Quick Fruit Jam For All Seasons Food

SMALL BATCH REFRIGERATOR JAM

Steps:

• Prep the fruit by washing it and removing any stems or peels if applicable. Roughly chop the fruit up into large chunks. Raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries can all remain whole.
• In a saucepan (at least 2 quarts in size) combine all of the ingredients and heat over medium heat. Mash the fruit and sugar with a potato masher or a fork. It does not need to be completely mashed, depending on how chunky you like your jam.
• Bring the mixture to a boil and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes, or until the juices thicken. It will become much more thick as the jam cools. If this is your first time making this and you are a little unsure if your jam is cooked enough to set, spoon a little bit of jam onto a saucer and place it in the freezer for about 2 minutes, or until it is cold. Touch the jam and if it has a gelatinous jammy consistency it is ready. If not, continue cooking.
• Cool completely then store in an airtight container or jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or in the freezer for up to 4 months. When freezing, be sure to leave enough room at the top of the container to allow the jam to expand when frozen.

ANY FRUIT JAM

Steps:

• Put 1 pound fruit (pitted and chopped if necessary) in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
• After a minute or so, add 1/4 cup sugar (or to taste), seasonings to taste and 2 tablespoons juice, vinegar or whatever liquid you prefer.
• Adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles steadily, using higher heat if the mixture looks too soupy; lower the heat if it seems dry. Cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thick - 10 to 30 minutes. Cool completely and refrigerate; it will thicken more as it cools.
• Store in the refrigerator, where it will keep for at least a week. If necessary, remove any seasonings (like lemon-grass stalks) before serving.

QUICK FRUIT JAM FOR ALL SEASONS

Steps:

• Place the fruit, sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a large pot and stir to mix. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until the fruit starts to release juice and the sugar dissolves, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the butter and stir to mix.
• Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, skimming the foam as needed, until the jam thickens slightly (it will still be fairly loose) and reaches the setting point (see Know-how, page 304).
• If preserving the jam, sterilize three 1-pint heat-tempered canning jars (see Know-how, page 291).
• For refrigerator jam, let cool slightly and refrigerate in airtight containers until ready to serve, or for up to 1 month.
• For preserved jam, pack the hot fruit in the sterilized jars and seal using the hot-pack method (see Know-how, page 291). Let cool to room temperature, check the seal, and store in a cool, dark place until ready to serve, or for up to 6 months. Refrigerate after opening.
• The following are some of my favorite seasonal combinations.
• Spring: Strawberry and rhubarb
• Summer: Mixed berry (any combination of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, and strawberries), peach
• Fall: Plum, pear, or apple
• Winter: Pumpkin marmalade, orange or tangerine marmalade
• A little bit of butter is often added to berry jams, but not for the reason you might expect. More than adding a hint of richness, the butter helps keep the jam from foaming, thus reducing the need to skim the jam as it cooks.
• I love the straightforward taste of simple fruit jam, but when I'm feeling more adventurous I like to play off of the fruits' sweetness by adding less run-of-the-mill seasonings. A 1/4-cup splash of balsamic vinegar deepens the flavor of strawberry or mixed berry jam, while a sprig or two of fresh thyme or rosemary imparts an elegant grassy end note to blackberry or plum jam. Jams like these have complex flavor profiles that make them better suited for cheese and crackers than PB&Js.
• More than just sweetening the pot, the sugar in jams helps preserve the fruit and enables the mixture to set up properly. Therefore, it is important to maintain a recipe's ratio of sugar to fruit if you want the finished jam to have the recipe's intended consistency. (Of course, if you are more interested in flavor than texture, by all means reduce the sugar to taste; the jam will just be a bit runnier.) Another way to get nice, thick preserves with less sugar is to use fruit pectin of some kind, which, like the sugar, also causes the preserves to set, but without adding any sweet flavor. If enough pectin is present, the sugar can be reduced to taste. Apples, pears, and quinces are good sources of natural pectin, but if you want to take a more precise approach or avoid introducing those flavors, you can use store-bought natural pectin, such as the Pomona brand. This fruit-derived powdered pectin is added to the fruit while it cooks, allowing you to reduce the amount of sugar.