes,

Ingredients

250 gr    skinless white fish fillets (I used haddock)

250 gr    large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tbsp    Thai red curry paste

1            Kaffir lime leaf, finely shredded (or finely grated zest of a lime)

1 tbsp    chopped cilantro

1 med.   egg

1 tsp      brown sugar

1 tsp      Fish Sauce

Pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup  fresh green beans, trimmed and thinly sliced

Vegetable oil for shallow frying

Spicy Cucumber Relish

1        cucumber

1/2     small red chile, seeded and thinly sliced

1         shallot, peeled and finely sliced

juice of 2 limes (or about 1 1/2 tbsp bottled lime juice)

2 tbsp   superfine sugar (I used regular sugar)

1/2 tsp   sea salt

2-3 tbsp water

Small handful of cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Small handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped

Directions

Cucumber relish:

Peel the cucumber, then scoop out the seeds in the center with a teaspoon.  Thinly slice the cucumber diagonally and place in a bowl.  Add the chile and shallot, toss to mix and set aside.

Put the lime juice, sugar, salt and water into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Stir to dissolve the sugar.  Let simmer fora few minutes then set aside to cool completely.

Fshcakes;

Put all the ingredients for the fishcakes, except the green beans and oil, into a food processor and pulse to a finely chopped wet paste.  Do not over process, as you want to keep some of the texture to the fishcakes.

Scrape the mixture into a bowl and stir in the green beans.  To check the seasoning, cook a little ball of the mixture in an oiled pan and taste, then adjust the seasoning if needed- more sugar, more salt.   With wet hands, shape the mixture into small patties about two inches (2 tbsp of mixture).

Heat a one-inch depth of oil in a deep skillet or wok.  Shallow-fry the patties in batches for about 1-2 minutes per side, until golden brown.  Keep warm in the oven until ready to serve/

When the fishcakes are ready to serve, pour the dressing over the cucumber relish and stir in the chopped herbs.  Serve the fishcakes hot, with cucumber relish on the side.

Blood Orange Marmalade- so much easier this way!

 Thank you to Marissa McClellan for this wonderful new, less “fussy” but really delicious  marmalade.  After almost thirty years of canning, it was only last year that I made my first marmalade- Strawberry and lemon.  And it confirmed all the reasons for avoiding making marmalades- beginning with the removal of the “pith” and the  delicate cutting of fruit to remove membranes, yadda, yadda, yadda.  This was a delicious marmalade, a hit with my taste testers BUT too much work- lol.  And then came Marissa’s new method.  Check out this recipe…

To make about 3 x 250 ml jars.

Ingredients

1 lb    Blood oranges (about 4-5 oranges)

3 cups  Water

2.5 cups  Sugar

Directions

Wash the oranges well.  Trim away both ends and slice the oranges in half.  Using a sharp knife, trim away the core of the orange and pluck away the seeds, if any.  I made a V incision to remove the pith in the middle of the orange half.  Some blood oranges have no seeds.  Set the cores and the seeds aside.

Thinly slice each orange half, then in half again. You will have quarters.  Place the oranges in a bowl, add the three cups of water.  Place the cores and seeds in a cheesecloth and close tightly.  Add the cheesecloth bundle to the oranges and water, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.

To make the marmalade, place the soaked fruit and water (discard the cheesecloth bundle) in the preserving pan, add 2.5 cups of sugar and dissolve the sugar slowly on low heat.  When it is fully dissolved, bring the marmalade to a boil and simmer until it is reduced by more than half.  The thermometer should read 220 degrees F and should pass the plate test.  When it is finished cooking place in the prepared canning jars.  Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a steam canner for 10 minutes.

Notes:  be sure to cut the slices as thinly as possible.

Raspberry and Cacao Nibs Jam

 Raspberries and chocolate are a great combination. Cacao nibs add that hit of chocolate and a nice crunch to the jam.  I first tried this recipe at the Chocolate Museum in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  This is the place to go for everything you ever want to know about chocolate!

To make 5 x 250 ml jars.

Ingredients

1.9 kg     Raspberries, gently washed and any leaves picked out.

60 ml      Lemon juice

700 gr     Sugar

1/4 tsp    Vanilla extract

1 tbsp      Cacao nibs

Directions

Place the raspberries in a large stainless steel saucepan, add 50 ml water and the lemon juice.  Soften the fruit over a medium-high heat for about five minutes, stirring frequently to it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.  

Slowly pour in the sugar, stirring until it dissolves completely, then add the vanilla and cacao nibs.  Increase the heat and boil over a high heat for about 10-15 minutes, until it reaches 220 degrees on a thermometer.  

You can also take the jam off the heat and do the wrinkle test by putting a quarter teaspoon of jam on a pre-frozen place and put in the fridge for a few minutes.  Remove from the fridge and push the jam with your finger- it should have a slight wrinkle on the surface.  If there is no wrinkle, put the pan back on a high heat, keep cooking and testing every few minutes until the wrinkle is achieved.

When the jam is ready, skim off and discard any froth on the surface, ladle the jam into hot, sterilized jars.  Clean the rim of the jar and place / tighten the lids.  Process in a steam canner for ten minutes.  When it’s done, turn off the heat, remove the lid and let sit for five minutes before removing.

Strawberry Honey Butter - Heavenly

 Looking for something different and heavenly to slather on your toast, scone?  Try this fruit butter- Strawberry Honey Butter to be precise.  Thanks to my neighbours Jenn and Darrel for  taste testing my first batch!  And thank you to Ball for the recipe.

This recipe makes 4 x 250 ml jars

Ingredients

3 lbs    Strawberries, washed and hulled

3/4 cup Honey

3/4 cup. Sugar

1 tbsp    Bottled lemon juice

2 tsp      Vanilla

1/4 tsp    Salt

Directions

Purée strawberries n the bowl of your food processor until smooth.

Combine strawberry purée with the remaining ingredients in a deep pot set over medium heat.  Bring the mixture to a boil stirring frequently to prevent scorching.  Lower the heat and simmer until the mixture is very thick, about 60-90 minutes, stirring frequently.  Any foam produced by the strawberries will disappear with the cooking process.  Strawberry butter is finished cooking when it holds shape on a spoon.

Ladle the hot butter in hot canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles.  Wipe the rim of the jar and center the lid on the jar, apply the band and adjust to finger tip tight.  Place the jar in the steam canner.  Repeat for all the jars.

Process 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat, remove the lid carefully to avoid hot steam and let the jars stand for about five minutes before removing.