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.