AwesomeBites

Category: My Cannery

Art in a Jar, Preserves, Pickles,

  • Ruby Red Grapefruit Pomegranate Marmalade – 1st Place Winner

    Ruby Red Grapefruit Pomegranate Marmalade – 1st Place Winner

    My Mom would be so proud.  Isn’t it incredible that we want our parents to be proud even after we are adults.

    Did someone say competition?

    I remember my Mom canning, the hot stove, the steam, the hot jars, her apron snugged at her waist. All moves were with purpose, she seldom wasted a step. I was excited to find out my grapefruit pomegranate marmalade won 1st Place at the 2010 Ventura County Fair. I wish I could tell my Mom! I assume she knows and is smiling from ear to ear.

    This marmalade has the tartness and sweetness from the ruby red grapefruit, and yet when you add the pomegranate, the color enhancement is magnificent. Pretty it is, isn’t it?

    1 Cup Grapefruit rinds (about three grapefruits)
    4 Cups Ruby Red Grapefruit juice
    1 Cup Pomegranate juice (POMs is good)
    1 package low sugar pectin – the pink box
    4 Cups sugar

    Boil Grapefruit rinds until tender in grapefruit juice about 20 minutes. Drain.
    Mix grapefruit and pomegranate juice. See that color! Wow factor. Add 1 cup of grapefruit rinds and bring to boil. Add low sugar pectin and bring to rolling boil. (One that cannot be stirred down). Stir constantly for 1 minute. Add sugar all at once and bring back to rolling boil.
    Keep at boil until this mixture gets to 222 degrees – Gel Set. Stir constantly. Watch this, it could boil over.

    Fill jars that have been washed and sterilized by heating in oven for 20 minutes. After filling, wipe top edge with vinegar to ensure sealing. Boil in water bath for 5 minutes.

    The Competition!
  • Cinnamon Plum Jam – Best ever!

    Cinnamon Plum Jam – Best ever!

    Cinnamon Plum Jam 2011 Ventura County Fair – 2nd Place
    Cinnamon Plum Jam 2011 Ventura County Fair – 2nd Place

    Cinnamon Plum Jelly – Best Ever!

    by Sandra Nickerson on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 3:59pm
    4 Cups of Plums – pitted, sliced with skins
    2 Cups White Wine or Water
    Juice from one orange and 1 lemon
    8 Cinnamon Sticks
    1 tsp salt
    1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
    4 Cups Sugar
    1 Cup of Splenda
    1 pkg of low sugar pectin (the only stuff I use)

    Boil plums in white wine with 4 of the cinnamon sticks until the fruit is fork tender.
    Puree in a blender, remove the cinnamon sticks if you can before.
    Strain the mixture thru a small wire sceive. The color should be beautiful.
    Pour blended plums back into you heavy pot, add pectin and bring to rolling boil for 1 minute.
    Add sugar, bring back to rolling boil for 1 full minute. Pretty isn’t it!

    Add a fresh whole cinnamon stick to the jar and pour in the jelly to ½ inch from the top. Process in a water bath for 5 minutes.
    Makes 3 pint jars, or 6 cups of jelly.

    This is a keeper.
    I have made 4 batches in the last month. It flies off the shelf.

    About 35 calories per Tablespoon.
    If you replace one more cup of splenda for sugar, about 25 calories per Tablespoon

  • Three Citrus Marmalade – Grapefruit, Lemon, Orange

    Three Citrus Marmalade
    adapted from several marmalade recipes in “So Easy to Preserve“

    Multimedia message

    Yield: 3 1/2 pints

    2 pink grapefruit
    3 lemons
    4 navel oranges
    1/2 tsp baking soda

    6 cups of sugar
    1 pkg low sugar pectin (for use in the short method below)
    zest poaching liquid

    Wash and dry the fruit. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the fruit. Cut the zest strips into a fine confetti or nice strips which I prefer. Combine the zest in a pot with 3 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce temperature to medium high and simmer for half an hour until zest is tender.

    While the zest cooks…

    Long method – (You make your own pectin)
    cut the white pith away from the fruit and separate the fruit from the membranes (see instructions above for greater detail). Collect the interior fruit in a large measuring cup and set the membranes and any seeds aside.

    When all the fruit has been chopped into quarters, bundle with the reserved pith and seeds into a length of cheesecloth, tying the cloth well so that no seeds can escape.

    Short method – (Use prepackaged pectin)
    Cut the fruit in half and juice the fruit, and use the low sugar pectin!

    Drain the zest but reserve the cooking liquid. Combine the zest cooking liquid along with the juice
    – should be about 4 cups of juice. Add zest (about 1 cup).

    In a large heavy stainless steel or enameled cast iron pot, combine zest, citrus fruit, zest cooking liquid and pectin and bring to rolling boil. (You shouldn’t be able to stir the boil down). Stir briskly for one full minute.

    Add sugar all at once and bring back to rolling boil for another full minute.
    When the marmalade reaches 220 degrees and sustains it for one minute, remove the pot from the heat. Stir for about a minute off the heat, to help the zest bits become evenly spread throughout the preserve.

    Fill prepared jars and water bath process.

    When time is up, remove jars from the pot and let them cool completely. When they are cool to the touch, check the seals by pushing down on the top of the lid. Lack of movement means a good seal.

  • Sour Cherry Jam

    Sour Cherry Jam

    by Sandra Nickerson on Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 8:41pm
    4 pounds of pitted and mashed sour cherries, which should yield about six cups of jammable fruit
    3 cups sugar
    1 package of low sugar pectin – the pink box.

    Put three pint jars or six half pints (or some combintion thereof) in your canning pot and bring to a boil.

    Combine fruit and sugar in a heavy, non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil and let bubble for a good twenty minutes, occasionally skimming the foam from the surface of the fruit as it develops. Add the pectin and boil for another five minutes. You want to cook it until it looks like boiling sugar – thick and viscous.

    Kill the heat, fill your jars, wipe rims, apply the lids and rings and process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars from water and let cool on the countertop. When the jars are cool (I typically wait until overnight), remove the rings and test the seal by picking the jar up by the lid. If it stays put, your jars are good to store indefinitely.

    I love the flavor of sour cherries, so I didn’t add a drop of extra flavor to this jam. However, you are welcome to spice things up with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, vanilla or orange (or anything else).
    This recipe is from “Food in Jars”

    I am getting hungry.  This can be added to pork gravy for a perfect sauce for tenderloin or pork chops!

  • Red Onion Marmalade

    4-6 large Red Onions
    2 T Olive Oil
    1 tsp dry mustard
    1 tsp thyme or sage
    1 tsp salt
    1 tsp course ground pepper
    1/4 cup balsalmic vinegar
    1/4 cup brown sugar

    Cut onions tops and bottoms off, slice from top to bottom into thin slices.
    In 2 T olive oil, cook onion slices with cover on so they become soft and translucent, stir often.

    With a fork, mix the dry mustard and thyme into the balsalmic vinegar and add to the onions. This keeps the seasonings mixed into the onions.

    Continue cooking as the onions carmelize and the balsalmic thickens.
    Taste, adjust flavors to your taste buds.

    I love this served hot or cold on burgers, roast beef or turkey sandwiches, warm on a broiled steak, or served next to your scrambled eggs in the morning.

    Enjoy!

    Update: August 2nd, 2010
    Dennis just made grilled cheese sandwiches and they were so good! Sharp Cheddar cheese and onion marmalade- great match on Sheepherders Bread. Remember when making to put cheddar on both sides of the bread and the onoin marmalade in the center.

    Cheese platter is in our future.

  • Blueberry Jam

    Blueberry Jam

    by Sandra Nickerson on Friday, April 2, 2010 at 8:14pm
    from Saving the Season

    BECKETT’S BLUEBERRIES

    2.5 lbs berries, about 8 cups

    1.5 lbs sugar, 3 heaping cups (I decided the straight 2:1 ratio suggested by the Blueberry Hill proprietor wasn’t enough to sweeten the berries to my taste)

    3″ cinnamon stick

    juice of 1/2 lemon

    1.5 tablespoon gin

    1 rinse and pick over berries to remove stems.

    2 put berries in a pot with a splash of water and heat gently until they start to sweat and soften. run the berries through a food mill, then return pulp to the pot and add sugar and cinnamon.

    3 bring to a boil and cook about 5 minutes until sufficiently thickened. stir in lemon juice and gin and return briefly to a boil. ladle into jars, seal and process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.

    YIELD
    5 pounds berries yielded 4 pints
    4 x 8 oz
    8 x 4 oz

  • Pear Butter with Cardamom

    Pear Butter with Cardamom

    Pear Butter with Cardamom

    by Sandra Nickerson on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 10:27am
    10-12 Barlett Pears – Peel and dice
    6 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
    3 Cups White or Brown Sugar
    2 teaspoons Cardamom powder
    1 teaspoon salt

    Add lemon and sugar to diced pears and let sit for about an hour. You want juice to come out of the pears. Simmer on the stove and add the Cardamom powder and salt. Boil and still, cooking the mixture down until it is thick and the consistency you want. Use a stick blender to mash up the pears once they are falling apart. (I think it is best to let most of the juice cook out before you mash, because the thicker mixer is quicker to scorch.
    Taste and adjust seasoning.
    Can in water bath for 10 minutes.
    Very nice.

    Pear-Cardamom Butter

    Optionally: You can use orange juice for lemon, brown sugar instead of white and nutmeg instead of cardamom. And you can even use apples instead of pears. Have fun!

  • Dill Pickles

    Dill Pickles

    My mother made wonderful pickles.  I remember one year she had tasted the neighbors pickles and enjoyed them so much, she used the neighbors recipe.  They turned out way so sour, too much vinegar.  She was so disappointed!  I remember her angst.  Back to her recipe, never to venture again!  Mom made artwork in a jar.  Beautiful to look at as well as to eat.

    4 pounds cucumbers, about 4 inches long

    1 cup Dill Seed

    21 Pepper Corns

    3 1/2 tsp Mustard Seed

    3 Cups White Vinegar

    3 Cups Water

    6 T Salt

    Variations:  Add one or all to your pickles above

    Fresh Dill Weed, Peel Fresh Clove Garlic, Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes, 1 or 2 Bell Pepper Rings, Onion Strips.

    Cut cucumbers in half and pack into pint jars tightly.  Into each jar add 2 T Dill Seed, 3 Peppercorns, 1/2  tsp Mustard Seed.  Bring the Vinegar, Salt and Water to a boil.  Ladel into hot jars over cucumbers leaving 1/4 headspace.  Seal. Process 10 minutes in water bath.  Do not over process.  

  • Slightly Sweet Dill Refrigerator Pickles

    yield: Makes 2 quarts

    Substituting rice vinegar (instead of cider or wine vinegar) produces a pickle that’s less tart.

    Ingredients

    • 1 small sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Maui), thinly sliced
    • 2 pounds medium pickling cucumbers, scrubbed, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
    • 1 large bunch dill, coarsely chopped (stems included)
    • 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
    • 2 teaspoons whole white peppercorns
    • 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
    • 1 cup water
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 3 tablespoons coarse kosher salt
    • 2 teaspoons dill seeds

    Preparation

    Divide sliced onion between two 1-quart wide-mouth glass jars. Pack cucumber slices horizontally in jars. Top each jar with dill.

    Using mortar and pestle or resealable plastic bag and mallet, crush mustard seeds and peppercorns together. Place crushed spices in medium saucepan. Add vinegar, 1 cup water, sugar, coarse salt, and dill seeds. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. However, why not find out more information on water filters for your refrigerator.

    Ladle mixture evenly over cucumbers. Leave jars uncovered and chill 24 hours. Cover glass pickle jars tightly with lids. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep refrigerated.

  • Meyer Lemon Marmalade

    • 6 Meyer lemons (1 1/2 pounds)
    • 4 cups water
    • 4 cups sugar

    Special equipment:

    Preparation

    Halve lemons crosswise and remove seeds. Tie seeds in a cheesecloth bag. Quarter each lemon half and thinly slice. Combine with bag of seeds and water in a 5-quart nonreactive heavy pot and let mixture stand, covered, at room temperature 24 hours.

    Bring lemon mixture to a boil over moderate heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to 4 cups, about 45 minutes. Stir in sugar and boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally and skimming off any foam, until a teaspoon of mixture dropped on a cold plate gels, about 15 minutes.

    Ladle hot marmalade into jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of top. Wipe rims with dampened cloth and seal jars with lids.

    Put jars in a water-bath canner or on a rack set in a deep pot. Add enough hot water to cover jars by 1 inch and bring to a boil. Boil jars, covered, 5 minutes and transfer with tongs to a rack. Cool jars completely.

    Cooks’ note: • Marmalade keeps, stored in a cool, dark place, up to 1 year.