November 30th

This is my November 30th post.  Yes, it is a bit late.  I could tell you about the inclement weather and power outages, but my guess is a bit of old-fashioned laziness!  My bad.  But the power did go out!  Anyway...

November 30 has two odd, but cool anniversaries.  Both events should have been windfalls for the people involved, but as fate often has it, both individuals died broke. 

On November 30, 1858, John Landis Mason invented the Mason jar.  Well, technically, he invented a jar with external screw threads that allowed for a metal lid with a hermetic seal to be screwed onto the jar.  This make canning much more safe and accessible.  If it had not been for Mason, no one in Brooklyn would have anything to drink out of, not to mention all those canning blogs that would have to fold! 

I am sure you get at least one link a day on Facebook telling you all the nifty ways one might use a Mason jar. ( FUN FACT:  All Ball jars are Mason jars, but not all Mason jars are Ball jars. ) Still, John Landis Mason died broke.  His patent expired in 1879 and and he expired in 1902.  Sad but true.

On November 30, 1954, Ann Hodges became the first and only person ever hit by a meteorite. ( Well, maybe there was a kid in Africa, but we like "first and only" better and we have never seen his bruise.) I am rather fond of this story because it occurred in Sylacauga, Alabama, my sort of hometown.  I often drove past the actual house where the meteorite crashed through the roof. 

So this particular day in 1954, Ann Hodges was napping on the sofa when she heard a crashing noise, the meteorite came through the roof, destroyed the radio and hit Hodges, leaving the enormous bruise; after all the space chunk was a good 8 pounds!  After much Cold War paranoia,  the rock was returned to Hodges, who could have sold it for big bucks...but there was a glitch. She rented the house and the owner claimed the rock was hers.  So they fought over it until no one wanted it.  Hodges ended up giving it to a museum and then having a nervous breakdown, leading to and early death.

Needless to say, this was about the biggest thing that ever happened to Sylacauga... until Jim Neighbors became Gomer Pyle!

The moral of this story is:  if you get hit be a meteorite and you are a renter, share the wealth!

Pickled Champagne Grape

It is an oft told story, but worth repeating.

Once upon a time the great food writer, M. F. K. Fisher, found a copy of Catherine Plagemann's Fine Preserving.   Fisher loved the book and used it so often that she made notes in the margins commenting, changing recipes, and picking favorites.  Her favorite recipe was an easy and wonderful Pickled Grape. 

Twenty years later, Fine Preserving was reissued with Fisher's notes printed in the margins.  Several years ago we wrote about the two volumes at Cookbook Of The Day and included the recipe.  Kevin West in his exhaustive preserving book, Saving The Season, also features the recipe.

Last week we found a gorgeous container of champagne grapes.  What better way to preserve these little beauties than by making spiced grapes.  We changed the recipe a bit, substituting long pepper for cinnamon and adding thyme instead of the onion, even Fisher didn't like the onion.

We are giving them a week or two to mature and then...

Teeny, Tiny Batch Preserving

This is the smallest batch of canning we have ever done.

Tiny Mexican Gerkins have been a favorite if elusive veg to grow. Last year, we finally got several plants up and blooming, but they proved to be irrestible to everyone that passed. They picked the darling little cukes and popped them immediately into their mouth. This year, we were determined to grow a bumper crop. Alas, not a single plant grew. Then, in August, a single plant popped up, and a few cucumbers hung on the vine. As the threat of frost grew, the entire 18 cucumber harvest took place.

 

As planned last year, we made pickles. Simple refrigerator pickles. The 18 cukes, sometimes called "mouse melons", fit into a spice jar. Into a saucepan we put one jar of vinegar plus one jar of water and half a jar of sugar, bringing to a boil. A bit of pickling spice was added to the bottom of the jar with the cucumbers and the boiling brine filled the jar. It was capped and allowed to cool before being placed in the refrigerator.

 

It should make a nice condiment for Thanksgiving.

 

Puttin' Up

After returning from several days of travel, the rain subsided and ventured into the garden.  As one might expect, it was in a bit of disarray, but the squash were producing nicely.  However, in my absence, there were several rather large squash that needed to be dealt with immediately.  Yesterday, I cooked and froze 6 quarts of squash.  Four packages of yellow and two of zucchini.   It through the seedy bits to the chickens.  I noticed that on one section of cut squash I rested the tops of several others and as I walked out to the chickens, I thought it looked rather funny, so I took a picture.

As you may remember, I recently made a batch of Blueberry-Lavender Butter.  Here is the finished batch sitting on the stove.

The next week, I found some odd fruit in the DC grocery.  (Well a bit odd for West Virginia.  I do hate reading those blogs where the author says things like, my mother has a Meyer lemon tree in her yard so she sent me a zillion boxes, or my neighbor's fig tree was groaning so I  canned 400 jars of preserves.  OK, I am jealous, I admit it, but I digress...)

I bought two quinces and two small boxes of kumquats as I do love  kumquats.  I have planted a dozen quince trees over the years and not a one of them survived, so no quince laded trees at Lucindaville.  A house guest left a bag of cherries in the fridge that needed to be dealt with.  Let the small batch canning commence.   I made several small jars of quince preserves, some kumquat marmalade with a shot of orange liqueur, a few jars of cherries pickled with star anise joined the last two jars of blueberry butter that didn't get eaten or given away.

On Friday afternoon, I bought 4 gorgeous white peaches.  By Saturday morning, one of the peaches was already beginning to get mushy.  I quickly peeled and sliced the peaches, doused them with lemon, and covered them in sugar and set them in the fridge. On Sunday, after cooking the squash, I made some peach preserves with ginger.  You might remember my recent post on these Home Made tops.

Last year I wrote about making a Lilac Jam and how I liked to think of it as jamelly.   Traditionally, jelly is clarified till pristinely clear, but I like it with a bit of the "stuff" in it and less Jello-like.  Well, I feel the same way about preserves,  I looked at several recipes for peach preserves and they all called for a mashing of the fruit.   I didn't want my lovely white peaches obliterated, I wanted them to be recognizable in the jar and not encased in Jello.  I wanted the peaches floating in a thick, ginger syrup, not suspended like a fly in amber.

Ginger- Peach Preserves or Whatever

4 large white peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced (peel them by dropping them in a pan of boiling water for a few seconds)
1 heaping tablespoon soft diced ginger ( I think this ginger from King Arthur Flour is an absolute kitchen essential)
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons pectin powder

In a large container with a top,  add the peach slices and sprinkle with lemon juice, immediately.  Add the ginger.  Cover the peaches and ginger with the sugar.   Tap the container on the counter to distribute the sugar.  Cover and place in the refrigerator.   The sugared peaches can sit in the refrigerator a couple of days, until you are ready to make the preserves. (The sugar will congregate at the bottom of the container, which is not a bad thing, but I often invert the container a time or two to keep the sugar distributed.)


Remove the container from the refrigerator and place the contents in a preserving pan, using a spatula to get all the mixture out of the container and into the pan.   Bring mixture to a boil and cook about 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat.   Sprinkle the pectin over the fruit mixture and stir to incorporate.  Return mixture to a boil.

Place in prepared canning jars and process.

These ginger-peach preserves are slightly runny with actual peach slices and not a stiff, mashed pulp.   So maybe they are syrup preserves,  peaches in ginger syrup, or sliced peach preserves.  Hey, they don't care what you call them as long as you call them when you make biscuits.   And rest assured, they are Home Made.

Beans and Preserves

Several years ago we told you about a favorite recipe for tomato confiture.  Here's an idea of what to do with that jar of preserves or jam that you got as a gift and haven't a clue how to get it off the shelf. (Or, perhaps you are just an avid canner with a jar of something like tomato confiture, that needs a recipe!) 

Add it to dried beans.  We love a bit of sweetness in our beans.  On a particularly cold day last week, we found a bag of pinto beans and decided to cook them.  Instead of following a baked bean recipe calling for brown sugar, we grabbed a jar of tomato confiture and tossed it in with the beans and pork ribs. 

One year we had an abundance of apple based preserves and they were a lovely addition to beans as are pear, figs and peaches.   We haven't tried anything with berries in it but why not?


And while you are in the kitchen, back so cookies for someone you love!

Jam Maker

 About 4 years ago I ran across a Tefal  confiturier automatic.  An automatic jam maker.  I desperately want one, but Tefal is a European company and they could not see the need for lowly Americans to own a confiturier automatic.  I asked if one could change the plug from 220 to 110 and was told emphatically --NO!

I gave up on the idea until last year when Ball released the FreshTECH automatic jam maker.  I received one for Christmas, and I could barely wait to open it.   My enthusiasm for my new toy had been somewhat dampened by reviews of the FreshTECH complaining that it was a bit on the simplistic side.  I agree that many of the recipes are quite plain and loaded with pectin, but who lets a little thing like "directions" get in the way for jammy goodness.

My first foray into jelly making began with a bottle of Muscadine Cider I brought home from South Carolina.  I wasn't really interested in drinking it, but I was convinced it would make a great jelly.  I followed the recipe for jelly to a tee, using a full measure of sugar and pectin.  

It turned out fine.  I was worried that it might end up leaning toward fruit leather, but it didn't. Next I tried a pomegranate jelly, this time using the low sugar method as the pomegranate juice was a bit on the sweet side to begin with.   The lower sugar jelled fine. 

Then, I threw out the book.  I wanted to use the machine to make marmalade, a recipe no where to be found in the cookbook.  I am a firm believer that marmalade should at its best should ward off the most virulent scurvy. I want marmalade that with all its pithy fight.  I did not want to add a bunch of pectin.  So I sliced my peel, juiced my cara cara oranges and added my sugar.  I left the mixture to cure in the refrigerator overnight.

I dumped the mixture into the FreshTECH and set it for jam.  When it was done, I unplugged the machine and let the marmalade sit until the machine cooled off.  (The instructions are very clear that one must let the machine cool for at least 30 minutes before starting another pot.)  After an hour, I went back to the marmalade and rested the machine, cooking the marmalade a second time.  After two cookings, the marmalade was a perfect texture.

This was a great gift.  As the years goes on, I will be experimenting more and more and will let you know how it goes.  In the meantime...

Canning Jar Closet

 After nearly finding myself crippled from building these steel shelves in a way to small space, I was finally able to place the canning jars in their new home.

Needless to say, they are just a tad to get to.  Finding the right jar is a bit like playing one of those childhood games where one moves the squares around to make a picture.

But here they are in all their canning glory.  Now we just need a confiture closet for the filled jars!

Lilac Jamelly

Every spring there comes a moment when I walk into the yard and become overwhelmed with a thick sweet scent.  The first year it happened I was convinced I had spilled syrup in the yard.  Turns out it was a lilac bush.  This year the lilacs came early and I had the wherewith all to gather the flowers and make jelly.

Flower jelly is just like any other jelly.  The key is to pick your flowers early in the day when they have the most internal water.  Don't use anything that has any type of anything sprayed on it.  Then it all comes down to ratios.

You will need to make an infusion or tea out of the petals.  Use roughly equal parts petals to liquid, with just a touch more of the liquid.  Water is fine.  I like a mild white wine.  Some people recommend apple juice, but that adds another layer of sweetness.

Bring the liquid to a boil, then pour over the petals.  Allow to steep for several hours.  I let it steep till it is cold, then I put in the refrigerator overnight.  Drain the liquid from the petals to use the flower water.


For the jelly the same ratio applies to water and sugar.  You want roughly the same amount of sugar as you have flower water.  Then you need lemon juice as the acid and sugar make the pectin work.   For every two cups of sugar, add the juice of one lemon or 1/4 cup of lemon juice.  ( I use bottled lemon juice because the strength of the acid is constant.)   For every two cups of sugar I use one packet of pectin.  That is 3 ounces of liquid pectin.  (I like the liquid pectin, but I often use the powdered.)

Now mix the flower water with the sugar and lemon juice.  Bring to a rolling boil, skim off impurities.  Add liquid pectin and bring back to a rolling boil.  (Pectin often says boil for one minute, don't worry too much.  You want to bring it back to a hard boil, so if that takes a bit longer it's OK, but don't boil it for another 10 minutes!)

Fill your prepared jars and process for  10 minutes.


Here is what the recipe looks like:

Flower Jamelly

flower water

2 cups fresh flower petals (make sure they have not been treated with anything)

2 cups water or a mild white wine

Bring the liquid to a boil.  Pour over flower petals and allow to steep.  I like to steep the petals until they are cool, then refrigerate the soaking petals overnight.

To use, strain the petals from the water.

jelly

2 cups flower water

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 packet (3 ounces) liquid pectin

Mix the water, lemon juice and sugar in a preserving pan.  Bring to a rolling boil, skimming off impurities.  Add the liquid pectin, return to a rolling boil.

Ladle into jars.  Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

 I made a double batch as I had a lot of lilac infusion.  Have flowers, but don't have the time to make the jelly?  Once you strain the infusion, simply freeze the flower water till you have jelly making time.  


Why jamelly?  Traditionally, jelly is strained through a jelly bag, and often strained again for a pristine, clarified and firm jelly.  We like a bit on the less refined side, so it might be a bit cloudy and a touch softer than the stuff you get in the jelly isle at the grocery.


Some recipes suggest a drop or two of food coloring, but why add something artificial to something you made?  Frankly, this photo sucks.  The color is more from the cutting board than the jamelly. It turned out a nice soft pink.

Adventures In Canning

We canned most every night this week. Largely because I ran across some lovely fruit. A small box of seckel pears, some blood oranges, some cara cara oranges and nice fat lemons. The seckel pears were spiced and canned whole. My preference would have been to peel them, but time was of the essence and after eating several of them, they were canned whole.

While the nice sweet and bitter contrast of marmalade is my favorite and the Blood Orange and Tangerine marmalade was beyond wonderful, I had been thinking for some time about experimenting with a "meat" marmalade. Not one with meat as an ingredient, but with a bold, hot and spicy flavoring to add to meat. A little jar of marmalade could be used as a glaze, or as a condiment, or an ingredient.



I made two varieties. One was a Cara Cara Orange and Chipotle Marmalade. It was very hot and spice. i was thinking of using it with pork. I used it on chicken and it was very good. I also added a bit to a side of rice which made for a striking sticky, hot rice dish. A tablespoon or two added to a plain ketchup makes a barbecue sauce. I am still experimenting.

The other "meat" marmalade was an experiment for chicken. I made a Lemon, Thyme and Garlic Marmalade. This one was not as spicy as the chipotle, but the flavors came through. I tucked a teaspoon under each chicken thigh and baked.


Since the marmalade has a high sugar content, one does have to watch that they don't burn, but I would say, the experiment is working well.

Canned Clementines

Confiture of the weekend: canned clementines. Clementines are back and usually sold in jumbo bags or boxes. Generally, no matter how bad the scurvy, it is daunting for one person to consume all those clementines in a reasonable amount of time, leaving a plethora of tiny oranges that seem to multiply overnight. What's a girl to do. Well, can them, of course.

It is really quite easy, if not a bit tedious, as one must first peel all those little teeny oranges. After about, two, the sticky white membranes get all mashed onto your fingers and the process slows and becomes messy, so be sure you have a bar rag of some type to try and keep the hands free of goo.

Then, stuff jars with clementines, make a simple syrup, pour over the clementines in the jar, screw on a lid and process for 10 minutes.

Some people like to break up the clementines into sections to get more in the jar, but these German Leifheit jars are constructed in the funny triangular shape which allowed for a snug insertion of whole clementines. The simple syrup had a bit of spice. Rather than give you strict measurements, as I do not know how ravenous your desire for clementines was, so I have no idea how many were laying on your counter.




MEASUREMENTS

After peeling all the clementines you are planning to use, stuff them(whole or sectioned) into jars. Now, count the number of jars. Fill one jar with plain water while it is stuffed. Pour that water off into a measuring cup. Multiply that amount of water by the number of jars and that will be the amount of water for this canning job. (So, if you get 1/2 cup of water out of your clementine stuffed jar and you have 4 stuffed jars, you will start with 2 cups of water.)


This past week we have been reading Brad Thomas Parsons' wonderful book, Bitters. Since we have never been a huge fan of cloying sweetness, the idea of a little bitterness gains rave reviews. While our bar is set up with your basic Angostua, Peychaud and orange bitters, we also keep a nice celery on hand for that special kick to our Bloody Mary's. We are enamored of The Bitter Truth's homage to Jerry Thomas' bitters recipe, Bittermen's Burlesque is another fave as is The Bitter End's Memphis. But I digress....(and so should you by reading our Cookbook Of The Day post on Bitters.)

Back to the clementines which, I might add, got their name from my cat "Clementine" whose lovely orange mane was the first inspiration for clementines. But again, I digress...


BACK TO THE RECIPE:

While my "simple syrup" started out simple, it became more complex. I added a sachet of mixed spice and finished it off with shot of orange liqueur and a dash of orange bitters.

Lucinda's Canned Clementines

28 clementines, peeled
1 1/2 cups water (see the note for measuring)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon grains of paradise
1/2 cup orange liqueur
6 dashed of orange bitters

Peel and remove as much of the white membrane as possible. Fit the clementines whole or in sections into canning jars.

Take the spices and wrap them in a piece of cheesecloth and tie off. In a small saucepan, add the sugar and water and stir until the sugar is just dissolve. Add the spice packet and bring to a boil. Remove the spice packet, making sure to drain any excess syrup back into the saucepan. Add the orange liqueur, the bitters and stir.

Pour the syrup over the clementines, leaving a 1/8 inch of rim. Wipe clean the jar rims and screw on the lids, hand tight. Process in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Remember to time from the point the water boils. Sometimes with a syrup base, it will weep through the lid a bit, don't worry if that happens.

If, by chance, you find yourself some leftover syrup, consider yourself lucky. Just pour it in a little container and stick it in the fridge. Then you can add it to carrots, sweeten tea, make vinaigrette, the possibilities are endless.

Way Down Yonder In The Pawpaw Patch

It's pawpaw season and we are...

Pickin' up pawpaws, puttin' 'em in your pocket
Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch

University of Arkansas

If you are familiar with the song or with the pawpaw, you know that it won't fit into your "pocket" unless that pocket is an old-fashioned apron to which the song refers. You may not find pawpaw (Asimina triloba) fruit on the grocery shelf because the season lasts a short time and the fruit lasts only a few days. It makes for a temperamental harvest. Full disclosure: I was nowhere near the pawpaw patch.

Living in a small town, and having a reputation for cooking and eating ANYTHING, I am often the recipient of foodstuffs that no one else want to bother with. Yesterday I got three bags of pawpaws in various states of ripeness. One school of thought would have you believe that you need to wait till the pawpaw falls from the tree, but frankly, by that time they are over-ripe. Pick them when they have that "avocado" feel to them - a few brown spots and a gentle give should put them about ripe. Alas, most of bags were filled with the over-ripe variety, but I was able to salvage about 4 cups of pawpaw pulp.

The pawpaw is often called a Custard Apple because of its soft, custard-y flesh, but actually the custard apple is the same genus -- different species as are the cherimoya and the sweetsop. The name is probably derived from its similarity to the word papaya and the belief that the pawpaw was a similar type of fruit though the papaya is a different genus.


The pawpaw has many a banana nom de plume including the Poor Man's banana, the Hoosier banana, the Indiana banana and the West Virginia banana. Mashed up it does have that over-ripe banana consistency, though the taste of the pawpaw is a bit more melon-y. The pawpaw is the state fruit of Ohio and the largest edible fruit native to North America.


With this plethora of pawpaw goodness, I made a cake and some preserves. The cake was my usual kind of moist, fruit cake made in one of my cake boxes. The recipe can be made in loaf pans or any pan that is about 8 inches across and lined with parchment or brown paper.

Pawpaw Cake with Candied Lemon and Sultanas

1 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2cup) butter, softened
3 eggs
1 cup mashed pawpaw pulp
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons quatre épices
1 cup sultanas
1/4 candied lemon peel, dredged in additional flour


1. Cream butter and sugar.

2. Add eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.

3. Mix the pawpaw pulp and the milk, in a small bowl.

4. In another bowl sift the flour, salt, baking soda, and quatre épices.

5. Alternate the pulp mixture and the flour mixture into the batter until fully incorporated.

6. Fold in the lemon peel and sultanas

7. Pour the batter into a prepared Lucinda's Wood Cake Box.

8. Bake at 300 for 90 minutes.

My other recipe was for pawpaw jam. This jam has an "order-by-mail" ingredient in the recipe. I live in a remote area and often get ingredients through the mail. This recipe calls for a soft diced ginger available at King Arthur's Flour. I love ginger. It is fairly easy to find candied ginger, but this product from King Arthur is sublime. Seriously, it is one of those things that one might be tempted to eat right out of the carton with a spoon. It is beyond versatile. A teaspoon in a cake, cookies, marinade, salad dressing... the list is as long as your imagination. If you love ginger and cook with it often, this is a must have!

Pawpaw Jam with Ginger

3 cups pawpaw pulp
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup soft diced ginger

Mix all the ingredients into a confiture pan or other non-reactive pan. Bring to a rolling boil. When a candy thermometer reaches 220 F., remove from heat and pour into sterilized jars. Process for 10 minutes.

Still want more pawpaws? Check out Cookbook Of The Day.

Sour Cherry Preserves

This summer I got a new cherry pitter. Some girls like shoes, I like kitchen gadgets.



Having a new cherry pitter meant procuring cherries to pit with it. So I got 8 cups of sour cherries and pitted them. I like my preserves and jams to a bit on the loose side, so I try not to use pectin.


Sour Cherry Preserves

8 cups pitted sour cherries
1/2 cup lemon juice
6 cups sugar


Put the cherries, juice and sugar into a nonreactive canning pan. Cook slowly until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil and cook until the temperature on a candy thermometer reads 230 F. Fill sterilized jars to with 1/8 inch of the top. Screw on the sterilized jar top and ring and hand tighten. Place in a canning pot of boiling water an inch over the top of the jars. Process for 10 minutes. Remove and cool.


Now make some biscuits and sit out on the porch and enjoy.

Tomato Confiture

I always hoped I would get to do the list of "10 Things That Make Me Happy" in Domino, but alas Domino folded before my article came out. One of the things on my list would have been my eight issue run of Taste Magazine. In 2000 Williams-Sonoma decided to publish their own "cooking" magazine. It was exquisite. Truly exquisite. But it only lasted 8 issues before it folded.

The last issue was dedicated to Paris. Chuck Williams wrote about his first trip to Paris in 1953. He had his first croissants, his first crepe and his first soufflé. His most amazing first was a dessert of fromage frais with Tomato Confiture. Since I have been facing a glut of tomatoes, this seemed like a great time to give Williams' recipe a try.

Tomato Confiture

2 1/2 to 2 3/4 lb. ripe tomatoes, cored and the bottoms scored with and X
5 cups of sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split

1. Blanch tomatoes in batches until skins loosen, about 15 seconds. Drain and rinse with cold water. slip off skins and cut each tomato in half crosswise. Gentle squeeze out seeds, then cut tomatoes in small pieces and set aside.

2. In a nonreactive, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine 1 cup water and the sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring carefully until sugar dissolves. Add tomatoes, reduce heat and cook, stirring frequently for 30 minutes.

3. Add vanilla bean and continue simmering until thickened and beginning to jell, 25 - 30 minutes. A candy thermometer should register 220-225F. Alternatively, spoon a little jam on a chilled plate and let stand for a few minutes. Slide a finger through; if the surface wrinkles, the jam has jelled.

4. Skim any foam from top, discard vanilla bean, and pour into sterile jars with tight fitting lids.

After filling, I processed the jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes as I had quite a few jars.


The final product is a thick, sweet, tomatoey... well, jam. Paris in a Jar.

Blood Orange Marmalade

I was in Wegman’s market looking for raspberry oranges a type of blood orange that I love. It is the only place I can find them, and they are my favorite citrus. Alas, they had none. I did find a lovely bag of blood oranges, however. I bought them, knowing I could never use them all, so after a day or two, I knew I needed to cook them. I decided to make some old fashioned, thick-cut bitter English marmalade.

It was the Portuguese who gave us the antecedent for marmalade with the word for quince, marmelo, a name that stuck to the thick fruit pastes they exported. The bitter Seville oranges of Spain were considered unusable until the English began importing them for their marmalade.


The food historian C. Anne Wilson tells us in her history of the confiture, The Book of Marmalade: Its Antecedents, Its History and Its Role in the World Today, Together With a Collection of Recipes for Marmalades & Marmalade , that the first printed recipe for a bitter orange marmalade was that of an Englishwoman, Mary Kettilby, which appeared in 1714. But the pulp did not have the characteristic chunks.



In the 1790's, Janet Keiller, wife of a Dundee grocer, who first made the chipped, pulpy marmalade, including "chips" of peel in her jam. Her husband bought consignment of cheap oranges from a storm-tossed boat. Mrs Keiller used sugar from her husband's store to produce the marmalade that made England famous. Alas, Dundee's is made no more in Dundee, having been swallowed up, like toast, by giant conglomerates.


In an article in the Independent, Michael Bateman lamented the fact that it was getting harder and harder to find true English marmalade, unless you made it yourself. Now, England is becoming more and more “American” in taste. As companies farm out their marketing to focus groups, marmalade is growing sweeter and sweeter with a more jelly like consistency. Well, I wanted that thick-cut, tart taste that stays with you hours after your morning toast.



Here is my recipe:

Blood Orange Marmalade

1 pound blood oranges, scrubbed and sliced about 1/8 inch
1 pound sugar
juice from one lemon

Slice the blood oranges over a preserving pan, throwing away the fleshy stem slice. (The easiest way to slice them is with a mandolin.) As you slice, remove any noticeable seeds. Add the lemon juice. Pour sugar over the sliced oranges. Let the pan set for at least and hour as the sugar draws the juice. Bring the pan to a steady simmer and cook for about an hour. The mixture will reduce by about 1/3. Skim off any foam that may float to the top. Check the orange peel for doneness. You should be able to easily cut into the peel with a spoon. Bring the fruit mixture to a rolling boil for 7 to 10 minutes. Do not step away from the confiture pan at this point! Allow the marmalade to sit for ten to fifteen minutes to settle the peel, otherwise it will float to the top. Ladle the marmalade into prepared, hot jars, seal with lids, and invert on a cloth towel. Allow to sit for 5 –10 minutes before righting the jars.

Blackberry Jam

Harry Lowe picked some blackberries for me at the end of the summer, but I kept forgetting to rescue them from the freezer.

Finally, I remembered.



Some people don't like blackberry jam because of the seeds, but I like the grittiness.

I had a box of preserving sugar I picked up in England. Preserving sugar is sugar with the pectin already mixed in. It makes for easy preserves.

RECIPE:

2 pounds of Virginia blackberries
1 box preserving sugar (32ounces)
the juice of one lemon

Place all the ingredients in a preserving pan or deep pot.

Let the sugar leach out the juice for about 1 hour

Bring the preserves to a rolling boil ( you know it's rolling if you stir it and it keeps right on boiling)

Boil for 4-5 minutes

Take off the heat and cool for a few minutes, then skim off any "imperfection" foam

Can as you wish.

(I pour the jam into hot jars, screw on the top, invert, leave for 5 minutes and right the jars. PLEASE do not scream at me. I know the USDA hates me for this, but really, I've done it this way for YEARS and I'm still alive. Two of the best jam makers in the whole wide world, Christine Ferber and June Taylor, use this method. FEEL FREE to put the jarred preserves in a hot water bath for 10 minutes if you wish.)

YES YOU CAN !