August 14, 2004
Because we can can can
We’ve been quite busy canning lately (as you can read here, here, and here). I have three new preserves to write about — Raspberry Natural Summer Fruit Jam, Kincades Lime Mint Jelly, and Rhubarb Chutney — the first two of which are again taken from the Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving and the last of which is modified from a number of recipes we found online.
The first recipe, Raspberry Natural Summer Fruit Jam, begins with making an apple sauce by boiling some chopped apples, including the cores, with a small quantity of water. A lemon is peeled and juiced, and the remaining pulp is then chopped and added to the apples. Once the apples are cooked, the sauce is sieved and then returned to the pan along with some raspberries and the lemon peel:
This is brought to the boil and the sugar is added gradually. Then the lemon juice is added. Next the jam is removed from the heat, the peel is discarded, and the rather messy jar filling takes place. Here’s the finished product:
We filled six 250 mL jars and five 125 mL jars, which is about 2.5 cups more than the recipe was supposed to produce, just like our last recipe.
Next we made the Kincade’s Lime Mint Jelly, largely because — as is often the case with those who have herb gardens — we have so much damn mint! This recipe uses liquid pectin to cause the jelly to set. First the limes are peeled and juiced and the mint is finely chopped. The zest and the mint is boiled in water and allowed to steep:
The mint infusion is then strained through a cheese cloth and returned to the pan. At this point the sugar, crème de menthe, and lime juice is added, and the mixture is further boiled. Then the mixture is removed from the heat and the liquid pectin is added. After the jars were filled, this is what we were left with:
This time we got seven 250 mL jars and four 125 mL jars, about a cup less than we were supposed to.
And finally, we made our first chutney of the year, Rhubarb Chutney:
This chutney was made with rhubarb, onions, raisins, apple, brown sugar, and cider vinegar, and seasoned with salt, allspice, coriander seeds, minced ginger, garlic, ground cloves, ground cinnamon, and lovage (another herb we have far too much of). This produced five 236 mL jars and one 125 mL jar. There are a whole bunch of other chutneys we want to do, along with lots of other preserving, so stay tuned…
Posted by Mark at August 14, 2004 02:04 PM