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Posts Tagged ‘Jam’

Spicy Red Pepper Jam

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , on 19 April 2021| Leave a Comment »

This is a bit like sweet chilli sauce, but nicer and not as sickly sweet. It’s great with chicken, in a sandwich or drizzled over some rice. 

Hot Pepper Jam – makes 8 small jars

  • 8 red peppers
  • 4 scotch bonnet chillies
  • 1kg jam sugar
  • 700ml cider vinegar

Put a few saucers in the freezer to test the jam later.

Heat the oven to 150C/fan 130C/Gas 2. 

Wash 8 small jars (about 230ml each) in hot soapy water. Rinse well then put in the oven for 20 minutes, until completely dry. This will sterilise them. 

Remove the seeds, stalk and white membranes from the peppers and chillies and roughly chop. 

Put in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped (careful not to blitz to a puree). Heat the sugar and vinegar gently in a pan until the sugar dissolves. Add the pepper mix and boil for 15 minutes. Drop a spoon onto a frozen plate, wait for 30 seconds then run your finger through it. If it wrinkles you have setting point, if not cook for another 5 minutes and test again. 

Pour the jam into the sterilised jars and leave to cool before adding the lids. 

(Original recipe by Janine Ratcliffe & Anna Glover in Olive Magazine, October 2016.)

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Seville Orange, Vanilla & Cardamom Marmalade

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 18 February 2021| Leave a Comment »

Quite unusual in flavour and a slightly different method. The bitter Seville oranges make a good contrast to the sweet spice and are balanced by a slightly reduced sugar ratio.

Seville orange, vanilla & cardamom marmalade – makes about 5 jars

  • 1.2kg Seville oranges (approx 8)
  • 10 cardamom pods, seeded
  • 1 vanilla pod, split
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 850g preserving sugar

Halve one of the oranges and finely slice, removing pips as you go, then put into a large saucepan. Peel and finely chop the flesh of the remaining oranges (reserve the skin from three) and carefully remove and discard any pips. Add the chopped flesh and juice to the pan.

Trim any excess pith from the reserved orange skin, then finely chop into thin strips. Add this to the pan with the cardamom seeds and 400ml water. Also add the vanilla seeds and throw in the empty pod.

Boil for 10 mins until the skins are softening, then add the lemon juice and sugar, stirring constantly. Once the sugar has dissolved, simmer on low for 30-35 mins. Turn up the heat and boil to set for about 10-15 mins. The boiling point of jam is 105C but if you don’t have a jam thermometer, try the ‘wrinkle test’ and spoon some marmalade onto a freezer-cold saucer and leave for a minute. If it wrinkles when you poke it and has a fine skin on top, it’s ready. Pour the marmalade into sterilized jars, and store for up to a year.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Fig Jam

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Vegan, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 21 October 2020| Leave a Comment »

Jono acquired five trays of figs from one of his customers, much to the approbation of Jules who said he had to find something to do with them! This fig jam used most of them and there was a smaller batch of rather good chutney. A good call too, as we’ve had repeat requests for jam from friends who’ve been given a jar. It is easily scalable, so while the recipe is for 1kg of figs, we used 4kg to make just over 5kg of jam.

Jono now believes he is allowed to get loads of figs when there is a glut again next year.

Fig Jam – makes roughly 1.3kg of jam

  • 1kg figs, remove the stalks at the top and roughly chop
  • 2 fig leaves, cleaned (we took two from a neighbour’s garden – with permission)
  • 500g jam sugar (with pectin)

Put the ingredients into a large saucepan and stir well to combine. Put the pan over a low heat and let the sugar dissolve, then increase the heat slightly and bring to a gentle simmer. 

When the liquid starts to be released from the figs, turn the heat up a little again and stir often to stop the jam sticking to the bottom of the pan. Simmer rapidly until the jam reaches 105°C (You will need a jam thermometer to check this. If you don’t have one the other option is to put a few saucers in the freezer. To check if the jam is ready, put a tiny spoonful onto the cold plate and see if it runs. If it doesn’t, it’s ready. If it does try again using another cold plate in a few minutes). 

Remove the fig leaves and pour the jam into sterilised jars. Cover immediately with the lids. The jam will now keep for up to a year, but it’s highly unlikely to last that long!

(Original recipe from Marcus Everyday by Marcus Wareing, HarperCollins Publishing, 2019.)

 

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Quince Jam

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , on 20 November 2017| 4 Comments »

Quince jam

Not as solid and refined as Membrillo/Quince paste, but with all the taste and flavour. Plus it couldn’t be easier to make – just boil up the quinces and sieve into sterilised jars. Serve with cheese and anything else you fancy.

Quince Jam – makes about 4 jars

  • 1kg quince, chopped into chunks (no need to discard pips/stalks etc)
  • 1kg granulated sugar

Put the chopped quince and sugar into a saucepan. Add water to cover. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1½ – 1¾ hours, mashing the fruit after the first 45 minutes. Cook until the liquid has evaporated but keep stirring as it gets close to stop it burning on the bottom of the pan. Push through a sieve into a large bowl, then pour into sterilised jars.

 

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Summer Berry Jam

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 24 September 2017| 1 Comment »

Summer berry jam

Now’s the time to make a big batch of jam with the last of the summer berries. It’s worth seeking out jam berries which tend to be odd shapes and sizes and are sold off cheap. We used a mixture of strawberries, blackberries, raspberries & aronia berries – small black berries that look a bit like currants and are apparently very good for us.

Summer Berry Jam – about 8 jam jars

  • 1.8 kg mixed summer berries (see our suggestion above)
  • 1.5 kg jam sugar with pectin
  • juice and pips of 1 lemon
  • tiny knob of butter

Start the night before by layering the berries and sugar together in a very large bowl, then cover and leave at room temperature. Stir the fruit in the morning, then leave until you are ready to cook.

Put a small saucer in the freezer before you start. Tip the berries and any sugar into a large wide-based pan or preserving pan. Stir in the lemon juice, then collect the pips and put into a muslin cloth or tea-leaf strainer before adding to the pan.

Put the pan over a gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved, then bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and put a teaspoon of jam onto the chilled saucer. Wait for it to cool, then push with your finger – if it wrinkles it’s ready. If it’s too runny, put the pan back over the heat and boil for another 2-3 minutes before checking again. Continue like this until the jam wrinkles. If you have a jam thermometer you should wait until the jam reaches 105ºC.

Skim the scum off the top of the jam, then stir in a very small knob of butter (this will help to dissolve any remaining scum). Leave the jam for 15 minutes before ladling into sterilised jars.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food.)

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Raspberry Jam

Posted in Food, tagged , , , , , , on 5 September 2016| Leave a Comment »

Raspberry Jam

We make a batch of this every year and it really is the easiest of jams. If your pot is big enough and you find a good supply of raspberries we suggest scaling this up: this time we used 3kg raspberries but could easily stretch to 6kg in our pot if we had enough jars free.

Before you start you need to sterilise your jars. Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Wash the jars in hot, soapy water, then rinse well. Place the jars on a baking sheet and put them in the oven to dry completely. Alternatively run the jars through the hot cycle in the dishwasher.

Raspberry Jam

  • 1kg raspberries
  • 1kg jam sugar (the sort with pectin added)
  • juice of 1 lemon

Put a plate in the freezer to chill.

Put half the raspberries and the lemon juice into a preserving pan. Mash the berries with a potato masher over the heat, then leave to cook for 5 minutes. Tip the cooked berries into a sieve over a bowl. When the juice has drained into the bowl start pushing the pulp through the sieve with a wooden spoon until you are left with only seeds in the sieve. Discard the seeds.

Tip the contents of the bowl back into the preserving pan and stir in the sugar. Heat gently, then add the rest of the whole raspberries. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 5 mins. Take off the heat and drop a little jam onto the chilled plate. Push your finger through it – it should wrinkle and look like jam. If it doesn’t, boil for 2 mins before testing again.

Stir the jam well as it cools, then pour into your sterilised jars and seal. It will keep unopened for a year, although the colour will darken a little. Keep the jars in the fridge once opened.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Strawberry and Pimm’s Jam

Posted in Food, tagged , , , , , on 30 August 2012| 2 Comments »

We were recently donated a preserving pan (thanks Uncle Graeme) and this was our first ever attempt at jam-making. If only we’d realised how easy it was before and so much better than shop-bought. We’re already on our second jar and it’s a great gift to give to friends.

Soft-set Strawberry and Pimm’s Jam – makes 5 450g jars 

  • 1.5kg strawberries, hulled and halved if large
  • 1kg jam sugar
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • juice of 1 orange
  • 3 tbsp Pimm’s No. 1

Put a few saucers in the freezer (you’ll need them later to check if the jam is ready). Put the strawberries into a preserving pan (or the biggest saucepan you have), then roughly mash the strawberries with a potato masher. Stir in the sugar and put the pan over a very low heat. Stir now and then until the sugar has dissolved and there is lots of red syrup in the pan. Be careful not to let it boil. Stir in the orange and lemon juices when the sugar crystals have dissolved.

Turn up the heat and let the jam come to a foaming fast boil (if you have a jam thermometer it should read 105C). After 10 minutes, put a tsp of the jam onto one of the frozen saucers, then push your finger through the jam. If the jam wrinkles, it is ready. If not, leave for another couple of minutes and test again. Leave the jam to cool for 30 minutes, skim off the scum, and add the Pimm’s. Ladle into sterilised jars.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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